This Time for Keeps

by Maureen Child

  "Which people?" she asked. "Who the hell will know if nobody here says anything?”

  Seth ducked his head to hide a smile.

  Richard inhaled sharply.

  Elizabeth briefly laid her hand atop her brother's. "Now Richard," she purred. “I'm sure that once Nora understands how damaging this could be to her reputation, she will forget all about this ridiculous notion.”

  "No, Nora won't," she said around a mouthful of bread. Turning away from them, she looked to Seth.

  He met her gaze squarely, and tried not to remember how she had looked the night before, with her hair loose and flowing across the shoulders of her nightgown.

  "When can we leave?" she asked him.

  "A few days soon enough?" He'd given up trying to talk her out of this harebrained idea. The best he could hope for was that his self-control would last until he returned her safely to the ranch.

  Lord knew that after last night, he wasn't looking forward to being all alone with her for several days. And nights. But he just didn't see any other way around it.

  The sweet, biddable Nora he used to know had been replaced somehow by a hardheaded, disagreeable, completely desirable woman. Somehow, he had to learn to live with that fact.

  "That'll work," she said and stood up. "How big is the wagon we're taking?"

  Seth shook his head. "No wagon, Nora. We'll be riding."

  "Riding?"

  “Horses.”

  "Oh, swell."

  "We will require a wagon," Elizabeth said quietly.

  "Excuse me?" Nora asked.

  Seth simply stared at the woman. Even this early in the morning, she had her face all made up and her hair done just so. Elizabeth Bonner? Camping? No. More than likely, she was only trying another tactic to talk Nora out of going. Why couldn't she see that it wouldn't work?

  "I said," Elizabeth went on, pushing up and away from the table, "Richard and I will require a wagon for the trip."

  "No one invited you," Nora reminded her.

  “For your own sake, I am willing to put up with the privation of the wilderness, Nora," Elizabeth countered. "One would think you would be grateful for my sacrifice."

  "Oh for heaven's sake," Nora muttered.

  Richard stood up beside his sister. His chin lifted, he said simply, “I can't allow you to go alone, unchaperoned, Nora. I'd never forgive myself if something were to happen to you and I wasn't there to help."

  Seth swallowed his snort of derision.

  "My sister," Richard went on, "will naturally want to accompany us." He smiled and Seth's fingers curled into a fist.

  "It's not necessary, Richard," Nora said.

  "If you're determined to go," he told her, "then I will be beside you.”

  “In a wagon,” Seth pointed out.

  Richard shot him a quick look. "Hannah may ride with us and one of the ranch hands can drive the wagon.” The housekeeper turned surprised eyes on the group.

  This had gone far enough. Seth stood up. "There's no reason to drag Hannah over half the countryside.”

  "Someone will have to cook," Elizabeth pointed out.

  "We'll cook our own meals," Nora told her.

  "Over a campfire?" the woman snorted. "Ridiculous."

  "A wagon will only slow us down," Seth said, though he had a feeling no one was listening to him.

  Elizabeth waved one hand at him dismissively. "You may ride ahead, of course. But at night, we shall be there. Protecting Nora's reputation."

  The woman in question shook her head and threw both hands high in the air helplessly. "You mean it's all right if I ride alongside Seth alone. I just can't be alone with him at night?"

  "There is very little trouble one can find while on horseback,” Elizabeth countered.

  He ought to be insulted, damn it. The woman was suggesting that he couldn't be trusted to keep his hands off of Nora. But the sad fact was, it was hard to be insulted when hearing the truth.

  "What if I say I don't want you along?" Nora asked.

  "We'll follow after you, I'm afraid," Elizabeth told her.

  Seth didn't know whether to laugh or cuss. He hadn't wanted to go on this little trip alone with Nora. Now he wouldn't be. The only problem was that now he would have to spend several long days in the company of two people he'd just as soon see on the other side of the world.

  Which was worse? Alone with Nora? Or putting up with the Bonners? Worse, he wasn't sure about. All he knew for certain was that being alone with Nora was far too dangerous.

  "Hannah?" he said abruptly, startling the other three into silence. "Is this all right with you?”

  The older woman smacked one hand down onto the worn, time-polished oak counter. "It's high time somebody bothered to ask me."

  Nora grinned at her.

  "Well, really!" Elizabeth sniffed.

  “I’ll go," Hannah said and picked up a wooden spoon. "And I’ll cook." She waved the spoon at the Bonners. "But you two can fetch and carry for your ownselves."

  “Sounds fair," Nora said.

  "Agreed," Elizabeth said, her voice low and tight.

  Seth turned his gaze on Richard. For a moment, he thought he saw something dark and desperate race across the man's hard features. But it was gone too quickly to be sure. Shaking his head, Seth told himself that he was getting as fanciful as Nora.

  "So," Nora said, snapping his attention back to her. "Are we finished now? Everything settled?" No one spoke and she stood up, then half-turned to leave the kitchen. Then she stopped and spun back around. "I'm going to run into town for a few things,” she said. “Anybody need anything?”

  Seth stared at her. "Town? Again? So soon?"

  She shook her head at him. "It's only the mall, dad," she whined dramatically. "I'll be home early, I promise."

  Seth shook his head. Completely loco, he thought Nora had gone right around the bend and he wondered why that fact didn't bother him very much anymore.

  "What are you purchasing?" Elizabeth asked and Nora turned her head to look at her quizzically.

  "Just stuff. What does it matter?"

  Everything about the Wilding ranch mattered to Elizabeth, Seth knew. Ever since the woman had gotten her hooks into Nora's pa, she'd been practically running things on the Wilding spread. And when Jake died, she'd just gone ahead on, like she had the right to make decisions concerning the ranch.

  He had to say, though, that the old Nora hadn't minded a bit.

  "I'll come along," Elizabeth announced. “If you don't mind, of course."

  Nora stared at her for a long minute. Well, there was no graceful way out of this. The other woman stood up from the table. She'd never expected Elizabeth to want to go to town with her. Then again, maybe the woman needed to get some things for the coming trip.

  "I can be dressed in a few minutes," she said to no one in particular before sailing out of the room in a whisper of feathers.

  "I'll get the wagon," Richard offered. He walked past Nora, pausing only long enough to give her a quick smile.

  Turning to Seth, she asked, "Aren't you going to leap up and find a way to horn in on my shopping trip?”

  His gaze dropped to her jeans before he shook his head. "No thanks, boss. I don't want to know what you're buying this time."

  "You tell Mike Dunn for me," Hannah said, "I'll need another fifty pound sack of flour delivered tomorrow.”

  "Fifty pounds?" Nora echoed, then shrugged. "Okay, but I'm glad you don't expect me to haul that back with me." Hannah laughed shortly at the idea.

  Seth pushed back from the table, stood up, and headed away from Nora toward the back door. He grabbed his hat off a nearby peg, then turned to look at her. Sighing, he asked, "Do you want me to ride along?"

  Both of her eyebrows lifted. He sounded as though he was asking, “Do you want me to sit in that electric chair?”

  “No," she said tightly. "But thanks so much for offering.”

  "Watch yourself," he muttered and left in the next breath.

&nbs
p; For God's sake, she just wanted to go to the store. Why did he have to make every decision sound like life and death?

  And why the hell did she care what he thought?

  #

  Naturally, a woman like Elizabeth couldn't get herself dressed in a few minutes. A half an hour later, Nora was in her room, impatiently tying her long, thick hair into a ponytail high on her head.

  A brief knock sounded on the door before Hannah stepped into the room, fresh sheets draped over her arm.

  "Is she ready yet?" Nora asked, studying the other woman's reflection in the mirror.

  "Haven't seen her," the housekeeper said and moved toward the bed.

  Automatically, Nora stood up and took a position opposite Hannah. The older woman paused, surprised, then grinned and accepted Nora's help in stripping the bed linen.

  They worked in companionable silence for a few minutes, then Hannah spoke as she snapped the freshly laundered white sheet in the air over the mattress. "You're really becoming quite a pistol, Nora."

  She grinned and tucked one end of the sheet into place. "A pistol, huh? Automatic or revolver?"

  "Come again?"

  Nora chuckled and said, “Nothing,” as she moved to the head of the bed, smoothing and tucking along the way.

  "Hmm," Hannah's work-worn hands moved efficiently over the ironed linen. When she was finished, she reached for the top sheet, unfolded it with a flourish and began the process all over again. "Your pa would have liked this new side of you, Nora.”

  "He would?" Nora glanced at the gray-haired woman as she smoothed the sheet into place.

  "My yes,” Hannah said with a smile. She walked to the foot of the bed and grabbed hold of the heavy quilt. Dragging it into place, she went on in a thoughtful voice. "Jake was always trying to find what he called 'a spark of spirit' inside you. He was forever swearing that one day the Wilding side of you would rise up and make folks around here sit up and tremble!”

  Nora straightened the fall of the quilt, then stood up and looked at the other woman. "You miss him."

  “Miss him?" She shook her head. “That old bastard? He was a miserable, sharp-tongued, evil-eyed old devil.” Reaching down, she lifted a corner of her apron to one teary eye. "Miss him? Every blessed day."

  Nora grinned. "Well, wherever he is," she said. "I bet he misses your cooking.”

  A bark of laughter shot from Hannah's throat and she waved one hand at Nora. “I don't know about that," she said. "But I do know that he was finally right about you, the randy old goat.”

  Nora chuckled and dropped onto the mattress. "Randy?"

  Hannah shooed her off the bed, stuffed a pillow into its slip, plumped it, and tossed it into place. "Silly old fool. Taking up with a woman half his age."

  "You don't like Elizabeth?"

  The older woman sniffed, reached for another pillow, and set to work again. “And why should I?" she demanded, lifting both of her chins. "Made a fool of Jake and durn near crowned herself queen of this place."

  Somehow it was comforting to know that she wasn't alone in her feelings for Elizabeth.

  "As for you, she treated you like it wasn't your body that was sick, but your mind.” Finished with the bed, Hannah absently gathered up the soiled sheets and rolled them into a neat ball she tucked under her arm. Then she crossed the floor, tugged at the curtains hanging across the windows, and flicked specks of dust from the sills. "Always speakin' real slow and careful. Like you would to a child.”

  "And did I seem to mind?"

  "No." Hannah whirled around, the hem of her gray, full skirt swishing about her legs before settling down to lay across the toes of her sensible black shoes. "Can't say that you did. “I’ll lately, I mean.”

  Shrugging, Nora took her seat in front of the dressing table and reached for her hairbrush again. "I don't think Elizabeth's as pleased with me as you are.”

  "No, ma'am, she surely isn't. Just yesterday, I heard her telling that brother of hers that you was just confused. That soon you’d be back to your old self.”

  "What do you think, Hannah?" Nora asked quietly.

  The older woman came up behind her and met Nora's steady gaze in the mirror. Pulling in a deep breath that swelled her bosom to monumental proportions, Hannah considered her for a long moment before speaking. "I believe that you're less confused now than you ever have been."

  Nice to hear, but Nora still needed to know something. "So you don't think I'm crazy, then?"

  "Crazy? No, you're not crazy." Laying one rough, work reddened hand on her shoulder, Hannah looked directly into her reflected gaze before adding, "You're not the Nora I used to know, but you are the Nora your pa always hoped to see.”

  Silly to feel tears well up in her eyes. Why should she care that Jake Wilding would have been proud of her? Why was Hannah's approval so important to her? Blinking back the film of moisture blurring her vision, Nora's fingers tightened around the carved rosewood handle of her hairbrush. After a long minute, she asked, "You don't think I'm going to get sick again?"

  "No." Tilting her head to one side, she studied Nora for a long minute. "I got a feeling deep in my bones that your sickly days're over."

  Well, at least somebody was willing to accept the new Nora Wilding.

  "And whatever's behind this change in you," the housekeeper said with a wink, “I'm pleased as punch to see you puttin' some meat on those bones of yours. Though I can't say I like you wearin' trousers."

  Nora glanced down at her jean-covered legs and ran one hand over the denim. It had taken an hour of pounding the fabric against a rock in the stream bed, but she had finally managed to get the stiff material to loosen up a little. The word "stonewashed" had taken on a whole new meaning to her. With her jeans and boots and the plain men's work shirts she now wore, she was beginning to feel almost comfortable in 1875. Who would have thought it?

  "Now then," Hannah said abruptly and took a step back. Nodding, she said, “I’ll go hurry that show horse along for you."

  “Thanks, Hannah,” Nora said softly.

  "For what?"

  She lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “The clean sheets and… everything.”

  Hannah sniffed, tugged at the waistband of her apron, and gave her a brief nod. "You're welcome. Now I got to get busy. I don't have time to stand around visiting all day. Got a lot of things to do before we leave on this trip of yours."

  When the door closed behind the other woman, Nora smiled thoughtfully to herself. With Hannah's acceptance, she felt as though she was really becoming a part of the Wilding ranch. As though she was actually close to belonging.

  Strange. Only a week or so ago, she had been frantic to get out of this time period. Now she was pleased because she was beginning to fit in. But before she could really consider this time and place as hers, she had to understand everything and everyone in her world.

  That was the main reason she hadn't asked the Bonners to leave the ranch. It would certainly make both Hannah and Seth very happy if those two were gone, but somehow, Nora couldn't get rid of them. Not yet, anyway. The Bonners were a part of this life she'd inherited.

  Whether she liked it or not.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Mike Dunn smoothed the last few hairs on his head into place with one hand as he totaled up their bill with the other. Nora watched the huge man shoot Elizabeth a wistful look or two from the corner of his eye. Apparently even the storekeeper wasn't immune to the woman's charms.

  Must be a guy thing, Nora told herself with a quick glance at the woman beside her. Maybe the pretty blonde's fluttery femininity made these poor souls feel like manly men. As far as she was concerned though, Elizabeth's deep, heartfelt sighs and pouty expression were wearing pretty thin.

  "Has my package from Boston arrived yet?" Elizabeth asked and reached into her bag for a lace-edged hanky, which she then held delicately to her nose.

  Nora sniffed the air experimentally then shrugged. Seemed fine to her.

  "Yes ma'am," Mike said
. "I'm addin' it into your bill here. You want to pay for it like always?"

  "Naturally," Elizabeth spared him a royal smile and Nora watched him bow and scrape gratefully for a long minute before she gave in to curiosity.

  "A package?" she asked.

  "Yes, dear," the woman said as she tucked her hanky back into her purse. "Don't you remember?”

  Nora gritted her teeth before saying, "Not a thing."

  "That's such a shame," Elizabeth told her and gave her the kind of absent pat usually reserved for a dog who had fetched one's slippers. "And we had such fun ordering them, too.”

  Somehow, Nora doubted that. Looking into Elizabeth's sharp brown eyes, she didn't imagine that the woman ever had fun unless a man was involved. "Just what did we order?”

  "Why,” Elizabeth tapped her chin with the tip of one perfectly manicured finger. "As I recall, there were a few-" she leaned forward and in a stage whisper continued- “undergarments for you…."

  Corsets? Lord, she hoped not. "And for you?"

  The other woman straightened up, flicked an imaginary speck of dust from the bodice of her saffron yellow day gown, and said, "One or two little necessities."

  "Necessary to what?" Nora wondered aloud.

  "Nora," Richard stepped into the breach. "This is unlike you, my love."

  "What is?" She half-turned her head to look up at him. His patient smile set her teeth on edge slightly, but she ignored the feeling and waited for his response.

  He glanced at his sister, who was pouting prettily. "These questions,” he said softly with a slow shake of his head. "It's almost as if you didn't trust Elizabeth."

  "I didn't say that," she said, although now that he mentioned it…

  "Now, Miz Nora," Mike interrupted. "It ain't nothin' to get worked up over. You and Miz Bonner always had a fine time orderin' things through my catalogs.”

  “There,” Elizabeth crowed. “You see?”

  Maybe she was making too much out of this, Nora thought. After all, what harm was there in a little shopping? She'd been known to melt down a few credit cards in her time. "Okay," she said and held up both hands in surrender. "Sorry I said anything." Turning to Mike, she asked, "Are you finished with the bill yet?"