Thomas stood rooted to the spot as the door banged behind Valerie. Since her arrival, a host of feelings had tumbled around inside of him: fear, worry, anger, frustration. But now he was just in shock.

From the moment he'd laid eyes on her, he'd only been able to think of all that she represented back home, including the suffocating life that his parents had planned for him. He hadn't given any consideration to the danger she'd put herself in by coming out here, and certainly hadn't any notion of the idea that she'd come here out of love for him. How could she love him? She didn't even know who he was anymore.

“Thomas Wells, I can't believe you,” Marge exclaimed. “How could you abandon your fiancée like that?”

Kate and Elise likewise stared at him in disbelief.

“This is the truth, Thomas?” Elise asked him, quiet disappointment filling her voice. “Did you run away from your responsibility?”

Words stuck in his throat. He'd never thought of himself as a coward, but it was clear that these women now believed it of him. Five years before, he'd believed he was asserting his right to live his own life and not be encumbered by unreasonable expectations. Leaving New York for a life in the West had seemed like a grand adventure, not an act of spinelessness.

“It wasn't like that,” he mumbled. “You don't understand.”

“So explain it,” Marge commanded, folding her arms over her chest. “Help us understand.”

The women had ceased their cleaning the moment Valerie had run out of the room. Sweat broke out along his spine at the thought of telling them about his past, but he didn't see what other choice he had. Of course, he could just leave, take the horse that he'd bought with his wages and run, but that truly would be cowardice, so instead, he sat, heaved a sigh, and began the story.

“My parents and Val's parents have been friends for a long time,” he stated quietly. “Practically from the moment Val was born, they started planning our marriage, but I didn't find out about it until I was sixteen. It’s the way things were in our society.” He paused for a moment to gauge their reactions. It seemed to him they were doing their best to reserve judgment. “You know, it wasn't even really the idea of marriage that made me leave. When I turned sixteen, my father made me spend all my free time at his office. I realized what my future was going to look like, and I felt suffocated.”

He’d realized from nearly the beginning that there was no way he could spend year after miserable year of toiling away in the fabric company that his grandfather had built with his own father. He'd grown up in unspeakable luxury, but instead of enjoying his family's wealth, he felt trapped by it.

From the looks on the women's faces, he could tell they still didn't understand.

“Okay, so your family is rich, and you didn't want to follow in your father's footsteps or marry Valerie, so you ran away?” Marge asked, a furrow between her brows. “Sounds like the kind of life any man here would give his right hand for.”

Clearly they thought he was a spoiled brat, unappreciative of all he'd been blessed with.

“It wasn't my choice to be born into a wealthy family,” he defended. “Doesn't a man have the right to live his life as he sees fit?”

“Hmph, I don't know about that,” Marge replied. “You are supposed to live your life as God sees fit, and He saw fit to place you in your family.”

He released a long sigh and shook his head. He didn’t see things the same way, but that was a different argument for another time. In any case, they couldn't understand, so he didn't blame them. Why should they? He wasn't too sure about Elise, but he knew for a fact that neither Marge nor Kate had grown up in such abundance.

“It seems that Miss Hillcrest loves you,” Elise added softly, her eyes filling with concern. “But this is not something that you want?”

Kate raised her eyebrows. “Any single man on this ranch would take her off your hands in a heartbeat, or any man in this whole area for that matter.”

Thomas acknowledged Valerie was beautiful, but didn't see it as a reason to marry her and give up his whole life. “I don't think you understand. She didn't come here to marry me and become a ranch hand's wife. She'll expect me to go back to New York with her and take my position in my father's company.”

“But maybe it is time?” Elise asked gently. “It is your family.”

Being of Italian descent, Elise placed great emphasis on family and likely saw him as irresponsible and disloyal for abandoning his own.

“I'm sorry to disappoint you, Elise,” he replied. “But I'm not exaggerating when I say I'd rather do anything else. And as to whether or not she loves me, that remains to be seen.” His upbringing was slipping back into his manner of talking. The cowboy in him was fading away. “Besides, how do I know if everything happened as she said? I wouldn't put it past her father or mine to send her out here to trap me.”

“You need to find out the truth, Thomas,” Kate urged him. “But it doesn't seem likely that a man would send his young daughter out west all alone to find you. That would ruin her reputation. She must have believed you would marry her.”

He swallowed hard and lowered his head, frowning at his folded hands. “You don't know her father. He'd sell his children if he needed to in order to keep his status in society, and to keep his company. There's no love in that family, nor in mine.” That wasn't entirely true, but he didn't want to concede anything. It was three against one, and he could feel himself losing.

“Well then, all the more reason for you to try now,” Marge reasoned. “Go find that girl and talk to her face to face with no one else around. You should have done that in the first place. You need to see if you can get at the truth.”

Marge was right. He owed Valerie at least that much, considering everything. Wearily, he pushed himself off the chair and gave them a nod. “I'm sorry for bringing this to your doorstep. I never thought this would happen. I still can't believe she's here.”

“She's here alright,” Marge replied with a chuckle. “No mistake about that.”

“She is lovely, Thomas,” Elise murmured. “Please listen, pray, and then make your decision.”

Pray. It had been a while since he'd done more than give God a passing thought. Perhaps this was his punishment.

A grimace passed over his face, but he realized he was behaving like a child. “You're right. I'll do that. Excuse me.”

As he left the house to look for Valerie, a powerful urge to head to the barn and saddle his horse overcame him. It would be so much easier to just leave, but he was no longer a sixteen-year-old boy. It was time to be a man.

* * *

Valerie had left the house to be free of the shame that threatened to undo her. More than that, she felt empty. The dream that had kept her hope alive over the past five years had dissolved like sugar on the tongue. Had she really just imagined everything? Was there nothing of the young man for whom she'd nurtured feelings all these years?

Her eyes took in the wilderness before her. Never in her life had she beheld such beauty. On the train, she'd been too full of her own ideas to pay much attention to the scenery, but now she drank it in. It didn't escape her notice that her heart was breaking in the most beautiful place she'd ever seen.

“God,” she whispered to the gentle wind. “Did I really misunderstand everything? Was I just seeking my own will and pretending that it was Yours?”

When she'd first seen Thomas, her heart had leaped like a wild flame and she'd thought that her dreams were about to be fulfilled. But when he'd met her gaze, doubt had worked its way forward. However, she thought that he only needed to witness her love and sincerity to be brought around.

But then he'd uttered the words she'd never allowed herself to even imagine. He'd left New York because he hadn't wanted to marry her. She was the reason that he'd thrown away all that he'd grown up with. The thought of marrying her had been so repulsive to him that he'd rather spend his days laboring in the scorching sun, and his nights in a room full of snoring men.

She walked toward the mountain range, its three majestic peaks stretching toward the heavens. If only she could walk forever and never have to see Thomas again. Perhaps she could find another man nearby who would have her. One thing was for sure: she would never be able to return to New York.

The thought of New York caused panic to rise in her chest. Her father was still rich and powerful, even without the Wellingtons’ money, and she wouldn't put it past him to hunt her down. If he found Thomas here...she couldn't even imagine what would happen.

She tried to pray and find a way out of this mess, but a barrier seemed to be in place between her and her heavenly Father.

“Val?”

Her shoulders sagged in defeat. Yes, of course he would come now.