Chapter One
“Morning, Papa! Oof, the sun’s awfully bright today, isn’t it?” Maddy grinned and tipped her hat toward her father as she stepped out of the front door onto the veranda.
It was an obnoxiously sunny day, but that was just how she liked it. Besides, it matched her personality.
By contrast, her father stared out at his vast lands with a grim look on his handsome but weathered face, half hidden behind a rugged beard. In the distance, his empire of cattle dotted the hilly Oregon landscape as far as the eye could see.
Benjamin Rosco was just about as successful as a rancher could be, but that didn’t stop his ambition for a moment. He was always coming up with new ways to improve and expand Green Haven Range. Maddy often wished he would slow down, maybe even consider retirement, but there was no telling him what to do.
“Morning, darling,” her father responded distractedly, keeping his eyes trained on the cattle.
“It’s barely seven in the morning and you already look like something’s wrong, Papa. You should go eat breakfast, maybe read the newspaper. Then you can worry about whatever’s on your mind.”
He shook his head slowly and clenched his jaw. “Wolves got two of the Keller heifers last night. Doesn’t bode well for the herd. I want to be sure we’re at our strongest before we head out on the fall drive.”
“You promised me you wouldn’t go on the next drive. Let Christopher and the boys take care of it. There’s plenty for you to worry about here instead.”
Finally, Maddy’s father looked over in her direction. “You’re right about that. I’d spend all day worrying about you if you’d let me. Where do you think you’re going wearing my old hat?”
“To help out with the herd. My bonnets don’t exactly work. The ribbons get in the way. Besides, I think it suits me,” she said with a cheeky smile.
Her father preferred for her to stay in the house, supervising the chores and managing the kitchen, but Maddy couldn’t stand to be inside, especially on such a beautiful day.
“What would your mother say if she could see you now? She’d scold me if she saw how bronzed you’re getting.”
Maddy looked down at her golden-brown arms, the hair on them bleached blonde from the sun. The hair on her head was just the opposite, a dark chestnut, almost as dark as her father’s. She liked the way her skin reflected her life and how much time she spent outside, even if the girls in town laughed at her from behind their parasols, pale as the moon. If Maddy wasn’t on the range with her father, she was busy in the garden, tending to her flowers, herbs, and vegetables.
“She’d be proud of me and you know it. Come on now, you coming with me or not?” Maddy asked, forcing a smile. As much as she didn’t like her father riding, given his troublesome knees, she wanted to change the subject more.
Any time they talked about her mother, Benjamin became quiet and morose. He still blamed himself for her death, even though it wasn’t his fault. The breach birth had been too far along for any doctor or midwife to turn around, and neither child nor mother had survived long.
Maddy had been young when it happened and couldn’t recall the pain of it the way her father did. She preferred to remember the happy times, picking flowers in the garden as a family and testing each other on their knowledge of different fauna based on smell alone. Benjamin never quite smiled as widely since those days.
“You’re right. It’s practically noon already. Let’s head out,” he agreed, leading the way toward the stables. Maddy sighed quietly with relief.
She and her father got along best when they were working. Lately, he’d been preoccupied with the notion of finding her a husband, something that made Maddy inexplicably anxious. Getting married was simply not on her list of priorities.
Perhaps if there’d been anyone remotely intriguing to her she would be interested, but the town of Adel didn’t boast many marriageable prospects. Most of the men knew more about how to talk to cattle than how to engage with a woman.
Within a few minutes, they were out on the range, and Maddy was enjoying the feeling of the wind against her skin. The two long braids that ran down her back bounced as the horse underneath her picked up speed.
Maddy wished she could wear pants like the rest of the ranchers who worked at Green Haven, but then again, she didn’t mind standing out. Part of her liked challenging other people’s ideas of who or what she ought to be, as the daughter of one of the richest men in Oregon.
“Patrol the edges, boys! There are wolves around. Scare ‘em now, they’ll stay away tonight,” Benjamin called out to the ranch hands who were already hard at work.
Maddy rode off toward one of the far borders, looking up at the hills to check for any wild animals on the move. She waved to the cowboys who greeted her, polite as could be while her father was in earshot. To be fair, they were always well-behaved in her presence, but if Benjamin wasn’t around, some of their formality dropped away. Christopher in particular had been at Green Haven as long as Maddy could remember, and was the closest thing she’d ever had to an older brother.
“Good girl,” Maddy said as she patted the neck of her horse, who flicked her ears to scare away a pesky fly.
A rifle went off in the distance, sending the horse backward unexpectedly.
“Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong,” Maddy soothed, though she didn’t feel as calm as she sounded as she looked around to see where the shot had come from.
There was some kind of commotion on the other side of the range, but it was too far away to tell exactly what was going on. The herd started sprawling, moving in small packs in all different directions. She steered her horse toward the scattering herd.
“What’s the commotion?” she called out, but no one responded. There were too many cattle between her and her father to ride over to him, so she did what she could to settle the herd around her, all while keeping her own horse calm.
“Maddy! Watch out!” called Christopher from behind her.
“What?” She wheeled her horse around to see what was the matter.
Christopher pointed frantically toward the middle of the confusion, where a spooked cow was stampeding around wildly. Before Maddy knew what was happening, the cow turned toward her and her horse reared its front hooves underneath her. She clung on for dear life and managed to hold onto the reins, but the damage was done. Her horse was terrified.
The steed galloped and then jumped, bucking Maddy clear off. Everything washed into a blur as she flew through the air. The last thing she saw before she crashed to the ground was her father yelling, pure fear splashed across his face. Her head hit a rock, driving a sharp pain into her skull. Then, everything went dark.
***
“I’m sure she’ll be waking up soon. Don’t worry yourself too much, Benjamin. Consider yourself lucky she’s breathing at all. The Lord saw fit to let her live another day, and for that, you should be grateful.”
The doctor’s words filtered through Maddy’s foggy head to her ears. Slowly, the sentences she was hearing started to make sense and she recognized who the voice belonged to. At first, she thought she must be dreaming, as images of running horses collided with jumping sheep and the lace from the curtain of her bedroom window, but as she started to come to, she remembered what had happened.
The yelling, the running, her horse rearing, and the quickly approaching hard ground.
In a snap, she sat up, immediately opening her eyes. Only, she still couldn’t see anything. Everything was black. Her head pounded.
“Ahh,” she moaned, lost and confused.
“Maddy! Oh, thank goodness, you’re alright!” her father exclaimed.
“I’m not. I’m still dreaming. What’s going on? Oh, I’m talking in my sleep. I’ll wake up in a moment. Come on,” she said encouragingly to herself, trying to knock herself awake.
“I think you are awake. Your eyes are open, my dear. You’ve just had a big fall, and—”
“No, I’m still asleep. This is all a dream, only… only it feels so real. I can feel the sheets, my hair, and my skin,” she murmured, letting her hands roam around while her mind sorted itself out. “I’ve never had a dream that felt so real.”
“You’re not dreaming. This is real,” her father repeated, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking her hands in his. Maddy could feel his familiar calloused palms rubbing against hers comfortingly, but she was anything but relaxed.
“You’re right. I’m awake now, but I can’t… my eyes won’t…” Maddy grunted in frustration, feeling trapped by her own body.
“Alright, there, there. This is Dr. Hanson here. Can you hear my voice?”
She could hear him pulling up a chair close to the bed, but she was too distracted to respond. Panic took over as she took a hand away from her father and raised it to what she expected to be closed eyelids, only to find that her eyes were wide open.
She couldn’t see a thing. Even her own hand in front of her face. Behind her eyes was nothing more than a kaleidoscope of black dots on an even darker background.
“Madeleine, can you hear me?” the doctor pressed.
“Yes, yes, I can hear you,” she whispered, wishing she was still asleep after all.
“Good, that’s very good. Now, I’m sure this must all be very confusing to you, but you’ve had a fall. One of the cows got—”
“Got spooked, and then my horse bolted and I fell off. I remember. That’s the last thing I remember,” she replied, slightly irritated by the doctor’s infantilizing tone.
“Well, then you hit your head and you fell unconscious. Your father and the boys carried you back to the house. I came straight away and tended to your wounds; I’m sure you can feel the bandages on the back of your head. You’ve been asleep for, oh, what? Three hours or so? It’s very nice to see you awake now. Tell me, how are you feeling?”
“I… my head hurts. It feels like the worst headache I’ve ever had. I think… I think the rest of me is just fine. Did I have any other injuries?” she asked, feeling more helpless than she ever had in the past.
“No, no, just a bump to the head. Not much blood, either. I wouldn’t be surprised if that headache disappeared by the end of the—”
“Dr. Hanson, I can’t see,” she blurted out finally, tired of beating around the bush.
“Still? But your eyes are open.”
“I know, but I can’t… there’s not even a blur where you’re sitting. I can hear your voice and that’s all,” she explained, panicked.
“Hmm. Very interesting. You sustained no injuries around your eyes,” he muttered as if he didn’t quite believe her.
“I don’t know what’s caused it, but it must have been the fall. Honestly, I can’t see a thing!” A sob caught in her throat but Maddy swallowed it down, scared of what might happen if she tried to push tears through her now useless eyes. Her father’s hand on her face served to calm her down somewhat. He stroked her cheek lightly and pulled her chin toward him, likely so he could look down at her eyes.
“Well, they look just the same as they used to. Perfect, deep, and brown. Just like your mother’s. There’s no difference between when you have them open and when they’re closed?” Benjamin asked patiently.
Maddy already knew there wasn’t, but she closed and opened her eyes anyway just to test. Either way, nothing but inescapable darkness. She shook her head.
“They aren’t even bloodshot?” she asked, picturing ruptured veins sprawling out from her irises.
“No. Clean and clear as a whistle. Can you move them to the right? And the left?” her father pushed, leading her in something approaching a test that Maddy couldn’t help but think the doctor ought to be doing.
She did as she was told and the results seemed perfectly normal. Her eyes looked, moved, and acted as they ought to, only… she couldn’t see a single thing out of them.
“What do you think this could be?” Benjamin asked Dr. Hanson. Maddy could hear a growing frustration in his voice as his stoic demeanor fell away. Everything in her wanted to reassure him, but there was nothing she could do or say to improve the situation.
“It’s difficult to say. Sometimes, patients have strange reactions to otherwise simple injuries, like when striking a nerve in your elbow might cause pain in your abdomen for no apparent reason. I cared for a boy once that fell out of a tree only a short distance, maybe four feet or so. Sustained no injuries—well, nothing more than a scraped knee. Yet, he couldn’t walk for the next four months,” the doctor calmly explained.
Benjamin immediately got off the bed and stood up, urging Maddy to do the same.
“Get up. Can you walk? Can you feel your legs?” he asked in a panic.
She hurriedly did as she was told, feeling the cold ground under her feet as she stood. Apart from a natural bit of wobble, she could walk perfectly fine, and even did a quick two-step to reassure her father.
“Really, Mr. Rosco, she shouldn’t be up and about yet. Lie down, dear, and let your head rest,” the doctor directed gently.
Again, Maddy did as she was told, only mildly annoyed by all the ordering about, poking, and prodding she was sure she would endure for the rest of the day. For some reason, the anxiety of her father only served to calm her. The more she got used to not seeing anything, the more normal her heart rate became.
“Well, what do we do? Are there pills or drops that might help? A salve of some sort?” Benjamin begged helplessly, completely lost in matters of medicine.
Maddy imagined the doctor shrugging, though she couldn’t actually tell what he was doing.
“For the moment, I’m afraid it remains a medical mystery. I expect her vision will return slowly throughout the day. The human body is an incredible creation, and God has given us brilliant resilience. As the headache settles, I’m sure you’ll start to see bits of light here and there, maybe shadows. If, however, your vision does not return by the morning…”
Dr. Hanson trailed off and Maddy could hear her father take an anxious step forward.
“Then what?” she asked, knowing it was what Benjamin was thinking as well.
“Then, there are exercises that might prove to be of some assistance. Looking up, down, side to side. Focusing on something imaginary in the distance, then close up. That sort of thing. Truth be told… if you can’t see by morning, it may be a long road to recovery. Maybe weeks, or months. Years. There is a chance that… that you may never see again.
“I will look through my books and return in the morning. Hopefully, I’ll find something more definitive by then, though again, I’m sure you’ll be feeling fit as a fiddle in no time at all, Madeleine. I’m afraid I have other patients waiting for me, so I’d best be off,” the bumbling doctor concluded, stepping toward the bedroom door.
Surprisingly, considering the roughness of the knock to her head, Maddy felt as though her spatial awareness had improved somehow. She knew by the sound of the floorboards where everyone stood in the room, even if no one had said a word.
“Exercises. Great. Well, I hope you’re right, Dr. Hanson. I’ll walk you to the door,” Benjamin said. Maddy was sure his nostrils were flared in frustration. Hearing that she might never see again honestly made her feel worse for his sake than for hers. The last thing she wanted was for her father to feel like a failure in any way. He was always harder on himself than he needed to be, and likely she’d have to comfort him more than he would her.
“Feel better, Madeleine, and remember: The most important part is that you keep your spirits up!” the doctor noted cheerily on his way out.
Once they were gone, Maddy let herself fall back into the pillows behind her. They were more propped up than she was used to, and she thought that part of her could get used to the special treatment of being a sickly patient. Being stuck in bed, however, did not suit her in the least. She became bored in a matter of two minutes, unable even to read.
Alone with her thoughts, she drifted back to the moment of the fall, replaying it in her mind and imagining how she might have avoided it. Or worse, ended up in an even more dangerous position. The longer she thought about it, the more it seemed to her that she was lucky to be alive at all. She could still breathe, walk, run, smell, and feel. She could appreciate the scent of lavender wafting through the open window, coming up from the garden. The heat of the setting sun pressed against her cheek.
“Maddy, I’m so sorry. I never should have let you ride out. This is all my fault. You might never see again, and I, I—” Benjamin spewed as he came pounding up the stairs and back into his daughter’s room.
“No, you have nothing to be sorry for, Father! Really, I’m fine. I promise,” she interrupted insistently.
“But you’re not. You can’t see. Your beautiful brown eyes are broken and it’s all because I didn’t have the strength as a father to put my foot down. I’ve grown weak in my old age, and I let you get hurt. What kind of a man lets his own daughter go blind under his own watch?” he asked, kneeling beside the bed and taking her hands in his once more.
Maddy couldn’t help but laugh a little at her father’s histrionics. “Come now, Papa. I’m fine. You saw yourself; I can still walk. Even dance a little! My head feels better already. I’m starting to feel hungry, actually. I think I should come down for dinner. It must be soon! I think I can smell some—”
“No, you’re not going anywhere. You stay right where you are. I know you too well. If you start walking about the place before you can see again, you’ll get overly adventurous and end up falling right into the well. I’ll have Juliana come up with some dinner for you,” he insisted, patting her hand.
She wanted to protest, but even she had to admit that her father was probably right. Considering the apparent severity of her injuries, it would be prudent to stay put.
Maddy bit her tongue and nodded. “If you insist. Don’t worry about me, though. You heard what the doctor said; I’ll probably be fit as a fiddle by the morning. If I’m to stay here for the rest of the day, however, it would be nice to have some company.”
“Juliana was already begging me to let her come see you, so she’ll be eager to see how you’re doing. Marjorie made strawberry tarts, which I’m sure you’ll gobble up. I’ll promise not to worry if you promise to get a good rest. Tomorrow’s a new day, and rest assured… I’m never going to let you come to harm ever again,” Benjamin whispered sincerely, bending forward to kiss Maddy’s forehead.
She kept her mouth shut as her father finally left, but she had to admit she was wary of Benjamin’s overprotective concern. He would never be able to watch her every second of every day, nor would she want him to. Benjamin was liable to drive himself mad trying to shelter her from each storm, and she would doubtlessly grow resentful of his vigilance.
She sighed, still feeling awful about the events of the day and guilty for being such an inconvenience to everyone. Luckily, she wasn’t the type to dwell in dark corners of the mind for long, and her maid Juliana always brought a smile to her face—especially when she came armed with strawberry tarts.
Chapter Two
“Now that’s what I call a house,” Archer muttered to himself. He shook his head in wonder, admiring the beauty of the pale blue estate.
There was nothing green about the house, but the surroundings lived up to its name: Green Haven. Large trees danced in the wind, and the rolling range in the distance seemed to go on forever. It was a far cry from the dust and coal smoke of Virginia City.
Finally, Archer felt like he could breathe.
“Mr. Archer Terrel?” called a voice from the veranda. A man who looked to be in his mid-fifties came jogging toward him, friendly enough, but with a smugness to his shoulders that told Archer he was too proud to admit he wasn’t as young as he used to be.
Archer couldn’t blame him, though. He had a feeling he might end up the same way.
“That would be me,” he replied, quickening his step to meet the man. Face to face, they were almost the same height. Archer took off his hat out of politeness and extended a hand to the man.
“Benjamin Rosco. Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming all this way; I know we’re not exactly close to town out here.”
“Towns are overrated as far as I’m concerned.”
“Then I think you’ll fit in well here at Green Haven. Don’t worry about your horse, I’ll have one of the ranch hands take him to the stables, make sure he gets fed. They’ll take your bags to the gardener’s quarters, as well. If you’re ready to get started, I’ll show you around the place.”
Mr. Rosco gestured toward the property, leaving Archer little opportunity to counter. It had been a long trip, but he was ready to get started if that was what was expected of him. He was prepared to work hard, as long as it was honest work.
“Let’s get to it. It’s a beautiful house,” he said, eager to compliment the owner of such an impressive estate.
“I’ve done my best with it, thank you. There’s always something to fix up. Ah, we’ll go around the back to the gardens. No need to get the house all grubby with our boots and so forth,” Mr. Rosco said with a laugh, guiding Archer away from the front stairs and around the side of the building.
“Makes sense,” Archer agreed. It seemed a little odd, but it was natural for a man to be protective of his property.
“So, your letter said you have experience gardening?”
“That’s right. I grew up on a farm. Can grow just about anything with these green thumbs.”
“That’s good news. Where’s your farm? You didn’t want to take over operations from your parents?” Mr. Rosco asked.
It was an innocent enough question, but harder to answer than his new employer knew. The farmhouse where he’d grown up had burnt down, forcing his father to turn to mining instead. From there, things had gone from bad to worse until Archer had found himself in a line of work he was hardly proud of and didn’t like to mention. Returning to gardening was supposed to be a fresh start for him, but even friendly questions poked at old wounds.
“I would have, but it… it wasn’t much of an option. Ended up taking odd jobs here and there, but I’m looking forward to getting back to my roots. Pun intended,” he added with a chuckle. The laugh was not returned, though Mr. Rosco did force a tight smile.
“I must say, I’m surprised to see a man like you interested in work like this. You’re tall. Got wide shoulders. You could make twice as much in wages as a ranch hand, and you look the type.”
Instinctively, Archer’s hand went up to his face. Three distinctive scars traced his left cheek, marring an otherwise clear complexion. He was deeply aware that they made him look dangerous, like the kind of man who would easily get into a knife or gunfight.
It was just the kind of life he was trying to separate himself from, but his face was indelibly marked with the sins of his past.
“I don’t have the expertise. I know my way around a horse and pick up new skills easily, but I’ve never so much as walked on a cattle ranch before. Gardening, however… now, that I know like the back of my hand. Sometimes I think I’m more comfortable talking to plants than people.”
“Oh, you don’t seem too bad at that, either. Well, here’s the first plot. We’ve done our best to keep up, but under the circumstances…”
Archer stopped listening as soon as the garden came into view. He stood in awe of it, admiring the thoughtful layout and obvious care and attention that had gone into it. Complementary root systems had been taken into consideration, not to mention height and color.
To the left was another large plot, dedicated to vegetables. Despite the lack of flowers, it was just as beautiful, with large zucchini poking out from under healthy bunches of leaves and hearty yellow squash falling off the vine.
“The circumstances?” Archer asked, trying to pick up the thread of the conversation once more.
“My daughter is the one who usually takes care of the place, but… well, she had an accident two weeks ago and hasn’t been able to get back to it since. I fear she might never be well enough to care for it again. But that’s none of your concern. You’re here now, and that’s all that matters. You see that building over there?” He pointed to what looked like a small hut by another garden plot.
“Yes.”
“That’ll be where you sleep. I apologize, half of it is taken up by tools, but you can move all that to the shed. I’m afraid we weren’t expecting to need to hire a gardener, but we’re making do. I’ve had Juliana make up the bed for you, at the very least.
“Over there is the bunkhouse where the ranch hands sleep,” Mr. Rosco explained. “Water pump is just yonder. Not a bad walk, considering the size of the property. Now, I’m trying to think… what else do you need to know to get started?”
Archer tilted his head, trying to think. He was distracted by his surprise at the condition of his quarters but doing his best to hide it. In all honesty, he’d expected a room in the house, especially considering the size of the place. It was probably big enough to sleep all the ranch hands, as well.
He wouldn’t have been surprised to have been bunked with them, but getting a room of his own was miles better, even if the roof looked like it needed new shingles. He could do with some space to be on his own, and that would be difficult with seven or so stinking men snoring nearby.
“I don’t think there’s anything else. Or, well, food. Should I go to the kitchen for—”
“No need for that. Marjorie will bring your lunch and dinner out for you. You’ll get your payment once a week, on Friday afternoons. All the tools you’ll need are in the hut or the shed. Bunkhouse is just over to the west. Stables are nearby. I think you ought to be able to work the rest of it out for yourself, don’t you think?”
“Yes, sir. Thank you for the opportunity and the trust. I can tell that a lot of care has been put into this place, especially the garden. I want you to know I’ll do my best to honor that, and—”
“That’s good. Good, good. Alright, I should be getting back to the range. Give a shout if you need anything, and make yourself at home,” Mr. Rosco interrupted, stopping Archer from getting too much further with his compliments.
Archer took the hint and nodded curtly, matching his new employer’s cold but polite tone.
As Mr. Rosco left for the stables, Archer watched him go, curious to know more about his circumstances. There hadn’t been the right moment to ask, and he was in no position to push, especially considering how much he valued his own privacy, but he wondered what had happened to his daughter that kept her from gardening. It must have been a pretty bad accident to keep her off her feet for weeks at a time.
Archer sensed a certain amount of pain in the household, despite the beauty of Green Haven. Under the blooming peonies and freshly painted gables was a haunting anguish he couldn’t yet put a name to.
Whatever had happened between the walls he wasn’t allowed inside of was none of Archer’s business. He was just grateful for the chance to start a new life and to put his past behind him.
As he dove into the weeds poking up between the intentionally planted flowers, Archer did his best to think only of the present and future. He tried to come up with ways to liven up his new hut and consider what he’d need to do to prepare the garden for the eventual winter. Visions of his former life persisted, however, with every snap of a branch or root upheaval.
Dark, smoky rooms that smelled like seconds-old gunshots lingered in his mind and nose. Snarling teeth around cigars and the feeling of a choking hand around his neck. The water he fed the plants felt like blood, sticky on his fingers. Archer started to worry that a change of scenery wouldn’t be good enough to distract him from the plague of his past.
The sound of soft singing pulled him out of his pool of regret.
“Left my love by the bridge, oh my, Midge! Oh my, Midge!” a young woman sang absentmindedly as she wandered directly through the garden, carefully avoiding the precious flowers underfoot. Archer stopped himself from chuckling, taking a good deal of amusement from the song he’d never heard before.
It didn’t escape his notice how beautiful the young woman was. The chestnut-brown braids that ran down her back bounced playfully as she skipped down the path, her cheeks shining with a glow that only time spent in the sun could bring. Her lips were full, a natural ruby red that stood out sharply under her dark brow.
He realized he was staring and tried to busy himself with work again. It occurred to him to introduce himself, but he found that he was too nervous to say anything. From Mr. Rosco’s demeanor, he got the sense that he was expected to keep to himself.
By the time he looked up from his work again, however, the woman was only a few feet away from him, and getting closer. He realized that she couldn’t see him at all. At the last moment, he quickly stepped into the thyme patch to get out of her way.
“Excuse me,” he said quietly, finally announcing his presence.
She stopped dead in her tracks, eyes blindly searching though he was sure they couldn’t see anything. That, or he’d turned invisible.
“Hello? Who’s there?” she asked.
“I-it’s the… the gardener. The new gardener. My name is Archer,” he explained, taking his hat off as he talked to her out of habit.
“Oh! The gardener! Archer. Pleased to meet you. I’m Madeleine, but you can call me Maddy. Sorry, I’m probably stepping all over your work,” she said with a laugh.
“Actually, you’ve avoided the plants beautifully.”
“Well, I do know my way around the place. I used to take care of it all myself, you see.”
“Is that right? Oh! That must make you…”
“Mr. Rosco’s daughter. That’s right.”
“So you’re the one who—” Archer quickly put two and two together, realizing that not only was he conversing with his boss’ daughter but that she was the supposed invalid. As far as he could tell, however, she looked healthy as can be.
“I’m the one who had the accident, yes. I’m blind. If that wasn’t obvious.”
“It wasn’t. Not at first, anyway. It’s clear you know the place. I think I saw you skipping earlier, which must mean you know exactly where you’re going,” he noted with no small amount of admiration.
“Before the accident, I spent most of my time out here. If I wasn’t on the range, that is. Did you move some of the herbs around?” she asked, leaning down to touch the sage.
Archer looked on, dumbfounded by her intimate knowledge of the garden’s layout. He started to doubt for a second that she was blind. Otherwise, how was it possible that she knew he’d moved the sage to be closer to the cabbages?
“I did. How could you possibly know that? Are you sure you’re blind?”
Maddy giggled, and Archer thought it was probably the prettiest laugh he’d ever heard in his entire life.
“I can’t see, but that doesn’t mean I can’t smell. The sage used to be next to the mint, but now it’s at the edge of the patch. Not to question your methods, but what made you choose that placement? I promise I’m just interested—I won’t be the kind of employer to tell you exactly what to do every second of the day, or where to put your shovels.”
She looked up at him, her eyes meeting his so precisely that a bolt of lightning ran through his heart as he admired the depths of her impossibly large, golden-brown eyes. It only lasted a second before they flitted away again. Archer found himself almost disappointed that the moment had passed so completely unbeknownst to her.
“Oh, I just—I can put it back. It’s just that I found a cabbage worm, and sage happens to be a deterrent. So I thought if I put the sage closer to the cabbages, then the worms would be less likely to infest. The same goes for moths and the like. Again, I can put it back if you prefer the sage where it was,” he insisted, eager to please her.
“Brilliant! I can’t believe I’d never thought of that. What a perfect solution. Turns out you’re just as smart as you sound,” she teased.
Archer blushed slightly, unaccustomed to such attention. “I don’t know about that. It’s been a long time since I had a garden of my own, but I grew up on a farm, so I know what I’m doing, I promise.” He kicked himself for sounding so unsure of himself.
“You don’t have to convince me. It’s my father you need to impress, but he’s already hired you, so I wouldn’t worry. Honestly, I’d still be working this garden myself if he’d let me, but… well, he doesn’t. Sorry, I won’t bore you with my petty complaints. What can I say? Being blind is a new experience; I’m still getting used to it. The doctor thought it might just last a single night, but here we are two weeks later, and I still can’t see a thing. Here I go, blabbing on about myself! I don’t mean to talk your ear off.”
Everything in Archer’s heart wanted to tell her not to worry, and that he would gladly listen to her talk about nothing at all for hours, but the reminder that she was Benjamin Rosco’s daughter had sobered him. It was potentially unsuitable for him to be talking to her, especially as they hadn’t been properly introduced.
He wasn’t used to such formalities, but just a few seconds in Mr. Rosco’s company had reminded him that he wasn’t in Virginia City anymore. The man was clearly very traditional and likely wouldn’t approve of his daughter talking to someone as lowly as a gardener, especially if he knew the truth of Archer’s past.
“I should get back to work,” Archer said simply. It came out harsher than he’d meant it to, and Maddy looked slightly taken aback. He wanted to clarify, to add some politeness to let her know it was simply his first day on the job, but he held his tongue. Maddy felt like someone he could spill out his whole life story to if he wasn’t careful.
“Right, of course. Sorry to have bothered you.”
“No bother, really, just—”
“Yes, I’m sure you have plenty of work to do. My father prefers it if I stay in the house, anyway. Thank you for taking care of the garden for me. I hope someday I can tend to it the way I once did, but the doctor says I have to be careful not to get my hopes up too much.”
“It’s my pleasure. You’ve built a beautiful garden here, and I just want to do it justice.”
The two of them awkwardly bid each other farewell and Maddy made her way back to the house. Archer tipped his hat to her before he realized that it was an empty gesture, considering her blindness. He told himself that it was worthwhile nonetheless, for the sake of anyone who might have been looking in their direction at the right moment.
It was the thought that counted, and it was important to him that everyone at Green Haven think of him as an upstanding man and worthy of the position, even if he was nothing more than the gardener.
“You must be the mysterious gardener come to put this place to rights!” a voice called out from the back door of the house not long after Maddy’s disappearance.
A sweet-looking older woman wobbled as she closed the door behind her, hands full with a wrapped sandwich and a glass of what looked like iced tea.
“Won’t be mysterious for long, I’m sure. I’m Archer. Terrel. Pleased to meet you,” he called back.
“Marjorie. Very pleased to meet you, indeed. It’s good for you and me to get to know each other, as I use a good deal of the herbs and vegetables that come through. Here, some lunch for you. I’m sorry I can’t invite you in, but Mr. Rosco is particular about who comes in and out of the house. I’m sure you understand,” she said with an apologetic smile.
“Of course, of course. Thank you for the food. Out of curiosity, where do the ranchers eat?” he asked, having a somewhat limited knowledge of how a ranch functioned.
“Oh, they have their own cook down there at the bunkhouse, Randy. He takes care of them. I make sure the household staff gets fed and so on. You let me know if you have any other questions about the place, won’t you? Mr. Rosco can be a bit… well, intimidating, if you catch my drift. Really, though, most of us are very friendly here at Green Haven! The lady of the house, Miss Maddy, she’s like ten rays of sunshine.”
“Yes, I had the pleasure of meeting her,” Archer replied before he could stop himself and think better of it.
“Did you now? I’m not surprised. She loves meeting new people, especially if they’re taking care of her precious garden. Such a shame, what happened to her. We all pray daily for her speedy recovery. It always boggles my mind when such terrible things happen to kind people.” Marjorie shook her head and gave a “tsk.”
Archer held himself back from prying and asking what exactly had happened to Maddy, though he was wildly curious. He was acutely aware of how much of the day he’d spent talking versus how much time he’d spent working in the garden.
“Thank you for the lunch, Marjorie. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“Pleasure’s all mine, I’m sure. Enjoy, and I’ll bring you dinner in your… hut later on this evening,” she said with a nod toward the outbuilding he had yet to make into his home.
As he ate, Archer sat on an old tree stump and considered that his apparent isolation from the rest of the staff was probably for the best. He had to be careful about the way he was building his new life, and the more time he had to prove his worth in the garden, the more likely he was to impress his employer. He could get around to socializing eventually, but that could wait. There was healing to do in the meantime.
Maddy, however, might prove to be a challenge. Archer was surprised at himself for opening up to her so easily. After everything that had happened in Virginia City, he’d thought trust was something he’d never have again. Yet in Maddy’s presence, he’d found himself smiling up a storm and on the distinct brink of telling her anything about himself that she might want to know.
He was inspired by her spritely optimism. Though she’d recently lost her sight, she seemed not at all upset by it, and, in fact, quite full of acceptance for whatever fate might befall her. She clearly still held faith that the Lord was looking over her and would test her with nothing more than she could handle. It was the kind of perspective he could use more of.
Once the day ended, Archer made his way to his hut, a dinner of pork and beans in tow thanks to Marjorie. The interior was dusty but larger than it looked from the outside. After lighting a candle, he got to work cleaning the place from corner to corner. There was a good deal of gardening equipment stored there out of convenience, but Archer took the time to organize it all into the shed. After that, he swept, started a fire in the small stove, and arranged his few belongings.
When all was said and done, he put his feet up in front of the fire, enjoying the fruit of his labors in the form of his now-cold dinner, and let himself breathe. For a long time, security had felt like a luxury that was out of his reach, but he was getting closer and closer to achieving it. No one at Green Haven knew about his past, nor did they know the way his name triggered hatred in the hearts of some. He was finally free to start over.
As the sun was setting, Archer looked out the back window of his hut, which faced toward the main house and garden. In the dusk light, Maddy was outside again, running her hands through the wildflowers growing in an unruly section of soil. He found himself unable to look away, intoxicated by the joy on her face brought about only by the smell of some lavender.
Archer chuckled and shook his head, imagining what his former self might have thought about how sentimental he’d become. If change was really what he wanted, it seemed it was already well underway.
“A Garden full of Miracles” is an Amazon Best-Selling novel, check it out here!
Maddy Rosco has always had what anyone would wish for, being the daughter of the wealthiest rancher in the area. Her life, though, falls into pieces, after a harrowing accident that leaves her blind, forcing her to bid farewell to her days of riding through the range. Confined to the house, her only joy will be her cherished garden… All until she meets the mysterious new gardener her father has hired, and recuperating at home does not seem so tedious anymore…
Can this enigmatic man make her heart bloom once again?
Archer Terrel is a lonely man with a tragic past he would like to forget. Tending to the garden almost feels like tending to his own wounds, and keeps his mind off what is troubling him. It will be in between the roses that he will find a flower so special that it will be impossible to stay away from its allure. Although he is absolutely taken by the mesmerizing Maddy, he is also terribly aware that fraternizing with his employer’s daughter is a dangerous game…
Will he be able to express his feelings to her and give himself a second chance at happiness?
When Maddy’s suspicious father discovers Archer’s gloomy past, he immediately banishes him from the property, ordering him to never see his daughter again. The would-be sweethearts are torn asunder, leaving them both forever heartbroken. Can their pure love overcome the obstacles that try to tear them apart or will their hearts wither like roses in the winter?
“A Garden full of Miracles” is a historical western romance novel of approximately 60,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.
Hello my dears, I hope you were intrigued by the preview of this lovely story and can’t wait for the rest of it! I will be waiting for your thoughts here! Thank you! 🥰