by Judith Stacy
Jason pulled away from Amanda. “Did you find Ethan?”
“Yes, sir, I did. But he ain’t coming over here.
He says for you to come over there. Right now.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I don’t know, exactly.” The boy shook his head.
“All he said was come over there. Something happened with the crew.”
Chapter Six
An odd feeling of disappointment lingered in Amanda’s chest as Jason hurried away from his office, the messenger boy at his heels. And why she felt disappointed she wasn’t sure, exactly. Disappointed that he’d taken off so quickly? That his life was so full there was no room for anything else…or anyone else?
Or that he’d almost kissed her again, but hadn’t?
Amanda left the office, hauling her satchel with her. Inside it were the women who wanted to be kissed, wanted to be loved, wanted to make a home for themselves and a family. Amanda wasn’t one of them.
At least, not anymore.
Those women—her brides—were her priority. She’d be better off putting everything else out of her mind and concentrating on work. That’s what Jason Kruger was doing.
He’d taken off for the sawmill when the messenger boy had told him there was a problem with the crew. He’d taken off and not looked back. Amanda knew she should do the same.
But her footsteps slowed on the road as she watched Jason disappear from sight. What sort of emergency with the crew? Had someone been hurt? Killed?
Amanda looked around at the huge trees, the wooden buildings, the little town and logging camp so far from civilization. So isolated. So desolate. There wasn’t even a doctor here, according to Meg.
For a moment she was tempted to run after Jason, to find out what had happened, to help, if she could. But she didn’t. Jason wouldn’t want her there. He didn’t need her.
For all his other faults—and she’d recognized many—Jason Kruger was a capable man. Strong, determined, smart. He didn’t need help from anybody.
Amanda drew in a breath, resigning herself to the fact that her trip to the Kruger Brothers’ Lumber and Milling Company had been a mistake. Her brides didn’t belong here, and neither did she.
A little knot squeezed in her chest, quite unexpectedly, at the realization.
Amanda headed for Meg’s house. She would pack her few belongings and wait for Shady to take her back down the mountain.
Back home. Back where she belonged.
Jason squeezed his hands into fists trying to keep his anger under control as he faced his logging crew on the skid road near the sawmill. The midday sun shone bright in the clear sky. Leaves rustled in the breeze.
Ethan was beside him, but hadn’t said much. Buck Johansen was trying to play pacemaker; it wasn’t helping.
His crew stood in front of him, bunched together. About half had a genuine interest in this standoff. The other half were waiting to see what would happen. All of them should have been at the cookhouse for their noon meal.
“It ain’t so unreasonable,” one of the men called out.
“They got ’em at other camps,” another said.
“If you can have one for yourself, Mr. Kruger, why can’t we have one, too?” a brave soul called out from the rear of the gathering.
A chorus of hoots and yelps rose from the men.
“I’m not getting one!” Jason shouted. “I’m not getting married!”
“Just ’cause you don’t want a wife, don’t mean we don’t,” a man called.
“Shady says that Miss Pierce’s got a book full of women wanting to get hitched,” someone else said. “We can pick out what we want and have ’em shipped right here to the camp.”
Another round of agreement rumbled through the group.
Jason swore under his breath and glanced at Ethan. He didn’t say anything. Buck stepped closer and lowered his voice.
“That’s all the crew’s been talking about this morning,” Buck said. “Talk’s turning ugly, Jason. You’d better think long and hard about this.”
Jason swore again. He glared at his men, trying to keep his anger under control.
But it wasn’t them he was mad at.
“Get down to the cookhouse, then get back to work,” Jason said to his men.
Buck turned to the crew. “Move along, boys. Give Mr. Kruger some time to think this through.”
The men headed down the skid road toward the cookhouse, mumbling and talking among themselves, chancing a glance or two at Jason. When they were gone, Buck spoke again.
“You can’t blame them, Jason. It’s only right that a man wants a wife waiting for him at the end of the day, wants sons to follow in his footsteps.”
Jason glared at him, but didn’t say anything.
Buck went on. “Other camps let the loggers have wives with them. Some of the men are saying maybe they ought to move along, get jobs some place else. In fact, a whole lot of them are saying that.”
“Dammit….”
“They don’t mean it as a threat,” Buck said. “It’s just a fact. And this isn’t the first time something like this has come up, Jason.”
Jason stomped away, down the skid road. Ethan fell in step beside him. Neither spoke until they were inside the office.
“Damn that woman, this is all her fault,” Jason said, and threw his hat onto his desk.
Ethan closed the door and dropped into the chair in front of Jason’s desk.
“Like Buck said, it’s been coming for a while now,” Ethan said. “Ever since Duncan’s wife got here there’s been talk. Amanda and her brides finally tipped the scales.”
Jason paced back and forth across the office. “I can’t afford this problem. Not now.” He picked up the rumpled envelope from his desk and tossed it to Ethan.
“What’s this?” Ethan asked, pulling out the contents.
“Messenger brought it up from Beaumont,” Jason said and started pacing again.
Ethan looked at the contract and grinned. “Well, hot damn!”
A minute passed while Ethan flipped through the pages.
“We can’t fill this order on time if half the crew walks off the job,” he said.
“Let them leave,” Jason said, and flung his hand out. “I’ll hire more. There’s plenty of men where they came from. I’ll pay higher wages, get them up here quick.”
Ethan shook his head. “You can’t get a whole new crew—or even half a crew—up here in time. You’re already paying good wages. Any more will be cutting into profits.”
Jason mumbled another curse and kept pacing. He couldn’t deny the truth in what Ethan was saying. That’s why his brother was good for the business, good to have as his partner. Ethan’s was the voice of reason.
Even though Jason was fighting it like hell right now.
“Of course,” Ethan said, “you could always—”
“Don’t say it.” Jason whirled to face his brother. “I am not changing my mind about having women up here.”
Ethan rose from his chair. “Then you risk losing this railroad contract.”
Jason glared at him and started pacing again. He knew Ethan was right. Knew it in his gut. He just didn’t want to admit it.
“What’s so wrong with having a few women up here?” Ethan asked. “If it keeps us from losing this contract?”
“You know how I feel about having women around,” Jason said. “And you know why.”
“Yeah, I know why,” Ethan said. “But this hasn’t got anything to do with Ma—or Pa either, for that matter. We haven’t seen or heard from them in nearly a year now.”
“Thank God for that,” Jason muttered.
“We’ve both worked hard to build up this company,” Ethan said. “So what other choice do you have?”
“No.” Jason shook his head. “There’s another way.”
“Okay. What?” Ethan asked. “What other way?”
Jason rubbed his forehead, thinking hard. There had to be another way. There just had to.
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He’d carved his lumber company out of this mountain, built it from nothing. And now, just when things were looking up, this had to happen.
Above all, he couldn’t lose that railroad contract. He had a few contracts now, but they were small. The rest of his lumber was shipped off to market and sold to whoever needed it.
But this railroad contract was the key to bigger and better opportunities. A contract with the railroad was not to be taken lightly. Word would get out. Other companies would come to him wanting to buy his lumber. His company would grow. His future would be secure. It would be everything he’d hoped for, everything he’d dreamed of, everything he’d worked for.
But to fill the requirements of that contract Jason needed a full crew to deliver the lumber. An experienced crew who knew how to work together. He needed the crew he had in place right now.
Ethan sighed. “Look, Jas, I just don’t see any way around this.”
Jason stopped pacing and cursed again. No matter how he looked at it, or how much he thought about it, he couldn’t come up with anything else.
“Yeah, you’re right,” Jason said.
A few minutes passed while the finality of the decision sank in. Jason folded his arms across his chest and stared out the window. Finally, he shook his head and turned back to his brother, accepting the decision.
“Let’s go tell Miss Pierce to bring her brides up here.” Ethan said. “She can probably get them here in a few days, don’t you think?”
Jason mumbled another curse.
Ethan slapped him on the back as they headed for the door. “Don’t look so down. It might not be so bad,” Ethan said. “How much trouble can a few women cause, anyway?”
Jason cringed at the thought. He already knew how much trouble one woman had caused him.
Meg had talked almost nonstop since Amanda had met her last night, but Amanda enjoyed her company. They sat together in Meg’s little cabin, sipping coffee, waiting for Shady to show up and take her back down the mountain.
Back to Beaumont, back to San Francisco, back home. Amanda set her coffee cup aside, half listening to Meg, half thinking about the journey that lay ahead. Amanda dreaded the thought of making the long, arduous trip.
But was that the only reason she was reluctant to leave? Of course, she told herself.
“You’re the talk of the mountain this morning,” Meg said. “Everyone is saying how smart you were to solve the problem between Gladys Duncan and Polly Minton.”
“Yes, their recipe dilemma.”
Meg leaned forward. “I can’t believe you actually made peace between those two. They’ve been at each other’s throats since the day they met.”
“At least my coming here wasn’t a complete waste.”
“I wish you’d stay awhile longer,” Meg said.
“I can’t. I have to get home, back to my business.” Amanda shook her head. “I wish I knew who’d written me that letter, pretending to be Jason Kruger asking for a wife.”
“Maybe you should stay and find out?” Meg suggested.
Amanda considered it for a moment, a fleeting moment, then thought better of it. The farther she got away from Jason and his mountain, the better off she’d be.
“It’s a mystery that will have to remain unsolved,” Amanda said.
A knock sounded at the door and when Meg answered it, Shady stepped into the room.
“You ready to head down the mountain, Miss Pierce?” he asked, squinting at her.
A little knot tightened in Amanda’s chest as she rose from the table.
“All set,” she said, and pinned her hat in place.
Shady picked up her satchel and two carpetbags, and followed Amanda and Meg outside. He loaded her belongings into the freight wagon, then busied himself checking the horses’ harness.
“I’ll miss you,” Meg said.
Amanda took a final glance around the logging camp, and it occurred to her that she might miss this place.
“You’ll write?” Meg asked.
“Of course.” Amanda sensed the loneliness Meg felt, as one of the few women here in the camp. But without a husband, Meg’s isolation ran deeper.
“Maybe you’ll come to San Francisco?” Amanda suggested.
Meg smiled gently, but shook her head. “I don’t see how I could ever do that.”
Amanda knew she was asking much from a woman who could barely keep herself and her child fed, but she’d wanted to ask, just the same.
“Well, good luck,” Meg said.
“You, too.”
Shady ambled over to them. “Ready to head out?”
Amanda and Meg hugged briefly, and as Amanda turned to climb into the wagon, Shady gazed off toward the camp.
“Hold up just a minute, Miss Pierce,” he said.
Amanda turned and saw Jason and Ethan walking their way.
Her heart fluttered for a second or two. She hadn’t expected Jason to come wish her a fond farewell, yet he was definitely walking toward her.
Amanda took that moment, the last one she had, to look at him. Tall, strong. Handsome. He fit his surroundings. He belonged on this mountain. Jason Kruger was one of those rare men with the tenacity and strength to forge a living out of the wilderness.
“Afternoon,” Ethan said, and tipped his hat to Meg when the two men stopped beside the wagon.
Little patches of pink colored her cheeks and she dipped her lashes. “Good afternoon, Ethan.”
Their gazes met for a few seconds, then they both looked away, their conversation drying up.
Jason filled the silence.
“You got your way,” he told Amanda, none too happily. “Get your brides up here.”
Amanda looked back and forth between the two men.
“What are you saying?” she asked.
Jason glared at her. Clearly, he didn’t want to repeat himself; it was painful enough the first time.
“I decided you can bring your brides up here for my crew,” he said. “So get them up here. Now.”
Amanda could only stare at him. This should have been the happiest moment of her business career. She’d traveled a long way, endured hardships, all in the hopes of hearing the words Jason Kruger had just uttered.
But Amanda wasn’t happy. Not at all.
And she was about to make Jason Kruger just as unhappy.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” she said.
Twin frown lines creased Jason’s forehead. “What?”
“I cannot, under any circumstances, bring my Becoming Brides up to your mountain, Mr. Kruger,” Amanda said. “And that’s final.”
Chapter Seven
“What the hell?” Jason glared down at her in disbelief. “What do you mean you can’t bring your brides here?”
Amanda straightened her shoulders. “It’s just as I’ve said, Mr. Kruger. I can’t bring them.”
“Well, why the hell not?” he shouted.
Ethan poked him in the side. “Calm down. You won’t get anywhere yelling at her.”
Jason pulled in a breath, visibly calming himself. He pushed his hat back on his head.
“Look, Miss Pierce, ever since you got here last night you’ve done nothing but ask about bringing your brides up here. Now you’re telling me you can’t. What the hell happened?”
“Your language, for one thing,” she told him.
Jason glared at her. “If you think I’m going to say ‘pretty please’ you can forget it.”
“Mr. Kruger, you can say ‘pretty please’ until your face turns blue, for all I care, but the fact remains that I am not bringing my brides here.”
Amanda turned to Shady. “Mr. Harper, I’m ready to leave now.”
Shady pulled on his beard. “Well, okay, I reckon.”
Amanda put her nose in the air and walked over to the freight wagon. Jason went after her.
“Hold on,” Jason said, and planted himself in front of her. “You’re not going anywhere until I say you can.”
Amanda gl
ared up at him. “I will not be bullied, Mr. Kruger.”
Jason pulled in a deep breath, trying to calm himself. “Look, Miss Pierce, I want those brides of yours up here—”
Amanda skirted around him. “Shady, would you help me into the wagon, please?”
“Sure thing, ma’am,” Shady said and hurried over to her.
Jason caught Shady’s shoulder and held him back.
“You’re not going anywhere until we get this thing settled,” he said and blocked her path once more. “Now look here, Miss Pierce—”
“Jason.” Ethan stepped between the two of them. “Maybe you should ask Miss Pierce the reason she won’t bring her brides up here?”
“Oh,” Jason said, as if that idea hadn’t occurred to him.
Amanda didn’t wait for his question. “My coming here was a mistake, for numerous reasons. Bringing my brides here is out of the question.”
Jason gritted his teeth. “Now, look here—”
“No, you look—”
“Hold on now,” Ethan said, easing between them. “Just wait a minute, before one of you says something you’ll regret.”
Amanda glared at Jason, her temper still running high. Jason glared right back at her.
“Now, the truth is, Miss Pierce,” Ethan said, “that you really want to find husbands for those brides of yours. Right?”
“Well, yes,” Amanda admitted.
“And Jason, you need those brides up here for your crew,” Ethan said. “Right?”
“Yeah, you know I do.”
“Okay, then,” Ethan said. “You two need to find a way to come to some sort of agreement. Now, why don’t both of you go down to the office and talk this thing out?”
Amanda’s temper was winding down, but only marginally. She glanced at Jason. His was still simmering, too.
But what Ethan had said made sense. In fact, at the moment, Ethan was the only one making sense.
A low hum of chatter and footsteps in the dirt turned Amanda’s attention to the loggers heading up the mountain, back to work for the afternoon.
They all wore caulked boots, boots with little spikes in the soles to help keep their footing on the logs. Their trousers were either short or stuffed into their boots to prevent them from being snagged by exposed roots or fallen branches. Most had beards or mustaches that were untrimmed. The odor of seldom washed bodies trailed after the group.