She’d hired an architect from Boston to design the house, but hadn’t been able to convince the man to travel west to oversee it being built. Consequently, she wasn’t happy with its quality of construction, so instead, Beatrice focused her efforts on the interior.
The stained glass window was only the beginning. There were lead glass windows and chandeliers, fancy bathroom fixtures, and a kitchen that was big enough for a full-time cook, even though they never had one.
“All that and she didn’t live in the house more than five years.”
“Where’d she go?”
“You heard why the Beimans were forced to sell?”
He had. They were caught driving cattle across the US-Canadian border. If what Lyric heard was true, Beiman’s sons got into a lot of trouble for it.
“That ranch in Canada belonged to Beatrice’s second husband. She met him at the Calgary Stampede. His family was from Vancouver, and appealed to her more ‘gentrified’ side. Did I mention she and Walt went to the stampede together?” Vi laughed.
“Walt wasn’t the most observant guy,” she continued. “He hadn’t picked up on her affair until she told him she was pregnant. The story around town is that he picked her up, walked through the front door, down the porch steps, and told her to get the hell off his land.”
“How did he know he wasn’t the father?”
“He knew.” Vi grinned.
“They had a kid before all this happened, a boy. When he forced Beatrice out, Walt raised him on his own. When that boy, Walt Junior, was in his early twenties, they got word Beatrice had passed away. Junior traveled to Vancouver alone for her funeral, even though he didn’t remember much about her. While he was there, he met his half-brother, and the two became close.”
Beiman never remarried, although Vi said she’d heard there was a widow from Butte he passed time with.
“You know much about Junior?” she asked him.
“Not really. I mean, I met both of Walt’s sons when we made the offer on the ranch.” Jace hadn’t realized at the time the younger man wasn’t Walt’s biological son.
“Let’s just say the apple didn’t fall far from the tree. Junior was just like his mama, even though his daddy raised him. Soon as he could, he got off that ranch.”
“I thought Junior lived in the second house.”
“Nah, that was Walt’s nephew.”
Jace was confused. Maybe it was the nephew he’d met that day when they negotiated the sale.
“Not everyone is cut out for life on a ranch. They read books, thinkin’ it’s all romantic. When they get here, they realize it’s isolated, cold, and lonely. Most of your time revolves around the livestock, which can be damn dirty work. I don’t need to tell you that, though. You know all about ranching. You come from the land, Jace Rice. It’s obvious.”
“My great-grandfather was a rancher in Colorado, but he sold most of his ranch land to the Aspen Company, who used it to develop a ski area. I worked ranches growin’ up, but my family didn’t own one.”
“You aren’t married, are ya?”
“No, ma’am.”
That was his cue to leave. Jace thanked her for the coffee, pie, and stories, and walked out the front door of the café.
“See ya later this week,” Vi hollered after him.
Red and Bree spent an afternoon exploring Sun Valley. They had lunch, and then wandered through the shops. She found several things she thought would be perfect Christmas gifts for Cochran, but she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to shop. Seeing all the families out, enjoying holiday activities, made her miss her own.
“Still with me?” Red asked. “I have one more stop I want to make.”
Bree nodded and followed him back to where they’d parked.
She couldn’t get her mind off the last few entries in Zack’s journal. Had they really been that unhappy? So unsuited? Wasn’t Zack her soulmate? Hadn’t she believed she’d grow old with him? She wondered now. If he had lived, would they still be married?
Red put his hand on her arm. “You’ll be bleeding soon if you don’t quit chewing those nails.”
She dropped her hand and looked out the window.