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Promises Beneath the Kansas Sky

She promised her sister’s son a future…

He promised himself no more heartbreak…

Can a promise and a past betrayal forge a future?

After her sister’s death, Lila is left with her nephew and a promise to find the boy’s father—Cade, the man who once captured her heart but was never hers. Determined to keep her promise, Lila travels to Bellefont. This kid is all that’s left of her sister. He deserves a chance…

Cade, stunned by Lila’s arrival with his child, is skeptical. Betrayed by her sister, he believes this is all a scheme. His irritation grows as he struggles to understand Lila’s intentions while battling his own unresolved feelings about her. Despite his cold reception, Lila stays to help Cade’s injured sister, slowly breaking through Cade’s defenses.

When a dark figure from the past emerges with dangerous intentions, they must face their fears and protect the family they’re forming before it’s too late…

In Kansas fields where horizons blend,

Two hearts lost and found again,

Through trials faced and fears unveiled,

Love’s true course is gently sailed.

Written by:

Western Historical Romance Author

4.4/5

4.4/5 (159 ratings)

Prologue

Petersburg, Kansas

1884

 

The first shafts of sunlight spilled over the dark, distant tree line as Cade rode his horse to the broken fence on his family’s property. The breeze blew soft and cool on his face. The tall grasses with their rattling seedheads parted beneath his horse’s hooves; twisting around in the saddle, he could see the snaking, shadowed line of disturbance marking their trail.

“What’re you lookin’ at, Cade?”

Cade turned back around. His older brother, Frank, rode astride his own horse next to him.

“Nothin’,” Cade replied.

He nudged his knee into his horse’s side, making her press in toward Frank. He kicked out his boot, thumping Frank in the leg.

Frank sighed and sidled away, closer to the fence line they were following. Cade studied his brother, a little miffed at the lack of a reaction. “When did you stop bein’ any fun?”

“Since I grew up,” Frank grumbled. “Somethin’ you might want to consider now that you’re about to get married. I see the break Pa was talkin’ about—right there.”

Cade followed his brother’s pointing finger to a part of the fence nearby, where one section had broken from the other and leaned uneasily, like a drunk trying to act normal in front of the sheriff. They both dismounted, grabbed their tools, and left their horses to graze in the fresh, dewy grass while they walked over to fix the fence.

Frank kneeled on the damp ground, examining the break. “Must’ve happened a couple days back when that whopper of a storm came through.”

Cade murmured his agreement. Spring brought blessed snow thaws and new life but could also bring unpredictable weather. That storm had come from nowhere, taking everyone in town by surprise.

A sudden pang in his stomach made him grimace. “I hope nothin’ like that happens on my wedding day.”

Frank paused in his examination of the fence and glanced up at him. He was only a few years older than Cade’s twenty-one, but no one who didn’t know him would think that. The past couple of years had brought great changes to him, premature changes, sprinkling his hair with pepper-gray and forming crinkles at the corners of his eyes and mouth. Whereas before, strangers would take them for twins, being that they were similarly tall and broad-shouldered, possessing the same shaggy brown hair and dark eyes, they now assumed Frank was even older than their eldest sibling, their sister, Mary.

Frank stood, leaning on the stable portion of the fence. He adjusted his hat to keep the sun out of his eyes as the rays strengthened. “You’re worried about it. Well, maybe you should be. You somehow snagged the purtiest girl in town, but how’re you goin’ to hold onto her?”

Cade shoved at his brother’s shoulder, scowling. Frank just looked at him, and Cade realized he wasn’t being teased. Frank was really asking him how he was going to make his marriage to Genevieve Garrison work.

There was another pain in his stomach, and he put his hand to his middle, unsure if it was breakfast fighting back or anxiety—or a mixture of both.

He sighed heavily, shoulders slumping. “Can I tell you somethin’, Frank? Sometimes, I wonder if Genevieve really wants to marry me.”

“Now, what makes you think somethin’ like that?” Frank frowned and tilted his head. Behind him, on the other side of the fence, a flock of birds was coming in for a landing to scrounge for worms and insects in the dew-damp grasses.

Cade scratched the back of his neck, where his hair curled up slightly from being too long. “She seems distant. Whenever we walk together, she never wants to talk about it, not even to plan the shindig after the ceremony. All she wants to hear about is California.”

He dreamed of traveling to that distant state one day and making a name for himself. The stories he heard from travelers heading to and from that state of gold and opportunities were full of adventure. He collected those tales like eggs in a basket. But they weren’t his stories, and he was running out of ones to tell his betrothed.

Frank shook his head with a soft, knowing chuckle. Cade set his jaw, the sound stirring up hot prickles just underneath his skin. Always, Frank had to act like he had the answers to every problem that came his way.

“A woman wants more than walkin’ and stories, little brother. A woman needs to know her man is goin’ to be able to provide for her, that he cares enough about her to learn what she likes and don’t like.”

“Well, I do that all the time,” Cade snapped. So you don’t have the solution, after all. “I’ve bought her a pretty handkerchief from the general store. And last week, I got her some cookies from the bakery.”

“And how’d she like those gifts?” Frank asked.

“She didn’t seem too interested,” Cade admitted. “I don’t know that I’ve seen her use the handkerchief since I gave it to her.”

“Well, that’s ‘cause you need to put some more effort into your gifts for her. You can buy any lady a handkerchief and cookies. You should find out somethin’ that only Genevieve likes and give it to her to show you know her.” Frank kneeled again and picked up a box of nails, sifting through them with one finger to find the kind needed to fix the fence. He tucked a few into the side of his mouth and spoke from the other side. “You want to hold onto the jewel of Petersburg, Kansas, you’ll have to impress her.”

Cade grabbed the fence and held the posts steady so that Frank could start joining them together with the nails. His brother wielded the hammer expertly, driving in each nail with only a few well-aimed whacks. The birds in the field startled with each dull strike of metal-against-metal, fluttering further away to resume their feasting. He looked at them, such simple creatures without any worries like his.

“You’re awful quiet. What’s goin’ on in that head of yours?” Frank continued to hammer.

“See, I asked Lila what kind of cookies Genevieve would like,” Cade said.

Lila was Genevieve’s younger sister, a very friendly girl Cade used to spend a lot of time with before he discovered Genevieve was interested in him. They still spoke, though not like they used to, now that he was so busy with her sister.

Cade went on, “But maybe you’re right. I should put even more effort in. Could be that Genevieve is just waitin’ for me to really prove I know her and want to be with her. I’ll ask Lila what her favorite flowers are, and I’ll have them at our wedding. She’ll be real surprised—and happy, I hope.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” Frank agreed, nodding. “You know, I can handle this fence on my own. Why don’t you go off and see if you can talk to Lila today? She’s sure to be home. The sooner you get to work on those flowers, the better.”

“You’re the best brother I have,” Cade declared. He grabbed Frank’s hat off his head and ruffled his gray-streaked hair.

Frank swatted his hand away and grabbed his hat back. “Get out of here before I change my mind.”

Laughing, Cade left him there to finish the fence and went to catch his mare. He swung up into the saddle and urged her around with a soft pull on the reins. He pointed her in the direction of the Garrison farm and pressed his knees into her sides to get her going, working her up to a canter.

The ground flowed away underneath them as the sun continued to rise. Flowers that had closed during the night were now opening their tender blossoms, releasing their sweet scents. Cade rolled his shoulders to ease the tension from them and made himself relax. He was surely worrying over nothing. Likely, Genevieve was as nervous as he was about the wedding, which accounted for her strange behavior. They just had to make it through these next weeks, and then they could settle into a life together.

Cade crossed a field and rode up a gradual incline that swooped rapidly down to the small Garrison farm. He drew to a halt at the top of the hill and allowed his mare to drop her head to graze at the grass. He tipped his hat down to shade his eyes and scanned the few scattered buildings in their tight formation. Not immediately seeing anyone, he shrugged and rode down the hill onto the property.

He heard horses in the stable stirring around and chickens clucking in their nearby coop. And a cat meowing.

Cade frowned and tilted his head, straining his hearing. Such a small and weak sound had to mean the cat was sick. Or was it a kitten he heard, the result of a spring litter? His frown eased into a smile. He dismounted and went in search of the mewling, eager to see if he was right and there were kittens around.

Genevieve can bring a kitten with her when she comes to live with me after we’re married. It can keep her company, and we could use another cat on the ranch.

He tracked the soft sounds to a small, old barn he knew the family didn’t use anymore and listened again. Was it really a cat? There was something strange about it. It almost sounded like a person making that noise.

Cade pushed the barn door open and peered into the dark, trying to get his eyes to adjust. A thin layer of old straw covered the dirt floor, and dust hung thickly in the air, obscuring the outlines of hay bales and rusting, broken equipment. One of the shadows shifted, and he started, realizing there was a person back there.

This is not good. Who is that?

“Hello? Who’s there?”

He opened the door wider, and at last, enough sunlight came into the building for him to see the young woman sitting amidst the dirt and dust and moldy hay, the skirt of her dress spread out around her. She clutched something small—a piece of fabric? Paper?—against her chest, bowing her head over it. Cade’s heart started skipping as he took in her slim shape and wavy blonde hair.

“Genevieve?” He stepped into the barn.

Her head lifted, and she gasped out loud at the sight of him. The scrap of whatever she was holding slipped from her grasp and tumbled slowly to her lap like a falling leaf.

Cade stopped where he was. “Lila!” Of course, how could he have mistaken the two?

Genevieve would never wear a plain brown dress like that, and her hair was nowhere near as wavy.

“C-Cade!” Lila scrambled to her feet and wiped at her face with her hands. That was when he saw her tears and realized she had been crying, that she had been making the noise he mistook for kittens.

He pulled out his handkerchief and pressed it into her hands. “What’s wrong, Lila? Why are you in here crying? Are your parents well?”

She held his handkerchief to her face, the scrap still clutched in her fingers. He saw it was paper now, very crumpled up from her holding onto it so tightly. “They’re fine,” she choked out. “But Genevieve is….”

His throat clenched tight, and he grabbed her shoulder, forgetting his manners briefly and not caring about what was polite anyway. “Is she okay?”

Lila sobbed softly into the handkerchief. He stared, waiting for her to speak, every second feeling like forever. At last, she whispered, “She’s gone.”

Cade leaned forward as if he hadn’t heard her, certain that must be the case. What she had said made no sense to him. “What do you mean gone?” His voice rose. “Gone where?”

She can’t mean that Genevieve is dead, can she? No!

Lila held up the crumpled piece of paper. “She…she left this note. She said she’s leaving and doesn’t want anyone to know where she’s going. She said she needs adventure.”

Cade felt like he had been struck by lightning. He could only stand there, absolutely still in every limb. What Lila was saying to him didn’t make any sense at all. Genevieve couldn’t have left. She was going to marry him. She needed adventure? Their life was going to be an adventure they embarked on together!

The barn tilted. He was swaying on his feet. He stumbled over to one of the hay bales and dropped down onto it. Lila stood where she was, wiping her eyes on his handkerchief even though the tears just kept falling.

All the effort he had been going through to try and make Genevieve happy had been for nothing. All the daydreams he’d been having of their life together would never happen. And everyone would know it. Every person in town would hear how Genevieve left him. The baker, the owner of the general goods store, his friends, and even his family would all look at him and see him differently. Worst of all, they would pity him.

“I can’t believe this.” Cade’s voice was hollow. He was hollow. “Can I see that note? I need to read it for myself.”

“No!” Lila exclaimed. The intensity of her response made him look at her, and her cheeks turned bright pink. She said quickly, “She didn’t want anyone else to read it except for me.”

“Fine.” He rubbed his face, too tired suddenly to argue with her.

Whether he liked it or not, this was real. It simply couldn’t be a joke or a bad dream. To believe that was to hide from the truth. He was a man, and he had to face this and everything that came about as a result.

“Did she mention me?” Cade asked.

Lila lowered her head. She whispered, “Yes.”

“Well, what did she say?”

Lila bit her lower lip as she lifted the note. She smoothed out the creased surface, and her sorrowful green eyes tracked the words. Her voice breaking, she read aloud, “‘Tell Cade I’m sorry, but it was never meant to be. I need more than farms and cattle.’”

Tears burned at the backs of his eyes. He closed them and prayed for the tears to go away, but they were still there, hazing his vision when he opened his eyes again.

He pulled in a rough breath and pushed it out slowly, feeling his lungs deflate. “I guess I should let my folks know the wedding’s off. The priest, too.”

“Cade, don’t go.” Lila’s soft fingertips brushed his.

For a moment, he was walking through the town square, holding hands with Genevieve and talking to her about California. He caught a ghost of her deep, purring laugh.

Pain struck him in the heart, and he was bleeding inside. He turned away from Lila and strode out of the barn. His horse shied away from him, but he grabbed her reins, mounted her, and dug his knees into her. She whinnied and burst into a gallop, taking him away from the barn, off the Garrison property, and into the fields where birds and rabbits fled at their approach.

Cade hunched forward over the mare’s neck, tears dripping onto his clenched hands. He was still bleeding inside, and there was nothing to be done for those wounds on his heart. Something inside of him was about to die.

He welcomed that death because he wouldn’t feel anything at all after that. Nothingness was better than the pain.

Chapter One

Willowdale, Kansas

1886

 

Three long, long days, and at last, Lila Garrison could see her destination in the distance, a tiny cluster of buildings she might have taken for a ranch if she hadn’t known it was an entire town. She forced her tired legs to continue carrying her for just a little while longer, though there was no way she could go any faster. This journey had been the hardest thing she’d ever done, and more of her was tired than just her legs. Her back ached. Her feet throbbed. No matter how hard she tried, she could no longer take a full breath due to the tension in her sides and chest.

But I’m almost there, she thought. Almost there. Just another hour.

What drove her on like a whip snapping at her back was the desire for answers. After her older sister, Genevieve, suddenly left home a month before she would be wed, everyone had been left with only questions and no solutions. Genevieve had sent a few letters here and there in the nearly two years since she had gone, though never enough, never with enough information for Lila to learn anything she wanted to learn. No one else knew anything, as Lila was the only one receiving her sister’s letters.

Then, three days ago, she had received a different sort of letter from Genevieve. Rather than vague reassurances penned in a neat, pretty script, these letters were scrawled and almost unreadable. The content had been brief, almost curt. Genevieve was staying at the inn in Willowdale. She needed Lila to come to her. Quickly.

At first, Lila wasn’t even certain how she felt. Surely Genevieve didn’t just expect her to go to her right away after all this time apart? She had felt herself becoming angry, holding the paper so tightly that it tore from the pressure of her fingers.

Then, another thought had broken through the burgeoning anger. Genevieve wasn’t stupid. She had to know what this must look like and decided to send the letter anyway. She must truly be in need if she was risking her independence and adventure by asking Lila to go to her.

After that, there had been no doubt in her mind as to whether or not she would go.

Her parents would never allow her to go on her own. They had never taught her to ride a horse, and they didn’t even allow her to leave the farm on her own anymore, not even to go to the store. It would have been a waste of time to ask, and there had not been any time to waste. In fact, she had worried about being out of time. There was no telling how long ago Genevieve had sent the letter and how long she would wait for Lila to come to her.

If she wasn’t still at the inn….

Lila shoved that thought from her mind. She had to believe that there was a purpose to these long days spent walking, eating, and drinking little to stretch her meager supplies.

At long last, she walked into the town. The narrow, dusty street ran straight through the clustered buildings. She could blink and miss the place; that was how small and dingy it was. Almost every building was made of logs and had a sod roof. Only the bank and the inn had been constructed with actual wooden boards and nails, though they looked as if they might fall down if a particularly strong wind came off the prairie.

As she trudged down the road to the inn, she saw no other people, though she did hear their voices spilling out from inside the houses and businesses along the street. She felt them watching her, wondering why she was there all alone. And there were other eyes upon her, too, glowing cats’ eyes glaring out from the shadows between buildings.

The leaning façade of the inn towered over her as she at last approached the door. She swallowed hard, her stomach swirling with sudden nerves that were very different from the general tight anxiety she had been enduring this entire time. She had gone so long without seeing her sister. Would Genevieve be different? Would she even recognize her when she saw her?

Swallowing hard, Lila pushed the inn door open and stepped inside.

The air was very warm and tinged with the scent of burning from the fire blazing in the hearth. A number of lanterns supplemented the glow of the fire, allowing her to appreciate the tidy space before her. Contrary to its drab exterior, the front room of the inn held very nicely crafted tables and chairs. Animal skins covered the floor, and hanging upon the walls were a few paintings, as well as an elaborate piece of woven fabric that looked like it had been made by someone from one of the nearby Indian tribes.

At one end of the room was a bar counter with shelves of various liquors behind that. Lila’s eyes widened at the collection of bottles and the colors of the liquids inside. She had never known there were so many different kinds. She only knew about wine and the whiskey her father and other men drank.

“Hello?” Lila called out. Her voice was swallowed by the crackling fire. She tried again. “Hello? Is there anyone who works here? Genevieve?”

“I heared you; I’m comin’.” A woman stepped out of the hallway across the room.

Lila blinked in surprise. She had never seen such a rough-looking woman before, one wearing a shirt and pants like a man. This town was much closer to Dodge City, and Lila had heard all sorts of stories about that place, so maybe she shouldn’t be too surprised at this sight.

The woman pulled a cigarette from her pocket and stuck it in the corner of her mouth. “What you doin’ all on your lonesome, girl?”

Lila watched the cigarette bobble up and down as the woman spoke, mildly fascinated. “My sister said that she was here. She sent me a letter. Her name’s—”

“Genevieve. And you’re Lila.” The woman lit the end of her cigarette with a dirty brown lighter. She sighed and leaned her head back, exhaling a stream of smoke from her nostrils. “You done did a fool thing, comin’ out here on your own. I got to admire it, though.”

“Is my sister here?” Lila looked around.

Is anyone here except for you?

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