Hugh Fontaine

Returning to Bachelor from Creede, Hugh’s wagon rattled over the hill, and he looked at the tree. The tree. In his mind, it marked the time before he met Julianne and the time after. It had only been a few days since rescuing her from her entanglement, and a few days since Hugh was first plagued with a desire to see her again.

He began to wonder if that one moment had set his feet on a different path. His heart was at odds with his brain.

She was his first thought in the morning, and questions about her interrupted him throughout the day. How is she doing? What will become of her dream to build a school? What trouble will she get herself into next? He chuckled a bit at that, fairly certain that she would regularly. However, she seemed to overcome obstacles without losing courage. He admired her pluck.

He allowed himself to reminisce about Julianne. The events seemed to be burned behind his eyelids. His mind recalled her words. He savored the tinkling sound of her laugh, the tilt of her chin—his memory so vivid that he could almost feel her sitting beside him. A sudden desire to help her, to support her dream, assaulted him.

His reverie broke then, and Hugh realized he’d long passed by his saloon and just around the next bend of the road was the church. As he brought his team to a halt, he could see the clapboard building between the thinning trees. Maybe Julianne was inside.

Would she be as excited to see me as I would be to see her?

He shook his head and rumbled past, not allowing his eyes to tic in that direction. He would put that woman out of his mind.

That almost worked. He often caught himself thinking about her and swiftly kicked the thoughts out, but he’d catch them sneaking in again later. Over the next few days, it was a near-constant battle to push them out. The only way to put a stop to this was to see Julianne. Hugh decided he’d make a call on Saturday—just a friendly visit to make sure everything was fine.

Not only did he find it was almost impossible to get a good night’s sleep on Friday, but he got up as soon as the first rooster crowed. He took some extra care getting dressed—nothing fancy, but he found that he wanted to impress the woman.

It wouldn’t do to show up on Reverend Bing’s front stoop before the sun chased dusk away from their door. He looked around his barren cabin for something to take his mind off the wait. Nothing.

In a drawer at the bottom of his wardrobe were several decks of cards. He pulled one out and began turning the cards over, one after another, concentrating to remember which cards he’d already seen and determining which ones were still in the deck. The first time through the deck was easy. Each time he shuffled the cards and replayed the exercise, he had to concentrate on the current deal and not revert to remembering the previous ones.

Finally, clear morning light shone through his windows. He left the deck where it lay, went outside to saddle his horse, and got on his way up the road. He practiced what he might say when they answered the door.

“Hello, Reverend, Miss Bing, Miss Parker. I was passing by and thought I’d stop to say hello.”

No. Don’t start by lying.

“Hello, Reverend, Miss Bing, Miss Parker. I thought I’d stop to see how you’re getting along.”

Better.

Hugh peered through the forest, straining to see the church. As he approached the last turn before his destination, he saw Julianne step out the back door with a basket, walking toward the chicken coop. It wouldn’t be right to approach her while she was alone. Hugh would have to wait.

Still, he could see her. She released the latch and the chickens followed her to the trough where she spread their food. Then she ducked inside the coop.

Minutes slowly ticked by. Hugh imagined how he would approach the door, what she would look like when she saw that he’d come for a visit, and how her smile would grow toward him.

His sensible thoughts broke in. What are you doing?

I’m just dropping by for a friendly visit.

You can’t have a friendship with a woman. If you go there, you’re courting her.

I’ve come all this way—I’ll go on over.

No. You won’t visit her today. She doesn’t need you making it harder to live here.

There was a physical pain in his chest as Hugh decided he must abandon his interest in Julianne. It seemed to him that his heart was in full mutiny. He countered, thinking that he didn’t even know the woman.

In defiance, his heart thumped, “I do. I do.”