When they stood up to leave the table, Morgan came around to take her arm and whisper, “Come with me. I have two things to show you.”
She was surprised when he led her to the back of the house, through the kitchen, and outside toward the cluster of other buildings. She remembered thinking Morgan might be used to gazing at pastures with animals from the front porch of his ranch house, but the only thing out front would be a clear view of the setting sun in another hour or so.
“What are all these buildings for?” she asked.
“There’s a stable, there’s a barn. Ma likes to say we’re half farm, though Pa vehemently objects to that term. But we do keep enough farm animals—chickens, pigs, a few dairy cows—to be self-sufficient when it comes to eating. And, of course, steak is brought in from the range. She even has a vegetable garden that one of our former cooks started a while back. I think the only thing we fetch in town anymore is grain for bread. The long building is the bunkhouse, but there’s also a washhouse and a number of storage sheds.”
He led her into the barn, where she saw bales of hay, a wagon, Mary’s buckboard, and two dairy cows in their own stalls. There were a few other stalls, but they were empty, and it was mostly just a big open space with a loft where more hay was stacked. She didn’t miss seeing the cat up there staring down at them as they continued toward the back of the barn.
Then she saw Bo sitting on his haunches, but he barely glanced at them, and she finally noticed why. He was keeping his distance while he avidly watched another dog curled in the corner. Or rather, he was watching all the babies playing around the other dog.
“Oh,” she cooed, unable to take her eyes off the puppies.
“They aren’t wolves,” Morgan remarked with a chuckle. “Cole said they’re around two months old now and ready to leave their mother. Take your pick. One of them is yours if you want it.”
She couldn’t help throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him, then immediately dropped to her knees before he could return that hug. There were four of them in assorted colors—no, five, the smallest was still nursing. The mother was medium-sized and all golden, but had pointed ears, so Violet couldn’t imagine what mix of breeds she might be. She started picking them up. Only one was all gold like its mother, and one was mostly gold with black patches; another was gold and brown, the fourth brown and white, and the runt appeared to be all black. When the runt moved away from the dam, she saw that its face was actually golden, the black only starting at its forehead. She picked that one up and fell in love.
“Him,” she said.
“Is it?”
She didn’t know and held it up for him. “You check.”
“Not a him,” he said.
She smiled. “Even better. You realize you couldn’t have given me a nicer gift.”
He grinned. “Yeah, I had a feeling.”
“It can come inside the house, correct?” she said on her way out of the barn, the puppy in her arms.
“I’d say it will whether it’s allowed to or not,” he said, following her.
And then she stopped. “Oh my.” She was staring at the beginning of a magnificent sunset.
“That was the other thing I wanted to show you. Let’s head to the front porch where you can get an unobstructed view.”
She nodded. They made their way to the long swing on the porch that she’d noticed when they arrived; it hung from the ceiling and had room for two. She sat down, and Morgan joined her there and pushed a little with his long legs, making the swing rock slowly. At the mining camp, the sky was obscured by all the trees, but here she could appreciate the beauty of Montana’s big sky.
She petted the puppy in her lap. Morgan slipped his arm around her shoulders. He probably thought she didn’t notice because she was so amazed at the flaming colors in the sky. She noticed. She noticed everything about him.
“I bet you never saw a sunset like this in London,” he remarked.
She laughed. “No, there’s too much fog and coal smoke!”
There were other beautiful things in London, but she didn’t mention them, because nothing could really compare to this view and how happy she felt sitting here sharing it with him.
She went to sleep that night with her very own puppy curled in the crook of her arm and memories of that lovely little interlude on the porch.
Chapter Forty-Five
THE NEXT MORNING ON her way downstairs to take the puppy outside, she heard Zachary demanding, “Then where the hell did Morgan go?”
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she could see most of the parlor and the couple in it. Zachary hadn’t been talking to her, but both of Morgan’s parents looked at her when she came into view, so she shrugged. “I haven’t seen him today.”
“He didn’t mention his plans to you when you sneaked off with him last night?” Zachary asked.
Violet objected to what he was implying, but she didn’t blush. Instead she raised Tiny, the name she’d given her precious gift, and said, “He took me to the barn to let me pick out one of the puppies for myself.”
“At least it’s not a pig,” Zachary grumbled, and headed out the front door.
Mary chuckled when she saw Violet’s confused look and explained, “Tiffany kept a pet pig in the house while she lived with us. Go ahead and take your pet outside to start its training. Use the side yard. Her ma favors that area, so the pup will recognize the smell and know what to do. And don’t let it sleep in your bed yet, or you could wake up to wet sheets.”
Violet’s eyes flared. The puppy had woken her, licking her cheek. She hadn’t even thought to check the sheets.
Mary grinned. “I’ll see if I can find some old newspapers and a box for you to put the pup in at night. And the coffee’s hot. There’s fixings to eat in the kitchen. We’re not formal about breakfast, so get a plate and sit wherever you like. I’ll take you out for a tour of the range later, if you like. Find me when you’re ready.”
Violet smiled. “Thank you. I’ll take a plate up to my father, too.”
A little later Mary took her out to the range to see where the cattle were grazing. There were no fences out there, so cows that wandered had to be brought back to the herd; and because the herd was so big, it needed to be moved to new grazing pastures often. But she hadn’t expected the sheer size of that herd, more than a thousand cows. No wonder it took the whole family plus a lot of cowboys to manage it.
Then in the afternoon Tiffany came by to take her for a tour of her house, a short ride away. Violet laughed when she saw how many servants worked there, which caused Tiffany to whisper, “They’re all from New York and they may be hard to keep. I’ve already heard complaints about how isolated they feel here. They miss the bustle and excitement of crowded city streets. But they haven’t been here long, so I hope they’ll fall in love with Montana as I did.”
Violet was impressed by the home. It was built with lumber, but the inside was furnished and decorated as finely as any home in Philadelphia, or London, for that matter. Tiffany explained, “Hunter and I took our wedding trip back east to pick out all the furniture. The house was finished long before the furnishings got here, but it was worth the wait.”
Violet could have told her that waits like that would soon be a thing of the past, but again she said nothing about the emporium Morgan planned to open. She hoped he would break the news to his family soon. She was beginning to feel uneasy about their reaction.
After they settled in the parlor with coffee and pastries, Tiffany asked bluntly, “You and Morgan, is there something we should know about?”
“No,” Violet replied a little too quickly. “He helped my father when he most needed it, so I’m grateful to him.”
“It’s probably something he does naturally,” Tiffany guessed. “I heard he has the most friends of all the Callahan brothers. Hunter draws women like bees to honey—or he did—while Morgan draws lasting friendships. The way Hunter tells it, Morgan can make each of his buddies feel like his b
est friend. I guess he’s charismatic that way.”
“So is my father. That would explain why they became friends so fast.”
Tiffany nodded. “Morgan hasn’t been home since I got here, so I was really looking forward to meeting him. But I sense some sort of tension and, well, I assumed it was because of you.”
“No, but the tension should ease up in a few days—or get worse! I’m sorry, I really can’t say more about it.”
Tiffany laughed. “So mysterious. I love it!”
When Violet returned to the ranch, she found her father sitting on the porch. She laughed at him. “You just aren’t going to stay in bed, are you?”
“I’m not supposed to. Rest was defined as doing nothing strenuous other than eating more than I can stomach. I’m also supposed to slowly work in some exercise. Walking about a house got full approval.”
“I hadn’t realized Dr. Cantry was so specific in his recommendations. We should probably visit the local doctor this week, too, or find out if he’ll ride out here.”
“I can make the trip to town if we borrow Mary’s buckboard. But sit down.” He waited for her to do so, then took her hand in his. “It’s time we talk about your future. I confess I’ve been dodging the issue, because I love having you back and don’t want to see you go. I think it may have been a mistake to let you stay in England for as long as you did, because you appear to view it as your home now, where you want to marry and have a family. But you need to remember that you have a home with me and your brothers, too, Vi. However, whatever you decide, I will honor your wishes because I love you and want you to be happy.”
“I know you do, Papa.”
“No matter where you are, soon you will be an heiress again with a dowry that will rival that of a duke’s daughter. Just keep in mind that you can have your pick of husbands in this country, too. You needn’t choose only from the men available in England.”
“I thought I knew what I wanted, but now I’m not so sure,” she admitted.
“There’s no rush! Take your time and think about what you really want. Just know that I’m on your side no matter what.”
She grinned. “Well, if you are up to walking, what I want to do right now is introduce you to my new puppy.”
Chapter Forty-Six
VIOLET WAS STILL ON the porch with Tiny asleep in her lap when Morgan returned to the ranch. Her father had already gone in to take a nap before dinner, so no one was there to see how brazenly she stared at Morgan from the moment he came into view. He had dressed up a bit fancy today, wearing an eastern-style coat and a string tie, even polished boots, though the gun belt ruined the effect. Had he visited his friends? Or a woman?
The last thought irked her a little, so she wasn’t exactly smiling when he sat down next to her. But he was. Whatever he’d done today had apparently made him happy.
But his first question was about her. “How are you getting on here? Comfortable enough?”
“Yes, your family is very friendly—well, aside from your father. He seems a bit cantankerous.”
“He only gets that way when he has a bone to pick and he can’t get to it. They’re all still on the range?”
“I believe so,” she replied. “Your mother took me out there for a tour. I was amazed to see so many cows in one place.”
“Cattle,” he corrected as he reached into his pocket and handed her a strip of rawhide. She would have dropped the ugly thing if he hadn’t nodded at the puppy. “Give her this and maybe she’ll leave your shoes alone.”
She laughed. “Puppies eat shoes?”
“Dogs will gnaw on them at any age. I laughed like hell when I saw Bo trotting off with one of my boots one day. We always had a dog or two around here when I was young, just never in the house where they could get near the boots.”
She set Tiny down on the porch to let her sniff the strip of leather. She latched on to it immediately and plopped down to start chewing it. “It’s safe for her to eat?”
“She’s not going to eat it, only chew it. Throw it away when it gets soggy.”
She nodded, still watching the pup. But Tiny appeared to lose interest in the rawhide and stood up and moved away from them, sniffing at the floorboards. Guessing what would happen next, Violet quickly scooped up her pet and took her to the side yard. She heard Morgan laughing behind her.
When she came back and took her seat again, she said, “Your father was looking for you.”
“I’m not surprised. I was scouting the town to figure out where I want to build my emporium. Nashart grew while I was gone. There’s one intersection on the main street now that’s filled with stores and businesses on all four corners, but there’s another partial intersection with only one street coming in perpendicular to the main road, so I bought the property on the other side. It took a while to convince the mayor to sell me what will one day be a whole street and half a block on either side of it. Since he has no plans in the works yet for that section, it was just a matter of haggling. And it’s perfect, or will be by the time I’m done with it. I won’t need it all, but now I can control what gets built there. Now I can have that talk with my pa.”
She raised a brow at him. “You were holding off until you bought the land first? Why?”
“Because Pa could have stopped me cold if he knew my intention. He and Mayor Quade are poker buddies. He could easily have pulled a few strings to get Quade to refuse to sell me any part of town. Quade did in fact ask me a few times if Zachary approved of my buying such a large parcel.”
“How did you answer?”
He grinned. “I didn’t. I smooth-talked him away from Pa’s opinion by stressing how pleased my mother is going to be with the new business.”
She chuckled. “So you implied that because your mother was in favor of it, of course your father must be, too?”
“Something like that. But I also assured him that what goes up on that street will be businesses the town doesn’t have yet, which will draw a lot more people to Nashart—and a lot more women.” He laughed. “Which is what sold him and got me a good deal. Nashart has always been short on women who aren’t already married—and the mayor is a widower.”
“It sounds like it’s really happening. I confess, I find it hard to believe that a cowboy-turned-miner will now be happy working in a shop.”
“This is just the beginning. I’ll have to do a lot of traveling, to purchase all the things I want to sell. I’ll start with the big cities in the East, and eventually I may want to travel to Europe.”
So he did have bigger plans than spending every day in a shop in Nashart. “That sounds exciting. France is known for fine craftsmanship in furniture. And England—”
She stopped, not wanting to remind him of her future plans, but the simple word England had done it. He remarked, “Maybe I’ll visit you in London on one of my business trips. But in the meantime, would you like a tour of town tomorrow? I can show you where I plan to build. We can make a day of it and have lunch in town.”
Spend the whole day with him—alone? But she’d made her stand about that, so she replied, “I’ll see if my father is up to it.”
“Charley doesn’t need another bouncy ride this soon. And you’ll have the whole town as chaperones. It’s not like I have a bedroom there to lure you into—though I could arrange for one. . . .”
She could tell he wasn’t teasing because she saw the desire in his eyes. Her pulse started racing at the thought of being in bed with him again. No, she wouldn’t let herself be that reckless. But she did want to go to town with him, so she teased, “I suppose it will be a good time for you to test your chaperoning skills.”
He laughed, but then she gestured toward the approaching dust cloud. “Since you’re likely to get cornered for that ‘talk,’ I think I’ll take Tiny down for another spin around the side yard, then visit her littermates.
“Good luck,” she added as she walked down the stairs.
“If it gets loud, cover your ears!” he called after he
r with a chuckle.
She didn’t think he was teasing. She did expect it to get loud, so she moved toward the back of the house so she wouldn’t hear it. But the two men’s voices grew loud enough for her to recognize an angry tone, if not the exact words, until there was a really loud yell: “The hell you did! No son of mine is going—”
“Pa, it’s a done deal. It’s what I spent a year working for. And I’m damn well old enough to make my own bloody decisions!”
Violet’s eyes flared when she heard him say “bloody.” His use of the Britishism made her grin.
“Not in my house, you don’t!” Zachary yelled before a door slammed and it got quiet.
That wasn’t the least bit amusing. Had Morgan just been kicked out of his own home? He could probably use a little encouragement.
She headed back to the porch, but slowed her steps when she saw that Zachary was still there, not Morgan. She was put on the spot when the older man pinned her with angry eyes. “Did you put him up to this, gal?”
She slowly continued forward. “I haven’t known your son for very long. His decisions have nothing to do with me. However, I do know he’s starting a new business. It’s for his mother, your wife. He told me about all the times he and his brothers had to ride to town and then return here only to tell Mrs. Callahan that what she’d ordered and was waiting for hadn’t arrived yet, and how disappointed she was. He wants to make sure she’s never disappointed again. That’s why he went searching for gold and silver ore, because he knew you wouldn’t finance such a venture. Or would you have loaned him the money?”
He sat back in his chair with a sigh. “You spend your whole life building something to leave to your children, and then they don’t want it,” he grumbled. “I probably wouldn’t have been open to his idea—unless he explained it like you just did. All for his ma, huh? I can’t rightly argue with that, much as I love that gal.”
“Maybe you should tell Morgan that.”
Marry Me by Sundown Page 28