She let her words trail off. Nan could tell Logan was respectfully waiting for her to finish her thought before he spoke. He let a moment pass before saying, “I just figure you only think that and have that feeling because you and Tony talked about what he was thinking.”
Carrie shook her head. “He started looking it up because I told him I was having a feeling a storm was coming.”
“Well, don’t get all excited, sister,” Michael said in a calming voice. “We’re just having a friendly conversation here. And we have a guest. We don’t want to give her a bad impression, do we?”
Nan glanced at Ben. What was he thinking about all this? She’d just witnessed what could only be described as the calmest sibling fight she’d ever seen.
He was sitting back, watching them, his face completely neutral. When Michael mentioned her, he looked down at her and their eyes met. She felt a warm tingle flow through her. She hadn’t felt like that since Johnny…
She cleared her throat and smiled, first at him, then turning it to the family surrounding her. At that point, they were all looking at her.
“I am so happy you allowed me to have dinner with your family,” she said politely, hoping she could steer the conversation to a more pleasant topic. “I am looking forward to getting to know you all very well as time goes on.”
“I’m sure you will love it here,” Carrie said, her voice calm. “And you’ve got yourself a good man there. Ben has worked really hard for this ranch. He’s got the heart of a lion, sometimes. I’ve noticed him out there, braving the worst of storms…” She turned her eyes to her brothers for a moment, creating a titter of laughter to lift up through the room. “To make sure the animals are safe and things aren’t in danger of being broken or carried away by the winds. That’s what preparation is all about. That’s what it’s for. To make sure things go smooth in a storm.”
When she said the last sentence, she opened her eyes wide and lifted her eyebrows, moving her gaze between her two brothers. The look made them laugh, which made the rest of them laugh, including Nan.
What a pleasant family they were. She turned back to her own thoughts, relieved that her self-consciousness had lifted somewhat. They all began chatting between themselves and she tried not to feel expectant that Ben would talk to her. When he looked down at her, turning slightly on the couch, relief flooded her. He didn’t seem uncomfortable at all, signifying to her that he’d been here many times for dinner.
She wondered if he’d brought any other love interests to the Mason family dinners.
Gazing into his eyes, she hoped he hadn’t, but couldn’t see how he wouldn’t have. He was such a handsome man, his eyes dark and brooding, his hair wavy and clean. His short beard and mustache were trim. She was surprised he kept facial hair in the heat.
“Do you think it’s going to storm, Ben?” she asked quietly. She could hear her companions talking about the same thing. She wanted to know what he thought about it.
Ben’s eyes moved up to look briefly at Carrie and Tony. “I’ve never known Carrie to be wrong about her weather predictions,” he replied in a low voice. “So if she says she feels it and Tony says signs are leading up to it, I’m thinking they’re probably right.”
“Well, don’t you think we should all prepare for it?” Nan felt a little nervous. Why had the brothers dismissed Carrie’s prediction when even Ben, who wasn’t related to her, felt she was most likely right?
Ben smiled at her and she relaxed a bit. He didn’t seem worried at all. “It’s okay, Carrie. If Tony thinks it’s necessary, he’ll start procedures for prepping the ranch. And Logan and Michael will do the same. They trust him. Don’t you worry. Everything will be okay.”
For the first time in a long time, Nan thought that maybe it would be.
CHAPTER 14
Ben and Nan Spend an Evening Together
Ben watched her as she poured coffee into a brown cup. She put in a few spoonfuls of sugar and stirred it as she came back to the couch.
“Are you sure you don’t want to sit outside?” he said, admiring the light that flickered off her smooth, pale face. “The porch swing is really nice.”
“I’m sure it is and we’ll enjoy it at some point,” Nan responded with a smile, warming his heart. “But it’s much too hot out there tonight. There is barely a breeze. It’s just very dead calm out there.”
Ben nodded. “Yeah, that’s true.”
“I don’t want to swing fast enough to cause a breeze.” She grinned wider, making him chuckle. “So let’s just stay inside where it’s cooler. The windows are open. We’ll get whatever breeze we can in here.”
“I can’t believe you’re drinking coffee on a hot night like it is,” Ben observed, his eyes dropping to the cup she set on the table in front of the couch. She dropped down next to him casually and sat back, putting one hand dramatically to her forehead.
“Yes, it is hot. Much too hot for coffee. But I have nothing else to drink.”
“I can get some lemonade and bring it here from the chow house. I know the fellas won’t mind.”
Nan sat forward, looking at him. He got the feeling she really wanted some lemonade by the alert look on her face.
“Lemonade would be perfect, Ben. But are you sure they wouldn’t mind?”
“They won’t mind,” he responded, smiling. “Better yet, why don’t you put your shoes on and come with me? Maybe you can meet some of the men if they’re in there. I’ll show you around a little bit. You haven’t been to the bunkhouse or the chow house.”
Nan shook her head. “I don’t want to visit the bunkhouse, at least not in the evening like now. I know I’ve been here a couple days now and haven’t met them, but I certainly don’t want to invade their private space to do it. They’re all getting ready to sleep.”
Ben shrugged. “Maybe. They’ve been working late hours, kind of picking up my slack, if you want me to be honest. I hate doing it to them but… well, they insist, and I do like spending time with you.”
In the five days since Nan arrived, Ben felt like his life had suddenly been given purpose. He couldn’t get over the way she looked at everything, almost like a child seeing things for the first time, taking everything in. She hadn’t said much about her past in the time they’d spent together.
He stood up suddenly and held his hand out to her. “Let’s go right now. I’ll grab this lantern…” He picked up a lantern from the table by the couch and pulled her along behind him, going to the front door of the cottage.
He laced his fingers through hers, walking beside her, enjoying the tingle he felt where their palms were pressed together. He ran his thumb over the top of her hand subconsciously.
“So there’s nine guys who stay in the bunkhouse besides me. I won’t name them all off because you won’t remember them anyway. But you’ll like them, I’m sure. Not men you need to be afraid of at all. I don’t know what it was like in Atlanta, if you had to be always afraid.”
Ben hoped what he was saying would prompt her to tell him more about her past. He suspected she came from almost nothing. The fact that she had to get out of her home in a month when they initially met told him something had to have been off. However, he hadn’t pried into her business. He didn’t want to push her to tell him anything she needed to keep to herself.
He just hoped it wasn’t something that would come back to haunt her and – inevitably – him after they were married.
“It wasn’t crime free,” Nan responded. “But I felt safe where I was. I don’t recall having to feel unsafe. My family had enough money to get by without dealing with some of the lower class in society.”
“That’s good. No outlaws in the family is always good.”
She looked up at him, her eyes reflecting the light of the lantern he held. “How about you? Do you have any outlaws in your family?”
He grinned. “Counting me, none.”
She giggled, a sound that made his chest tight. “That’s good to know.”
&nb
sp; “What was it like in Atlanta?” Ben continued. “Did you like it there?”
“I did like it there,” Nan confirmed. “But I wouldn’t want to go back. I’ve only been here five days and I must say I prefer the dryness in the air. I do like the heat, even though it is much hotter here than in Georgia.”
“So it’s very different there?”
“Oh, yes.” She nodded, looking down at the ground so she wouldn’t trip as they hurried toward the door of the chow house. He could see light beads of sweat on her forehead and regretted bringing her out in the heat. However, how else could they fetch some cool, refreshing lemonade?
He could see the chow house approaching in the dark, its looming presence rising up out of the darkness as they got close.
“I can’t think of anything that’s the same, really,” she said, looking up at him. “Except maybe the friendliness of the people. Most people in Georgia are very friendly. Most people.”
Ben caught the sound of grief in her voice when she said the last two words. Someone had hurt her. He wondered how long it would be before he got that story out of her. Could he just ask her? Would it be polite to do so? How could he put it where it wouldn’t sound like he was prying?
Then again, he was planning to marry her. He’d sent her a ticket to come across the country and she’d accepted. Didn’t he deserve to know everything and anything he wanted to know?
He shook his head, knowing Nan couldn’t see him. He wasn’t that kind of man. When she was open to telling him about her past, she would.
The chow house was quiet and dark.
At the door, he turned to her and put one finger in front of his lips to indicate she should be quiet. She got an excited but fearful look on her face and looked from left to right, as if she was afraid they would get caught.
“It’s okay for us to be here, isn’t it?” she whispered, trepidation in her voice. “We’re not stealing, are we? This is okay, isn’t it?”
Ben chuckled, delighted by her sweet personality. “Yeah, of course it is. And no one is asleep. We don’t have to whisper.”
Nan scrunched up her face in a way that made Ben want to kiss her intensely.
“Okay, so let’s get the lemonade then,” she said urgently, waving him forward.
He laughed and crossed through into the chow room. There were four tables, two on one side and two on the other. She followed him down the middle to the long bar where the food was laid out during meal times.
He went around the bar and into the back where the food was prepared. A large icebox sat in the corner. He opened the door and pulled out a large container of lemonade. The ranch hands often sat down during a mid-afternoon break and finished that container off. He felt lucky someone had made some fresh.
He moved around the small kitchen area, retrieving two cups and pouring the cold liquid in them. He replaced the container in the icebox, picked up the two cups and took them out to the other room.
Nan looked at the cup with a disappointed look. “You do realize I’m going to drink this standing here right now, don’t you?”
Ben looked at her for a moment, realizing what she was saying. She didn’t want a cup of lemonade. She wanted the whole container.
A huge grin broke out on his face. “Of course.” He couldn’t help laughing. “Of course. Drink this and I’ll get the container. I’ll have to bring it back tomorrow and make some more though, or the men will be furious. I might get hog-tied.”
Nan shook her head. “We don’t want that. I’ll tell you what. If you get the container and we take it back to the cottage, I’ll make sure to make some tonight and put it in the icebox there so in the morning it will be cold and you can bring it back here.”
“So I’ll pick it up in the morning?” Ben asked, gazing down at her. It sounded to him like she wanted to see him first thing in the morning, since he wouldn’t be staying the night.
She nodded, her eyes directly on him. “Yes,” she murmured. “At dawn, preferably.”
CHAPTER 15
Nan Is At Peace
Nan looked out over the dark horizon, amazed by how bright the moon was shining. It was like a white sun, casting luminous light over all the land around her. She could see the rolling hills as they stretched out in front of her, some of them covered in grass, dotted with cows and other livestock. Others were mounds of dirt, cacti, and rocks. Trees jutted up into the sky in some places, but there were much less to be seen than in Georgia, where she’d been surrounded by trees and green grass.
She could see the moon reflecting off a creek that ran through the west side of the property. It was the most beautiful sight she’d ever seen. She wished she could paint just what she was seeing so other people could enjoy it, too.
Ben had been gone for several hours and she really should be in bed, especially if she was going to get up at the crack of dawn to give him the pitcher of lemonade she’d made.
She was standing on the porch of the cottage, staring out into the starry night sky, thinking about how much her life had changed.
It wasn’t that she regretted the changes. What had happened was out of her control. If she’d had control, those changes would never have been made.However, she wasn’t the same woman she’d been even two months ago. Not enough time had passed for her to find letting go that easy.
She had her hands cupped around a mug filled with coffee. The desert night turned cold quickly, much to her amazement. Ben had warned her about it and she’d gotten out her shawl just in case.
She took a sip to combat the chill she got when a breeze blew past her, sweeping across the cottage porch like it was a tunnel.
Just a moment later, she was warm again, the breeze gone as if it had never been there to begin with. The air around her was heated, but not thick with humidity like she was used to in Georgia.
She liked it, she decided. She had actually come to that decision the second day she was in Low Valley. She knew at that moment she would never return to Georgia, as beautiful as that state had been.
Ben…
His face drifted through her mind. She couldn’t believe her luck. He’d told her he’d gotten a few other letters, but there was something about hers that drew him to it.
She couldn’t imagine what it could have been about her letter that made him respond to hers and not the others. It must have been a work of God, His plan coming about. He knew she needed someone to rescue her from the tragedy that shattered her world.
So He sent her Ben. That is, He sent her to Ben.
She smiled, turning back to the door. She didn’t really want to go inside. She wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while, she was certain. Her heart was still pounding from before and her mind was preoccupied reliving their date earlier in the evening.
One of the biggest surprises Nan discovered was that despite being thrust into another marital situation almost immediately, she didn’t find herself comparing Ben to Johnny. She’d loved Johnny, but Ben stood out to her on his own merits. He’d also told her right when she arrived that she would have the cottage to herself until she was comfortable with him. Once they were married, she would live with him, but not before that.
She was grateful that he respected her that way. He hadn’t sounded like a brute in his letters and she was counting on that. When she arrived, she found him to be exactly the kind of man he represented in his letters. He was smart and very much a gentleman. She was grateful to God for that.
She moved across the main room to the little red cushioned chair in front of the fireplace. It was a pretty little cottage. She had no trouble sleeping in the bed, even though it wasn’t her own. It was obvious the same housekeeper and maids who took care of the main house came out to this one, as well. There was no dust on the mantle or the furnishings, though no one had lived there before Nan moved in.
She contemplated building a fire and then laughed at herself. It had to be ninety degrees in Low Valley. She wasn’t going to build a fire in that heat. She’d be lucky if fir
es didn’t break out spontaneously in various places around her.
A trace of fear slipped through her and she glanced around frantically while she reassured herself such a thing couldn’t happen.
It had been years since she lived alone. She didn’t like it very much.
She shook her head, clearing the thoughts as she went to the small kitchen and set the cup down in the sink. She used the pump to splash fresh water over the cup, rinsing it out. She left it to dry in the sink and strolled back to the couch, dropping herself down and swinging her legs up to stretch out across it.
She put one arm over her head and looked up at the ceiling, sighing contentedly.
She wouldn’t be alone for long. She tried to picture herself married to Ben, living in the cottage together, doing menial chores, having dinner, conversation, arguments…
She tried to picture it, but Johnny’s face kept wavering into the picture, taking over where Ben had been only moments before.
She squeezed her eyes shut, trying repeatedly to avoid that. She wanted to think about Ben and daydream about their future together. Would they have a chance to travel? Maybe she would return to Georgia, if just to show Ben where she’d been living.
She felt a pang of remorse, remembering that she had yet to tell Ben about Johnny and her previous marriage. She was still afraid to tell him she’d already been married. He might think of her as used goods if she did.
She’d intended to tell him in person, perhaps get to know him a little first. Maybe then she could tell if he was the kind of man who thought that way.Now that she’d been in Low Valley almost a week and had gotten to know Ben better, she didn't think he was the type of man who would judge her based on her status as a widow. She was also desperately afraid she was wrong and he would send her back to Georgia now that she was falling in love with him.
A Secretive Mail Order Widow For The Humorous Rancher (The Love of Low Valley Series) Page 7