Miranda must have dozed off. She awoke with a start to find Rowan placing his bedroll close to hers.
“What time is it?” she asked groggily.
“Around ten o’clock. Hank has taken over from me.”
The fire burned brightly now, so one of the men had obviously fed in more wood.
“Just do coffee and beans for breakfast. It will be quick and easy for you,” he said, as he came down beside her.
She had no idea who made the first move, only knew she was where she wanted to be – in Rowan’s arms.
“I’m glad you came into my life, Miranda,” he said softly, his warm breath brushing against her cheek. “God must have been looking favorably upon me.”
“I’m glad I met you, too, and not just because of the ranch. I’m grateful Bob suggested I write to you.”
“I’m sorry I forgot about you. I was worried sick about George’s failing health, then there was Edward to deal with. I somehow knew he was trouble. He will eventually destroy the ranch. At least poor old George won’t be around to see it. I’m thankful for that at least.”
“Try not to think about him anymore. Jacob did an awful thing to me also. We should forget about all the bad stuff and look to the future.”
Chapter Twelve
They arrived at Kingston Ranch in the early afternoon after a tiring four-day journey. Miranda notice Rowan glancing around with interest.
“I’d like to keep the herd as close to the house as possible for a few days. The steers will be all right. It’s the cows in calf I’m worried about. If it is okay with you.”
“Don’t ask me, Rowan, just do it. I know you’re a good rancher so do what you think is best. This is your place too now.”
“I don’t feel right about this being your ranch and...”
“Stop! We discussed it on the way here and I agreed for you to use your money to pay the bank and take my brother’s share of the ranch.”
“It’s your place.”
“If you had refused to marry me, I would have lost it to the bank. If you pay out the loan, and with your herd and mine combined, it gives us a good base to build on. We could almost live off the ranch.”
“I guess so.”
“Hank mentioned he had been brought up on a dairy farm and with the extra hands maybe we could build up our dairy herd again.” She told him about the Swiss cheesemaker and how he said they had special minerals in their ground which made their milk so good for him. “Pa used to say he thought there might have been a volcanic eruption here millions of years ago to account for those extra minerals in the soil.”
As they drove the cattle through the gate leading on to the ranch, Amos Hobson strode over to greet her.
“Howdy, Miranda. I kept everything good for you.”
“Thanks, Amos, I’d like you to meet my husband, Rowan Carstairs. Rowan, meet Amos who has been a great help to me.”
“Howdy.” Rowan leaned down and shook the youth’s hand.
“Hank and Tom are over there.” Miranda pointed to the men. “You can meet them later. Where’s your brother?”
“He’s at school.” He wrinkled his nose. “Pa said he had to keep up with his schooling or he couldn’t work here. I’ll head off now. You’ll need to see to the milking. I sold a couple of lots of eggs like you said, but there’s a dozen left on the kitchen table for you.”
“Thank you, you’ve obviously worked hard. I’ll be going to the bank tomorrow, so I’ll drop your money off then.”
“Okay.”
“Will ten dollars be okay?” Rowan asked.
Amos grinned. “It sure will.”
“I’ll give it to you now. What about your brother?”
“I did most of the work, but I aim to give him some of it. Thanks, Mr. Carstairs.”
“Call me Rowan. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other. With the extra cattle we’ll need more help from time to time, won’t we?” He turned his head toward Miranda.
“For sure, good ranch hands are always needed so there will be more work for you, if you want it.”
Amos grinned. “In between working our ranch, I can help out. I’ll go get my horse and head home.”
Rowan handed him the money. When the boy left, he said. “That’s just about cleaned me out of cash, I’ll definitely need to get some from the bank.”
“I can see you’re eager to take a look around,” she said.
“Yeah, I am.” He grinned. “But not as eager as I am about tonight.”
“You naughty man.” Miranda swatted him with her hat even as her heart soared.
Tonight, Rowan was going to make her his wife in every sense of the word and she could hardly wait. They had bonded well on the drive here but could do little except exchange a few sneaky kisses when the other men weren’t around. Hank and Tom had given them as much privacy as possible, which under the circumstances was not much.
“Wander around as much as you want and get a feel for the place. I’m going to cook us a special celebratory supper. Tell Hank and Tom they’re invited. See the chimney stack to the side of the hill behind the trees?”
Rowan nodded.
“That’s their cabin from now on. Get them to stow their belongings there. It will be dusty because it hasn’t been cleaned in months. It’s in sound condition, though.”
Rowan leaned across and kissed her before riding toward the cattle to help the two men. Once he left, Miranda rode Audrey over to the barn area and quickly saw to the mare’s comfort. “We did real good girl,” she said. “Real good.”
Back at the house, she was pleased to see Amos had stacked up firewood on the back porch. He was a thoughtful boy. He had obviously taken large logs from the woodshed and chopped them up for her.
She hung her hat on the peg at the back of the kitchen door, and got the fire going in the stove before she did anything else. Hot water to have a bath was one of the next tasks on her agenda. She threw her bedroll on the floor in her bedroom and changed her clothes, before making her way to the main bedroom to open the window to let fresh air in.
From the top of the closet she took out the linen she had washed after Jacob left, and made up the bed. To think her parents had shared this bed for many years and had been so happy added poignancy to it. She pushed to one side the fact Jacob and Helen had been here also.
All the bedding had been washed and aired the moment they left. The window left open for days had finally rid the room of the stench of Helen’s cloying perfume. It still hurt to think of what her brother had done. At least it had forced her to contact Rowan who had forgotten about his mail-order bride because of all the stress he had been under. She had forgiven him because of what he had gone through. It must have been so hurtful, not to mention crushing to his pride.
At least he had not met her and then forgotten about her, that would have been much worse. She dashed to her bedroom to transfer her hairbrush and a few clothes to the main bedroom. Until his trunk arrived, Rowan would at most only have a change of clothes with him.
Roast chicken with vegetables would be nice for their meal. She wanted something special to welcome Rowan, Hank and Tom to their new home.
Within the hour she had caught a nice plump chicken, and had it prepared ready for roasting. In the root cellar she collected potatoes, pumpkin, parsnips and onions. Thankfully, she had stocked up on everything before leaving for Mountview. She liked being well organized, a trait inherited from her father.
She made pancakes for them to have with coffee when the men came in from inspecting the place. It would be enough to keep them going until supper.
“Can we come in?” Rowan’s voice had her swinging around.
“Of course, you don’t have to ask.”
He entered, followed by Tom and Hank. All three men had washed up in the basin of water she had left on the porch. They hung their hats on the pegs then stood surveying the kitchen with obvious interest.
“Something smells good.” Rowan smiled at her.
<
br /> “Pancakes, quick and easy for now. We’re having roast chicken for supper, all four of us.” She wanted the men to know she was expecting them to eat supper with her and Rowan.
“We’ve checked out the cabin,” Hank said. “It will be perfect for us, Mrs. Carstairs.”
“Miranda, I keep telling you. I won’t answer to anything else. Sit down and we can start eating while these are hot.”
Once she sat down the men took their seats at the kitchen table.
“I’m sorry the cabin was so dusty, but no-one has been there in months.” She had nearly moved in there herself when Helen took up residence in the house. The loft in the barn had been closer and more convenient for her to use.
“It’s fine,” Tom said. “Hank and I can fix it up to suit us. We’re much obliged to you for letting us stay and work here.”
“I’m glad to have you. With extra stock there will be more work, and to be honest, after my father died, my brother and I let things go a little. There were never enough hours in the day for us. It was a hundred times worse once Jacob got married.”
“It must have been hard for you,” Rowan said, helping himself to a pancake.
“Yes, it’s going to be much better now.” Her smile encompassed all three men, although her gaze rested longest on Rowan.
“The woodshed is full, so help yourself to what you need, and if you wouldn’t mind replenishing it every now and again it would be good. I can easily chop the smaller logs. It’s the big ones I have trouble with.”
“You won’t be chopping wood from now on,” Rowan said emphatically. “One of us will do it.”
“I have to confess it’s a job I will be gland to relinquish.” She poured the coffee which they drank black. Amos had sold the eggs to the mercantile like she suggested, making a little extra money for himself. He was a hard-working, enterprising young man who would do well out of life.
“Mm, these are good.” Rowan licked his lips. “I’ve scored a good cook for a wife.”
“You were lucky, boss.” Hank winked at her.
“I notice you’ve got a large barn,” Rowan emptied his mouth to say. “If some of the cows calve late and the weather gets too cold, I might need to use it.”
“You can.”
“Edward was such a stupid varmint,” Tom said. “He will end up ruining a good ranch.”
Hank nodded his head. “He’ll probably sell it once George dies.”
Tom’s comment was close to the mark she thought. Edward was obviously too stupid to be a rancher, and his wife would certainly not want to live away from town once the novelty of being a rancher’s wife wore off.
“This looks like a nice ranch house,” Rowan said. “I noticed the well; it would make life easier for you. Whoever set this place up knew what they were doing.”
“Pa spent all his life ranching. He built this place up from practically nothing. Did I tell you my sister-in-law wanted to tear the house down and build a more modern one?”
“You did, darlin’. Sheer stupidity.”
“The wrong woman can ruin a good man,” Tom said.
“How would you know?” Rowan grinned. “A confirmed bachelor like you.”
“I nearly got hitched once. I found out in the nick of time what a nagging shrew of a woman she was.”
“I never bothered much with women,” Hank mused. “Too expensive.”
“What’s your excuse, Rowan?” Miranda waited with bated breath for his answer.
“For years I never had the time or inclination. I’m glad I waited for the right gal to come along, even though she chewed me out something awful when we first met.”
Miranda laughed. “It’s not very flattering when a man forgets about his bride to be.”
“I’d never forget once I saw you, darlin’.”
“Hank and I might ride around to check things out if it’s okay, boss. We’ll keep an eye on the herd too, a couple of those cows are acting up all restless like.”
Rowan nodded. “I think we’ll have a few miscarriages. I could ring Edward’s neck for what he did.”
“You would have to line up behind Hank and me.” Tom scowled.
“I’ve got pots of water on the stove to heat water for a bath,” Miranda said. “I thought I might take one before supper, I don’t like feeling dirty. There’s a pot-belly stove in the cabin if you men want to make coffee for yourselves. I think there might be a frypan and a coffee pot.
“Yeah, there are, we checked. Everything is fine for us. Tom and I will be as snug as a bug in a rug. We might help ourselves to a few eggs from time to time,”
“You can take anything you need from here, although I expect you to have most of your meals with us, supper at the very least. We used to have a good vegetable garden here when pa was alive.”
She watched a gleam come to Hank’s eyes. “I wouldn’t mind getting the garden going again. I like gardening.”
“You can do as much or as little as you like here. This is your home from now on, the both of you. Feel free to do whatever you want when Rowan doesn’t need you.”
“Thank you,” the men chorused. “We’re much obliged.”
She had noticed on a few occasions they often said the same or similar things at the one time. “I’m getting something out of the deal too. With your help Rowan won’t need to spend so much time on chores. It will give him more time to spend with me.”
Everyone laughed.
The two men stood ready to go off and explore the ranch further, and she knew Rowan wanted to do the same, yet he hesitated.
“You go off with them,” she said.
“Well...”
“If you stay here, I’ll have to give you household chores to perform, besides, I plan on having a nice long soak in the bathtub. I’m giving myself the day off from all except the most essential tasks.”
“If you don’t mind, I will go with the men. We can check the pastures, fencing and so on.”
“Supper will be served at six o’clock.”
Rowan gave her a quick kiss before following the other men out of the house. She fought down a twinge of, was it, jealousy? She would have him to herself after supper. Only sensible for all three men to familiarize themselves with the ranch and work out the best way to get it running more profitably.
An enclosed section of the back porch was their washing room. A dented tin bath hung from a hook on the wall. Two large wooden washing tubs had been secured to the wall. Pa had run a pipe outside to take the water away when she finished washing, making life easier.
He had built extra shelves in an old closet where she kept towels, washing rags and soap. Ma always used homemade lye soap, but Miranda could not come at it. The one luxury she always allowed herself was store-bought soap.
After a relaxing bath she decided to wear a brown dress with a lighter shade of trim around the cuffs and neckline. She brushed her hair and let it hang loose about her shoulders where it fell in soft waves. Wearing a white apron to keep her dress clean, she headed for the kitchen to continue her supper preparations.
Chapter Thirteen
Rowan strolled through the kitchen door. “Something smells good. Well, lots of things smell good,” he said with a grin.
“Glad you approve.” She could scarcely hide her hurt because he never mentioned her appearance, and she had worked so hard on it.
He stepped over to her and wrapped his arms around her. “You look beautiful, Miranda.”
He said the words with such sincerity tears filled her eyes.
“I’m the luckiest man in the whole of Colorado.”
He kissed her, a long, passionate kiss that ricocheted through the whole of her body, not stopping until it reached her toes.
“I guess I better clean up, too.” He rubbed his palm across his stubble covered chin.
“You can have a bath if you like. I boiled extra water in case you wanted to.” She trailed off on seeing the gleam in his eye.
“Ooh, darlin’, I want to. I want to re
al bad.”
She was not sure whether he was talking about the water or not.
Half an hour later, he sauntered into the kitchen, freshly shaved, his dark hair plastered damply to his head yet still managing to curl. He had changed into a clean shirt and pants and looked so handsome her heart skipped a couple of beats.
“You scrub up well,” she said, noticing the huskiness in her voice.
“As long as you find me pleasing.”
“I do.”
He laughed. “I’ve heard you say those two words before.”
***
Supper was successful, all four of them tucked into perfectly roasted chicken with vegetables and gravy. They finished off with apple cobbler. It was a source of pride being able to use the apples she had picked and stored from their own trees.
“This is the best meal I’ve had in years,” Tom said.
“Me, too,” Hank chimed in. You’re a real good cook. Rowan is a lucky man.”
“I know I am. It was a lovely meal, darlin’.”
The men got up to go shortly afterward. Night was falling, yet they assured her they needed no lamp light to find their way back to the cabin.
Rowan helped her with the dishes and when they were done, they sat in the sitting room having a coffee. “I’m starting to get nervous,” she said.
“There’s no need to be. It will be good between us, darlin’.”
“The bank tomorrow.”
He laughed. “I thought you were getting anxious and excited for me.”
“I am, that’s a good kind of anxious, but the bank isn’t. Clem hates me, well, probably all women, and deliberately intimidates them.”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head about him; he’s got me to deal with now and I don’t care how important he thinks he is.” He yawned. “Do you need to go out the back?”
She shook her head.
“I do. You get yourself ready for bed, I won’t be long.”
Feeling decidedly nervous, Miranda walked to the main bedroom and folded back the bedclothes, before slipping on a white cotton nightgown with a lace trimmed yolk. With nerves building up she lay waiting for him to return. What if he was disappointed in her? She fretted and worried.
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