Unwrapping The Rancher's Secret. Lauri Robinson

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       Chapter One

      Royalton, Colorado, 1885

      There were several ways to play the hand that had been dealt to him. All of them would benefit him. That, of course, was the main object—benefitting him—and he would play it right. Not could. Would. Just as he always did.

      Crofton Parks lit the cigarette he’d been twirling between his thumb and forefinger and leaned against the side of the building to ponder his options. Smoking wasn’t a habit he partook of regularly, but a man with a smoldering stick between his lips could stand around doing nothing but dragging in smoke and no one would give him a second look. While a stranger staring at the mortuary across the street would catch attention. He wasn’t ready for that yet. Attention. It would come later. At the moment, anonymity would benefit him the most.

      White with a black door and shutters framing the windows, the mortuary was new, as were most of the buildings in town. Not surprising. Becoming a railroad hub, the town had doubled in size the past couple of years, and would keep growing. The lumber mill would continue to prosper, supplying all the houses and businesses the newcomers would build.

      Crofton flicked off the ashes and lifted the cigarette to his lips for another draw. Through the smoke that swirled in the crisp air, he witnessed a woman open the door of the building she’d entered a short time ago. Leave it to Winston Parks—his good old flesh-and-blood father—to throw yet another boulder in his pathway. Another loop around the ankle. As if all the others hadn’t been enough. At least this one wasn’t an eyesore, or not from a distance anyway.

      Disgusted by his own thoughts, Crofton dropped the cigarette to the ground and smashed the smoldering end deep into the dirt with the toe of his boot.

      A man twice the woman’s age, which Crofton knew to be twenty as of October, climbed down from a buggy to meet her as she walked down the steps of the mortuary. Once he arrived at her side, she leaned her head against the man’s shoulder for a brief moment, and then straightened. With a shake of her head, as if that gave her fortitude, she squared her shoulders and marched forward. The man lagged behind momentarily, but then quickly caught up with her.

      With the sole of one boot braced against the wall behind him and head down, fiddling with the tobacco pouch as if preparing to roll another cigarette, Crofton peered from beneath the brim of his hat to watch the man help the woman into the buggy.

      The man climbed in, but Crofton remained still, waiting until the buggy turned the corner and disappeared. Then he glanced both ways, tucked the tobacco pouch into his pocket and crossed the street. It was time he said goodbye to his father. This time it would be for good.

      * * *

      “There will come a time, child, when you’ll remember this day, not with pain and sorrow, but with peace.”

      The aching inside her was so profound that every movement hurt, yet Sara managed to nod in response to the bittersweet words Reverend Borman whispered in her ear. She understood that life went on, despite death and hardships. She’d lived through it before. Perhaps if she’d been older when her father had died she’d be able to remember how long the numbness lasted. For how many days tears would burst forward without warning, or how long the emptiness inside would remain.

      She squeezed her eyes shut against the burning sting and bit her lips together. There were no memories to assure her the pain would ease. No memories of her real father. All that came forward were the things her mother had told her about that time in their lives. How little they’d had, and how far they’d come—all because of Winston Parks.

      Older now, and in many ways wiser, Sara knew that no matter how long the pain, how deep the loss or how the numbness lingered, there was no time for her to mourn. A child born in a dirt dugout on the Kansas prairie, who hadn’t owned a pair of shoes until she was five, was now the richest woman in town. Along with the wealth bequeathed upon her by the deaths of her mother and stepfather came responsibilities. Ones she couldn’t ignore even long enough to grieve their passing.

      That’s what her mother would have wanted. For her to continue to pay homage to Winston for the life he’d provided them, and so many others.

      She knelt down and laid the bouquet of yellow mums, that despite the cooler weather, were still blooming in her mother’s garden, on top of the large mound of dirt. Beneath were two coffins, side by side, in one grave. As soon as the stone arrived from Denver, there would be one granite marker, bearing the names of Winston and Suzanne Parks, describing them as loving husband and wife.

      Years from now, looking upon the headstone, people wouldn’t know both Winston and Suzanne had been married before. No one would know the anguish and loss they’d each suffered prior to finding one another. Or the strength of the love they’d shared.

      Fresh tears formed. Winston had not only loved her mother, he’d loved her, too. He’d treated her as a daughter from the day she’d moved into his home, and in many ways, he’d transformed her from a pauper to a princess. That’s how her mother had described the changes that had happened because of Winston, and why they needed to behave properly—to be women he could be proud of—and the importance of remaining grateful for everything he’d done at all times. The only way she could return his love now was to assure his dream came true.

      After adjusting the white ribbon tying the flower stems together, Sara rose, and with a nod in Reverend Borman’s direction, stepped back to stand amongst the few townsfolk who’d traveled up the steep mountainside from the church in town to the grave site on the homestead Winston had settled upon years ago. The service had been beautiful, and the pews packed with people, but Bugsley had suggested this part of the service should be private, that the last thing Sara needed was a house full of mourners. She’d agreed with him, even though it had left a knot in her stomach. The townsfolk had loved her mother and Winston as deeply as she.

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