"That sounds terrifying." "It is, but it's also the only way forward." Christmas came and went quietly. Evelyn made a feast for the ranch hands and a special dinner for the main house, and tried not to think about how this might be her last Christmas at Thornridge. Lily gave her a drawing she'd made of the two of them cooking together, and Evelyn had to excuse herself to cry in private for a few minutes.
Ridgewell gave her a leather-bound journal for recipe notes, and the personal nature of the gift wasn't lost on anyone. Inside the front cover, he'd written simply, "For all the recipes yet to come." She gave him a scarf she'd knitted in her spare time, which wasn't much but felt safer than anything more personal. He wore it every day after that, even when it wasn't particularly cold. The new year arrived with snow and wind that made outdoor work nearly impossible.
The ranch hands spent more time in the bunkhouse, and Evelyn's kitchen became a gathering place where men played cards, mended equipment, and told stories to pass the long winter evenings. She was making bread one afternoon in mid-January when Holloway appeared with news that changed everything. "Miss Harper, there's been an incident. Mr. Ridgewell needs you at the main house." Her blood went cold.
"What kind of incident? Is Lily all right?" "Lily's fine. It's Mrs. Chen. She fell on the ice coming back from the chicken coop.
We think her ankle's broken." Evelyn was moving before he finished talking, pulling off her apron and running across the frozen yard to the main house. She found Mrs. Chen in the kitchen, pale and clearly in pain, with her left ankle swelling to twice its normal size. "It's not as bad as it looks," Mrs. Chen said through gritted teeth. "It looks terrible."
Evelyn knelt beside her, examining the ankle carefully. "We need to get the doctor out here." "In this weather, he'll never make it. The roads are impassable." Ridgewell was pacing, clearly trying to stay calm.
"I've sent Billy to try, but it could be tomorrow before anyone gets through." Evelyn looked at the ankle, at Mrs. Chen's pale face, and made a decision. "We need to set it and wrap it tight to keep the swelling down. Do you have medical supplies?" "Some.
Bandages, laudanum for pain, splints. Ridgewell was already moving to fetch them. With Mrs. Chen's help and instruction, Evelyn managed to stabilize the ankle. It wasn't professional medical care, but it was better than nothing. The older woman took a dose of laudanum and was soon drifting in and out of consciousness.
"She'll need constant care for at least a few days," Evelyn said quietly to Ridgewell. "And someone to handle all her duties in the main house. I can manage most of it." "Lilly can help." "Lilly's 8 years old and you have ranch business to attend to."
Evelyn took a breath. "I'll move into the main house temporarily. I can handle cooking for both households from here and it'll be easier to check on Mrs. Chen." "Evelyn, that's going to look" "I don't care how it looks. Mrs. Chen needs help and I'm the logical person to provide it."
She met his eyes directly. "Unless you don't want me here." "Of course I want" He stopped himself. "Of course it makes sense for you to be here." "Thank you."