by Danni Roan
“She thinks.” He swallowed with disgust. “Rosa Rodriguez thinks I want to have her as my kept woman.”
The old cook nodded slowly as if this made perfect sense to him and Dan growled. “I never,” he blustered. “She’s Raul’s wife. He was my friend. I just want to help. Keep her safe. See that she and Christina don’t go without.”
He sounded like a prairie dog barking out a warning to his kin, but he couldn’t pull his thoughts together better than that. It felt like someone had placed a vice on his head and that it might crack wide open at any moment.
“She is a mighty attractive woman,” the old cook said. “I reckon plenty of men wouldn’t mind havin’ her as a spicy dish on the side.”
Dan sprang to his feet his fist balling before his chair ever hit the floor. “Why you no good, dirty old man!” he shouted.
“Calm down, calm down,” Cookie said not even bothering to stand. “I ain’t bein’ disrespectful just realistic like. She’s a pretty woman, and I’m sure plenty of men have noticed.” His eyes twinkled. “Even you.”
“Cookie, I’m warning you,” Dan growled. “Rosa Rodriguez is no one to speak about that way.”
“Oh shut up.” The cook glared reaching forward and grabbing for Dan’s up ended chair. “If you’re so het up about her reputation and seeing she’s cared for, go marry her yourself and be done with it.”
Dan staggered back a step, his boot heel catching on his chair as he toppled over hitting the floor with a crash.
Cookie slapped his knee throwing back his head and cackling like a mad man as Dan landed on his backside with a thump.
“I.” Dan said still blinking at the man as if he’d sprouted another head. “No.”
The old cook stood to his feet, his boots scraping on the floor as he leaned down meeting Dan’s hard blue gaze. “Give me one good reason why not?” he snarled. “She’s alone. She’s single. She’s perty.” He ticked each thought off on his fingers. “You ain’t got no wife,” he added dropping his hand and offering it to his boss. “If you marry her, she’ll know you ain’t got no nefarious designs upon her person.” The old man grinned, showing the gaps in his yellowed teeth, delighted with his own turn of phrase.
“I do not need a wife.” Dan grasped the other man’s hand hauling himself back to his feet and righting his chair.
“Then you’d both be perfect for each other. She don’t want no one botherin’ her or her daughter, and you don’t want a wife. You can marry her and put her up in that little old house down by the spring.”
Dan gaped at the man in horror, spinning on his heel and stomping from the house.
***
When Rosa returned to the Hampton House at lunch time she was pleased to see the dining hall full of patrons once more. In the days since her rescue, she had found that there had been less customers eating there, and she was relieved to see things closer to normal.
As much as she hated to admit it the troubles she had been through so recently had left her unsettled, worried, and not focused on her cooking.
“There you are,” Olive smiled waving her over to a table where she was enjoying a hot corned beef and cabbage meal. “The girls are cooking and don’t hardly need me at all,” the older woman laughed. “I’m not going to complain though. It’s nice to be off my feet for a few minutes.”
“Do you want me to serve?” Rosa asked. “You do not need to work so hard. I am here.”
“No, you sit and visit with me for a spell,” Olive said reaching up for Christina. “Things have been so crazy since the men brought you and Ruth back that I feel like none of us has had a chance to catch our breath. It’s why I wanted you to take the day off. Now and again a woman needs a bit of time on her own.”
Rosa smiled as relief washed over her. Olive still wanted her to cook and work for her. She had simply wanted to be kind and give her a break. She ducked her head thinking of her disturbed feelings since the rescue. It had been easier to be angry about the incident than to face her response to it.
“Rosa is there something you want to tell me?” Olive asked studying her friend’s face. “You’ve been.” The older woman bit her lip then plunged on. “You’ve been rather upset of late.”
Rosa looked up from where she had been plucking at her skirt. “It is not something I wish to speak of,” she said with a slight shake of her head. “No one will understand,” she added looking around at the men enjoying their meals.
“Well I’m not one to pry,” Olive said her dark eyes seeking any hint of what could be troubling Rosa. “But if you need to talk remember that you have friends here in Needful who love you. Folks who want to help you. Even with Raul gone, you are not alone.”
Rosa offered a sad smile feeling her husband’s absence once more. Why had he done it? Why had he borrowed from his outlaw brother? She shook her head as she sighed. She needed to forgive Raul. Sooner or later she had to let go of her anger and Raul.
“Thank you Olive.” Rosa spoke so softly Olive almost missed her words. “I will ask if I need help.”
Olive smiled. “Good, now what did you buy at the store?” the old woman asked looking at the packages Rosa had placed on the table. “Are we going to have a chance to make something pretty?”
Rosa nodded opening her package and showing the fabric. “I will make a new dress for Christina.”
“She will be so pretty in that. It’s the perfect color and so cheerful.”
Rosa nodded smiling at Ellen who brought her a plate of food and a cup of tea, setting a plate before little Christina and letting Olive feed the child. Perhaps Rosa would calm down enough for things to get back to normal. No one was really sure what had set her off again, but they were hoping she would find some peace soon.
Chapter 11
Spencer Gaines watched the dark stranger angle his horse down the main drag of Needful, his watchful eyes taking in the sleek horse, low slung gun belt and expensive suit. The man came from money whoever he was, and by the cut of his short coat and shiny books, he hailed from south of the border.
“Can I help you?” Spencer asked turning from the wall he had been leaning against and stepping into the street where his tin badge caught the light.
“I am looking for someone.” The man’s dark eyes raked over Spencer as his carefully clipped and heavily accented words fell around them.
“Someone in trouble?” Spencer asked casually his eyes still pinned on the man’s face.
“I am looking for my daughter.”
Spencer chuckled but stopped at the man’s harsh glare. “I’m sorry,” the sheriff of Needful said. “It’s just that we had another gentleman ride in recently looking for his daughter as well. Why don’t you step down and come inside? I’ll see what I can do.”
The silver haired man with the long mustache nodded once easing his high necked horse to the hitching rail and swinging down. “This is acceptable.”
Spencer raised a brow as the man hitched his horse to the rail. The lone rider was obviously from money and was used to people doing what he said. His thick Spanish accent hinted at old money from Mexico and Spencer hoped he wouldn’t be trouble for the tiny town. They had already had enough of that to go around for a while.
“You have been the sheriff of this town for a long time?” the older man followed Spencer into his office his dark eyes taking in everything.
“Not too long,” Spencer admitted closing the door behind them and shutting out the curious gazes of those making their way through Needful. The afternoon was still quiet, and Spencer couldn’t help but hope it stayed that way, but something told him that this man’s arrival would surely bring changes to Needful, for good or ill was yet to be determined.
***
Dan ran. The ranch owner dashed from his own home grabbed the first horse he saw and threw a leg over.
“Hey!” the cowboy, who had been preparing to mount up, yelled as the boss took off with the horse he had just saddled.
“What’s his problem,”
the cowboy asked looking to Dozer, but the rancher was already fanning it across the plains in search of peace and quiet.
The wind whipped past Dan’s face as he galloped in no particular direction at all. He was angry, confused and guilt rode his shoulders raking him with glinting spurs. The fresh mount pounded across the prairie, head down and ears flat as if the devil himself was hot on their trail and Dan thought maybe he was. If only he had known about Raul’s troubles, things would have been all right and now the voices ricocheting around his head were making his temples pound.
Charging down a hill his cowhand instincts kicked in and he leaned back, pulling the pony’s head in and sliding down the hill in a shower of dust, sage brush, and wild flowers before hitting the flat plain still at a dead run.
A deep rumble bubbled from Dan’s chest and he started laughing, pulling the foaming horse into a walk at the bottom of the hill. It had been a wild ride, but he knew he couldn’t outrun the real problems pounding in his brain.
Slacking his reins, he let the horse wander as its breathing eased and the prairie breeze began to dry glistening flanks. The horse had been fast, sure footed and brave, never hesitating to leap where his rider guided.
Again the cowboy chuckled naming himself for the fool he was. He could have broken his neck racing across the rugged range like that, but for some reason he was still in one piece and needed to deal with the problem at hand.
Letting his horse amble, head drooping toward the glistening pool that marked the headwaters of the stream that ran through his property, Dan sighed. Inside a little voice seemed to accuse, nattering at him until he couldn’t deny it anymore. He cared for Rosa Rodriguez. He was attracted to the wife of the man who had worked loyally for him over the past few years, and the taste of betrayal rose in his throat like hot bile.
How could he possibly feel this way for another man’s wife? He hadn’t planned on having any feelings for Rosa, but the stark truth stared back at him with glimmering black eyes.
The pony dipped its head kicking dust and rocks into the pool as it sucked greedily at the cool water. Dan let the reins run through his hand so the horse could drink and gazed around him at his land.
So many things had changed since he and his men had first arrived in the town of Needful. Dan’s loud snort made his pony jump and he eased it back to the pool soothing the big bay with hand and word. When he’d arrived on this particular patch of prairie, the town of Needful didn’t exist. Only a small trading post and a few diggers even knew of the area.
No the town of Needful hadn’t even had a name until Olive Hampton had blurted out that it needed just about everything to even be called a town. He had built a ranch with the few men who had followed him from the war ravaged east and sought solace in this wide open land.
Dan hung his head in shame as guilt gnawed at him like a pack of hungry rats. He had called Raul a friend from the moment he had met the jovial Mexican. The large man with a big belly and a bigger laugh had signed on with Dan to wrangle cows, build structures and translate when more of his own people came looking for jobs.
Wanting to add to his growing herd, Dan had used Raul for trips across the border to trade for stock, equipment, and mounts while Rosa and their baby stayed behind cooking for the men of Needful from a small tent in the heart of town.
Raul had been a hard worker, determined to provide for the small family he had brought with him from a small dirt farm that hadn’t panned out in Mexico. They had come seeking a new life and had found work, even friendship in Needful.
Dan had trusted the big man with the bright easy smile and had begun letting him help others in the area navigate the difficult trading routes of the Texas-Mexican border. If he had known that Raul had borrowed money from his outlaw brother, he would have been happy to advance the money to his friend possibly saving his life. Apparently, Raul had been as proud as he had been cheerful, and that pride had cost him his life.
“Why?” Dan wondered looking up as the pink light of the setting sun spread, like blood across the prairie and bright stars began to twinkle to life. “Why?”
The pony had drunk its fill and shifted snatching mouthfuls of grass along the bank, but Dan simply sat there staring off into the darkening sky as he fought the feelings rising in his breast.
He never intended to betray his friend. In the past, he hadn’t seen Rosa as anything, but the wife of a man he trusted, but now, as the darkness of night descended like a silent shroud around him he had to admit his determination to protect and care for Rosa and Christine had become something more.
Dan slipped from his horse’s back holding the reins in his hands as he bent splashing cool water on his face and drying it with his bandana. He didn’t know what to do, and with Rosa’s misunderstanding of his intentions, he wasn’t even sure he could do anything about them if he tried.
Old Cookie’s mad notion of marrying her was the craziest thing he had ever heard, but just maybe it could work.
Dan shook his head as something slithered through the water unnoticed by him until his horse reared ripping the reins through his hands in a hard burn before dumping him in the dirt as it plunged into the night leaving him alone to watch the black rattler slither from the water and coil around a dark bush.
***
Rosa fluffed the pillows in one of the rooms and turned to study her handiwork. It was odd not cooking again today, but being alone with her thoughts hadn’t helped either.
She was still furious with the Mayor of Needful and irritated with everyone in the town who couldn’t see what a terrible man he was as well.
“Rosa, are you just about done in there?” Olive called as she opened the door. “The stage should be here in another hour or so, and I don’t know what we should expect yet. I suppose that once the railroad reaches Needful, we’ll have even more guests or at least folks stopping to rest a spell.” Olive came to a stop, meeting Rosa’s dark eyes. “I wish you’d tell me what’s bothering you.”
“You would not believe what I would say.” Rosa’s dark eyes studied Olive’s face and she wished she could tell her friend. She wished she could pour out everything without then seeing the look of disgust that would change her friend’s opinion of her forever. Rosa knew all too well what it felt like to have others look down on her.
Raul had never looked at her like that. Never put her down or believed less of her for what her mother was.
Olive grasped Rosa’s hand, making her sit on the bed with her and giving her a harsh look. “Rosa, you are my friend, and ever since you were brought home, you’ve been in a snit. You have made food so spicy most men can’t eat it, thrown a pot of stew at our mayor, and generally been impossible to live with. Now I love you, but it is time you explain what is going on.”
Rosa sagged, feeling the weariness that had plagued her ever since she had lost Raul. He had only been trying to look out for her, but look at what it had cost.
“If I tell you, you will not want me here anymore,” Rosa sighed. “Where will I go? What will I do?”
Olive turned to face the petite woman willing her to meet her gaze. “Rosa, you are as much a part of this family as any of my son’s, their wives, or their children. What in the world could possibly make me see you any other way? Now tell me. Please.”
Rosa stiffened her spine, folded her hands in her lap and turned to look Olive directly in the eye. “My mother never married my father.” She watched, studying the boarding house keepers face but saw only curiosity. “We, my brothers and I we are what you say, love children. We are…”
Olive laid her hand over Rosa’s. “I understand,” she said. “You don’t have to use that word. But I still don’t see what that has to do with anything.”
Rosa’s cheeks flushed with anger as she thought of her situation. “I am angry because Mayor Dan wants to put me in a house on his ranch the way my father kept my mother. I will not do it.” She sprang to her feet taking a turn around the small room. "I am not that kind of woman. Rau
l. Raul knew about my family, and he did not care. He brought us here to America where we could have a new life with none of the past following, but now this man that everyone loves and respects…” she paused her eyes flashing and heart pounding. “Now this Dan Gaines thinks he will make me the same!”
“Rosa, you can’t believe this?” Olive said standing and feeling the blood drain from her face. “Mayor Dan isn’t that kind of man. I’m sure you misunderstood.”
Rosa shook her head. “No.” she slashed her hand downward in irritation. “He says he will give me a house, take care of me and Christina, but I know how this is. My father, he was a well respected man in our town. He had power, wealth, influence, and he kept my mother for her favors. He bought us pretty gifts and sat with us when he would visit, but always he would go home to his wife and family. There are men like this in the world. They hide behind a glaze of respectability always fooling those who do not want to look too close. I will not be fooled. I will not do this thing.”
Olive twisted her hands in her apron, her nerves jangling as she listened to Rosa. Surely the young woman was mistaken. Mayor Dan only wanted to help take care of her because Raul was his friend. With a successful cattle ranch and his other responsibilities to the town he was only thinking of looking after Rosa and her little girl. Wasn’t he?
“Rosa, I’m sure you’re mistaken,” Olive said softly. “But either way you do not need to ever leave the Hampton House. You have a home here as long as you want, and it doesn’t even matter if you cook. You are like a daughter to me,” she finished pulling Rosa in for a tight hug. “Me and Orville we love you and that tiny mite of yours is a piece of our heart. Don’t you think a thing about this anymore.” Olive released Rosa tipping her head and studying her closely. “What I don’t understand though is why you’re in such a snit now. Dan’s been talking at you for months, so what happened that set you off?”
Rosa looked up at her friend tipping her chin in irritation. "He kissed me!” she spat with all the venom of a sidewinder gone mad.