Finding Promise

by Scarlett Dunn

“Your painting supplies are here, and so is Mrs. McBride’s cloth.” He placed her materials on the long wooden table in the kitchen before accepting the cup of coffee she held out to him.

  “I’m so glad they came this fast. I have a surprise planned for Victoria for Christmas,” Promise replied, ripping into the brown paper package.

  Seeing the assortment of brushes and oils she pulled out of the package, Shorty said, “I guess that means you’re going to be painting something.”

  “I sure am, but keep it a secret.”

  Sitting at the table, Shorty noticed how healthy Promise looked since they’d arrived in Wyoming. Ranch life seemed to agree with her. “How are you doing?”

  Promise sat beside him so they could drink their coffee and have a chat. She’d missed listening to his stories like she’d done for miles on end during the cattle drive. It moved her that he was interested in her well-being. “I’m doing well.”

  “I like that Charles fellow. He’s a real gentleman.”

  Promise knew Charles was spending time on the range with the men, but it still surprised her to hear Shorty talk about him. “Charles and my brother were best friends.”

  “He must think highly of you to come all this way to take you back.”

  Promise didn’t hesitate to talk about her private feelings with Shorty. She’d learned he was a wise man. “Yes, he does.”

  “I haven’t had the chance to talk much to Jake lately. He’s been really busy.”

  On hearing Jake’s name, Promise tensed. Since that disastrous dinner, she hadn’t seen much of him, and she’d made an effort to avoid thinking about him. “I haven’t seen him much, either.”

  “Cole says you are going back to Denver in the spring, and that Charles is staying until then too.”

  “That’s the plan. We will visit my aunt and uncle before we head back to Charleston.” No one had been more surprised than she was when Charles changed his plans. Once she told him she wasn’t leaving until spring, she’d expected him to head to New Orleans for the winter. Instead, he told her he liked Wyoming and wanted to see for himself if the winters were as harsh as he’d heard from the cowboys. He planned to travel with her to Denver next spring and then on to Charleston. She enjoyed Charles’s companionship, and her only reservation about his staying was his single-minded determination to make her his wife. Perhaps he was weakening her resolve. Lately, she’d been thinking more about her future, and she’d come to realize that once she returned to Charleston, her life would change. Charles was right when he told her she couldn’t ignore her responsibilities, no matter how much she wished she could. It saddened her to think about leaving everyone come spring. Even though she didn’t see much of Shorty right now, she knew she would miss him.

  “Will you ever come back to Wyoming?” Everyone on the ranch knew Charles was saying he was her fiancé. In his roundabout way, Shorty was trying to find out if she was planning to marry him.

  She shook her head. “That’s not likely. Now that Matthew is gone, it is up to me to manage everything.”

  He guessed he would just have to ask outright. “I guess you’ll be marrying Charles.”

  “Well, that’s what Charles wants.”

  Shorty already knew what Charles wanted. “Is that what you want?”

  “I know it makes sense,” she said with a hint of resignation.

  Shorty stood and patted her on the shoulder. “Well, it’s a long time till spring. We’ll see what happens.”

  Promise didn’t understand what he meant, but she had to finish dinner, so she walked with him to the porch. “Thank you for picking up our supplies.”

  Shorty winked at her. “Anything for a gal as pretty as you.” He walked to the bunkhouse with his mind on Promise, and wasn’t paying attention when someone reined in beside him.

  “What’s for supper?”

  Shorty looked up to see Jake, and he frowned at him. “You’re so dang stupid, you don’t deserve any supper.”

  Jake just stared at him. He didn’t know what he’d done to Shorty to make him angry. “What’s wrong with you, old man?”

  “I just can’t believe you’re gonna let that little gal go back home without so much as a fight.” Shorty shook his head as if he was plain disgusted. “You’re just about the stupidest son-of-a-buck I’ve ever clapped eyes on.”

  “If you’re talking about Promise, why should I stop her from going home?”

  Reaching the bunkhouse door, Shorty glared at Jake and rolled his eyes. As he slammed the door, he added, “Yep, you’re a dang fool.”

  Jake sat there on his horse, totally bewildered. He didn’t know what had brought that on, but it seemed like everyone had an opinion lately about his intelligence, or lack thereof. Everyone with half a brain could tell there was something between Promise and Charles. If he did happen to catch a glimpse of Promise in the evenings, she was sitting on the porch swing with Charles. Hell, even Cole had mentioned that fact to him. He didn’t need Promise to paint a picture; a blind cowboy could see there was something going on between the two of them. In an effort to stay out of the way, he waited until everyone had retired for the night before he went into the house. Sometimes he raided the kitchen before he went to bed, and he liked that quiet time alone to think. He’d decided it made sense for Promise to return to Charleston with Charles.

  Well, he was through wasting his time thinking about that situation. Since it was a Friday night, he briefly considered calling on Mavis. It might be nice to have a woman who wanted to pay attention to him for a change. It was a bonus that Mavis did kiss pretty good. Not to mention the fact that she’d made it very clear she was interested in doing a lot more than kissing. Problem was, he couldn’t forget the kisses he’d shared with Promise. No matter what Mavis offered, he knew he wasn’t really interested in her.

  “What are you sitting there thinking about, brother?” Luke asked, reining in beside him.

  “Not a damn thing I want to discuss with you.” Jake still hadn’t forgiven his brother for causing that ruckus at dinner.

  Luke laughed. “I see you’re still mad at me.” Everyone was still mad at him. He actually thought Colt was going to knock his teeth out because Victoria didn’t talk to him for two days. Colt forced him to go tell Victoria that he hadn’t really said Mavis was a good kisser. It was the truth, Luke had been joking, but no one in this family had a sense of humor.

  “Yeah, I guess you could say I’m still mad. And you can thank your lucky stars I haven’t shot your sorry ass,” Jake responded.

  Luke wiggled his finger at him. “Bad words.” He laughed at his own sense of humor. “Can’t anyone in this family take a joke?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. Why don’t you ask Colt?” Jake knew Colt was even more upset with Luke than he was, and that was saying something. He had a feeling Victoria had never so much as said a cross word to Colt, but Luke had managed to have everyone spatting that night. And his baby brother thought it was funny. In a way, Jake had to admit it was funny. Maybe not at the time, but once he had time to think about it, he did see the humor in the situation. But he wasn’t about to admit that to his brother. One thing about Luke, he could take as much as he dished out. He always did like to have a good time, and when he was around, people were generally laughing. Life being the way it was, who could fault him for that? Still, he wasn’t ready to concede that point to him just yet.

  “Hell, no one in the family is talking to me except the boys,” Luke lamented.

  “Good!” Jake rode off toward the stable, grinning.

  “That’s what happens when men fall into that marriage trap! You can’t have fun anymore!” Luke yelled after his brother. He rode off in search of the twins.

  L. B. spotted the big man across the room, so she reached for a bottle off the bar and made her way to the table.

  “Gents,” she said as she took the seat across from the big man. It was the same man who’d lost the diamond comb in a bet.

  “My luck is better to
night, so I’m planning on winning my money back,” the big man said.

  “We’ll see.” L. B. refilled their glasses. “This bottle’s on the house.” It was her plan to ply them with whiskey and get them talking.

  She wasn’t sure how many men in the saloon were part of the big man’s gang, but she was sure the men at the table were together. As she played poker, she tried to keep track of the interactions among men at the various tables. Sam, L. B.’s partner and bartender, kept the bottles of whiskey flowing to the table. The men could hold their whiskey, but by their second bottle their tongues were starting to loosen.

  “It looks like you boys like our little town,” L. B. stated in a conversational tone.

  “We heard there’s no law here,” one man said.

  “Not right now. Our last sheriff is in the territorial jail, and no one has accepted the job yet. You interested?” L. B. asked.

  “We might be looking for ranch work around here,” the big man replied.

  “There’s a couple of large ranches that are always needing men.”

  “Maybe you could steer us to the best one,” the big man said, laying down the winning hand.

  L. B. noticed when the big man won he was friendlier, so she’d folded a couple of times when she knew she had the winning hand. She shuffled the deck, trying to appear nonchalant about her response. “The cowboys say the McBride ranch is always looking for good men. Men say the big man, Colt, is a tough boss, and don’t tolerate any foolishness.”

  “Is that a fact?”

  “But if you are interested in talking to him, you might see him in town tomorrow. I heard one of the brother’s taking the noon stage to Denver tomorrow. It might save you a trip to the ranch.”

  “What’s in Denver?” One of the other men asked this question. But L. B. saw him shoot a glance at the big man.

  L. B. wanted to appear disinterested in the whole conversation, so she continued to deal as she talked. She finished dealing and placed the deck on the table and picked up her cards. Waving a hand in the air as if she were dismissing the whole subject, she said, “I don’t pay much mind to gossip, but I think I heard they were taking some woman back to Denver, and they didn’t want her traveling alone. Now enough blabbering, let’s play poker.”

  Sam was listening intently to everything being said at the table. He thought L. B. missed her calling; she should have been on stage in a traveling show.

  “Where’s this McBride ranch?” Big Ugly asked.

  After L. B. gave him the general directions to the McBride ranch, she said, “You could always try Detrick’s outfit. He’s a tough old bird too, but fair enough.” She gave him the directions to that ranch as well, then quickly placed her bid.

  L. B. looked over at Sam and gave him a nod. Sam walked to the kitchen and whispered instructions to a boy who ran errands for him.

  Thirty minutes later, Bob, the owner of the livery, was riding out of town heading toward the McBride ranch.

  Colt walked to the bunkhouse, looking for Jake and Lucas. Finding no one there, he walked to the stables, where they were brushing down their horses.

  “Bob just came out to tell us that they’re in town, and L. B. set the bait.”

  “Good, let’s settle this once and for all,” Jake said.

  “Get everyone together after dinner and we’ll meet out here to lay out everything for tomorrow,” Colt said. “T. J., Strait, Charles, and Bartholomew will stay in the house while we are gone.”

  Once dinner was over, the men gathered in the stable. “Luke came up with this plan, and we think it will work. L. B. did her part, so now we have to determine where these killers will try to ambush us,” Colt explained to the men.

  They discussed the route to the ranch that L. B. had given the killers. Colt drew the map in the dirt floor, and Jake pointed to the place he thought would be the most likely for the killers to strike. “This is where I would attack,” he told the group.

  Colt nodded his agreement. “Ambush Pass, that’s the place I would pick.”

  “Appropriate place,” Luke added.

  The plan called for Jake to drive the wagon with Shorty sitting beside him, with Cole and Rodriguez inside the wagon, out of sight. Luke and Colt would ride beside them for a few miles before taking a trail that would place them above where they thought the killers would be waiting. Besides the men inside the house, additional men were going to be posted around the house in the event the killers didn’t take the bait.

  “Can you handle a rifle, Charles?” Jake asked, convinced the answer would be no.

  “Yes, and I assure you no one will get to the ladies unless it’s through me,” Charles responded.

  Colt knew Jake was skeptical of Charles’s abilities. “Charles practiced with one of my rifles, and he’s an excellent shot.”

  Jake didn’t comment on Colt’s revelation.

  “What time do we leave?” Luke asked.

  “We’re supposed to be taking the noon stage, and it’ll take over an hour by buckboard, so about ten thirty.” Colt replied. He turned and handed Shorty the bundle he had under his arm. “Here you go, Shorty, Mrs. Wellington got this ready for you.”

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  “Would someone like to tell me what is going on?” Promise asked the men sitting around the table the next morning. They’d had breakfast earlier, then they rode in about ten o’clock and told her they just wanted some coffee. Something was definitely wrong.

  Jake, Colt, and Luke exchanged looks that silently questioned who told her?

  “What are you talking about?” Charles asked. It seemed he was the only one able to formulate a question.

  Promise had suspected something was amiss when Mrs. Wellington and Bartholomew stayed the night, but she thought Victoria wasn’t well. “Is it something about Victoria?” she asked, staring straight at Colt.

  “No, Victoria is fine.”

  “Then what is it?” This time her eyes met Jake’s.

  “We’re just tired. We played poker too late.” Jake told himself it wasn’t a lie—he was tired.

  She knew he was keeping something from her, but she didn’t think she should say that, since she didn’t want to make matters worse between them. As soon as they walked out that door to get to work, she planned to ask Mrs. Wellington. If anyone knew what was going on, she would.

  She didn’t have to wait long. After the men had a second cup of coffee, they all got up to leave. To her surprise, Luke was the only one who actually left. Colt ran upstairs to see Victoria before he left, and Charles left the room saying he had to get something from his bedroom. Jake lingered by the door, and Promise assumed he was waiting for Colt. She busied herself cleaning the kitchen in an effort to avoid talking to him.

  “I forgot to tell you this morning that breakfast was real good,” Jake said. Of all the lame things to say, he thought. He wanted to tell her to keep her gun on her today, but he couldn’t without causing her to worry. He wanted to tell her that she looked beautiful in her pink dress. He wanted to say . . . hell, there were so many things he wanted to say, but he didn’t.

  Promise turned to look at him. “Thank you.”

  “You know I think your cooking is about the best I’ve ever eaten, don’t you?”

  There was no doubt in her mind something was going on. She wondered if it had anything to do with the killers. “What is it, Jake? Why are you being so nice to me?”

  That question threw him. “Haven’t I always been nice to you?”

  She gave him a sad smile. “You were until we arrived in Denver.”

  Jake leaned against the door and stared down at his boots as he formulated his words. “I never intended to be hurtful.”

  “Jake, I know something is going on. Does it have to do with the killers?”

  Pushing away from the door, he walked over to her and took her by the shoulders. “Promise, I want you to know . . .” He didn’t finish because he heard footsteps coming toward the kitchen. He dropped his hands
and moved back to the door.

  Charles walked in with a rifle in his hands and placed it against the wall. He looked from Promise to Jake. “Did I interrupt?”

  Before either one responded, Colt walked into the room. “I’m ready to go.”

  Colt preceded Jake through the door, and Jake hesitated. He turned back to see Promise staring at him. “Are we having apple pie tonight?”

  His question made her think of the night in Denver when she made him an apple pie and he never got to eat it. He’d been shot on the road on the way back to her uncle’s ranch. She wanted to make him tell her what was going on, but she knew he wouldn’t. “If you would like apple pie.”

  Jake grinned at her. “Guess I’ll have to be here for dinner then.” He shut the door behind him.

  She stood there staring at the closed door with unanswered questions swirling in her head. His response was more like the Jake before they’d arrived in Denver. A few seconds passed before she realized Charles was still in the room. “Aren’t you going with them, Charles?”

  “Not today. I thought I would stay around the house,” he replied, almost too nonchalantly.

  Bolting for the door, Promise pulled it open and ran onto the back porch. “Jake!”

  Jake and Colt stopped and turned toward her. “Yeah?” Jake said.

  She hadn’t thought of what she would say when she ran out the door. She’d just reacted. Now she didn’t know what to say without making a fool of herself. She noticed how quiet it was; no cowboys milling about, no cattle bawling, no horses whinnying. Nothing. Then a gust of wind caught her skirt and the sound of it whipping around her legs was almost deafening.

  Jake took two long strides closer. “What’s wrong?”

  They were just a few feet apart, but it seemed like miles because of the rift between them. Their eyes met and she held his gaze. “Be careful today.” Her voice was soft and full of concern.

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jake said in that supremely confident way of his.

  She watched as he turned and walked away with Colt by his side.