"The same," Josh said, catching up with her. He opened the door for her. "He seems to stay the same these days. Just hanging on."
Melanie entered a room that was dimly lighted by low-burning kerosene lamps. The aroma was
strong with medicine. The sound was that of a man fighting for every breath.
Melanie went to Jared's bedside and looked down at him. As always, her heart went out to the man who had dwindled away to mere flesh stretched tautly across bone. When his eyes opened and he saw her there, he reached a bony
hand to her and managed a smile.
"Melanie, it's so good to see you," Jared said, wheezing between words. His blue eyes were faded with time and illness. "Sit down and visit a spell. Did you do anything exciting today? Josh tells me you rode into town with him and Terrance." He laughed a throaty, scratchy laugh. "I knew ever since you were a mere sprite of a girl that you'd have spunk. You're going to give a husband fits one of these days, aren't you?"
Melanie's eyes wavered. She was immediately reminded of Shane and how she had been catapulted into feelings for him so quickly. Could anything ever truly come of it? Was Jared, without even knowing it, speaking of his own son when he made reference to a husband?
She so badly wanted to spill out the truth to this trusting, ailing man! It would be so easy to tell him that his son had returned and that he was a caring, gentle man. In only the short time Melanie had become acquainted with Shane, she knew that. She knew that she was in love with him!
If she could just share that secret with Jared, as through the years she had shared so many things with him. He had been like a second father to her.
But for now, she had to just be there for him, be
someone he could take comfort in. Tomorrow, he would have his son. Tomorrow!
Melanie eased down onto a chair beside Jared's bed. She clung to his hand and smiled at him. ''Today was special in many ways," she murmured. "But it's only girl stuff, Jared. You wouldn't be interested. Tell mehow are you feeling?"
Jared glanced up at Josh, then at Melanie. He wanted to confide in her about the will, about Shane's portion of the inheritance. But he couldn't. Josh was already aware of the stipulation and was upset over it. No sense in causing the hurt to deepen by talking about it openly to Melanie in front of him.
Tomorrow. He would tell her tomorrow. Besides Jared's lawyer, someone else had to be aware of how strongly he felt about Shane, should Shane ever come home. He could trust Melanie to see that Shane was treated fairly.
"I'm faring well enough," Jared said. "But I'm not sure how much longer I can hang on. This old ticker of mine gets weaker every day."
"You're going to live forever," Melanie said, pretending to scoff at his resignation to dying. "Just think of all the tomorrows and the surprises that each tomorrow may have in store for you. You're going to be here to enjoy them all."
Melanie and Jared exchanged warm smiles. It took a lot of willpower not to tell him the wonderful news. But she had to reserve tomorrow for Shane and Jared. It would be one of those days of special surprises that she had just promised Jared.
Josh stiffened behind them, then swung around and left the room. He went to the parlor and poured himself a shot of whiskey and swallowed it in one fast gulp. He could not get the will off his mind. Damn his father. Josh had lived in Shane's shadow forever and would still feel it on him after their father was dead!
That will would haunt him forever.
Chapter Six
Gilding the edges of clouds, the sun lazily stretched its early morning rays over fertile fields. After a restless night, Melanie was awake and eager to go to Shane. She must, before Terrance had a chance to tell Josh everything!
Stepping lightly down the stairs, she held a lacy shawl around her shoulders and peered intensely at the parlor door. It was still closed. She had gone and checked on Terrance when she first awoke, to make sure that he was still there after passing out in his drunken stupor the previous night. She had found him snoring and still sleeping. Sleeping this soundly, he would surely not awaken for several more hours.
Time. Melanie needed all the time she could get to go to Shane and get him to his father's house.
Any more interference from Terrance could easily send Shane away, perhaps never to be heard from again. Melanie could not help worrying that even Shane's one confrontation with Terrance the night before might have been enough to send him running. . . .
She had given orders to a stable hand last night to have her horse saddled and ready for travel at sunup this morning, and she had chosen a dress that would stand up under the roughness of traveling on horseback.
She had not wanted to wear the buckskin skirt and moccasins today. To look more ladylike for Shane, she had chosen a yellow cotton dress with white roses embroidered on the skirt. White, delicate lace edged the cuffs of the long sleeves and the scooped bodice. For warding off the chill of the early morning she had drawn a lace shawl around her shoulders. If not for the racket it would make, possibly awakening Terrance, she would have prefered going to Shane in her buggy.
Melanie hurried from the house and found her horse secured to a hitching rail close to the porch. After tying the end of her shawl into a neat, small bow so that it would not slip from her shoulders, she placed a foot in the stirrup and pulled herself into the saddle. Then she wheeled her horse around and rode away into the shiny mist of morning.
Shivers ran up and down Melanie's spine as the damp, cool air stung her cheeks and seeped through her light clothing. Her hair whipped around her face, then tumbled back down and
swirled around her shoulders. As she rode more quickly across the straight stretch of green land, she fought the skirt of her dress that kept fluttering up above her knees, revealing a lacy petticoat.
Then the meadow was left behind. Melanie's body strained against the slope of land as she began the steady climb upward. She held more tightly to the reins and hugged the horse's body with her legs. Her heart began to pound, knowing that in only a matter of moments she would be seeing Shane again.