Chapter 1 - The Bargain on the Porch
Hannah Reed grabbed her uncle’s sleeve and whispered, “Please don’t sell me.”
Caleb Mercer stepped onto the porch and saw the folded contract in Silas Reed’s hand.
A number had been written beneath Hannah’s name.
Two hundred dollars.
Caleb stopped walking.
This was no marriage proposal.
Hannah had known fear before.
She knew the fear of hearing Silas’s boots outside her bedroom after he had been drinking. She knew the fear of watching winter provisions disappear because her uncle had lost another hand of cards in Miles City. She knew what it was to keep her eyes lowered while grown men discussed debts that had nothing to do with her.
But this was different.
This fear had her name written on it.
“She’s eighteen,” Silas said.
He spoke to Caleb Mercer as if Hannah were not standing six feet away.
“Untouched. Stronger than she looks. Knows bread, chickens, washing, mending. Won’t find a better bargain between here and Miles City.”
Hannah felt heat climb into her face.
Caleb did not answer.
He was taller than Silas by half a head, broad through the shoulders, with a dark beard that looked as if it had been trimmed with a knife rather than scissors. Three children stood near the porch railing behind him.
The oldest boy appeared nine.
The girl might have been seven.
The smallest boy could not have been more than four.
They watched Hannah.
Not like buyers.
Like frightened children trying to understand whether another stranger was about to disappear from their lives.
Caleb finally looked at Silas.
“You told me your niece needed a husband.”
“She does.”
“You didn't tell me you were putting a price on her.”
Silas shrugged.
“Everything costs.”
Hannah swallowed.
The wind moved beneath her shawl.
Silas had brought her here that afternoon without explaining where they were going. He had only ordered her to wear her green dress and comb her hair properly.
Now she understood.
Silas owed money.
And she was how he intended to pay it.
Caleb looked at Hannah.
“Miss Reed.”
She raised her eyes.
“Do you understand what your uncle is asking?”
Silas answered for her.
“She understands enough.”
Caleb never looked away from Hannah.
“I asked her.”
Something in his voice changed the porch.
Silas's smile disappeared.
Hannah tried to speak.
Nothing came.
Then Silas leaned toward her.
“Tell him.”
Her fingers tightened around her shawl.
“I understand he wants me gone.”
Silas cursed beneath his breath.
Caleb's jaw tightened.
“Do you want to marry?”
Hannah almost laughed.
Want.
Nobody had asked what she wanted since her mother died.
“What happens if I say no?”
Silas seized her arm.
“You come home with me.”
The answer came too quickly.
Hannah flinched.
Caleb saw it.
His gaze dropped to Silas's hand.
“Let go.”
Silas hesitated.
Caleb did not raise his voice.
That somehow made it worse.
“I said let go.”
Silas released Hannah.
The oldest Mercer boy moved closer to his father.
Caleb glanced at the children before looking back at Hannah.
“My wife died fourteen months ago,” he said. “Pneumonia.”
Hannah said nothing.
“I need help with the house. That's true. My children need someone steady. That's true too.”
Silas grinned.
“Then we're agreed.”
“No.”
Silas blinked.
Caleb continued.
“I don't need a woman bought into my bed.”
Hannah looked at him sharply.
Silas's face reddened.
“You rode twelve miles to waste my time?”
“I rode here because you said Hannah faced losing her home.”
“She does.”
“And you said two hundred dollars settles your claim against her.”
“It settles plenty.”
Caleb held out his hand.
“Show me the paper.”
Silas gave him the contract.
Caleb read it.
His expression changed halfway down the page.
“What?”
Silas shifted.
“Nothing you need worry about.”
Caleb looked at Hannah.
“Your parents owned land?”
Her breath stopped.
“My father had a homestead.”
Silas spoke quickly.
“Worthless patch.”
“What happened to it?”
“He died.”
“That wasn't my question.”
Silas stepped forward.
“You buying the girl or not?”
Caleb folded the paper.
“I'll pay two hundred.”
Hannah's stomach dropped.
Silas smiled.
Then Caleb finished.
“But she decides whether she comes with me.”
Silas stared at him.
Caleb took a leather purse from inside his coat.
Coins struck the porch table.
Hannah heard every one.
Silas counted them.
“Two hundred.”
Caleb took the contract.
Then he turned to Hannah.
“If you come to my ranch, you'll have your own room.”
She stared.
“I won't touch you without your permission. You won't owe me affection. You won't owe me children. You won't owe me your body because money changed hands.”
Silas scoffed.
“Don't fill her head with nonsense.”
Caleb ignored him.
“You help with the children and household until we decide what comes next. If you want to leave after spring, I'll take you anywhere respectable you choose.”
Hannah looked toward the children.
The little girl had tears in her eyes.
Hannah looked back at Silas.
Her uncle's expression told her exactly what awaited if she returned.
She whispered, “I'll go.”
Silas slapped the table.
“Done.”
Caleb's eyes hardened.
“This isn't your decision.”
“She said yes.”
“To leaving you.”
Silas moved toward him.
For one dangerous second, Hannah thought the men would fight.
Instead Caleb held out his hand.
Silas shook it.
That was the moment Hannah would remember for years.
Not because she had been sold.
Because Caleb Mercer looked at Silas while shaking his hand as if he already knew something Silas did not.
The ride to Mercer Ranch took nearly an hour.
Nobody spoke much.
Hannah rode in the wagon beside the children.
The little girl finally whispered, “Are you our new mama?”
Hannah's throat tightened.
“No.”
The child looked disappointed.
Hannah added gently, “But I can be your friend.”
The girl's name was Lucy.
The older boy was Samuel.
The youngest was Ben.
When they reached the ranch, Hannah expected demands.
Instead Caleb showed her a small upstairs bedroom.
There was a bed.
A washstand.
A window facing the mountains.
And a lock on the inside of the door.
Caleb placed the key in her palm.
“For you.”
Hannah stared at it.
“Why?”
“So you know nobody enters unless you allow it.”
That nearly broke her.
She turned away before he could see.
After supper, the children went to bed.
Caleb found Hannah sitting alone at the kitchen table.
He carried something beneath his arm.
A wooden box.
Old.
Scarred.
Locked.
He placed it in front of her.
“What is this?”
“Something your father left behind.”
Hannah stopped breathing.
“My father?”
Caleb nodded.
“I knew him.”
She stood so quickly the chair scraped backward.
“You knew my father?”
“Not well. But well enough.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because your uncle was listening.”
Hannah stared at the box.
“What's inside?”
“Proof.”
“Of what?”
Caleb looked toward the dark window.
Then toward the stairs where his children slept.
“Your uncle didn't sell you to me because he was poor.”
Hannah's skin went cold.
Caleb reached into his pocket.
He placed a small brass key on the table.
Before Hannah could touch it, hoofbeats sounded outside.
Fast.
Too fast for a neighbor.
Caleb extinguished the lamp.
Someone rode into the yard.
Then a fist struck the front door.
Three times.
A man's voice came through the wood.
“Caleb Mercer! Open up!”
Caleb went still.
Hannah recognized the voice.
May you like
It was her uncle.
But Silas had not come alone.
