by Merry Farmer
“Here we go.”
Ginny stopped when she reached the end of the hall near the front of the house. She pushed open the door to a modest guest bedroom. It held a bed with a blue quilt, a washstand with a porcelain bowl and pitcher, and a small wardrobe.
“Good thing it’s been so hot lately,” Ginny went on. “No need to light that fireplace. It hasn’t been used in so long that there are probably bird’s nests in the flue. You might want to open the window.”
She made the suggestion, then crossed the room to do it herself while Jarvis tossed his saddlebag on the bed.
“Well, I should have guessed he’d do that,” Ginny said, once the window was open, in the growling voice she used to talk about her brother.
“What’d he do?” Jarvis marched to join her at the window.
Ginny pointed out through the night to Howard’s house, clearly visible about a half mile away. Jarvis could make out the outline of all of Howard’s buildings against the backdrop of stars, and some details of the house stood out in the moonlight. A handful of windows had lights in them.
“He’s gone and put your Mrs. Porter in Lucy’s room,” Ginny said. “See, that one in the front over to the right-hand side of the house?”
Sure enough, two windows side-by-side were lit. Jarvis’s chest squeezed tight, and the crazy notion struck him that he could fly across the distance to that room and hold Alice in his arms all night.
He forced himself to look away and turn back to his own room with a sigh.
Ginny watched him with crossed arms and a mother’s intuition. Jarvis expected to get an earful about Alice and how he should stay away from widows in mourning.
Instead, she said, “You really think you can solve this hare-brained dispute between Howard and I?”
It took Jarvis a moment to adjust to the line of the conversation.
“I don’t see why not.” He shrugged. “Every problem has a solution.”
Ginny sniffed. “If the participants are willing to find one.”
“Aren’t you?” he asked with his most charming smile.
It worked well enough to make Ginny blush and lose her frown. “It’s never been about what I want, son.” She squeezed his arm, and a jolt of something as long dead as his dear mother seeped through him. “So why did you come?”
“Because Franklin asked,” Jarvis told her, moving away from the window.
“And you always rush to help young whippersnappers who show up at your fort with stories about family feuds?” Ginny teased him.
Jarvis laughed and ran a hand over his face. He was growing more tired with every passing second, and no wonder after the day he’d had.
“He acted like a war was about to break out,” Jarvis said, arching an eyebrow. “And didn’t you say you’d just gotten a shipment of rifles?”
“Of course I did.” Ginny gave his arm one last squeeze, then headed for the door. “There are more dangers this far away from civilization than Howard. I need to make sure my cattle are protected from wild animals, Indians, and the stray poacher. Howard and I may not get along, but Franklin’s got an overactive imagination.” She paused for a beat before pressing, “So why did you really drop everything and come all this way?”
There would be no hiding any sort of truth from Ginny. “I can’t stand the idea of family conflict,” he confessed. “I had enough of that growing up. It’s not just me either. My brother, Joseph, became a judge so he could put an end to conflicts. I guess I’m just doing my part.”
“And?” Ginny prompted him. “Don’t try to tell me it was an accident that you brought Mrs. Porter out this way too.”
Jarvis broke into a smile that gave away all his secrets. He lowered his head.
“All right. I came because I wanted Alice to get out and live a little,” he confessed.
“How long have you known her?”
“Less than ten days,” he admitted. “But with some people, that’s all it takes for you to know you want to know them for a lifetime.”
“I see.” Ginny crossed her arms and leaned against the doorframe, studying Jarvis. “I’ll tell you what. I like what I’ve seen of that young woman so far, but widows are tricky.”
“Are they?” He wasn’t sure if he should laugh at that or worry.
“Son, any time a woman loses someone who she’s given her heart to, whether that’s her husband or… or some other kin,” she arched a sharp eyebrow, “she’s gonna be unsettled for a long time. We don’t take loss lightly. My bet is that your Alice wants to live and love again, but you’d do best to take things as slow as you can and give her space to find her way.”
“Things would have been a lot easier if she hadn’t been so stubborn,” Jarvis fired back. “I can’t believe she stayed over there with Fr—” He swallowed his mistake and went on. “With Howard. She should have come here.”
“Now there’s your first mistake.” Ginny shook a finger at him. “Don’t go telling a woman what to do when it comes to her heart and where she wants to rest it. I know far too many men who think they know better than the women in their lives. You aren’t doing them any favors.”
“Then what am I supposed to do?” Jarvis asked, suddenly pressed down by gloom. “If I don’t let her know I care, she’ll move on with her family to Oregon as soon as they show up at Ft. Bridger.”
“Will she?” Ginny pushed away from the doorframe. “We’ll see. In the meantime, she’s over there and you’re right here, and you say you’re going to solve this idiotic dispute. That ought to keep you busy for at least a few days.”
“I suppose,” Jarvis admitted.
“So you get some sleep and put your mind to that.” Ginny pointed at the bed and turned to go. “And son, don’t stay up all night worrying about your Alice.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Jarvis answered with a smile. He liked the feeling that Ginny had sent him to bed, like a real mother. It was as unfamiliar as it was welcome.
“Love has a way of working it out, as long as you give it space and time,” she added before leaving the room.
If only he had the space and the time to let it work out.
Chapter Ten
Alice awoke to quiet. She’d opened the windows in Lucy’s room before going to bed the night before in the hope that a breeze would cool things off. The sounds that drifted through that open window along with dawn’s light were soft, distant. The stirring, coughing, and clamor that she’d awoken to every morning on the trail was gone. Even the sounds of the militiamen drilling or talking as they headed to breakfast were gone. She awoke to peace, to birdsong and billowing breezes.
She awoke with a smile on her face. How odd that staying in a house with a man who was in such a fit of loneliness, on a stretch of land that was rife with conflict could make her so happy. Jarvis wasn’t even there, and he was the one thing guaranteed to make her smile these days.
She drew in a breath and pushed that thought aside as she climbed out of bed. Thinking of Jarvis would only make her unsettled and restless. In fact, she could already feel that restlessness growing. Her heart fluttered as she skipped over to Lucy’s wardrobe, and tremors of longing that she should have reserved for Harry wriggled through her insides as the image of Jarvis’s smiling face flew to her mind.
Lucy Haskell had vibrant taste in clothes. Her wardrobe was full of greens and pinks, blues, and even scarlet. Not a single item was dark or subdued. It was possible that she had taken all of those dresses with her when she went back East, but somehow Alice doubted it. In the end, she settled on the blue dress that Howard had pointed out the night before. She washed and dressed and fixed her hair in a modest bun, then headed downstairs to see how Howard’s house got along in the morning.
Either no one in the family was up yet, or they’d gone off to do morning chores. Alice searched through the entire house, but the only person she could find was Hattie, busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen.
“Mr. Franklin likes to sleep in,” the young woman said, never st
opping her work. “Mr. Howard has probably gone out to inspect his herd. He does that every morning.”
“I see,” Alice said. She felt awkward just standing there, so she asked Hattie, “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Hattie blew out a relieved breath. “Is there ever.”
It was the best answer Alice could have gotten. Half an hour later, she had her sleeves rolled up as she carried an armful of wood from the pile out back by the barn to the box by the kitchen door. It would take several trips to fill the box, but the sweat that broke out on Alice’s brow and the ache in her arms was more welcome than a dozen roses sent by a secret admirer. In fact, as she made her third trip, Alice considered that, no matter who she had been in New York, she might get along very well as a rancher’s wife.
Halfway between the barn and the house on her fourth trip, Franklin ambled out the front door, across the porch, and down the stairs. As soon as he spotted Alice, his casual stride sped up and he raced toward her.
“Alice, what are you doing?” he scolded her. “You don’t have to work, you’re a guest here.”
Alice stumbled in mid-step. Hadn’t Jarvis said something nearly identical to that back at Ft. Bridger? Why were men always trying to stop a woman from being useful?
“I’m happy to help out where I can,” she told Franklin with a smile and continued toward the kitchen door.
“Maybe, but that kind of work should be saved for servants,” Franklin said. He followed her as she walked, but didn’t offer to carry the wood for her.
She chuckled. “You’re acting like we’re on some grand English estate, or worse, a Southern plantation. I was given to understand that in the West, men and women helped out equally.”
“Women, maybe,” Franklin sniffed. “But you’re a lady.”
“Oh?” Alice had a hard time not laughing outright. He must have meant well. He must have, or else he was on his way to being a capital boor.
“I plan to hire people to do most of the work once I inherit the ranch,” Franklin said, feeding her suspicions. “Father has plans for increasing the herd. He thinks that cattle ranching is the future of Wyoming. But I plan to plant fruit trees.”
“Fruit trees?” Alice blinked, dumping her load of wood into the kitchen box, then heading back for more. “In this climate?”
“Everybody loves fruit,” Franklin reasoned. “I’m sure I could figure out a way to get just about anything to grow here.”
Alice didn’t argue with him. There didn’t seem to be much point.
“Father keeps spending money buying up more and more land,” Franklin went on, “which seems wasteful, if you ask me. There’s no way we could farm it all. But Father has this idea in his head that the railroad will come through this way, and he says that buying up the land now means he’ll be able to sell it for a fortune in a few years.”
Alice grinned. Howard was brilliant. He would be richer than a king if his scheme panned out. She found herself hoping it would. Then, perhaps, his wife would come home. Then he wouldn’t feel so wounded by the smallest slights.
“So all I need to make my plans work,” Franklin kept after her, even when she reached the wood pile and loaded her arms up again, “is a smart, beautiful wife to rule over things with me, don’t you think?”
Oh dear. Alice focused on filling her arms with wood, then turned and started back for the house.
“I think you are a big dreamer, Franklin Haskell,” she said. It was the best she could come up with.
The journey to the house was interrupted by the sound of hoof beats, thank heavens. Alice turned to see Jarvis and Ginny riding into the yard between Howard’s buildings. Her heart caught in her throat at the sight of Jarvis riding a tall, stately roan. She hadn’t checked to see whether he’d taken Blossom or Thunder over to Ginny’s the night before, but this horse eclipsed both of them. Astride this horse, Jarvis looked like every heroic fantasy Alice had ever had. Even his long hair, caught up in a ponytail at the back of his neck, sent prickles of desire racing along her skin.
It was the most inconvenient sensation she could imagine.
“Good morning, Aunt Virginia,” Franklin greeted his aunt without enthusiasm, and with even less enthusiasm when he said, “Mr. Flint.”
“Franklin, stop your flirting and get over here to put Midnight and Boxer away,” Ginny said as she dismounted in one smooth motion. The morning sunlight glinted off of her revolver in its holster.
Poor Franklin glowered like a child who had been caught with his fingers in the jam. “Can’t one of the stable hands do it?” he whined.
“Sure,” Ginny said, taking off her riding gloves and smacking the leather against her palms as she approached. “Seeing as there are so many of them lazing about.” She glanced around at the empty yard, completely devoid of ranch hands, to prove her point.
Jarvis dismounted and left his horse nipping at the grass as he approached Alice.
“Let me take that from you,” he offered, reaching out for the load of wood in Alice’s arms. “Good morning,” he added with a wink.
Swirls of joy filled Alice’s chest and gut and, unfortunately, lower at the offer. Part of her wanted to stay strong and finish the chore herself, but what girl could resist a kind offer from a man as handsome as Jarvis? Especially when his gesture to scoop the wood out of her arms meant that her bare forearms brushed against his, sending heat through her.
“See what I mean, Alice?” Franklin said with a smug grin, arms crossed. “There’s always someone around to play the role of servant.”
Alice, Jarvis, and Ginny all stared back at him as if he’d uttered an insult. As soon as Franklin saw that none of them shared his humor, he sulked off toward the horses.
“Looks like you’ve been keeping yourself busy,” Jarvis said, giving Alice a smile.
“You know I dislike standing still and being useless.” Alice returned his smile. It was a relief that they were back on friendly terms after the way they’d parted the night before. “I said I’d help Hattie with a few things, since she’s so busy with breakfast.”
“That’s sweet of you,” Ginny said, then winked at Jarvis.
A burst of self-consciousness turned Alice’s cheeks bright pink. What was that all about?
“I’m going to find my idiot of a brother,” Ginny went on, stepping around them and cutting across the front of the house.
“Hattie says he goes out to inspect his herd in the morning,” Alice called after her.
“Yep,” Ginny said over her shoulder as she marched on. “I know where he is.”
She marched on toward the fenced-in yard on the other side of the barn. There were a few cattle roaming on the other side, and potentially more beyond that. Alice supposed they’d been there all along, and that that’s where Howard was.
“Did you sleep well?” she asked Jarvis as the two of them walked on to the kitchen.
Jarvis chuckled. “Better than I probably should have.”
“Why better than you should have?” Alice blinked. “Aren’t militiamen allowed to sleep well?”
“Not when they have a land dispute to untangle,” Jarvis said.
They reached the kitchen door, and Alice pointed out the box where wood was stored. Jarvis dumped his load, and they headed back across the yard to the barn. Ahead of them, Franklin was just leading Ginny’s two horses into the stable. A young man came out of the stable as he reached it, and rather than taking the horses straight in, Franklin stopped and tried to hand them off to the stable hand.
Jarvis hummed, low and disapproving. “If my father saw the way Franklin behaved half the time, it wouldn’t matter how old he was, his backside would be too sore to sit.”
Alice wasn’t sure whether she should laugh or be horrified. “Did you father beat you?”
Jarvis shrugged. “He wouldn’t have called it that. Let’s just say my backside was no stranger to the strap.”
Jarvis’s backside. A few too many tempting images came to Alice�
�s mind, turning her cheeks scarlet… as scarlet as his cheeks would have been.
Oh dear.
“Have you thought of any ideas to solve the dispute?” she asked, her voice embarrassingly rough.
“Maybe,” he said. Blessedly, he didn’t call her out for her imagination. With any luck, he hadn’t noticed her reaction at all. “I don’t know if my idea will work, though.”
“What is it?”
He didn’t have a chance to answer. The horses had been handed over, and now Franklin strode right back up to them, a broad smile for Alice and narrowed eyes for Jarvis. Internally, Alice sighed. They’d come to fix one problem, but in the process, they’d created a whole other.
If Franklin didn’t wipe the smarmy grin off his face, Jarvis would wipe it off for him. He balled his hands into fists as the young man drew closer.
“There. That’s taken care of. Now why don’t you let me show you the barn and Father’s cattle?” Franklin addressed Alice as though Jarvis wasn’t even there.
For her part, Alice looked to Jarvis before saying anything.
“I would like to see the cattle,” she admitted. “I’ve never seen any up close before.”
“Excellent.” Franklin beamed. He held out his arm to escort Alice. “Come with me, and I’ll—”
“You go on ahead,” Jarvis told Alice. “I just want to have a quick word with Franklin here.”
Alice sent him a grateful nod and said, “All right. I’ll meet you there.”
Jarvis watched her walk off. She’d found a pretty blue dress that suited her much better than the black she’d been wearing. It made her eyes and the pink in her cheeks stand out instead of making her seem more pale than she was. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
“I should go after her,” Franklin said and started in pursuit.
Jarvis grabbed his arm and yanked him to a stop.