“Thank you,” Ellen said. “I never would have known to look for a spavin.”
“He could never be as fast as my horse if he had one.” Noah peppered Matt with more questions.
Ellen decided to shed all her preconceived notions about Matt. She knew only one thing for sure: He was extremely handsome. She wondered if he thought she was attractive. He had barely glanced at her during the trip, even though she sat next to him. She didn’t feel ignored, but she didn’t feel special.
She reminded herself that they had married out of necessity rather than inclination. She told herself she was glad they weren’t in love, that emotion would only complicate things; but that didn’t make her feel better. She knew her independence was more important to her than any man—even one as handsome as Matt. But even that thought didn’t cheer her.
Matt pulled to a stop before the house. Noah jumped down immediately. “Can I go look at the horses?”
“You need to carry your things into the house.”
Toby and Orin got up from the steps where they’d been waiting. Without being asked, they started unloading the wagon.
“Where do you want this stuff?” Toby asked.
“In the hallway,” Matt said. “We’ll decide where it goes later.”
Ellen was pleased with the look and size of the frame house. She’d expected a log or adobe structure. Even in the Hill Country, where trees were plentiful, it was expensive to build with sawed lumber. Usually only rich people lived in wooden houses.
“Sorry the house isn’t bigger, but I could only borrow so much money. I choose to put most of it into livestock.”
“Why didn’t your parents give this ranch to you?”
She saw a flash of emotion in his normally expressionless face. “Jake and Isabelle adopted me. That didn’t mean they owed me a ranch.”
“But they’re rich.” Ellen hadn’t meant to say that. The words just popped out.
“They gave me a home when no one would have me. I could stay as long as I wanted, come back as often as I wanted. That was more valuable than anything else.”
Ellen felt embarrassed and a little angry that her question made her appear crass. “Everybody thinks they did.”
“Not Tom Jackson. He expects my payment at the bank as regular as clockwork.”
Matt had mentioned the bank loan earlier, but Ellen hadn’t realized that meant Matt had borrowed money from Mabel’s husband. She hoped Tom Jackson kept his business well separated from his home life. If not, Matt could be in for trouble.
“Go on inside and look around. The boys and I will get everything unloaded.”
Ellen hadn’t expected the house to be decorated at all. She was pleasantly surprised to find pictures hung on the walls, two covered settees set between doorways, wing chairs, piecrust tables and lamps adorning the other available space, and a rush mat on the floor.
“That’s Isabelle’s doing,” Matt said when he came inside to get down a box. “I returned things at first, but they just reappeared the next day. Jake said I’d have to burn the house down if I wanted to get rid of them.”
“Will I get to meet Isabelle?”
“Probably before you want to,” Matt said as he headed out the door.
“You don’t have much stuff,” Toby said as he set down a suitcase that contained half the clothing Ellen owned.
“You don’t need much when you live in a rooming house and work in a saloon.”
“My ma lived in a rooming house and worked in a saloon. She had lots of stuff.” Toby went back outside without waiting for her response.
Ellen had been too preoccupied with her own troubles to think about Toby’s parents. She’d have to ask Matt to tell her more about both boys. She didn’t intend to get involved in their lives, but she didn’t want to say anything that might hurt them.
“Check out the rest of the house,” Matt said when he came back. “The kitchen is over here.”
She didn’t want to look at the kitchen but headed in that direction. She could just imagine the mess three unattended males would have made. She stepped into the room and came to a dead stop.
It was immaculate.
There wasn’t a dirty dish or pot in sight. The countertops had been wiped clean and everything put away. The chairs were under the table and folded napkins lay on the spotless tabletop. Obviously Isabelle sent someone to clean up after them. Good! They could clean up after her, too. Living in a rooming house had gotten her out of the habit of cooking and cleaning.
But she didn’t like the idea of Isabelle coming behind her, probably complaining about the mess she and the children made.
“Show me where you want to put things,” Matt said from the kitchen door.
“How often do the servants come in?” She hadn’t meant to sound sarcastic, but she felt like a fool for feeling sorry for Matt and the boys being on their own.
“What servants?” Matt asked, a slightly perplexed look lining his normally expressionless brow.
Ellen gestured to the kitchen. “Somebody obviously came today so you could impress me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This kitchen.”
“I don’t have a servant. I do the cooking and the boys clean up.”
Ellen couldn’t believe he was serious. No men kept a house this clean. “What about the napkins?”
“That’s Isabelle’s doing. She was raised by a rich aunt in Savannah, Georgia. She can’t get it through her head we don’t need napkins in Texas.”
Noah pushed his way though the doorway. “Can I sleep in the loft, Ellen? Please. There’s lots of room. I promise I won’t cause any trouble.”
“We’ll see,” Ellen said, too shaken to think clearly. If Matt and the boys really did do their own housework, she was in trouble. She doubted she could do half as well. Matt stepped back to let her enter the hallway.
“This is our bedroom,” he said, opening a door on the other side of the hall.
Ellen could tell from his expression that he didn’t like having to share his room and his bed, but he had already put her luggage inside.
“You can move any of my stuff you want,” he said. “I don’t need much space.”
“Neither do I. Toby just commented on how little I have.”
“If you decide you want to make changes, go ahead. But let me know if you need more furniture or anything like that. Whatever you do, don’t tell Isabelle. She’ll have it over here within the hour.”
Ellen couldn’t help but laugh. “And you object to that?”
“Isabelle and Jake have given me more than enough. I don’t intend to be a burden.”
“I don’t know Isabelle, but if she adopted you, I doubt she considers you a burden.”
Ellen was thankful she’d taken the trouble over the last several years to study men closely. The changes in Matt’s expression were so subtle, came and went so quickly, they were almost impossible to notice, but they were there. And if she interpreted this fleeting look correctly, it said there was something more involved here than the desire of a man to be independent of his mother.
“Just tell me if you need anything.” He looked like he thought she might not.
“I will. Now, where is Tess going to sleep?”
Matt led her to a second bedroom, as neat as the first, but furnished with two of everything—beds, chairs, tables, wardrobes.
“This is Toby and Orin’s bedroom, isn’t it?”
“They won’t mind sleeping in the loft. It’ll be something of an adventure.”
“For a week. After that they’ll resent it.”
“Then we have a week to figure out what to do.”
“Do you ever get upset?” she asked.
His face seemed to freeze. “Why do you ask that?”
“You’ve been forced to marry a woman you don’t know, bring her to your house, install her in your bedroom, and have your boys moved into the loft. Toby resents us, and Noah wants a horse he doesn’t know how to ride.
You’ll have that damned preacher and Mabel Jackson down on your head any day now, and as far as I can tell you’re playing a game of hide-and-seek with your mother. You keep this house neat as a pin, yet you’ve brought three people into it who’re guaranteed to interrupt your routine, destroy your serenity, and get everything out of place. All that, and you have yet to raise your voice or appear to be the slightest bit put out.”
His frown transformed into a smile that made her feel weak in the knees.
“Getting upset won’t change anything.”
“Maybe not, but I’d want to scream and throw things.”
“That wouldn’t set a very good example for the boys.”
“Are those boys that important to you?”
“I know what it’s like to be alone and unwanted. I can’t take in every boy who needs help, but I don’t mean to fail these two.”
Ellen couldn’t pinpoint what changed about Matt as he said these words; it was as if she glimpsed a determination that had been there all along, a depth of emotion he was very careful to keep hidden. It was almost frightening in its intensity.
Then his expression shifted, and he looked as calm and unflappable as always.
“That’s how I feel about Noah and Tess.”
“Then we should rub along together without too much trouble. The boys and I have work to do before supper. I know Noah would like to go, but I can’t take him with us until I’m sure he knows how to ride.”
It had never occurred to Ellen that Matt would expect Noah to work alongside him and the older boys. She’d assumed they’d have chores like feeding the chickens and pigs or milking the cow—she didn’t even know yet if he had any of these animals—but nothing as dangerous as working with cows that were practically wild. “He’s too young.”
“I agree, but he’s not going to see it that way. I’ll think of something by tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to worry about Noah and Tess. They’re my responsibility.”
Matt’s surprise was unmistakable. “We’re going to adopt them. They’ll be as much my responsibility as yours.”
Ellen didn’t want Matt involved with the kids. It was okay for him to give Noah a horse, provide food and shelter, but she wanted the emotional side of their lives to be neatly separated.
“You don’t know anything about little girls.” She had to make it clear there was no real joining here, no sense of becoming a family.
“I had a sister orphan, Drew, and I watched Eden grow up.”
“Why do you keep calling yourself an orphan? Jake and Isabelle adopted you. They’re your mother and father. Drew is your sister. I know you love Isabelle—it shows in your face every time you mention her name—but you talk about your family like you’re separate from them.”
Ellen would have given all she possessed to have been a loved and valued member of a family rather than an unwanted burden endured because of family ties. But she could tell she’d strayed into forbidden territory. Shutters came down in the back of Matt’s eyes, closing off any trace of emotion.
“Jake and Isabelle were wonderful to me, but I’m an adult now. There’s no need to keep pretending.”
“Do you plan to sever the relationship with Toby and Orin when they’re old enough to be on their own?”
She’d assumed Noah and Tess would always be part of her life. If Matt hadn’t been able to feel like a real part of Jake and Isabelle’s family, if he didn’t expect Toby and Orin to remain part of his life, maybe she couldn’t expect Noah and Tess to think of her as their family. That frightened her. She couldn’t escape the feeling that somehow Matt’s failure threatened her.
“If that’s how you feel, why did you buy a ranch close to Jake and Isabelle? Why do you let her keep bringing things for your house?”
“The boys are waiting for me. We’ll be back in time for supper.”
“What about supper?”
“I’ll cook. We can talk about any changes you want to make after you begin to feel comfortable.”
“I’ll cook for myself and the children.”
“We have to act like a family, remember? That means we all eat together. Don’t worry. I won’t be late.”
Ellen followed him to the door, watched him walk from the house to the corrals. She felt all over again the physical attraction she experienced when around him. He was a fine specimen of a man. She wondered why he didn’t consider himself a member of the Maxwell family. If Isabelle was advising him on marriage, helping him furnish his house, it was obvious she did. He was willing to take on the whole community, even marry a stranger, in order to keep Toby and Orin with him, but he didn’t think they would remain close to him after they grew up. It was as though he was pushing people away before they had a chance to leave.
Tess tugged at her skirts. “What is it?” She felt guilty for having practically forgotten the child for the last several minutes.
“I want to go home.”
Ellen looked down at the adorable three-year-old. She didn’t know who had fathered Tess—April had never named the father of either of her children—but she clearly took after her mother. She had the same soft brown hair and eyes, the same sweet expression that could melt anybody’s heart.
“This is our new home,” Ellen said.
“I don’t like it. I want Mrs. Ogden.”
“We can’t live with Mrs. Ogden anymore.”
“Why?”
Ellen had never told Tess that she and her brother might be taken away and put into an orphanage. She hadn’t wanted to scare the little girl.
“I married Matt,” Ellen explained. “I’m his wife, and when a woman becomes a man’s wife, she has to live in his house.”
“Can’t he live with us at Mrs. Ogden’s house?”
“No. This is his house, his ranch. He’s got horses and cows to look after and all kinds of work to do. I’ll bet he has a milk cow.” Tess liked Mrs. Ogden’s brown and white cow. The placid animal allowed Tess to help Mrs. Ogden milk her.
“I don’t like Toby. He makes faces at me.”
“It’s just because you’re going to sleep in his bed.”
“I want to sleep with you.”
Tess looked ready to burst into tears. Ellen felt sorry for the child. She’d had too much turmoil in her short life.
“Matt said I had to help you,” Noah said as he burst into the house, out of breath. “I don’t want to. I want to go with Matt.”
Noah didn’t look at all like his sister. Ellen kept his nearly black hair cut short because it stuck out in all directions even when Noah stood still long enough for her to comb it. He had deep blue eyes and a thin, gangly body that promised considerable height when he reached maturity. His slightly pinched face was as animated and full of cheerful mischief as his sister’s was quiet and biddable. It was Noah who thought of and initiated all the trouble. Tess followed him out of pure adoration.
“We have to unpack before supper.”
“I can get unpacked in a minute,” Noah said, heading for the bedroom. “I’ll show you. I’ll—”
“You can’t go with Matt.”
He turned, lower lip out, eyes angry. “Why?”
Noah usually did what she asked without arguing, but once in a while he dug in his heels and wouldn’t budge until she gave him an answer he could understand.
“You don’t have a horse.”
“I can ride one of Matt’s.”
“You don’t know how to ride well enough yet.”
“Matt said I knew a lot. He said he could have me riding in no time.”
“We have a lot of work to do getting settled in the house.”
“But—”
“We’ve got to be very careful not to get in Matt’s way.”
“I won’t. I—”
“We’re in his way just by being here,” Ellen said. “You and Tess are taking Toby and Orin’s bedroom, sleeping in their beds. Our being here will be a lot more work. We’re going to have to learn to clean up after ourselves,
wash dishes, help with the chores, milk the cow—”
“That’s girl stuff!”
“Matt and the boys have been doing it. See how neat this house is? We’ll have to do our share.”
Ellen had tried to be a good parent, to give them chores and supervise them, but most of the supervision had fallen to Mrs. Ogden. That softhearted lady could never make the children give their chores more than a lick and a promise before they ran outside to play. She was sure Matt would make every effort to accommodate Tess and Noah, but she knew he wouldn’t accept his house being in shambles, his well-ordered life turned topsy-turvy. He had given them a way to stay together. In return they would have to upset his life as little as possible.
“Do we have to be neat?” Noah asked.
“Yes. You don’t want Matt to make us leave, do you?”
She could tell that was a possibility he hadn’t considered.
“Would he make us leave?”
“I hope not.”
“Will Reverend Sears get us?”
Tess clung more tightly to Ellen’s hand. “I don’t like him.”
“We’re safe as long as we’re here,” Ellen said.
“I’ll try to be neat,” Noah said. “But I’m going to ask Matt to find my horse right away.”
“How long do we have to sleep in the loft?” Toby asked Matt as they neared the ranch.
“You’ve been after me to let you sleep up there for the better part of a year.” Matt had put him off because he wanted him to share a room with Orin. He had hoped that would make Orin feel more a part of their family.
But Matt understood why Toby resented having to sleep in the loft now. After his mother died, nobody wanted him. He never felt like he belonged anywhere until Matt hired him to work on the ranch. Matt had done everything he could to make Toby feel he had a home, not just a job, that Matt cared about him, not just whether he did his work. He’d enlisted Toby’s help in doing the same for Orin. Now they were being pushed out of their beds and their room. Understanding the necessity for the marriage only made things worse. They knew their place in the family, as well as their refuge on the ranch, was threatened.
“Nothing’s going to be the same with them here,” Toby said.
Matt (The Cowboys) Page 4