Oliver asked.
“Right.”
“‘Member the last time we was here and you took us to that place for fried chicken?” the little boy asked.
Abby suppressed a grin as she nodded. “Would you like to go there again?”
“Yes’m. I’m hungry and thirsty.”
Abby ruffled his blond hair, then brushed it off his forehead. “Let’s get you all cleaned up, then we’ll go there.”
Jarrod rode into Hollister about an hour after sundown. He was tired and hungry. His temper was frayed real thin.
He left his horse at the livery with orders for a good rub-down and an extra ration of oats. It wasn’t smart to push an animal as hard as he had. A healthy mount could mean the difference between living and dying. When he laid eyes on the kids, they might be sorry the ol’ roan hadn’t dumped him on the trail. With an effort, he reined in his anger. One thing he’d found out today—he didn’t like worrying.
He planned to put an end to it real soon. Standing in front of the livery, he stared down the main street of Hollister and wondered where to start looking.
The freight office. Just so happened, it was right next door. With the place all dark, it didn’t take him long to figure out no one was there. The next building down was the sheriff’s office. Light spilled through the window onto the boardwalk. When Jarrod looked inside, he saw Zach Magruder hunched over his desk with paperwork.
Jarrod opened the door and walked in. “Evenin’, Zach.”
The sheriff looked surprised, then pleased. “Don’t that beat all. Jarrod Blackstone. What the blue blazes are you doin’ here in town?”
“Wish I could say it was a social call, Zach. But the fact is, I’m looking for some kids—my nieces and nephews. You seen ‘em wandering around?”
“Not wanderin’. Seen ‘em with Abby Miller not too long ago over at the Hollister House Restaurant.”
“Are they all right?”
Zach laughed. “The way they were puttin’ away Henrietta’s fried chicken—yeah, I’d say they were doin’ just fine.”
“Glad to hear it.” Relief washed over Jarrod and he let out a long breath.
“Something wrong?” the sheriff asked.
Jarrod paused in the open doorway. “Not yet.”
7
“Don’t you ever do that again.” Jarrod stood beside the table in the restaurant and pointed at each of the children in turn.
Abby had never seen him like this. Lines of worry cut his face from nose to mouth. There was no teasing glint in his cold gray eyes. He looked dirty, tired, and angry.
“Take it easy, Jarrod,” she said, pushing her chair away from the table. Around them, people had stopped eating and talking. They stared at Jarrod Blackstone.
He turned to her. She’d been wrong about his eyes. They weren’t cold at all. Spitting fire was more accurate. “Abby, you stay out of this.”
Lily stood and moved between Abby and Jarrod. “Don’t blame Abby, Uncle Jarrod. She didn’t know anything about this until she found us a little while ago.”
“I’m not blaming her. I just want to know what the hell is going on. What do you mean sneaking off like that? I’ve lost a day’s work looking for you. Not to mention Dusty and Slim. And I’ve been—” He gritted his teeth as he ran his hand through his hair.
Abby put her hands on Lily’s shoulders and moved her out of the way. “Jarrod?”
“What?” he asked.
“Just tell them you were worried sick about them. Then give them a talking-to they’ll never forget.”
He sighed and his shoulders relaxed a bit. He stared at her for a moment, his mouth a straight line, then said, “Abby Miller, you’re developing an irritating habit of being right.”
He turned to the children and opened his arms wide. “Come here,” he said gruffly.
Katie and Oliver were the first to reach him, and he scooped them up, one in each arm. Lily put her arms around his middle and hugged him. He smiled at her.
Around them, other diners put down their forks and knives and nodded approvingly as they applauded.
Jarrod grinned. “Sorry to interrupt your supper, folks. Don’t pay us any mind. Please go on eating.”
He looked back at Tom, who stood within the circle but didn’t touch his uncle. “That foal missed you today.”
“Did she?” he asked, his eyes lighting up. “I missed her too. She okay?”
“Fine.”
Tom tipped his head back to meet his uncle’s gaze. “I didn’t want to leave the ranch, but Lily said Mama wanted us all to stay together.”
Jarrod put the two youngest down. “Finish your dinner.”
“Did you miss us, Uncle Jarrod?” Katie asked.
“Yup.” The lines appeared again between his eyebrows. “No one’s told me yet why you ran off without even a by-your-leave. Dusty and Slim and I have been looking everywhere. Then I get here and you’re laughing and talking and having a grand old time—”
“Why don’t you have something to eat with us, Jarrod?”
Abby said. “You must be hungry. When you’re fed and watered, you’re bound to be in a better frame of mind.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my temper,” he said sharply.
“I think there is. You’ve lost it,” Abby said. “Hogwash. A good day’s work and a long night’s sleep is all I need,” he snapped.
Katie put down her fork. “Why are you talkin’ so loud, Uncle Jarrod? Is it because you can’t find your temper?” she asked.
He sucked in a breath between his teeth. “I have not lost my temper. Is it too much to ask why you all took off the way you did?”
As he glared at Abby, the bell over the restaurant door rang loudly. Everyone turned to look as Gib Cochran and Bea Peters walked in together.
The older man took off his hat, then nodded to people at a table in the corner. Spotting Jarrod and the others, his gray-black brows went up in wonder. Bea noticed the group at the same time and glanced at Gib, surprised. Not any more surprised than Abby was to see the two of them together. She stifled a grin.
The older couple walked over and said hello to the children.
“Howdy, Firecracker,” Gib said, nodding to Abby. He looked at Jarrod. “Didn’t know you was plannin’ t’bring the kids into town.”
“I didn’t,” Jarrod said through clenched teeth.
Oliver ran over to the foreman and grabbed his leg. “We comed all by ourselves.”
“Did ya now? And just how did you do that?” Gib asked, giving Bea a curious look.
Katie joined her brother. “Can you guess how we did, Mr. Cochran?” When he shook his head, she said, “We hid in the back of Abby’s wagon. Tom didn’t think I could be quiet,” she went on, wrinkling her nose at her brother. “But I was. We made it all the way to town and Abby never heard us.”
“Only because you were asleep,” Tom said sharply.
“Children,” Abby said in a firm voice that got their attention. “Are you all finished with your dinner?” When four heads nodded, she handed Lily a key and continued, “I want you to go upstairs in the boardinghouse to my room. Do you remember the way?”
“‘Course we do. Right, Lil?” Tom asked his older sister. “We’re not babies like Oliver.”
“I’m not a baby,” Oliver said indignantly.
“That’s enough. Everyone go upstairs. Your uncle and I need to talk.”
Katie pulled on Abby’s skirt to get her attention. “Are you gonna find Uncle Jarrod’s temper for him?” she asked.
Abby bit back a smile. “Yes. And I need peace and quiet, because it’s a very difficult thing to do. Can you go upstairs and be good while I do?”
The little girl’s curls bounced as she nodded vigorously. “I’ll play with Oliver so he’ll be quiet too.”
Abby glanced at her older brother. “Tom? Take him to the necessary, please.”
The older boy frowned at her. “You can’t tell me—”
“Tom,” Jarrod said in a tone t
hat allowed no disobedience. “Do as Abby asked.”
“Yes, sir.”
When they were gone, Abby turned back to Jarrod and breathed a sigh of relief. “Now we can talk.”
“We’ll join ya,” Gib said.
Bea Peters touched his arm. “I don’t think we should, Gib. They have some things to discuss regarding the children.”
“I’m fond of those young’uns,” Gib said. “Maybe—”
Abby could have sworn Bea elbowed him in the ribs. But as smooth as molasses over hotcakes, the older woman said, “We’ll just have supper by ourselves so you young people can talk privately.”
Just before they turned away, Abby saw her shoot Gib Cochran the look she used to give her students. The one that said, I know you’re not dumb as a post, so why are you acting like it?
A young boy came out of the kitchen. Abby recognized Joe Schafer, who worked at the restaurant. He started to put the dirty dishes in the bucket he carried.
She touched his arm. “Joe? Would you ask Henrietta to put together a big plate of chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, and green beans and biscuits, for Mr. Blackstone?”
He glanced up at Jarrod, then back to her. “Sure thing, Miss Abby.”
She turned back to Jarrod. “Now sit down, so we can find your temper.”
“I haven’t lost it,” he snapped. But he sat, and Abby took the chair to his right.
Joe made another trip for dirty dishes, and Abby shook her head, still amazed at the pile of plates, forks and knives, napkins, crumbs, and chicken bones. The kids had been starved and hadn’t eaten anything all day. They’d been in too big a hurry to conceal themselves in her wagon without being seen.
“You want to know why the children ran away?” Abby caught and held his gaze as she clasped her hands together on the white tablecloth. “They overheard us talking about boarding school. The idea didn’t strike their fancy.”
“I remembered hearing that creak on the stairs, and figured that’s what happened.”
“That’s what happened, all right. Katie wasn’t as sound asleep as I’d thought. She crept downstairs, listened to part of the conversation, and assumed you had already made up your mind.”
He took his hat off and rested it on the chair beside him, then pushed his fingers through his dark hair. “Wouldn’t you know it would be the one time she didn’t ask questions?”
“They jumped the gun.”
“Why?”
“Because they don’t want to be sent away. You heard what Tom said. Sally wanted them raised together. As much as they pretend not to like each other, they don’t want to be separated, and they’ll do what they have to so that doesn’t happen.”
Jarrod looked at her as a thoughtful expression pulled his dark brows together. “They’ve got Sally’s gumption. Sure didn’t get it from that no-good she married.”
“They’ve had a rough time. It’ll take them a while to feel like they belong.”
“Guess I didn’t help any with this talk of boarding school. Then coming in here loaded for bear when I saw they were with you and fine as could be.”
“They’ll understand that you’re not mad. That you acted the way you did because you were worried.”
“How do you know that’s all it was? After all, I can’t find my temper.”
“Call it a hunch.”
One corner of his mouth turned up. Abby knew he wasn’t going to let go of his irritation anytime soon. For good reason. He’d probably been half out of his mind with worry all day. She wished she could have prevented him going through that, and searched for a way to make him relax.
She grinned. “Katie thought boarding school is a place you go to learn about boards.”
“She’s really somethin’.” He laughed. “The kids sure have taken to you.”
The merriment smoothed away the lines of worry and fatigue, transforming his face. Her heart skipped and fluttered. He was looking at her now in a way that made her uncomfortable, as if to say they weren’t the only ones who had taken to her. She tried to think of a safe subject.
“They don’t do what I say. At least not all the time. Tom especially.”
“I noticed that. I wonder why.”
She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that he’s really taken to you.”
“Thanks to your advice. He’s eager to learn. In fact it was because of Tom that we started looking for the kids.”
“What do you mean?”
“We got curious, then suspicious when he didn’t show up this morning to see the new foal.”
“He wasn’t happy about it either.”
“If I’d known for sure they were with you, I wouldn’t have lost my temper,” he said with a grin.
She smiled back as his compliment warmed her all over. So much for a safe subject. “There was no way to get word to you, the ranch being so far out and all. I was going to bring the children back in the morning. Those clever little rascals stayed hidden until they knew it would be too late for me to take them home and they’d have to spend the night.”
“What did they hope to gain?”
“Time.”
“For what?”
“To talk me into keeping them,” she said.
“Would you have? Taken them in, I mean?”
She sighed. “I have no right to them. Besides, I’m just as busy as you are. How would I watch over them?”
He studied her. “You care about them. Don’t you, Abby?”
She squirmed under his scrutiny, wondering why he was asking this. “Oliver informed me that I love them.”
“Do you?”
“I’m awfully fond of them, Jarrod. Who wouldn’t be?”
Just then the kitchen door swung open and Henrietta Schafer brought a plate piled high with food. “Here ya are, Jarrod. Ain’t seen you in a coon’s age. Where ya been keepin’ yerself?”
She was a small woman, not even five feet tall. Her deep, lisping voice had seemed oddly out of place to Abby when they’d first met. But she’d found that the tiny woman had a heart twice her size. Abby had become terribly fond of her.
Jarrod smiled at the woman, who stood watching him with hands on her hips. “Hello, Hettie.”
“No one but you ever calls me that.”
“Don’t know why. Henrietta’s just too big a mouthful for a little bit of a woman like you.”
She grinned. “Flatterer.”
He nodded toward the kitchen door where Joe had disappeared. “That son of yours sure is getting tall in a hurry. How do you keep him in pants?”
Hettie grinned. “Hasn’t been such a hurry. And I’m gonna forget that it’s been months since you’ve been to Hollister and just say, thank you, sir. Joe takes after his daddy, thank the Lord, and will likely hit six feet.”
“He’s a nice boy, Henrietta,” Abby said. “You should be real proud of him.”
“I am. And speakin’ of young’uns, hear tell you got yerself a houseful, Jarrod. Real sorry to hear about Sally.”
“Thanks, Hettie.” He scooped a pile of mashed potatoes and gravy into his mouth and swallowed. “They’re a handful, that’s for sure.”
“Especially with you bein’ a bachelor ‘n’ all.” Henrietta looked from Abby to Jarrod, then back again, and lifted an eyebrow.
Abby wasn’t quite sure what she was trying to say, nevertheless it made her uncomfortable.
Jarrod put his fork down and grabbed a chicken leg. “Abby’s helping me find a housekeeper.”
“That so?” The other woman looked at her again.
Darned if she didn’t feel her cheeks flush warmly. “I’m not having much luck,” Abby replied. “Jarrod needs someone right away. You don’t happen to know of anyone, do you, Henrietta?”
The other woman glanced at Bea Peters, sitting in the corner with Gib. A strange look flashed across her face and was gone before Abby could assess it.
“Nope, can’t say’s I do.” Then she thoughtfully tapped a finger against her lips.
“Wait a minute. Might be I just spoke too soon. Could just be someone here in Hollister can help you out.”
“Who?” Abby and Jarrod asked together.
Standing between them, Henrietta placed a hand on each of their shoulders. “Hold your horses, you two. Let me check out the lay of the land first.” She looked at Jarrod. “You gonna stay in town tonight?”
He nodded. “The ranch is too far to try and make it back tonight, after dark. Especially with the kids. You got room for all of us here in the boardinghouse?”
The other woman nodded. “We’ll make do. Not to worry.”
“What are you thinking of, Henrietta?” Abby asked.
“Since you’re in town anyways, you can meet the person I’m thinkin’ of.”
Abby smiled at Jarrod. “That would be wonderful. Don’t you think?”
He nodded. “If the kids approve, I can take her back with me. Save you a trip back out to the ranch.”
Abby nodded, but her smile faded as a vague sense of disappointment stole over her. That’s what she wanted, wasn’t it? To stay as far away from Jarrod Blackstone as she could? Especially after the way he’d kissed her. Had it really been only fourteen hours ago? When she thought about his mouth against her own, her skin felt hot and her breath caught.
A very good reason to be happy that he was saving her a trip out to his ranch. Henrietta Schafer was a good judge of people. If she had someone in mind for his housekeeper, there was a better than even chance that person would work out fine. As hard as she tried to make it otherwise, that thought didn’t make her want to run down the main street of Hollister shouting “Yahoo.”
This time tomorrow, all her problems with Jarrod Blackstone would be over.
“Bea Peters, you want to tell me what in tarnation you got up your sleeve?” Henrietta put down her coffee cup.
The two women sat at the table in the restaurant kitchen. Bea smiled at her friend, then took a sip of the strong black brew. She liked drawing out the suspense. It wasn’t often she knew something Henrietta didn’t, and God help her, she wanted to enjoy this moment as long as she could. “I don’t want to say too much, Hen. You know how hard it is for you to keep secrets.”
The smaller woman slapped her hand on the oak table and snapped, “What makes you say that?”
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