Unexpected

Chapter Two

"We've made it."

Emmy Lou smiled out the window as the train slowly rolled to a stop. Blackwell was just as they had left it. The town was bustling with the usual afternoon business, people scurrying along the boardwalk to complete their daily schedules. When Caroline stepped off the train she saw that there were plenty of people at the station, waiting for visitors or simply gossiping to fellow townsfolk. Among them, she spotted her father, holding his hat in his hands, waiting in the midst of the crowd.

To Caroline's surprise, Emmy Lou took the first step, hurrying toward Wyatt with a smile on her face.

And to Caroline's immense shock, Emmy Lou embraced him.

Wyatt seemed just as surprised. At first he didn't appear to know what to do and then his arms went around Emmy gently. Caroline wasn't sure what to make of this.

"It's so good to see you," Emmy Lou said, stepping back from Wyatt to adjust the rosy pink shawl around her shoulders. She sighed contentedly and surveyed the town, a new light in her eyes that Caroline had not seen in a long while.

Wyatt's eyes never strayed from Emmy Lou.  "I ... got your letter just this mornin'. Are you feelin' well then, Lou, since you made the trip?"

"Not so well as she would have you believe," muttered Caroline.

"Oh, hush now, Caroline. I'm feeling fine. Now, where's Edith and Calvin?"

"I ain't had the chance to head out to the farmhouse to tell them yet," Wyatt explained as he gathered their things. "We can make the trip if you're of a mind to. I know they'll be happy to see you. Edith's been missin' you both." 

Caroline's eyes wandered the town, searching, though she wasn't sure what for until she found it.

Samuel Martin.

He was not as she remembered him. Just as handsome, of course, if a little aged. But worn down and obviously weary. He didn't carry himself with the same amiable cheer as three years prior. His eyes were circled with dark rings, the evidence of many sleepless nights in a row, and his chin sported a most-certainly-week-old-scruff that Caroline found almost insulting considering the ranch owner had previously created some high standards for himself.

Oh, and there was one other thing that had changed about Samuel Martin--he held an infant in his arms.

The baby wailed and wailed and wailed while Samuel pleaded with a greying gentleman on the far side of the station platform, but the secluded part of the boardwalk did not offer much privacy or quietness. Everyone stared, murmuring quiet whispers of sympathy and shaking their heads. Caroline felt her stomach sink to her ankles. He had a baby, which meant he had a woman as well.

If she were any less of a lady she would have cursed and spat, but then she remembered Daniel Burns and his tidy suits paired with fathomless blue eyes and shook herself from the stupor Samuel always seemed to put her in.

"Poor ol' boy," Wyatt suddenly said. "He's lost all on his own."

"On his own?" Caroline echoed, whirling to face her father, who was watching Samuel Martin with a genuine look of sympathy. Her eagerness for the answer to the question was obvious, but she was too concerned with thoughts of Samuel to be embarrassed.

"Mmhm, 'is wife passed away birthin' that lil' girl o' his."

Caroline looked again at Samuel, watching as he spoke in hushed tones to the salt and pepper haired man while also trying to soothe the baby by gently patting her back.

Caroline squared her shoulders, saying, "You two go along to the wagon. I'll catch up to you." She set out across the boardwalk.

"But there's gotta be somethin'. I paid you to come all the way out here from Denver. You're supposed to be a specialist," Samuel said. Caroline had never heard such desperation in his tone before. He had always been so calm and cheery.