The Texas Cowboy’s Courtship (Testament Creek Book 1)

by Maya Stirling

  Cal nodded. "When Pedro told me what happened, I was really concerned. You and Grace and Hope just can't seem to stop getting into trouble when I'm not around." He lifted a brow. "And you know what?"

  "What?"

  He smiled warmly. He glanced at the other table and then spoke in a quiet voice. "Because of that, I figure I should do all I can to spend as much time as possible around you."

  Prudence's mouth opened slightly. She saw an appreciative look in Cal's eyes as he glanced down at her mouth. "There's no need to go to any trouble on my account," she said.

  Cal shook his head. "I don't agree. On the contrary. It's part of my job to make sure you're safe. And there ain't no-one in Texas going to stop me from doing that." His voice was filled with authority and determination.

  Prudence met Cal's steady gaze. She could see he'd meant every word he'd just said. "You want to become some kind of personal bodyguard to me?" she asked.

  Cal tilted his head and smiled. "That's one way of putting it. I ain't going to allow any man to trouble you. Once we deal with Largo and Brady I reckon things will improve around here." Cal leaned his head closer to her. "Until then, I reckon I don't want to let you out of my sight."

  Prudence drew in a quiet breath, astonished that Cal would make such a bold declaration to her. She didn't know what she could say. He was proposing to be by her side for as long as he saw fit. In her mind she thought the prospect of being with Cal was appealing. Since the kiss at the trees, she had been thinking about Cal all the time. In fact, she hadn't been able to get him out of her mind. By the determined expression in his eyes, she could see he wasn't about to give up easily. Maybe it was time to meet his challenge.

  Prudence gazed inquiringly at Cal. "How do you propose to do that?"

  "Easy. You still have plenty to learn about ranching."

  Prudence scoffed. "I thought I'd done pretty well, so far."

  Cal grinned. "It'll take years for you to learn how to run a ranch."

  "I suppose you're right," she admitted.

  "I've been working on ranches a long time, and I still find things I have to learn," Cal admitted. She liked his honesty and his humility. Maybe they were remnants of his faith, she told herself. Although his faith was lukewarm, there had been moments in the last few weeks when she'd felt hopeful he could find his way back to the Lord. When she'd gone to church with Cal, she'd seen how much it had meant to him. How he had seemed encouraged by what he'd experienced. Maybe if she was to spend more time with him, she could encourage Cal to take that final step and come back with all his heart to the Lord.

  "When do you want to start?" she asked.

  Cal's brows shot up. "You're eager," he observed.

  "There's no time like the present," she told him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Prudence was a fast learner, Cal told himself as he and the ranch hands finished branding the last of the steers. They were out on the range, down by the riverside, and it was a sunny afternoon. Prudence wasn't sitting on her horse, keeping her distance, observing from afar.

  No.

  She was in here amongst the ranch hands, getting her hands dirty. Learning the hard way, by throwing herself into the task at hand. Cal was filled with admiration. The woman had spirit. But then, he'd suspected that from the moment she'd arrived at the Circle T.

  "Just hold onto the steer, ma'am," one of the ranch hands told Prudence. The steers legs had been tied and it was being held down so the men could apply the branding iron. The animal didn't like what was happening to it. Not one bit.

  Prudence was holding the animal's shoulders, pressing down hard while she watched the ranch hand bring the red-hot iron toward the steer's flank. Alongside her, Cal watched Prudence, seeking any signs that she was going to turn her head away from the iron. But she didn't. Much as he'd expected, Prudence stared, fascinated, as the ranch hand applied the branding iron. The animal roared loudly, its body shifting violently for a brief moment. Prudence held on tight. Cal could see the effort on her face as she used her arms to restrain the animal.

  Then, the job was done. The ranch hands untied its legs and released the steer. Prudence lifted her hands away and the steer leaped up and raced back toward the nearby herd.

  Prudence watched the animal sprint across the grassland. Then she turned to Cal and smiled broadly. He saw delight on her features. And a genuine sense of achievement.

  "That's the first of many you'll brand," Cal told her.

  Prudence stood and wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. "That was something," she said and exhaled.

  "You did a good job."

  Prudence frowned. "You're just saying that."

  Cal shook his head. "No. I mean it."

  Prudence glanced at the nearby ranch hands. "I had plenty of help."

  "I guess you're right," Cal said and lifted a brow. "You're a regular ranch hand now."

  Prudence shook her head. "I'll never be that. Those men really know what they're doing."

  "See what I mean about getting your hands dirty?" he asked.

  She started to walk toward her nearby horse and Cal followed alongside her. "This is much more useful than learning how to shoot," she said.

  Cal gave her a querying look. "Let's not talk about that. Maybe some other time we can have that discussion. As far as I'm concerned, that's still up for grabs."

  Prudence shook her head. "I'm not going to change my mind, Cal."

  Cal nodded. "You keep on telling me patience is a virtue," he said.

  "It is. Maybe you need to work on that," Prudence suggested. "Along with a few other things."

  They reached their horses. Cal rested his hands on his horse and peered at Prudence. "Like what, for instance?"

  Prudence lifted her gaze to the sky and thought for a few moments. "Let me see. You've already got plenty of fortitude. You're strong enough to work this spread. You're honest and trustworthy. You're kind-hearted. You're courageous."

  Cal felt his face flush with heat. "Whoa, there. Don't say another word. You're making me blush. I thought you were going to list the virtues I don't have."

  "There is one you don't have."

  "Yeah. What is that?"

  "Self-control," she said softly.

  For a moment, he assumed she was joking. But when he saw her earnest expression, he knew was being deadly serious.

  "You're telling me I'm impulsive?"

  She quirked a brow at him. "You can be."

  He knew she was probably thinking about the kiss. About the way he'd held her hands during the quiet moments they'd spent together at the house and at the coffee shop. He didn't know what he should say. He saw a triumphant expression on her face. She knew she'd caught him off-guard. And she looked like she was enjoying it.

  Cal watched her get up onto the horse. Looking down at him, she smiled. "I thought you said you'd show me how the boundary fencing is repaired."

  His mind swirled with confusing thoughts. "I did?"

  Prudence nodded, "Let's go."

  Cal snapped himself back to reality and mounted his horse. Before he had a chance to say anything to her, Prudence kicked her horse into a steady lope. Cal went after her. They rode across the grassland, making their way south-west toward where the trouble had been the previous night. Some ranch hands were over there fixing the fence. He figured it would be useful for Prudence to see how it was done.

  As they rode, he glanced repeatedly across at her. At least she was following his instruction when it came to riding the horse, he told himself. Her posture was upright, her arm position was good, and she was holding the reins at just the right angle. Her horse was moving at a steady lope, not too fast for someone just beginning to get used to being on a horse.

  "You're a fast learner," Cal told her.

  Prudence glanced across at him and smiled. "You're just saying that."

  "No. You really are," Cal insisted.

  Prudence shook her head and focused her attention on keeping the horse
moving steadily. It seemed like every time he paid her a compliment, she just pushed it aside.

  Cal was secretly sure she liked his compliments, though. And he wasn't going to stop giving them to her. This woman had turned his life upside down since the moment she'd set foot on the Circle T. He'd never known anyone like her. Every day had become a source of delight to him. Every moment he spent in her company was a joy he treasured in his heart.

  They reached the boundary fence where they found three ranch hands busy with the repair work. For the next hour, Cal and Prudence worked alongside the men. Once again, Prudence threw herself into the work with the same zeal he'd witnessed back at the branding. At first, the three ranch hands had seemed uncertain about Prudence. But, once they'd seen how hard she could work, they'd started smiling at Cal as if he'd made a good choice in bringing her to help with the work.

  Once the barb wire was connected to the fencing posts, Prudence stood with her hands on her hips and examined her handiwork. Once again he saw a plain delight in her eyes. This was a woman who understood the value of hard work, Cal told himself. If she'd applied this kind of attitude to her work as a schoolteacher he understood why Silas had been so impressed with her. When Cal had spoken Spanish with Silas, he'd discovered that the man was fluent to a surprising degree given the fact that he'd only had a few months of lessons with the mysterious teacher. Silas had referred to Prudence as his "learning treasure." Now, Cal understood why.

  Once they'd finished the work, Cal and Prudence started back toward the ranch house. It was getting late. Lucia, Hope and Grace would be preparing the evening meal.

  Back at the house earlier, when Prudence had told them she and Cal would be working together for the afternoon, Hope and Grace had given Prudence an inquiring look. Were they starting to believe that she and Cal were becoming more than work associates? As he'd ridden away from the house with Prudence, that thought had given Cal a secret delight.

  As the horses rode to the crest of a ridge, Cal saw Prudence's horse pull up. Prudence jerked forward, but managed to avoid falling off the horse. Her eyes wide with surprise, Prudence looked down at the horse's leg. The animal was pulling its leg as if it felt something wrong. Cal halted and got down. He went to the horse and examined the leg.

  Glancing back the way they'd come, he saw a small hole in the ground. "Looks like he stepped in the hole."

  "Is it bad?" Prudence asked as she peered down at Cal.

  Cal shook his head. "Probably not. The horse might need some attention when we get back to the house. Its not far, anyway." He gazed up at Prudence. "You'll have to share my horse for the rest of the journey, though."

  Her eyes widened. "Sit with you?"

  Cal nodded. "Is that okay?" He schooled his features to mask his hidden delight.

  "I guess so," Prudence said as she got down off her horse.

  She went across to Cal's horse. "You want some help getting up?" he asked.

  Prudence frowned. "No." She grasped the saddle and lifted herself up.

  "I'll need to sit behind you," he told her as he looked up at her.

  "I understand," she said abruptly.

  Cal tied her horse to his own with a rope. Then he lifted himself up onto the horse, sitting back off the saddle. He wrapped his arms around Prudence. Cal inhaled the sweet scent of her hair. He felt the warmth of her body as it pressed against his. "Hand me the reins," he said quietly into her ear.

  He felt her body tense. Then she handed him the reins. He stretched forward, which forced him to press his arms tight against her middle. "Okay?" he asked.

  Prudence said nothing. She just nodded her head.

  Cal had to admit it felt good to be this close to Prudence. Forcing his mind back to the present, he flicked the reins. They rode the rest of the time in silence. He got the distinct impression that Prudence didn't want him to say anything.

  Arriving back at the house, they rode into the yard. Through the kitchen window, Cal saw Hope and Grace staring, wide-eyed, at them. Prudence must have seen them too, because he felt her body become instantly tense.

  Cal got down off the horse and helped Prudence down. "Thank you," Prudence said curtly. She smiled at him. He thought she was trying to make it seem like the last fifteen minutes hadn't mattered to her. But he could see that sharing the ride with him had affected her as much as it had him.

  "I hope you learned something new today," Cal said.

  "I certainly did," Prudence said. She bowed her head quickly. "Thank you, Cal."

  She went running off toward the front door of the house. Then he heard the door close heavily behind her.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  "Tell us how it happened," Grace said to Prudence later when all three of them were upstairs in Hope's room.

  "Yes, Prudence. Tell us. We're dying to know," Hope said enthusiastically.

  Sitting at the table by the window, Prudence squinted at her two friends who were lounging on the bed. "You want to hear about how I helped brand a steer?"

  Hope and Grace exchanged an exasperated look. "No. We want to know what it was like riding a horse with Cal," Grace exclaimed.

  "Oh, that," Prudence replied, deciding she did, after all, like teasing her friends. Of course she'd known what they were talking about. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about anything else since returning to the house.

  Over dinner, Cal had been friendly and talkative. Too cheerful, Prudence had concluded. He'd talked about everything else except how he'd ridden back to the house with his arms wrapped around her.

  "Well?" Hope asked once again.

  "My horse stepped in a hole," Prudence explained. "Cal checked the horse and made up his mind that I had to share a ride with him. That's it."

  Grace's brows furrowed. "And?"

  "And what?" Prudence echoed.

  "We saw the way he was holding you," Grace added.

  "He wasn't holding me," Prudence retorted. "He had to have his arms around me. He was holding the reins."

  "That's a good enough reason," Hope said with a smile.

  Prudence stood, thrust her fists against her sides, and faced her two friends. "What exactly are you two getting at?"

  "Isn't it obvious?" Hope asked.

  "No. It most certainly is not," Prudence insisted. She knew what the others were trying to tease out of her. But she wasn't going to give in that easily. Apart from anything else, she was still trying to figure out how she felt about Cal.

  Today, he'd appointed himself her protector. As far as she was concerned he'd been acting in that capacity ever since the incident with the robbers. But today had been different. Down at the cafe, he'd made it pretty obvious that his protecting duties were exclusively aimed at her.

  Of course she knew he'd make sure no harm came to Hope and Grace. But, today, she'd sensed a change in Cal's attitude. She'd seen how he'd looked at her when they'd been working together branding the cattle and fixing the fence. There had been respect in his gaze. But also something else. Something she hadn't seen quite so clearly before. If she wasn't mistaken, it looked like Cal had developed a strong attraction to her.

  "What did I tell you," Hope said to Grace and pointed at Prudence. "She's smitten."

  Prudence laughed. "Smitten?"

  Hope nodded. "You've got it bad, too. For Cal."

  Prudence gasped. Was it that obvious? "I don't know what you're talking about."

  Grace grinned. "We've seen how you look at him. And how he looks at you. The evidence is undeniable."

  Prudence squinted at Grace. "This isn't a court of law, Grace. We're talking about a friendship, not a crime being tried in front of a judge."

  Grace took Prudence's comment with a shrug of her shoulders. "Are you seriously claiming innocence?" Grace giggled, clearly enjoying going along with the courtroom idea.

  Prudence started to pace the floor. She knew when she was beaten. "I will admit that Cal is handsome."

  "He sure is," Hope agreed.

  "And that he
has a fine character. He's a good man," Prudence added.

  "Especially on a horse," Grace added and laughed.

  Prudence furrowed her brows at Grace and then continued as she paced the floor. "But Cal and I are just good friends. That's all. He invited me to spend some time with him today. And I did so. But just as a colleague and workmate."

  Her comment drew groans of disbelief from the others. "You're not very convincing, Prudence," Hope said. "You want us to believe that you and Cal don't have feelings for each other. Hasn't he told you so?"

  Prudence had never lied to her friends. And she wasn't about to start doing so now. Prudence halted her pacing and faced Hope and Grace. "He admitted that he has an affection for me."

  Both women stared at one another wide-eyed. Prudence saw the excitement on their faces. "And you?" Grace asked. "Have you told him the same?"

  Prudence hesitated a long moment, thinking of the way she'd been holding back from telling Cal how she felt about him. "I did suggest to him that I like him."

  Hope frowned. "Is that all?"

  "Isn't that enough," Prudence objected. "After all, we've only know each other a few weeks."

  "Prudence. This is Texas," Grace explained. "I've been doing some reading."

  "You have?" Prudence replied, not without a hint of sarcasm.

  Grace nodded. "Out here, the rules for courting aren't the same as back in Kansas City. Sometimes folks get married the same day they meet. Arranged marriages aren't unusual."

  Prudence groaned. "I'm not looking to get married. Especially not to Cal Logan."

  Even as she said the words, Prudence knew they weren't entirely true. Deep in her heart, she'd wondered what it would be like to marry someone like Cal. She'd played with the notion, weighing it up in her mind.

  Marriage to a handsome Texan and living on a ranch held many promises, including family. She'd thought about all of the delights of family life and had concluded that perhaps the Lord had brought Cal into her life for a reason. Maybe she'd been led to this place so that she could meet Cal. So that she could build her new life with him. Following God's will had been her mission in life. She was starting to think that Cal was part of God's will for her.