by Stacy Henrie
Too weary to determine the answer, Jennie pushed the plaguing question to the back of her mind and left the room, her things in tow. She crossed the courtyard, past two girls playing with their dolls, and entered the dining room and adjoining kitchen. Adelaide looked up from stirring something in a bowl at the sideboard and smiled.
“I hope you enjoy the food and the quiet, now that all our travelers are gone.”
Smiling back, Jennie slipped into the chair in front of the single place setting and began to eat. Usually the room was crowded with people, all talking and eating at once. She was relieved to not have to make conversation or answer questions, though her long sleeves hid any sign of her bandage. No one but Adelaide and her husband had to know the state in which Jennie had shown up to the fort in the wee hours of the morning.
The hot food tasted delicious, and Jennie ate every morsel. When she finished, she rose from the table and cleared her dishes.
“If anyone from Fillmore should come looking for me,” Jennie said in a low voice, though no one else but Adelaide was about, “please, don’t give them my name.”
Adelaide stopped cooking and peered intently at Jennie. “Are you in trouble, Miss Jones? Is there something we can do for you?”
Jennie blushed at the sincere concern. “No, no. It’s just...I would rather return home knowing I don’t have some angry, drunken man on my heels.”
Adelaide gave a decisive nod. “I think I understand. We’ll not share what you wish to keep secret.”
“Thank you.” Jennie realized she’d been holding her breath. “For the wonderful meal, too.” She took a step toward the door. “I should probably be going.”
“Are you sure? You don’t want to rest one more day?” Adelaide glanced purposely at Jennie’s arm.
Jennie shook her head. Right now the only place she wanted to be was home.
“Very well.” Adelaide wiped her hands on her apron. “Let’s rummage up some food for your journey and then we’ll get your horse.”
With some bread and cheese tied up in a handkerchief, Jennie followed Adelaide to the stable where they found Adelaide’s husband, Ira, attending to the horses.
“Morning, Miss Jones,” he said cheerfully. “It’s good to see you up and moving. You were a bit worse for wear this morning.”
“She’s ready to go, Ira,” Adelaide announced.
Ira’s face registered the same surprise Adelaide had shown in the kitchen, but he nodded. “I’ll get your horse ready.”
While he saddled up the mare, Jennie discreetly withdrew a wad of cash to pay the couple for their care. “Here, please take this.” She held out the money to Ira. “I would have been in a bad spot without your kindness. And it wasn’t like I was traveling with the stagecoach this morning.”
Ira shook his head and gently pushed back her hand. “We’re glad we could help. We’ll leave it at that.”
Jennie blinked in open curiosity at him. With all the people they had coming through their fort and eating their food, surely they felt justified in accepting a little reward now and then.
As if reading her thoughts, Adelaide spoke. “That’s what we were asked to do here—help folks like yourself on this lonely stretch of road. Every time we do, we find we’re more than compensated by God’s bounty.”
“I’ll help you onto your horse,” Ira said, smiling.
A growing lump in her throat prevented Jennie from responding. She put one foot into the stirrups and allowed Ira to help her onto the saddle. Why was she so touched? Probably because this place reminds me of home.
Instead of an image of the ranch filling her mind, she pictured the scene in the kitchen the night before she’d left for Fillmore. Will playing their father’s old harmonica and her and Caleb dancing. She could still recall the warmth and love she’d felt, surrounded by the people she cared for most.
Forcing her thoughts back to the present, Jennie thanked Ira and Adelaide once more. They walked her to the fort’s main entrance, and Ira opened the giant doors. Jennie rode through, pointing her horse south. Twisting in the saddle, she waved goodbye to the two figures framed inside the doorway.
Jennie alternated the mare’s gait from a canter to a walk and back. If she hurried, she might reach the livery stable in Beaver before dark to collect Dandy—a day ahead of schedule.
She located a stream a few hours into her ride where she watered and rested the horse and ate her lunch. A nearby rock helped her maneuver again into the saddle without reinjuring her arm.
More than once, her mind returned to her experience at the fort and Ira and Adelaide’s selfless service. Jennie might have sacrificed quite a bit—even risking her life—yesterday to save the ranch. Was all her sacrifice really worth it?
“We need it to survive,” she argued out loud. The mare’s ears flicked back at the break in the silence. “How would we ever make it without the ranch?”
She tried to convince herself that everything would work out for the best. Nathan could surely find her another job in the next two weeks without garnering suspicion. Then she could pay the bank and keep her home. She’d never take from another stage thief again. No one would ever have to know how she pulled her family out of their current poverty. They would be safe, provided for and happy on the land she valued so dearly.
These thoughts brought her some measure of comfort, but one nagging question remained. What was King’s man doing in Fillmore? Had it merely been coincidence she saw him there, like their encounter in Beaver, or was he really following her? What did he want? Jennie hated that she didn’t have the answers. Hopefully the cowhand didn’t know what she’d been doing at the saloon and her confrontation with him in the hallway would deter him from coming around again.
She reached Beaver a short time after sunset and led the mare to the livery. Taking some bills from her saddlebag, she paid for Dandy’s stay and made arrangements with the livery owner to have the mare go with the next stage to Fillmore and the livery stable there.
Exhaustion seeped from every muscle, but she still had to find Nathan at the saloon. Thankfully he was waiting outside for her. She gave him his half of the money and quickly related her experience in Fillmore, leaving out the part about being shot. If he thought she couldn’t handle another job soon, he might pass one up.
Jennie let Dandy set the pace for home. She was too sore to care about speed. Once she worked out a plausible explanation for her borrowed dress and injury, she began to breathe a little easier. The real details of her trip to Fillmore could remain a secret.
She would ride up, hug her brother and grandmother, talk with Caleb, and everything would stay the same. Nothing has to change.
Chapter Fourteen
Caleb pitched the last bits of hay into the corral troughs before taking his pitchfork and lantern to the barn to feed the horses. His gaze shot to the road in front of the ranch, though he knew Jennie wouldn’t be home for another day. He’d started missing her about an hour after she’d left three days earlier. Things weren’t the same at the ranch without her around to talk to or tease.
Was she safe and well? Ladies typically had no trouble traveling alone on a stagecoach. Or so he’d thought before Liza’s accident.
He closed his mind to the memories by concentrating his thoughts on his next task. He lit into the horses’ hay with a vengeance, tossing it faster than he ever had. He had one last horse to feed, minus Dandy, when he heard a noise at the barn doors.
Jennie walked inside, leading Dandy by the reins. Caleb’s heart quickened with relief and happiness.
“You’re home early. We didn’t expect you until tomorrow night.”
“It’s a long story.” In the lamplight her pretty face was etched with weariness.
“I’m glad you’re safe,” he said with practiced nonchalance, embarrassed by his earlier worry. “I’ll take care of Dandy. You sit down and rest.”
For once Jennie didn’t protest. Instead she handed him the reins and sank down on a nearby bale of
hay. “Feels good to be on something that isn’t moving,” she muttered, setting her hat beside her.
Caleb led Dandy into his stall and removed the saddle and blanket. “If you don’t mind my asking, how’d your financial meeting go?”
“It went fine.” Her exhausted tone made the words less convincing, but Caleb refrained from saying so. “I can’t borrow any more money, but I hope to pay the loan off soon. Once the bank isn’t breathing down our necks, we can turn this place around.”
“How are you gonna pay off the debt?” he asked as he put the tack away.
Jennie didn’t answer right away. Caleb lifted his head to see a look of trepidation on her face. Had he said something wrong?
“We’ll be fine.”
He grabbed a currycomb and returned to Dandy’s stall. He gave the horse a few strokes with the brush before stopping. “I know I’ve said it before, Jennie, but I meant it. You don’t have to pay me my wages just yet.”
“It’ll all work out,” she said, her chin lifted in her determined stance. She released a deep yawn.
“Why don’t you go on up to the house? Will and Grandma Jones will be excited to see you.”
“Yes, but first I need to hear how things went with me gone.”
Caleb chuckled. “Is that the reason you’re home a day early? You wanted to make sure we hadn’t run the place into the ground yet?”
“Very funny,” she murmured. “Did you get the garden finished?”
“Yes, and the cattle are all fine. I thought I’d start on the hay fields tomorrow.”
When she remained silent, he twisted around. Her eyes were closed and her head rested against one of the stall posts. Nervousness churned his stomach, but he forced himself to walk to her side. He’d decided the night before to tell her how he felt when she returned. He was still anxious about starting a courtship, but he was willing to try—on the condition that they would take it slow, see where things went.
Crouching down beside the bale of hay, Caleb took hold of one of her hands. Jennie’s eyes flew open and her gaze jumped from his face to his hand and back again.
“Wh-what is it? Are you headed into the house?”
“Not yet.” Caleb stared down at her hand, caressing the lines of it with his thumb. Her skin felt warm and soft beneath his touch. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
“Oh?” The word came out a squeak. He quickly choked back a laugh. She was clearly as nervous as him.
“I need to admit I was wrong about something.”
“What is that?”
“I should’ve kissed you all those weeks ago, out on the range.” He forced his gaze upward, but only for a moment. “I...I...care about you, Jennie. A lot. When I think about you, my heart just wants to jump right out of my chest. I haven’t felt that in a long, long time. I know I work for you and that’s a bit awkward, but if you think—”
Her lips silenced the rest of his words. He drank in their warmth, and his heart ricocheted with emotion like one of Will’s bullets. He hadn’t felt so alive and wonderful since courting Liza. He deepened the kiss, his hands rising to her shoulders to pull her closer, but she suddenly cried out.
Caleb jerked away. “Are you all right? Did I hurt you?”
“No, no.” Jennie shook her head, but the muscles in her jaw tightened. “It’s nothing—really. I hurt my arm, that’s all.”
“How hurt are you?”
“I’ll be fine, honest.”
“What happened to your arm?”
Jennie’s lips pressed together in a tight line. “I cut my arm on the window casing when the stagecoach broke a wheel near Cove Fort. That’s why I’m back early. I didn’t want to wait around for the stage to be fixed, so I borrowed a horse and rode home today. The fort owner’s wife patched me up before I left and gave me this dress since my other had a rip on the sleeve.” Her face softened a little as she added, “There’s nothing to be concerned about.”
Caleb nodded, though he couldn’t help wondering how bad the wound was if she’d needed a new dress. He decided not to press her, though, since she was so tired. Rest was probably what she needed most. Another kiss would have to wait.
Swallowing his disappointment, he carefully swept her up into his arms. “Let’s get you off to bed then, young lady.”
“Caleb, put me down. I can walk.”
“Nope. You’re going to let someone else help you for a change. Which means no work for you tomorrow.”
She gave a soft laugh and wound her arms around his neck. “Fine. I promise to rest, if you promise to finish that kiss soon.”
“Aha. So you admit you do like me back?”
“Who kissed you first?”
“Good point.” He smiled down at her, enjoying the feel of holding her against his chest. “Let’s get you fixed up.”
He carried her out of the barn and toward the house, but he wasn’t sure his boots actually hit the ground. He didn’t know how this new relationship with Jennie would change things, but he refused to dwell on it. Tonight he simply wanted to revel in the knowledge that the spunky woman with her head on his shoulder was his to love.
* * *
Jennie lifted her arms and stretched, careful of her healing wound. She had to admit her whole body felt better after a day of resting. But if she didn’t get up and do something productive today she might go mad from inactivity.
In the early-morning light, she put on a blouse and trousers and moved to the door. Only silence sounded outside on the landing.
Good. They must all be at breakfast. If she could show her grandmother and Caleb she was well enough to join them in the kitchen, then perhaps they’d let her do more than mending or drying dishes.
Caleb had been right, though. The time in bed yesterday had made her wound heal much faster than if she’d gotten her way and started right back into the work.
The memory of his admission in the barn two nights earlier brought a smile to her lips as she crept out her door.
“Good morning, Jennie. And where do you think you’re going?”
Jennie squealed with fright as Caleb stepped out from the shadows by the stairs.
“I knew you couldn’t rest for more than a day.”
“I’m only coming down for breakfast,” she said, tilting her chin with all the haughtiness she could muster.
“How’s the arm?”
“Much better.” She carefully rotated her shoulder as proof. “I can work today, honest.”
“You’re easier to boss when you’re injured.”
Jennie rolled her eyes. “I can’t stand another day of confinement to the house or the porch. Besides, who is working for who on this ranch?”
He ignored her. “I’ll strike a deal with you. You go back to bed after breakfast and then you can come into town with me this afternoon.”
“You’re no fun,” she said with a pout.
Chuckling, Caleb leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. Though not as exciting as kissing him on the mouth, his touch still released flurries in her stomach. “May I escort you downstairs?”
“Yes.” She linked her arm through his and they moved down the stairs.
He’s so good to me. Her cheeks warmed as Caleb glanced at her, his blue eyes bright with tenderness. I want to be the same to him.
From the back of her mind, a thought marched forward: Then give up taking money from stage bandits. Jennie frowned.
“Something wrong?”
She shook her head, forcing a smile. “Perhaps I’m a little more tired than I thought.”
After breakfast, Jennie returned upstairs. She lay down on her bed and shut her eyes, but she couldn’t sleep. There were too many things to think about. She still needed one, maybe two more jobs from Nathan to eliminate her debt to the bank. And she only had two weeks to do it.
With a sigh, she sat up and stared at the walls. Fretting about the money wouldn’t accomplish anything. What would she do until lunch? She reached out to finger her brown an
d cream dress, rubbing the fine material over her fingertips. What a lovely wedding dress it would make. Her cheeks warmed at the thought—Caleb had only confessed his feelings for her, not proposed—but she would’ve accepted him without hesitation if he had asked for her hand in marriage the other night. She imagined herself in the gown, her hair done up fancy, standing next to Caleb who would look so dashing in a suit.
It was just an idle fantasy for now. She needed to finish with the mortgage, and leave her shameful actions in the past. Only then would she truly be ready to be the wife that Caleb deserved. But surely that day would come soon—the day when she’d be clear of the debt and could leave the whole messy business behind her. She could hardly wait. Once that day came, if Caleb didn’t propose soon, she might just ask him herself!
The dream of her own wedding made her think of her parents. Had they truly been in love when they had married? Did her mother regret the promises she’d broken by leaving? A fierce longing to speak with her mother about love and marriage brought the sting of tears to Jennie’s eyes.
A knock sounded at the door, jerking Jennie back to the present.
“Just a minute,” she croaked over the lump in her throat. She straightened her blouse and opened the door. Her grandmother stood there, frowning.
“You have a visitor.”
“Who?” Jennie peered past her toward the stairs.
“A Mr. Blaine. He’s in the parlor.”
Nathan? That could only mean one thing; he’d found a job. Jennie rushed out the door and started down the stairs, but her grandmother called after her.
“I’ve never said a word about that man coming around or the fact that you’ve never introduced him.” Grandma Jones gave her a stern look that made Jennie squirm. “Whatever your past relationship, I think he needs to know where your feelings now lie.”
Jennie’s cheeks burned with embarrassment. She wasn’t trying to string Nathan along. After today, she hoped she wouldn’t have to worry about him coming around anymore. “I’ll tell him,” she answered quietly.
Before her grandmother could chastise her further, Jennie hurried downstairs to the parlor. She pushed through the partially opened door, hoping Nathan hadn’t overheard her grandmother’s warning. He stood, hat in hand, appearing out of place even in the humble parlor.