by Merry Farmer
Then again, if he couldn’t find something to do with his life, some way to prove he was more than just an old lump on a log, he didn’t have much of a right to Josephine’s attention.
As he neared the bench against the wall of the saloon, the pair of young men chatting in the morning sun smiled up at him. Pete nodded back, and one of the men hopped up.
“Here you go, Gramps,” he said, offering his seat.
Pete scowled and pointed to the bench. “Sit.”
“But—”
“I feel like standing.” He reached the wall of the saloon and turned to lean his shoulder against it.
“Yes, sir.” The man who had stood slowly lowered himself back onto the bench and resumed his conversation.
Pete ignored both men. ‘Gramps.’ He snorted and shook his head. The young fools had no idea who they were talking to. Why, if push came to shove, he was certain he could out run both of them. Outshoot them too. Heck, if they were trapped in a rocky pass in the dead of winter with nothing but a flint and some string, Pete knew which one of them would make it out alive. Just because a man had a few gray hairs didn’t make him a relic.
“You boys looking for a little fun?”
Pete turned his head, brow shooting up, at the simpering alto voice. The saloon must have been more than a saloon. A soiled dove with curly blond hair and a bosom large enough to lose a squirrel in came sauntering through the swinging front door. She had her skirts hiked up to show a little leg, and her corset half unlaced.
A jolt of heat that no doubt came from going without the company of a woman for so long fired through Pete. He immediately cleared his throat to suppress it. Josephine wouldn’t approve. Besides which, Josephine had a much prettier bosom. He’d rather kiss Josephine’s lips, slide his hands along her sides, test the roundness of her backside.
The heat flooding him flared hotter. Well, that proved one thing for certain. He wasn’t old enough to be put out to pasture yet. In fact, he suspected that if Josephine had come swaying out of that saloon dressed—or undressed—like that, he’d find a quiet corner to ‘get to know her better’ in three seconds flat. He’d just have to tell this soiled dove he was already spoken for.
“Men as strong and virile as you shouldn’t be alone on a lovely day like this,” the whore went on.
Pete pivoted and opened his mouth to decline…but she walked right past him without a second look.
“We saved a spot for you right here,” the man who had stood earlier said, scooting to the side.
“How gentlemanly.” The whore sat between the two men, wiggling her backside and giggling as she did.
Somewhere between the humiliation of being ignored by a whore and getting all worked up over the image of Josephine wiggling her backside as she sat on his lap, Pete had had enough. He pushed away from the saloon and marched back into the street. There had to be something he could do. He had years left in him, good years, good decades. He wasn’t ready to be forgotten. Maybe he should have listened to Graham when he told tales of the possibilities waiting for him in Wyoming. Ranching was hard work, but if a wounded soldier like Graham could do it, then surely he could too.
Pete neared the intersection with the street that the hotel was on and began to turn when something caught his eye. He stopped and turned, a frown creasing his brow.
“That boy,” he muttered, then switched directions and marched toward another wagon recruiting men to work in a logging camp.
There, lined up with a dozen other, older, bigger men was Luke.
Chapter Five
P ete swore under his breath and picked up his pace. He’d passed by the logging wagon where Luke stood in line earlier because the recruiter looked mean and hungry. Not all logging camps treated their employees well, and that particular wagon looked more like an invitation to stick one foot in the grave than a gateway to respectable employment.
“Son, what the heck are you doing?” Pete marched up to Luke with a scowl.
Luke twisted, then jumped half a mile at the sight of Pete. He tried to run, but the rest of the men standing in line were so surprised by Pete’s outburst that they didn’t move, forming a wall that trapped Luke. Once he saw he was cornered, Luke gave up with a huff and rounded on Pete.
“I’m trying to get a job,” he spat.
Pete’s brow shot up at the sass Luke tossed his way. He grabbed Luke’s arm and pulled him out of line. “Is that what you think?”
“It’s what I know.” Young though he was, Luke put on a look that was as surly as an old dog.
“You’re too young, son. You need to be in school right now,” Pete argued.
“I do not. I got a brother and sisters to take care of.”
Pete shook his head. “The way things are looking, Libby’s found someone to take care of her.”
“But not Freddy and Muriel.” A hint of desperation slipped into Luke’s retort. Panic made him look even younger than he was. “I gotta take care of them.”
“You’ve gotta get yourself back in school, get your education.”
“Says who?” Luke crossed his arms in imitation of Pete’s stance.
“Says anyone with half a brain. You can make a damn sight more money and take better care of your family if you get the education you need to be a lawyer or a businessman, or even a clerk.”
“I don’t wanna work inside, stuffed into a suit all the time,” Luke protested.
“Too true,” one of the other men standing in line watching the confrontation said.
“I wouldn’t take a job in an office if you paid me,” another followed, then snorted at his joke.
The recruitment line had stopped, and even the wiry man from the logging camp was eavesdropping on the conversation now. “Let the man sign up,” he shouted, more than a little greed in his eyes.
Pete guessed he was paid something for each man he hired, which only deepened his suspicion of that particular operation. “This is no man, he’s a boy. Fifteen years old,” he said.
The wiry man shrugged. “I don’t care if he’s two as long as he can lift a saw and shimmy up a tree.”
Pete had a feeling the man wasn’t exaggerating. He turned to Luke and narrowed his eyes. “You wanna go work for a man who’d send Freddy up a tree with a saw as soon as he’d send you?”
Luke lowered his head, shoved his hands in his pockets, and kicked the dirt. “No.”
“That’s the first smart thing I’ve heard you say all day.” Pete thumped Luke’s back, steering him away from the logging camp line. “Besides, if you’re gonna get any sort of job that supports your siblings, would you really want to head off into the woods, likely too far away to even see Freddy and Muriel above once or twice a year?”
Luke’s eyes went wide in alarm. “I thought the camp was right outside of town, up the river a ways.”
Pete snorted and rested his arm around Luke’s shoulders. “Son, some of those logging camps take a full week to get to, over mountains and so far away from any hint of civilization that you’re likely to grow fangs and claws just to survive.”
It was an exaggeration, but it got the point across. Luke’s frown tightened. “Maybe I could find a camp closer to the town or some other town. Maybe there’s a boarding house like the one we’re staying in now where the kids could live while I work.”
“I don’t imagine too many boarding houses would be willing to mind two children under the age of ten while their brother goes out to work every day.”
“Or maybe I can join the same logging camp as Teddy Simms and the kids could come with us to wherever that is.”
Pete sent an awkward, sideways look to Luke. “If your sister does marry Teddy—and it’s awful quick for two people that young to jump into something like that—would you really want to burden newlyweds with children?”
“Yes.” Luke paused after his firm answer, then sighed. “No. If Libby gets married, she’ll want to start her own life. But that just means it really is all up to me.”
&nbs
p; “Not necessarily. We’ll find some place that’ll take the kids and you in. It’ll all work out. You finish up school, and maybe in three or four years things will be different.”
“I don’t want to wait three or four years,” Luke growled. “I need to take care of my family now .”
Pete felt for the boy, truly he did, but… “Son, every way I look at this situation, unless you stay the course and finish your schooling, those sweet younger siblings of yours are going to end up in danger. Any kind of job you get around here either won’t pay you enough or will require you to leave Freddy and Muriel alone for months on end, and who knows what would happen to them then?”
Luke lost even more of his swagger, his shoulders sagging under Pete’s arm. “What am I supposed to do then? I promised Ma I wouldn’t let anyone split the four of us up.”
“I’m sure Josephine would understand.” He said it before he could really think about it. Of course, Luke was talking about his own ma. Josephine had sprung so easily to his mind as the mother of all four of the Chance kids that realizing it wasn’t true was like taking a knife in the gut.
His slip didn’t go unnoticed. Luke stopped and shrugged away from Pete. “How come you and Miss Josephine don’t get married and adopt the lot of us?”
Knife in the gut? No, that was more like being shot point-blank by a rifle.
Pete shifted his weight, planted his hands on his hips, and shook his head. “Son, it’s a lot more complicated than you lot are making it out to be.”
“Why?” Luke snapped. “You keep calling me son. Are you lying to me?”
Pete didn’t know whether to smack the boy for his lip or…or admit he was right. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t toss terms like that around lightly. Not after all you’ve been through.”
Luke was only just getting started. “All of us can see that you and Josephine love each other. Why don’t you just get married and solve all of our problems? Or are you chicken?”
Heat flooded Pete’s face and his hand twitched as though it had a mind of its own and wanted to hit something. It was a damn shame that underneath the burst of anger was a much bigger well of shame.
“Chicken has nothing to do with it,” he argued with a little too much force. “Josephine has her life waiting for her in Denver City and I have mine waiting for me…” He couldn’t finish with ‘here.’ Not after the pitiful morning of searching for work, not after finding all of his stuff had been stolen.
Luke didn’t back down. “Yeah? Well life changes. I might only be fifteen, but my life changed a lot from what it was supposed to be. And if I don’t figure out a way to save my brother and sister from some stinking orphanage, it’ll change again.”
The only thing that kept Luke’s declaration from being the most manly, mature thing Pete had ever heard was the explosion of tears that followed. “Luke.” He reached out to comfort the boy.
It was too late. Luke scrubbed at his face and tore off up the street. Pete took a few fast strides after him, but quickly decided the boy was man enough to handle his heartache in his own way. He slowed down and turned up a side street to make his way back to the hotel, shaking his head as he went. It was a crying shame. Those Chance kids had been through way more than most children should ever have to go through. Somewhere along the line he’d forgotten that.
“Pete!”
As he rounded another corner, Josephine was heading his way, on track to intercept him at the intersection. The hotel was only a block further. For a change, Josephine wore a smile and had a spring in her step. At least someone was having a good day.
“There you are. I was just about to come looking for you.” Josephine marched on.
It occurred to Pete right then, as he stopped to watch Josephine’s almost militant approach, that she was the most perfect woman he’d ever met. She was beautiful. Age had been kind to her, giving her a handsomeness that few women were lucky enough to achieve. She was strong too. He couldn’t think of many women who’d run their own affairs and lived their own life as boldly as she did. By the look of things, she enjoyed living that bold life of hers too.
His smile dropped. Would she want to give that up even if he did ask to marry her?
“I’ve just been down by the river, making an appointment to visit an orphanage,” she announced as she came to a stop in front of him.
It would be so easy to reach out and fold her in his arms and never let go. Even though he’d spent fifty years as his own man, without anyone depending on him for more than a journey along a trail.
“Mrs. Fielding is the name of the woman who runs the establishment,” Josephine went on, her smile still cheery. “And from what I could see of the outside of the house, it’s tidy and organized and the perfect environment for children. She requires that you make an appointment to tour the facilities, though.”
Maybe Luke was right. Maybe at the end of the day it all came down to the simple fact that he was chicken. As much as he wanted to hold and kiss and do more with Josephine, a part of him whispered that he really was too old to give her the life and happiness that she deserved. What if he up and died on her? What if he wasn’t as virile as he thought he was? Worse still, what if she died or left him once he gave his heart away?
“Pete? Did you hear me, Pete?”
Pete blinked out of his increasingly terrified thoughts, cleared his throat, and focused on her. “You need an appointment.”
Josephine hissed and shook her head. “I said that I already made an appointment, but I want you to come with me tomorrow.”
Tomorrow. One more day. One more day with Josephine. Then how many more after that?
“Of course I’ll come with you.” He forced his back to relax and started walking up the street toward the hotel.
Josephine fell into step beside him, studying him with narrowed eyes. “Is everything all right? You look a little peaked.”
Only because my old heart can’t figure out how to learn new tricks . He cleared his throat and said aloud, “I caught Luke trying to get a job with one of the logging camps.”
“Oh dear.” Josephine matched her steps to his, frowning the way he frowned. “He’s too young to look for a job. He should finish his schooling.”
“That’s what I told him.” He threw out an arm to emphasize his strong feelings on the subject. “Only, he’s so concerned about his siblings that he’s not thinking straight.”
“I suppose it’s admirable of him.”
“There’s a fine line between admirable and stupid.” In fact, Pete was sure the same line could be applied to half the things he’d said and done lately. If only he could sort it all out. “I told him everything would work out.”
“It…it will.” But Josephine didn’t sound as confident as Pete needed her to be.
They reached the front of the hotel, and Pete slowed his steps. “With any luck, this place you found with that Mrs. Fielding woman will be just what we…just what they need.”
He must have sounded more pathetic than he’d intended. Josephine reached for his hand. Her pretty brown eyes were filled with a compassion so deep it touched his very soul. He’d seen those eyes shine with just about every emotion possible out on the trail: happiness, challenge, fear, and loving. He would have given anything to see them shine with confidence in him now. But confidence started in himself, and it was having a hard time getting going.
“Maybe if we—”
“Luke!”
Pete’s thought was cut short as Luke stormed right past him and Josephine. Pete let him go, choosing instead to turn toward Libby, who was racing after him, Teddy not that far behind. Libby had been the one to call out.
“Luke, wait up,” she continued to call. When she reached Pete and Josephine, she stopped to catch her breath and mutter in exasperation.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Josephine asked. “What’s Luke so worked up about?”
Teddy reached their small group and answered, “He asked if I could get him a job in the logging camp
where I work.”
Pete cursed. “I told him not to do that.”
“Yes, well, he did,” Teddy said with a wry smirk.
“And?” Pete prompted.
Teddy shrugged. “Mr. Montrose, my boss, has strict rules about the men he hires. No one under the age of eighteen. That’s one of the reasons I work for him.” Teddy nodded down the road to Luke’s retreating back just as he turned a corner. “Luke didn’t like that answer.”
“I’m sure he didn’t,” Pete said, but caught himself grinning with relief.
“Luke wouldn’t be so upset if there was a way the family could all stick together.” There was a sharp edge to Libby’s voice. When Pete glanced to her, his brow shot up at the force of the stare she had directed at him. As if it was his fault. As if the solution to the problem was right there in his hands and he was too stupid to realize it. She shifted her glance pointedly to Josephine.
Yep, she thought he was stupid, all right. She might not have been wrong.
Josephine sighed. “Estelle has Freddy and Muriel inside the hotel for tea. We should—”
“I’ll go fetch them,” Libby cut her off. She grabbed Teddy’s hand and tugged him to the stairs leading up to the hotel’s porch. “You two have things to talk about.” Her words were clipped. She stomped up the steps and inside the hotel.
“Land sakes. What was that all about?” Josephine pressed a hand to her chest. “Has everyone fallen into foul tempers so quickly?”
There was no point pretending the truth wasn’t staring them right in the face.
“The kids are upset at us,” he said.
“Us?” Josephine blinked rapidly.
“They think we could solve all their problems by getting married and adopting them.”
His pronouncement hung like heat lightning in the air between them. Josephine’s baffled expression tensed, then melted into something warm and wary. She lowered her eyes and wrung her hands. “Oh. I see.”
And now he’d gone and upset Josephine too. Lord help him. At this rate, he’d be better off spending the rest of his days walking back and forth on the Oregon Trail by himself.