

LEAH WYETT

Mail Order Bride: Blinded By Love

Brides of the West: Book One

~~~

Smashwords Edition

Copyright

**©** 2014 by Leah Wyett

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

First Printing, 2014

Dedication

To YOU, The reader.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your emails.

Thank you for your reviews.

Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Recommended Reads

**Chapter One**

**June 14** th **1870**

Erie County, Ohio

Hazel wandered across the docks, waiting for her father to finish loading the grain onto their wagon. She had been hoping to get a new book today but she didn't see the _Mighty Dragon_ anywhere. That was the name of the boat that shipped books from New York. The old captain always gave Hazel a book when he saw her and she was currently out of anything to read. There wasn't a single bookstore in the town where she lived. Hazel often thought she must have been destined to be born in a different time, or in a different place at least. A place where there were more books....As she walked, her foot brushed across an old newspaper as it blew up on the pier. She bent down to pick it up, thinking that reading the news might be better than reading nothing at all.

When she reached to pick it up, the paper blew away in her hands, leaving nothing behind but the classified advertisement section. She raised an eyebrow as she read the post at the top, which said:

Matrimonial Ads: Cost to post as follows: Gentlemen pay $.25 for forty word advertisements. Ladies will be given forty words free of charge. Any advertisements over forty words will be charged at a rate of a penny per word.

Hazel had never heard of anything like this. People advertise for marriage? Her curiosity was piqued. She sat down on a crate and read on:

Although this periodical is not in any way responsible for the willful misrepresentation of one's self for matrimonial purposes, if informed that is the case, your article will be stricken from publication and a refund will not be forthcoming.

Hazel wasn't sure what misrepresentation meant, but it didn't sound good. She read the first article under the heading. It said:

A young gentleman, 26 years of age. Handsome and responsible. Untarnished reputation. Possesses a loving heart. Recent passing of my dear father of only 46 years of age has left me sole owner of the largest cattle ranch in Texas. I am with much wealth and means. However, I am without a loving soul to share it with. I am hoping to find a woman of simple purity and devoted love. I prefer a girl between the ages of 18 and 24. Looks are not so important as long as she is not overly large or thin like a stick. I would like to correspond for an ample time to assure that, as husband and wife, we would be compatible and happy for life. Please do not inquire if you are in a hurry, I like to take things slow and steady. Please address in strictest confidence stating age and enclose cabinet card.

Hazel was intrigued. She knew very little about love and marriage, having been somewhat sheltered by her parents, but as an avid reader and possessor of a fantastic imagination, she was afflicted by a malady her mother called "magical thinking". She wondered now if fate had blown that paper under her feet, and placed this young man's ad in a prominent position for her to see.

"Hazel! Let's git !" Her father was calling her. Hazel tucked the paper into her bosom and ran to where her father waited.

***********

**July 22** nd

"What are you reading?" Laura asked her sister, Hazel. Laura had been sitting peacefully in the porch swing before her sister had found her.

Hazel flashed the cover of the book at Laura. She had gone back to the docks with her father the following week and the old Captain had given her a new book.

"Twenty—Thousand—Leagues—Under—The—Sea...What's it about?" Laura asked her. Laura just turned ten a few weeks before. She was the most curious person Hazel had ever met. Their mother told her all the time that she was so curious she should have been a cat.

"It's about a man named Captain Nemo and his submarine." Hazel said.

"What's a submarine?" Laura said. Hazel sighed and put the book aside. She wasn't going to get any more reading done today. Her little sister said "Who, What, and Why" more times a day than Hazel cared to count.

"You can read the book when I'm finished and find out." Hazel told her. She kept encouraging her little sister to read, telling her that it was the best way to satisfy a burning curiosity. "Do you want to go swimming?"

"Yes!" Laura's face lit up. She loved going down to the canal and swinging off the rope their daddy had tied to the big, old eucalyptus tree. "I'll put on my bathing suit." She took off running in the house before Hazel could reply.

"Tell Mama where we're going." she yelled after her as the screen door slammed shut. Hazel heard the whinny of a horse then and looked down the long dirt road that led to their house. She could see her father riding in with a dust cloud rising behind him. Hazel got up and stood at the banister of the porch. She watched her father approach and she wondered if he had gone to the post office when he was in town, and if he did, if he had a letter for her...She also wondered if he had already read it.

Hazel's father, Hal Morgan, couldn't just simply be described as a large man, or a big man, or even a giant man. A person needed to use words like humongous or gargantuan to describe him. He stood six foot seven in his stocking feet and one of his hands could hold four of a normal sized person's. He wasn't fat in any way, but he was kept from being thin by the muscles in his chest, back, and arms, which he had earned from years of hard work on their wheat farm. Hal was a simple man. He loved his land, his wife, his daughters, and God, not necessarily in that order. He had loved his country before it claimed the life of his son. Hazel wasn't sure if he still did. Everything else that came along in life, he considered either a bonus or a luxury depending on whether or not he had to pay for it. Hazel watched him take the burlap grocery bag out of the leather saddlebag, and she continued to watch as he pulled a handful of mail out of the other flap. She held her breath as he tied the horse to the hitching post next to the water trough and then stepped up on the porch.

"Hi, Pa." she said.

"Hazel," he said. She knew she must have gotten a letter, and he must have read it. Pa had called her "Punkin'' every day of her life...unless he was angry with her, or disappointed. "You got some mail." he said.

Hazel tried to keep the excitement off her face and out of her voice as she said, "Really?"

Her father looked at her long and hard and then he said, "Does Ma know about this?"

She thought briefly about saying, _"About what?"_ but playing dumb would only serve to make him angrier. "Yes, sir." she said, looking down at the ground. Her mother hadn't been overjoyed about it when she had found out. Ma had picked up the first letter and although she hadn't read it as Pa had this one, she had a lot of questions. Hazel answered them as honestly as she could. She was grown, and she had no desire or intentions to stay in Erie County, Ohio for the rest of her life.

She did understand Ma's emotional response, however. She had lost Hazel's older brother to the war six years earlier. When Hazel told her that she had answered an intriguing ad in the Matrimonial News from a man in Texas, she had cried and said,

"I'm losing another child." Hazel had thought. _And she calls me dramatic._

"You're not losing me, Ma." Hazel had told her. "Maybe he won't even write back."

Harriett Morgan had looked at her daughter then and said, "If you send a photo of yourself, he'll write back." Hazel wasn't as sold on her looks as her mother was. She found herself rather plain with dark hair that was so curly, the slightest moisture turned it to frizz and eyes that she thought were way too green. Hazel took that statement as permission, and her mother was right. The first letter she received from Heath had come back to her only three weeks after the first time she had written to answer his advertisement.

She had written a simple letter, more of a note really, saying:

Hello, my name is Hazel Lynn Morgan and I am seventeen years old. I am very close to eighteen. I live with my parents and my younger sister in Erie County, Ohio. I found your ad and was intrigued. I love to read, anything. Mostly adventure novels, but letters will do also. I enclosed a photograph so that you may decide if you find me attractive enough to continue correspondence.

Thank you,

Hazel

"Look at me, Hazel." her father said. Hazel looked up and he said, "Is this really what you want to do, Punkin'? Are you ready to leave your family and go almost two thousand miles away to start your own family with a complete stranger?"

Hazel shrugged. "I'm not sure yet, Pa. That's what the letters are for, so I can get to know him and him me. Neither of us are interested in rushing anything."

"I don't think I care for it." Pa said. He wasn't much of a talker. He said what he needed to say when he needed to say it. Leaving it at that and not giving her the letter, he stepped around her and went into the house. Laura was running out as he went in. Luckily, she missed running into him, it would have been like hitting into a tree for the skinny, little ten year old.

"Hello, Pa! Hazel's takin' me swimmin'" Laura said.

"Okay, squirt. You watch for boats and the lake monster." Pa said with a grin.

"Oh, Pa! I'm too big now to believe in Lake Monsters." she told him. It was a game he played with them all from the time they were big enough to swim in the lake until they got old enough to no longer believe in magical creatures. Pa looked at Hazel sadly as he held open the screen door and said, "I know, baby. You've both gotten so big lately." Hazel felt a twinge of guilt as he turned and walked away.

"Are you ready?" Laura asked her big sister. Hazel sighed. She would have liked to have taken the letter with her to read while Laura swam, but she wasn't going to ask her father for it. Hopefully, he would give it to her after he talked it over with Ma. She wished that her mother had gone for the mail like she did last month.

"Yeah, I'm ready." she told her sister. Laura was off like a shot down the path that led to the lake and Hazel trudged after her.

Hazel and her family lived along the Erie Canal on the outskirts of Erie County, Ohio. She hadn't been born yet when the canal was built, but her father liked to tell stories about the big boat parade they had held from Ohio to New York the day it was opened. He told her that people called it "the eighth wonder of the world". When she was little, she got to go with Pa on a boat to New York once. It had been a miserable trip because she had gotten seasick and it had been freezing cold, but the time alone with her father had been priceless. Hazel was the middle child and competing for her father's attention was a constant battle growing up.

She remembered the day Mama had read her brother, Billy's, name on the death rolls. Her mother had howled like a wounded animal, and Hazel had cried for three days. She wasn't the middle child any longer. She didn't have a big brother anymore. Every time she would stop, she would remember the time she had told her father that they had "too many children". When he'd asked her who she thought they should get rid of, she wanted to say Laura. The baby hadn't been a year old yet though so fearing a whoopin' she had said Billy. Now, Billy really was gone and she felt like it was her fault for being so selfish. As Laura swam, she sat under a tree and read her book for an hour or two until Laura got hungry. She tried to put the letter that Pa had taken out of her mind for now. There was pretty much nothing that Hazel loved to do more than read. When she was ten, her father had taken her down to the docks with him one day. She had been there when the boat from New York had come in with a whole shipment of new books. The captain of the boat had given her the first book she ever owned, it was called _Five Weeks in a Balloon_ and it was about a hot air balloon trip across Africa. She had gotten her first taste for adventure and because she lived on a farm in Ohio, where nothing ever happened, she had to feed her growing desire for more with books.

When the girls got back to the house, Hazel didn't see her father anywhere. She found her mother in the kitchen making lunch and she sat down at the table.

"Ma..., is Pa going to keep my letter?"

Harriet turned around to look at her oldest daughter. She wiped her hands on her apron and then reached into the pocket of it and pulled out an envelope. Before sitting it in front of her daughter on the table, she said,

"Your father is just afraid of losing you, and he's afraid of you being hurt. He loves you very much." Hazel wanted to snatch up the letter and run outside, but she didn't.

She looked at her mother and said, "This isn't about wanting to leave you and Pa, and I love you both very much as well. It's about growing old and dying before I ever get to see any part of this amazing land that we live in, Ma. Life here is so boring, it seems that time hardly progresses at all."

"You think this man can help you with that?" Harriett asked her. "You want to get married so that you can travel?

"He says he will, Ma. He even said we can go to Africa someday. But, no, I want to be in love, too. Why can't I have both?"

Harriett wrinkled her nose. She wasn't so sure that this man wasn't feeding her pretty, young daughter a line of bull.

She put her hand back on the letter and said, "Just be sure, Hazel. Be very sure before you change your whole life."

"I will, Mama." Hazel said. When her mother took her hand off the letter, Hazel smiled and said, "Thank you, Mama." Then she grabbed it and before she ran outside to read it, she gave her mother a kiss on the cheek.

This was Hazel's second letter from Heath. He was the twenty-six year old cattle rancher from Texas. She had written to him that same day she found the paper. She just hadn't been able to get the idea that fate had sent her the paper out of her head. The next time she got to go to town, she mailed it and she hadn't thought much about it again. She told herself that no matter what he said about taking his time, he was more likely to respond to a marriage-minded woman. She also thought that he would probably prefer a woman of at least a little means of her own. The day Mama had brought the first letter home from town, Hazel had been surprised and ecstatic. Ma, on the other hand, had been upset that Hazel hadn't discussed it with her before doing it.

When her mother had stopped crying, Hazel had told her, "I'm going to be eighteen in a couple of months, Ma. I have to start thinking about what I'll do with my life. The thought of marrying Bobby Hayes and living in Ohio forever with a name like Hazel Hayes makes me want to kill myself."

"Hazel, don't be so dramatic." Her mother had told her. Now look who was talking drama. Bobby was their closest neighbor's boy, born about two months before Hazel. Their parents were friends and had always assumed as their children grew up that they would end up together. Hazel had no interest in Bobby, however. He would be content to stay right here in Erie County the rest of his life, and that thought really did make her want to kill herself.

Her mother had made her read Heath's first letter in front of her. Like hers, it had been a simple note, an introduction:

Dear Hazel,

I was pleased to get your letter in response to my ad. I received several responses, but yours I must say was the most pleasant. Your cabinet card shows you also as a very attractive young lady, if you don't mind my saying so. Like I said in my ad, I am twenty-six and the owner of a cattle ranch in Texas. I am hoping to find a woman who I feel a connection with and find myself to have a commonality with as well. I hope that woman might be you. I will eagerly await your response.

Sincerely,

Heath Key

Hazel looked around for her father before she sat down on the porch with this newest letter. He was still nowhere in sight. She sat down and hurriedly pulled out the already open letter. The fact that Pa read it didn't upset her. She knew he was only worried about protecting her. That was his job after all, as he had told her a thousand times. She took a deep breath and read the letter:

Dear Hazel,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well. I have found it difficult to do anything except wait impatiently for your next letter. I don't know if I ever believed in fate or even true love before but each time I look at your picture, I feel like I'm looking at my future. I hope that doesn't sound like too much for a second letter, but I would like to keep with being honest with you.

I am leaving tomorrow for a trip to Mexico. I am trying to buy another thousand head of longhorn cattle from a man in Mexico who has to get rid of them. I may have to make two trips as they say they can only round up five hundred at a time. After we herd them back, it will then require months of active work from me and my ranch hand's to get them branded and released out to graze. I wanted to let you know this, in case there was a longer delay between your next letter and mine. I didn't want you to give up on me, thinking that I had lost interest. I can't imagine that ever happening.

I apologize for the continued lack of a photograph on my part. I can tell you that I have black hair and brown eyes. I am tall, over six foot and I am not fat nor am I overly thin. I have muscles from hard work. I have run into difficulty with getting an appointment with the photographer in Browning. I will have one by the next letter, even if I have to go to Lubbock and get it done.

_So, you like to read adventure stories? This makes me wish that my letters were more adventurous, in hopes of keeping you hooked. I like to read, too, everything I can get my hands on. I've been an avid reader since the age of four. When I send the next letter, perhaps I will tell you about my trip to Mexico. Hopefully something exciting will happen for me to relay, or I suppose I could tell you about my most recent brush with cattle rustlers. It got downright ugly though,_ _and I am not sure that it's an appropriate topic to discuss with a lady. Maybe you can offer me more insight into that. My mother was the only real lady I ever knew. She schooled me in reading and writing and I had a male tutor for arithmetic. We have some ladies in town, of course. I usually only see them at church these days because my mother was called home to Heaven and I wouldn't dare think about telling the church ladies about chasin' rustlers. So you tell me if that's something you would like to hear about or not._

In the meantime, please tell me more about yourself, dear Hazel. I can't wait to know everything about you. I know you say your town is boring, but the thought of having a canal that practically runs through your backyard with ships coming and going from the Lake Erie and going all the way to the Hudson in New York does seem a little exciting to me. I can't imagine all of the interesting people that would have to bring into your cozy little town.

I hope to know all there is to know about you, as I have decided to only correspond with you for I am sure that I have found The One. Again, I am new at this, so I hope it wasn't too soon to say that.

God be with you and your family.

Most Sincerely,

Heath

Hazel re-read the part about how he thought he had found "The One" over and over. It made her belly tickle. It was a feeling that she had never experienced before, and she liked it. Hazel and her sister were home schooled by her mother. The school in town was too far for them to walk to and from every day and more often than not, their father would be out working and unable to take or pick them up. Pa preferred it that way anyway. He worried about the girls constantly, more so since Billy died.

**Chapter Two**

OUTSIDE BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS

KEY RANCH

**August 1** st

Heath had just sat down at the table to eat his breakfast when Sally, the new housemaid, came in. Greta, his old housemaid, called her "the junior."

"Excuse me, Mr. Heath." she said, with her eyes cast down to the floor. "Mr. Lee wanted me to give you this letter. He said you'd be wanting it right away." Mr. Lee was his houseman and if it weren't for him, Heath doubted the house would run at all.

Heath did want it indeed. He had told Lee to notify him the second any letter from Hazel arrived. "Thank you, Sally." he told her. Sally laid the letter in front of him and with a quick curtsy, she tried to scurry away. "Sally..." he called after her. The girl turned back toward him, but still didn't look at his face. "If working here is going to be too difficult, I'm sure that I could manage to place you with one of the other families in town." Heath wasn't trying to threaten the girl; he really was concerned for the comfort of his staff. He wouldn't blame her and she wouldn't be the first if that was the case.

She looked him in the eye then. He saw the subconscious flinch that he had long since grown accustomed to when she did.

"Oh, no, sir. I'm sorry if it seems that way." she said, forcing herself to look at him the entire time. "You are so kind and generous to your staff. I would be honored and I'll try so much harder if you allow me to stay."

Heath smiled. He usually tried not to because he knew that made the condition of his face look that much worse. "You're doing fine, Sally." he told her. "I was only concerned about your comfort."

"Thank you, Mr. Heath." she said. Then she left him alone with his letter. Heath forgot about his breakfast and went into the parlor to read it. He sat in the comfortable chair by the window. The same chair that his mother used to sit in when she read to him every night when he was a boy. He opened the letter and read:

Dear Heath,

I cannot tell you how pleased I was to receive your letter. I would love to have a photograph of you, but what you look like is not as important to me as who you are. I think it's better this way to learn about each other through these letters. It gives us a chance to see the other person's heart, rather than a brown pair of eyes or black hair or a nice smile, which I am sure that you have.

I have to tell you that my ma and pa have some concerns about me writing to you with the hopes that someday we will be married. I assume that is a normal reaction for parents who are thinking about their children leaving home. My pa is especially protective, which is, in part, why I feel so confined here in this little corner of the world. Also, my brother, Billy, was killed in the war when he was only eighteen. He would be twenty-four next month if he had lived, and losing him was the hardest thing my parents had ever gone through they say. I can imagine if it hurt my heart so badly to lose my brother, how much it would have hurt theirs to lose a son. So if ever I don't write back, I'd like you to know now that it's not about you, but about my family situation. I am hoping that with time they will understand what I already do. I believe strongly that fate sent that paper and your ad to me. I can feel our souls mingling already, waiting for our humanly bodies to meet. I hope that doesn't sound too silly or little girl like. I just don't know how else to describe it. My mother says I "suffer" from magical thinking. I'm not sure I would call it suffering, however.

_As far as myself, I will tell you what there is to know (which isn't much). I was born Hazel Lynn Morgan to Irish immigrant parents on August 15_ th _in 1852, right here in Erie County, Ohio. I had one older brother, William Reese Morgan, who died on May 8, 1864 at the battle of Spotsylvania in Virginia. He was an enlisted man in the Union Army and he died a hero, rescuing his commanding officer. I loved him very much and I miss him terribly. I have a little sister. Her name is Laura Harriett Morgan and she's ten. She's a lot of fun to be around, all sunshine and smiles most of the time. She only annoys me when I read and she won't stop asking questions. She is a curious one._

I grew up on a farm. My pa grows wheat and pumpkins. That sounds like an odd combination, but the pumpkins are only for the contest he enters at Harvest Festival every year. Pa has a partner who lives on the farm that borders ours. The family's name is O'Donnell. They came from Ireland about the same time as my parents and they all moved here from New York before any of us children were born. They have a boy about my age, who everyone always thought I would marry. Unfortunately, I have no more feelings toward Bobby O'Donnell than I would a fly that I shoo away from my book, and Bobby has no more than that for me. The most unfortunate part is that I don't believe Bobby has those feelings for anyone. He's a strange sort.

I was home-schooled with my brother and then my sister by my ma, and my family has always attended the First Presbyterian Church of Ohio. My pa is a quiet, God-fearing man, but he doesn't fear much else. I don't think I've ever seen him scared in seventeen years of life. My ma is the best example of a mother I can think of and for the most part, our family is happy, albeit with a hole in us now that Billy is gone.

You asked if a man should speak to a "lady" about cattle rustling so I wanted to tell you a couple of things. First of all, I hope to someday be a lady like my ma is. She is gentle and kind and she cares a whole lot more about others than she does herself. For now though, I'm still a work in progress and I hope that it doesn't count against me for you to know that I would love to hear a story about cattle rustlers. Like I said in my previous letter, I love to read about adventure.

I have to go now, it's harvest season and that's when Pa needs help the most. If I don't get out to the field, he'll be looking for me and then likely to be reading my letter and censoring it before I get it to the mail. (Smiles, sort of)

I hope you are well and stay well, Heath.

Most Sincerely,

Hazel Morgan

Heath read the letter three times. He smiled each time he got to the part where she said she "hoped it doesn't count against me" about wanting to hear a cattle rustler story. He thought that made her sound more interesting, and cute. He put the letter down and went to get his pen and ink and stationary. If she wanted to hear a story, then he would tell her one. He still hadn't yet figured out what to do about the picture. He had intended to tell her the truth, and her words about looks not making a difference were encouraging to him, but he had yet to find the courage. Maybe after he wrote the letter he would go into town...Or maybe he would just find John.

***********

ERIE COUNTY, OHIO

**AUGUST 14** TH

"But Pa, I don't want to go to the dance with Bobby. Tomorrow is my birthday, you know."

Hal Morgan was exasperated with his daughter. Hazel had always been dreamy and Hal had accepted that she wasn't like the other children. She expected more out of life because of her dreams and the things she read in her books.

"Hazel, I'm not asking you to marry the boy. I'm only asking you to go to the harvest dance with him." His parents expected Bobby to take her and Hal Morgan didn't want to look bad to his partner.

"Pa, he's strange and I don't like him."

"Hazel Morgan! We don't say that we don't like our neighbors. The O'Donnell's have been very good friends to us for many years."

"I didn't say I don't like the O'Donnell's, Pa, just Bobby." Hal sighed. The sad part was that Hazel was right, he was strange. If he had been anyone else, Hal wouldn't be pushing for her to go.

"It's one dance, Hazel. Please, go to the dance and be nice for one evening. Then, I will promise to leave you alone about Bobby O'Donnell from now on."

"About everything, Pa? You won't expect me to marry him any longer?"

"Yes, Hazel, about everything." he promised. He didn't tell her, but he had always hoped that she would refuse to marry the strange boy in the end. He wasn't sure what kind of grandchildren Bobby would have given him.

"Okay, I'll go to the dance." she said.

"Thank you, Hazel." her pa said. "Do you want to come into town with me and I'll buy you a new dress?" He was feeling guilty now about making her go.

Hazel didn't really care to have a new dress, but going into town would mean being able to go by the post office and seeing if there was a letter there from Heath. It seemed it was all she looked forward to anymore.

"Okay, Pa." she agreed.

"Go on and get the list of things your ma needs from the general store and I'll hitch the team."

When Hazel found her mother, she said, "I'm going into town with Pa for a new dress for the dance tomorrow. Do you have a list of what you need, Ma?"

Harriett looked at her daughter suspiciously. "You agreed to the dance?"

Hazel shrugged. "I didn't have much choice. Pa had his heart set on it. I guess it would embarrass him to Mr. O'Donnell if I told Bobby no."

"And while you're in town buying a new dress, might you also be going by the post office?"

"Well, Miss Becky's store is right there next to it, Ma. I don't mind going in for you if you'd like me to." Hazel said with a sly grin.

Harriett sighed. "You like this man a lot, don't you?" she said.

"I really do, Ma." Hazel said. "It's a lot about the opportunity to get out of this place. But it's also about him. He seems so kind and genuine. You've read the letters, don't you think so?"

Harriett smiled at her daughter and said, "I hope so, dear. For your sake, I really do."

***********

Hazel and her pa made small talk on the way to town. They went to the general store together and got the things her ma needed. Hazel noticed that some of it was the ingredients her ma use to make Hazel's favorite lemon cake. She must be making it for her birthday. Pa had to go to the hardware store so he gave Hazel the money for her dress and told her to go on over to Miss Becky's and pick out her dress. Hazel took the money and sweetly thanked her pa before heading down the street. She looked over her shoulder and made sure that he had gone inside the hardware store before she slipped into the post office.

"Hi, Mr. Jenkins." she said to the postmaster.

"Why, Hazel Morgan, I haven't seen you around here for a while. I do see your name on a lot of letters though." The postmaster was a nosy sort, and he liked to gossip. Sarah didn't care to give him any more information than was absolutely necessary.

"Yes, sir. It's nice to see you. My pa is waiting for me though so if you wouldn't mind, I'd like to pick up our mail."

"Of course." he said, going into the back. He came out a few minutes later with several envelopes. "Another one from Texas." he said.

Hazel smiled but tried not to look too excited as she said, "Oh, good, my cousin wrote back."

"Oh...It's your cousin." he said. "I'm glad. I was worried that you got caught up in all of that mail order bride nonsense that goes on out there in the west."

"No, sir." she lied again. "Just my cousin." She hoped he didn't talk to her pa...At least for a while.

He handed her the letters finally and she thanked him and left. She looked down the street again, hoping her pa was still in the hardware store. She was relieved that she didn't see him as she slipped into the dress shop. By the time her pa caught up with her, she was just paying for the green dress she'd bought. Her ma always told her that with her dark hair and green eyes that green was her color.

"Have everything you need, Hazel?" he asked her, after saying hello to Miss Becky.

"Yes, Pa." she said. He waited until they were back up on the buckboard to say,

"Was there any mail for me and your ma, or was it all for you today?"

Abashed, Hazel said, "Yes, sir. There was a letter from Aunt Louise and another letter for you."

Her father gave her a sideways look. He didn't look mad, but she wasn't sure how to interpret the look. At last, he said, "Tomorrow, you're going to be eighteen. Your ma and I have talked about this, and if corresponding with that rancher in Texas is what you want to do, then we ain't gonna put a stop to it. But eighteen or not, if and when you decide to go out there, I'm coming with you to meet him."

Hazel thought about poor Heath having to face her giant of a father and cringed. For now, Pa was giving her carte blanche with her letters and she was willing to take what she could get.

"Thank you, Pa." she said with a smile. "You and Ma trusting me to make my own decisions means an awful lot to me."

"I still don't like it none." he said. The rest of the ride home was silent. Hal was thinking about how soon it would be before his little girl was taken away from him, and Hazel couldn't think about anything else except the letter in her pocket.

Hazel thought she was going to combust by the time they got home and she was able to get alone for five minutes and read her letter. First, she had to help Pa unload everything, and then she had to help Ma put it away. Then, of course, Ma wanted to see her new dress and Laura had a million questions about the dress and the dance...Finally, about an hour before dinner time, she was able to sneak out back with her letter and sit under the old willow tree and open her letter. When she did, a little cabinet card fell out. It was a photo of a very handsome young man with black hair that came just to his shoulders. He had a mustache in the picture but his description hadn't said anything about a mustache so Hazel thought it must be old or new. He told her his eyes are brown. In the picture, of course, there was no way to tell except that they looked dark...It was a very handsome picture, but something about it gave Hazel a strange feeling. She felt like she was looking at a stranger, yet Heath no longer felt like a stranger to her...She told herself that once again, her imagination was working overtime. She opened the letter and read:

My dearest Hazel,

I was overjoyed to receive your last letter. I fear I have worn it out by reading it over and over again. I want to start this one out by wishing you the happiest of birthdays. I have sent a package that I hope you will accept. Just a small token of my affections and a promise of my intentions to spend the rest of your birthdays with you, eating cake and toasting to your good health from the next one to eternity. I've begun to imagine a life with you, dear Hazel, and I have come to be unable to imagine it without you. I don't mean to cause you to blush so I will stop there with the mushy stuff and go on to tell you a tale of cattle rustlers as promised.

My ranch hands and I noticed several months ago that when we were out on the pasture, the cattle did not appear to be as plentiful as they should. We checked the fences, hoping to find one broken, which would mean that perhaps they had wondered away. We didn't find any fences down, however, so we came to the conclusion that the cattle were being taken.

That night, two of my men and I camped out on the edge of my ranch. It was on the edge of the property where they would most likely be entering from and herding the cattle away from. We sat quietly in the dark, our guns ready. It was cold but we didn't dare risk a campfire that could be seen or smelled. The rustlers, however, weren't quite that smart, or resilient. I could see puffs of smoke coming from a secluded area near the river. Leaving my man to look out in our spot, I went to take a look. I eased up to a point where I could observe but not be seen. I saw two men, watering their horses. The puffs of smoke I had seen were not from a campfire but from cigars they must have gotten in Mexico because they were the fattest ones I had ever seen. The cattle, my cattle, were waist deep in the river.

I went back to tell my man, John, what was going on and make a plan. John said, "I will circle around and Indian up on them from the rear." Indian up means to sneak. I don't know if you ever met an Indian but they are a sneaky people.

I was to go around the front, that way they would be trapped between us. I checked the loads in my pistol. I was worried there would be a killing that night, and I didn't want it to be me.

John mounted his horse and settled the shotgun across the front of his saddle. He went around behind them at a wide angle. I have to admit to you, dear Hazel, that at this time, I was filled with self-doubt. I had never been in a gun battle, nor had I ever hunted a man. I waited the amount of time that John and I had agreed upon before I went in, the whole time worrying over it like a dog would a bone. I called on my faith in the Lord and I called on the spirits of my parents to look after me. It wasn't so much my life that I was praying for, although that was a consideration, it was that I myself didn't have to take a life. I felt calm after that, I think my father was with me. I mounted my horse and I trotted her around to the front and that's when all hell broke loose.

I thought when they pulled their guns that they had seen me and I pulled my pistol at once. But then I heard a rustle in front of me and realized that it was a bobcat that had captured their attention. John took that opportunity to aim the shotgun at their backs while I had mine trained on their fronts. One of them had pulled out his own gun, but was still too focused on that cat to notice me or John.

The cat suddenly realized he was outnumbered I think and took off. That's when the second man laid eyes on me. He went for his gun and the firing commenced. I was still on my horse and when I fired my big colt. It bucked in my hand. The noise was like that of a cannon and made me lose the ability to hear for a moment. A cloud of smoke that had belched from the gun cleared and I realized then that I had missed my first shot. One of his shots got my horse though. Poor thing buckled under me and by some small miracle, I managed to roll and keep a hold on my gun. I stood up, and was able to take steady aim that time. That round caught the rustler in the arm, causing him to fall back. He got up and tried to run. I hope that this next sentence doesn't make you see me as a cowardly cowboy, but instead of taking the kill shot, I aimed for his leg and got it.

Needless to say, it was a long night. These boys had to be watched all night, one so he didn't run and the other so he didn't bleed to death. We got 'em to the sheriff the next morning with the only death being of my horse. She was a good mare and I hated to lose her but I made myself believe that it was a quick, painless death.

So, my sweet Hazel, that is my rustler story. I have many more that I will reserve for when you're at my side and we are snuggled alongside a fire drinking tea.

I'm sure, by now, you have found the cabinet card that I enclosed. I hope you find me pleasant to look upon. The mustache was a whim but is gone now. I look at our moon here in Texas at night, Hazel, and it makes my heart glad to know that at least we share that. So tonight, when you look at the moon, know that I am looking at it as well, and thinking of you.

I hope you enjoy your birthday, my sweet Hazel, and I hope you enjoy the gift I have sent. I will count the hours until I receive your next letter and I hope that this all finds you well.

Eternally,

Heath.

Hazel re-read the letter three times. She enjoyed the story, it was exciting and it also showed her that he was a man with a conscience. He'd had the option to kill and he hadn't taken it. She also liked that he remembered it was her birthday. She couldn't believe he had sent her a present. She hadn't gotten a present from a boy before, unless you counted Pa's and brothers. She didn't know how her parents would feel about him sending her a gift, and the postmaster was bound to have a field day with it. She supposed that she would find out how everyone felt when the package arrived. Something was bothering her still about the photo. She looked at it again. She just didn't see the man that she'd come to know as Heath in his eyes....

**Chapter Three**

KEYS RANCH

BROWNSVILLE, TX

September 18th

"You're in an awfully foul mood today." John said to Heath. He had been slamming things around all morning, snapping and the staff and barking at John.

Heath only glared at him and continued what he was doing, which was cleaning and oiling his Colt.

"You haven't got a letter back lately, is that the problem?"

"It's been over a month." Heath told him.

"Maybe she's just been busy." John told him.

"Maybe she knew the picture wasn't me. Maybe she could tell." Heath said, sitting the gun down on the desk and looking up at his ranch foreman and friend.

"How would she know?" John said.

"I don't know, but I can't think of another reason for her to not write by now. Unless she's ill." he said. "Do you think she is ill?"

John laughed. "You're a wreck over this little girl, Heath."

"She's not a little girl!" he snapped. "She turned eighteen over a month ago. She's a woman."

"Then what keeps you from bringing her here and making her your wife?" John asked him.

Heath gave him a look that said he already knew. It was the elephant in the room and there was no reason to talk about it. Heath was about to say something else when Sally interrupted. She had finally learned to look at him without flinching and today, she looked him in the eye and smiled.

"Mr. Lee just got back with the mail, sir." Heath jumped out of his seat and he was smiling too.

"It came?"

"Yes, sir." she said with a grin. She held out the letter. Heath took it from her and then surprised them all by grabbing her by the shoulders and kissing her cheek.

Oh, dear. Sally, I'm so sorry. I lost my head." She smiled again. "It's okay, sir. I know how happy the letters make you. Excuse me, please."

He yelled, "Thank you, Sally!" as she left the room and then he turned to John, who was grinning broadly.

"I told you, you worry too much." John stood up then and said, "I have work to do, I'll leave you to your letter." John had some of his own to write but hadn't found the enthusiasm.

Heath was still smiling when John left. He took his tea to his favorite chair and as he sat down, he ran the envelope under his nose. He knew it had gone through many hands to get to him since it left hers, but he liked to close his eyes and imagine that he could smell her delicate scent. He slipped the flap of the envelope open then, unfolded it, and read,

My dearest Heath,

Please forgive the tardiness of my reply to your most recent letter and photo, and your incredibly thoughtful gift. My father took ill just after my birthday and I was left to do much work around the farm. Pa has recovered nicely, however, and I am slowly being relieved of my extra duties. Today is the first time I've had the time to write.

Let me say first of all, that the book you sent me was absolutely lovely, and My First Love was such an appropriate title. I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I am savoring it for a moment when I'm alone, and I promise to think of you with each passage I read. I am touched, and honored that you would have seen this book and thought of me. My ma made me a lemon cake for my birthday, it's my favorite. Hopefully, next year, we can share one.

I hope things are well in Texas and your herds are growing and the rustlers are laying low. I really enjoyed the story about the rustlers and will hope for more in the future. Things are much the same here in boring Ohio. The night of my birthday, I went to a dance in town. I was asked by my father to go with the neighbor boy, Bobby. Although I didn't want to, I did it for Pa. We didn't dance at all and Bobby was as weird as he always is. But I'm glad I went because Pa also promised me if I went with him, he would leave me be about writing and receiving these letters. So far, he has done well with that promise. He was, however, very ill for quite some time. The other thing he did say that I should share with you is that when you and I finally meet, he will be there. This is not to frighten you at all, but as a warning so you will be prepared for what you are seeing my father is a big man. Not just big, he is a giant and the simple sight of him frightens even the bravest of souls sometimes. He's a good man though and I think when it sinks in to him that I'm a woman grown, he will be willing to give his consent.

I've digressed when what I meant to say was that Bobby O'Donnell tried to steal my first kiss while we danced. I didn't mean to kick him so hard, but I am certain that he won't try it again with me or anyone else for a very long time, and he won't tell on me either because then he would have to tell that he was trying to kiss me.

At the mention of seeing you, with or without my father in tow, my heart began to hammer and my breathing got shallow. I am heartily in anticipation of it, my dear Heath, as I hope you are as well. I know that we agreed not to rush this at all, but I am eighteen now and I want you to know that whenever you are ready to receive me, I am ready as well.

On one final subject, I feel the need to address your photograph. First of all, it was very handsome although I was happy to read you hadn't kept the mustache. Something about it has troubled me, dear Heath. As I gazed into the eyes of the man in the picture...I see a stranger. I don't have anyone else to pose this question to, so forgive me for asking...Do you think it's only because we haven't met yet face to face. Or, do you think it's something else? Perhaps my inexperience in these things is just speaking out loud.

I should run now as Pa is expecting me in the wheat field. I will be waiting to exhale until your next letter.

Eternally,

Hazel

The part about her letter that resonated within him was what she said about the photograph. He felt terrible deceiving her, but he wanted so badly for once in his adult life for a woman to get to know what is inside of him before they see how he was packaged. Hazel was more perceptive than he gave her credit for. He would have to rectify his own mistake and soon. He was as anxious to meet her as she was him.

He re-read the part about her father. What would he think when he saw him? Would he leave his daughter thousands of miles from home with a beast? He doubted it; if it were his daughter, wouldn't he be just as cautious? He sat the letter on the table and got up and paced the floor. He wanted to see her....

"Sally!" he yelled, too loudly.

"Yes, sir?" Sally came running.

"Where is John?"

"I believe he went out to the stables, sir." she told him.

"Go fetch him and tell him to hurry." Sally nodded and left. Heath continued to pace while he waited. Suddenly catching the eye of a photograph of his mother, he stopped. He felt like she was speaking to him. It wasn't that he could hear her words so much as he could feel them. She was telling him to be himself, to show Hazel his heart. That's what he was trying to do with the letters, but what if it wasn't enough when she actually came here? He didn't know if his heart would survive.

***********

ERIE COUNTY, OHIO

OCTOBER 30th

Hazel and her mother were at the church arranging the pies they had brought for the bake sale. The church had an annual carnival just after harvest every year, and for as long as Hazel could remember, she and her mother made pies or cakes for the bake sale.

Hal Morgan grew pumpkins like Hazel had told Heath. He didn't grow enough to sell, or even to eat really. He had a small patch out in back of their house where he grew a few every year, picking the biggest and brightest to cultivate for the contest at the Harvest carnival. This year, he had one that weighed twenty-six pounds and he was so proud of it, he looked almost ready to bust. When they were ready to hand out the ribbons, Hazel's mother went over to him and left Hazel to tend the pie booth. She was daydreaming and because she had no customers, she took out the most recent letter she had received from Heath. She carried them all tied in a ribbon in the pocket of her dress. She had four total in a period of as many months. Looking around again to make sure everyone was focused on the pumpkin judging and no one was interested in buying pies, she sat down and re-read the letter:

Dearest Hazel,

I hope this letter finds you and your family well once again. I hope that your father's harvest was plentiful. I am so glad that you enjoyed the gift I sent to you. I did think that "First Love" was a fitting title as well. I've read it, and I think it is a good book, an interesting perspective from the Russian culture.

I have never been in love with a woman, Hazel. I have never even courted one. As you talked about your sheltered life, I must say that I, too, led a fairly sheltered life here on the ranch. I was taught much about the world and traveled some with my parents. I learned to care for cattle and horses and, lately, to run a household in the absence of my dear mother. I've never been to a dance, and I have to admit that although it shames me some, I felt a mild twinge of jealousy that Bobby O'Donnell got to escort you to one and I did not. I'm glad he didn't get to kiss you, and shamelessly, I am glad that you think he is weird.

I have been to Africa and I've seen elephants and giraffes and lions and all of the exotic animals that most people only dream about seeing. I've been to Europe and I've dined in Paris. I've been to Mexico countless times and Spain once. My father loved to travel and he loved to hunt. He was maybe a bit disappointed in his son, who refused to shoot anything along the way but I had many reasons to also believe he loved me.

For all of the things I have done, Hazel, I would trade them every one for the chance to take you to a dance or a harvest festival, or just simply on a moonlight horseback ride across my ranch. I let myself believe those things are going to happen someday and I pray to the good Lord each night that He would see fit to make me worthy of a woman like you.

I will do what I can to try and arrange for us to meet soon, for I can hardly wait a moment longer.

For now, my dear, be well, and look at the moon that we share and know that I am looking at it as well, thinking of you.

Eternally and forever yours,

Heath

"Good afternoon, fine lady." Hazel heard. She turned to see a man dressed in boots and a cowboy hat standing at the front of her booth. He looked slightly familiar, but she didn't think they had met before. She quickly tucked the letter into her pocket and got up to greet him.

"Good afternoon." she said. "Forgive me, but I was watching the pumpkin growing contest. My pa is a big contender." she said with a grin. "Can I interest you in a pie?"

"I will probably take two." the man said. "But first, I have a question."

"What's that?" she said.

"Might you be Hazel Morgan?"

"Yes..." she said.

"Good, I thought that looked like you. I have something for you." Hazel looked at him suspiciously. What he was proposing was quite improper whatever it was he had for her. She didn't know this man, did she? How did he know her name?

She glanced across to where her pa was, hoping that if she had to scream, he would hear her over all of the other carnival noise. The man noticed her looking around and he realized that he had frightened her. "Forgive me." he said. "I should have introduced myself. I'm John Hartwell, I'm a ranch foreman at Key Ranch in Texas and Heath Key is a very good friend of mine."

Hazel let out the breath she was holding and then recognition crossed her face. "Oh, my! The photograph! That wasn't Heath at all, that was you!" She looked nervously back toward her pa once more. He was still focusing on the judging that was going on. She was suddenly so confused. She thought that Heath was a good man, an honest one. He led her to believe he was sending for her soon, and she had written back that there was nothing she wanted more. Why would he send a photograph of someone else and tell her that it was him? "What are you two up to?" she said, angrily.

"Please, Miss Hazel, don't be alarmed. I would beg you to allow me to give you the letter my friend has sent for you, and let me explain."

"How do you explain such a blatant lie?" she said. "I suppose everything else that he said was a lie as well?"

"No...not at all. Heath is falling in love with you, Hazel. That's why he sent me...Please, read the letter and then come see me with any questions you might have. I'm staying at the boarding house in town. I'll be there until tomorrow morning." He lay a letter down in front of her then and tipped his cowboy hat before leaving. Hazel watched him go in a blur of emotions. He didn't buy a single pie and now her chest hurt and she didn't quite understand why. She picked up the letter the man had left. She thought about opening it then, but looking up she saw her ma and pa coming her way. Pa was wearing the blue ribbon. Hazel stuffed the letter in her pocket and pasted a big smile on her face. She would spend this time today with her family, the ones who she knew would never deceive her.

**Chapter Four**

LATER THAT EVENING

"And look! I won this, too!" Laura was showing Hazel the rag doll and the whistle that she had won at one of the carnival booths as Hazel was helping her get ready for bed.

"That's wonderful, Laura. Now wash your face."

Laura put the water and the soap on her face and then she said, "Hazel, why do you look like you want to cry? Didn't you have fun at the carnival? Are you upset because you had to sell pies and you didn't get to have any fun?" Hazel forced a smile and said, "I had a great time at the carnival. Pa got the blue ribbon and Ma and I did very well selling our pies. I didn't mind working the booth a bit. Perhaps my eyes are only tired."

"You look different when you're tired." Laura said, not willing to let it go. "Is it because of that man?"

"Which man is that?" Hazel asked her sister.

"The one I saw talking to you at the booth. Whatever he said upset you, I could tell."

Hazel sighed. "You must have been mistaken, Laura. I wasn't upset today at all. Now get into bed and I'll tell Ma and Pa you're ready for your good night kiss."

Hazel helped her little sister into bed and Laura surprised her by grabbing her around her neck. "No one thinks that I hear what is going on around here because I'm so young." she said. "But I know that you're thinking of going away. I know that it makes Ma and Pa sad. I was too little to remember much about Billy, but I remember how sad Ma was when he went away. Please don't make her sad like that again, Hazel. Please don't leave us and not come back." Hazel hugged her little sister tight and said,

"I won't make her sad like that, Laura. Ma was so sad when Billy went away because he went to Heaven to be with God and she won't see him again until she's called home. It would be different if I went away to be married. Ma and Pa and you could all come and visit me, and I you. We would still be a family, only a larger one with my husband and God willing, some children of my own. Someday, when you're older, you will do the same."

"If you marry Bobby O'Donnell, you can live next door." Laura told her. "Then I could see you every day."

"Yes, but if I marry Bobby O'Donnell, my heart won't be happy. You want my heart to be happy, don't you?"

"Yes," Laura said. "I can't imagine Bobby making anyone's heart happy. I don't want you to have to marry him. But I will miss you if you marry someone else and go away."

"I'm not going anywhere just yet." Hazel told her. "Let's not worry about it until it happens, okay?"

"I'll try." the little girl said, hugging her sister again.

"Oh, and not a word to Pa about the man at the pie booth. You know how he worries."

"Okay." Laura said with a yawn, no longer interested in the conversation.

After Ma and Pa had said their good nights and Laura was finally asleep, Hazel lit the oil lamp next to her bed and took out the letter that the man named John had given her. She could feel how her heart pounded inside of her chest in anticipation of what the letter would say as she unfolded it. She took a deep breath and began to read:

My sweet Hazel,

_I have done much soul searching and agonizing over this letter, both before I wrote it and after. I have told you much about my life as it is, but little about how it was. I hope that sending John didn't frighten you, but I wanted him on hand in case you had immediate questions. I can only hope and pray that this won't be the last letter between us. I am so very sorry for deceiving you with the photograph of John and I hope you will_ , _if not forgive me, at least understand after you read why._

When I was a little boy, I loved to read, as I still do now. I would take my books out to the stables to hide from the servants and my tutors and read my adventure stories. Sometimes, it was the only peace I could get in a busy household. I learned to read at a very young age, and my mother fed my passion with every new book she could find. She had bought me a book about pirates when I was six years old. I didn't want to stop reading it to do anything, and it was the subject of a few intense discussions between my mother and my father. My father had nothing against reading but he got where he was through action and hard work so he insisted I do at least a bit of that as well. At last, not wanting to cause dissension between my parents, I put the book away and tended to my chores and lessons one entire day. That night, however, I lay in my bed unable to think of anything else. I felt as if I was missing the action on the high seas and I craved the adventure of it. I often wonder what might have happened if I'd read the book that night in my room, but then perhaps the tragedy would have been greater.

I didn't want my father to see the light under my door so I took a candle to the stables and I found an empty stall filled with hay to read in, undisturbed. So intense was the book that I devoured what was left of it in less than an hour. I didn't want it to be over and I couldn't go to the library so late for another book without waking my parents. So instead of just returning to bed, I started it all again. The second time reading through, Hazel, I fell asleep. Little boys don't know when they're tired, they get so used to fighting it.

When I woke up, I was surrounded by smoke. The barn was on fire and the hay was fueling it. I was trapped in the stall in the midst of an inferno. My clothes were already on fire and my hair and everything around me. I could hear the men outside trying to put the fire out, realizing that no one knew I was here. I ran through the fire to get out, I think screaming...One of the hands saw me and he knocked me down in the dirt. He rolled with me, burning himself in places to put out the fire. That man saved my life. It was my friend, John's, father, Sam Hartwell.

My life was saved, Hazel, but my skin was burned off in the places where it was exposed. My face was unrecognizable, and for many months afterward, my parents were told that I wouldn't even live. They were told that if I did live, my life would be a lonely and empty place for I would be so deformed, I could never go out into society.

My ma and pa refused to give up on me. My pa brought the best doctors from everywhere to treat me until finally my burns were healed and began to scar over. I was healthy, but an awful sight to look upon. When I was eight, my pa heard of a doctor in Europe that was doing surgery to replace skin on people with deformities. We went on a long boat trip and once there, I underwent three surgeries. The doctor said there was too much damage and that I didn't have enough unburnt skin for him to move from other places to make me look "normal" again. The end result, Hazel, was a boy who people feared to even look at, lest they be afflicted by the same crooked face and mottled skin as was he. I live inside the prison of my own scarred flesh. I'm still a man like any man, my thoughts and feelings are the same, but females avert their eyes or faint at the sight of me, and men fear me for no reason other than I look like I have passed through the bowels of Hell to get to Texas. I sent you the photo of John because I feared, and I still do, that you, like the others, will fear and scorn me.

My father was a very important man in this community. My mother was a grand lady. Because of that, the community here has accepted me. That's not to say that they don't still talk behind my back or refuse to go places where I'll be because they dread to look at me. But for the most part, if I need to go out in town, I can do so without causing too much fuss. When I go on trail rides, I can cover my face with a bandana and look just like the other cowboys. It's one of the reasons I enjoy it so. It's the most normal I ever feel. In Mexico, they call me Diablo, but they do business with me for two reasons: Greed, and fear. In Africa, they hardly give me a second glance, only hoping I will give them my gold pieces in exchange for their services when I go on safari. My life has not been sad nor lonely, in many ways, thanks to my parents and thanks to my social status, but I'm a man, Hazel, and as such, I physically ache for the touch of a woman.

I have reached to the point in the past to consider the services of a paid escort. I went so far as to have one come to the house for dinner, but then I realized that the touch of someone who was paid to do it was not the same as the touch of someone who does it for love. I crave that simple touch, one that is given out of want and desire. John and I both placed our ads at the same time. He has yet to find a woman he wishes to correspond with. I have found the woman I wish to love forever, Hazel, and she is you.

If, after reading this letter, you decide that you don't want to be with me, I will still love you. You are young and beautiful, and if you want to spend your life with a young and equally handsome man, I will understand and still love you. I wouldn't want you to be unhappy, ever. If you choose, however, to look deeper under my skin and let yourself fall in love and spend your life with me, I will make sure that your life is a happy one, and that you never, ever want for a thing.

The choice is yours ultimately and I will await your response. John will be available for a day if you have any questions that are bothering you and need an immediate response. He knows me better than anyone, ask him anything, my love.

Lastly, I want to apologize once more for how my lie must have hurt you. I do have brown eyes and black hair, but beyond that, I am not handsome in the least. I lied to you and sent you John's photograph out of fear and desperation and for that, I ask you and our good Lord's forgiveness.

Eternally yours,

Heath

Hazel felt like something was sitting on her chest. She couldn't breathe lying down in her bed, she couldn't breathe sitting up. She had to get out of bed. She paced for a while across the bedroom floor, but that wasn't working either. She needed air, her lungs were screaming for it. She quietly slipped on her clothes, trying not to wake Laura. She couldn't answer a million questions right now, she needed to be alone...But first, she needed to breathe.

She snuck quietly through the house and out onto the porch. The night air was crisp and she had forgotten her wrap. She hardly noticed, however, as the crisp clean night air hit her lungs. She sat down in the porch swing and once she was able to breathe again she allowed herself to think about what Heath's letter had said.

He was deformed. Her heart ached for that poor child he was, trapped in an inferno. How frightening would that have been? How painful? She thought about him going through two years of treatments only to be left horribly scarred for life. She thought about how his heart must have ached each time someone looked at him with fear or disgust written across their face. Hazel hadn't realized that as she had these thoughts, the tears had begun to flow freely down her cheeks. She felt an anxiety welling inside her once more and she had to get up and walk. She began walking down the dirt path that wound around her father's wheat field. She knew if Ma or Pa woke up and she was missing, they would be angry, but she couldn't go back in now, she would never be able to sleep.

She walked until she was a mile or two from the house. She turned her face up to the moon then and as it shined its silver light down on her, she wondered if Heath was looking at it too, and thinking of her. She thought of him as he was in his letters: Kind-hearted, compassionate, and generous. Then she forced herself to think of the reality. Could she look at him and not cringe as others have done? She made herself search her own soul and try to determine if she would be able to do it, could she love a man who was horribly deformed?

It seemed so shallow to her to even consider it, but had she not spent her life dreaming of the perfect husband as all girls do? In her dreams, wasn't he always strong and handsome like her pa, and didn't she always get that tickle in her belly when she imagined him? Could she feel that way about someone who was scarred and as Heath himself had put it, "hideous" to look upon? The truth was, she didn't know.

**Chapter Five**

ERIE COUNTY, OHIO

**OCTOBER 31** st

Hazel had stayed out walking most of the night. She never left the property; she only circled it about a hundred times. Before her ma and pa got up, she had tucked herself back in her bed so as not to worry them. She got up as she always did, in time to help her ma with breakfast.

After her pa had gone out to work in the field and they were cleaning up the kitchen, she said, "Ma, after I get my chores finished, would it be okay if I went into town?"

Harriet studied her daughter's eyes and said, "You don't look like you slept well, Hazel. Is everything okay?"

Hazel hadn't gotten even an hour's sleep and she was exhausted. She didn't tell her mother that, however. Instead, she said, "I'm fine, Ma. I would like it if you could trust me to take the wagon into town. I can pick up anything you may need while I'm there."

Her ma said, "Okay, Hazel. If your Pa asked, I sent you to deliver pies to Mrs. Sickle at the boarding house, alright? I do have some leftover pies I was going to send her, that way we're not telling a lie."

Hazel smiled at her mother. This was perfect because the boarding house was exactly where she needed to go.

Giving her Ma a hug, she said, "Thank you, Ma. I will be safe and I won't be long."

Harriet smiled back at her daughter. Touching the side of her face softly, she said, "You're sure that things are okay?"

Hazel thought about that for a second and said, "I think they will be, Ma. Trust me, okay?"

Harriet nodded, "I do, Hazel." she said.

***********

When Hazel got to the boarding house, she found Mrs. Sickle sitting on the porch having tea with none other than John. John stood up when he saw Hazel and he went over and helped her down off the buckboard. Hazel gave him a look that she hoped he understood, telling him to "play along".

"Thank you, sir." she said to him out loud. "Good morning, Mrs. Sickle."

"Good morning Hazel, dear. What brings you to town today?"

"I'm delivering pies for my ma." Hazel said. "She had leftovers from the carnival and she thought you may have use for them."

"Mm," the stout little woman said. "I'm sure my guests will enjoy them, however, I know that I will." She rubbed her round tummy and said, "Thank you, Hazel and please thank your mother for me."

"I will." Hazel said with a smile. Then she looked at John and back at Mrs. Sickle

"Oh, forgive my bad manners. Hazel, this is Mr. John Hartwell. He's in town for business."

"A pleasure, I'm sure." Hazel said, extending her hand. John looked into her eyes as he took it. She was beautiful. Her green eyes had a way of drawing you in and holding you there.

"It's my pleasure." John said. He was waiting for her lead.

"Hazel, would you like to join us for a cup of tea?" Mrs. Sickle asked her. Hazel could see the gleam in the older woman's eyes and suspected that she was thinking about playing matchmaker between her and John.

"I wish I had the time, Mrs. Sickle." Hazel said. "I have to get to the post office and the general store for my mama and then go down to the docks to pick something up for Pa." When she said "docks" she looked John directly in the eyes. It was a very brief look, but he understood it to mean "Meet me there".

"That's too bad, Hazel. It's always a pleasure to see you. You be sure to tell your ma thank you for me." Hazel smiled.

"I will." she said. Then she looked at John and said, "It was a pleasure to meet you, sir. Perhaps we'll meet again."

"Perhaps we will." he said. As she rode away in her wagon, John had to remind himself that he was here as an advocate for his best friend. He had not been privy to every word of her letters, but what Heath had shared with him, combined with the beauty of her ringlets, green eyes, and bright smile, made him completely understand his friend's infatuation and fear of losing any chance with her at all. In a different life, John could see himself falling in love with her.

***********

Hazel watched the flurry of activity along the docks as the boats were coming in and going out, being loaded and unloaded. She hoped that John had understood her intentions to meet here. She had been waiting about fifteen minutes when she saw him walking toward her. Her imagination took hold of her and she gave herself a few seconds to imagine that he was Heath and he was here to take her away to Texas. She shook that image off when he got close, feeling disloyal to Heath for only having the thought.

"Hello, Hazel." John said.

"John, thank you for coming." she said.

"Of course. It's what I'm here for." he told her. _She was really beautiful_ , he thought again.

"Let's go sit." she said. He followed her to the bench she always sat on and read when she waited for her pa. She had him here now and after she had thought about it all night, she suddenly didn't know what to say. "How is he?" she started with.

John smiled. It was a nice smile. "He is well, but anxious. He's afraid that you won't want to correspond with him any longer. Your letters have made his life much brighter lately."

Hazel smiled. "I'm glad he's enjoyed my letters. I've enjoyed his very much, although I have to say that the last one surprised me."

"I'm sure it did. That's why he sent me. He was worried about you."

"How did you find me?" she asked him.

"I asked the postmaster." John said. "He told me you would be at the carnival. He asked if I was your cousin and I said yes. I hope you don't mind."

Hazel smiled. The postmaster knew too much. "I don't mind." she said. "Is he as wonderful as he seems, John? Is what he writes in his letters truly real and not just words to woo me?" She didn't know if his friend would be truthful if he wasn't, but sometimes. It's harder to lie when you're looking someone in the eye.

"Miss Hazel, Heath Key is the most honest, sincere, compassionate person I have ever had the chance to know personally. It's been my honor to be his friend and his generosity has put me in a place financially and in the community that it would have been doubtful I would have reached on my own. He's my best friend and I love him like a brother."

"Your father saved his life." she said, remembering what Heath had said in the letter. "Was he hurt badly, your father?"

"His hands were burned mostly. He had trouble working after that. It was hard for him to hold onto a pair of reins or a rope. He was unfettered by it though, once he knew that Heath would live. Heath's parents treated him like a hero too, and my family never wanted for anything. They were all very generous people, Hazel. The family is revered in Texas, and in spite of his scars, I don't know a single person who has met Heath who didn't like him."

She wanted to ask a question, but it sounded so crass and rude in her head. She was trying to think of a way to reword it, when John, as if reading her mind, said, "Do you want to know about his looks?"

Hazel felt a swell of guilt in her chest as she said, "It's not that looks are important...It's just...He said....I just can't imagine what he looks like."

"He's not as hard to look at as he imagines he is, Hazel. I don't have a recollection of him another way, so that may be part of it but everyone who knows him well says the same thing. After a while, you see deeper and you almost forget about the covering. He has scars on every visible part of his body. The fire ate him up."

"I want to meet him, John, but I fear my own reaction. What if I flinched and I hurt his feelings? I would hate that."

"He would understand. Hazel, if you would only agree to as much as meeting him and then from there, let your heart decide, I think it would be satisfactory for you and Heath both. He's used to people's reactions."

Hazel sighed and stood up. "I'll have to tell my pa. He made me promise that when I met Heath, he could be there with me."

"That's fair enough. You'll let Heath know what you decide?"

"Yes." she said. "Will you tell him that all the feelings that I had for him, before he told me this, are still there?"

John thought that Heath was a very lucky man. He smiled and said, "I will, Hazel. And so you know, I will also tell him that I don't think his feelings have been misplaced at all." She smiled at that, not knowing that Heath's best friend was wishing he had met her first.

***********

It took Hazel three days to get the nerve to ask her father. She wrote a letter to Heath in the meantime:

My dearest Heath,

_I was pleased and honored to meet your friend, John. I'm sure you know but you are quite lucky to have such a loyal man on your side. He sang your praises_ , _and although I am sure you are deserving of it, it was quite refreshing to hear._

I was devastated to hear of your childhood accident. It pains me to even think of what you must have gone through at that time and since. Sometimes, I think going into love blindly is the best way. That way your heart can see all of the things you miss when your eyes are the only things doing the looking. I'm no authority on the subject though, that's for sure. All I know is what I have read.

I still feel the same for you as I did before I heard of your appearance. I'm glad we met this way so that I got to know you first with my heart. I wish I was a big enough woman, or as you would say about your ma, a grand enough lady, to say that I would have accepted you had I seen you first. I doubt that I am, or that I would have been. Perhaps that is why the good Lord arranged for us to meet this way, so that I could be blinded by my love for you already when we met.

I am speaking to my pa about it today. I honestly don't know what to expect from that conversation. My pa is a good man, and to him, looks are not important. But, when you speak of what he wants for himself and what he expects for his family, they are worlds apart. So I go into the conversation with anxiety, but know that whatever I come out with, I do not intend to become anyone's wife but yours.

I will write as soon as I can, hopefully with plans to meet.

Until then, I am eternally yours,

Hazel

Hal had to go to the docks and pick up a load of grain for his horses. It was a bitter, cold November day and when Hazel approached him about going with him, he said no at first.

"But I need some time to talk to you, Pa, alone."

Hal studied his daughter's face and said, "Are you ready to run off and marry that fellow in Texas?"

"Can I go with you, Pa, so we can talk?"

Hal sighed and told her yes. He wasn't sure he wanted to hear what she had to say. Hazel bundled up and so did Hal and they set out for the docks. They were silent most of the way, making small talk every now and again.

Finally, when they were almost there, Hazel said, "I'm ready, Pa."

"Ready for what exactly, Punkin'?" he said.

"I want to go to Texas. I'm ready to be with Heath. I'm ready to be his wife."

Hal didn't say anything, for a really long time. He pulled the wagon up near the docks and pulled the horse to a stop. Turning to look at his daughter, he said, "Are you sure, Hazel. It's so far away..." He thought that his heart might well break if she went away.

"I'm sure, Pa. I can just feel that it's right, like Ma could when she met you. She told me that she could feel you belonged together. I feel that, I've felt it from the beginning, but there is something you need to know first."

Hal didn't like the sound of that. He raised a bushy eyebrow and said, "What is that, Hazel?" His daughter took the letter out of her pocket. She had thought long and hard about it and finally decided that Heath could tell her father about his condition in his own words better than she could tell him in hers.

She held the letter out to him and said, "Read it, Pa. Then we can talk." He took the letter and she got down off the wagon. She saw the captain of the _Mighty Dragon_ and she headed over to see if he had any new books. As she walked away, she glanced over her shoulder at her Pa. He was reading the letter.

**Chapter Six**

ON THE TRAIL FROM MEXICO

**NOVEMBER 10** th

Heath, surprisingly, because he did own the largest cattle ranch in Texas, hated cattle drives. He did like the part he told Hazel about, wearing the bandana and looking like everyone else. But, he hated almost everything else about it and he particularly hated winter drives. Cattle drives were dirty, stinky, and dangerous in the spring time but in the winter, they were dirty, stinky, dangerous, and cold. Heath didn't like to be cold, especially when he also had to endure hours in the saddle out in the elements. His skin, because of the thick scars layered across it, was particularly sensitive to the cold and the heat. The cold hurt worse. He was here for two reasons, however. That the Mexican rancher who had sold him the cattle was losing his land and the cattle had to be moved was the first one. Heath wasn't going to ask his men to do anything that he wasn't willing to do himself was the second. So here he sat on his night guard duty post, freezing his ass off and with no one to talk to but Jeff, the young wrangler who had also drawn the short straw that day.

"Mr. Key," Jeff said thoughtfully, as he stoked the campfire. Heath eyed it warily and sat too far back from it too get warm. Fire still gave him nightmares. "Have you ever been in love?"

Heath suddenly realized what the boy said and made himself stop focusing on the fire.

"Why do you ask?" He said.

"I think I may be." the boy said. "But I'm not sure if it's love...Or...well, you know, urges."

Heath laughed and said, "It's smart of you to question it at your age. Most men don't understand the difference even when they're fully grown." Jeff was only fifteen. He was the youngest man on Heath's crew and the son of one of his best cowhands. This was his second drive with Heath's crew.

"I met this girl named Mary Lou at the church picnic. She lives up in Houston, but she was here visiting her cousin at that time. She's so pretty, Mr. Key, and I think she liked me too, because she agreed to let me write to her. The more I write to her, the more I have these feelings of...love, I guess."

"The writing is good." Heath said, thinking of Hazel for the hundredth time that day. "A wise woman once said that we should all go into new relationships with our eyes closed so that we can keep our hearts wide open and see what the eyes don't see. Writing letters to her is a good way to get to know her and understand the difference. I know it worked for me."

"You have a lady, Mr. Key?" the boy asked him. All of the men on Heath's crew treated him as if he looked like the rest of them and for that, Heath was grateful. This boy wouldn't think it strange in the least that a woman was in love with him.

"I have been corresponding with a woman I believe God intended for me, Jeff. Pray for me that it works out, will you?"

The boy grinned and said, "Yes, sir. Maybe you'll do the same for me and Mary Lou?"

Heath smiled and said, "You can bet on it, son."

"I sure am hungry. I smelled Cookie starting that bacon and coffee hours ago," the boy said then.

Heath remembered what it was like to be an adolescent and hungry all the time.

"I think it wasn't quite that long ago, Jeff. It should be ready soon though."

"Bacon in the pan, coffee in the pot!" They heard only moments later. That was Cookie's way of announcing breakfast was ready. A few minutes after that, two more cowboys came over to relieve Jeff and Heath so that they could eat. The sun would be up soon and they would need to get moving. They would be back in Texas by nightfall if things went smoothly.

Heath and Jeff ate first because they had sat up on duty the last part of the night. The rest of the cowboys were rising, slowly. It was so cold, and they were all hesitant to leave their bedrolls. The only thing that really got them moving was the draw of Cookie's breakfast and coffee. They rolled up their bed rolls and ground blankets, throwing their personal items in the middle of them as they did. Then they tied it at both ends and stacked them all in the chuck wagon. Their guns were stacked in there as well. The only cowboys who carried guns on the drive were the guards. The rest of them didn't want to take up the space on their horse or take the chance of shootin' off their leg or other important appendages with a pistol in their pocket when they're riding hard.

After they ate, they tied their bandanas across their faces to keep the dust out of their noses and mouths and got ready to head out. When the other cowboys had their bandanas on, there was no telling Heath apart from them. Sometimes, he wished that he could wear one all the time. He also had eyeglasses that he had to wear when he rode. He didn't care for them, but the fire had caused changes to his eyes and if the dust got into them, he would have trouble seeing to ride. He put his hat back on his head and mounted the quarter horse Jeff had brought him. The wrangler was in charge of the Remuda. That was their back up stock of horses on the drive. This particular drive was smaller than most. They had only brought fifty horses along. On many of their longer drives where they've brought back more cattle, they've had as many as a hundred and fifty horses. The cowboys would usually need to change horses five or six times a day when they were riding hard.

They stopped before crossing the river to allow everyone to fill their canteens. The next few hours would be the coldest and most dangerous of their trip. They had to cross five hundred head of cattle across an ice cold, rapidly moving river. If one animal spooked, it was likely to spook the others. A stampede in the river could end in the deaths of many cattle, or worse, many cowboys.

They were lucky and none of the cattle got spooked and tried to run or turn around during the crossing. It was still a bitter cold crossing for everyone and Heath thought his legs were likely going to crack off like icicles before they dried. Two hours later, they were back on the trail. John, as foreman of the ranch, was often trail boss but he hadn't come along on this trip because he had just gone to Ohio and Heath didn't want to force him to travel again so soon. Heath's second in charge, a man named Luke Gray, was in the lead as trail boss with the column of cowboys, cattle, and horses stretching behind him for miles. Heath liked to ride in the back. He didn't have a specific job because, technically, he was the boss, so he liked to be in the back and make sure things were running along smoothly.

The cattle never moved in a straight line, it was more of a wedge shape. They took the same position each day, knowing where they belonged in the line. The more aggressive ones moved to the front while the weaker or lazier ones hung back behind. They were a lot more like humans than people wanted to admit. Heath rode along behind the wedge of longhorns as the cowboys rode alongside them and he wondered if, when he got back to Texas, there would be a letter there telling him of Hazel's pa's decision. He said another prayer that it would be in his favor.

***********

Laura sat on the edge of the bed and watched her sister pack with tears in her eyes. "I don't understand why I can't go with you. If you get married to him, he will be my brother by marriage. Shouldn't I get to meet him, too?"

"You will get to meet him, Laura, eventually. This first meeting is for me."

"And Pa." Laura said. Hazel sat down next to her little sister and put her arm around the younger girl.

"Pa is going to make sure that I am safe. You know how Pa is, he would never agree to me going alone the first time. I promise, Laura, as soon as things are settled, I will let you meet him, okay? If I get married, you can even come out and stay with me for weeks at a time. He has a really big ranch with a river right on the property."

Laura pouted but said, "Okay." She eventually grew bored watching Hazel and ran outside. Hazel was just finishing up when her ma came in, carrying a little box.

"Almost ready?" she asked her. Harriett's heart was heavy but she'd had to accept that God had a plan for everything, even her children.

"I think so." Hazel said. "I'm not sure what women wear in Texas."

Her mother smiled. "I think about the same things we wear here." she said. "Here, this is for you to give to Heath. As long as you decide to go through with the marriage once you meet."

Hazel took the box and lifted the lid. Inside there was a silver ring. It was big, and heavy. "Oh, Ma. Is this your pa's ring?"

Harriett nodded. She had tears in her eyes now. "My ma didn't care that most men didn't wear rings. She said that she wanted her man to have a symbol of her love on his finger so that he could look at it any time and remember how much she loved him. I know that he would want you...Heath, to have it."

Hazel threw herself into her mother's arms and they both cried. Hazel had always known that middle child or not, she was her mother's favorite. Her mother was her best friend and she didn't know what she was going to do without her.

When she was finally able to speak through her tears, Hazel said, "I'm going to miss you so much, Ma. I almost don't want to go, thinking about leaving you and Laura behind. This is harder than I imagined it would be." Harriett hugged her daughter close and said, "I would keep you forever if I could, but this is part of becoming a woman. You told me that yourself. "

"I know." Hazel said, wiping her tears. "But I was feeling a lot braver then."

"You're one of the bravest girls I've ever known." her mother told her. "I mean that. I'm so proud of your independence and your beautiful free spirit. I love you and I will pray that it all works out when you get there. He sounds like a good man."

"I love you, Mama, so much."

Hal was already waiting in the wagon when she came out. They would drive the team into town and board the train and then Matt at the livery stable would drive the team back home. Hazel had insisted her father buy a one way ticket for her. She wanted to go into Texas with the belief that it would be her home, which was strange because she had no idea what Texas even looked like. Her father had a round trip leaving Ohio today on Monday, arriving in Texas on Wednesday and leaving again on Friday. It would be a long, exhausting trip for him but he was insistent that he go along and for fear of being forbidden to go at all, Hazel hadn't argued with him.

Once they had boarded the train, Hal asked her again if she knew what she was getting into. "Marriage isn't always as easy as your ma and I make it look." he said with a grin.

"I know, Pa." she said with a smile. "But Ma already took the best man there was, I have to settle for second best."

Turning serious, her pa said, "You know that seeing him in person with those scars he told you about will be entirely different than reading about them."

"I know, Pa." she said. "I have faith that my feelings for him are strong enough to overcome that, or anything." she said. Her pa hoped so, for her sake. He knew his daughter would never want to hurt someone's feelings. He was worried that in order to not do that, she would commit herself to a life she didn't really want.

The trip was long and hard and cold. It was December and the train had to stop several times because the snow had covered the tracks to the point of being too thick to pass through. Instead of taking two days, it took three. When they pulled into the station at Brownsville, Hazel and Hal were both ready to get off the train and kiss the ground. They found John waiting for them. Hazel had finally told her father about John coming to town to bring the letter.

After introducing John and her father, Hazel said, "You haven't been waiting since yesterday, have you?"

John smiled and said, "No. The conductor sent a telegram to the station about the delay. When I got here yesterday, he had a sign posted. They didn't know what time you would be in today so I came early. I'm glad I did."

Hal hadn't really said anything since they got off the train. He seemed to be just taking it all in. The look on John's face when Hazel had introduced them had been almost comical. John was a tall man, and he'd had to tip his head all the way back to look up at Hal. Shaking his hand was a treat as well, as most hands disappeared into Hal's massive one, and John's was no different.

He told them the ride to the ranch was a little over an hour. Conversation was awkward as neither Hazel nor John were completely comfortable talking about Heath in front of Hal. They finally came to a nicely made sign that said,

"KEY RANCH"

A long, lush carpet of green grass led up to what Hazel could only term a mansion. Although she had never seen one in real life, Hazel knew that ten of the homes she now lived in with her family would sit down into this one comfortably. That had to be the definition of a mansion. There were pastures all around it, filled with icy, wet, green grass and grazing longhorn cattle. Hazel was fascinated by the longhorns. She had never seen one in real life. There was a big barn and stables visible behind the main house and another building with five circular openings where the carriages were stored. She saw two big cannons sitting in front of the carriage house and a small pond out near the stables. It was all impressive, and a bit overwhelming to a poor girl from Ohio. The big house had a big wraparound porch and balconies in each of its second story windows. She looked at her pa. His mouth was hanging as far open as hers was. The man came forward and introduced himself as Mr. Lee, the "houseman". He was a Chinese man, but his English was flawless.

"Welcome, Miss Hazel." he said. "It's an honor to meet you." Then he turned to Hal and gave him the same greeting. Hazel looked at her father. He seemed just a bit overwhelmed. Mr. Lee helped John get their bags as the two women came forward to greet them. One was Sally, the "junior housemaid" and the other, a woman named Greta, who spoke with a strong Scandinavian accent and said that she was the "senior housemaid."

As Greta was speaking, Hazel heard the front door of the house opening. She looked up into the most powerfully intense pair of brown eyes she had ever seen. Hazel was so lost in those eyes that it took her a full thirty seconds to even notice the rest of the man. When she did, she didn't flinch, not even internally. Her soul had mingled with his when he looked into her eyes and she wasn't even a little bit afraid. She gave him a wide smile and he returned it. She glanced sideways at her father then. She was proud of him. He was looking at the man no differently than he had John when he'd met him at the station.

Heath came toward them and as he did, Hazel noticed how muscular and handsome his body was and that he had the softest looking shiny black hair she had ever seen. When he took her hand and looked into her eyes once more, she no longer had a single doubt. She loved this man just as he was and she wanted to be his wife.

**Chapter Seven**

BROWNSVILLE, TX.

**DECEMBER 5** th

"Hazel, I'm so pleased that you are here." He bent at the waist and kissed the back of her hand. She noticed that the hand he held hers in had the same scars as the ones on his face.

"I am so delighted to be here." she said.

Heath turned to her pa then and said, "Welcome, Mr. Morgan. Thank you for bringing your lovely daughter all the way out here to meet me."

Hal shook his hand and nodded. Heath put his arm out and Hazel took it and he led her up the steps and into the house. Hal followed them. The foyer was wide open with shiny wood floors and a spiral staircase. There was a chandelier overhead as well. Neither Hazel nor Hal had ever seen anything like it. Hazel had never even known anyone with a two story home. Heath led them into a parlor that Hazel knew their entire home would have fit inside of. The cast iron pot-bellied stove was warming the room and large picture windows surrounded it, letting in the bright Texas sun.

"Please, have a seat." he said. Hazel and her father sat down and within seconds, Sally appeared with a tray that held a silver teapot and cookies.

She poured the tea and then offered them a cookie. When she got to Hal she said, "You're welcome to take more than one, sir, they're small."

Hal smiled and said, "Well, because they're small..." He took two and thanked her.

She looked at Heath and said, "Will you be needing anything else, sir?"

"No, Sally, thank you." he said. Hazel loved the Texas accent, and the soft, melodic tone of his voice. He turned his attention back to her. He couldn't seem to be able to take his eyes off of her and it gave Hazel chills down her spine. It was an awkward first meeting with Pa there. No one seemed to know what to say. Finally, Heath looked at Hal and said, "Is this your first trip to Texas, Mr. Morgan?"

"I was here once back in the fifties." he said. "I came out to look at some property when Mrs. Morgan and I were thinking of moving out west from New York. We settled on Ohio instead."

"I imagine it has changed a lot around here since then. It has changed a lot in the time I can remember."

"Yes, it has. But then so has this entire country." Hal said. "How many acres do you have here?"

"My pa started the ranch in 1952 with a hundred and fifty acres and a partner. His partner was killed when he was only thirty years old and his rights to the ranch reverted to Pa. By the time he passed away, we had one hundred and forty-two thousand acres. Much of it is still wilderness. My pa was quite the businessman. His first few years of managing the task of getting the cattle to market, alone, was a daunting one. There was a thousand miles of wilderness between this ranch and the Midwestern railheads back then. He muddled through though and he began investing in and building railroads, packinghouses, and ice plants. He also invested in improvements in the port of Corpus Christi. His bottom line was always to get his cattle to market, but in the process he branched the business out on a hundred different directions."

"Your pa sounds like quite a man." Hal said. Hazel could tell that her pa was impressed. She smiled. That was good.

"He was." Heath said, also smiling. Something about the scars on his face had even softened when he talked about his father. "He developed a system of up breeding that significantly improved the quality of our cattle and horses, and before he died, he was even working on creating a new breed. John and I have taken that over; I hope to see it happen before I die."

"Was your pa from money?" Hal asked.

"Pa!" Hazel said, embarrassed that her father would ask such a question.

Smiling again, Heath said, "It's okay. No, sir. He started out as an orphan and moved on to be an impoverished, indentured jeweler's apprentice. He made money during the war, running supplies to the Union army. He flew a Mexican flag on his ship as he sailed the Rio Grande. He had a keen sense of adventure and he wasn't afraid of hard work either. That's what he started his empire with, that and his good choice in women. My mother was as much a part of improving the quality of this ranch as my father was. He liked to give her credit for that as well." He looked at Hazel then and said, "I had fantastic examples of how to have a happy marriage and how to raise a happy child."

It was easy to see how proud he was of both his mother and father, and his heritage. "Would you like a tour of the ranch, sir? Or would you like to wait until tomorrow when you're better rested?"

Hal looked at his daughter. He knew that she was dying to have a moment alone with Heath. Although, as a father, he was aching to object, this man seemed harmless enough, so far.... "Why don't I have a look around and give you and Punkin' some time to get acquainted?" he said, proud of his forward thinking.

Hazel smiled at him, gratefully. Heath said, "Let me see if John is still here. I'm sure he would love to take you. Excuse me, please?"

He waited for Hazel to say, "Yes, of course.", before he left the room.

When he was gone, she looked at her Pa and said, "What do you think?"

Hal shrugged and said, "I'm not packing you up...yet."

Hazel grinned at him and said, "Thank you, Pa." He only shrugged again. "This place is really something, ain't it?"

"That it is, Punkin'." her pa agreed. A few minutes later, Heath came back with John in tow.

"Whenever you're ready for that tour, sir," John said.

Hal stood up and looking at his daughter and Heath, he said, "You two be good. I won't be long."

They both smiled and nodded.

When Hal was gone, Heath looked at Hazel nervously and said, "You're so beautiful." Hazel thought she might melt at that very moment.

"Thank you." she said.

He went over to where she sat then and he sat on the ottoman at her feet. "No, thank you for coming. I wish there were words to tell you how happy it makes me that you were willing to come after everything. Am I too hard for you to look at, dear Hazel?"

Hazel ran her fingers along the side of his face. Heath shivered at her touch. It was the kind of touch he had always craved...Unsolicited and loving.

Looking into his eyes she said, "I think you're beautiful." Hazel meant it, and Heath could tell she was sincere. Heath put his hand on hers and held it to his cheek.

He had tears in his eyes when he said, "I waited my entire life for the woman who believed that. My ma used to tell me that she was out there, that I just had to be patient. I can't believe I finally found you, and you're a thousand times more amazing than I ever thought you could be."

Hazel had tears in her eyes now. She had to concentrate to make herself breathe. "Thank you for bringing us here." she said at last. "Your home is lovely."

"Would you like to see the rest of it?" he asked her.

"Sure, I'd love to." she said. He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. It was titillating and unnerving at the same time, the way his gaze was so penetrating.

Hazel was enthralled by the home, but more so by him. His movements were graceful and deliberate and it was hard for her to imagine him on a cattle drive with a bandana around his face, riding a horse and running cattle like just another cowboy. He seemed like he should have been born in a different age, one of castles and kings. He should have been a knight, or a prince. Hazel smiled at herself and her own thoughts. Had her mother been here, she would have told her that she was "letting her imagination run away with her again."

The house had five bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, two indoor bathrooms, a parlor, a billiard room, a mud room, and a large porch in the back where the wash was done.

"I have one more room to show you." he said. "I saved the best for last." He took her to a tall wooden door and said, "Close your eyes." Hazel smiled, but did as he asked. She heard him open the door and he said, "Okay."

She opened her eyes to the most incredible sight that she had ever seen. It was a round room and it was filled top to bottom with shelves and the shelves were filled top to bottom with books.

"Oh! Look at all the books!" she said.

"It's our library." he said. "It was my mother's pride and joy. I update it as often as I can."

"It's...It's...Oh! I have no words for it." she said. Hazel had never even seen a bookstore.

Heath laughed. He had only just met her face to face and he already loved to see her face when she was happy. She was such a sweet mixture of woman and child.

She turned to him and said, "I've never seen a house this big." she said. "Do the servants live here with you?"

"No," he said with an indulgent smile. "They have their own quarters out back."

"What about John?" she asked.

"No, John has his own house out on the back forty of the ranch. There's a tack house out there that we turned into a bunk house so now we have two of those as well and that's where the ranch hands live if they're single."

"So you live here all alone?" she asked him, wondering what one person would do with so much room.

He took her hands in his and said, "Yes, I do. But hopefully, not for long."

She smiled and said, "Yes, hopefully not for long."

As they made their way back down the spiral staircase, John and Hal were coming in the front door. "It's snowing out there, lightly." John said. "But I thought Mr. Morgan would be better served seeing the ranch in the morning when the weather isn't so miserable." It had been an unseasonably cold winter in Texas.

"Good thinking, John." Heath told him. "Come in and get warm by the fire, Mr. Morgan. I'll have Sally fetch you a cup of hot tea."

The rest of the afternoon was spent with the men playing a game of billiards while Hazel took a little nap and then freshened up with a bath. The train ride had taken a lot out of her. After her bath and dressing for dinner, Hazel went over to the window in her room. She looked out on the miles and miles of land and it suddenly really sank in that her husband-to-be owned all of this. Hazel didn't care about money, she had never had any to care about, but it was still a thrilling notion. There was a seat in the window, and she imagined herself sitting there with a book, reading in the afternoon light.

"A book from my own library!" she said out loud. Hazel had never been so happy, and not only that, she had never imagined that she could be.

**Chapter Eight**

**DECEMBER 7** TH

Today was the day Hazel's pa was scheduled to leave. His train was to depart Brownsville station at ten a.m. As Hazel lay awake in her big, comfy bed, she smiled as she thought about the past few days. The first evening had been awkward but by the next day, everyone was warming up to each other and Hazel's pa really enjoyed the tour of the hard working ranch. She got to see Heath in his cowboy gear and it actually gave her goose bumps. Last evening, after dinner, they had gone out to look at the stars and before Hal made an appearance, Heath told her that this was where he sat every night and looked at the moon and thought of her. He even had a telescope that he used to look at the stars. It had made Hazel wish that her little sister was here, she would have loved that.

They had been standing close, looking up at the moon, and Hazel just knew that Heath was going to kiss her. Just as he leaned in, and she could feel the energy coming from his lips, Hal stepped out the back door. The mood was gone, but that was okay. Hazel told herself they would have the next fifty years to kiss if they wanted to. She threw back the covers just as there was a knock on her bedroom door.

"Punkin'? It's Pa, are you up?"

"Yes, Pa, one minute." Hazel threw a robe over her dressing gown and let her Pa inside. He looked around the room, which had a sitting area with two chairs and a small fireplace and a huge four poster bed with a chest of drawers and an armoire.

"Impressive." he said.

Hazel smiled. "Everything is beautiful here." she said.

"And big." Hal said. "I might have fit here better than I do in Ohio."

Hazel giggled. It was true.

Hal turned serious then as he said, "Today is the day I'm supposed to leave. I get the feeling you're not coming with me?"

Sarah took a deep breath and said, "Oh, Pa, I will miss you like crazy. But, no, I don't want to go back. I love him, Pa, I really do."

"You're sure?" he said. "It's not all this finery we're surrounded by?" Hal liked Heath and he was sure his daughter wouldn't be swayed by money alone, but he felt it was his duty to ask.

"No, Pa. I love all of this, of course. I'm only human after all. But, Pa, you've seen him and heard him and talked to him. He's so...I mean, he's....I just love him."

Hal smiled at his daughter and said, "I can see it in your eyes when you look at him, Punkin', and in his when he looks at you. I do have reservations about leaving you here in his home unescorted."

"Sally said that she would stay in the house until we're married. Heath asked her. I promise to you, on my honor, it will all be very respectable." she told him.

"Well, I guess Heath has thought of everything." Hal said and Hazel giggled again.

"He did, Pa." she said. "He really did."

***********

"So, is she staying?" John asked.

"If she doesn't, I'll kill myself." Heath told him.

John rolled his eyes. "You're so dramatic."

Heath grinned. "I know, but it's true. I can literally no longer imagine my life without her in it."

John knew Heath wasn't kidding. The hard part was that John was beginning to have the same strong feelings for his best friend's soon to be fiancé. He felt like a terrible person. Heath finally had one chance to be happy and instead of just being happy for him, all John could think about was how he wished that he had answered that ad himself. John would never do anything about it now. He cared too much about Heath. He was corresponding with a woman now, and she was fine but since he had met Hazel, he'd not been able to stop himself from comparing them. He hoped that feeling would go away once she and Heath got married and the newness of the situation wore off.

"John?" he heard Heath calling his name. He had been lost in his thoughts.

"What?" John said.

Heath smiled. "What were you thinking about? You were a million miles away."

"Oh, nothing." John said. "I was thinking about a letter I got from Natalie." She was one of the girls John had been corresponding with.

Heath clapped his friend on the shoulder and said, "Perhaps a double wedding will be in order?"

John forced a smile and said, "Perhaps." Hazel came down the stairs then. She was dressed in a dark green dress and had the top of her hair pulled back in a matching green ribbon. The rest of it lay in spiral curls to her shoulders. Her green eyes danced as she looked at Heath and John was so jealous that he hated himself. He wanted to marry her.

"Good morning." she said with a dazzling smile. Heath went to meet her at the bottom of the stairs.

He kissed her hand and said, "Good morning, Sunshine." She noticed John then, as if he had just come into the room.

"Good morning, John." she said.

"Good morning, Hazel." he told her. Then, looking at Heath, he said. "I'm going to go check those fences."

Heath barely acknowledged him as he left, not being able to take his eyes off of Hazel. When John was gone, Heath said, "You are the loveliest vision I have ever seen."

Hazel actually felt herself blush. "Thank you. I'm glad you think so."

Heath gave her a quizzical look and said, "You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you?"

Hazel shrugged. "Vanity is a sin." she said. Heath laughed and said,

"Then I suppose at least I'm going to heaven for lack of my own. Come, let's have breakfast." He led her to the dining room, where Hal joined them a few minutes later.

After they finished eating, Hal said, "Has my daughter told you what she's decided?" Heath looked at Hazel hopefully. He hadn't had the nerve to ask her, for fear she wouldn't give him the answer he so hoped for. "No, sir." he said.

"I'm going to stay...if you'll still have me." she said. Heath had to laugh at that. _If he would still have her?_ He felt like, at this point, he may die without her. He wanted to dance and sing. He wanted to kiss her...so badly. Instead of doing any of that, he looked at Hal as if they had something cooked up between them and Hal nodded. He slid out of his chair to the floor on one knee at Hazel's feet. Taking her hand in his, he looked into her lovely green eyes and said,

"Hazel Lynn Morgan, will you do me the honor of making me the happiest, luckiest man alive and being my wife?" He had already asked Hal for his blessing the evening before.

Hazel started to cry. Hal was smiling. She put her hands on either side of Heath's face and said, "Yes! Yes! I will be your wife."

***********

Hazel and Heath saw Hal off on the morning train. Hazel cried again when Hal kissed her cheek and said, "I love you, Punkin'." before he left. She was so excited to begin her new life, but so afraid to leave her old one behind.

"I love you, too, Pa. I'm scared that without you and Ma, I won't know what to do."

Hal held his daughter back at arm's length and said, "Listen to your heart, Hazel. I think you've discovered that it's always right."

When she and Heath got back to the house, Heath asked her if she wanted to go for a horseback ride. She had yet to see the perimeter of the ranch and he said he wanted to take her down and show her the place where the river runs through it. Hazel changed into riding clothes and a warm jacket and she and Heath went down to the stables. He told her the mare she was riding was called Wildfire, but in reality, she was the gentlest horse he had on the ranch.

Hazel laughed. "I'm not glass, you know, I won't break. I'm actually a very sturdy farm girl."

"I'm sorry." he said. "I just have this overwhelming desire to protect you." She grinned.

"Any other overwhelming desires in there?" she asked him. They were finally alone, and she wanted that kiss. Her own boldness shocked her.

Heath needed no further invitation. He stepped in closer and took her in his arms. Hazel had never felt anything like it. She was dizzy from the desire his touch sent coursing through her body. He placed his soft lips on hers he gave her the kiss she had been waiting for and then some. She had never kissed a man before, but her own lips responded as if on instinct. Hazel felt like her belly was on fire. When he pulled back, she still had her eyes closed and she said,

"That was....I mean...." Heath kissed her again. This time, when he finished, she said, "Incredible."

Heath laughed. "Was that your first kiss, Hazel?" She opened her eyes and nodded. "Mine, too." he said.

Hazel took a deep breath and then she said, "You've never been with a woman?" It was unusual. He was twenty-six years old. She thought that surely he had kissed a barmaid or two. Maybe the one escort that he'd had over for dinner.

"Not a single one." he said. "I thought it was worrying about my appearance but I know now that I was saving it all for you."

"I'm falling in love with you, Heath." she said. "You make me feel things I've never felt before, but I definitely want to feel again."

"I'm already in love with you, Hazel." he said.

"We're going to have an amazing life together, aren't we?" she asked him.

"The most amazing." he said.

***********

John sat in the saloon along the bar, drinking his whiskey. He felt the girl sit down next to him before he turned and looked at her. "Hey, cowboy." she said.

"Hey." John said, turning back to his drink.

"You look lonely. Are you looking for some company?" the yellow haired girl with the bright yellow dress and ruby red lips asked him.

"Not tonight." he told her. "Thanks." The girl leaned in close and pressed her bosom against his arm.

"I'll be right over there by the piano, if you change your mind." she said.

John smiled at her, to be polite. He wasn't going to change his mind. There was only one thing on his mind lately, and he didn't know what to do about it. He finished his drink and as he was walking out of the saloon, he heard a voice say,

"I heard Quasimodo found himself an Esmeralda." John stopped and for a few seconds, he tried to urge himself forward. The sad thing was, he wanted to fight...he was itching for it. He had to find some way to release the tension that had been building in him since Hazel arrived in Texas. He spun around on his boot heel and the whole room seemed to go silent.

He glanced around at the tables close to the door. No one was saying anything, so he smiled and said, "Better a Quasimodo than a coward."

That did it; the man with the mouth pushed himself back from the table and stood up. His name was Frank McClellan and he used to work for Heath. He was fired for stealing from the other ranch hands, and obviously he was holding a grudge.

"I said it." he admitted. "I saw that girl get off the train. She must have smelled the money from wherever she came from. Either that, or she's blind."

John continued to smile right up to the second that he threw the table between them out of the way and landed his right fist against the man's face. Frank McClelland flew backward, knocking over the table behind him. Poker chips and cards flew everywhere and the men at the table were angry. One of them stood up and pointed a rifle he'd had under the table at John.

"You're gonna clean this up." the man said.

"I don't think so." John said as he turned to go. He simultaneously heard the shot and felt the bullet rip through his flesh. As he went down on his knees, Frank McClellan, who had been the one to shoot him in the back, scrambled to get out of the saloon before someone alerted the sheriff. John was helpless to do anything as he watched the man go. He was suddenly very cold. He lay down on the wooden floor in a fetal position and tried to get warm. He closed his eyes and did the one thing that he knew would make him warm, he thought about Hazel.

**Chapter Nine**

**OCTOBER 8** th

John opened his eyes. He was disoriented and his chest hurt like hell. He blinked a few times, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. The room was too bright and it hurt. He didn't know where he was, and he couldn't remember what had happened. He tried to sit up and a gentle hand put light pressure on his shoulder and said,

"Don't sit up, John, just lay back and relax. You're okay." It was Hazel's voice. Maybe he was dreaming. "I'm going to get Heath." she said. She started to move her hand, but John reached up and covered it with his.

"Please..." he said. "Please don't go."

"It's okay." she said, brushing her hand across his forehead and sending waves of shivers down his spine. "You're okay. I'm going to let Heath know you're awake. He's been so worried."

That suddenly penetrated John's pain and medication addled brain. Heath was his best friend, his boss, and the best man John had ever known. This woman was his best friend's fiancé. The woman Heath had waited for his whole life and that he deserved. John didn't even have the right to think of her at all, much less the way he was thinking of her.

"I'm sorry I fell in love with you." he said. Hazel laughed softly. The sound of it was like music to his ears, no matter how much he didn't want it to be. She didn't even think he was a little bit serious.

"Silly. I think the medication Doc Grimes gave you has made you goofy. I'll be right back." she said. Several minutes later, the room was suddenly way too full. John had liked it when it was only he and Hazel.

"Hey, buddy!" It was Heath. "You gave us quite a scare. How are you feeling?"

The doctor was hovering over him now, trying to shine a light in his eyes. John felt the pain in his side and his head was confused and foggy.

He reached out, hoping to find Hazel again, but Heath grabbed his hand and said, "You're going to be okay, buddy." John closed his eyes and kept them shut. He wanted to go back to sleep, being awake made him feel too guilty. The next time he opened his eyes was a few hours later and he could see Heath sitting by the bed. "Hello, Sunshine." Heath told him with a grin.

"Hey." he said. "What the hell happened? Did I get ran over by a stampede?"

"You don't remember?" Heath asked him. John closed his eyes again for a second and said,

"I had words at the saloon with Frank McClellan, and then....nothing."

"The coward shot you in the back." Heath said. "The sheriff has him locked up. I hear the "words" were about you defending me."

"It's all fuzzy." John said.

"I'm sorry, John." John squinted his eyes against the morning light streaming in through the window and looked at his friend. He knew that he was the one who should be sorry. He loved this man like a brother and he lusted after the love of his life.

"You didn't shoot me." John said with a grin.

"No, but as usual, you were having to defend my honor. Sometimes, it's like I'm the female in our relationship." Heath said with a grin of his own.

"You would be." John said, closing his sore eyes again. "You're the pretty one."

***********

"He's awake again, Doc." Heath said, when he came back downstairs. The doctor went up with his bag to examine him. He needed to change his dressing as well. When he left the room, Hazel asked,

"Why so sad? The doctor said he was going to be okay, right?"

"Yes," Heath told her. "I just hate that it's my fault. It makes me worry about you."

"Why would you say that? How is it your fault that John was shot?" she asked.

"He's always defending me. The man who shot him said something ugly about me, and John just can't walk away when that happens. I wish he could. I don't need to be defended from some two bit coward who would shoot a man in the back."

"What did the man say?" she asked. Heath didn't want to tell her. Somehow, although he really did think the man was a no account, he was afraid if he said the words to his sweet Hazel, that, to her, they would ring true. He promised himself after the picture debacle that he would never lie to her again though, so he said,

"He said something about Quasimodo and Esmeralda." he said. "I'm glad the sheriff found him hiding out at Miss Clem's. He won't be seeing daylight any time soon."

"Who is Quasimodo and Esmeralda?" she asked.

Heath smiled, "I'm surprised my avid reader hasn't yet read the Hunchback of Notre Dame."

"No, I haven't. Is Quasimodo a bad guy?" she asked. "Is that why it made John angry?"

"No." Heath said. "He's a pathetic, deformed guy." The doctor came down the stairs before Hazel could say anything else. She was so angry, she wanted to go find that man and shoot him herself. No wonder John couldn't walk away.

"He was asking for you, Heath." the doctor said. "I'm going to get. He has a clean bandage on and I left more at the bedside. Miss Morgan, if you wouldn't mind helping him with a change before bedtime."

"Yes, sir." she said. Then, looking at Heath, she said, "You go on up, I'll show the doctor out." Hazel walked the doctor to the door and thanked him. Then she went to the library. She was happy to see that the books were organized in order. She found what she was looking for right away and sat down in the chair to read it.

Quasimodo was described as "hideous" and a "creation of the devil". He was looked upon by the general populace as a "monster". Hazel closed the book, and saw a passage on the back about him being a hero. The oaf who was throwing stones had obviously not read the book. She put it away and went back out to the parlor.

"There you are." Heath said.

"How is he?" Heath grinned.

"He's as ornery as ever. He'll be okay."

"Good." she said. "Heath, do you think Mr. Lee could take me into town?"

"Of course, but if you need something..."

"There's just something I'd like to do, if you don't mind. I'd also like to check with the postmaster to see if John has any mail. Maybe a nice letter from a lady would cheer him."

Heath came over and pressed his lips to her forehead. "You're so thoughtful. I'll go find Lee and ask him to hitch the carriage right away."

"Thank you." she told him. By the time he came back, she had on her wrap and gloves. "I won't be long." she told him.

Mr. Lee was a nice man, but not very talkative. The ride to town was a quiet one and once they were on Main Street, he said, "Where to, miss?"

"The jail, please." she said.

He looked at her like she had lost her mind. "But, Miss..., I don't think Mr. Heath would like it if I took you there."

"I have business there, Mr. Lee. Heath said I could go wherever I needed to go, and I need to go there."

Lee looked like he was dead set against it, but he took her. When they arrived, he tried to come in with her and she said, "I'll be fine. I just want to speak with the sheriff." Lee stayed behind but she had him really curious.

Hazel walked into the sheriff's office. "Hello?" she said. A man in western dress with a gold star pinned to his chest came out from the back.

"I'm sorry, Miss." he said. "I was finishing up my lunch. How can I help you?"

"I'd like to see your prisoner, please. Frank McClellan."

The sheriff looked at her suspiciously and said, "Are you kin of his?"

"No, sir," she said. "I'm Heath Key's fiancé."

The sheriff looked shocked. She figured he already knew about her, apparently the entire town did. He was likely shocked that she was here to talk to Frank. "He's an ugly character, Miss. Are you sure you want to subject yourself to him?"

"I'm sure." Hazel said, simply.

The sheriff shrugged as if to say "suit yourself" and showed her to the back where there were two cells. One of them held a man who was lying on his back with his hat over his eyes and the other the sheriff told her was Frank. He looked up when he heard them and when he saw Hazel, a nasty smile spread across his lips. He stood up and came over to the bars where they stood.

"Mr. McClellan." she said. "I'm Hazel Morgan. I'm Heath Key's fiancé."

"I'm sorry." the nasty man said.

Hazel smiled. "I'm sorry, too." she said, surprising him. "I'm sorry that you aren't fit to lick my fiancé's boots. Quasimodo, you say? I guess that's fitting, because he, too, had to put up with the ignorance of men like you. I believe that he turned out the hero in the end, did he not? You could have never been half the man that Heath Key's is, and I just wanted to come here and tell you that I believe myself to be the luckiest girl in the world. While you sit here behind these bars, I reckon you'll have a lot of time to think about why you're so bitter and ugly while Heath and I are enjoying our life together. Good day, sir." Hazel turned around then to face the smiling face of the sheriff.

The man in the other cell was also sitting up, grinning. McClellan said, "Hey!" but Hazel kept walking with her head held high.

He said it again and the man in the cell said, "Shut up." When Hazel got back in the carriage, Mr. Lee was still looking at her quizzically. "Can we go to the post office now?" she asked him.

"Yes, ma'am." he said, urging the horses on.

**Chapter Ten**

**DECEMBER 15** TH

Heath and Hazel were having breakfast when he said, "So, I hear you went by the sheriff's office when you were in town last week."

"Yes." she said. "And the post office but poor John didn't have any mail."

Heath smiled. "He's had a letter or two since. So what was the trip to the sheriff's office for?" he asked her.

"I'm assuming from that grin that you already know."

He reached out and touched her hand and said, "Yes, my Esmeralda, I heard."

Hazel made a face at him and said, "Don't do that. The only similarity between you and Quasimodo is that you are both men with large hearts. That man who shot John is a simple fool."

"Thank you for standing up for me." he said, still smiling.

"That's what families do for each other. That's why John stood up for you too. We're all family now."

John was just coming into the dining room when Hazel made that statement. He stopped and looked at her. He wished he could only see her as his "family." He couldn't look at her without his heart speeding up and his chest swelling. At night, when she came up to change his bandages, it was almost like a form of torture not to touch her back. She looked up then and saw him looking at her.

"John! Did the doctor say you could be up moving around?" Hazel asked him.

John grinned at her and said, "Yes, he gave me the nod this morning. I can move back to my own house today and get out of your hair. You two have a wedding to plan."

John sat down and Sally brought him his coffee and his breakfast. He thanked her and looked at Heath. "Are we moving the rest of those cattle up from Mexico tomorrow?"

"You aren't." Heath told him. "The doctor said you can move around the house, not be a trail boss."

"You can't go." John said, looking at Hazel. "One of us needs to be there."

"One of us does, and I will be." Heath said. "Hazel and I have already talked about it."

John looked back at Hazel and said, "He'll be gone for days. Are you sure? I think I'm well enough to go."

"Don't be silly." Hazel said. "I'll be fine here; I have everything I need. Heath has to do what he needs to do for his ranch, and you need to rest and get better."

"But..." John said.

"No buts," Heath told him. "You can look after Hazel while I'm gone." he said.

John wished that Heath wouldn't go. He looked at Hazel who was smiling at him now and he said, "Okay."

***********

Heath had been gone a few hours when John went up to the house for breakfast. He had spent the night before at home, giving the couple a night to dine alone and talk before Heath had to leave. He found Hazel having her breakfast as well.

"Good morning, John." she said. "How are you feeling today?"

He smiled back and accepted the coffee Sally was giving him. "Good, a lot better." he said. "Just sore. I saw Heath leave a while ago. Are you okay here alone?"

"I'm doing well." she said. "I'm going to get caught up on writing to my family and start reading some of those delicious looking books in the library."

John laughed. "That's the first time I heard a book referred to as 'delicious'." he said.

"Then you've obviously never devoured a book." she said with a grin.

"Obviously." he said.

"Have you gotten any letters lately?" she asked.

He patted his front pocket. "I passed Mr. Lee on the way in. He said this came yesterday."

Hazel smiled enthusiastically and said, "Aren't you going to read it?" John shrugged. He really didn't care about finding the perfect woman any longer. As far as he was concerned, she was already taken. "Is it from someone you've already written to?"

"No," he said. "I was taking too long for the other two that I corresponded with. They got tired of waiting for me."

"Maybe this is the one." she said with a smile. He doubted it. There was only one "the one" and Heath had beaten him to her. "Come on, open it." she said.

John liked to see her smile, so to make her happy he slid the letter out of his pocket and opened it up. A cabinet card slipped out and Hazel grabbed it. "She's beautiful, John." Hazel said. John looked at the photograph. The girl was very pretty. She looked to be early twenties with light hair and a slim build. "Don't you think so?" Hazel asked him.

John shrugged. He didn't want to tell Hazel that he thought another woman was beautiful. "Yeah, I guess." he said. He unfolded the letter and he could tell by the look on Hazel's face that she was dying to hear what it said.

"Would you like me to read it aloud?" he said, amused at her curiosity.

"Yes, please." she said with a grin.

Mr. John Hartwell,

I am writing in response to your article in the Matrimonial news. I am a woman of some means, twenty-two years old, who lives in Kansas with my grandparents. My own parents died tragically of the cholera a few years ago and my grandparents took me in. I was intrigued by your article as it said you were a "cowboy" by trade. I have always had a fondness in my heart for cowboys.

I would love it if you might find the time to respond to this letter. Please feel free to ask any questions that you may have.

Sincerely,

Becky K. Dodd

"It's short." John said.

"Yes, but she doesn't know you yet, John. That's why you should write her back right away. You'll discover more and more about each other as you go along."

John grinned at her. "You are a romantic, aren't you?" he said.

"Of course I am." she said. "Look where I am. If I hadn't answered that ad, and if I had given up anywhere along the way, look what I would have missed out on." Then she picked up the photograph and handed it to him once more. "Look into her eyes with only your heart, John. What do you see?" Hazel looked up to see him looking at her eyes. "John, concentrate." she said. "Look at the woman who will love you someday." John was thinking, _"I hope I am."_ as he looked at Hazel but he chastised himself again and looked back at the photograph. She wasn't bad; at least he wouldn't be alone any longer, knowing that Heath was so happy with his perfect woman.

"Okay." he said. "I think I can see something there. Let's write her a letter."

The End

Thank you for reading and supporting my book and I hope you enjoyed it.

Please will you do me a favor and review "Blinded By Love" so I'll know whether you liked it or not.

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