by Kit Morgan
“Wylie likes you.”
Jonas spun around, reaching for his holster as he did, only to recall he wasn’t wearing one. He saw Miss Jones and quickly lowered his hand. He hadn’t heard her enter the barn.
Her eyes lingered on his hand. “He’s already upstairs writing out prayers for you.”
Jonas took a few steps back. “You ought not sneak up on a man like that, ma’am.”
She sighed. “It’s Luella.”
“I work for your brother and cousin,” he countered.
She shrugged. “You call them by their first names. Why should I be any different?”
“It isn’t proper.”
She eyed him. “Where are you from, Mr. Cummings?”
He stared at her a moment, then ran a hand through this newly-cropped hair. “Jonas.”
She straightened. “Oh, is it now?” She smiled at him. “Very well, Jonas, where are you from, if you don’t mind my asking?”
“I do mind.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Does my brother know?”
“Yes.” Well, Jess knew some of it. “You’ll excuse me …”
“Thank you for shaving.”
He stared at her. “Er … you’re welcome. Now I need to get back to work.”
She smiled, pulled out her little book and pencil crossed something out, then put them away and left the barn.
Jonas stood there in confusion. “What in tarnation?” He ran a hand over his clean-shaven jaw, then his hair. He’d even ridden out to the creek and bathed – and a cold bath it was too – figuring he needed to keep his job. But had Jess and Anson really wanted him to clean up, or was it Miss Jones’s idea?
Blast that bossy, notional woman and that list of hers! Lord only knew what else was on it. For all he knew, she’d want him working in his Sunday best. He laughed to himself. Well, the joke was on her if that were the case – he didn’t own any Sunday clothes.
He suddenly stopped, realizing how foreign his own laughter sounded. He hadn’t heard it in a long time. He turned and stared out the barn doors. Luella Jones was nowhere in sight.
Jonas chuckled to himself again. The woman had made him laugh – not a forced laugh, but a real one, welling up from somewhere deep in his belly. How long had it been since he laughed like that? And over what – the woman’s silly list? Or that she’d gotten him to clean up without her lifting a finger?
“She tricked me,” he told himself aloud. “Bossy, notional, conniving …” Unable to help himself, he laughed again. If she had subtly tricked him, then points to her.
He rubbed a hand over his jaw again. It had been a long time since he’d been this clean. He liked it. Even better, Miss Jones seemed to like it too. A fleeting thought whisked through his mind, of marriage and family … no, that wasn’t meant to be. He could no sooner marry Luella Jones than he could the Queen of England. She was a relative of his employers, the daughter of a wealthy rancher in Oregon. And he a lowly ranch hand not eight months out of prison.
Jonas sighed heavily, grabbed a nearby wheelbarrow and got back to work. Fun time was over.
* * *
“He never did say where he was from,” Luella told Zadie and Viola later that afternoon. They were sitting around the kitchen table, preparing supper.
Zadie exchanged a quick look with Viola. “He’s certainly handsome,” Zadie commented as she peeled a potato.
“Mm-hmm,” Viola agreed. “What do you think, Luella?”
Luella took on an air of innocence. “He’s all right. I’ve seen other handsome men before.”
“But one so close?” Viola prompted. “And day to day?”
Luella looked bemused. “I haven’t been here a week yet.”
“Yes, but why else would he suddenly shave and cut his hair?” Zadie asked.
Luella picked up a potato and started to peel. “Maybe he decided it was high time he did.”
“Maybe someone gave him a reason,” Viola prompted.
“What reason? The only reason that man needed to shave was that he chose to.” That wasn’t telling a fib, quite. She had only prompted him to make the choice. And set the means in the tack room for him, but she didn’t tell them that. She certainly didn’t mention her list – they’d laugh her all the way back to Clear Creek.
“I can’t get over what a handsome face was hiding behind all that hair,” Zadie said.
“Oh all right, the man is handsome!” Luella conceded. “Are you quite happy now?”
Zadie smiled. “Quite. How about you, Vi – are you satisfied with her confession?”
“Confession?” Luella gasped. Though what else would one call it?
“Yes. And now that we know she’s attracted to him. …”
“What!?” Luella snapped. She saw their beaming faces and dropped her potato. “No. Whatever it is you two are thinking, no.”
“How can you know what we’re thinking?” Zadie asked. “We haven’t said a word about it, and you barely know us.”
“Because you’re married to my cousin, that’s why,” Luella pointed out. “Toss in my brother and that means trouble.”
Zadie and Viola laughed. “She’s right, you know,” Zadie said. “But really, Luella, what can getting to know the man hurt?”
Luella stared at her a moment. “You mean Mr. Cummings?”
“No, I mean President Harrison. Of course Mr. Cummings.”
Luella sat back in her chair, the potato forgotten. It was one thing to put the man on her list – several times, in fact. Quite another to allow herself to even think … after all, Jess and Anson would never …
“Your mother and aunt wrote a letter,” Zadie continued.
“What?” Luella asked, then froze. “Oh no, they didn’t.”
“They did – specifically asking us if there were any eligible bachelors in the area.”
Luella tossed her potato back into the bowl. She’d peel it later. At first coercing Mr. Cummings into cleaning himself up, getting him to join them for meals and extracting more than two words out of him was … well, a challenge, a project. She loved a good project. But what Zadie and Viola were suggesting … simply put, Jess and Anson would never agree to it.
“All I’m saying,” Zadie said, cutting into her thoughts, “is you’re going to be here for awhile. And you never know. Look at Viola and Caleb – how did she know that when she came to Morgan’s Crossing to live with her brother, she’d wind up married?”
“I never could’ve guessed,” Viola replied.
Luella thought a moment. It was true. And Caleb was a hired hand, just like Jonas Cummings …
Zadie reached across the kitchen table and put a hand over Luella’s. “Don’t be afraid to get to know him. And remember, we’re getting to know him right along with you.” She smiled and sighed. “I’d better go check on Lillie and the babies. They’ll be waking soon. Again.”
Luella smiled back as she got up and left, then reached for the potato.
Six
Nearly a week passed before Luella had time for another conversation with Jonas – yes, now she was referring to him by his Christian name, at least in her mind. After all, she had insisted they be on a first-name basis. But since then, he’d managed to evade her.
Or was she evading him? She wasn’t sure. When she went to gather eggs one morning, she suddenly felt the need to leave as he entered the barn. No apparent reason, but her feet seemed convinced and beat a quick path back to the house. Another day, she went to the corral to watch the men with the horses, only for Jonas to disappear into the barn not a minute later, leaving only Caleb and Jess to work the colts. And he didn’t show up for a single meal, instead taking them in the barn as was his habit before she arrived.
But today was a new day. Today she was determined to speak with him and really, why not? There was nothing wrong with talking about things, just as Zadie said. Besides, out of everyone on the ranch, she’d had the least amount of interaction with the man. That meant she had catching up to do.
> “Are you taking that to Jonas?” Lillie asked behind her.
Luella turned, making sure she faced the woman so she could read her lips. “Yes.” She held up the basket in her hand. “I thought I’d feed him, seeing how he slinks into the kitchen and grabs whatever’s left after we’ve eaten. I can’t understand what’s wrong with that man.”
Lillie shook her head. “I don’t know. Maybe he feels it’s not right or that he’s imposing. Most hired hands do eat in a bunkhouse.”
Luella tapped the basket handle with her finger. “Yes, but we haven’t got a bunkhouse. You don’t think he’s unsocial, do you? He’s certainly something, but I don’t know what.” She was thinking aloud, but didn’t mind if Lillie knew her thoughts.
Besides, she couldn’t hear well enough to pick up on the suspicion in her voice. What was Jonas Cummings hiding? No one could be that unsociable on purpose, could they? For Heaven’s sake, there was no one else on the ranch or immediate area to be unsociable to. Morgan’s Crossing was over two hours away. Everyone on the ranch had to get along, family or no family. It was just how things were.
She looked at Lillie again. “I’ll be back in a little bit to help with the mending.”
Lillie smiled. “Don’t worry about us – take your time. You’ve done so much already and you’ve only been here a couple of weeks. I can’t begin to think what it’s going to be like after you’re gone.”
Luella blushed. “Well, I pride myself on a job well done. I’m glad I could be of help.” She didn’t wait for Lillie to respond, but turned and headed out the kitchen door.
She entered the barn and looked around. No one seemed to be there. She walked to the last stall, where she knew Jonas slept, peered into it and smiled. A cot now sat against one wall, a couple of blankets neatly folded and placed at one end, a pillow at the other. She’d had Jess set it up that morning and wasn’t sure if Jonas had seen it yet.
She remembered Jonas telling her he’d refused a cot once already. But why? What man would willingly sleep on a pile of straw with nothing but a blanket and a rough pillow when he could have a comfy cot up off the hard ground? Odd.
“See something you like?”
Luella spun, almost tripping over her own feet. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I do.”
Jonas stepped forward and slung the bridle in his hands over a stall door. “And what might that be?”
Luella stepped away from his makeshift room and motioned toward it. “See for yourself.”
Jonas came over, looked into the stall, then glanced at her, at the cot and back. “This your doing?”
Luella squared her shoulders. “And what if it is?”
Jonas’s weary sigh surprised her. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand and closed them, and she noticed how tired he looked. “Are you all right?” she asked, more softly than she intended.
He opened his eyes, looked at her and some of the tension in his face fell away. “I hate to admit this, seeing as how I told your brother I didn’t need a cot. But I haven’t been sleeping well lately.”
She smiled. “Then you’ll appreciate your new bed.”
He looked at it again, a smile slowly forming on his own face. “I reckon I will.” One eyebrow arched in suspicion. “You gonna come watch me sleep too?”
She gasped in shock. “I most certainly will not!”
He surprised her again and laughed.
She laughed too. “You should do that more often.”
He reined his amusement in. “What?”
“Laugh like you just did. You look like a different person when you do.”
His face became somber. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
“It doesn’t? That’s curious – may I ask why?”
He leaned against the stall door. “No. There are some things a woman doesn’t ask a man.”
She frowned, then nodded. Had he been thinking of her over the last few days? She’d certainly been thinking about him. Or was it something else? “I’m inquisitive. If you were to ask my brother, he’d say I’m nosy.”
“And he’d be right.” He glanced at the cot and back. “But I’ve watched you take care of your kin this week. And me.”
“I can’t help it. I like caring for people, and I’m told I’m good at it ...” She stopped and studied him a moment. He was tired, wasn’t he? He looked dead on his feet. “You really shouldn’t be sleeping on the ground, especially once it starts getting chilly. And it will, after harvest time.”
He swallowed hard and looked away. “I’ve slept in worse conditions than this. Trust me, a bed of straw and a blanket is better than some.”
She reached out and put a hand on his arm, a bold move bordering on improper. But when her heart went out to someone, she naturally reached out to them – it was automatic. “Such as?” she prompted.
He shook his head, looked at the basket in her hand and stepped away. “Are you taking care of me now by bringing me lunch?”
She drew her hand back. “Yes.”
Jonas looked at her again and his face softened. “You’re a kind woman, Luella Jones. Real kind. Just be sure that while you’re taking care of everyone around here, you take care of yourself too.”
Luella smiled. She not only had him talking, but showing concern for her. “I will. Thank you for thinking of me.”
He swallowed and nodded toward the basket. “What’s inside?”
“Oh, um … I made you some sandwiches. And cookies too.”
“Much obliged. I am mighty hungry.”
“I’ll just put this in the tack room, then.” She began to walk away.
He reached out and touched her elbow, and she shivered in response. He watched her a moment before he spoke. “No need. I can take it now.”
She smiled and handed him the basket. “All right. I hope you like molasses cookies.”
He took the basket by the handle, his fingers against hers as he did. She pulled back with a shuddering breath. The contact was brief, but he might as well have kissed her. She tried to keep her breathing under control and gazed into his eyes, which were just as intent on hers. “Well, then.” She turned to leave, lest she do something silly like sigh, or worse.
“Thank you for the lunch,” he said gently.
Luella stopped short but didn’t turn around. “We’ll see you at supper?”
After a long pause, he replied, “Maybe.”
She smiled as a tingle raced up her spine, then left the barn.
* * *
“Nice of you to join us,” Anson told Jonas as he sat at the table. “Have you not been feeling well? You look tired.”
Jonas forced a smile. Tired wasn’t the word for it. If he didn’t get Luella Jones out of his head and quick, he’d never get any sleep.
He’d watched her from afar all week, and liked what he saw. She gathered eggs in the morning, cooked, cleaned, helped with any chores the women of the ranch had, plus helped with the babies and children. She would make some lucky man a wonderful wife, and their kids an excellent mother. Bossy, notional and conniving, yes, but all for a good cause, it seemed.
What he didn’t learn of Luella’s character from watching her in action, he heard about from her brother and cousin. The men talked about a lot of things while working with the horses, Luella being one of them. Apparently Lu, as Anson called her, always reached out to folks in need – whether they thought they needed her help or not. She had a true servant’s heart and took joy in caring for others. The woman was there and could be counted on.
That was a valuable thing in Jonas’s eyes, but it was also what worried him. Granted, she didn’t appear worn out from all her work. That told him she had the good sense to rest when she needed and didn’t overextend herself. He’d watched his mother do that for far too long. Jonas was ten when she died, overworked, undernourished and beyond underappreciated.
Drink did bad things to men – to Frederick Cummings, more than most. Jonas’s mother had suffered for it until the day she died. Jonas’s fat
her had told him she got sick, and for years he’d believed him until Clyde informed him otherwise. It wasn’t illness, but the beatings and the slave labor, until she was too worn down to keep breathing. One more reason to leave his father and live with his brothers, who’d vamoosed not long after their mother passed.
Looking back on it, though, they were almost as bad as their father had been – just as demanding, selfish and devoted to John Barleycorn. If Jonas had been older, he might have turned out just like them. Thank the Lord he hadn’t. Yet his brothers’ influence still scarred his life and he’d paid a price, though not as high as they had.
“I’m glad you’re here.” Luella took her seat across the table from him. She wore a pink dress trimmed in white lace. She looked beautiful.
Jonas had to take a moment and catch his breath. “Thanks for the invitation.”
“You do realize the invitation is open?” she said with a smile. “You’re welcome to join us anytime.”
He nodded as he looked around the table. “That’s … mighty kind of you.”
“Take advantage, Jonas, before the bunkhouse gets built,” Caleb said as he entered the dining room. “Once we get a few more men hired, the hands will take their meals there. We won’t have room in here.”
“Are you going to hire a cook?” Luella asked.
“Depends if any of the new hands can cook,” Caleb said as Viola and the children took their seats.
“I’m sure we can handle it if none of them can,” Zadie put in. “Where are Jess and Lillie?”
“They’ll be down shortly,” Anson replied. “Unless Bella decides not to take her nap. I think the babies are finally realizing they’re supposed to sleep at night.”
“I think so,” Luella said. “Hopefully in a couple of weeks we’ll have them turned around.”
“Land sakes, Jonas,” Caleb said as he peered at him. “You look like Anson and Jess, and you sleep in the barn! Don’t tell me the babies are keeping you up?”