by Jenna Kernan
Once inside the barn, his nephews were surprisingly quiet and stayed out of the way as he led the two ponies from their stalls.
Dillen talked as he worked, showing the boys how to brush them and saddle them, pointing out the parts of the horse, describing the care of the horses’ hooves as he cleaned and inspected each leg.
The boys sat on the fence rail as he worked the two ponies round and round in the ring on lunge lines. Though the ring was snow covered, Dillen had added sand to the outer perimeter, and the ponies trotted, walked and turned on command. They did so well that he tried them with no line for the first time, using only the long whip to tap them when needed. As it happened, he didn’t need it as the pair already knew the verbal signals and could walk, stop, trot and turn on command.
When they returned to the barn, Dillen only had to remind the boys once to stay clear of the ponies’ hindquarters. He didn’t let them curry or brush the ponies. Just didn’t trust the green horses around his nephews. But when he brought out Dasher, he let the boys pet him and showed them how to feed a horse a sugar cube without losing a digit. Both Colin and Cody were brave, taking to Dasher like trout to a brook. Cody even managed to lift Dasher’s saddle, though Dillen couldn’t believe his eyes. The two boys seemed eager to please. It twisted Dillen’s heart.
There was so much of his sister in them. They had manners, smarts, and Colin seemed to have a sense of humor judging from his attempts to comb his hair with the currycomb and making his brother burst out laughing.
He took them each before him in turn as he walked and trotted with Dasher around the ring. At first they clung to the saddle horn, but soon they were moving with the saddle and holding on with their strong, short legs. He dismounted and set Cody behind Colin, then led Dasher around the circle.
“Did you know that this horse was in the circus?” He didn’t say that he had been, as he wasn’t especially proud of that nine months of his life. The promised fame and fortune had not materialized—or the fortune part had not, but that job had gotten him this position when Harvey had seen what he and Dasher could do.
“Really?” piped Colin. “Does he do tricks? Can he walk on his hind legs?”
“Sure. Want to see?”
Cody looked concerned, and Dillen realized he thought his uncle meant with the two of them mounted up. Cody did not object. But he did wrap his arms about his little brother and grip the saddle horn with both hands.
“Yes!” shouted Colin.
Dasher’s ears twitched and he turned one to listen to the new, tiny riders. Still, his mount was calm and acted the perfect gentleman.
Dillen pulled the boys down and set them on the fence rail. Then he began some of his act. Dasher should have been out of practice, but he picked up the routine in midperformance as if they had never stopped entertaining. Dasher stole Dillen’s hat and tossed it on the ground, stealing it again as Dillen reached to retrieve it. Then he placed it roughly on his master’s head. The boys roared with laughter. His foreman, Bill Roberts, limped over and leaned against the rails, talking to the boys as Dasher trotted away with Dillen seeming to be chasing his errant horse. When the horse made an abrupt rehearsed stop, Dillen ran into Dasher’s hindquarters. Then he put a foot in the stirrup the wrong way and mounted up backward on his horse’s withers just before the saddle. Dillen turned toward the front and Dasher took him around at a trot, then stopped and lowered his head so Dillen slid down his neck to the ground. From there they changed from opponents to a well-oiled machine, with Dasher keeping up a steady trot as Dillen mounted and dismounted using the frozen ground to vault back up from each side of the saddle. The light was fading when he dismounted and had the horse walk a few steps on his hind legs. Finally, he motioned for Dasher to drop down on one foreleg to take a bow. The boys clapped and Roberts whistled.
Cody’s exuberance bubbled over. “I want to be just like you when I grow up, Uncle Dillen!”
“No, you don’t,” he said, a little too gruffly, he realized, judging from his nephew’s quivering chin. “You could do a lot better than me.”
Back in the barn, he let Cody remove Dasher’s bridle and saddle blanket. Roberts smiled at the boys and then at Dillen.
“That was some fine, fancy riding,” said his foreman. Then to the boys he said, “Nice to have you two here. My boys are all raised up and off on their own.”
Dillen hadn’t realized Bill had children.
Both boys brushed as much of the horse as they could reach, and Dasher stood like a benign giant.
“He’s the smartest horse in the world!” said Colin.
“It’s training, isn’t it?” said Cody. “You use hand signals.”
Dillen nodded, pleased at Cody’s observations. “For some of it. Some parts he’s just got memorized. Good horse, Dasher.” Dillen patted his mount’s shoulder. It was full dark when the four of them headed to the house. He thought he heard Colin’s stomach growling.
Dillen hoped that Alice had entertained herself. They didn’t have books or a piano. She was likely bored already. He glanced at the chimney, relieved to see that she’d managed to keep the fire going.
When he opened the door he smelled food and his mouth started to water. His first thought was that she’d hired a cook, but surely he’d have seen the arrival of a wagon.
“Hello, the house,” called Bill. “Something sure smells good.”
Alice appeared from the dining room, her cheeks flushed. She wore a plain sage-green dress with no bustle or doodads. It was simpler even than the black skirts and bodice she wore when accompanying her father on house calls. Everything about her seemed more relaxed. Wisps of fine brown hair had escaped their moorings, cascading down the sides of her face, making her look young and healthy and so tempting. Dillen had to fix his feet to keep from dragging her up against him.
“Wash up, boys,” she said to Colin and Cody. “The sink is in the kitchen.”
“What smells so good?” asked Bill, limping by Alice on his way past the boys.
“Beef in a red wine sauce over egg noodles,” said Alice.
Dillen stared at her in fascination, as if seeing her for the very first time.
“Where’d you get supper?” he asked.
She laughed and stroked his cheek. The sparkle in her green eyes, the curling of her lips and the warmth of her fingers trailing over his cold skin worked like a magnet to metal shavings. He actually bucked forward, drawn in as she spoke.
“I made it, silly.” She turned and headed through the empty dining room toward the kitchen. “You smell like horse, Dillen. Soap is on the sink.”
He trailed after her exactly like Dasher had followed him around the ring, but unlike Dasher, Dillen was interested in much more than a pat on the chest and a bucket of grain. After supervising their washing up, Alice directed them to sit at the large kitchen table and served them the best meal Dillen had ever eaten. That included the one-dollar steak he’d had at that fancy hotel in Dodge City the fall he’d worked a cattle drive.
She’d even managed a bread pudding for dessert that was riddled with streaks of brown sugar and plump raisins.
“That sure was a fine meal, Miss Truett,” said Bill Roberts. “So happy you could come and stay awhile.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roberts. Would you care for more coffee?”
He lifted his cup and she poured. She seemed content and comfortable in this kitchen, thought Dillen, as if she belonged here. It was an adjustment for him, seeing her out of her glittery bangles. She reminded him of the woman he’d first met, the one that was a lie, or was it? She actually seemed more at ease now than in her fancy duds. Maybe the elegant, wealthy woman was the lie.
Ridiculous—wasn’t it? He knew she was kind, educated, refined. He knew from seeing her work as her father’s assistant that she was not squeamish and that they shared a love for animals, riding and music, and that she could sing like an angel. Still, she seemed suddenly a stranger and at the same time more approachable.
&nbs
p; “Dillen, are you all right?”
He snapped out of his woolgathering. Alice Truett had a bright future and could likely do far better than his mangy hide. Why hadn’t she?
Stop it, he admonished. She was here to do a friend a favor because she was a fine Christian woman. Not because she wanted him. His mind flicked back to that kiss. Maybe she did want him. But that only showed one tiny blind spot in her good judgment. He’d be a scoundrel to take advantage of her.
“Dillen, is there anything else I can offer you?”
There sure the hell was, but he couldn’t say it out loud.
“Nothing. Thanks,” he managed. “Fine meal, that.”
She beamed. “Thank you.”
Gosh, she was a beauty, especially when she smiled.
Roberts rose. “Let’s go tuck in by that hearth. Dillen, go get your fiddle.”
“Oh, no. Alice doesn’t want to hear my fiddling.”
She pressed her hands together. “Yes, I do. Bring it, please.”
He left her to go get his father’s fiddle, and when he returned, Roberts was smoking by the fire, telling the boys about an Indian attack that had happened years ago, though whether in Bill’s memory or his imagination was unclear. Alice was nowhere to be seen.
“Alice?” he asked, laying his fiddle on the mantel.
Bill thumbed toward the back of the house. “Chased us out of her kitchen.”
Dillen headed through the dining room and found Alice drying the last of the dishes.
“Need a hand?” he asked.
She startled and then smiled, returning the plates to the cupboards. “All finished.”
He approached, seeming unable to keep his distance from this woman. “I didn’t know you could cook.”
“I’d imagine there are many things you don’t know about me.” She reached behind her back and untied her apron, ducking out of the collar and setting it aside before brushing off her skirts.
“I’ve never seen you in a dress like that before,” he said.
“It’s new.”
He frowned. Of course it was. Likely she bought it, perhaps an entire wardrobe for her little rustic adventure.
Alice’s brow knit as if she recognized the misstep. “Do you like it?” She lifted the skirts and turned this way and that. Here was the Alice he recalled. Charming, bubbly and full of unreasonable optimism where he was concerned. She’d overestimated everything about him, especially his prospects.
“Yes,” he said truthfully, stepping in, looping an arm behind her back even as he told himself to leave her be.
She rested her hands on his chest and smiled up at him. For just a moment he pretended that she was his, that those boys were their children and she was a mother instead of a lady of means.
“Thank you for taking such good care of them,” he whispered.
“You’re welcome.” Her hand lifted and stroked the rough stubble at his jaw. She cast him a winning smile. “I saw your performance. You are a trick rider!”
He stiffened. “How?”
She motioned toward the window above the sink. The world beyond was now dark, but he realized she would have a fine view of the riding ring from here. The fact that she’d seen his shenanigans did not please him.
He did not share her delight. Rather he felt a wash of shame. A man might have to dig ditches for a living or dress like a clown to put food on the table, but it didn’t make him proud.
Dillen released Alice and stepped away. “I did a stint with the circus.”
“Really?” She still seemed fascinated, but her smile now looked brittle.
“Yeah.” He rubbed his neck. “Want to…” He motioned his head toward the living room.
“Oh, yes.”
For the next hour, Dillen played and Alice sang. Bill even sang a tune or two and the boys joined in on anything they knew. It was a magical evening. But afterward Dillen forced himself to remember that despite her wardrobe change, Alice was still a lady and he was still a saddle tramp.
Chapter Eight
Alice rose from her chair and eyed the boys, who correctly judged her intent and groaned in unison.
“Bedtime,” she said. The house had running water in the kitchen, but the privy was out back and she saw no chamber pots under the beds. “Privy first,” she said, gathering the boys’ coats.
“I want Uncle Dillen to take us,” said Cody.
He absorbed this news with a tiny snort. Then he laid aside his fiddle and drew on his coat. He headed out the door with a lantern, Cody over one shoulder and Colin over the other. Both boys were shrieking as they vanished into the curtain of snow.
Alice drew her shawl about her and realized the snow was coming down hard now. Dillen had to plow his way across the yard. When they reappeared, she took her turn and when she reached the relative warmth of the kitchen she shook the snow from her skirts.
Hands and faces were washed in the large sink using the hot water from the reserve on the stove. Dillen banked the coals and Alice filled the water tank so there would be hot water in the morning.
Once back in the living room, Alice spoke to the boys.
“Say good-night to Mr. Roberts and thank him for his stories.”
They did, in chorus.
“Can I help you tuck them in?” asked Dillen.
She could not keep from smiling as she nodded her consent. Her throat chose that moment to constrict with emotion as she realized that he was beginning to act like a father.
They headed up the main stairs together. Bill sat closest to the fire, packing tobacco into his pipe.
“You mind?” he asked, lifting the pipe.
Alice shook her head. It wasn’t her house after all, but she appreciated the request.
Dillen gave the boys a piggyback up the stairs, and as a result they were too excited to lie down. They bounced on the beds before she finally got them settled.
At last, she had them kneeling beside their beds to say their prayers. Tonight they both asked God to bless not only their parents, Alice and Uncle Dillen, but also Mr. Roberts and Dasher. Alice saw Dillen drop his chin to his chest. She also heard him repeat amen along with the boys. They lifted their heads and looked to Dillen. He stood in silence for a moment and then gave a curt nod of approval. Alice released a breath.
“Colin, Cody, you settle down, ’cause I’m going to tell you how I met Alice.”
The promise worked like magic. Both boys nestled back into the feather pillows at the promise of a story and drew the covers up to their chins.
He told how their mother used to be a companion for an old woman who was ill and so she called the doctor a lot. She had met Alice, the doctor’s assistant. He related how they became friends. He explained the way Alice used to come to the house. She had cared for their grandmother when she’d gotten sick.
“We thought Alice was a nurse. We didn’t know she was a princess in disguise and that her grandfather was a king who owned half the railroad that carried them out there.”
Colin loved trains and removed his thumb from his mouth to sigh. “Gosh.”
“When your mother got married to your father, Alice was her maid of honor. I was the best man, so we danced at the wedding.” He glanced to Alice. “Remember?”
As if she could ever forget. It was the first time he’d ever held her in his arms. There had been many a night when she’d thought of that dance and the start of their relationship when the world was nothing but possibilities. Her mother had married a professional man, so Alice saw no obstacles between Dillen and her. After all, Dillen was the son of a banker with an acceptance to attend a university. She smiled at the memory. “You looked very dashing.”
“And Alice was as pretty as a rose,” he said to the boys. “Later, when you were born, Cody, Alice held you at the baptism. She and I are your godparents.”
“What about me?” asked Colin.
“Well, that was two years later.”
Two years, and everything had changed for Dillen and Syl
vie. Their father had abandoned them under the cloud of scandal.
Dillen went on. “But yes, we stood up in that church for you, too.”
“And promised,” said Alice, “to see you both raised properly.”
Dillen gave her a long look and then nodded. “Yep. We sure did.”
“And that is what we shall do,” she whispered, stroking a hand over Colin’s feathery hair. His eyelids drooped now, but Cody struggled against sleep.
Dillen looked troubled again. Was he wondering where he and the boys would live? She wondered, too. She could offer help, but knew from her last attempts that Dillen was too proud to take her money. Would he take it for the boys’ sakes?
“Are we going to live here now?” he asked.
“For a while.”
“I like it here,” said Cody.
“Why’s that?” asked his uncle.
“’Cause it’s got chimneys. Lots of them.”
Dillen’s brow wrinkled and he cocked his head at the odd answer.
“Uncle Dillen, if we don’t have any chimneys, how will Santa find us?”
Dillen’s mouth went grim at this question.
Cody didn’t notice past the yawn. They had been through a full day, riding out here, spending much of the afternoon outside in the barn and then enjoying their musical evening. She looked to Colin, who was already puffing out steady breaths, his thick eyelashes brushing his cheeks. Alice felt the tightness in her chest every time she saw them sleeping. Was it longing or love? She didn’t know.
Alice just tucked Cody in tight and kissed his forehead. “He’ll find you here, lambkin.”
Cody sighed and closed his eyes.
Dillen stood, hands in the back pockets of his dungarees. Alice turned down the wick on the lantern but left the lamp on the table beside the bed.
Dillen followed her out into the hallway.
“Why did you tell them that?” he asked, his voice strained but still a whisper.