His Mail Order Bride Was the Prettiest Woman He Ever Laid His Eyes On
Chapter 13
Thomas sat at his desk that night.
The debt papers lay before him.
Eleanor entered.
“You haven’t eaten.”
“I’m not hungry.”
She sat beside him.
“How much?”
“Eight hundred pounds.”
She smiled.
“I have more than that.”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want your money.”
“It isn’t my money.”
“It is.”
“It belongs to me.”
“Yes.”
She looked at him.
“And you are my husband.”
Thomas said nothing.
“I am not buying your ranch.”
“I know.”
“Then let me help.”
He finally looked at her.
“I spent my life believing a man had to solve every problem alone.”
“And?”
“I was wrong.”
She smiled.
“Yes.”
Thomas laughed.
He took her hand.
“Keep your money.”
She frowned.
“What?”
“I have another plan.”
The next morning, Thomas rode to town.
He sold part of the cattle herd.
Then several unused acres.
The debt was paid.
The ranch remained.
Eleanor’s estate remained hers.
They did not need Crowe.
They did not need Ashford.
They had each other.
But there was one final surprise.
Samuel Gray returned to the ranch with another document.
Eleanor opened it.
Her aunt had left her a small estate in the northern valley.
The property included a mill.
A schoolhouse.
And a stone cottage beside a lake.
Eleanor looked at Thomas.
“Do you want it?”
“What?”
“To leave.”
Thomas looked across the ranch.
Then back at her.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because this is home.”
Eleanor smiled.
They kept the property.
They used it to help families who had lost land to Crowe.
Thomas gave several acres to farmers.
Eleanor opened the school.
The ranch became known throughout the valley.
Not as the largest.
Not as the richest.
But as the place where people could begin again.
