Cowboy Father

by Linda Ford

  “I thought I might as well get at these dishes.” He didn’t miss the internal struggle that expressed itself in her eyes. She needed help and knew it. But she wasn’t so sure she wanted it from him.

  He meant to convince her that she did. “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” It was a clichéd saying, and she likely wondered how it applied to their situation. But what better gift could he ask for in his quest to recover the boss’ money than to be needed in the very home of the thief’s wife? Ethan had done some investigating, and all the evidence pointed toward Floyd being the kingpin behind many robberies. The sheriff admitted he had his suspicions but lacked good hard evidence.

  A glance inside the abandoned Roberts home—though the glance had been more of a thorough search—revealed furniture, dishes, and other luxuries that were beyond the wages of someone working part-time in the livery barn. Ethan was more than convinced of Floyd’s guilt though he didn’t have the hard proof the sheriff required.

  At the time he wondered why Mrs. Roberts—Adele—had left so many treasures behind. Now he understood that bringing them here might have aroused suspicion as to where she’d gotten them.

  He suspected there were more men involved in the robbery, but none had been apprehended. He’d asked around about Floyd Roberts’s associates. Only Ike, who owned the livery barn where Floyd had worked, was able to offer any clues. Ike had not been pleased to learn that Floyd used information garnered at the livery barn to conduct his after-hours business. He was more than eager to help.

  “A swarthy man with a very clean hat would often come by. I wondered if he bought a new hat every month, it was always so clean. But then maybe he did nothing but ride around for show, so his hat never had the chance to get dirty. And then there was another man who came by on a regular basis. I think I heard Floyd call him Manny. He was just a run-of-the-mill cowboy. Dirty, dusty, a permanent slouch.”

  Like Ike said, that could describe any number of cowboys. “Anything special about the man? Color of his hair? Something identifying?”

  Ike looked to the sky as he thought about it.

  Ethan had waited without revealing his impatience. He was anxious to follow the money trail, but needed every bit of information he could garner.

  Ike brought his gaze back to Ethan. “I only once saw the man off his horse. He had a peculiar way of walking. He had a bad limp.”

  Ethan thanked the man. Now he knew he was looking for two men at the very least. He guessed they would be in the same vicinity as Mrs. Roberts. It had taken a couple more days before he learned her family had moved to Glory, Montana Territory. He was right in guessing she had gone to join them.

  Now he simply had to watch and wait until she did something that provided him with a clue as to where her partners were and where the money was.

  In the meantime, he’d wash the dishes.

  She didn’t move, and he knew she stared at him, even though he had his back to her. From outside came the sound of one of the children crying and other voices raised in anger. The preacher spoke calmly, and the noise settled down.

  “I better get the children ready for bed.” She went outside and then shepherded them inside. “Donny and Blossom go to your mama. Get yourselves ready for bed, and let your mama rest. Donny, you help your sister.”

  The pair went down the hall.

  Ethan washed and dried the last dish and turned to watch the proceedings.

  “Susie, Georgie, you can sleep upstairs with Jake. I sleep there too.”

  Susie took Georgie’s hand and backed away, her lips trembling. Georgie, following her lead, screwed up his face to cry. She pulled Georgie over to Ethan. “You found us and brought us here. We’re staying with you. Isn’t that right, Georgie?”

  Georgie nodded, his eyes pooled with tears.

  “I’ll stay close by.” Ethan hoped it would comfort the children.

  Susie shook her head.

  The preacher entered the house in time to take in the scene and hear Susie’s protest. “Seems the children see you as their safety. Why not bed down with them in the other room of the addition? Stay until they feel comfortable here.”

  Ethan had wondered how he would convince Adele to allow him to hang around. The preacher had provided the perfect answer. “I suppose I could spend a few days here if your daughter has no objection.”

  Adele sent him a look that informed him she had plenty of them. She held his gaze for a moment. Ethan didn’t intend to look away first. Seems she didn’t either.

  “Why would Adele mind? She has her hands full. She’ll be glad of some help with the children, won’t you, Adele?”

  “They can certainly sleep out there. Isn’t that why you built the addition? To shelter the sick, the needy, the injured?” She narrowed her eyes slightly, just enough for Ethan to know she did not include him in those they would welcome to the shelter. He was not sick, needy, or injured.

  Did she suspect his reasons for being there? That would explain her unwelcome attitude. But the only time she could have seen him was at the funeral of her husband. Of course, if she had the money or knew of its whereabouts, she would have reason to be suspicious of every stranger.

  She slowly eased her gaze from Ethan’s as if to let him know the invitation to stay was not her idea nor did she care for it.

  “Then it’s settled. I’ll leave Adele to get you fixed up out there, and I’ll go see how my wife is doing.” Mr. Kinsley paused to pat Jake’s head, then went down the hall.

  Jake fussed.

  “I need to get him to bed. Do you mind waiting while I do so?” She headed for the stairs without giving him a chance to answer.

  Susie pressed to his leg.

  These poor children. They didn’t deserve to lose their parents and certainly didn’t deserve to end up in a place where they didn’t feel they belonged or were welcome. In part, due to him. He regretted that he was in any way responsible for making things difficult for them.

  He would do everything he could to help them adjust to their situation, and he would start immediately.

  He sat on a chair and pulled Georgie to one knee and Susie to the other. “Is there something you do at bedtime?”

  “Like what?” Susie asked.

  “Did your mama or papa read to you? Tell you stories? Give you milk?”

  “Milk,” Georgie said. “Want milk.”

  “Okay, big guy. You sit here while I get you some.” He put Georgie on one chair and Susie on another. “Miss Susie, would you like milk too?”

  “Yes, please.” She sounded less enthusiastic than Georgie had. As soon as he’d put a glass of milk before each child, he sat between them. “Susie, is there something else you need?”

  “I want my mama and papa.” She blinked, but couldn’t stop the flow of tears.

  He pulled both children to his knees again. “I know you do, and I wish I could bring them back to you. But they are with God now, and He made sure I found you so you would be safe. And now you are with the Kinsleys.”

  He rocked the pair as he talked. “It’s a good home. They welcome people.”

  “We aren’t people,” Susie sobbed. “We’re children.”

  He grinned at her reasoning. “Honey, I think children are the best kind of people.”

  She turned her face up to him. “You don’t live here though.”

  “That’s true.”

  “So you won’t stay.” She sobbed so hard he feared she’d be sick.

  Georgie patted her back. “Susie, not cry.”

  Ethan held them close.

  “I will stay with you as long as I can,” he said.

  “Promise you won’t leave us.”

  It was a promise he couldn’t make. Not until things were sorted out. “I promise I won’t leave you unless you feel safe.” If only he could promise them he would stay with them forever. But he was a cowboy. He had no home, not yet. When he recovered the stolen money, he’d take his share and buy a place of his own. He’d have a home t
o share with these children if no relatives came to claim them. There’d been no indication of such in the box of papers he’d located, and Susie said they didn’t have any grandparents or aunts and uncles.

  Would the authorities grant him the privilege of keeping the children?

  He’d need someone to help care for them. It was a detail he was sure he could work out when the time came.

  “Now how about you drink your milk?” The children downed the contents of their cups.

  “Papa used to sing to us at bedtime.” Susie tipped her head back to watch Ethan.

  “Papa singed.” Georgie imitated her in tipping his head back.

  He looked about. There was no one else in the room but himself and these two sad children. No one to hear him make a fool of himself as he tried to sing. He cleared his throat and croaked out a tune that no one would recognize if not for the words. Even so, they might not be familiar with the hymn. It was one he had heard in the tiny church on the Texas ranch, taught to them by a lady teacher who was also a missionary. “‘Safe in the arms of Jesus, Safe on His gentle breast.’” He knew all the words of the hymn from hearing it over and over. He sang the entire song.

  Susie sighed. “I like that.”

  Little Georgie had fallen asleep.

  “Jesus is with you and holds you close all the time,” Ethan said.

  “I know. Mama told me I should remember that when I’m afraid.” She snuggled deeper into Ethan’s arms. “I’m not afraid when you’re holding me.”

  He pressed his chin to the top of her head. He must find that money quickly and establish a home for these children.

  He heard a sound in the hall and glanced up to see Adele standing in the shadows. How long had she been there?

  His throat clenched. Had she heard him sing?

  Worse, had she heard him promise the children he would stay with them? Might she object to him hanging about?

  One way or another, he would keep his promise to the children. He’d find the money and provide them a home.

  5

  Adele hadn’t meant to eavesdrop on Ethan, but when she heard him talking to the children, she held back, telling herself she didn’t want to intrude. Then he began to sing…if you could call it that. His singing voice was like that of a tone-deaf frog…more croak than music.

  She’d never heard the song before and, suspecting he would stop singing if he knew she was listening, she’d stayed out of sight. The words of the song filled her with peace and comfort. Safe in the arms of Jesus. What was that one line? Sin cannot harm me there.

  Oh Lord, let it be so. Keep Floyd’s partners from troubling me. It was hard to believe God heard that prayer when Ethan sat in the other room. And Pa had invited him to stay. Her thoughts grew troubled again, and she repeated the words, Safe in the arms of Jesus, safe on His gentle breast.

  Please, God, send Ethan on his way. I don’t need trouble from someone who knew Floyd. She wanted nothing to do with any more of Floyd’s criminal ways.

  That other man—a cohort of her husband’s— was dirty and unkempt. She’d noticed a limp as he stepped forward when she opened the door. Not that she needed that information to recognize him if she saw him again. She’d never forget his face.

  Just like she hadn’t forgotten Ethan’s from the day of the funeral.

  The floor creaked as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, and Ethan looked her direction.

  She acted like she’d just descended the stairs. “Jake went right to sleep. He’s always been such a good baby. He’s been a joy to care for. Nothing but pure joy in every corner of our lives. I thank God for gifting me with him.” Why was she rattling off so much about her son?

  She’d hide him from Ethan and everyone who had any connection to Floyd if she could. She’d hoped coming to Glory would have been far enough to run. But some men were prepared to work harder to find money they’d stolen than they’d have to work to earn an honest living.

  She glanced at the children on Ethan’s lap. “Georgie has fallen asleep.”

  Susie smiled from the shelter of Ethan’s arms. “Mama said he always falls asleep fast.”

  Now that she didn’t feel she had to compete with Donny, Susie lost her scowl and replaced it with a smile. She was a pretty child with brown eyes and tousled brown hair.

  “Why don’t we leave Georgie sleeping on Mr. Sandburg’s lap while we prepare beds for everyone?” She held her hand out to Susie, who eased off Ethan’s knee and clasped Adele’s fingers, her little hand so warm, the gesture so trusting.

  Adele turned to close the door as they left the house and was forced to step aside and wait. Ethan had shifted Georgie into the crook of his arm and followed them.

  “Figure I better know where everyone is sleeping.”

  “Of course.” She pulled the door closed and led the way into the addition. She paused to pull bed linens from the cupboard and paused again at the doorway to the room where Cal and Rocky lay.

  “Rocky, how are you?”

  “Think I’m feeling better.”

  “I’ll be in to check on you as soon as I get these children settled.”

  “No rush.” He coughed, but it was not the straining cough of a few hours ago. Lord willing, he was on the mend. Lord willing, all the ill were on the mend.

  Lord willing, Ethan would move on.

  But what would happen to the children who clung to him?

  If no family was located who would give them a home, they could stay here. They would soon learn they were safe with her and Ma and Pa.

  They went into the room, and Ethan, with Georgie in his arms, stood to one side. There were three cots and three people. But she understood she must let Susie decide how this should go.

  “Do you and Georgie want to sleep together? Shall I push one of the cots against the wall?”

  “No, no, that won’t work.”

  Adele smiled. The little girl had firm ideas regarding herself and her little brother. Adele admired her for that. It wasn’t unlike how Eve was with Flora when they joined the Kinsley family. And perhaps how Adele had been when Tilly became her little sister.

  “You tell me what you need.”

  “Georgie hasn’t slept on a high bed. He might fall off.”

  “I understand. We only have one crib though, and Jake is in it.”

  “We been sleeping on the floor of the wagon.” She sniffled.

  Adele squatted down and hugged her. “That must have been an adventure.”

  Susie wrapped an arm about Adele’s neck and pressed her head to Adele’s. “It was.”

  “You could make this an adventure.”

  “How?”

  “What if we put a mattress on the floor next to the wall and pull that trunk around to make a wall on the other side? Then it would be like you were still in the wagon.”

  “And I could snore and make you think your pa was sleeping close by,” Ethan said.

  Susie giggled. “Pa snored really loud.” She lowered her voice. “So did Ma but I never told her.”

  Adele chuckled. At the sound of Ethan’s low-throated laugh, she looked at him, seeing beyond their amusement a reflection of her own sadness over the loss these children had been forced to face.

  And then Adele turned away. She must never forget who this man was or how easily she’d been tricked by an equally handsome and charming man who became her husband.

  “Would you like to do that?” she asked Susie.

  “Yes, please.”

  With Susie’s help, they took a mattress off a cot and arranged it as they had discussed. Susie did her best to help make up the bed.

  “There. It’s done.” Susie and Adele stood side by side as they announced the task accomplished.

  “You can put Georgie to bed,” Adele said, and stepped aside to let Ethan shift the boy to the mattress.

  Ethan pulled off the little shoes and removed the socks and overalls, leaving the boy in his shirt and underwear. Ethan covered the boy and lea
ned back.

  Susie hovered close by, anxious for her little brother. She rested her hand on Ethan’s shoulder as she waited to see if Georgie would waken.

  “There, he didn’t even stir,” Ethan said.

  Adele quickly made up a second bed for Ethan.

  Susie yawned.

  Adele found a nightgown in the children’s bag of belongings. “Do you need help preparing for bed?” she asked Susie.

  “I’ll wait outside.” Ethan ducked out the door.

  “You promised not to go,” Susie called.

  “I’ll be right here.”

  “Do you need help?” Adele asked, again giving the child plenty of time to decide what she wanted.

  “Maybe a little.”

  A little turned out to be a lot. Adele unbuttoned Susie’s dress and slipped it and the petticoat over her head. She helped Susie remove her shoes and stockings and put on the nightie.

  “Mama brushed my hair every night, but it hasn’t been done for a long time.”

  That was fairly obvious. “Do you want me to do it tonight?” Or was it something Susie wouldn’t let anyone else do?

  “Maybe you could brush it.”

  Adele sat on a chair and pulled Susie against her knees. She undid the frayed braids and gently worked out all the knots then brushed her hair slowly. “I remember when my mama did this for me. Sometimes she still does.”

  “I never saw your mama.”

  “She’s sick in bed at the moment, but you’ll see her as soon as she’s feeling better.”

  “Is she sick like those men?” she whispered, pointing to the adjoining wall.

  “I think so. They all have coughs.” Not that she needed to tell Susie that. Rocky coughed often enough, it didn’t need saying.

  Susie’s whisper dropped lower, and Adele had to strain to hear her question. “Is your mama going to die? Like mine did? She had a cough too. So did Papa.”