Married to Claim the Rancher's Heir

by Lauri Robinson

  “Ruby, this is Sara and Beth,” he said, not certain which Snyder girl was which, but figured they’d let Ruby know. “Do you want to show them your kitten?”

  She nodded and held out the kitten for the others to see. Sara and Beth came closer, and he stepped aside as the girls engaged Ruby in a conversation. She didn’t appear the least bit shy. Just like her father. Max hadn’t been shy either.

  He watched the girls but kept glancing at the door, wondering how long it would take. Second thoughts, those that said perhaps he should have simply told Janette Ruby was remaining behind, kept coming forward. She wouldn’t have liked it, but that’s what he usually did, and few people questioned his orders. Janette was different, though, and he hadn’t been overly sure she’d have obeyed.

  After waiting what seemed long enough, he was about to grasp the knob when the door opened. Marietta smiled and nodded as she walked onto the porch. Janette didn’t look his way as she exited. She walked directly over to Ruby and then led her a few steps away. Kneeling down, Janette spoke too quietly for him to hear, but Ruby was nodding and smiling.

  “Here, you can put these in the wagon,” Rosalie said, pulling his attention off Ruby and Janette. “I packed plenty of food, so share with the others on the train.”

  “Always do.” He took the traveling bags and the food basket from Rosalie. By the time he’d loaded them in the back of the wagon, Janette was walking down the steps.

  She didn’t say a word, but the scowl on her face told him what she thought of him at that moment. He stepped forward to help her as she started to climb into the wagon.

  As he took her hand, second thoughts hit him. “You can take a moment to say goodbye,” he said. “We aren’t in a hurry.”

  She climbed up and let go of his hand. “I’ve already said goodbye,” she said, twisting her skirt about as she sat down on the seat. “Dragging it out will only make it harder on Ruby.”

  “For once we agree on something.” He walked around the wagon and grabbed the brake block from behind the front wheel before climbing onto the seat. The kitten escaped Ruby’s hold, and as all three girls squealed and started chasing it along the porch, he flayed the reins over the horses.

  He steered the horses through the ranch yard and then onto the road that would soon turn north and take them to the train stop. “Ruby will be fine,” he said when the silence made his spine tingle.

  “Do you always find someone to do your dirty work?”

  He glanced her way, expecting a glare. Instead all he saw was her profile as she stared straight ahead. She was wearing the same dress as yesterday, the one with lace all around her neck, but she’d wrapped a scarf around her neck, to prevent further irritation no doubt. The bottom edge of her face was still covered in a red rash.

  Knowing full well she was referring to Marietta convincing her to let Ruby stay behind, he answered honestly. “No, I usually do whatever needs doing myself, but this time I figured you’d argue and we might miss the train.”

  She pinched her lips together and closed her eyes.

  “Figured right, didn’t I?”

  Her sideways glance was cute enough, saucy enough to make him laugh. Not chuckle, but laugh like he hadn’t in some time.

  She huffed out a breath. “I do not find the situation funny, Mr. Callaway.”

  “Neither do I, Miss Parker. I’m just happy I won.”

  “You may have won this battle, Mr. Callaway, but the war isn’t over.”

  He laughed again. “You say that like a true solider, Miss Parker.”

  “My father served in the Plains Calvary,” she said, sitting up a bit straighter. “He was a captain and in charge of a regiment of troops across the western part of Kansas.”

  The name that immediately appeared in his mind had him asking, “Captain Jonathan Parker?”

  “Yes, Captain Jonathan Parker was my father. As I’m sure Anna told you.”

  “No, she didn’t,” he said.

  She eyed him critically. “She didn’t?”

  “No, but I knew your father. Met him on more than one occasion when I was young. He made the first deal for Triple C beef cattle to be delivered to Fort Wallace with my father. I continued to sell cattle to the fort until it was decommissioned last year.”

  She was looking at him oddly, as if she didn’t believe what he was saying.

  He had no reason to lie but did give a quick nod. “We were all saddened by the news of his death, especially my father. They’d been good friends.”

  With a shake of her head, she asked, “Anna never mentioned him to you?”

  “Not that I recall.”

  “Then what did you two talk about?”

  He shrugged, not really able to recall that either. “A blizzard hit shortly after Anna arrived at the ranch. I was busy making sure our losses were minimal to do much talking.”

  “What losses?”

  That winter, that blizzard had changed many things. Not only in his life. Ranchers and settlers all around them were devastated. Max’s deserting him during that time had left a burning pile of anger in his stomach, and it flared again. It wasn’t as hot or raw, but it appeared, and made him draw a breath to combat it. “Cattle. Most of our cattle were on open range for the winter, and when the snow finally stopped falling, it was up to our bellies. The men’s and the cattle’s. The wind blew drifts taller than the buildings. We had a he—a heck of a time just getting from the barns to the house, let alone getting hay out to the pastures.”

  “What did you do?”

  “We shoveled,” he answered. “Shoveled and shoveled. But we still lost a lot of beef.” Carcasses had littered the ground, and in many ways, he was still recouping from that blizzard. That winter. Max’s desertion. Some of the other ranchers who had been in the area hadn’t been as lucky as he. They’d lost everything, called it quits and moved on. Without even bothering to clean up the mess left behind.

  The hand she’d pressed to her chest made her appear genuinely concerned. “Do you get a lot of snow here in the winter?”

  “Normally, no. I’d never seen anything like it and hope to never see it again. We grow more hay now and other crops for winter feed and have fenced in the winter grazing pastures so the cattle aren’t so widespread.” Recalling all that had happened, he added, “It wasn’t just the snow, it was cold. Way below freezing. Cattle froze to death right where they stood. It wasn’t just here either. That blizzard swept from Canada to Texas.”

  “My heavens. I don’t recall hearing about a blizzard like that.”

  “It didn’t reach that far east. Didn’t hit Kansas City. I suspect it would have been reported in the newspapers, but maybe not.” Nodding in the direction ahead of them, where the windmill that filled the water tower for trains was becoming visible, he said, “The train froze to the track.”

  Her eyes widened. “It did?”

  “Yes, they had to unhook each car and break them loose one at a time.” He’d sent Max up to help with the train while he’d been focused on the cattle. Less than a week later, when the trains were rolling by on a daily basis again, Max and Anna had boarded one. He hadn’t even realized it until the next day.

  Silence settled between him and Janette for several long minutes. The quiet didn’t stop him from thinking, remembering the weeks and months that had followed. The ranch’s losses had been severe, and scrounging up the funds just to pay his men had been hard the rest of that year. Luckily, they had rounded up several head of cattle to be sold right before the storm hit. He sold as many as he had to in order to keep his word but held back several heifers he’d planned on selling. It had taken a couple of years, but eventually they’d rebounded and the ranch was now thriving again.

  “Did Max and Anna leave after the blizzard?”

  She hadn’t glanced his way, and he didn’t look her way. “Yes,” he answered.
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  “How?”

  “Took the train to Colorado Springs and headed south from there.”

  “Did you go after them? Follow them?”

  “I didn’t have time to go after anyone.” Waving a hand, he continued, “I had a ranch with more dead cows than live ones. The carcasses had to be cleaned up before the snow started to melt. One dead cow can contaminate the watershed, and that can poison the creeks and waterways for miles and miles. We would have been done for sure if that had happened.”

  He flinched slightly, recalling that was what had taken Max’s and Anna’s lives. Contaminated water. It was nothing to take lightly. He never had, and Max shouldn’t have either.

  “What did you do with all the dead cows?”

  There was no reason to go into all the details of the cleanup that had taken months. “Burned them.” Pointing westward, toward the puff of smoke that looked like one of the many clouds to most people, he said, “There’s the train.”

  She glanced in the direction he’d gestured toward and frowned. “I don’t see anything.”

  The ground was treeless and relatively flat, and empty to the untrained eye. Those who knew what they were looking for saw it long before anyone else. “You won’t for a while yet, it’s still about twenty miles away.”

  “And we’ll meet it up there, by that windmill?”

  “Yes. The train has to stop to take on water.” He pointed a thumb over his shoulder, toward the full wagon bed. “And wood. From here the eastbound ones can make it to Hays without stopping and the westbound trains can make it to Colorado Springs.”

  “Trains stop here every day?” she asked, glancing left and right.

  “Every day except Sunday. Westbound one day, eastbound the next.”

  “And you deliver wood to each one of them?”

  “Sure do. The railroad has paid us to do so for years.”

  “Why don’t you just stockpile the wood for them?”

  “We do sometimes, but only for a couple of hours or so, and usually only for the westbound trains because they pass through later in the day.”

  “Why only a couple of hours or so? Wouldn’t it be less work to stack up enough for several trains?”

  “It would, but we can’t because it tends to get stolen. As you can tell, there aren’t an abundance of trees around here. We have a good stand along Beaver Creek. You would have crossed the creek south of the ranch while still on the stage.”

  She nodded but was still frowning. “Who steals the wood?”

  “Anyone who travels past, but usually it’s Indians.”

  “Indians? I thought they’d all been moved to reservations.”

  “That’s what the government wants people to believe.”

  “But it’s not true?”

  He wasn’t trying to scare her, but it wouldn’t hurt for her to know about one of the dangers that dotted the plains. “There are still plenty around, and they aren’t all friendly.”

  “Mrs. Snyder said it’s about a five-hour train ride to Hays.”

  “Give or take,” he said.

  She pulled a handkerchief out of the cuff of her sleeve and used it to pat away the sweat making her face glisten. He considered telling her that a decent hat would have helped her a lot. One that did more than hold flowers.

  Considering how amicably she was behaving, he chose not to broach that subject and instead asked, “How’s your neck doing?”

  “Fine.”

  He doubted that but was also glad she wasn’t the complaining type. So far the trip hadn’t been as bad as he’d imagined it would be. They hadn’t even been alone for an hour yet, so things could change. Were apt to. “You’ll be able to sit in the shade beneath the water tower. It’s cool under there.”

  “What will happen to the horses? How will they get back to the ranch?”

  She not only wasn’t a complainer, she was inquisitive and appeared truly concerned. “A couple of cowboys will show up soon. They’ll help load the wood on the train and then take the wagon back to the ranch.”

  “You instructed them as to what time to arrive?”

  “No. I said we were taking the train to Hays today.”

  “How will they know when to arrive?”

  Once again, he pointed toward the smoke that was now a bit easier to see. “They’ll hear the train whistle. It already sounded once.”

  “It did?”

  Like knowing what you were looking for, a person had to know what to listen for. “Yes, and it’ll sound a couple more times. You’ll hear it when it gets closer, but the boys know to listen for it. At the first blast, they’ll start heading this way, and be here before the train stops.”

  “Wouldn’t it be easier to just tell them what time the train will arrive?”

  “It would be, but we only have a general time period of when it will arrive, give or take a couple of hours.”

  Her gaze had settled toward the west, on the puff of smoke that now, because it was closer, was darker than the clouds. “The trains in Kansas City keep regular schedules.”

  “They do here, too,” he answered. “Give or take an hour or two.”

  The smirk on her face was the closest thing to a smile directed at him that he’d seen her make, and for some unreasonable reason, it made him grin. Especially when she pinched her lips together and turned the other way so he couldn’t see how hard she fought not to fully smile.

  * * *

  It was a good minute or more before Janette trusted herself to ease the pressure of her teeth digging into her bottom lip. She’d never fought so hard not to smile in her life. The way Gabe’s eyes shone and the sly grin on his face that made a dimple form in one cheek when he’d defended the railroad’s schedule had practically taken her breath away. He looked, well, human and handsome. Unfortunately. It was much easier not to like him when he was frowning and acting pretentious. Not liking him had been easier before he told her about the snowstorm, too. Anna had said he’d been busy the entire time she’d been at the ranch, which was why she and Max hadn’t spoken to him, told him they’d fallen in love.

  Janette huffed out a sigh. A snowstorm like the one he’d described would have kept a man busy. Maybe it hadn’t been as bad as he’d described. Anna had never spoken about it. Surely she’d have mentioned a storm of that caliber.

  Sneaking a peek at Gabe’s profile, Janette questioned if he’d exaggerated. He’d appeared sincere, the way he’d looked off in the distance, as if he hadn’t wanted to remember, to share certain things. Was that why? Because he hadn’t been truthful? The way her stomach rolled said she couldn’t quite believe that. He might be harsh and audacious, but he wasn’t a liar. She wasn’t sure how she knew that, but she did.

  Isaac had been a very good liar, and she’d learned how to spot that in men. Gabe was nothing like Isaac had been in that sense, but he was a man.

  Not willing to let anything about Isaac rule her thoughts, she said, “I’d already determined that Ruby would stay at the ranch.” This morning, when Ruby had seen their bags, she’d shaken her head and said, “No ride.” That had almost broken Janette’s heart. The trip from Texas had been long and tiring, and not knowing how long she may need to stay in Hays, leaving Ruby at the ranch was the smart choice. “There was no reason for you to make a pawn out of Mrs. Snyder.”

  “I didn’t make a pawn out of Mrs. Snyder. I just thought you might listen to a woman better than—”

  “Is that why you had Rosalie tell me how uncouth of a town Hays is? And how we might need to be there several days?”

  “I didn’t ask Rosalie to tell you anything.”

  She was trying hard to find a way to renew the anger she’d felt toward him yesterday but wasn’t having much luck. Especially when he was answering her questions without so much of a hint of ire. “I suppose you didn’t tell her to make a tea that
would make me sleep last night either.” She couldn’t remember a time she’d slept so long and hard and had asked Rosalie about it this morning, who confessed it had been the tea. She called it her secret recipe.

  “No, I didn’t.” A frown covered his face as he turned her way. “If you had already determined Ruby should stay at the ranch, why were you carrying her bag?”

  “In case she became upset at my leaving. Then I would have insisted she come with us, and she would have.”

  It looked as if he wanted to grin but didn’t.

  “Playing both sides, were you?” he asked.

  “When it comes to Ruby, I’ll do whatever it takes,” she admitted.

  “Well, I’m glad to know you have some sense. Dragging Ruby around town from meeting to meeting wouldn’t have been any fun for her, and it’s a long train ride.”

  “I had already concluded that, as well.”

  He gave a slight nod. “Rosalie was right. I don’t know that the judge is in town for sure. We may have to wait a few days.”

  “I’m aware of that.” The judge, for whom she was willing to wait as long as it took to see, would surely agree that by allowing Ruby to stay at the ranch, Janette was thinking of the child first and foremost. She was. She would never put Ruby in danger, but more so, she would never abandon her.

  A whistle sounded, far off, but she heard it, and that made her ask, “How did you know what time the train would arrive today?”

  He shrugged. “The weather’s been good, so I figured it would be on the early side.”

  Hot is what she’d call this weather. The sweat trickling out from beneath her hair was making her neck itch. Perhaps the scarf hadn’t been a good idea. She’d hoped it would be less irritating than the high collar of her dress jacket. Now it merely seemed to be holding the heat. A larger hat would have been more helpful. One that would have blocked the sun. The silk flowers on the hat she wore felt as if they were absorbing as much of the sun’s rays as real flowers would.

  “Not much farther now,” he said. “Getting out of the sun will be a relief.”

  She managed a nod while willing herself not to scratch her neck no matter how much it itched. Walking into the judge’s chambers with her neck red and raw might make him question her abilities to take care of Ruby. The poison ivy had nothing to do with that, but men thought differently than women.