The Lady's Arrangement (Help Wanted)

by Colleen L. Donnelly

  “Mrs. Howard?”

  Regina rounded at the sound of his voice, the one voice I’d suggested she pay attention to, her face softening yet lighting with surprise. Maybe more than surprise. I caught the halt as she turned from Ted and me and said his name. “Doc…”

  “Thought I’d drop by before heading back to Liberal. Been down the road looking in on the Calvin twins. Is it okay to see Jess again?”

  Ted’s knuckles fired another round, then went quiet. I thought about doing the same as I looked from Regina to Doc, noted that gentle demeanor he had that claimed to be here to check on her son.

  “Yes. Of course. Please do.” Regina pointed toward the house.

  “He was faring pretty well earlier. But no harm checking him again…” Doc’s voice softened even more, the smile behind it clear as he eased his horse and buggy forward.

  Doc had Regina’s attention as she watched him steer to the house and step down from his buggy. She was quiet for once, studying the man’s every move. “Please come in.”

  Doc Harris lit on the ground, nodded at Ted and me, then strode to Regina’s side. He kept a respectable distance between them as they went to the house together. He held the door for her with one hand, his bag…a bag he probably really didn’t intend to use…dangling from the other. I stood alongside Ted until the kitchen door closed behind them.

  “Time for you to go.”

  I glanced at Regina’s one-armed manager. “When I’m done. Not before.”

  I hustled past Ted and went straight to the house, leaving Walter saddled where he was. I covered the distance from the kitchen to her bedroom in four quick strides and stepped inside the room. Doc’s and Regina’s backs were to me. They stood side by side over a sleeping boy, Doc’s bag hanging useless from one hand, as I’d suspected it would.

  “How’s the boy?” I strode further into the room.

  “He’s sleeping.” Ted came around me from behind. He was sneaky, for such a stocky fellow. He hied it to Jess’s bed, taking his place at Regina’s other side. Doc leaned forward and glanced around the widow at her ranch manager.

  I walked to the window instead of taking a place in her line, the window Jess could see from where he lay, and I slid open the fancy curtains and peered into the small barnyard. This room needed more air. I latched onto the sash and tugged the window up, sticking my head outside.

  Before the Kansas breeze had a chance to waft past me, footsteps marched across the room and stopped at my back. Ted’s, from the sound of them, and I saw I was right when his good hand settled on the window’s sill. “Jess needs to stay warm, and you need to get on down the road.”

  “I’m tending.” I ducked my head as I came back inside, and shouldered close to the pane.

  “Like hell you are!”

  The widow marched up behind him, her footsteps even harsher than Ted’s in her deceased husband’s boots. “Ted! Jess can hear you. And when Ben goes is up to me, not you.”

  I set the heel of one palm on the sill, leaned, and looked outside. “I’m the one says when I go.”

  I didn’t have to see her to know Regina’s hands were on her hips again. The good Lord gave her the perfect set for that. I wished he hadn’t. “I have that say, not you.”

  I glanced beyond the barnyard, down what they called a road, and across the prairie on both sides. Ted’s impatience pawed at the floor; I felt it in his stance. “I never leave a job until it’s done.”

  Regina took me by the arm. There was power in that little hand as she nodded to Doc and steered me from the room. I let her. I wanted her away from the two of them. She led me to the kitchen door, but that’s where she stopped. Not nearly as far from them as I’d hoped. “I don’t need your help here, or your tending. I can take care of myself.” She squared in front of me, tiny but full of spit, like a wet cat. “Next time I advertise for or choose a husband, I’ll make clear all of the details involved. You’ve accomplished that much, so in my estimation the only thing left that you need to tend to is leaving.” She opened the door and pointed outside. “Get on Walter and go.”

  Walter looked up. He was bright, but surely he didn’t know his name this quick.

  “Say it again,” I looked at the widow. “Say Walter’s name again.”

  “I’m not speaking to your horse, I’m speaking to you!”

  I leaned out the door. “Walter,” I called. He raised his head again. He nickered, different than he usually did when he heard my voice, and I grinned. “Your boy sure did right by my horse. He taught me something about the value of a name, Mrs…”

  “Walter…” Jess’s voice was rough, a feeble strain as he called my horse from Regina’s room. “Walter…”

  Regina’s face looked like mine felt. Except lots prettier. The two of us turned back to her room and hied it inside.

  “You remember?” She pushed to his bed, dropped down to the floor, and knelt beside him. Jess’s eyes were on the window, through which Walter’s nicker could still be heard.

  Doc Harris scooted close, leaned over Regina’s back to the boy, eased Jess’s eyes wide, and studied his pupils. “You remembering more?” he asked. “You remember Walter?”

  Jess nodded, and winced when he did. “He was with me, wasn’t he? He helped me.”

  “Yes, Jess. Walter helped you.” Regina stretched closer to her son.

  “Can I see him?” Jess looked from the window to his mother.

  “Of course you can.” She patted her boy and turned back toward me, peering around the doctor’s legs. “Would you bring Walter to the window?”

  “So he’s getting better.” I looked at Doc. “Might be up and around before you know it.”

  “Then you can leave,” Ted muttered.

  “I imagine he’s talking to me, Doc.” I turned to head outside, paused at the door, glanced down at Regina’s finery, and touched the lone comb.

  A burly hand stripped mine away. “I don’t know who you are, but I aim to find out.” Ted’s voice was low. Raspy and coarse, like leaves over rocks. “The last thing you want is for her to find out she’s been lied to. Which I suspect she has.”

  Chapter 16

  I’m marrying for love. For love of my son, who’s better, and who remembers that horse. ~Regina

  Jess had stared at Walter’s long black nose protruding through my lace curtains, shadowy memories bringing color to his face. “Walter,” he’d said again before he finally drifted back to sleep. Ben had stood back, out of Jess’s view, but I saw him watching from the side. Watching me. And Doc.

  “It seems you came by at just the right moment,” I said to Doc when it was just him and me left in the room with my sleeping son. I’d sent Ted out, and Ben never returned. I’d been listening for my wagon, daring either of those two to take over my fence. “I want to thank you properly for stopping by.” I walked to my dresser, glanced at everything on its top, and promised myself I’d hide it in a drawer soon where no one could see it except me. I eased a drawer open and removed part of the little money I had, then returned to Doc’s side.

  “Here’s a portion of what I owe you. I want to pay you something.” I handed it to Doc.

  Doc shook his head. “I confess, I hoped to talk to you this evening, but not about money.” He raised his hand, pressed mine with the money away. “Stopping by like this is part of the care for the boy. It’s not extra, and I wanted to drop in.”

  His hand stayed on mine, as did his eyes. Smoother than Ben’s hand had felt against my skin, more like Flynn’s. And it was different the way Doc looked at me. Ben’s eyes had fire in them. Doc’s were peaceful, pensive, more of what Ben had decided I needed. Doc’s gaze flitted down at Jess, then at the bag he had set by the bed.

  “You’re going to need this boy’s help. If you’re intending to keep the ranch, that is.” He glanced up from the bag. “You’re going to need a lot of help. Someone beside you. Beside both of you.”

  I could see myself in the blue of his eyes. I could see Jess, also.
Eyes blue like Flynn’s, but more so. Features soft like Flynn’s, but softer. Gentler. Not black, not powerful like the dark orbs that heated everything when Ben looked my way. Doc wasn’t the sort of man I could say “I can take care of myself” to. He was the sort of man who would step aside and let me, if I did.

  “I owe you…” I raised the money again.

  “No, Regina.” A blush splashed across his face. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have addressed you by your first name. Unless…unless that’s all right with you…”

  I looked deeper into the blue, took in the handsome face that surrounded it. The sincerity. He was offering me more than a name, much more. Just as Ben had said. Ben. “Take this as partial payment. I insist.”

  “If it’s business to you, you owe me no more than you would that Ben fellow out there. He did as much as I did. In fact, if you couldn’t have found me, my guess is he could have handled everything your boy needed.”

  I stuffed the money into Doc’s hand. “Take this. I owe you far more than I owe him. If anything, that man owes me.”

  Doc laid the money on the quilt that was tented over my son. He bent for his bag. “I’ll come again tomorrow,” he said. “I want to.”

  Chapter 17

  Red. Blue. Brown. There’s too much color here, but all I can see is red. ~Rex

  So, are you married yet? I couldn’t shake the way Jim’s voice would sound if he showed up in Liberal. The question rang in my head as I stood in Regina’s barnyard, thought about her banker, and recalled the way Doc held himself when he was beside her.

  I hesitated with Walter near the barn door. We’d been sleeping out under the stars every night, keeping some distance so I could keep some perspective. “Come on, boy. I mean, Walter.” I patted the saddle on his back. He tossed his nose in the air; he was feeling good. The rest and attention here suited him. It would likely ruin him for the things that had always suited me. “Don’t be thinking things would be easy just hanging around this ranch, because I can promise you chasing outlaws over cactus while unarmed and barefoot would be far better than tangling with that tornado of a woman Flynn Howard left behind.” Walter ignored me. He tossed his head again like a young stallion.

  I strode back into the barn for my bedroll, Jim’s voice still dogging me. He might have my letter by now, but it wouldn’t make any difference. I knew Jim. He’d given me an assignment—the hardest one he’d ever given me—and he would expect it to be done. If I hurried and got the widow married off, and did a quick scour of the area for ringleaders to these ranch schemes in a way that no one would suspect, I could hightail it back to Oklahoma Indian Territory before Jim had time to react. I’d plant myself in front of his desk and argue why I’d cut his orders short. The boy might give Jim pause, but he wouldn’t change Jim’s mind. To Jim, none of it would matter. A job was a job. Jim’s law was the law. And his way was how he wanted it carried out.

  “Ted?” Regina’s voice jumbled my thinking, created commotion in Ted’s bunk room, where he’d gone and shut his door.

  “Yes?” Ted stepped out, careful to close the door behind him. I thought about slapping his pockets for the comb as he passed. If it still had those sharp little points to it, I’d enjoy it. He stalked through the barn to the open doorway at the front.

  “Ted, it’s getting too late to work the fence. Would you mind starting a fire in my kitchen stove so I can cook?”

  “I’ll take care of it.” Ted’s boots kicked over the hard brown ground as he hied to do what she said.

  I waited. I could hear the widow in the barnyard, the doctor’s footsteps along with hers. I could see in my mind what I’d imagined before, his tall gentleness a good solution to her problems, better than the ranch manager she had just sent to the house. She and the doc paused. I strained to hear, but if they spoke, it was quiet. Private.

  “Fire’s started.” Ted was back outdoors. His steps stalled at her and Doc. I could hear the hesitation in his pause. I eyed the loft above his bunkroom. Maybe that was where I should sleep. “You have plenty to do,” his voice took on a gentleness I’d never been able to master. “You’re most likely tired. I’ll rustle up some grub for us. Some dried beef and gravy. That’ll be good for Jess.”

  I listened to the widow Howard and her two men. At least one would gladly obey the first half of Jim’s command. Regina thanked Ted. He appeared at the barn door and stalked past me. He disappeared into his room, shuffled around, and reappeared with his arms loaded with utensils and grub. He managed to hold onto it all and close his door surprisingly well for a man with only one hand.

  Regina thanked Ted again as he crossed the barnyard. I listened for the door to the house to close, and it did. Ted was inside, Regina and Doc were in the barnyard alone.

  They were quiet. I’d never known that redheaded woman to be so still. I leaned against the low wall my saddle was normally slung over, stretched my legs out in front of me, and listened harder. The two of them were near Doc’s buggy. I heard his soft voice. He posed a question, and before she could reply I came off the wall and stepped along the inside of the barn doorway. I peered through one of the gaps between the boards. Doc stood near her, very near her, looking down in a way the widow deserved.

  “Thank you, Doc,” I called and waved as I strode out where they could see me. Doc and Regina each took a step back from the other.

  “No—thank you.” Doc nodded, but I caught the baffled look on his face. “And thanks to your horse, there, also. Walter.” He tipped his head toward Walter. I could see the ready in his eyes, the ready that would take care of Regina and Jess, whether they were ready or not.

  I waited for Regina to chime in, say anything to either him or me, but she didn’t. Her face picked up a sheen. A crimson flush that made her look right attractive where she was, here on a ranch instead of somewhere frilly back east. Red. I was way too fond of red. I felt a similar sheen creep up the back of my neck.

  “Thank ya,” I said again. I rubbed my hands along my trousers, making old memories sting. Doc needed to go. I dropped my hands. No, he needed to stay. I watched him and Regina. If I’d known the rules for moments like this, Becky wouldn’t be Becky Carson right now. Doc was reserved, but he seemed to know how to stand and how to look. “Anything special I can do for Jess?” I called across the brown dirt to where they stood.

  “Ben…” Regina looked my way. We stared at each other across that color of ground I didn’t care for, her red on the other side like a rising sun. Doc should go. No, he should stay.

  “Thank ya again, Doc.” I knew I should hie it back into the barn. Doc would love that woman, but he sure couldn’t lead. Ted would run over him every chance he got. So would she.

  It was the look on Regina’s face that gave me what I needed to leave them alone. I dragged one boot backward, and then the other until I was on my own in the barn’s dim light. Walter nickered from outside the doorway as they began to speak again. To each other. Soft, so I couldn’t hear. I went back to the low wall and bent forward, bracing myself against it with both arms. I leaned into my fists and listened until Doc Harris’s buggy finally rolled away. Wheels grinding into the solid dirt, the crunch getting farther and farther from Regina.

  “Ben…”

  I heard her behind me, the step that said West as much as East, the clip of her deceased husband’s boots stopping not far from my back.

  I knew what I had to do. I drew in a deep breath and turned. She opened her mouth the same time I opened mine.

  “Will you marry me?”

  Chapter 18

  “I do…do you?” “Yes…do you?” “Are you sure?” ~Regina

  I stared at Ben. Closed my mouth the same time he closed his. Neither of us answered. Neither repeated what had just been asked.

  Ben edged my way until we stood face to face. Toe to toe. A slight blush deepened the color of his already tawny neck, and a similar heat flared the skin of mine.

  “I guess, then…” He glanced toward the door where
his horse stood outside. Walter nickered. Ben listened as if Walter had offered a suggestion. “I guess this means that…”

  “That we’ve reached an agreement…for the arrangement.” I brushed my palms against Flynn’s dungarees. They felt clammy. I ran them down my legs again.

  Ben bowed his head. It was the slowest nod I’d ever seen. He lifted his hat as his head came up, and ran long fingers through that thick black hair. I caught the ebony of it, even in the low light, watched the way it carved a hole even in the darkness. His hair fell into place, heavy strands crowning his head, before he settled his hat back where it had been. “You’ll have that name you needed…”

  Yes, I needed a name. We both knew that. I’d said so a thousand times. I watched his eyes, his mouth, and waited. Say more.

  He raised his hand. I followed it, watched as he again removed and held onto his hat. “We could seal this the way some of the Indians do where I come—I mean, that I’ve seen passing through south of here.”

  He extended his other hand. Long fingers, rough skin. I’d felt the power of that hand and the texture of that skin the day he’d first arrived.

  “That’s what you want? That’s how you suggest we do this?”

  His hand wavered, my hand looking so fragile next to his—small, white, almost like china. He wrapped his around it. His skin felt as damp as mine as he lifted our hands in a single shake. “That’s it. That means we agree to be wed.” He loosened his grip.

  I yanked my hand loose, latched onto one of his fingers, and gave it a sharp tug. “That’s my answer.” I hurried across the barnyard and let myself through the kitchen door. He didn’t say more. He didn’t do more, either. But he shouldn’t. It was an arranged parting. I fell back against the rough wood as it closed behind me. “Doggone you, Flynn. And double doggone you, Ben Miller!”

  Chapter 19

  I really only needed to do one thing, and then I could go—hunt down the source of the ranch thieves. Now that one thing is complicated with another—the other thing I thought I really didn’t want to do. ~Rex