She let out a low moan but pressed, “I want to know what you mean about her. What is it about Evelyn you don’t like?”
“You’re rather morbid if you want to badmouth a poor woman.”
“Evelyn was the one who told me it’s wrong for me to wear pants and help with the ranch.”
“Regardless, you shouldn’t take delight in gossip.”
“It’s not gossip if you tell me the truth.”
He shook his head, but she snuggled up to him and kissed his neck. His resolve quickly melted, and he found himself telling her what she wanted to know. “Her husband is miserable. Evelyn tells him what to do and who he can spend time with. She even got his job for him.”
She gasped. “Oh, she didn’t!”
Catching the spark in her eye, he couldn’t help but grin. “She did. Her brother owns the bank he works for. He wanted to buy a ranch, but she wouldn’t have it. Early in their marriage, he fought her about it, but she wouldn’t give up. She even refused to share a bed with him for six whole months until he finally obeyed her.”
“She didn’t!”
“She did. Men are surprisingly weak when it comes to the bedroom.”
“You’re not. You’re surprisingly stubborn, regardless of whether I wear clothes or not.”
“That’s because I know how to stand my ground. Her husband isn’t as strong as I am.”
“You shouldn’t have resisted me so much. I only wanted to make you happy.”
“To be fair, it wasn’t you so much as watching my father die of a broken heart that worried me. But as it turns out, you’re nothing like my mother. Marrying you was the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“If I’d known all it was going to take was killing a snake and rounding up mice, I would have done it on the first day we got married.”
He squeezed her waist. “A woman is never sexier than when she shoots a rattler without blinking an eye. Some men marry good cooks and some a woman who sews fancy dresses. But me? I like a woman who isn’t afraid to go after vermin and put on a pair of pants to go horseback riding. Life on a ranch isn’t easy.”
“I can’t imagine having any other kind of life. I love it out here.”
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again, this time letting his lips linger on hers. He couldn’t think of a better place to be than out here on the ranch with the woman he had secretly hoped he’d marry since he was fifteen. And unlike his mother, she was no weakling. She was made for this kind of life. It was a hard one, but it was also rewarding. It was nice that she understood that and appreciated it.
When the kiss ended, he smiled at her, enjoying the way her eyes twinkled. “Come on. Let’s check the rest of the fence before we get back to the house.”
“You don’t want to have some fun halfway out in the fields today?” she asked suggestively, wiggling her hips for emphasis.
“Not today.” As fun as it’d been at the time to make love to her out here yesterday, he was still sore. “Some things are better left to the imagination.”
“Well, you should have brought a bedroll. I’m sure that would have made it easier.”
“Probably, but if I’d done that, Archie would have seen it. Then I’d never hear the end of it.”
She giggled. “Would that be so bad?”
“I guess not. But I’m already putting up with enough of their joshing. I don’t want to ask for more.”
Sighing, she shifted so she was sideways. She rested her head on his shoulder and wrapped her arm around his waist while he led the horse forward.
***
Patty knew it was wrong to gloat, especially at church, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit smug as she watched Evelyn’s jaw drop as Greg helped her down from the buggy. And not only did he help her, but he also kissed her cheek before leading her over to Mitch and Heather.
Heather pulled Patty aside so she could ask her what was going on.
“I lassoed him like you suggested,” Patty began as she fiddled with the blue sleeves on her mother’s dress. “Then I tied him to a chair and demanded he talk to me. After a rattler and a couple mice, he made mad passionate love to me in the kitchen, and the rest is history.”
Heather stared at her for a moment then finally blinked. “A snake and mice? You’re joshing, right?”
“Nope. That’s how it happened. I shot a rattlesnake while he was tied to the chair, and then we went through the entire house to look for more. We didn’t find any, but we did find a couple of mice. I think that’s what the rattlesnake was after. Greg agrees.”
A slow smile spread across Heather’s face. “In other words, you were yourself.”
Patty hadn’t thought about it, but she realized Heather was right. “I did do that kind of thing with my pa.”
“You tied your father to a chair?” Heather let out a playful gasp.
She rolled her eyes but smiled. “No, silly. I searched for all kinds of vermin in the house, and I shot things that posed a threat.”
Heather shot her a knowing smile. “Which means, you were yourself. And it worked.”
“Yes, it worked. Greg won’t continue with the ridiculous talk about me going back to my pa.”
“Good. I’m glad your risk paid off.”
“If he hadn’t made his feelings known to me when we were younger, I would never have done it.”
“Well, the look on Eve’s face is worth it,” Heather said, gesturing to Evelyn.
Patty followed her friend’s gaze and couldn’t help but laugh. “You have a mean streak in you, Heather. It’s wrong for you to delight so much in proving Evelyn wrong. As it turns out, all men don’t want a woman who goes around tossing handkerchiefs on the ground and fainting at the smallest critter. Apparently, if you had sent a mouse running through your house when you invited me and Greg to supper a year ago, it would have saved us all a lot of trouble.”
Heather laughed harder and wiped tears from her eyes. “Yes, it would have.”
“Too bad Mitch gave you a hard time about it.”
“Only because he was afraid Greg was so upset he wouldn’t talk to him again. But,” she gestured to Mitch and Greg who were both laughing, “it all worked out. They’re not upset anymore.”
“No, they aren’t.” She caught sight of her pa who had arrived on his horse. “I’m going to tell my pa the good news.”
Heather grabbed her arm and stopped her. “You can’t tell him you hunted down rodents and then Greg had his way with you on the worktable.”
“I’m not going to put it like that. I’m just going to tell him he might be a grandpa next year, that’s all. I won’t disclose the details, and I’m sure he’ll be glad.”
“Yes, you’re right. He will be glad. The less said, the better.”
Patty left Heather and hurried over to her father, bypassing a bewildered Evelyn as she did so. Her father would be happy for her, she knew. And he might have figured it out on his own if Patty waited long enough, but she was too excited not to tell him. Things were looking very good. In fact, things were perfect. Her plan had worked beautifully. Everything she ever wanted had finally come to pass. And nothing was going to spoil it.
Chapter Seventeen
A week later, Patty read the missive in the kitchen, hoping it would change when she read it the tenth time. But it didn’t. She had picked it up that day in town at the post office when she was shopping with Heather. At the time, she managed to hide it from her friend so she wouldn’t arouse her suspicions. But now she wondered if she should have opened it right away. She could have benefited from her friend’s advice.
With a glance out the window, she saw Greg going into the barn. She forced her eyes back to the paper. It was from John Meyer.
Word is that Greg is smitten with you. Looks like the risk paid off. I need you to dress up in those men’s clothes again and meet me in the saloon. Come alone. Saturday at 3pm. Don’t worry. I won’t have my way with you…unless you want to know how a real man is in bed. I
’m always willing to oblige.
She grimaced. The last thing she wanted to do was see John again. It’d been enough that she paid him all she had and he managed to wiggle more money out of Greg. She didn’t see why she had to go see him again. Their deal was done.
She could decide not to go. But he might tell Greg how she tricked him into marrying her. And after how long it took Greg to figure out that he should be married to her, she didn’t dare jeopardize ruining what they had.
No. Whether she liked it or not, she had to go. And this wasn’t going to be easy. With a great deal of uncertainty, she took the letter upstairs to the bedroom she and Greg now shared and tucked it under her undergarments. Though Greg’s parents’ room was still the bigger one, he said he preferred to sleep in his old room and explained how much his mother’s leaving had hurt his father.
“I can see putting our children in there, but I’d rather we stay in here,” he had finished.
It didn’t bother her where they slept, so she agreed. They had moved the bigger bed into his room and put the small one in the other one. Why it didn’t bother him to sleep on the same bed his parents had, she didn’t know. But some things were just better off not prying into, and this was one of them.
Her gaze went to the drawer with her undergarments that now hid John’s letter. If she wasn’t careful, she was going to lose everything she fought so hard for. Taking a deep breath, she closed the drawer then checked out the window again to make sure Greg was still outside. When she saw he was, she went over to her trunk.
The clothes she used to dress up as a man when she went to the saloon were still there under a few of her mother’s things. She’d use this disguise again. As much as she didn’t want to, she had to. She’d come this far to get Greg. She wasn’t going to stop now. She could only hope whatever John wanted, it was simple and quick. Then she could go back to her happy life with Greg.
She closed the lid of the trunk and released her breath. Standing up, she bit her lower lip. How was she going to slip out of the house without someone noticing? Seeing her dressed up as a man would raise some questions she’d rather not answer.
Heather! She’d simply tell Greg she wanted to visit Heather. He’d understand and let her go without asking any questions. That would work. Relieved, she headed back down the stairs to finish making supper. Though she didn’t have to, she did like cooking once in a while, especially since she had finally mastered the art of cooking rhubarb cherry pie. And she had the feeling that Greg wouldn’t mind it so much when she bent forward to show him a little cleavage. With a wicked smile, she unbuttoned the top three buttons of her shirt then entered the kitchen.
***
“Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you?” Greg asked that Saturday as Patty tied her leather bag to the saddle on her horse.
Patty laughed in a way she hoped was convincing. “No, that’s alright. I’m just going to visit Heather.” She glanced over at him once the bag was secure, praying her guilt didn’t show. “I’ll only be gone for a couple hours. We’ll only engage in boring women talk. You know Heather. She doesn’t like riding horses or looking for critters. She just wants to sit on the porch and sew clothes for that baby she’s expecting.” There. That should deter Greg from wanting to come.
“Maybe, but I could see Mitch.” He rubbed the small of her back and shot her a suggestive grin. “We could even take a little detour and have some fun.”
Her face warmed. As much as she wanted to take him up on his offer, there was no way she could. She needed to see John before he came out here telling everyone the bargain she’d made with him. “You have too much to do here as it is. Once we figure out who’s been after the cattle, there will be plenty of time to do that.”
After a moment, he nodded. “You’re right. It’s not fair that I’ve been taking so much time off when they’ve been guarding the fields.”
Relieved, she kissed his cheek. “We’ll find out who’s behind it.”
She got up on the horse. Thank goodness common sense overrode his desire to be with her, though it was awfully nice that he wanted to be with her as much as he did. It was definitely better than when he avoided her like the plague.
“I won’t be long,” she promised.
“I’ll miss you while you’re gone.”
“I’ll miss you, too.”
“Ah, that’s so sweet,” Randy said.
She glanced over at the ranch hand who was walking over to them with Marv and Herb.
“Don’t you all have something better to do?” Greg called out.
“Not at the moment,” Marv replied, glancing at the other two men who shook their heads. “Nope. They don’t either.”
Greg sighed. “Fine. I’ll find work for you to do.” He gave Patty’s leg a quick pat then headed over to them.
Glad it’d been that easy to get away, Patty hurried off the property. As soon as she was out of their viewing range, she put on the beard, hat, boots, and trench coat. The rest of her was already covered in men’s clothes, but the trench coat reached her boots. The thing was hot, but it hid the fact that she had breasts, so she had to wear it. Plus, it was dusty on the town road. All she needed was for Greg to catch on to the fact that she wasn’t at Heather’s because of the dust on her.
When she reached the saloon, she slid off her horse and tied the reins to a post. She closed her eyes for a moment and released her breath. She could do this. All she had to do was find out what he wanted and get out of there. She proceeded up the steps and entered the bar through the swinging doors. This time the smoke didn’t bother her eyes so much, and she didn’t balk at the smell of liquor lingering in the air. She didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. On one hand, she was getting used to it. But on the other hand, she was getting used to it, and she didn’t want to get used to something like this.
Someone cleared his throat, so she turned her gaze to John Meyer, who waved her over. Forcing aside her unease, she walked over to him, bumping into a chair along the way. She wondered why he didn’t just sit at the bar like the other men in the joint, but she figured he wanted their conversation to be private. That probably wasn’t a good sign. If he wanted to keep it between the two of them, then it had to be something underhanded and sneaky.
“Glad you made it,” he said and motioned to the chair next to him.
Well, it beat having to sit with him on a horse while he thrust his slimy tongue in her mouth. Even now, the memory made her shudder. She sat down and waited for him to speak.
He leaned forward and winked. “You’re a smart woman to come here. If you hadn’t, Greg would find out about the deal we made, and I figured you weren’t stupid enough to let that happen, especially not when things are goin’ so well.”
“What do you want?” she asked in a low voice, not bothering to try to sound like a man.
“I need you to help me and a couple others get some of Greg’s cattle.”
She felt the color drain from her face. Had she not been wearing a beard, she was sure the whole world would have seen how pale she got. “You’re the bandit who’s been stealing from his herd?”
“Oh come now, Patty. You can’t be surprised I’d do somethin’ like that.”
“But…but…” She glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them. “But that’s Greg’s livelihood.”
He snorted. “Greg has enough cattle. He’ll be just fine.”
“You’re taking his strongest ones.”
“I ain’t stupid, hon. I get the best of the lot when I make my raids.”
She shifted uncomfortably in her chair. He seriously couldn’t expect her to do this, especially not when she was married to the man he was stealing cattle from. “Why are you doing this?”
“Money,” he said as if it was the most obvious reason in the world.
“Don’t you already rip off enough men at the poker tables?” She’d heard of his reputation. It didn’t seem to her he was exactly hurting.
&nb
sp; “I don’t cheat, and that means I don’t win every hand.”
“If you need money so badly, why don’t you get an honest job?”
With a chuckle, he shook his head and drowned a shot of whiskey. “What’d you take me for, Patty? An honest man?” He leaned so close to her she could smell his breath. “An honest man don’t earn the wages a dishonest one does. I may not look like it, but I got myself a little house on a nice piece of land outside another town. I enjoy what I do here, of course. Winnin’ hands against men like Boaz Grady and sleeping around with the ladies has its perks, but sometimes I think it’d be nice to get away from it all and have some peace and quiet. And,” he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, “I have no intention of workin’ for it.”
He really meant it. He expected her to help him with his cattle rustling. This was worse than she imagined. Never in a million years did she think he stole cattle, let alone Greg’s.
“You still owe Mayor White a favor,” he added, shooting her a pointed look.
Her eyes widened. Mayor White was in this? She quickly tried to dismiss the idea. Mayor White was a prominent member of the community. He went to church, helped the orphans and widows, and even bailed the ranchers out of a tight spot a couple years back when the drought hit them hard and the bank came looking for money. There was no way the mayor could be involved in something like this. Could there?
“The last person who crossed the mayor,” John began, “got his hand cut off.”
“His what?” she asked, unable to believe what she was hearing. Surely, John was lying. He had to be. At least, she hoped he was.
“You heard of one-handed Bill? The man who took off runnin’ from Lewistown three years ago?”
She gulped. That was how he lost the hand? She thought it was an accident with a saw.
“I told the mayor you were smart,” John said. “Now prove me right. Lyle’s on watch tomorrow with Marv. Lyle will distract Marv while you take the best of the herd and bring it to the east end of the fence. Do this at midnight. We’ll do the rest. We’ll even repair the fence. There’s no need for Greg or those ranch hands he’s got figurin’ out what’s going on.”
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