Much the same as had Lucas, Jennifer thought, reading the ads the editor had come up with. They spoke of men with good prospects, a country rich in gold with flowing rivers and mountain peaks in the distance. Of a town ripe and ready for the influx of women who would surely come to make their homes there.
But none of them would be as happy as she. Jennifer preened as she prepared for the day, braiding her hair, then donning her best housedress in preparation for a visit from Ida. Word from Thunder Canyon had it that the boardinghouse was thriving, and Jennifer was certain that Ida’s visit would support that claim.
She had much to show her friend: the new curtains she’d made, the pantry shelves filled with cans and jars of vegetables put there by her own hard work, and the sparkling floors and windows of the big farmhouse that had become Jennifer’s pride and joy.
On top of that was the possibility of a new life in her future. The cessation of Jennifer’s monthly cycle and a tendency to lean over the slop jar every morning seemed to proclaim an event she had hoped for, had even prayed for. Now, if her instincts were on track, and unless she was possessed of a dread disease that made its presence known by frequent trips to the outhouse, not to mention a desperate need for an afternoon nap most days, she was well on her way to motherhood.
Ida would know, she told herself. Ida would recognize the signs and validate her own suspicions. And then she could tell Lucas, would see the smile of anticipation on his face, the pride in his eyes as he heard the news.
The kitchen was cleaned, dinner set to cook on the back of the stove and the floor wiped up before Ida’s arrival. She pulled her buggy to the back of the house with a flourish and tied her mare to the hitching rail.
“You home, girl?” she called, heading for the porch, her hat askew, her smile wide, her skirts flying.
Jennifer came from the kitchen and met her friend with out-stretched arms. Ida stopped short at the edge of the porch and her eyes narrowed as she gazed into the younger woman’s face.
“You all right? Not sickly, are you?”
Jennifer shook her head, her lips pressed together, so badly did she want to blurt out the news of the child she was certain grew within her even now. Ida ushered her into the kitchen and pushed her down onto a chair.
“You certain you’re all right?” she asked, removing her hat and placing it on the table. “You’d better let me get you some tea and a piece of bread. You’re lookin’ kinda puny this morning.”
“You should have seen me yesterday,” Jennifer told her, remembering with a shudder the weakness and nausea she’d suffered upon arising. Thankful that Lucas had risen early and already gone to the claim, she’d sat on the edge of the bed and finally put her head back on the pillow. Some days just weren’t worth getting up for, she’d decided.
“You’re in the family way, ain’t you?” With unerring accuracy, Ida got right to the point. She hauled Jennifer from the chair to embrace her. “I’m tickled pink,” Ida said, holding Jennifer from her and examining her face and the newer, lusher lines of her bosom.
“Your dress is gettin’ tight, too. I’d say you’re about two months gone, girl. Am I right?”
“Here I thought I was about to tell you something exciting, and you’ve stolen a march on me,” Jennifer said, pouting just a bit. “I don’t know how far along I am, but you can probably figure that out, too, if I know anything about it.”
They sat together, Ida’s tea hastily made, their cups steaming as they spoke of babies and the problems of pregnancy. Ida’s eyes twinkled as she told Jennifer of her own lying-in times, of the happiness her newborn babies had brought and the joys inherent in raising children who were loved and wanted by both mother and father.
“Lucas will be tickled pink,” Ida said. “He’s a family man if I ever saw one. Just you wait and see.” She looked Jennifer over from one end to the other. “He been treating you right? Is everything okay?” She looked around the kitchen. “He’s not letting you work too hard now, is he?” She looked out the back door. “You been putting up your garden? It looks like you’ve been picking green beans.”
“Got almost a half bushel yesterday,” Jennifer told her. “They’re in the pantry now. I’m sure glad you told me how to do it. And my tomatoes are doing well. Almost ready to pick. I’ll have more than I know what to do with.”
“I’ll come and help you with them,” Ida told her. “Are you sure you’re not doin’ more than you should? Lucas better be lookin’ after you.”
“I can’t begin to match him for hard work.” Jennifer’s voice was firm as she told of Lucas’s long days at the claim, and the gold he’d taken to town. “He’s home every night,” she said. “And when he can’t come home, when it’s his turn to guard the claim, sometimes he takes me up there and we stay in the tent together.”
“You like that, don’t you?” Ida grinned. “It’s an exciting place out there in the canyon, what with all those men stirrin’ around and tellin’ tall tales every night by the campfires. Have you learned to cook over a fire yet?”
Jennifer nodded, feeling a sense of pride in her accomplishments. “Lucas says I’m the best cook in the canyon. Of course, that isn’t too difficult a title to gain, since most of the cooking is done by men and their idea of a meal is a potful of meat and vegetables all cooked to a frazzle. Kind of like pig slop, I think. But it seems to be nourishing, though several of them come by when I’m there and sit around waiting for an invite to our meal.”
Ida smiled at her. “I knew you’d be just what Lucas needs, Jen. You’re a good wife.”
“I’m trying hard. And Lucas is happy. That’s the main thing.”
“Well, I’m gonna stay the night tonight,” Ida said, rising and heading for the back door. “I’ll put my rig in the barn and turn my mare loose in the pasture, if that’s all right with you. Thought I’d take advantage of Helen and the new girl being there today to run out here and spend some time with you. My valise is in the buggy.” She opened the screen door and stepped onto the porch. “I’ll be right back.”
Clearing the table took but a few minutes and Jennifer heard footsteps on the porch sooner than she’d expected. But it wasn’t Ida who pulled the door open and stepped inside. Whiskered and seedy-looking, his clothing apparently worn for days on end, Kyle watched her with unconcealed hatred.
“Where’s the kid?” he asked. “I want you to go get her and give her to me, right now.”
“I don’t have her,” Jennifer told him, her heart thumping.
Kyle laughed, an ugly sound that shot terror through her, and Jennifer felt a wave of dizziness. “I’m takin’ her back East to her grandparents. Go get her and all her things, too. I’m leavin’ for New York today.”
“Then you’ll go alone,” Jennifer said. “I don’t have Susan here. Her grandparents came and got her weeks ago. She’s in New York already.”
“How much did you get for her?” Kyle’s meaning was clear and Jennifer was incensed.
“How could you think I’d sell the child? What’s wrong with you, Kyle? Don’t you have any human decency at all?” She was appalled at his words, yet realized that the man was far down on the totem pole of civil behavior.
“I know a good thing when I see it,” he said, laughing as Jennifer gripped the back of a chair, holding herself upright.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” She looked past him, fearing that Ida would come upon the scene unaware, and face the gun that Kyle wore on his thigh. Yet her only hope right now seemed to be the presence of the other woman. Surely, Kyle would not make threats in front of a witness. But that seemed to be an idle thought as he turned his head to see what had drawn Jennifer’s attention.
“Someone out there?” he asked. “You got company? I didn’t see a horse.”
Ida hurried through the yard and across the porch, and Jennifer’s heart fell. “Just a friend,” she said. “No need for any fuss, Kyle. Just take yourself out the door and leave. There’s nothing for you here.”
“Two women? My, my. This is my lucky day,” he said. Turning to the door, he pulled his gun, and Ida’s eyes opened wide as she crossed the threshold.
“What’s goin’ on? What’s this rascal doing here, Jen?” The woman who dwelt behind the housedress and apron was a stalwart female, unafraid of anyone.
“Looking for Susan,” she said. “He thinks the baby is here and won’t believe me that her grandparents came to get her.”
“Well, the fool oughta be smart enough to realize that if Susan was here, she’d be out in plain sight. Seems pretty obvious to me he’s not the brightest star in the sky.”
“You can get yourself shot thataway, lady.” It seemed that having his intelligence belittled by a woman in an apron did not sit well with Kyle.
Jennifer stepped closer to the pantry and Kyle’s sharp gaze touched her. “Where you think you’re goin’? Just stay right there where I can keep a good eye on you, Jennifer.”
“I need…” She paused, unable to think of an excuse to enter the long, narrow room, wherein two long guns were placed for easy access. Shooting a man was not her first choice, but keeping herself and Ida from harm was essential.
“You don’t need nothin’ in there,” Kyle told her. Ignoring the threat presented by his gun, she stepped into the pantry, out of his sight, and heard the sound of a chair hitting the floor as he neared. The shotgun stood in one corner beside the door, and it was heavy in her hands as she lifted it, then aimed it point-blank at the man who stood in front of her. His own weapon pointed downward as he saw the double-barreled gun lifted to within a foot of his belly.
“I’ll kill you, Kyle.” Her voice was firm, her mind made up. Pulling the double trigger was well within her capabilities, and she would not allow this man to bully her any further.
“You wanta be careful there,” Kyle sputtered, backing away from the weapon she held. “That thing could go off real easy.”
“Not unless I pull the trigger,” Jennifer told him. “But I’m warning you, I’m not afraid to do just that.”
“It won’t be necessary.” From beside the back door, Lucas’s rough tones brought Jennifer’s gaze to rest on him, his own gun held in front of him, his hat pulled down to shade his eyes. “Drop that pistol, Kyle, and get over against the wall.” He looked then at Jennifer and she felt the cold sweat of reaction break out on her forehead.
Her hands trembled, her legs felt weak and she stumbled from the pantry, the shotgun pointed at the floor beside her.
“Sit down, Jen.” Lucas left no room for quibbling, and she did as he said, placing the shotgun on the floor beside her chair. Lucas is here. All will be well.
Kyle stood by the outside wall of the kitchen, his gaze twitching from Lucas to Jennifer, then back again as the barrel of the rifle seemed to zero in on his body. “No sense in gettin’ all upset here,” he muttered, his hands trembling. “I never intended to shoot her. Or her friend there, either.”
“Well, you put on a pretty good show of it.” Lucas’s cheeks were stained crimson, his mouth drawn into a harsh line. “Step out here onto the porch,” he told Kyle, backing from the doorway and leaning his own gun against the kitchen wall.
The man did as directed and Lucas closed the back door, leaving Jennifer and Ida in the kitchen, away from the scene being played out on the narrow porch.
“What’s going on?” Jennifer’s voice was but a whisper and she laid her head on the table, as if she could no longer hold it erect.
“Better we don’t know,” Ida surmised. “I think that fella is about to learn a lesson, and then, unless I miss my guess, he’ll be on his way outta here.”
The sounds of a battle could be heard through the kitchen window, and Lucas could be seen amid glimpses of Kyle being knocked to the floor and then picked up again, only to meet the same fate several times.
“He’ll kill him.” Jennifer said. “Don’t let him kill him, Ida.”
“Lucas is too smart for that. He’s just teachin’ the man a lesson. And I’ll warrant it’s one he won’t forget in a hurry.”
With that, they heard Lucas’s voice raised in anger and saw him tote Kyle’s battered body to his horse. Lucas’s limp was pronounced but he ignored it, continuing to berate the victim of his punishment. Lifting Kyle astride the horse, Lucas handed him the reins and turned the animal in the direction of town, slapping him on the rear flank as he broke into a trot.
“I’d suggest you get your tail out of here. Leave Thunder Canyon behind,” Lucas called. “If I find you here tomorrow, as mayor of this place, I’ll have you thrown in jail.”
Jennifer collapsed again in her chair, her head resting on the table. Ida brought a glass of water to her.
“Here, drink this,” she said. “You look kinda green, Jen. You don’t want Lucas to see you thisaway, do you?”
Jennifer shook her head, sat upright and drank from the glass. “He’s angry.” As if the words were a surprise to her, she muttered them beneath her breath.
“Yeah, but I don’t think he’s mad at you.” Ida opened the back door and watched as Lucas came in to the house. “You get everything settled?”
“You oughta know,” he said gruffly. “I saw you lookin’ out the window, Ida.” He turned to Jennifer and his gaze softened. “Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”
She shook her head. “Not a chance. Just startled me a little.” She looked down at the table. “What about you? Is your leg all right? You’re limping badly.”
“My leg is fine, except for a twinge when I walk. It’ll go away…always does.”
Jennifer nodded as if placated by his words and then she sighed. “I didn’t want to shoot him, Lucas, but I would have.”
“I kinda thought so.” He knelt beside her and took her hands in his. “I’d have killed him in a heartbeat if he’d made another move toward you. You know that, don’t you?”
She nodded and lifted her eyes to his. “I love you.” It was a whisper, but the words resounded in the room, as if she’d spoken in a shout. Lucas bent his head and kissed her hands, then leaned upward to touch his lips to hers.
“And I love you, Jen. More than you can ever know. I’ll love our child as much, and protect you both with my life.”
“Our child?” She opened her eyes wide, looking into his in surprise. “How did you know?”
His eyes glittered, a darker blue than was their normal color. His grin was wide. “I’m aware of everything that goes on with you, sweetheart. I knew when things didn’t come about in a regular way.” He looked up at Ida then and his mouth twitched as if he might laugh out loud.
“Don’t be smirking at me,” he told her. “I’m not just a dumb miner. I’ve got some notion of what will happen when a man takes his woman to bed on a regular basis. I know how babies are made, Ida.”
She looked at him, then at Jennifer, her smile broad. “Yeah, I suspect you do, Luc. And I’m not surprised that you figured out how to make one all on your own. With a little help from your wife.”
He rested back on his heels. “Is she really all right?” he asked Ida, frowning. “None of this hurt the baby, did it?”
“That baby is as well protected right now as it’ll ever be,” Ida told him. “And your wife is strong. Tough as old boots.”
“She doesn’t look tough to me.” Lucas cast a measuring glance at Jennifer and then lifted her from her chair and held her close. She leaned against him, aware of the blood that spattered his shirt, but uncaring. Lucas was here, his arms were strong, and he loved her.
BEING THE MAYOR gave a man some standing in the community. And when the judge came to town, reporting on Kyle’s escapade at the hearing made Lucas a hero of sorts. “It’s my aim to keep Thunder Canyon clean and well rid of scalawags like that man,” Lucas said.
“I’d say that between you and the sheriff, you’re doin’ a good job of it.” The judge sat behind his table, in lieu of a proper courtroom, and made his judgment. “The mayor is cleared of all blame in this ma
tter. He was defending his wife and household and cannot be held responsible for any injuries suffered by the man who threatened Mrs. O’Reilly. Especially since that man is not even present to press charges.”
He looked up. “Where’d he go, Luc? You send him back to the city?”
“If he knows what’s good for himself, that’s where he is, sir. Although I doubt that Mrs. O’Reilly’s parents will be happy to see him, should he come calling there.”
“Well, good riddance,” the judge announced. “We don’t need that sort in Montana. Got enough trouble with the ordinary, everyday miners.” He shot a look of undiluted humor at Lucas as he spoke and was given a cocky smile in return. “Now, young man, I’d say you need to take your wife home and look after her. And that claim you’ve got up in the canyon.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.” Lucas took Jennifer’s arm and led her from the makeshift courtroom. Various men greeted them as they headed for the doorway.
“You’re a popular lady in town, Jen,” he murmured against her ear. “Folks are right proud of your success in the boardinghouse business, and Sally Jo has been making money hand over fist for you. Raising the rent was a good stroke of business, and Ida’s about as well set as any widow I’ve ever seen.”
Helen waited for them outside, Toby close by. “Why aren’t you working your claim today?” Lucas asked him, then chuckled. “As if I didn’t know.”
“You see too much,” Helen said. “Toby and I have things to do, Lucas. We thought we’d ask if you and Jennifer want to come along with us.”
“Gonna take a walk to the parsonage?”
Jennifer heard Lucas’s query with surprise. She’d known that Toby’d had eyes for Helen, but hadn’t realized that his intentions were bearing fruit so soon.
Helen nodded, blushing, and Toby took her hand, tucking it into the bend of his elbow. “We decided to save money by getting married. Toby will live at the house and do some of the heavy work on the side and we’ll share a room. It should work out just fine.”
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