PART 2 — THE COWBOY WHO REFUSED TO LAUGH

“So,” Caleb repeated, looking directly at his sister, “this is the woman you thought I would be foolish enough to refuse.”

Evelyn’s cheeks turned pink.

“Caleb, don’t make a scene.”

“A scene?” He glanced at Eliza, who stood beside the kitchen table with her hands clasped nervously. “You brought a young woman all the way from Red Creek, dressed her in humiliation, and expected me to laugh at her. I believe the scene began long before I walked through that door.”

His younger sister, Margaret, appeared behind Evelyn.

“We were only trying to help you.”

“Help me?”

“You have refused every respectable match we’ve introduced. We thought perhaps you needed to see what happens when you lower your standards.”

The kitchen fell silent.

Caleb’s expression hardened.

“Lower my standards?”

He turned toward Eliza.

“Miss Hart, would you please sit down?”

Eliza hesitated.

Nobody had ever spoken to her so politely in a house this grand.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Caleb,” he corrected gently. “There’s no need to call me sir.”

She sat at the edge of the chair.

Evelyn crossed her arms.

“You cannot possibly be considering this ridiculous arrangement.”

Caleb ignored her.

“Have you eaten breakfast, Miss Hart?”

Eliza shook her head.

“Not since yesterday morning.”

Margaret laughed nervously.

“Well, I suppose the kitchen can spare some bread.”

Caleb turned toward the cook.

“Mrs. Bell, please prepare a proper breakfast. Eggs, biscuits, bacon, and whatever else we have.”

Then he looked back at Eliza.

“You must be hungry.”

Her eyes lowered.

“I don’t want to cause trouble.”

“You haven’t caused any trouble.”

He pulled out a chair and sat opposite her.

“Tell me about yourself.”

Eliza wasn’t prepared for that question.

“What would you like to know?”

“Anything. What do you enjoy? What do you know how to do? What kind of life would you like to have?”

She glanced at Evelyn.

The older woman gave her a warning look.

Eliza took a breath.

“I can sew. I can cook, keep accounts, repair clothing, and help with horses. My father taught me to read numbers because he used to run a small trading business.”

Caleb listened without interrupting.

“And what would you like to do if you could choose?”

Eliza looked surprised.

“Choose?”

“Yes.”

She studied her hands.

“I’d like to have a little shop someday. Nothing grand. Just a place where women could buy good cloth, needles, ʙuттons, and things they need to mend their families’ clothes.”

Caleb smiled.

“That sounds like a sensible dream.”

Evelyn made a dismissive noise.

“A shop? How charming.”

Caleb slowly turned toward her.

“Evelyn, I suggest you stop speaking about people as though their hopes are entertainment.”

Margaret looked down at the floor.

When breakfast arrived, Caleb insisted Eliza eat before anyone discussed the reason for her visit.

She tried to eat slowly, embarrᴀssed by how hungry she was.

He noticed but said nothing.

Instead, he asked Mrs. Bell to wrap several biscuits for her journey.

Then he did something that stunned everyone.

He stood and offered Eliza his arm.

“Miss Hart, I’d like to show you the ranch.”

Evelyn stepped forward.

“You cannot be serious.”

“I have never been more serious.”

He led Eliza outside.

The morning sun illuminated thousands of acres of pasture. Cattle grazed near the creek, horses moved through the distant fields, and several ranch hands were repairing a section of fencing.

Eliza stared at the landscape.

“It’s beautiful.”

“My father built this place from almost nothing,” Caleb said. “He used to say a ranch isn’t measured by the number of cattle it owns, but by how many people can make an honest living from it.”

They walked toward a small stable.

Inside stood a chestnut mare with a white mark across her forehead.

“Her name is Daisy,” Caleb explained. “She’s gentle, but stubborn.”

Eliza reached out slowly.

The mare lowered her head and sniffed her palm.

“She likes you.”

Eliza smiled.

“I think she likes the apple in my pocket.”

Caleb laughed.

It was a deep, genuine sound.

For a moment, Eliza forgot why she had come.

Then she remembered.

“Mr. Mercer…”

“Caleb.”

“Caleb, I should tell you something.”

He waited.

“My father sent me here because he owes money. Your sisters promised to forgive the debt if I came.”

Caleb’s smile disappeared.

“What?”

“They told him this arrangement would settle everything.”

He looked toward the house.

“Did your father tell you I had agreed to marry you?”

Eliza nodded.

“He said you wanted a wife.”

Caleb rubbed his jaw.

“I never agreed to marry anyone.”

Her heart sank.

“Then I’m sorry. I should leave.”

“Wait.”

He stepped in front of her.

“I didn’t say you had to go.”

“But you didn’t ask for me.”

“No,” he admitted. “I didn’t.”

Eliza looked down.

“I understand.”

Caleb studied her face.

“Miss Hart, I want you to understand something. Whatever my sisters promised your father, I had no part in it. You are not a debt, and you are not a joke. If you wish to return home, I’ll make certain you get there safely.”

She looked at him, surprised.

“And my father’s debt?”

“I’ll speak with him. But I won’t use it to force you into anything.”

For a moment, Eliza could not find words.

Then Caleb’s expression changed.

He had noticed something on the far side of the stable.

A rider was approaching at full speed.

It was Thomas Reed, the ranch foreman.

He dismounted before his horse had fully stopped.

“Mr. Mercer! There’s trouble.”

“What happened?”

Thomas glanced at Eliza, then back at Caleb.

“Someone’s been cutting the northern fence. We’ve lost twenty-three head of cattle.”

Caleb’s jaw тιԍнтened.

“Who did it?”

Thomas hesitated.

“There’s something else. We found a wagon near the creek.”

“What kind of wagon?”

“A merchant’s wagon. The owner says he came from Red Creek.”

Eliza went pale.

“Red Creek?”

Thomas nodded.

“His name is Samuel Hart.”

Her father.

Caleb turned toward her.

“Miss Hart, I think we need to find out why your father came here.”

And as they hurried toward the ranch house, Eliza realized the humiliation arranged by Caleb’s sisters might have been hiding a much darker secret.