Mandy spent so much time crying she thought maybe, just maybe, her pa actually got kind of comfortable with tears.
Tom seemed to have the time of his life with Pa, Ma, and Belle Harden talked together for hours.
As they worked on Mark’s house, Mandy learned everything that had gone on with her sisters and her ma for the last few years.
The cabin was a good-sized one, thanks to an abundance of hardworking men. But not too big thanks to Abby.
Belle had stocked the larder for a long winter, along with providing cattle and horses and so many wedding presents Mark had taken on a permanent irritated scowl.
Except when Emma stood beside him and whispered in his ear. Then he got purely cheerful. Mandy decided Mark Reeves had found the perfect woman to tame him.
The last day of building came. One family at a time—the Sawyers, the Dawsons, and the Hardens—packed up and headed home. The McClellens were leaving soon to spend a few days at the Linscott ranch.
The women were hanging curtains in the house while the men finished some work on the front porch railings. Emma and Mark were taking their turn watching over Mandy’s and Beth’s children so the work could be finished in peace.
Tom came in with a cupboard and carried it to a spot where it would hang on the kitchen wall. “Mandy, can you lend a hand here?”
Mandy went eagerly. She’d barely spoken to Tom in days. And certainly she’d had no time alone with him.
The only ones allowed time alone were Emma and Mark, which rankled Mandy a bit since she and Tom were almost as much newlyweds as those two. She wouldn’t have minded getting Tom off by himself.
He adjusted the cupboard carefully. “I want to fasten it on tight. I’ve got the weight on the pegs I hung earlier, but I want to level it.” He moved it one way and then another until he was satisfied. “That’s good. Hold it steady.”
He glanced at her, standing very close, her hands on the shelf, her eyes on him, her mind not on her work at all.
Tom read her mind and closed the distance even more. “How long are we gonna have to build this stupid house? I want to take you home.”
She shivered under his heated words, and it wasn’t the kind of cold that worried her one bit. She hadn’t felt so much as a twinge of the coldness that she often feared would come one day and never go.
She was so distracted by his words and the intent in his eyes that she forgot what she was doing with the cupboard and let go to wrap her arms around his neck.
The cupboard dropped, and Mandy jumped back to catch it. A rough edge jammed a splinter right into her index finger. “Ouch!” Mandy saw blood welling up and an ugly shard of wood protruding.
Tom steadied the cupboard. Not level, but it would stay up. He turned to her finger and bent his head low over it. “Let me get it out for you.”
With his head bent so low, Mandy was almost nose to nose with the man. Lip to lip. He smiled then turned to his doctoring. Mandy never for an instant considered calling for help from her doctor sister.
With his strong white teeth, Tom bit into the nasty piece of wood and pulled it out of her finger.
Red blood oozed from the wound, and Tom murmured sympathy. With the splinter gone, Tom pressed her fingertip into his mouth to soothe the pain.
It worked because instead of pain she felt a tingle that started where his mouth touched her and spread up her arm until it reached all the way to her heart. “I love you, Tom.” Mandy tried to remember what it was like living on that mountaintop with no one to care for her. No one to share any burdens with her.
When he raised his head next, her finger looked raw. The bleeding had stopped, but that warm tingle had gotten far worse. Somehow it pushed out the cold so completely that Mandy couldn’t even worry about it returning. She knew now that if it did, it would never be who she truly was, never take over and not recede. Not with all the warmth of love Tom brought into her life.
“I love you, too, Mandy girl.” He smiled then studied her finger again. “Hey, look.”
Mandy followed the direction he was looking, to her wound.
“The callus.” Shocked, she looked closer. “It’s gone.”
Nodding, Tom kissed her finger again. “I live a pretty quiet life at the Double L. I reckon we’ll never have enough trouble for you to grow in a new one.”
“Maybe, or maybe now that little sore on my finger will scar over, and I’ll be stuck with a tough spot on my trigger finger for life.”
“Don’t matter none.” Tom kissed her palm then her wrist. “I want you to be just who you are. That means you’re fast with a rifle. I’m proud of that. I’m proud of you.”
“I doubt you’d have married me if you’d known how fast I was. I’m told it’s a pretty scary sight.”
“Well, I’ve seen it, and I love you as much as ever. As much as a man can love a woman. I think I’ve rounded up the best little ranch wife a man ever had.”
“You might as well think it because you’re stuck with me.” Mandy couldn’t stop the silly tears she’d found such a talent for since she’d married Tom. As the first one trickled down her cheek, she felt Tom flinch, but he stayed close.
A strong arm slid around her waist. He drew her into his arms and lifted her clean off her toes, then raised his head and froze.
Mandy twisted her head to see her sisters standing nearby, watching her, crying.
She looked past Sally and Beth to see her ma turning from the curtains and her pa coming in the cabin door, with Alex and Logan just behind him.
“What’s going on here?” Pa sounded panicky.
“Sorry.” Mandy sniffled. “I’m just so happy.”
“That is a pure waste of salt and water, Mandy. You know better’n to cry.” Pa looked behind him as if to check to see if the coast was clear. He didn’t run, but Mandy suspected it was a near thing. “Sally, not you, too?”
Sally sniffled, and Logan went to her side.
“You’ve raised yourself up a nice brood of daughters, Sophie and Clay.” Tom turned so Mandy could see her sobbing family better. “But I think I got the best of the lot.”
Alex and Logan shook their heads, but they didn’t stop smiling.
“I don’t care how fast you shoot, Mandy,” Pa fussed. “Or how well you doctor, Beth. Or Sally, how good a hand you are with cattle. You girls have gone soft since you’ve grown up.”
The waterworks had turned loose, and there was no stopping them. When Ma started crying, Pa sighed and went to pull her into his arms.
There was a long, sweet, quiet time while the women in the McClellen family ignored Clay’s Rule Number One for about the ten-thousandth time.
Discussion Questions
Did you read the books in the Lassoed in Texas series? Do you think Mandy is true to the child she was in Petticoat Ranch? How so?
Did you know Tom Linscott would be the hero? Why?
Did you wish Sidney would have died in the story? Would you have liked to see him come to a bad end in explicit detail? Explain your feelings about his life and death.
Have you ever known a family with a distinctive mark like the Cooter clan’s white dash of hair? What set them apart?
Were you happy to see Mark Reeves, or did you assume he’d come to a bad end based on what a pill he was as a child? Describe him as a child from Calico Canyon.
Did you feel sorry for Emma? Were you rooting for her or Mark, and why?
Talk about the returning characters in this book. Could you keep them straight? Could you remember them from Calico Canyon and Gingham Mountain?
Do you think Mandy had a cold-blooded nature? Why?
Did you struggle to empathize with a woman who was so deadly with a rifle? What was admirable about her?
Have you ever had someone on your mind so intensely that you phoned them or went to see them, only to find out they needed a friend and prayer? Do you think God talks to us in this quiet way? How so?
Have you ever ignored a feeling like that only to really
regret it later? How could you have made a better decision and be more prepared the next time the feeling comes?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
MARY CONNEALY is a Carol Award winner and a Christy Award finalist. She is the author of the Lassoed in Texas Trilogy, which includes Petticoat Ranch, Calico Canyon, and Gingham Mountain. Her Montana Marriages series includes Montana Rose, The Husband Tree, and Wildflower Bride. She has also written a romantic cozy mystery trilogy, Nosy in Nebraska; and her novel Golden Days is part of the Alaska Brides anthology. You can find out more about Mary’s upcoming books at and www.mconnealy.blogspot.com.
Mary lives on a Nebraska ranch with her husband, Ivan, and has four grown daughters: Joslyn (married to Matt), Wendy, Shelly (married to Aaron), and Katy. And she is the grandmother of one beautiful granddaughter, Elle.
Mary loves to hear from her readers. You may visit her at these sites: www.mconnealy.blogspot.com, www.seekerville.blogspot.com, and www.petticoatsandpistols.com. Write to her at [email protected].
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