“I’m not sure where to begin. Every time I thought of something we needed, I just scratched it on my list, and then I ran out of room and found another piece of paper to write on. By the time I got finished, I’d scribbled on both sides and all along the edges.”
Pip grinned, scooping the assortment from Rosemary’s hand. “I learned how to read your writing a long time ago. If you feel like jabbering at me, go ahead. I’ll just gather up as I go along.”
Rosemary pulled a keg close to the counter, glancing around to see who might be within listening distance. She leaned forward a bit and watched as Pip delivered a pail of lard and two boxes of tea to the counter.
“I don’t hear you talkin’. And I’ll just bet you’ve got a tale to tell.” Pip leaned on the lard pail, her eyes twinkling. “What’s it like, living with Tanner?”
Rosemary frowned and then the memory of Tanner’s kiss assaulted her mind. “It’s downright confusing is what it is.”
Pip leaned closer. “Confusing?”
“He makes me feel things, and he watches me sometimes.”
“What things do you feel?” Pip’s eyes were round, shiny with anticipation.
Rosemary took inventory of the list. “Afraid…”
Pip gasped. “Surely not!”
“Oh, not of him. Never that.” Except for when he’d trapped her between his long, hard body and the wagon wheel that first day, she thought.
“Confused, mostly,” she said finally. “I’m not sure I should be there, but there wasn’t any choice, was there?”
Pip’s head swung from side to side. “No, of course not.”
“I really like him,” Rosemary confided quietly.
“I’m sure. What woman wouldn’t?”
Rosemary’s hand flew up, denying the unspoken meaning Pip had defined with her smile. “Not that way. It’s just that he…”
What he did defied description, she realized. It was beyond her experience, and she could not explain the clutch of excitement when his hand touched her, or when his mouth fit itself against her lips.
Pip watched her for a moment and nodded. “I think you’re headed for trouble, Rosemary.”
“Trouble?”
“You will be unless you…” Pip leaned to press her mouth near her friend’s ear. “Are you gonna marry him? Has he asked you again?”
Rosemary sat bolt upright. “Marry Tanner? No. And no.” She shifted on the keg and pursed her lips. “Well, he hasn’t exactly asked. He’s just mentioned it.”
“Mentioned it? Like, when are you going to marry me? Or let’s go to town and find the preacher.”
Rosemary laughed aloud. “Neither, really. He’s just made reference to it. As if maybe he didn’t really want to before, but now he does.”
Pip ran long fingers through her tousled curls. “Now he does. Does what?” She stood expectantly, her face flooded with a bright red stain, her mouth opening and then closing, as if the words she thought to speak were better left unsaid.
“Want to marry me, of course,” Rosemary said softly. “What else did you think I meant?”
“Well, the other. You know, what men usually want from women. Except he probably figures the only way he’ll get that is to put a ring on your finger.”
Rosemary closed her eyes. “I can’t believe you said that. I’m sure he hasn’t thought of…that. In connection with me, I mean.” Her eyelids flew upward and she glanced around once more. “We’re not alone in that house, you know. Mama Pearl moved in. She didn’t want folks talking about me.”
“Well, Mama Pearl or not, folks are talking, Rosemary. In fact, I heard from Dex Sawyer that the men at the Golden Slipper Saloon are laying odds on when Gabe Tanner will march down the aisle.”
“Well, not in the next few minutes, he’s not,” Rosemary said sharply. “For that matter, we haven’t really discussed it, not since the first day I went out there.” The memory of Tanner’s words assaulted her mind as she settled back on the keg.
Things are different now…I don’t know how many more nights I can hear you movin’ around in the next room and not want to be in there with you…. They can consider us a couple if they want to.
A couple. And then he’d kissed her, his lips hard at first, until, for just a moment…
Pip’s hand slapped the counter, and Rosemary jumped. “I asked you, how much coffee?” Pip repeated.
“Oh…five pounds should do.”
The door opened, a tinkling bell announcing a customer and Pip turned to the front of the store. “You want to look around, Mrs. Frombert? I’ll just be a few more minutes.”
“Maybe I’ll visit with Rosemary while I wait,” Geraldine Frombert said, marching toward the counter as if she had a mission to accomplish.
“Pull up a keg and sit down,” Rosemary told her, forcing a grin as she took note of the militant stance of the banker’s wife.
“I won’t be here long enough for a lengthy chat.” Geraldine pulled off her gloves and searched through her reticule, her fingers waving a page torn from a ledger book as they emerged. “I knew my list was here somewhere.”
“If you’re in a hurry, Pip can tend to that first,” Rosemary suggested. “My dinner is in the oven and Mama Pearl has things under control.”
Geraldine’s mouth looked like she’d just eaten a peck of green apples, Rosemary thought, covering her smile with one hand.
“What keeps you busy these days, Rosemary?”
“Just the usual, ma’am. I gather the eggs and churn butter and help cook and clean.”
“Humph…I hear you’re staying in the very house that man lives in.”
Rosemary tilted her head, wondering if she had misheard the insinuation. “Where else would I stay, Mrs. Frombert?”
“Well, I always say, it’s not wise to tempt the devil. A single woman living with a bachelor provides temptation, and certainly offends the sensibilities of decent folk.”
Rosemary stood quickly, her stained cheeks burning at the insult. “Could you have Scotty carry out my sugar and flour, Pip? I can get most of the rest in my basket.”
Her hands transferred the tea and coffee, along with several smaller items, to the basket she had carried from the ranch. She turned toward the door, then snatched up the pail of lard, allowing it to swing from her other hand. Like a scalding wave, the temptation to swing the heavy bucket at Geraldine filled her almost to overflowing.
But she denied it, and, drawing in a deep breath, stifled the urge to retaliate in so violent a manner. “I’m sure Mr. Tanner would not appreciate being called a devil, ma’am. He’s a gentleman, as are the men who work for him.”
Geraldine sniffed loudly. “I’m sure,” she said, even as her lifted eyebrows denied the words she spoke. “You should have found work here in town, Rosemary. Your papa would be most distraught to know what you’re doing.”
That was enough. The lard pail hit the floor and the basket fell beside it. “He’d be even more distraught to know that the people he called his friends for so many years have turned their tongues to wagging over my circumstances, ma’am. And not one of them offered me work. My father was a kind man. He always had a decent word to say about folks.”
Rosemary bent to pick up her purchases, and her parting words were clear and distinct. “Apparently, his sermons didn’t rub off on you.”
Her hands trembled as she held the reins, waiting until Pip’s brother loaded her purchases beside her. With a nod, and a smile that was hard to come by, she acknowledged his help and backed the mare from place, turning the buggy toward home.
The alleyway drew her attention, where a circle of children gathered near the side wall of the bank. Without intent, her hands drew up on the reins. An almost viable scent of fear swept toward her, as if a darkness pervaded the seemingly innocent gathering.
She brought her mare to a halt and slid from the high seat, holding the reins in her hand. “Is something wrong?” she asked quietly, not allowing her voice to carry beyond the group.
A small girl looked up, wariness cloaking her movement. “We’re just talkin’ to Scat, ma’am.”
“Scat?” Rosemary felt her heartbeat increase, as a sense of peril enveloped her. “Scat, come here.”
Her words carried a note of command, she was pleased to hear, and she looked about, wondering that no other passerby had halted here. So potent was the urgency of the children, she could almost feel it surging in the air.
The curtain of legs parted and Scat Pender came into view, seated on the ground, leaning on the side wall of the bank. He turned his head away and she moved toward the scene. “Will you hold my horse?” she asked the largest of the boys.
He nodded, and Rosemary relinquished the reins into his keeping, walking slowly to where Scat curled, seeking to hide his face from her. His clothing was torn and dusty, his cap pulled low.
“Scat? What’s wrong?”
“Go on, all of you,” he growled, waving a hand at the assembled children. They looked at Rosemary quickly, then as if willing to relinquish control, drifted away.
She squatted beside the boy, one hand touching his shoulder. “Scat? Are you hurt? Can I help?”
“I’m all right. At least, I will be. I got in a fight is all.”
Her indrawn breath brought his head around. “Don’t get all worried, ma’am. I’ll be fine.”
Rosemary shook her head, heartsick at the sight of battered flesh and an eye that was bruised and swollen. “Who did this to you?” For surely another child had not wrought this kind of damage on Scat Pender. No small fist had opened the wound that still oozed blood at the corner of his mouth.
His chin lifted stubbornly. “I said I’d be all right, ma’am. You don’t understand.”
“You’re right there, Scat. I don’t.” And then the terrible vision of an angry man assailed her mind. My pa’s got a bottle, ma’am, and he don’t care where I am.
He was a drunkard, the man who provided for this boy in a slipshod manner that barely allowed for food enough to keep body and soul together.
“Where’s your father?” she asked quietly.
“He’s got nuthin’ to do with this,” Scat answered, his jaw jutting forward.
“Will you come home with me?”
As if he caught a glimpse of heaven, Scat’s single useful eye opened wide and he winced as if its partner had attempted to do the same. “Ma’am…” He swallowed and turned his head away. “I can’t do that.”
“Certainly you can,” she assured him. “Mr. Tanner will find work for you at his ranch, I’m sure.”
“No, ma’am. I have to take care of my little sister.”
His sister? Surely not. Rosemary scanned her memory. He’d only spoken of his father, not a word of a girl child in the household. And no mother, of that she was certain.
“We can bring her along, Scat. I know it will be all right.”
“If I don’t do what my pa says…” He halted, biting at his lip as if he had said too much. “I can’t do it, ma’am. I hafta take care of Anna.”
He hoisted himself to his feet, and his eye closed as if he hurt in a dozen assorted places. “I gotta go, ma’am.”
Rosemary reached out her hand and he eyed it longingly. “I’ll be fine. Truly, I will.”
With limping steps, he made his way from her and she watched, her heart heavy, holding back tears that begged to be shed. Behind her, the mare snorted, bringing her to an awareness of the young boy who awaited her return, and she drew up her skirts, turning back to the street.
“Thank you, young man, for your help.”
“That’s all right,” he answered, his demeanor subdued. “Old Scat’s got a tough row to hoe, with his pa always lookin’ for a whippin’ boy. Sure am glad I don’t live in his house.” The boy backed away and bobbed his head in farewell.
Rosemary climbed into the buggy and took up the reins once more. There must be something she could do.
“The boy was battered. There’s not another word for it, Mama Pearl.”
“Some things you can’t do anything about. There’s men in this world who just enjoy poundin’ on other human beings, and that’s a fact. ’Course, the way I hear it, Nate Pender’s been no use to anybody since his woman died havin’ that little girl. I reckon he takes out all his grief on the boy.”
“That’s a pitiful excuse, and you know it.” Rosemary thumped the coffeepot on the stove, wishing there was a chunk of wood or a stone she could kick across the kitchen.
“Didn’t say it was a good excuse. It’s just one of those things that nobody does anything about. I’m sure not about to get my head blown off, stickin’ my nose in.”
“Well, I just may. I’m already the talk of the town, it seems. Might as well add Scat Pender to my list and be more than knee-deep in hot water.”
“What’d you do, girl? Or is just bein’ here that’s got you in a peck of trouble?” Mama Pearl’s gaze narrowed as she took Rosemary’s measure. “Who said somethin’ to you?” She paused, watching as Rosemary heaved a sigh and turned away. “I reckon the question should’ve been, what did you say back?”
Rosemary pulled a chair from beneath the table and plopped down on it. “I went in the store…” In moments, she had quoted Geraldine Frombert, and had given herself no quarter as she repeated her own words.
“I was rude, Mama Pearl. Downright nasty.”
Pearl cast a look of commiseration in Rosemary’s direction. “Sounds to me like you had due cause, honey girl. That lady thinks too highly of herself, I always did say. She’s got no right to tear you up that way.”
The sound of voices from beyond the porch caught their attention, and Rosemary stood quickly. “I don’t even have the butter on the table or the bread sliced.”
“Those men’ll be a while washin’ up. Just plaster a smile on that face, or we’ll have Tanner raisin’ a fuss in here. He sees you lookin’ all down in the mouth and he’ll have a fit, girl.”
He had a fit anyway. Rosemary eyed him gloomily as he led her to the parlor. Surely this wasn’t what Mama Pearl had had in mind when she’d told her she’d find time for her to lollygag here.
Tanner’s hand was firm against her elbow, as if he were afraid she might cut and run, and his eyes were dark with questions as he turned her to face him in the center of the big room.
“Now, let’s have it, Rosemary. What happened in town? You look like somebody took all the wind out of your sails, honey.”
The misery she’d held in check all the way home threatened to erupt damply at his words. Rosemary held the tears back stoutly, determined not to fall back on that well-known female trick. Her mind had set on a plan, and if she wrapped it in tears, it would not be fair play.
“Do you know Scat Pender?” she asked carefully.
“I know of his daddy. A big brute of a fella. Drinks more than he should. What about him?” Tanner released her arm and stepped back, assessing her.
“Scat’s in trouble, Tanner. I saw him in town. He told me he had a fight, but I don’t believe him. I think his father beat him. His face is bruised, one eye so swollen he can’t see from it, and he limped as if he hurts all over.”
Tanner winced inwardly, but his words were laconic. “Maybe he’s a scamp. Made his pa mad.”
Rosemary felt her ire rise at his curt phrasing. “No boy deserves treatment like that, no matter what he’s done.”
Tanner shrugged. “You may be right, but he’s not the first young’un to feel a switch.”
“A switch?” Her voice escalated as she repeated his choice of word. “We’re talking about fists here, Tanner. The boy was beaten, not punished. There’s a difference.”
“What do you want me to do about it, Rosemary?”
She turned from him and strode to the window, and he watched her back, admiring the squaring of her shoulders, the tilt of her head as she chose the words she would speak. He’d asked the questions purposely, set her up with his curt attitude, knowing she was fit to burst with indignation.
He’d looked for a wedge to use on his behalf, and now, unless he missed his guess, Rosemary Gibson was about to put herself squarely in his debt. That a child had suffered to make it so was out of his control, but damn, he’d be a fool not to take advantage of the situation.
She turned to him, and he hid his elation behind a frown. Her eyes traced the lines of his face, as if she sought reassurance there, and he folded his arms across his chest to better set the mood he chose to present.
“I want you to think about taking Scat on here,” she said firmly.
“Here? You want me to hire on a boy? I doubt he could pull his weight, Rosemary, even if I had a place for him.”
“He’s strong,” she said, stepping toward him a few inches, as if her persistence might sway him. “He’s a good boy. I can tell, Tanner. I’ve always been a good judge of character.”
His brow lifted at that. “Really? How do you see me, Miss Gibson?”
She lifted her head, the better to meet his gaze. “As a gentleman…mostly. You’re fair,” she continued quickly. “And you’re kind.”
“All that?”
Her nod was immediate and firm. “I think you’re the sort of influence Scat Pender needs. He’s just a boy, and he’s been mistreated.” She shivered, an involuntary movement, and her eyes held a wealth of sadness. “He wouldn’t come with me today because he said he had to take care of his little sister.”
“His little sister. And what do you propose to do with her when you cart Scat Pender out here to live?”
Rosemary’s eyes filled with tears, tears he suspected had been close to the surface for hours. She was tender, this woman who faced him. Brave enough to face him down, but softly feminine.
And an advocate for a boy who had no idea what a champion he had.
“I’d need to bring her along. I’d say she needs a woman to take care of her.
“Have you seen her?” Rosemary’s eyes were wistful now.
Tanner shook his head. “No, just caught a glimpse of the boy once in a while. Word has it he snatched a bottle of whiskey from the saloon one night last month.”
Rosemary stilled, as if her breathing halted. “That’s what he meant, I’ll warrant, when he said he had to do what his pa said.” Indignation rose to wipe out the traces of sadness in her gaze. “That man has Scat stealing his hootch for him.”
The Bachelor Tax Page 10