[preview] The Kings of Wyoming [PROLOGUE ONLY]

The Kings of Wyoming

In 1857, Jamie Ross left Scotland and headed to America to seek a new life. He had few things with him, the clothes he wore on his back, his father's bible and the love of his life Scarlet. He found little work on the east coast, and longed for adventure. He packed up his things and wife once more and traveled west. By 1863 the Ross family had settled on a large piece of land near the tent-city near the Overland Stage Line route and Fort Sanders army post. He used what money he had to buy one horse, a few cattle, and build a shack of a home. When the time came to name his ranch and distinguish a brand, he looked at his father's bible and saw the worn leather. A design was stamped into the brown book, a cross with a crown atop it. Ross Ranch became King's Cross Ranch and would soon be established as one of the main ranches in the Laramie, Wyoming area.

Jamie Ross taught his sons, Paul and Jim everything he knew about ranching and eventually passed on King's Cross ranch to them to his oldest. Paul did the same as his father, eventually passing the ranch on to the eldest son, Clay, and he passed the ranch onto Malcolm Eventually, Malcolm passed King's Cross Ranch's ownership onto Thomas. Thomas' sister had left Laramie at seventeen and never came back, only keeping in contact via letters and phone-calls. Rhett, the youngest of the three, worked alongside Thomas and stayed on King's Cross ranch to help out. Thomas had planned his entire life on passing on the family ranch to his oldest son to Colm...

Although it was April, there was still snow on the ground and Thomas Ross could see his breath in the air. He shook the snow from his boots and jacket before stepping in through the backdoor into the laundry room. The house was warm, the heater turned up to keep Denise warm while she did the books and household chores, and to warm up Thomas the moment he came inside. He took off his heavy tan wool jacket, setting it over a chair to let the snow melt. He did the same with his boots, setting them beside the door into the kitchen. He opened the door, taking one last moment to shake any lasting remains of snow off of his boots. With a sigh, the man entered the kitchen where a pot of coffee sat on the stove and his favorite mug beside it. A smile came onto the man's face, the corners of his salt and pepper mustache turning up.

He poured himself a mug of coffee before heading through the kitchen and living room to the once storage room that Denise had turned into an office for the King's Cross ranch. He knocked once on the old wood door before opening up into the windowless brick and wood room where his wife was hunched over the large desk. Her favorite red and white floral reading glasses sliding down her nose, the green and gold lamp turned on. Her usual turquoise with yellow and pink flowered travel sized coffee mug sat beside her, no doubt filled with more milk than actual coffee. The graying blonde held up a finger, as if to tell Thomas to wait a moment. Thomas seated himself in the large leather chair in front of her desk, sipping his coffee as he watched her work. After a few more moments of calculating and writing, she slipped her reading glasses off and looked at the man with a smile.

"How can I help you, Mr Ross?" She asked. Thomas rolled his eyes, sitting up to place his mug on the desk. "Uh uh uh," Denise warned. "No open containers on my desk when the books are out." She watched as Thomas sat back, keeping his hands wrapped securely around the mug.

"I was just coming in to check on the prettiest girl in all of Albany County," Thomas responded with a smirk, watching his wife blush and roll her eyes at him.

"Something must be wrong, you're flirting." Denise said, sitting up straight, worry obviously in her eyes.

"It's nothing bad.. Just a couple cows are lost. I'll take a couple of the boys into the pasture tomorrow to look for them." He said with a shrug, a flash of pain in his eyes at the movement. Denise stood suddenly, moving her high-backed office chair to go around to him. Thomas raised a hand, waving it in the air as if to brush it off as nothing. "Darling, you don't have to worry about me all the time. It's just the cold and the fact I'm old." He said, watching as Denise sat herself back down. "How are the fiancees looking?"

"You're not changing the subject that easily Thomas Aaron Ross." Denise said, resting her elbows on the desk as she stared him down. Thomas shifted in the chair that had suddenly become uncomfortable. He raised the mug to his lips to take another sip of his coffee as he avoided his wife's gaze.

"Is that a new blouse, darling? Either way, you should wear it a lot more. It brings out the color of your eyes." He commented.

"It's a black sweater, Thomas." Denise responded flatly, sitting back in her chair. She crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the man with a sigh escaping her lips. "Thomas, you promised me you'd tell me when the pain was worse."

"It's no worse than any other day with snow on the ground." Thomas responded simply, taking another sip of his coffee. He moved to stand up. "I'm going to have one more cup of coffee than I'm heading back out to help them with the cattle and horses they've brought in." He turned, taking large strides towards the door.

"Thomas, please be safe... For me?" Denise asked, a worried look on her face that Thomas couldn't see.

"Of course darling, anything for you."