“Hattie and I will be leaving the Running W soon,” she said in a quiet but resolved tone.
West didn’t feel one ounce of pleasure at knowing his suspicion had been correct. “Where will you go?”
“Back to the HC Bar. I don’t know yet what I’ll do with it or where we’ll end up. But it’s time Hattie and I found a home of our own.”
“McCall?”
West frowned, his arms resting against the door of the stall where the new mare stood eating. He couldn’t keep his focus on his work. Instead, he kept thinking about Vienna’s announcement earlier. Truth be told, he’d struggled to concentrate on anything the rest of the afternoon and evening.
“McCall? Did you hear me?” Edward asked in his slight British accent. “You look as lost in thought as Vienna tonight.”
At the mention of Vienna’s name, West straightened away from the stall and threw his employer a contrite smile. “Sorry, Boss. Where were we?”
“I asked after the new mare here.”
West dipped his head in a quick nod. “Right. She seems to have settled in well. And I don’t think she’ll give us much trouble with breaking her in.”
“Excellent.” Edward moved away from the mare toward the open doors of the ranch’s main barn. “What about the south pasture fence?”
“Nearly all fixed. We’ll finish tomorrow.”
He joined his employer outside where the first stars had begun to glitter overhead. The unimpeded view of their brightness in the vast stretch of sky never ceased to amaze him. It was one in a long list of things he cherished about living out west.
“How did Thurston do overseeing the fence project today?” Edward asked next.
The wrangler had been working at the ranch longer than any of the other young men, and West had been recently tasked with giving him more opportunities to lead. “Did real well. You gunnin’ for him to replace me?” he half teased.
“Not right away.” Edward chuckled. “But I know you still want to run a dude ranch of your own someday.”
West had confided that dream to Edward about a year after coming to work at the Running W. His visits to a dude ranch in North Dakota as a young man had inspired his future plans as well as the pivotal decision to fully embrace a life out west. He’d been relieved and grateful when Edward, a man he fully respected, hadn’t scoffed as some ranchers did at the notion of building a career helping wealthy guests experience Western life.
“Which is why,” Edward added, “when the time comes, I want to be sure Thurston will be ready to take over as the next ranch foreman.”
West expected Edward to head to the house right then as the man usually did. Not that he could blame him. If West had a wife and a baby on the way, he’d probably wish to spend every possible moment with his family, too. But while a family meant potential for great joy, as Edward had clearly discovered, they could also be the means of immense heartache. West had learned that sad, hard fact years ago—one was loved and important as long as they were doing what everyone wanted. Once the usefulness wore out, so did the strength of familial ties.
Rather than go inside, though, Edward loosely folded his arms and regarded West curiously. “You want to share what was on your mind earlier?”
“Just thinking,” he hedged.
Edward glanced in the direction of the house. “Did you hear Chance Howe is dead?”
“Yep, Vienna told me earlier.” West kicked at a clump of grass with the toe of his boot. “Did she tell you what she’ll do now?” He didn’t want to share her plan to leave the ranch if she hadn’t yet told the Kents.
“She and Hattie will be moving back to the HC Bar.”
West felt Edward’s gaze on him as he stared hard at the ground. “I suppose that makes sense.”
“Then what’s the reason for your scowl?” the other man asked with a laugh.
Crossing his arms, West lifted his chin and did his best to school his expression into his usual relaxed one. “Just surprised. Vienna seems to really like working and living here. Hattie, too.”
“I believe they did, that they do. However, Vienna wants a home of her own.” Edward looked out across the ranch and pastures. “Now that Howe’s gone, she can return to her home without any fear of him interfering.”
West swallowed back an uncharacteristically sarcastic remark about the Running W being her and Hattie’s home. Still, he wasn’t surprised by Vienna’s desire to have her own home. He’d known nearly from their first meeting, seven years ago, how important home was to her and how much she missed the one she’d had to sell after her parents had both passed away.
He’d wanted to tell her that earlier, but after revealing her shocking news, she’d retreated into the house. West had seen her later when she’d served dinner to the ranch staff, but there hadn’t been a chance to talk privately with her again.
“You can still look out for them, you know.” Edward’s words intruded into West’s thoughts. “They won’t be far away.”
Heat rose up his neck at the realization that his need to protect Vienna and her daughter hadn’t gone unnoticed by his good friend. “I’ve never acted in a way that wasn’t aboveboard, Boss. I promise.”
“I don’t doubt that for a minute, McCall. And I apologize if you think I was implying something to the contrary.” Edward maintained West’s gaze as he added, “You’ve been the perfect gentleman in honoring your past and present friendship with her.”
The relief he felt at Edward’s reassurance was short-lived. More than friendship had motivated West to watch out for Vienna since the night he had helped rescue her from Chance. It had only been a few days prior to that when he’d learned, to his shock and dismay, the kind of husband the man had been to Vienna.
But he couldn’t share his true motive with Edward for wanting to protect Vienna—not yet, maybe never. To do so would mean giving voice to his ever-present guilt. Guilt that told him Vienna’s unhappy marriage to Chance was all West’s fault. After all, he’d been the one to encourage the match in the first place, and he’d be the one to make things right by her now, even if no one, including Vienna, understood why.
“It’ll be strange, won’t it, not having them here anymore?” he said as much in truth as to steer the conversation away from himself.
Vienna might have only been on the ranch for three years, but West could hardly remember what things had been like prior to that. He wasn’t sure he wanted to imagine what it would be like not having her around anymore. Nodding, Edward looked toward the house again. “It’ll be an adjustment, no question about that. And not simply because we’ll need to find a new cook to help Mrs. Harvey. Maggy and I will miss them both.” He shot West a sad smile. “Maggy, in particular, is having a hard time of it, though she understands Vienna’s reasons for going.”
West wasn’t surprised to hear Edward’s wife was struggling with the news. Anyone could see that the bond between Maggy and Vienna ran as close and deep as sisters. Which meant West wouldn’t be the only one to grieve Vienna’s departure when the time came, no matter how close the Howes’ ranch might be to the Running W.
He hoped to visit there as often as he could, but it wouldn’t be the same as seeing Vienna’s soft smile every day or having the chance to teach Hattie something new about the horses and the ranch.
The reality of their leaving sunk deep inside him with that last thought, leaving West feeling hollow with loss in a way he hadn’t felt in years.
*