CHAPTER 1
What a mess!
Everleigh Miller drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly as her gaze swept the patio, the garden, and expanse of lush green lawn, her pride and joy. It was quiet now, the dozens of tables set up on the freshly mowed grass empty, the wedding guests having gone home, or in the case of the ranch hands, gone back to work, which never ceased on a successful ranch like Montaña del Trueno. Lucy, the bride—the youngest of her sister’s children and the only girl—and groom were on their way to Serenity to start their new life together.
“It was a lovely wedding. Lucy looked so beautiful.” Hilde picked up a platter of leftover ribs from the table and looked at her.
“Yes, it was and yes, she did,” Evie agreed, as her focus switched from the mess to Hilde, who had accompanied her to the ranch twenty years ago when she’d been given the honor of raising Regina’s children. She cringed a little bit inside, aware this was just the beginning of their conversation, knowing almost exactly the argument Hilde would give, since she had no issue with expressing her opinions, which she did quite often, as unwelcome as they might be.
“You have fulfilled your obligation to your sister,” she insisted. “Her children are all grown and married now. It’s your turn, I think, ja?” Funny how this particular subject always made Hilde’s accent become stronger, despite the fact she’d left her native Germany over forty years ago.
“My turn? For what?” Evie licked a bit of frosting off her finger, then picked up the plate holding the remains of one of the four wedding cakes; she’d send it out to the bunkhouse later for the ranch hands to enjoy, though she knew each and every one of hervaqueroshad eaten well at the party. She’d heard the groans of over-stuffed bellies and sighs of satisfaction.
Hilde chuckled in her deep guttural way. “Romance. Love. Someone of your own,” Hilde called after her.
Evie scoffed as she strode under the awning that shaded this part of the patio and headed toward the kitchen door. “I had that once. It didn’t work.”
“Ja, you did, but the good Marshal has been gone a long time and you’ve been alone since he passed.” Hilde marched past her, her skirts twitching as she did so. Evie hid her grin. Hilde wouldn’t give up, which was one of the reasons she loved her so much.
She laid the cake platter on the table in the big kitchen and just stood there for a moment, surveying the mess she and her companions would spend the next few hours cleaning. Still, despite the chaos and disorder, this room was her favorite. She’d spent many happy hours here, learning to cook, sharing meals with the children, holding hands with Marshal Tom Gray and planning their future. They were to be married until the Good Lord took him home by way of a bullet.
They would have had a good life if he had lived. Instead, she had concentrated on raising Regina’s children and building Montaña del Trueno into one of the most successful ranches in New Mexico.
She pushed thoughts of Tom and what might have been away, and focused on the here and now. Glancing toward the sink, she saw Hilde leaning against the porcelain tub, her graying hair braided into its usual coronet atop her head. The expression on her face was one she knew well—mouth set in a grim line, hazel eyes, more green than brown, steady on her. There would be no reprieve. Their conversation was far from over.
“I’m only looking out for you,liebchen.”
Evie squelched a groan. Hilde would say what she had to say, whether or not Evie wanted to hear it.
“I think it’s time you were happy.”
She held up her hand to stop the conversation, then turned on her heel and fled outside to her sanctuary of growing things, ignoring the looks on her friends Felicity and Marisol’s faces as she passed them, their arms full of more dishes needing to be washed. She let out a sigh as her hand gripped the lattice arbor that had served as the altar for the wedding ceremony. Roses, in full bloom, their fragrance scenting the air, clung to the wooden frame, the red, pink, and yellow blossoms and verdant green leaves a sharp contrast to the pristine white bunting woven between the slats.
She was happy, wasn’t she? She didn’t need a man for that. She’d done quite well without one all these years. It would have been a different story if Tom had lived, but he hadn’t.
She turned away from the arbor to continue cleaning and came face-to-face with “Uncle” Charley, a dear friend of her late mother and her unofficial uncle. He and his wife, Felicity, would be staying at the ranch for as long as they wanted, now that he had decided to retire. His last official act as a judge had been presiding over Lucy’s marriage to Ben Hart. “It was a fine wedding and a heck of a party,” Charley said.
“Yes, it was.” She smiled at the man she’d known all her life as she walked to one of the nearby tables set up on the lawn. “Thank you for officiating.”
“My pleasure. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.” He followed her, then started gathering plates from the table, but his focus was on her.
She could tell just from the expression on his face he had more to say. “What?”
“I’m sorry he didn’t show up.”
Evie stiffened, her muscles tensing as she grabbed a plate, adding it to the stack in his hands. “Who? My father?”
He nodded, sadness and understanding in his eyes.
She shrugged, as if it didn’t matter, though it did. The Honorable Reginald Miller hadn’t come, though she had invited him. She hadn’t expected he would—he hadn’t showed up for the weddings of his grandsons—but she still had to try. It would have been nice for him to acknowledge his grandchildren for once. Or her, for that matter, though he had disowned her when she left San Francisco and came to Montaña del Trueno to raise Regina’s sons and daughter, just as he had disowned Regina when she married Javier Silva against his demands all those years ago.
“I saw him before Felicity and I came here. Tried to convince him to come, but…” A flush stole over his face and his grip tightened on the stack of plates in his hand. “He’s a hard man, Evie. Still angry with you after all these years.”
“I know. He’ll never forgive me. I disobeyed him. I went against his dictates, choosing to honor Regina’s request instead of his.” She remembered like it was yesterday, that awful day Uncle Charley had delivered the news her sister had died and she had been named guardian for Regina’s children, remembered the terrible things her father had yelled at her, disparaging both her and Regina. “But it’s all right. He doesn’thave to forgive me. I made my decision and it was the right one. I wouldn’t change a thing. It’s just a shame he missed out on—” She spread her arms wide, encompassing everything. “—all this and the fine people his grandchildren have become.”
He shook his head, his eyes glowing with affection. “You’re a good woman, Evie. Not everyone would have walked away from their life and home and done what you did, and I, for one, am proud of you.” He gestured with the plates in his hands. “I’ll just bring these into the house.”
And with those words, he turned away and strode toward the kitchen. She watched him go, noticing the heaviness in his step, realizing how much she loved him—like the father she wished she had. He and Felicity had stood behind her decision, for good or bad. She grabbed a handful of silverware, but her thoughts weren’t on her task. She’d spoken the truth. She wouldn’t have changed a thing. Though it had been difficult at times, especially in the beginning, she had enjoyed every moment of raising her sister’s children and turning Montaña del Trueno into a profitable ranch anyone would be proud to own. Still, after all this time, she wished circumstances had been different, wished Regina and Javier were here to share all this with her. “Ah, Gina, why did you have to die?”
