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Her golden brown hair was centrally parted and held loosely at the top of her head in a complicated knot. The picture was taken from her waist upwards and so far, all he could see excited him. He grinned and returned to the letter.
Dear Melanie,
Thank you for your letter and picture. I must say that your appearance is very fetching and only a foolish man would turn you down. I most certainly am not one. You sound like an interesting young woman and I feel drawn to get to know you more. The fact that you ride horses means that you will enjoy yourself here at Circle One. I’m terribly sorry that your parents have sold off their ranch but I must admit that I do admire them. They are rare people who know what they want and care not for society’s judgment. I hope to meet them one day. I have something in common with your parents, and that is, that I too know my mind. You fascinate me Melanie Marriot and I would like to invite you to Circle one as my fiancé. I will not rush you and when we know each other a little better, I will leave it up to you to decide if you wish to be my wife. I will enclose some money and a train ticket. I cannot wait for the weeks to go by and we finally meet. Meanwhile take care and pass my regards and admiration to your parents.
Sincerely,
Carter Taft
The train ticket sat on the table as did the money he intended to send to Melanie Marriott. Carter did not read the letter he had written, instead, he folded the ticket and the money inside the letter, slipped the lot into an envelope and sealed it. With flourish, he addressed the letter.
He stood up and stretched. Today, he was spending the day at the ranch. Hoss had mentioned that he would be going into town. He would send him to post the letter, Carter decided. Hopefully, he would not ask too many questions but then again, Hoss was not the kind of person who questioned things.
Carter walked out into the mid-morning sun and strolled towards the ranch house. The wagon was parked outside the entrance and the door slightly ajar. Carter shook his head. He certainly did not understand Hoss. Why did he insist on using the wagon to go to Crab’s Creek? For one, it took so long, a horse was much faster.
Shrugging off his thoughts, Carter pushed the door open. He wondered idly if Hoss ever sat in the front room or even entered his dining room or kitchen. Their parents had had two ranch houses built so that each of their sons would have their own homes. They had been people who looked into the future and Carter liked to emulate them.
He climbed the stairs without any particular rush, and climbed further into the attic. The door was wide open but no Hoss. Carter retreated his steps. The bedroom door was shut and he turned the handle and pushed it open.
Carter knees almost buckled as he saw Stephanie sitting astride Hoss, her body bouncing up and down, and his brother lying there, his eyes half shut and his mouth twisted with ecstasy. He took in the scene dispassionately. Hoss saw him first. His jaw fell and his eyes widened with shock.
Stephanie’s movements jerked to a stop as she followed Hoss’s eyes. She blinked rapidly and then quickly recovered. She threw her hair back, all the while keeping her eyes on Carter’s. Her expression smug, she continued with her bobbing movements. Carter shook his head and exited, leaving the door wide open. Another man would have attacked the couple on the bed.
One had to hand it to Stephanie. She had no shred of shame of wrong doing. Despite himself, he found himself admiring her. Carter thought of Hoss and his chest tightened. It hurt deeply. If Hoss had feelings for Stephanie or whatever it was, the right thing would have been to tell him. They were brothers for God’s sake!
Outside, he met with a gasping James.
“I went to the house and you were not there,” James said, his gaze shifting from Carter to Hoss’s ranch house.
“I have a letter that I wanted Hoss to post for me. He’s otherwise occupied,” Carter said in a dry tone.
James looked at Carter quizzically. “Are you not upset?”
“Not about Stephanie. She is what she is and she served her purpose,” he said and then his voice got an edge. “I’m angry at Hoss. He should have told me rather than going behind my back. That’s not how we do things here.”
“I’m going into town later,” James offered. “Want me to post the letter for you?”
“Thanks but I think I’ll go myself. For some reason, I feel a need to leave the ranch.”
As he went into the barn to saddle his stallion, Carter thought of Stephanie and a lot of things made sense. Just yesterday, he had passed by the diner and she had not been there. At the boarding house, the woman at the reception would not tell him whether she was there or not.
He thought of the letter tucked into his coat. Just as well his affair with Stephanie had ended. He and Melanie could begin their lives on a clean slate with no scorned woman in their wake. Carter left a cloud of dust that went all the way to the main road. The sooner Melanie got here; the better and he could put that unfortunate episode behind him.
Chapter Nine
“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” her father said to her. “There are other horses on board, you know.’
“I know,” Melanie said, “I wish they would allow me to travel with him.”
Her father broke into a laugh. “I’m glad they can’t. Now, remember what we told you young lady. If for any reason you don’t like it in Montana, we want you to come back home.”
Standing by his side was her mother, her arm tucked into her husband’s hand. She sniffed and held a pristine white handkerchief to her nose.
“This is much harder than I thought it would be,” her mother said.
“For me too mother,” Melanie said, remembering the feeling of loneliness she had felt as the carriage had left home.
The whistle blew and the three of them looked at each other and then spoke at once.
