by Jillian Hart
The back door flew open with a bang. Katie burst into the room, braids halfway unraveled, her boy’s clothes rumpled and dirt streaked. “Hi, Anna. I’ve been out riding with Davy Muldune.”
“He has a pony, too,” Maisie added.
“Mrs. Potts, is there any way I can convince you to change your mind?” Cooper approached the disgruntled woman, showing her the color of his money.
“Now I know why you’re a good sheriff. Because wild criminals couldn’t be as difficult to manage as your own children.” Mrs. Potts grabbed the bills from his fist before he finished counting. “I can only hope a mother’s presence will have a positive effect on your Katie’s unruly disposition.”
Anna opened her mouth in protest. Far too many people believed she and Cooper were—
“Here’s my advice, Mrs. Bauer. If you are not a religious woman, take up praying.” Mrs. Potts stormed out and slammed the door angrily.
“Boy, and I didn’t even try to run her off today,” Katie confessed.
Chapter Six
“Mrs. Potts wasn’t a happy employee,” Cooper admitted with a slow, lopsided grin.
Anna watched Katie look at her out of the corner of her eyes, then don an innocent face. “Papa, what are we gonna do now without Mrs. Potts? Who’s gonna take care of us?”
“Who’s gonna make me cookies?” Worry wrinkled Maisie’s brow.
Anna knew where Katie was headed, and she wasn’t going to sit around and let Cooper think she would go along with the child’s plans. “It’s time for me to go.”
“Wait! Papa, Anna can bake cookies.” Katie’s grin dazzled. “I bet even better than mean ole Mrs. Potts.”
Cooper’s jaw tightened. “You forget that’s why we have Aunt Laura.”
Anna met his gaze. She could only interpret that tight thin line along his mouth as disapproval, as if he feared she would take advantage of their situation. She headed for the door. “Thanks for the entertainment. I really needed a good laugh.”
“Wait, Anna!”
“Yes, wait.” Cooper’s rum-rich voice called her back. “You forgot something. I don’t want to get a reputation as a man who breaks cookie promises.”
Humor twinkled in his dark eyes. Mandy did need those cookies to feel better. She was an injured little girl.
“Thank you. Cookie promises are important to keep.” Embarrassment wrapped around her heart, but it was gratefulness that lingered, that eased the ache in her chest. Not many men would keep their promises to someone else’s little girl. “Mandy will be very happy.”
“I try to keep all females happy.” He wrapped more than a half dozen cookies in a big blue napkin, folding it neatly. “I’m truly glad your daughter is going to be all right.”
“Me, too.” Katie gave the back door a good shove. Anna watched the door slam shut and wondered if the child was trying to keep her from leaving.
“Can you make molasses cookies?” Maisie asked shyly, with cookie crumbs circling her mouth.
“I—” Oh, no. She could see what those little girls wanted. Not just a replacement for Mrs. Potts, but someone to fill in as a mother. Anna took a step toward the door. “I truly need to go. The doctor was kind enough to stay with Mandy, but I can’t impose on him for too long.”
“The doc is a good man. He won’t mind taking care of a little girl for just a few minutes longer, I’ll wager.” He held out one hand. “Come sit down with me. At least now we can talk without Mrs. Potts grumbling at everything we say.”
His grin sparkled. Those twin dimples carved deep into his cheeks, and the flash of his white teeth kept her spellbound. Somehow she managed to tear her gaze away but she kept looking back in quick snatches as she sat down. He handed her the napkin full of cookies, and she had to remind herself Cooper Braddock was not hers to dream of, to wish for.
“Girls, go play for a bit. I need to speak to Anna.”
“She ain’t gonna be my mama, Katie,” Maisie whispered as she snatched two more cookies. “Papa said.”
“I know.” Katie put an arm around her sister’s shoulders. Together they clomped out the door and down the back steps.
Anna reached for the pot of rich-smelling coffee and began filling the two cups already on the table, sparkling clean in the sunshine.
Cooper wrapped his fingers around the back of his chair, standing behind it, his dark gaze forceful, shrinking the distance between them. She could see in him the loving, laughing father. And she could see something else: a little mischief, darkness and a lot of loneliness. She knew about loneliness, too.
“Some say Corinthos always gets rid of anyone who can identify him.”
She choked on her coffee. “Get rid of?”
He nodded slowly. “I think he’ll be back.”
She remained silent, chin bowed. Cooper could not see enough of her eyes to read her emotions. But those flyaway curls framing her face made her look like everything missing in his life. Everything he could not have. “You’re safe as long as you’re in my town, Anna. I just thought you ought to know.”
“I already do.” She lifted her gaze to his. It wasn’t guilt as he expected but belief that glimmered there, brilliant as sunlight on water, an unshakable notion that he would protect her.
“The doc told me your Mandy is nearly ready to leave his care. I’ll talk to Janet, get you that homey hotel room I promised. You stay as long as you need.”
“Most men would be running from a woman seeking matrimony.” She laid her hand on his arm, a sweet and light touch that shot arrows of heat down his spine. “This isn’t easy for me. I’m used to providing for Mandy on my own.”
“It must be hard being a widow with a small child.” He well knew what it was like to be alone, raising daughters.
“Yes.” She bowed her chin. “It hasn’t been easy. But that doesn’t mean I intend to rely on you. As soon as I am able to leave Mandy, I will find a job.”
“But I have an obligation to help you.”
“Mandy is my responsibility.” Her chin shot up. Her eyes snapped with barely veiled anger. He’d said the wrong thing, that’s for sure.
Cooper took a breath, wished he knew what to do. He couldn’t hire her to replace Mrs. Potts. That would be unfair to the girls. They already were disappointed Anna wasn’t going to be their mother. What would it do to them with her in the house all day, cooking their meals, caring for them, baking cookies and petting ponies?
“Don’t worry.” So soft, her voice. And such compelling, luminous eyes. What was it about her that tugged at him? “I don’t want Mrs. Potts’ job. I don’t want you to think—”
“No one in their right mind would want Mrs. Potts’ job. Or at least, no one I can coax with promises of very generous pay.”
“There has to be someone you can hire. Katie hasn’t frightened away every woman in Montana Territory.”
“Every woman.”
“Why haven’t you married? Not that it’s any of my business, it’s just that, well, a man like you doesn’t have to settle for a mail-order bride. You can pick and choose.”
“Not with two daughters to raise.” Cooper could just see them through the window, riding Bob around the backyard. Maisie was clinging to Katie’s waist with both hands, nearly sliding off Bob’s rump with each rocking step. “A stepmother is not the same as a mother.”
“Surely that’s not true.”
He stared down at his hands, callused from years of holding a gun and riding a horse. “I know from hard experience. Laura and Tucker’s mother married my father when I was six. She took care of us, but I was always a reminder to her that my father had loved another woman. I was never truly her son. It wasn’t easy. I don’t want that for my girls.”
“But who wouldn’t adore Katie and Maisie?”
She looked so sincere. He remembered how she’d laughed when Bob stole the cookie from the table, how charmed she’d been by Maisie’s cookie thefts. And he laughed, the warm rich rumble reaching all the way down to his toes. “
There isn’t a woman I’ve come across who wants to take on Katie, at least not without a big stick.”
“Well, not without a big stick.” Her eyes sparkled with emotion, but with humor, too.
She was joking. Cooper tried to smile and failed for the ache she made in his heart. “How many women would unconditionally love a difficult child?”
“Difficult?” Anna tilted her head to peer out the window, causing those fairy-light wisps framing her face to shimmer. “Why, look how well she rides her pony. See how she takes care of her sister? No matter how many times Maisie slips off Bob’s rump, Katie never lets her fall.”
“Katie has a good heart. She just causes so much trouble.”
“She’s just a tomboy. There’s nothing too troublesome about that. Besides, she’ll probably grow out of it.”
“I’d hate to wait until I’m old and gray before she starts acting the way a female should.”
“And exactly how should a female act?”
“Not like that.” He lifted long tapered fingers to gesture toward the window.
Outside, beneath the dappled sunlight from overhead maples, Katie let out a war whoop and Maisie shouted, “Katie, if we’re Indians, I’m needin’ some feathers.”
Somehow, she would find a way to thank him, to thank them all for showing her something she didn’t even know existed. This happy brightness of love and family.
She stood. “Thank you for the cookies and coffee. I have my own daughter to look after.”
“I’ll let you know about the room like I promised.” He stood, too. How handsome he was with the light slanting through the window, backlit by the honeyed-wood walls.
Her throat filled, and she couldn’t speak. She headed out the door. And even when she felt his gaze, solid and steady, watching her cross his yard and go down the street, she could not look back.
The clinic was quiet. Anna still remembered the low bark of Corinthos’ voice, still felt his hand on her arm, just above the bullet wound. A bruise in the shape of a hand was all that remained, but she felt bruised deeper still.
Montana Territory was a rough place, sometimes dangerous. Towns had been carved out not by women and families come to find homes, but by those looking for gold. Times were changing, thanks to men like Cooper. But not all men were like him.
When she’d first heard footsteps in Mandy’s room, she’d thought it was Dalton. But when she turned around, it was only another outlaw among many in this untamed territory. She shivered and walked faster. She was glad a man like Cooper was watching over her daughter.
“She’s been asleep the whole time.” The doc kept his voice low, turning from the bedside chair. He stood, his smile pleasant. “I’m so pleased with her recovery.”
“It’s all thanks to you.” Anna clutched the bundle in her hand, the cookies from Cooper’s kitchen.
“I’m not totally responsible.” The doc blushed just the same. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”
The doctor left, and she was alone with her child. Lemony sunshine slatted through the edge of the closed curtains, casting enough light to read by. Anna set the cookies on the bedside table, then reached for the borrowed book of fairy tales. The images of Katie and Maisie this afternoon, eating cookies and riding Bob, filled her with hope.
She wanted Mandy well again. Every child deserved to play without worries, without pain.
“Mama?”
“Why, look at you. You’re awake.” Anna brushed wispy gold curls from her daughter’s eyes. “Guess what I brought you?”
“Somethin’ good?” So much hope in that small voice.
“Cookies. Just like you wanted.” Anna reached for the bundle and unwrapped it carefully. Molasses sweetened the air.
“Oh, boy.” Mandy actually smiled, her eyes bright.
Anna lifted the top cookie from the stack and held one out to the girl. “They smell real good. I bet they taste good, too.”
“Thank you, Mama.” Mandy grabbed it and took a huge bite, despite her pain and injury. “It’s real good.”
Nothing mattered but Mandy and the eager light in her eyes when she reached for a second cookie.
“Papa, I can’t find Harry Bunny.” Maisie dashed out of her bedroom, pink nightgown flapping.
“I have him.” Cooper handed her the well-loved animal on his way down the hall. Tucking in his girls at night was one of his favorite jobs as a father.
Maisie’s hands clasped around poor Harry’s ears. “Thanks, Papa. I don’t sleep so good without my bunny.”
She dashed off to bed, bare feet slapping the floor.
The room was full of little-girl sweetness—pink curtains and a tea party set scattered on the braid rug, adventure dime novels piled on the nightstand.
Katie jumped into bed and ducked beneath the covers. “I’ve been thinkin’, Papa.”
“That’s a scary prospect.”
“Aw, Papa. Stop teasin’.” Katie shook her head, clearly disappointed. “This is serious.”
He sat down on the foot of the bed. “Serious thinking. That’s different.”
“Mrs. Potts quit. And I didn’t have nothin’ to do with that today. But what about tomorrow?”
Boy, how innocent the girl looked. Cooper wasn’t one bit fooled. “What about tomorrow?”
“Who’s gonna make pancakes the way Maisie likes ’em?”
“Yeah,” Maisie piped up. “I don’t like ‘em burned. And they gotta be faces or I don’t eat ’em.”
Cooper could see he had a big problem. “Aunt Laura knows how to make pancakes the way you like them, Maisie.”
“Yeah, but Anna could do it, too.” Katie tilted her head to one side, gaining enthusiasm. “I bet she could do everything Mrs. Potts did. She’s got her own little girl. She’d know exactly how to take care of Maisie.”
“I need takin’ care of,” Maisie agreed.
“Anna could be our housekeeper from now on.” Katie shifted beneath the covers. “Papa, I would be extra good if she comes.”
“Does that mean you’ll sit quietly and embroider all day?”
“Keep dreamin’, Papa.”
It only confirmed what he already suspected. His eldest daughter would never become skilled in the needle arts. “You girls know Anna isn’t going to be a part of our lives, as a housekeeper or anything else.”
“But Papa, if you like her enough, maybe you could change your mind.” Katie sounded so hopeful.
“I wouldn’t count on it, precious.” Cooper hated seeing her disappointment. “Trust me on this.”
“It ain’t gonna be easy.” Maisie cuddled up on her pillow, Harry Bunny clutched tight.
“But can we still be friends with her?”
“Friends is fine. Just no matchmaking schemes, you hear me?”
“Oh, Papa.” Katie rolled her eyes and pulled the comforter over her head.
Cooper left the room with good-night wishes, but he felt troubled. His girls were young and imaginative. They saw their friends’ mothers, saw what they were missing in their lives. He understood the allure of a fantasy mother, a pretty and kind woman to bake cookies, ride a pony, tuck little girls into bed. Thinking of Anna, he knew exactly why his daughters wanted her for a mother.
If only it were that simple.
Anna’s back ached from spending the night in the chair at Mandy’s side. Morning felt cool. When she pulled open the curtains, gray light met her. Clouds blanketed the sky, casting a drab pallor to the land. Rain was on the way.
“Breakfast.” The doctor’s wife, Betty Mason, swept into the room. The silvered tray she carried rattled with each step. “My, but your Mandy looks better today. Look at that healthy color in her cheeks.”
Mandy still slept, her breathing more regular, more relaxed. She still had to recover according to the doctor, but she was making good progress.
Betty set the tray on the small corner table. “I brought enough for two. I’m still holding out hope your little one will find her appetite.”
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“Me, too.” Anna’s heart warmed at the woman’s kindness. “You do too much, bringing me meals like this.”
“Nonsense. It’s the least I can do for the woman who’s come to marry our sheriff.” Betty waved away Anna’s concern with a gentle hand.
“I’m not—”
“Have you met Laura yet?”
“No, but I—”
“You’ll just love her. She has been helping raise up Cooper’s girls for years, so I hear. The whole family moved to town just last year when old Joe retired. It’s been a welcome change, I tell you. Let me know if you need anything else. I’ll be just upstairs.” Barely pausing for breath, Betty waved a cheerful goodbye and hurried from the room.
Goodness. Anna stared at the empty doorway. She didn’t know how so many people knew she had come to marry Cooper. It was amazing how easily misunderstandings occurred. Well, thank goodness only the doctor and his wife thought she was Cooper’s bride. She would talk to them this morning so there would be no more confusion.
“Are you Mrs. Bauer?” A petite woman filled the doorway.
Anna set Mandy’s empty glass of milk on the night-stand, the breakfast dish empty in her hand. “Yes.”
“I thought I had the correct room. The doctor just pointed me down the hall without much direction.” The middle-aged woman with bright red hair, streaked with gray, lay a hand on her chest. “My, is that your hurt little girl? Katie and Maisie told me all about her. How she was hurt during the stage robbery.”
“Yes. She’s recovering.” Anna stood, setting the plate and flatware aside. “You know Katie and Maisie?”
“Who doesn’t? My, with the older girl racing that daredevil pony around town. Legends are built on that girl. I’m Janet Briggs. I own the hotel on Maple Street—the red building with the white trim and shutters. Sheriff Braddock asked me to set up a room for you.”
Why wasn’t she surprised? Cooper must have checked with the doctor. Mandy was well enough to leave the clinic today. It was something, Cooper being a man of his word. She’d never known such an honorable man. “Then he also told you I intend to pay—”