Land of My Heart

by Tracie Peterson

  Cole sat waiting for her. She smiled and held up the pot. “I keep this outside for just such occasions. Zane and Morgan are always hurting themselves and sometimes the ice comes in handy.” She picked up a chisel and hammer and began to chip away at the ice in the pot.

  “Speaking of your brothers, how do they feel about Montana?”

  Dianne considered the question for a moment. “I don’t know if it’s Montana in particular or just the big skies and rugged mountains. They both long for their independence and I just can’t encourage it—not yet. I still need them.”

  Cole nodded. “That’s for sure. Do you often have trouble when you go to town?”

  “Oh, not often. There are times when the rowdies get a bit out of control. They don’t mean any real harm—at least I don’t think they do.” She gathered up the ice chips and put them on a clean dishtowel and knotted the ends together. Next she took up a small bowl and poured in a little of the hot water from the stove reservoir. Taking up yet another clean towel, she came to the table.

  “I hope this won’t hurt too much,” she said, dipping the dry cloth in the water. She touched it to his face gently. “Too hot?”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  She continued washing the area around his lips, then smiled with satisfaction. “That ought to do it.” She picked up the ice bag and handed it to him. “Put this on your lip while I get us lunch.”

  “You really don’t have to do this. I can grab something to eat in town.”

  “Nonsense. I have the food ready and I owe you.”

  “No you don’t,” he said firmly. “I did what any decent man would do. You shouldn’t have to defend yourself.”

  “Well, there are a whole lot of things I shouldn’t have to do,” Dianne said, taking down two bowls and a plate from the cupboard. “And a whole lot of things I wish I never had to do again.” She smiled to herself more than for his benefit. “But life is what it is.”

  She dished up the stew and set the bowls on the table. Next, she opened the bread box and brought out a half loaf of bread. After putting this on the plate, she gathered up eating utensils and came to the table. “I have no butter or jam.”

  “I wouldn’t need them anyway,” Cole replied, putting the ice aside. “I like to sop my bread in the stew.”

  Dianne suddenly realized she hadn’t thought about something to drink. “I can make coffee, but it will take a little while.”

  “Water is fine.”

  She nodded. “Good. That way our stew won’t get cold.”

  She brought the glasses of water and then took her seat. “Do you mind if I offer thanks?”

  Cole shook his head and closed his eyes. Dianne murmured a short, respectful prayer of thanks. Her heart seemed suddenly full with gratitude for this reprieve from her otherwise boring day. She wanted to thank God aloud for sending Cole to visit, but instead she only considered her gratitude in silence.

  After she’d concluded, Cole surprised her by taking up the knife to slice the bread. He handed her a piece and actually smiled. “Looks good.

  Did you make it?”

  Dianne nodded. “I told you I was improving.”

  He took a bite of the bread and nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever had better.”

  They ate in companionable silence, and only after Dianne refilled Cole’s bowl two more times did they revisit conversation.

  “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you know my uncle, Bram Vandyke?”

  Cole pushed his bowl back. “As a matter of fact, I do. He hired me on to help drive some cattle to his place last fall.”

  Dianne felt a new surge of hope. Perhaps Cole could get word to her uncle. It was certain her brothers didn’t see the situation as serious enough to consider. “Could you get a message to him for me?”

  Cole frowned. “I doubt it. I’m not sure I’d know exactly how to find my way back to his place.”

  “I could pay you. In fact, I could pay you very well. We’ve managed to hang on to most of the money we made when we sold the store goods and extra animals.”

  “It’s not a matter of pay,” Cole said somberly. “I honestly don’t know if I could find the place.”

  “Would you at least consider it? I mean, I know it’s dangerous and I wouldn’t want you to even try if there were too great a risk,” Dianne began, “but I’m desperate. My brothers don’t understand, but I think it’s important Uncle Bram know about my mother dying. I think it’s also important that he know I’m here alone most of the time. Surely he wouldn’t allow that to go on if he knew.”

  “Why don’t your brothers try to get word to him?”

  “They think it’s a silly point. Uncle Bram can’t do a thing about Mama and he can’t very well come for a funeral that’s already taken place. They think that because he’ll be making his way here in May or June to pick up supplies and mail that we should just wait until then. But that’s two, maybe three more months.”

  “I agree you shouldn’t be here alone, but by the time I get the message to him and he acts on it, it’ll probably be the same difference.”

  “Please,” Dianne said, knowing she sounded like a child begging for her own way. “I’ll pay you any amount you ask.” She got up and went into her bedroom to retrieve their savings. Coming back, she opened up the small wooden box to reveal their money.

  “You shouldn’t keep that kind of cash in the house,” Cole warned. “Especially being here alone. Why isn’t this in the bank?”

  “I don’t plan to live here long enough to need a bank,” Dianne said. “Look, I just want you to see that I can afford to hire you. I’ll just keep asking folks until someone agrees to do it.”

  Cole blew out a heavy breath. “I’ll take on the job, but only if I can get some better idea of how to get to your uncle’s place. I know a couple of the cowboys who were working for him on that same drive. They might be able to help me.”

  Dianne knew then that God had heard her prayers. “Just let me know what you expect to be paid. I’ll write out a letter for my uncle and give you money for your expenses as well.”

  Cole stared at the box of money. “Do you keep a gun in the house?”

  “No,” Dianne admitted. “Zane and Morgan usually take theirs on the job.”

  “You need one if you’re going to keep this kind of money around.”

  Dianne shook her head. “I don’t know the first thing about them.”

  “I could teach you. I could pick a gun out for you as well. It isn’t like you can’t afford one.”

  She smiled. “Well, if you want to go to the trouble, I suppose it would be fine. Although I seriously doubt I could ever shoot someone— especially over money.”

  “I wouldn’t want you to shoot them,” Cole admitted. “It’d be enough if you could scare them off. But if your life was being threatened and no one was around to come to your rescue, you should know how to use the thing and shoot to kill. It might mean saving your life.”

  Dianne thought about the young men who’d accosted her earlier. She could never have shot any of them, no matter what they threatened her with. “I don’t think I could kill anyone, Cole. I’d rather die instead.”

  Cole remembered the serious expression on Dianne Chadwick’s face long after he’d left her dinner table. Her declaration that she’d rather die than defend her life was startling to him. Had Carrie felt the same way? Was she happier having died trying to defend her father than to have never tried at all?

  He kicked himself mentally for having allowed Dianne to worm her way into his heart. He didn’t want to care about her, but it seemed that every time he turned around she was in trouble of one sort or another. How could her brothers be so stupid as to leave her alone to fend for herself? Maybe he should have a talk with them.

  “And now she wants to hire me to take a message to her uncle,” he muttered under his breath. “And I said I’d do it. I’m ten kinds of fool for that one.”

  But her sweet smile and desperate pleadin
g were his undoing, and no matter how much Cole thought of Carrie and how he’d sworn never to care about another woman, Cole Selby knew he was in deep trouble when it came to Dianne Chadwick.

  CHAPTER 24

  COLE STILL COULDN’T BELIEVE HE’D ALLOWED DIANNE TO TALK HIM into taking a message to Bram Vandyke. The trails were fairly open, however, as warm breezes and a week of sun had melted most of the snow. The temperatures were still plenty cold, but Cole used that to his advantage as the land remained frozen instead of muddy and difficult to travel.

  With directions from one of the cowboys he’d worked with on Bram’s cattle drive, Cole easily found his way to the Vandyke ranch. As he rode into the main yard, Bram waved from where he worked on a corral with another man.

  “What in the world are you doing out this way?” the big man questioned.

  Cole dismounted and shook the man’s gloved hand. “I was looking to have a word with you.”

  “Well, it’s almost lunchtime,” Bram said, turning to the other man. “You remember Cole Selby, don’t you, Gus?”

  “Sure do.” The man reached out to shake Cole’s hand.

  Gus Yegen was Vandyke’s right-hand man. Years of working as a cowboy, wrangler, and foreman on a large ranch in Texas made him a valuable companion for the big Dutchman who hoped to build a ranch for himself in Montana.

  “Good to see you, Gus,” Cole said.

  “I’d imagine Koko has lunch about ready. Why don’t we make our way to the house and we can talk about whatever it is that brought you all this way.”

  Cole noted a few changes had been made since he’d been there last fall. Several corrals were in place and a barn had been built out of logs and stripped planks.

  “I see you’re noticing our handiwork,” Bram said proudly. “We barely got that put together before the first big snow.”

  “It looks good. Solid.” Cole thought it looked sturdier than the log cabin they were making their way to just now. He wondered if Dianne had any idea of her uncle’s living conditions. Would she find it abominable to be stuck out here in the middle of nowhere, a good twenty-five or thirty miles from any real town?

  Cole’s senses were assaulted with the inviting aroma of food as soon as Bram opened the door, and concern about Dianne fled his thoughts. He remembered Bram’s wife being a good cook, and his stomach rumbled loudly as they made their way into the house. After eating a cold breakfast on the trail, he was more than ready for hot grub.

  “Koko, look who’s here,” Bram announced. “It’s Cole Selby. He helped us last year with the cattle drive.”

  The dark-haired woman smiled and came to meet him. She was dressed as any other pioneering woman might be—simple skirt and blouse, apron to cover both—but her Indian features stood out in a marked way. Her hair was fixed in two black braids, and her high cheekbones and honey-brown skin gave her a rather exotic look. She was a handsome woman, Cole thought, closer to his own age than Bram Vandyke’s. He knew a lot of men living in the wilderness were given to marrying native women, sometimes much younger women, but he still found it rather shocking. Back East the mixed marriage wouldn’t have been acceptable, but here in the West it seemed almost a common occurrence.

  “It’s good to see you again, Mr. Selby,” Koko Vandyke greeted.

  Cole yanked his hat off in respect. “You too, ma’am. I remember your good cooking.”

  Bram laughed and pulled off his gloves and hat. “Cole, you and Gus can hang your things on the back of the door.” Koko came to her husband and took his hat and gloves, then waited for him to get out of his heavy coat.

  Gus and Cole did as instructed, then made their way to the table. By this time Bram had taken a seat and Koko was already working to set another place.

  “Hope you like elk steak,” Bram said.

  “I can’t imagine anything more welcome after a long ride,” Cole replied.

  Koko plopped a thick steak down on the plate in front of each man.

  After this she brought a huge cast-iron skillet of fried potatoes. Bram took the pan from her and began helping himself to the food, while Koko retrieved a platter of sliced bread and a bowl of sweet peas. After each of them had filled their plates, Bram offered thanks and then instructed them to dig in. There would be no conversation until their hunger was somewhat abated.

  Cole watched as Koko lovingly tended to each of them in between eating her own share of food. She poured coffee into their mugs at the first sign of need and went to retrieve more bread when Gus took the last slice from the platter. She was a kind and gentle woman. Cole had never seen such a servant’s heart in any person. He remembered from his earlier time with the Vandykes that Koko had never seemed to care whether there were two men or ten to feed and care for. She seemed only to enjoy being needed. How different from his mother, who while happy to take the financial support of her boarders, was less than content in having to actually deal with the people themselves.

  As the meal wound down, Bram pushed back and lit a cigar. “So tell me why you rode all this way. Do you need a job?”

  Cole put his fork down and shook his head. “Actually, I was hired by your niece, Dianne Chadwick. I have a letter for you.” He pulled the letter out of his pocket and handed it across the table to Bram.

  “Do you know what’s in this letter?” Bram asked, eyeing Cole curiously.

  “I know the intent of the letter,” Cole admitted. “Dianne spoke with me at length about the situation.”

  “I see. So why don’t you just tell me what’s in here.” He spoke in such a way that it almost seemed a command.

  Cole nodded. “I’m afraid the news isn’t good. Your sister passed away just before Christmas. She wandered out in a snowstorm, apparently lost her way, and wasn’t found until the next day.”

  Bram lowered his head and looked at the table. Koko came to stand beside him. She gently touched his shoulder, and he reached up to take hold of her hand. “I thought she would be all right there. I thought she had better sense than to risk her life that way.”

  “She probably would have, but she was heavily drugged from the laudanum and wasn’t in her right mind.”

  “And the baby?” Bram asked, looking back to Cole.

  Cole shook his head. “She hadn’t yet delivered.”

  Bram nodded knowingly. “I suppose it’s just as well. Those children would have been hard-pressed to care for an infant.”

  Cole admired his strength but could see that his eyes had dampened. “Dianne wants to come live with you. Her brothers have a mind to be independent by summer and she’s all alone. It’s not a good situation for a woman by herself, if I do say so. I had to come to her rescue just last week when she was … ah … confronted by three men.” Cole didn’t bother to explain the situation further. He knew Vandyke understood the potential for such an event.

  “I’m glad you were there to help. How is it you know my family?”

  “I was assistant to the wagon master on the train that brought them west. I was there when Dianne’s sisters died. We never did find the older of the two. She was swept downriver. The youngest was kicked in the head by a mule. It appeared she spooked the animal. I was there when Dianne found her.”

  “That girl has had her share of miseries to be sure,” Bram murmured. “Still, I don’t have room to have her and her brothers here. Look around for yourself. We have this room and a bedroom. That’s it.”

  “I could help you build on,” Gus offered.

  “I’d be glad to help as well,” Cole replied. “And surely Dianne’s brothers would give some time if they knew it meant seeing Dianne well cared for. They might even want to live here themselves. It’s a heap prettier here than in Virginia City. Maybe they’d find a heart for ranching.”

  “I could use their help for sure. I just have a couple of men working for me besides Gus. They’re out north of here with the cattle. Come spring thaw, there’ll be plenty of work around here and I’ll definitely need more hands.” Bram sat and sucked on
his cigar for several minutes.

  Koko moved around to retake her seat. “Bram, you can hardly leave her there to fend for herself. She’s from the East. She doesn’t know how to live out here. People will take advantage of her. You know this is true.”

  Bram met her gaze. “Yes, I suppose you’re right.” He turned his attention to Cole. “It’s not that I don’t want her here. You have to understand. It’s just that I know she’s probably not cut out for the life we’re living. Her mother wasn’t cut out for it—I knew that. It’s one of the reasons I told her she couldn’t come here. She would have perished after a month without shops to visit and people to talk to. The other reason … well … she was prejudiced. I knew she could never have lived in the same house with Koko.”

  “Well, forgive me for being blunt,” Cole began, “but you won’t find Dianne to be either prejudiced or weak. She’s been the backbone of that family ever since I met her. Her best friend on the wagon train was a former slave. Not only that, but no matter what you decide, Dianne has no idea of returning to Missouri. She made that clear to me.”

  Bram chuckled. “She did, now? Well, she sounds like quite a gal.”

  Cole started to affirm this, then thought better of it. “She’s determined.”

  “I’ll tell you what. If you can get them here, say in May, then I’ll have the trees cut and ready to build. Gus and I will have to help fetch the cattle from where they’re wintering come later this month or April— that’s providing it’s not a lengthy winter. We should have the herd settled by May and then we can devote our time to getting those additions put on. Eh, Gus?”

  “Sounds about right.”

  Cole looked to the foreman. He liked Gus Yegen. He was a grizzled, weather-worn man in his forties who had done a lot of living. Even so, he was a friendly sort who had no problem with speaking his mind when the occasion called for it.