A Gentle Love (Triple Range Ranch Western Romance Book 1)

by Emily Woods

  Now, as Luke spoke with Maddie, her blood coursed hot through her body. What manner of man was he? His compassion was beyond that of any other man she'd ever met, her father included. He must have risen very early to find her daughter's beloved doll, and then to spend more time cleaning and caring for her... She could hardly comprehend it. Overwhelmed, she turned away as color flooded her cheeks.

  But all of these feelings were for nothing. She'd seen the way he looked at her, and there was nothing more than friendship there. He regarded her as a little sister or something very similar. Despite having a daughter, she was no more than a child in his eyes.

  Not wanting anyone to see her, Kate hurried to the back of the house in order to splash some cold water on her face and erase the evidence of her emotions. She could always say that she was overjoyed with Maddie's recovering her speech, and it wouldn't be a lie. She was beyond thrilled. However, in very nearly the same moment, she'd made a startling discovery.

  She was in love with Luke Winston.

  Luke looked up to see Kate rushing back to the house and wondered why she was leaving. The sight of her daughter reunited with her doll was cause for joy, so why was she running away?

  “Looks like you're a hero, Luke,” John joked, slapping him on the back. “Ranch owner, cattle rustler, and doll rescuer.”

  The other men had shown up when they heard Maddie squealing with delight. There wasn’t one man there who didn’t feel glad the little girl had her doll back.

  Luke grinned up at his friend but didn't let the jibe bother him. It didn't matter if the others thought he was soft. He would show them through the course of the day how hard he could be when they had to ride hard to round up all the cattle for the drive that was coming up soon.

  “Yeah, well, this doll rescuer is reminding you that we have a long, hard day ahead of us. We need to round up all the cattle we're driving to Miles City.”

  “Glad we're not living in Texas,” Thomas declared. “Heard them fellas have to spend upwards of three months driving cattle. Least we only have to spend a week.”

  The other men nodded their agreement, all happy not to have to spend so much time out in the open.

  “Alright, let's get a move on,” Luke declared. “Breakfast and then work. Come on now.”

  Although they were hard-working when they wanted to be, the men wouldn't move much unless told. In many ways, Luke felt like a father to them. The only exception was John. He was more like a brother to him. It was a mystery why he'd never married. Not only was he passable to look at, but he was agreeable as well. He didn't have much money, but that never stopped a man from marrying before.

  An idea started to work its way forward to the front of his mind. Now that he was part owner, the ranch should really have a foreman, and there was no better candidate than John Collins. And once he had that position, he would be a much more appealing match for any woman.

  He didn't want to get ahead of himself, but he thought perhaps a wedding might take place in the not-too-distant future between a certain young woman with a sweet daughter and a man who would soon be foreman of a large and prosperous ranch.

  The idea made him smile, but also twisted his gut. He knew that he would have to dwell on the joy it would bring the two, not on his own pain. For everyone's sake.

  “I'm not surprised,” Aunt Marge stated when she heard the news. “Luke is a good man, too good for most women I know.”

  Kate made a low noise in her throat but didn't respond. “Will this be enough pancakes or should I do up another batch?” She held up a platter with over twenty pancakes on it.

  Marge looked first at Kate’s face as though looking for a response to her comment, but then glanced at the platter. “That'll do. Along with the scrambled eggs and bacon of course.”

  Chatting to her doll as though nothing unusual had happened that day, Maddie sat at the table enjoying a glass of milk. “The men are leaving,” she said to her doll. “And they'll be gone for a long time.”

  “What's this?” Kate asked, slightly alarmed. “What did you say, little one?”

  “Oh, she's talking about the cattle drive. Luke will take four of the men and bring about five hundred heads to market in a few days. They won't be gone more than two weeks at the most.” Her voice was light, but she watched Kate's face closely as though trying to read her mind.

  “I see,” Kate replied blandly. Two weeks was not a very long time, but it suddenly seemed like it. She'd gotten used to the presence of...the men. “They do this every year?”

  “Right around this time. The weather should be good for the rest of the month. Spring showers are over now, and we usually get dry weather for the summer.”

  It's only two weeks, she told herself. Don't be so silly. But she couldn't tell her heart not to contract or her stomach not to flutter. She'd only recently realized that she was falling for this man, and now he was going to be leaving. To distract herself, she tried to find out more about Luke's background.

  “Do you know what Luke did before he came here?” she asked as they peeled potatoes together. “Where did he grow up, for instance?”

  Marge's lips pursed a little and she shook her head. “I don't feel right telling other people's stories. Anything you want to know about Luke you'll have to find out on your own. I've never been keen to gossip.”

  The answer was like a slap in the face.

  “Surely it's not gossip to talk about where a person grew up, is it?” She'd never thought of herself as a person given to idle chatter and didn't much like the accusation.

  “Maybe not, but it's not a far leap from there to finding out what he's done in his life, where he's been and so on.”

  “But you know,” Kate couldn't refrain from commenting, still smarting at the perceptiveness of her aunt.

  Marge gave one quick nod. “He told me things in confidence not too long after he came here. Luke's been like a son to me in many ways.” When Kate looked at her askance, she corrected herself a little. “Well, if not a son, then a younger brother. God brought him here for sure. I was in need of a strong hand to take over, and he was in need of some guidance. We're a good team, and that's all I'm going to say about it.”

  With that, she clamped her mouth shut as though to confirm her statement. Kate was mystified. Although Marge had given her a tiny glimpse into Luke's personal life, she was no wiser regarding his background. All she'd wanted was to know a bit more about the man, but Marge wouldn't budge. That much was clear.

  “Mama, I'm bored,” Maddie said suddenly. “Can I help?”

  “No, love. The knives are too sharp. Why don't you go read to Cindy?”

  “I did that already,” she whined. “We've read all the books we have.”

  Kate tapped her foot a little. Of course she was glad that Maddie was talking, but now she was being more petulant than Kate remembered. “What about coloring? You can't have filled in all the pages of the book Luke bought for you.”

  Maddie nodded. “But I did, Mama. I finished it yesterday.”

  Somewhat at a loss, Kate turned to Marge, who shrugged her shoulders a little and then said, “The girl should be in school, shouldn't she? I know it's late in the year, but there's another month before it's done.”

  Protests rose up in Kate's mind before she could even think the idea through. Maddie had been traumatized by the fire and her father's death and the move and the upheaval in her life and... The list ran out and Kate realized that none of those things were true anymore. The little girl standing before her now was just like any other little girl. There was no denying it. She needed playmates. She needed to go to school.

  “Is there even a place within walking distance?”

  Marge frowned. “I'm not sure how far it is, but a school opened up a few years back somewhere between here and Great Falls. Let's ask the men when they come in.”

  It turned out that there was a small school just a twenty-minute ride to the east.

  “But how will she get there and
back every day? Am I supposed to take her?” A part of Kate wanted to find any reason to prevent this from happening, but it didn't help that Maddie was excited by the prospect.

  “How many students are there? How many are girls? Are they my age?” Her questions came out in a torrent, and John had to laugh. He was the one who'd told them about the school. A friend of his was the superintendent and happened to live in Great Falls.

  “Hold on there, little lady. I don't know that much, but we'll find out. Turns out that we need to go into town this weekend for some more supplies for the cattle drive, so how's about I ask then?”

  “I'd like to go,” Kate said suddenly. “Would that be alright?”

  Marge looked at Luke, who nodded. “We need to take the wagon anyway, so there's no reason you can't. Day after tomorrow, we'll make a day of it.”

  “Good idea,” Marge declared. “Kate, you go along and do a little shopping for your daughter, on me. If my great-niece is going to school, she's going to need a thing or two, isn't she?”

  Kate wanted to protest, but since it was for Maddie, she held her tongue. She was nervous about sending her daughter to school, but it would probably be the best thing for the girl, so she tried to focus on that.

  Over the course of a few hours, Maddie had started talking again, she'd realized her feelings for Luke and found out that he was going to be leaving for a time. The last blow was the plan for Maddie to go to school.

  It was a lot for just one morning.

  “I'm glad Maddie's got her doll,” Luke said after dinner that day. “It's hard on a child to lose something precious.”

  “It's hard on anyone,” Kate murmured back as she cleared the table. “I should know.”

  He looked at her inquisitively, but it was clearly not the time or place to pursue the conversation. “You're not the only one,” he replied softly, deeply buried sorrow rising to the surface. He made a mental note to seek her out after Maddie went to bed. Despite the joy of Maddie regaining her speech, something seemed to weigh on her mind.

  A few hours later, he invited her to sit out on the porch. To his amazement, she accepted and brought out some cocoa for the two of them.

  “Nice evening,” she commented, taking a seat in one of the rocking chairs. “Warm.”

  “Yep. Sure sign that summer is on its way.” There was a moment of silence and he prayed for wisdom. “I hope you two are happy here. I know that Marge is glad to have you. It takes a bit of time to adjust, but I like it here better than anywhere else.”

  She blinked a few times, took a sip of cocoa, and nodded. “I'm getting used to it, but when I think about the past...”

  “Then don't,” he interrupted mildly. “You can't do anything to change it, so let it go.”

  “Is that what you did?”

  For some reason, he felt it was a loaded question, but he didn't shy away from it. “Yeah, that's right. Marge showed me that there's a better way to live, and that's what I'm doing now.”

  “As a Christian.” It was more of a statement than a question, but he nodded anyway.

  “Can't say I'm a shining example or anything, but the more I read the Bible, the more I understand that God doesn't expect us to be perfect. He has plans, and if we just have Him, we’ll be happier than not. That's what I'm doing trying to do now.”

  “I wish you weren't going away.”

  He nearly choked on his cocoa. “What? I'm not going anywhere.”

  “The cattle drive?” She wasn't looking at him now, but off in the distance at the mountains still slightly lit by the sun. He could tell that the comment had taken her by surprise almost as much as it had him. She looked as though she wished to retract it, but of course it was too late.

  “Oh, that. Yeah, but it won't be long.”

  He wasn't sure what to do about her comment. Why had she said that? Was she...interested in him?

  The thought made his heart pound, but not in a good way. He was going to have to find a way to divert her interest and fast. The last thing he wanted was Marge's niece falling for him. He would put his plan into motion before he left, and then everyone would be happier.

  Chapter 9

  The trip to town loomed over her head, but Kate pasted a smile on her face over the next two days. She didn't want to be the one to bring Maddie down. The little girl was so excited at the idea of meeting other children that Kate had to realize there was no going back.

  In truth, her emotions were wreaking havoc on her nerves. One minute, she was thrilled to have her little girl back, the next she was sick with worry about her going to school. And then, of course, her awkward confession to Luke lingered between the two of them.

  When they were getting ready to go, she was surprised to see that John was sitting in the wagon, not Luke. He sat astride his horse and informed them that he would stay behind. “John knows what we need, so there's no reason for both of us to go.”

  Kate tried to hide her disappointment. She was looking forward to spending time alone with him and hopefully finding out more about his background. Still, she smiled and waved as the wagon started off. There was no reason to let on how she felt. For all she knew, his feelings toward her hadn't changed.

  “Good day for a ride,” John observed. “Hardly a cloud in the sky.”

  She murmured something in reply, but then turned her attention to Maddie. “Sit still, dear. I don't want to lose you over the side.”

  When Maddie sat primly in the seat, she had to grin. Now that she wasn’t worried about her falling off the side, Kate turned to John. “Do you think we'll find your friend at home?”

  “Probably. If not, his wife can tell us what we need to know.”

  “And you have no idea how many students there are?”

  “Not precisely, but I'd say around fifteen or twenty, all different ages. Hopefully there will be a girl or two Maddie's age.”

  “Yes, that's her hope too.”

  John was easy to talk to, and Kate found herself enjoying the ride into town. It didn't seem as long as the one out from the station, but of course she'd been nervous then and unfamiliar with her traveling companion.

  “Are we almost there, Mama?” Maddie wanted to know, straining forward in an effort to see the town in the distance.

  “About another half-hour or so,” John informed her. “We're making good time.”

  True to his word, the small group arrived in town just short of thirty minutes later. Their first stop was the general store and then the boarding house for some refreshments. While enjoying some cake and lemonade, Kate couldn't help but overhear a conversation between two ladies at a nearby table.

  “I can't believe she still keeps him on. You heard about his past, didn't you? Scandalous!” one woman tittered.

  “Really? Do tell!” the other exclaimed.

  “Seems he was quite the drunk, and a gambler too. I heard there was even a shootout at one point, but I’m not sure what happened.”

  Kate tried to focus on the conversation at her own table. Apparently, no one was listening to the women except for her.

  “Try the cookies, Mama!” Maddie insisted, holding up one in front of her nose.

  With a small laugh, Kate took the proffered treat and bit into it. “Ummm, delicious.”

  “She even made him partner! Can you imagine? After all that he’s done, now he's living off her. He must have her completely mesmerized. He is a good-looking man, I'll give him that.”

  A chill ran up Kate's spine. There could be no question as to who they were talking about now. As much as she wanted to pretend she hadn't heard it, just dismiss it to rumors, her heart began to pound so loud that she could barely hear the conversation floating around her. Although she wanted to ignore the women, she found herself straining to hear them.

  “He's probably just waiting until she passes and then he'll sell the whole thing and take off with the money.”

  “I wouldn't be surprised. He looks like a con man if I've ever seen one, but she's not that
old. I heard he's trying to marry her and get control. That would make more sense.”

  The food she'd eaten roiled in her stomach and she thought she was going to be sick. Hadn't she thought the very same thing a few weeks ago? She hadn't been crazy. Other people had seen it too. But...the man she'd gotten to know since her arrival wouldn't do such a thing...would he?

  Her mind flew back to their conversation from the other night. He had serious regrets about his past. Could one of those regrets be a criminal offense? She had a hard time imagining him the way these women were describing him. Surely her aunt wouldn't have hired him if she'd known, but then again…she’d told Kate that Luke had told her about his past…

  The thought turned her off her food completely. Pretending to drink her lemonade, she tried to hear more of the conversation, but the women had changed topics and were now talking about the general store owner and one of his assistants. They were speculating about whether or not he was having an affair with her.

  “Shouldn't we be getting back soon?” she asked, rising from her seat. John followed suit, but Maddie didn't budge.

  “We just got here, Mama. Why do you want to leave?”

  Kate was flustered, but managed to answer. “We have to find out about the school, darling. Did you forget?”

  A bright smile lit her face and she jumped out of the chair. “Let's go!” she shouted and grabbed Kate's hand. She then reached over and grabbed John's.

  “Alright then. We'll go.” He had to let go of her hand to pay the bill, but once he finished, she grabbed it again. Anyone would think they were a happy family on an afternoon outing, Kate thought. Although she had no inclination to get involved with the man, she thought he might be able to shed some light on what she'd overheard, but she'd have to be careful. John was loyal to Luke.