by Kit Morgan
“Cousin Imogene should write a book,” Apple blurted. All eyes focused on her. “Well … with all of us married off now, why not?”
“Imogene write a book?” Cutty said in bewilderment, stopping short of the doors. He turned to see what she thought of the suggestion.
“Don’t look so surprised,” Imogene said. “Do you think I can’t do it?”
“I never said that,” he said. “I just meant … well … huh. I guess it ain’t a half bad idea.”
“It’s a wonderful idea,” Susara Kincaid the town schoolteacher said. “Cutty, why don’t you help her?”
“Me?” Cutty said and jabbed his thumb into his chest. “Are ya outta yer mind?”
“You can read and write, and you know all the same sort of tales Imogene does,” Susara reminded him. “Between the two of you, you could come up with quite a few of your own.”
Cutty and Imogene exchanged a quick look, and a smile formed on Imogene’s face. “We’ll do it!”
“We will?” Cutty squeaked. “I ain’t got time to write a book!”
“We’ll do a penny dreadful,” Imogene said. “Or perhaps several of them. You know as well as I do that they’re short stories, nothing more.”
“Not all of ‘em are. Besides, I gotta help Ryder with his house.”
“Then while you’re doing that I shall begin to work on a story. You can help in your spare time. It will give me something to do while you’re occupied. You are going to stay there while you’re working for Ryder, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah, but I thought maybe ya …”
“Just what are you saying?” Mrs. Dunnigan huffed. “Are you asking her to stay out there with you?”
“Was I talking to ya?” he barked.
“No, but it would be plumb indecent for you to have this woman out at Ryder’s with you.”
“Mind yer own business!” Cutty said in exasperation. He then realized this was not the best place to tell Imogene he was going to miss her if she took to writing while he worked.
“I’m sure Imogene will still get to see you, Cutty,” Sadie assured him. “Don’t worry, we’ll find a way.”
Cutty felt his cheeks heat. All he and Imogene had wanted was to come into the mercantile and pick up her package. Now the whole town knew their business – if they hadn’t already. “Fine,” he said and grabbed Imogene’s hand. “C’mon, let’s go.”
“Goodbye, Cousin Imogene,” Apple called after her. “We hope to see you again soon!”
“Yes, at Constance’s house for dinner,” Penelope added.
“I shall keep you informed,” Imogene said as they left.
Cutty shut the doors. “Whew!” He said and wiped his brow. “I thought we’d never get outta there.”
“Don’t tell me that a room full of women makes you nervous?” Imogene said with a smile.
“No, but that tongue-waggin’ Fanny Fig does.”
“Speaking of tongue wagging, you haven’t said anything to anyone about … you know …”
“Land sakes, no,” he said. He looked around, saw no one nearby, and switched to his normal, non-Cutty voice. “You’re the only one that knows everything. I’ve not said a word to anyone else.”
“Best to keep it that way,” she said. “Now, let’s go and see what sort of stories we have here.”
A tingle of excitement went up his spine. At least back at the hotel it would be quiet. He held his arm out to Imogene. She took it and together they made their way back to the hotel to enjoy their newest treasure.
* * *
Three days later the Cookes, with all their cousins and their cousins’ husbands, gathered at Constance and Ryder’s place for dinner and a house-planning meeting. Ryder had made some crude preliminary sketches, which Amon took the time to draw more neatly, including the fine details Ryder had missed. In no time at all they knew what they would need to start construction in the next few days. Between the men present and a few extra from town, Ryder could have his house built in no time.
Constance and the other women also had plans. Curtains would have to be sewn, and there was already talk of the ladies’ sewing circle making a new quilt for the occasion. And of course the men would need to be fed. All in all, Constance and Ryder’s dinner went better than planned. Even Cutty had a good time watching and listening to everyone.
But especially his children. “What color do you think you’ll paint it?” Nettie asked Constance.
“I have no idea, I’m not sure if Ryder will want a say in it, but if not, I would love a blue house.”
“Blue?” her sister Penelope said. “I thought you always wanted a yellow house.”
“Heavens no! You already have a yellow house. I’d much rather have a blue one.”
“With red trim!” Fina tossed in. “I could paint that for you.”
“You mean the same red as that table of yours?” Constance teased. “I’m surprised you have any paint left.”
“I can always get more,” Fina said with a sly smile. “Are you going to build a new barn too?”
“Eventually, but not right away,” Constance said. “The one we have is sufficient.”
“What are you going to do with your old house?” Apple asked.
“Ryder is giving it to Cutty.”
“He is?” Lena said in surprise.
“As much as Cutty’s helped Ryder out, of course he is. Everyone deserves a home – and this was Cutty’s, more or less, before he moved to the hotel. Isn’t that right?” she asked, turning to him.
Cutty looked up from his plate of food. “Uh … yep, he offered it to me.”
“Are you going to take it?” Fina asked.
“I’m thinkin’ so. Cain’t stay at the hotel forever.”
“But what about Imogene?” asked Apple. “You can’t live out here while she’s at the Triple-C. It’s so far away.”
Cutty glanced around. He didn’t see Imogene anywhere – she must be in the house. He turned back to Apple. “What do ya care?”
Apple smiled. “Everybody cares. We all know you’re sweet on her.”
Cutty groaned. “This again … cain’t you people learn to keep your opinions to yerselves?”
Apple fell into a fit of giggles.
“Stop that!” Cutty groused. “For Heaven’s sake, yer making a spectacle of yerself.”
Apple giggled harder, and now Fina joined her.
“Oh good grief,” he grumbled.
“What are you doing?” Imogene asked as she came up behind him.
“Yer cousins are beside themselves.” he told her. “Cain’t ya make ‘em stop?”
“Whatever for? They seem to be having a lovely time.” Apple and Fina laughed louder. “Though I would like to know what’s so amusing.”
“That I’m sweet on ya, apparently,” Cutty said grudgingly.
“Oh, is that all?” she replied with a casual wave of her hand. She looked at him. “Are you?”
“What kinda question is that?” he snapped. “Ya know perfectly well I …”
Now Lena and Eloise were laughing. “I told you you were sweet on her,” Apple cackled.
“Cain’t a man have no privacy? Is there anythin’ ‘bout me ya don’t know?” Cutty threw a hand in the air in frustration. “Land sakes, a man can’t comb his hair ‘round here without the whole town knowin’.”
“You can,” Imogene said with a playful smirk. “You haven’t any to comb.”
Cutty fought the urge to remove his hat, but didn’t want Imogene to see his hair yet, what little there was. He wanted to surprise her. “Women,” he grunted, and stomped off to join Ryder and the other men.
Newton stood among them, looking over Ryder’s rough sketch. “It will be a grand home when it’s done,” he said as Cutty arrived.
“Well, it ain’t like the Cookes’ place, but compared to what Constance and I got now it’ll be a castle,” Ryder agreed.
“Are you sure you need three bedrooms?” Colin asked.
“O
f course,” Ryder said with a smile, glancing at his wife on the other side of the barn. “I want younguns, and so does Constance. The more the better.”
“And where do you plan to build this mansion?” Harrison asked.
“C’mon, I’ll show ya.” Ryder motioned them toward the barn doors.
Cutty followed them outside, though he knew exactly where Ryder planned to build. He’d been around long enough to have heard Ryder’s grand plans before. Only now they weren’t just grand, they were coming to fruition.
Cutty watched the men nod in agreement when Ryder pointed to the spot, then by the light of a single lantern began to walk out the outline of the house for them. He remembered the day Amon had done the same for Nettie, and smiled. He looked at Newton and discovered he wanted his son to have a home and a family too.
But from the sound of it, Newton wasn’t going to settle down anytime soon. In fact, if Cutty wasn’t careful, Newton would leave as soon as he told him who he was. There was nothing keeping him in Clear Creek now that Nettie was taken care of. He could leave anytime he chose. The only thing holding him was a lack of funds. Once the boy got a little money in his pockets, he’d be gone.
Cutty bit his lower lip in frustration. How was he to keep that from happening, other than the obvious? He had no right to deny Newton a way to support himself just so he could make sure he didn’t leave. That was a coward’s way out …
“Having a good time?” Cutty turned around to see Amon, watching Ryder hold his arms wide while trying to explain to the others where his parlor would go. “This looks familiar …”
“Yeah, I was thinkin’ the same thing. Nettie like yer place?”
“She loves it. We’d like you and Imogene to join us for supper next week if you can.”
“I’ll be here.”
“Good. You can come home with me one day after we’ve finished our work here. Just pick one.”
“How will Imogene get out there?”
“I’m sure one of the Cooke men won’t mind bringing her to town. Nettie and I can fetch her.” He turned to look at Cutty. “Nettie misses you.”
Cutty’s chest tightened. “She does?”
“Yes. You’re kind of a father figure to her. She says she misses your teasing her all the time.”
Cutty’s eyes stung. “She said that?”
“Oh yes. You’ve really grown on her. So will you come?”
Cutty swallowed hard and almost choked. “Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’ll come.”
“Good – I’ll go tell her.” He turned to leave.
“Amon?”
“What?”
“Why … didn’t she ask herself?”
Amon shrugged. “Maybe she was afraid you’d say no.” He left to find Nettie.
Cutty stood in shock. She was afraid he’d say no? He shut his eyes against unshed tears and fought the urge to run to his daughter and hold her, tell her how much he loved her. But his feet wouldn’t move. Besides, this was neither the time nor the place to tell her, not with all these people around. The last thing he wanted was to let the Cookes find out who he was right now. They might string him up from the nearest tree.
He rubbed his eyes, took one last look at the group of men now laughing with Ryder about something, and went to find Imogene. He needed her comforting presence and level head. With the way he felt, he might do something stupid like tell Nettie tonight rather than wait. And then he’d be a dead man for sure.
Six
Nettie watched Cutty with Imogene and smiled. She could tell they liked each other very much. She wondered if she should ask Cutty if he was serious about asking Imogene to marry him. Gossip in the ladies’ sewing circle was one thing; Cutty actually doing it quite another.
A tingle of excitement ran up her spine at the thought. Wouldn’t it be a fun turn of events if she could chaperone them just as Cutty had chaperoned she and Amon? She giggled at the thought.
“What’s so funny?” Amon asked.
She smiled at him and took him by the hand. “I was just thinking about Cutty and Imogene over there,” she said, indicating them with a nod. “Do you think they’ll ever marry?”
Amon followed her gaze. Cutty stood next to a punchbowl Sadie had set up on a stack of old crates. “Why don’t you ask them? The talk around town is they will. Maybe all they need is a little nudge.”
“From me?”
“Why not? They both like you. You could offer to help with the wedding or something.”
“I couldn’t be so forward as that. It would be like shoving them together against their will.”
“No one can shove anyone together against their will,” Amon said.
“Obviously you’ve not read any of the penny dreadfuls the two of them read. All sorts of ‘shoving’ goes on in those stories.”
Amon studied Cutty and the way he gazed into Imogene’s eyes. Yes, there was no denying he was a man in love. So why didn’t they marry? “Hmm … well, why don’t you give it a try then?”
“Shove them together?”
“No, but nudge them. Get them to spend more time together. Imogene hasn’t been to town for a while and this is the first outing they’ve had in a long time. When they come to dinner, invite her to help you and the other women sew curtains for Constance. I didn’t see her with you when you were discussing it with the women.”
“But we’ll probably do that in town, not out here,” she reminded him.
“Who says Cutty has to be with her for you to give her a push in the right direction?”
“Why, Amon Cotter, you’re asking me to meddle.”
“No, not asking – simply … suggesting. Besides, you’re the one that brought it up.”
She smiled. “I’m teasing you.” She gazed at the couple again. “I’ll invite her. I’d like to ask her a few things.”
“What things?” he asked.
She looked away. “You’ll think me silly.”
Amon put a hand to her cheek and brought her face around. He looked into her eyes. “Never.”
“Well,” she said and swallowed hard. “It’s about Newton, actually.” She scanned the barn, caught no sight of her brother, and continued. “He’s spending an awful lot of time out on the prairie and woods with Seth and Ryder. Sometimes he rides out and is gone all day.”
“So? I’ve done the same thing.”
“Yes, but Newton … he seems restless. It’s almost as if …”
Amon put his hands on her upper arms and moved closer. “As if what?”
“I know this is going to sound silly, but it’s almost as if he’s looking for something out there.”
Amon studied her as he thought on what she said. “I know that feeling.”
“You … you do?” she asked as her eyes widened. “How?”
“Because that’s how I felt right before I met you. It was if my heart was reaching out, looking for something … no.” He tightened his hold on her arms. “Someone. You.”
She smiled. “Amon, what a nice thing to say.”
He shook his head. “It’s more than a compliment. I’m telling you that’s how I felt. It’s hard to explain. Try to imagine the feeling you get when you have a sudden burst of energy and it has to go somewhere.”
She cocked her head to one side. “You mean, like … running through a field?”
“Something like that. And if you don’t use it, you feel like you’re going to … come apart. Like you can’t hold it inside you anymore.”
“Amon,” she whispered. “Is that how you really felt?”
He drew closer. “Yes.”
Nettie stared up at him, her mouth half-opened in amazement. “What happened when you found me?”
“Found you?”
“I mean, met me.”
He gave a tiny shake of his head. “You …” He swallowed hard. “You took it away, eased it. I didn’t feel like I was going to explode.”
She sucked in a breath. “Explode?”
“I can’t
describe it any other way, Nettie.” He glanced around. “I know it makes me sound plumb loco …”
“No, it doesn’t.” She straightened, then searched the area for Cutty and Imogene again. They were leaving the barn. “I’d best go ask Imogene if she’ll help with the curtains.”
Amon took her by the arm before she could get away, bent down and tenderly kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re mine.”
A chill ran up Nettie’s spine. “So am I.” He released her and she headed for the barn doors.
Once outside she caught up to Cutty and Imogene. Cutty caught sight of her and winced. Now what was that about? “Imogene,” she said. “I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes, child, what is it?”
“Could you help us make the curtains for the new house? Some of us are getting together to work on them in a few days.”
Imogene glanced at Cutty. “I don’t see why not, but where are you meeting?”
“I’m not sure yet – either in Clear Creek or perhaps my house.”
“I’d love to. It will give me an excuse to get out and come to town. I’ve missed my usual excursions.”
Cutty snorted. “And whose fault is that?”
“Yours, of course,” she said mildly.
“What! Consarnit, woman – don’t blame that on me!”
“Why not? You’d blame it on me.”
“Ohhhh!” Cutty groaned. “Yer impossible!”
“Yes, I know.”
“Dagnabit!”
“Will you two stop?” Nettie said with a laugh. “Goodness! How on earth do the two of you ever have a conversation?”
“Tea,” Imogene said. “The civil ones are always over tea and cookies.”
Cutty rolled his eyes. “She’ll be wherever it is ya need her. Me, I’m gonna be helpin’ Ryder.”
“Then Imogene and I shall have to join you when Amon comes to help,” Nettie said. “Besides, I’d love to see you men put a house together.”
“Build, ya mean,” Cutty corrected.
“Build, put together, raise, however you do it. I rather enjoyed watching my own house go up.”
Cutty smiled at her. “Yer a silly duck, Nettie Cotter.”