Hannah's Dream by A.L. Jambor, Lenore Butler Page B

 Becky was right.  He was always asking Marian to bring Hannah for a visit.  He didn't know about Jimmy, but Marian was sure he wouldn't object to the boy.  As she wrote to her brother, tears streamed down her face.

Chapter 15
    High Bend, Colorado -- Spring, 1897
    The post office in Denver was James Hughes's last stop before heading home.  It was his first trip to Denver since the pass opened up and he had brought his wagon so he could replenish his supplies.  The postmaster smiled as he handed James his packet of mail.
    "Got two come all the way from New Jersey," he said.
    "Must be my sister," James replied.  He didn't elaborate.  James' personal letters were none of the man's business.
    "Did your stock make it through the winter?"
    "They made it through just fine," James said.  "See you next month."
    James looked at the letters as left the post office.  He wondered why Marian had written him twice.  He was sure one was a Christmas letter.  The postmark on the second letter was two weeks after the first.  He hoped it wasn't bad news.
    His horse, Ulysses, loped along at a leisurely pace while James read the first letter.  It was a Christmas letter.  Marian had enclosed two pictures -- one of his niece, Hannah, and one of a boy named Jimmy.  Marian said she had adopted Jimmy, but she didn't say why.  He looked like a nice boy.
    The second letter was short.  In it, Marian told James that the lawyer handling her finances had lost all her money and she was destitute.  Since both their parents were dead, Marian had no other choice but to ask James for help.  She would have to sell her house in New Jersey.  Would James allow her to live with him?
    James was a confirmed bachelor.  He hadn't lived with anyone since he left his parents' home twenty years ago.  His father had given him enough money to buy the land in Colorado, build a small house, and buy ten horses.  The plan had been for James to create a working ranch and then sell it for a profit after which he would return home to New Jersey.  But James fell in love with Colorado and never looked back.
    Over the years, he had added rooms to the house and expanded it to include a porch that ran across the front of the house.  From there he had a view of the river and in the evening after supper, he would sit, smoke his pipe, and watch the river roll by while eagles dipped and soared.
    The first floor of the house contained a parlor, a library, and a kitchen.  The second floor had two bedrooms, one for James and one for a guest.  It also had a bathroom.  James had grown up with a bathroom and refused to use an outhouse.  He insisted on indoor plumbing when he built the house.
    He thought about having his sister and her two children living in that small house.  He'd invited her to visit several times, thinking he could sleep in the parlor if she accepted.  But that would be a temporary arrangement.   He didn't want to sleep in the parlor for the rest of his life.
    Of course, his niece and the young'un could stay on the first floor.  The library was big enough for two beds.  But Hannah wasn't a child anymore.  She was a young lady.
    The more James thought about it, the more agitated he became.  He liked his solitary life.  He loved his sister, but having her living in the same house for what might be a very long time just didn't set right with him.
    His ranch was doing well.  His father, Harmon Hughes, had left him a small fortune when he died.  Harmon believed that Marian would be well taken care of by her husband and had therefore left all the money to his son.  There was more than enough money to build another house.  He had plenty of land, and it wouldn't have to be a grand house.  James' spirits brightened.  He turned his wagon around and headed back to Denver.
    Miles Smiley was an architect and lawyer with a house on East Colfax Avenue.  Miles' office was there.  James had spent many days with Miles planning his ranch.  He'd sipped