PART 3 — THE BRIDE WHO NEVER ARRIVED AND THE SECRET THAT COULD DESTROY BROKEN SPUR
PART 3 — THE BRIDE WHO NEVER ARRIVED AND THE SECRET THAT COULD DESTROY BROKEN SPUR
For a long moment, Maddie couldn’t move.
The letter trembled in her hands.
Jeb stood beside her, his injured leg supported by a wooden crutch.
“Let me see that.”
She handed him the paper.
He read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
By the time he reached the final line, his expression had changed completely.
“That’s impossible.”
Maddie swallowed.
“What is?”
“I never requested another woman.”
The letter slipped slightly in his hand.
“I wrote to Finch’s agency asking for a wife who could manage a household and help with the ranch. I described the work. I described the winters. I never asked for someone else.”
Maddie looked down.
“Perhaps they made a mistake.”
“Then why would someone send this?”
Jeb turned the page.
A second sheet had been included.
It contained a copy of the original matchmaking advertisement.
Wanted: A capable woman for a respectable ranch household in Montana. Must be accustomed to hard work, comfortable around livestock, and willing to share the responsibilities of frontier life.
At the bottom was Jeb’s signature.
But beside it was a handwritten note.
Preferred candidate: Miss Eleanor Price, age twenty-seven.
Maddie read the name twice.
“Do you know her?”
Jeb shook his head.
“Never heard of her.”
“Then why is her name here?”
He examined the handwriting.
“I don’t know.”
A strange silence settled over the room.
Maddie carefully placed the letter on the table.
“Maybe the agency sent me because they believed I was suitable.”
Jeb looked at her.
“Then why would they claim you weren’t the woman selected?”
She didn’t answer.
Deep down, she was afraid of the same thing he was.
Someone had arranged for her to arrive at Broken Spur.
Someone had known Jeb was desperate.
And someone had expected the ranch to be in worse condition than it already was.
That evening, Jeb tried to get out of bed.
Maddie caught him reaching for his coat.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to go to town.”
“Your leg isn’t healed.”
“I need answers.”
“And I need you alive long enough to hear them.”
He looked irritated.
But after a moment, he lowered himself back onto the mattress.
Maddie placed a bowl of stew beside him.
“Eat.”
He stared at the bowl.
“You’re becoming rather fond of giving orders.”
“Someone has to.”
For the first time, Jeb laughed.
It was a quiet, rough sound, but it made Maddie smile.
Then his expression softened.
“Do you know something?”
“What?”
“This place hasn’t felt like a home in a very long time.”
Maddie looked toward the kitchen.
“Then perhaps it’s time we changed that.”
The following morning, she made a decision.
She would go to town.
Not to ask for help.
To find out who had arranged her marriage.
Jeb objected immediately.
“You can’t go alone.”
“I can manage.”
“Rutherford’s men are watching the ranch.”
“Exactly. If I stay here, they’ll keep watching both of us.”
Jeb considered that.
Then he reached for his coat.
“I’m coming.”
Maddie looked at his leg.
“You’re impossible.”
“Apparently, you married an impossible man.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Did I?”
He looked at her.
Neither spoke for several seconds.
Then Jeb smiled faintly.
“Legally, at least.”
They traveled to Mercy Creek in the wagon, arriving shortly before noon.
The matchmaking agency occupied a narrow building beside the general store.
Its owner, Mr. Finch, nearly dropped his spectacles when he saw them.
“Mr. Miller!”
Jeb placed the letter on the desk.
“Explain this.”
Finch examined it.
His face became uncomfortable.
“Ah. Yes. There was a misunderstanding.”
“What kind of misunderstanding?”
Finch looked toward Maddie.
“Miss Higgins, I believe your application was transferred from another file.”
Maddie’s heart sank.
“Transferred?”
“Yes. We had several women seeking placements in Montana. Your experience with cooking and household management made you a suitable candidate.”
“Then why did you tell me I was being sent to marry Mr. Miller?”
Finch cleared his throat.
“Because that was the arrangement.”
Jeb leaned forward.
“Who selected her?”
Finch hesitated.
Then he opened a drawer and produced a ledger.
“An intermediary contacted our office three months ago. He paid the placement fee in advance.”
“Who?”
Finch turned the ledger around.
There was a name.
Elias Rutherford.
Jeb’s face hardened.
Maddie stared at the page.
“Rutherford arranged my marriage?”
Finch nodded reluctantly.
“He said Mr. Miller needed immediate ᴀssistance. He specifically requested a woman who could cook, preserve food, and manage livestock supplies.”
Jeb slammed his hand against the desk.
“Why would Rutherford do that?”
Finch swallowed.
“He said he wanted to help save Broken Spur.”
Maddie looked at Jeb.
Neither believed a word of it.
Then Finch turned another page.
“There’s something else.”
He pointed to a second entry.
“Mr. Rutherford also paid for a separate placement.”
“Whose?”
Finch lowered his voice.
“Eleanor Price.”
Maddie felt a chill.
“Where is she now?”
Finch shook his head.
“She never arrived.”
“Why?”
“Her brother collected her travel money and canceled the arrangement. But before doing so, he left a message.”
Jeb leaned closer.
“What message?”
Finch searched through a bundle of correspondence.
Then he found a folded note.
He read it silently.
His expression changed.
“What does it say?” Maddie asked.
Finch handed it to her.
Miss Price must not marry Jeb Miller. If she reaches Broken Spur, she will discover what happened to her father’s land.
Maddie looked up.
“Her father’s land?”
Finch nodded.
“Apparently, her father owned the property before it was transferred to the Miller family.”
Jeb stared at him.
“That’s nonsense. My father bought Broken Spur from the territorial land office.”
Finch opened another file.
“Perhaps. But the records suggest there was a dispute.”
He pulled out a faded deed.
The name at the top was unmistakable.
Henry Price.
Maddie read the document carefully.
The property description matched Broken Spur.
But the transfer date was strange.
It had been recorded only three days after Henry Price disappeared.
Jeb’s face went pale.
“My father never told me about this.”
Finch shook his head.
“Perhaps he didn’t know.”
But Maddie noticed a small handwritten note in the margin.
Original ownership documents retained in private custody.
She looked up.
“Where are the originals?”
Finch hesitated.
“That is the problem. They were never filed.”
Jeb leaned back.
“Then the deed is meaningless.”
“Not necessarily,” Maddie replied.
She pointed to the bottom of the page.
“Look at the witness signature.”
Jeb examined it.
Then he recognized the name.
Caleb Turner.
The same bookkeeper whose signature appeared on Rutherford’s suspicious debt receipt.
Maddie slowly folded the document.
“Now we know who we need to find.”
Finch looked worried.
“Mr. Turner hasn’t been seen in town for nearly a week.”
“Where does he live?” Jeb asked.
“At the old mill, north of the river.”
The journey back to Broken Spur was quiet.
Maddie kept thinking about the woman named Eleanor Price.
Why had Rutherford arranged for two different brides?
Why had he paid to send Maddie to the ranch?
And what had happened to Eleanor’s father?
When they reached the property, they found a stranger waiting beside the gate.
A young woman stood near a chestnut horse, holding a small traveling case.
Her coat was dusty, and her dark hair was tied beneath a faded hat.
She stepped forward.
“Mr. Miller?”
Jeb stopped the wagon.
“Yes?”
The woman looked at Maddie.
Then back at him.
“My name is Eleanor Price.”
Maddie’s fingers тιԍнтened around the reins.
The woman continued.
“I believe you’ve been given my place.”
Jeb stared at her.
“What are you talking about?”
Eleanor opened her traveling case and removed a folded document.
“My father owned this ranch before your family did.”
Jeb stepped down from the wagon.
“That’s impossible.”
Eleanor shook her head.
“My father disappeared twenty years ago. Before he vanished, he told me that one day a man named Jeb Miller would inherit the property. He also told me to find the original deed.”
She looked toward the farmhouse.
“Rutherford has been trying to find it for years.”
Maddie climbed down.
“Why did he arrange for me to marry Jeb?”
Eleanor looked at her.
For a moment, she seemed almost ashamed.
“Because he knew I would never agree to marry a stranger. He needed someone else to enter this house.”
Maddie frowned.
“What does that have to do with me?”
Eleanor lowered her voice.
“Your husband didn’t send you to Broken Spur, Mrs. Miller.”
She glanced at Jeb.
“Rutherford did.”
Jeb’s face darkened.
“Then tell us why.”
Eleanor opened the document.
Inside was a small pH๏τograph of a wooden chest.
On its lid was a carving of a horse and a crescent moon.
Maddie recognized it immediately.
She had seen the same symbol before.
On the underside of the old wooden silo.
Her eyes widened.
“Jeb…”
He turned.
“What?”
“The symbol. It’s on the silo.”
Eleanor nodded.
“That’s where my father hid the original deed.”
Jeb stared at her.
“How do you know?”
“Because I helped him hide it when I was a little girl.”
Before anyone could speak, a gunsH๏τ echoed from the far side of the property.
The horses panicked.
Jeb turned toward the sound.
Smoke was rising from the barn.
Again.
But this time, the fire wasn’t an accident.
A second sH๏τ struck the wooden gate.
Eleanor screamed.
Maddie grabbed her arm and pulled her behind the wagon.
Across the field, several riders were approaching.
Caleb Rusk was among them.
And beside him rode Elias Rutherford.
Rutherford raised one hand.
“Jeb Miller! I believe we have some unfinished business!”
Jeb reached for his rifle.
But Maddie caught his arm.
“Wait.”
She looked toward the silo.
Then toward Eleanor.
“We know where the deed is.”
Jeb understood immediately.
He looked at Maddie with a mixture of fear and admiration.
For three weeks, he had believed his new bride was the weakest part of Broken Spur.
Now he understood that she might be the only reason it still belonged to him.
But as they hurried toward the old silo, Eleanor suddenly stopped.
Her face had gone white.
“There’s something I didn’t tell you.”
Maddie turned.
“What?”
Eleanor looked directly at Jeb.
“My father didn’t just hide the deed in that silo.”
She swallowed.
“He hid something else with it.”
“What?”
Eleanor’s voice dropped to a whisper.
“The original document proving that Jeb Miller’s father stole this ranch from him.”
Jeb stopped walking.
Behind them, Rutherford’s men were getting closer.
And for the first time, Maddie realized that saving Broken Spur might mean uncovering a truth that could take everything away from the man she was beginning to love.
To be continued…
