“Miss McCary?”
She hurried forward, “Coming.”
“The doctor asked when you’d changed Rex’s bandage,” Steve said as she stopped in the doorway to Rex’s room.
She glanced from Steve to the doctor and back again, taking note the butterflies only appeared while looking at Steve. Or standing next to him. Or thinking about him. For a brief moment, she wondered if Maggie ever experienced these types of butterflies. With a quick vow to stop thinking of such things, she said, “This morning.”
“I told him that,” Rex said. “And that I’m healing faster than an egg fries. Ain’t that right?”
“How much blood was there?” the doctor asked her.
“None,” Rex answered.
“Some,” she added, purposefully not looking at Steve. “Not a lot, but some.”
The doctor finished removing the bandage around Rex’s shin. “Hmmm,” he mumbled, turning the leg to look at both sides. “The stitches are holding, it’s even starting to scab. Perhaps that’s what happened, a scab let loose during the bandage change. It looks to be healing nicely.” Glancing toward Rex, he asked, “How’s it feel?”
Rex had his arms crossed over his chest and a rather pouty expression on his face. “Fine. Which is exactly what I told Steve there. Don’t need no one doctoring me except Mary there, she’s doing a right fine job.”
“I can see that,” Dr. Graham said. “But I’d planned on stopping out here as soon as I was done at Fred’s, just to check on you.”
* * *
Steve’s jaw went tight. Not because of what Nelson had said. He believed the doctor would have planned on stopping out to see Rex considering he’d been so close, it was how Nelson had winked at Mary that didn’t set well. He glanced her way. “Miss McCary, would you put on some coffee for the doctor before he makes his leave?”
“Yes, of course,” she said, turning about.
Steve waited until she was out of the room before he lowered his voice to ask, “Did you donate to the committee for a wife?”
“Yes,” Nelson answered. “But I’m actually hoping to find a nurse. I could use the help. One that doubles as a wife...” With a shrug the doctor turned his attention back to Rex’s leg.
“Mary ain’t up for grabs,” Rex said. “Steve hired her to cook for the boys.”
“I heard as much,” Nelson said while winding the bandage around the wound. “I heard he also donated to the committee.”
“He sure enough did,” Rex replied. “A very fine donation to keep her right here with us.”
“Plan on marrying her?”
Nelson was looking at him now and the hair on Steve’s neck stood on end. “No.”
“How is she going to make her choice then?” Nelson asked.
“What choice?”
“Which man she’ll marry,” Nelson answered.
“She doesn’t plan on marrying any of them,” Rex said.
Steve shot a glare at the old coot. When had everyone started butting into his conversations? That never used to happen.
“Well,” Nelson said, dropping the sheet back over Rex’s leg. “She has to marry one of us. One of those who donated.”
“Why?” Steve asked. “If she doesn’t want to, she doesn’t have to.”
“She doesn’t have a choice,” Nelson said. “She signed a contract that says by the end of thirty days, she’ll marry one of the participating men.”
“She did?”
Nelson nodded. “Josiah, as the town’s only lawyer, wrote up the contracts, and the women signed them as they stepped on the train. Of course, in pure Josiah fashion, the clause about marrying one of the men by the end of thirty days was in fine print at the very bottom of the page.”
“You can’t force someone to marry if they don’t want to,” Steve said.
“In this case, I’m sure they’ll each want to,” Nelson said.
“Why?”
“From what the train conductor said, none of them had much of a life back in Ohio, and it appears, for the McCary sisters, it was jail or Kansas. I doubt either of them wants to go back to jail, so they’ll marry someone.”
Chapter Seven
Steve gestured for Nelson to take a seat at the table. Even though he’d eaten his fill just a short time ago, the sight of a plate of muffins made his mouth water.
“Would you care for a muffin, Dr. Graham?” Mary asked. “Rex was afraid the others would eat them all and asked me to hide a few.”
“No wonder he’s so keen on having no one else doctor him,” Nelson said, taking a muffin and coating it with the butter she’d mixed with honey. “I doubt he’s ever been so pampered.”
Steve sat down when Mary put a cup of coffee in front of him and reached over to take a muffin. The way the doctor was devouring the one he’d taken, there soon wouldn’t be any left.
“These are delicious,” Nelson said. “I’ve never tasted anything like them.”
“Thank you,” Mary said, putting a muffin on a plate. “Please excuse me, I’m going to take Rex some coffee and a muffin.”
Nelson took a second muffin and as he spread the butter over it, he said, “I’ll stop to see Rex regularly. Don’t want infection setting in that leg.”
Steve didn’t tell the doctor that wasn’t necessary, but he wanted to. Sincerely wanted to. More than an hour later, when it appeared Nelson might never leave, Steve told Nelson, “I had Walt saddle your horse. It’ll be dark soon and Miss McCary needs to be up early to have breakfast ready.”
“I hadn’t realized so much time had passed,” Nelson said, making no move to push away from the table where he’d sat and eaten a plate full of muffins and drunk a pot of coffee, all the while conversing with Mary after she’d returned from serving Rex. He’d started out by telling her how to care for Rex’s leg, but that had only taken five minutes.
The next hour the two of them had talked and laughed, and laughed and talked. Steve had known Nelson since the man had first traveled through while working for the railroad, healing those injured during the building of the line. Nelson had returned to Oak Grove because the mayor had promised it would be a growing community in great need of a doctor. In all that time, the doctor had never irritated him once, but tonight, Nelson had Steve’s nerves grinding against each other.
“Thank you for the visit, Dr. Graham,” Mary said as the man stood. “Though I’ve never visited the cities in Pennsylvania that you have, I enjoyed conversing about them. I sincerely miss the countryside.” She side heavily. “The lush green grass and tall trees.”
“Please, you must call me Nelson, and it was a delight to visit with you, Mary.” Nelson gave a slight bow as he smiled. “Perhaps we can do it again soon.”
Not in his kitchen. Steve didn’t say that aloud, but he would make sure it didn’t happen. “Thanks for stopping out, Doc.” He opened the back door. “Your horse is right there.”
While he held the door open for Nelson’s exit, Mary disappeared into Rex’s room, and shouted for the doctor within seconds. Steve left the door to hurry across the room, almost running into her as she exited the bedroom.
“Doctor Graham,” she shouted around him. “You forgot your bag!”
“Oh, thank you, Mary,” Nelson said, planting an elbow in Steve’s side. “I would have remembered before I arrived in town and then would have had to return.”
Right then Steve knew full well the doctor had left the bag behind on purpose, and that irritated him more than a pack of coyotes. He’d never been a jealous man, but Mary was his. His cook anyway. He took the bag from her, handed it to Nelson, and all but dragged the man to his horse. There he growled, “You best set your sights on one of those other gals, Doc.”
“You said you weren’t interested in marrying her,” Nelson said as he cl
imbed into his saddle.
“I’m not,” Steve agreed, “but I hired her as my cook and that means she’s not available to anyone else, for any other reason.”
“For the next month,” Nelson said, swinging his horse around. “Which is exactly when she’ll be getting married. It’s only fair she gets to know the men who are her options.”
Steve’s back teeth clenched together so hard his jaw stung. Without a word, he spun around and marched back into the house. Mary was once again walking out of Rex’s bedroom, carrying a plate and cup. Too irritated to say much, Steve walked past her, but as he passed Rex’s door, he said, “You better hurry up and heal old man.”
* * *
Mary turned about to watch as Steve stormed out of the room, and a moment later, heard the front door slam.
“What’s gotten into him?” Rex asked from the bedroom.
“I’m not sure,” Mary answered. Yet the sinking feeling she had told her what was bothering Steve. Her. He’d been grumpy the entire time she’d been visiting with the doctor. She hadn’t enjoyed Nelson Graham’s company as much as she let on. She simply hadn’t wanted either Steve or Rex to mention her tonic. The doctor could cause trouble for her and Maggie. After she washed up and put away the few dishes, she bade good-night to Rex and hurried upstairs to prepare for bed before Steve came back in the house.
* * *
She must have been sound asleep when he walked past her bedroom door, for she certainly hadn’t heard any footsteps. Not last night or this morning. The sun had awakened her bright and early, and she already had a stack of flapjacks staying warm in the oven when the men made their way into the kitchen.
Jess crossed the room with a shy smile. “I could milk for you this morning if it’s helpful.”
“Thank you,” she answered. “But it’s already taken care of. I knew it would take a lot of flapjacks to feed you all.”
“I figured the same thing,” Jess said. “I tried to talk to your sister last night, tell her you were out here, but she kept disappearing on me.”
“Disappearing?”
“Yep, dancing from one man to the next, then she just up and disappeared from the party. I thought I saw her over by Jackson Miller’s place, but it wasn’t her.” He shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Thank you for trying, Jess, that was kind of you.” Glancing around the room again, and still not seeing Steve, she said, “Next time you go to town, would you mind taking a message to Maggie for me?”
“Not at all,” he said. “Just say the word.” He winked at her as he started for the table. “It’ll be just between the three of us.”
Steve walked in then and Mary’s insides jolted so hard she almost spilled the pancake batter. She thought twice then about involving Jess. Steve expected loyalty from his men.
She should provide that same loyalty and respect. Maybe that was why she was so out of sorts.
“It sure smells good out there,” Rex shouted from the bedroom.
“I’ll have a plate for you in a minute,” she responded.
“I’ll fix one for him.”
Steve’s voice was so close behind her she jumped. Planting her feet firmly on the floor, she scooped several flapjacks out of the pans and set them on a plate she’d set near the stove for Rex. “Thank you. There’s a tray with syrup and butter on the other side of the sink for him.”
“I know,” he said. “Expected it to have a vase filled with flowers.”
The snide remark said he wasn’t in any better of a mood than he had been last night, but she chose to ignore it. She’d dealt with ornery people her entire life. Very few had ever been kind to her or her family. That, however, had not influenced her behavior in return—less a few people, namely the sheriff back in Ohio. She’d tried being nice to Sheriff Freiday many times but because of his attitude an eye for an eye had come to play.
Her stomach sank at the idea of that happening here.
Steve returned while she was setting two steaming plates of flapjacks on the table. “Eat up,” she told the men. “I’ll keep cooking flapjacks as long as you keep eating them.”
“Don’t say that around Leroy,” Henry said. “We’ll be here all day.”
Leroy was gangly and thin, but she’d already seen him eat twice as much as everyone else. Laughing along with the others, she said, “Well, then, I may have to go gather more eggs at some point.”
It wasn’t until their laughter died down because they’d started forking flapjacks dripping with syrup into their mouths that she realized she’d started to like these men. They were each good people in their own right, and treated her with more respect than she’d ever had.
She then concluded that could be why she wasn’t dreading the next few weeks. Cooking for Steve wasn’t nearly the chore it could have been.
He was eating along with the others, but while they were grinning and enjoying their meal, a scowl that was now becoming familiar sat upon his face. She knew it was because of her, and that made her feel sad in a way she never had before.
She’d already learned that when his plate became empty, the others took that as a sign to quickly finish theirs. By the time he set his fork down, the men were already reaching for the hats they’d set on the floor.
One by one they thanked her as they made their way to the door. He was always the last one out, and this morning, she spoke before he had a chance to. “Lunch will be done by noon.”
On impulse, she met the dull glare he sent her way with a smile, and held it on her face until he’d shut the door. Then she slumped against the counter. “Horse feathers,” she muttered. Why did she let him get to her so deeply? Sure he was paying her, had laid out an extraordinary amount of money for her to be able to remain here, but that wasn’t her fault. And yes, she’d shown up out here uninvited, but he had needed a cook and she fit that bill. She’d even hauled her brewing batch of tonic outside just to please him. Well, partially please him. Which she also needed to go see to. In this heat it needed to be burped more than once a day or it would blow the cork clear out of the cask.
She set into clearing the table and told herself to just stop worrying about Steve Putnam. There was nothing she could do about him so there was no use wasting time on it one way or the other.
Hours later she’d just completed layering onion slices amongst several slabs of beef she’d cook for the noon meal when she heard the thud of horse hooves along with the jangle of harnesses. Curious, she made her way through the parlor and to the front door. Joy filled her so fully she rushed onto the front porch and then down the steps.
As soon as Maggie hit the ground, lifted out of the wagon by a tall man, she ran to the porch, arms open wide.
“I’m sorry about the train,” Maggie said as she rushed up the steps.
Mary wrapped her arms around Maggie and held her tight. “’Tis forgotten,” she whispered, holding back stinging tears. “We both have our tempers.”
“I couldn’t wait another day to make sure you were all right.”
“It’s good you came,” Mary said. “I’ve been so worried about you.”
Maggie sniffled against her shoulder before saying, “You smell of onions! You really are working, aren’t you?”
Mary chuckled. She’d always worked, but Maggie had never considered all she’d done as work. Not willing to go into that now, she looked over Maggie’s shoulder. “I see you brought Anna.” Mary’s stomach fluttered at seeing Steve walk out of the barn that Anna was pointing toward while talking to the man who’d driven the wagon.
“She’s making eyes at Mr. Miller,” Maggie said. “I don’t know who was chaperoning who on our drive out here.”
Mary felt more than heard something in Maggie’s tone, and as her gaze settled on Steve, who stood near the barn door staring back at her, she knew what it was. Jealousy. It da
wned on her then, that she’d had these feelings once before. On the train. She’d been jealous of Maggie paying so much attention to her new friends.
Maggie had taken a step back, and Mary took her hand. “Looks like she’s following him to the corral. Come inside and we will catch up.” It would do her mind and her heart good to visit with her sister privately.
In the front parlor, she asked, “Would you care for something to drink? I have some fresh buttermilk.”
“Goodness, you sound like I’m a guest rather than your sister,” Maggie said.
“You are both,” Mary said, glancing out the front window at where Steve stood with the other two guests. She couldn’t be jealous of him. Just couldn’t. “One I’m extremely happy to see.”
“I had to make sure you were all right,” Maggie said.
“I am,” Mary said, turning away from the window. “Jess tried to tell you that, but you kept disappearing on him.”
Maggie’s eyes widened. “Jess Rader. You know him?”
“Yes, he works here. Steve had sent him to town last night to fetch Dr. Graham.”
“I had no idea,” Maggie said. “I thought he was after me for another reason.”
“A dance mayhap? Or to join him in song?”
Maggie frowned slightly. “No.”
Mary bit her lip. She wasn’t that upset over her sister enjoying the party. She just wasn’t herself. “Come into the kitchen. I need to put the beef in the oven.”
“So you really are cooking meals for people?”
“Yes, that’s what a cook does, and what I’ve done for years. Cooking for ten isn’t that much different than cooking for two or three.”
“Ten?”
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