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Two Years Later
“What’s this?” Victoria asked as James handed her the letter. Her eyes fell on the address, and she gasped. “Oh! It’s from Bret.”
“I wasn’t sure if you’d want to read it,” James confessed. “But I also figured that was up to you, not me.”
“Thank you,” she said, sliding the letter opener under the paper. “It’s not always easy thinking about him after everything, but I think he deserves at least the chance to tell me what’s on his mind. If it’s something bad, I’ll just burn the letter and forget about it.”
“That’s entirely up to you. I support you no matter what,” James assured her.
He did, and she loved him for it. Her heart raced as she unfolded the paper, unsure of what she might find. Bret had been sentenced to five years in prison, and he’d been there for roughly eighteen months.
Mr. Baker had been given an even harsher sentence of twenty years, largely because the surviving outlaws had all been happy to cooperate with law enforcement in exchange for lighter sentences themselves.
It came to light that Mr. Baker had been working with the Timber Rattler gang for many years, eliminating any of the competing stagecoaches that he could. He’d hoped to create a perfect monopoly of the business out in the west, and he’d almost succeeded.
Before Victoria could begin reading, they were interrupted by a knock at the door.
“Excuse me,” Mr. Nels, their lead driver, poked his head inside. “We were just about to leave. Is there anything else you need done while we’re in Billings?”
“No, just follow the directions I gave you on the list,” Victoria told him. “And if you can’t find everything I asked you to buy, just get what you can. I’m sure we can make do with what we’ve got here in Cheyenne.”
“Will do,” he said as he touched his brim. “See you in a week.”
“God willing,” she said with another warm smile.
He turned and left, and she looked at James. “Hiring him was the best choice I’ve ever made.”
“I’d like to think it was the second best,” James said with a grin, and she laughed.
“You know what I mean.”
The sound of the rumbling stagecoach leaving the yard filled the air, and in its wake, the melody of the ranch came back to life. The chickens clucked outside, and Bessy, the milk cow, let out a long moo out in the barn yard.
Jasper, the border collie Victoria had purchased a week after Bret’s arrest, thumped his tail on the floor as he looked up at her. She’d wanted a dog for a long time, and she wished she’d gotten one long before the barn ever burned down in the first place.
Though it was rebuilt now, some burned remains of the old barn still remained. But then, Bret had been the one to set the fire, so a dog wouldn’t have done much good in raising the alarm that night.
Turning her attention back to the letter, she drew a deep breath.
“Alright, let’s see what he’s got to say.”
“Read it out loud,” James said, but then he looked sheepish. “If you want. It might be private.”
“Nothing is private between you and me,” she told him with her usual warm smile. She cleared her throat and lifted the letter.
“My dearest Victoria,” she read. James scoffed lightly, but she ignored him. “This letter is long overdue, but it has taken me a long time to come up with the right words to say. First of all, I’d like to apologize to you for everything. I was angry and hurt when Pa died, but that didn’t give me the right to do the things I did. I should have been honest with you rather than sneaking around behind your back.”
She looked up. “At least he’s got that much right.”
Looking back at the letter, she continued. “I know you might never believe me, but I never once thought that you were going to die out there on the trail. When I made the plan with Mr. Baker, he assured me that no one would be hurt. I knew that it would hurt you emotionally to lose everything, but I also figured that you were strong enough to move past the pain and that you’d land on your feet.”
“He has such a way of making it sound like he was doing you a favor,” James muttered.
“James, please,” Victoria said.
“Sorry.”
She didn’t reply. She didn’t blame James for being bitter about the situation. He’d been there. He’d had to chase her down after she’d been taken by Black Jack. At any moment during that horrible afternoon, she might have died.
Bret could tell her as much as he wanted that he’d never meant for anything bad to happen, but she didn’t think she’d ever be able to believe him. Perhaps he’d not meant for her to get hurt, but she didn’t get the impression that he’d have cared much if she had.
“Let me continue,” she said.
James nodded in silence, though he didn’t look very impressed with the letter so far. Victoria cleared her throat once again as she read on.
“Even still, I wanted to apologize to you for everything. I wanted to ask your forgiveness, if you can find it in your heart to give it. I’ve ruined myself. I know I have. I’m going to come out of this prison a changed man, and I’m never going to have the chance to make something of myself like I could have. But I’m willing to take that consequence.”
“Good,” James said.
“James!” Victoria laughed. “You have to quit interrupting, or I’m going to stop reading it out loud.”
“Sorry,” he said again, sitting back.
Victoria continued. “If you can’t find it in your heart to forgive me, at least know that I have come to peace with myself. I know I’ve made mistakes, and I know that Pa still loves me. I still love you, and I hope you can find it in your heart to love me as well. You really are the sister that I’ve always needed, even if we really are cousins, and I hope you are happy out there in your life. You deserve the world.”
“At least he’s right about that much,” James muttered.
Victoria gave him a look, but she didn’t say anything. She skimmed the rest of the letter, not reading aloud how Bret continued rambling over his own misfortune. Though he was right, she realized he’d not learned much, but was continuing to wallow in having to serve the consequences of his actions.
She set the letter down with a sigh and shook her head.
“You knew it wasn’t going to be great,” James commented.
“I know, but I guess I hoped that he’d have learned something while he’s in prison. Something that would show him to be a better man,” she said.
Silence ensued before she spoke again. “At least he asked me for forgiveness. I know that’s not much, but it tells me he knows that he did enough wrong to have to ask.”
“Do you think he means it?” James asked. “He seems to be the sort to say what he needs to say to get what he wants.”
“I think he does,” she said after another pause. “Bret isn’t evil. He’s selfish. He’s greedy, and he likes to feel sorry for himself, but at the end of the day, he’s not a bad man.”
James gave her a look that told her he didn’t agree, but he wisely kept his mouth shut. Finally, he approached the topic from another angle. “Are you going to forgive him?”
“I already have,” she said.
“What does that even mean?” he asked.
“It means that I’m not carrying what he did to me anymore,” she said. “I can’t. We have more things to worry about now.”
She moved her hand to her swollen belly, and James grinned as he rose from where he sat across from her. He walked behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Just a few more months, and we’re going to be parents.”
“And so much in life is going to change,” she said, struggling to get to her feet. “Speaking of those things, we have to get to town to sign that paperwork.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” James asked.
“I am,” she said with a deliberate nod. “Mr. Kilroy is a good man. I know my father would approve of the merger.”
“I agree with that.”
James helped her out of the house and into the buggy. Victoria was grateful for the help, knowing it was only going to get more difficult for her to move herself around in the coming months.
She wasn’t going to give up the stagecoach company entirely, but she felt good about merging with another stagecoach business in the area. Of course she’d keep a hand in things, but she was ready to give up most of the control to Mr. Kilroy.
With the baby on the way, Victoria didn’t want to risk her life on the trail anymore. Even James had changed his career in the past two years.
He’d been offered a promotion after he’d helped eliminate the Timber Rattler gang, and at first, he’d thought about taking it. But as time passed, he’d realized that it meant he’d be gone from the ranch most of the time, leaving Victoria alone.
When she became pregnant, he knew for sure he wanted to hang up his guns for good and instead try his hand at ranching.
The stagecoach business had become secondary while they invested in a herd of cattle, and things had been going better than Victoria ever could have imagined. Though part of her felt guilty about letting go of the stagecoach, she fully believed that her father was smiling down on her decision.
After all, family had always been the most important thing in the world to Pa, and with his first grandchild on the way, she had no doubt that he’d want her to give up the reins so she could be home with the children.
James drove the buggy into town where they met with Mr. Kilroy. He’d brought his lawyer with him, but Victoria hadn’t seen a need to bring hers, as they’d already discussed how things were going to be moving forward.
“Good afternoon,” she said as they walked into the office. “Oh good, I see you have the paperwork ready to be signed.”
“As soon as you can read it and agree to the terms,” Mr. Kilroy said. “And I understand you have a stagecoach heading up to Billings currently?”
“Yes, but Mr. Nels, our driver, is already aware of the change of ownership. Well, the merging of ownership,” Victoria said. “He’ll report to me when he gets back, but over the next few months, we’ll shift to you.”
She read the paper and signed her name, then she slid the contract to Mr. Kilroy with a smile. “I look forward to a long working relationship.”
“As do I,” he said as he also signed the papers. “It’s a real pleasure doing business with you.”
Victoria thanked him and promptly left with James, her hand falling naturally into his as they stepped out of the office.
“Well, Mrs. Whitlock, what would you like to do now?” James asked her. “We have the whole world at our disposal.”
She laughed. Of course they didn’t, but it certainly felt like they did.
“Actually,” she said, placing her hand on her growing belly, “I think I’d like to take a walk with my husband.”
“Who, me?”
“Yes you.”
“I’d like nothing better,” James said, squeezing her hand.
Honestly, neither would she.
OFFER: A BRAND NEW SERIES AND 2 FREEBIES FOR YOU!
Grab my new series, "Guns and Justice in the West", and get 2 FREE novels as a gift! Have a look here!
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed my new western adventure story as well as my extended epilogue! Let me know what you think below.
Excellent work on this Book making it one of my favorite of all times. Great love story keeping me glued to each new page. Loved the very exciting ending!!
Thank you, Larry! Glad you enjoyed the adventure!
Great Story!
True to life and well written. A little romance, good action, and exciting plot.
77 year old retired Nurse Educator here, and Mr. Burns is one of my favorite western writers.
Excellent, JA, thank you for reaching out! Honored to be one of your favorites!