Accept my Word (Rancher's Word #1) - Linda K. Hubalek Page 0,1

place.

Chapter 2

Faith Geller pulled aside the living room’s lace curtain and looked out the window when the dogs barked, notifying her a visitor was approaching their ranch.

She watched as a man slowly and quietly rode up on a bay horse, looking around the homestead, taking in their weathered one-story wooden house, which had replaced the soddie they lived in the first years of their homesteading this ranch. The house needed paint, and Faith always cringed when a visitor came by, especially one as nicely dressed as this young man. His trousers and coat weren't patched as many drifters were, who occasionally stopped to look for work.

His dark blond hair under his wide-brimmed hat had been cut recently, and he was clean-shaven. His brown boots were dusty but well-heeled. Faith guessed he was in his mid-twenties in age, similar to her.

The tall, lean man descended from the saddle and dropped the bridle reins over the hitching post in front of the house. He came directly to the door and knocked, politely as a well-mannered gentleman, sure of himself in a confident way.

Faith smoothed a hand over her curly dark brown hair and wished she had the time to take off her apron. Instead, she hurried to the front door, trying to get there before her father pulled the door open first, but she was too late. He’d moved to the door the second the dogs barked instead of peeking out the window and worrying how he’d look to the stranger.

“Hello, ma'am, sir," the young man greeted them as he pulled his hat off with his left hand while reaching out with his right hand to her father.

"I'm Moses—"

"Where you been?" Faith’s father demanded before the young man had a chance to say his last name. And Papa ignored the man's outreached hand too.

Now the stranger dropped his hand and started again. “I’m not sure what you mean, sir. I'm Moses—"

"You’re late for the meeting!"

The man stared at Papa a long second and then at Faith to clarify the situation.

"Sir, I'm not—"

"Papa," Faith interrupted the man before her confused father blurted anything else out. "Why don't you get things ready for your meeting, and I'll take the man's hat and coat first?"

Papa's expression barely cleared before he limped out of the room, his old knee injury giving him problems today. He was in his seventies now, and his health was deteriorating. Papa was the age he should have been Faith’s grandfather, but her parents had married later in life.

Faith held one finger to let the visitor know she needed to let her father get out of earshot before she'd speak again.

"I'm so sorry for the confusion, but my father has spells where he doesn't know what year it is or who he's talking to," Faith apologized as she felt her skin redden from embarrassment.

"That's all right. I’m Moses Brenner from Clear Creek, Kansas. I'm in the area to visit the cemetery at the Geller Ranch. Am I at the right place?"

"Yes, my father, John Geller, owns this land, and I’m his daughter, Faith. There are some graves in the pasture, but I wouldn't call it a cemetery. Victims from an Indian attack were buried there twenty years ago."

Faith didn’t add that the graves she mentioned included her siblings. She was too young to remember her brother and sister or the incident which killed them.

“My parents were part of that group, Miss Geller, and I’d like permission to view the graves,” Mr. Brenner quietly said.

Would this stranger’s questions about the graves help or hinder her father’s mental state? Certain things tended to trigger her father’s mind to slip into the past. But it was only fair that her father help this man with any facts he knew.

“Oh, yes. I’m sure Papa would be fine with that once his mind clears again. He may be able to give you information about the travelers as my family was part of the group too.”

Mr. Brenner’s eyes widened when it registered what she said. “Your father knew my parents?”

“It’s possible, but I can’t guarantee he’ll remember much. Some days I’m his daughter, and other days he calls me Elinor,” Faith confessed.

“Did you lose any family members in the attack?”

“Yes, my older brother and sister. I was only two at the time and don’t remember them,” Faith said matter-of-factly.

“My parents died. My sister, Molly, and I were taken from the group and lived with a Cheyenne tribe before being brought back to Fort Wallace. Marcus Brenner, a soldier