Snowed In(manxman)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Chapter Thirty-Three

The nearly three week trip was long to say the least. While the weather cooperated and they weren't held up by snow or ice, the cold had been a forced to be reckoned with, especially at night.

Turner, Will and Lillith had slept all curled up together every night. Turner wrapped around Will and Will wrapped around Lillith while a kerosene lamp burned and put off a meager amount of heat at their feet.

Turner chuckled in Bernice's saddle. He could only imagine the reaction they'd have gotten if someone would have ridden up and caught them all curled together that way. Thankfully, that hadn't happened.

Turner felt his stomach twist uncomfortably when the ranch came into view on the horizon. The stone bricks, the white pillars, the ivy, the dark shutters, the wide door, the wrap around porch and balcony... it was all so familiar and yet felt like a memory from a different life.

He took in the sight of the flower gardens and window boxes, the well, the woodshed, the smoke house, the bunk house, the corrals and the barns. Memories of Peter and the life they'd lived together here, flooded Turner's mind.

He glanced at Will who was sitting up front in the wagon with Lillith and a smile curved his lips. Peter would have liked Will and soon this house would be full of new memories as Turner built a life here with the man he loved more than life.

"Damn, Turner.." Will mumbled as his eyes scanned the acres of buildings and corrals sprawled out in front of them, "I would have never guessed by that cabin we stayed in that you came from this kind of money..."

"I don't," Turner replied, "Peter was a wealthy man and he left it all to me."

"How wealthy are we talking?" Lillith whispered.

"Wealthy enough to live comfortably for the rest of our lives even without the ranch," Turner replied. He probably should have told Will how much money he had but he hadn't even thought about. Honestly he hadn't touched any of the money that Peter had left him--the memory of Peter's death had been too fresh in his mind and too painful and Turner had quite simply run away from everything.

Turner heard Will and Lillith talking together about the house, the beautiful horses, the cattle and the money.

He clicked his tongue and urged Bernice into a faster gait, going out ahead of the wagon. He hadn't seen his brother, Christopher, in over three years and, honestly, he was excited to see the man again. He knew that his niece, Callie would be six years old now and the babe that Christopher's wife, June, had been carrying would be nearly three.

It still amazed Turner that Christopher had settled down with June. His brother had always been the charming one out of the two brothers and he'd had always left strings of crying women behind him--until he'd set his eyes on June. Then again, Turner knew better than anyone that love had a way of changing a man.

Though it had been a while since he'd seen him, Turner recognized his brother the instant the man stepped out of the barn. Christopher was shorter and smaller in build than Turner. He had shorter hair and kept his face smooth but that was where the physical differences ended. They had the same eyes, the same hair color, same skin tone and same sharp features.

Christopher's gaze fell on him and his eyes widened, "Holy hell!" he exclaimed. "Is that my mountaintop recluse of a brother?!"

"Yeah, I reckon it's me," Turner replied. He hopped off of Bernice and held his hand out to Christopher.