Will cleared his throat as he looked at Joe. “It was quite an experience. Carol was able to see a couple of doctors and, of course, with the new chair we were able to see the sights. Chicago is quite an interesting town. Growing quite quickly.”
Sadie smiled and rubbed her hand slowly over her apron. “I haven’t been gone all that long, but I bet I wouldn’t even recognize it.”
She reached for menus and looked around the restaurant for an empty table. Her husband, Tripp, poked his head from the swinging door to the kitchen and frowned when his eyes found his wife.
Sadie laughed and turned back toward the brothers. “I’ll put you out of your misery and let you know that yes, the baby should be coming fairly soon and no, I shouldn’t be home in bed and yes, I truly enjoy hostessing at the restaurant when I can. This way, I still get to see my favorite people,” she said as she waved at them to follow her to their table.
Joe exchanged a glance with Will and smiled. Having been raised by his mother and his aunt, the outspoken Widow Samson, he was accustomed to ladies with forthright opinions and statements...but wasn’t at all sure about the baby information.
He wasn’t quite sure how to respond and looked toward his brother. He’d been married for a while, now, and he likely knew much more about the fairer sex than he did. Shoot, he hadn’t even known what to say to the damsel in distress out on the street. Although she hadn’t appeared to be in that much distress, truth be told.
They took their menus from Sadie and settled into their chairs next to the window looking out to the boardwalk. Will turned and peered down Allen Street in a direction that was very familiar.
Joe laughed and clapped his brother on the back. “Carol must be back at the library, since you can’t seem to keep your eyes off of it.”
Will turned his startled expression back toward his brother. “Is it that obvious?”
“It has always been obvious since you laid eyes on that girl. How is she, by the way? How was your trip?”
Will’s eyes softened as he looked down at the ring on his left hand. “She’s fine, Will, never better. The trip was quite a success, I’d say, and we loved getting to know Chicago.”
Joe leaned back in his chair and took a good look at his brother. He seemed happy and rested, even after a long trip halfway across the country. Married life must agree with him, he thought, even if it had come at a hefty price.
He hadn’t wanted to bring up the subject of their mother. He still couldn’t believe that she’d never accepted the fact that Will had chosen to marry Carol, one of the sweetest girls he’d ever met, just because she couldn’t walk. Will had stuck to his decision, though, and Joe had never been more proud of his little brother. It was just a topic he and his mother never spoke about, and Joe was reticent to bring it up now. He should have known that he and Will were just as close as ever, and Will would know what he was thinking.
“So, how’s Ma? Things are going well over at our new little house with Saffron and Adam. It’s nice to have them nearby, although Carol and I enjoy our time alone. I’m glad that she can be surrounded by people who love her rather than our mother and aunt.”
“And don’t forget cousins,” Joe said, the memory of his recent ambush still fresh in his mind.
“Cousins?” Will said as he set his menu on the side of the table. “What are they up to now?”
Joe quickly recounted the horrid evening with his brother who was in stitches by the time he was done and wiped away tears of laughter with his linen napkin.
“Oh, brother. You’re in trouble now. It’s begun, and it’ll be like a runaway train until you settle on someone.”
Joe rubbed the back of his neck. “I thought maybe your wedding would quiet things down for a while, but it seems as though it’s just stoked the fire.”
“It may have done if my wedding was suitable and would bring grandchildren—you know that’s all she and Aunt Dorothy have been talking about for years—but the jury’s still out on that one. So I guess you’re on the firing line now, brother,” Will said as he nudged Joe with his elbow.
The blood drained from Joe’s face as he pictured not just life with that woman they’d tried to foist on him, let alone little ones with the same screechy voices all running beneath his feet.
“Oh, no. I’m not the marrying type and nobody says I have to be. Especially not to that hoity, giggly non-stop talker they introduced me to.”
“Carol talks a lot. I’ve grown quite fond of hearing her voice, and what she has to say,” Will said softly.
Sadie stepped up to the table and rested her hand on Will’s shoulder. “Yes, you and Carol are the perfect match, Will. You were quite fortunate that you met.”
Joe twisted his napkin at the thought of Jasmine. “Yes, they were lucky. There aren’t many women here in Tombstone, what with all the single miners, and the ones I’ve seen, I’m either related to or they’re happily married—or they’re like Jasmine.”
Sadie cocked her head and trained her blue eyes on Joe for a moment before she spoke. “You know, I’d never met Tripp before we agreed to marry. He needed a wife in a hurry, and Suzanne vouched for him. We couldn’t be happier. If you need to get out of your mother’s trap, you could consider it, as well. Suzanne and I could help,” she said as she waved the waitress over.
“Oh, I—I couldn’t do that,” Joe said as he folded his napkin and set it on his lap.
“Why not, Joe? It would get you out of mother’s sights in a hurry, that’s for sure.”
“I can’t imagine how she’d take that after the way she reacted to your wedding. Marry someone I don’t know? She’d likely die.”
Sadie’s eyes twinkled as she turned toward the kitchen. “Just let me know if you change your mind, Joe. It might help. It helped Tripp,” she said as she gestured around the restaurant and pushed through the swinging door.
Joe turned toward the window and shuddered as none other than that wretched friend of his cousin’s exited the Tombstone Public Library and headed in their direction.
Chapter 6
Olivia took one last look both ways down Allen Street and, seeing no sign of Jimmy Joe Walker, tucked the final corner of the blanket over her shotgun. She picked up the papers and her reticule once again and headed into the mercantile, stomping some of the dust off her boots before she pushed open the wide, oak door.
She fumbled around her collar for the strings of her bonnet before she remembered she’d left it in the buggy. She shrugged her shoulders and peered inside, figuring that as she was in the establishment now, there was no sense going back outside for her bonnet that she should have been wearing—outside. Seemed like a waste of time and effort to her, and there were other things to get done.
“Olivia, come in. Come in.” Suzanne smiled broadly and waved Olivia inside as she walked toward her, arms spread wide. “It’s been ages. We’ve been wondering when you’d come in to talk about this year’s yield, Sadie and I. We’ve been looking forward to seeing you.”
Heat crept into Olivia’s cheeks as Suzanne wrapped her in a hug. She’d known her for a few years and remembered when she’d had her twins—Lucy and Lily must be around school age by now—but she’d never gotten used to how friendly people in town could be. But she took in a deep breath and returned Suzanne’s hug as best she knew how.
She stepped back and frowned as Suzanne squinted at her and reached a hand up to push back a long, brown curl that had escaped from her braid. She rested her hands on her hips as her eyes traveled over Olivia’s face.
Olivia raised her hand to her cheek. “What is it? I must look a fright after the long ride in from the ranch.”
“A little more than usual, I must say,” Suzanne said as she reached for a cloth on the counter.
“Oh, dear. I do apologize,” Olivia said as she swiped at the dust on her face once more.
“Apologize? Whatever for? It’s a long ride from the ranch with a lot of dust in between. At least you didn’t get caught in a squa
ll and it’s dust, not mud,” Suzanne said. She smiled and nodded at Olivia as she passed her back the dirtied cloth.
Olivia reached into her bag and pulled out the neatly folded papers she’d carefully prepared and held them out toward Suzanne. “I know this is the first time I’ve done this on my own, Suzanne, so I’ll appreciate some of your patience.”
She lowered her dark eyelashes, wishing her father were with her now and could have looked over the figures. She knew she’d done a good job of it, but it would have been nice to have someone to talk things over with. Percy certainly didn’t fit the bill.
Suzanne pushed the papers back toward Olivia. “Hang on to those for a moment. Sadie’s expecting us for lunch. I figured you’d want a meat pie—or anything you’d like, really. I can imagine that cooking for yourself all the time can get tiresome, so we’d like you to join us.”
Olivia’s stomach grumbled as if on cue and her hand flew to her stomach.
“I’ll take that to mean you’ll be happy to. Sadie will need to see what you have available this season as well, for the restaurant, so we may as well wait for her to go over things.” Suzanne looked around the mercantile and spotted her husband as she reached for her shawl. “James, Olivia and I are joining Sadie for lunch. I’ll be back shortly.”
Suzanne’s tall, lanky husband poked his head out of the office and smiled at Olivia. “Hello, Olivia. Hope you’ve got some wonderful things for us this season.” He turned to his wife and said, “Would you mind bringing me a meat pie when you return?” He smiled sheepishly at his wife, who nodded.
“Of course. I’d planned to,” Suzanne said as she opened the door for Olivia and gestured for her to precede her.
“You look happy, Suzanne. Are things going well at the mercantile?” Olivia asked as she opened the door to the Occidental Restaurant next door to the mercantile.
“Things are fine with us,” Suzanne said as they entered the restaurant. “The girls are in school, which I can hardly believe and Sadie—well, Sadie...”
“And Sadie is going to have a baby,” Suzanne’s identical twin sister said as she came around from behind the counter.
“And soon, I might add,” Suzanne said as she and Olivia followed Sadie to a table.
“Goodness, Sadie, it sure does seem like it’d be soon,” Olivia said as she and Suzanne followed her to a table.
“Yes, soon. But I have been feeling wonderful and I love being here. Nice chance to have lunch with you, too.”
Sadie slowed as she passed by a table and stopped next to one by the window. “Suzanne, look who’s back,” she said, gesturing to the two men that had come to Olivia’s aid earlier. There was no mistaking that they were brothers, both with wavy dark hair and deep brown eyes, tall and handsome.
They both stood as the ladies stopped and nodded toward each of them.
“Good day, ladies,” the younger brother said.
“Oh, Will, how good to see you. You and Carol were in Chicago so long, it seemed. We must plan something so we can all hear about your trip.” Suzanne nodded at Will’s brother and smiled. “And Joe, it’s always nice to see you out of the shop. How is your mother?”
It seemed to Olivia that Joe stiffened as he glanced at Will. “She’s fine. Nothing different there,” he said.
Will turned toward Olivia and said, “Hello again, ma’am. I hope everything’s all right. I’m Will Stanton and this here is my brother, Joe. That was some altercation earlier.”
Olivia took in a deep breath. She hadn’t wanted to mention anything to Suzanne and Sadie about Walker and the inventory, but knew she’d have to as they both turned to her, their eyes wide and curious.
She turned quickly toward the blacksmiths. “It’s very nice to meet you. Olivia Blanchard. Thank you very much for your concern, but it really was nothing.”
She shook their hands in turn and raised her lashes to meet the dark, deep eyes of Joe.
“Nothing?” Joe asked as his eyebrows rose.
Will looked puzzled and turned toward his brother. “I hope you’re all right. I suppose it didn’t hurt that you had your shotgun with you.”
Suzanne’s hand flew to her chest in alarm. “Olivia, did this have anything to do with Jimmy Joe Walker?”
Olivia pulled her hand slowly back from Joe’s and sighed. Concern—or was it curiosity—shadowed his face.
She’d rather have not discussed it with Suzanne and Sadie, but now that the cat was out of the bag, she might as well. “Yes, it did. He’s still after the inventory. Says Pa told him he had first choice on every season’s inventory.”
Suzanne frowned. “I don’t believe that’s true. We’ve bought your inventory every year for many. I don’t think your father would say that.”
Olivia fingered her sleeve and felt the crinkle of the paper that would prove that he’d said no such thing. “No, he wouldn’t. It’s definitely a misunderstanding, but Walker won’t leave it be.”
Sadie took a step back, her eyes wide. “That’s shocking. I’m sure your father wouldn’t have promised him that,” she said as she looked from Suzanne to Olivia.
“Yes, it is,” Olivia said slowly as she turned toward Joe and Will’s stares. Townsfolk couldn’t really understand what it was like to live out on the ranch. It was—well, it was just different. Things happened. Things weren’t quite so polite and she remembered the looks on their faces when she’d pulled out her shotgun. They’d almost blanched, both of them, even though they’d come to her aid.
“I don’t want to bore these gentlemen with business,” she said quietly to Suzanne.
Suzanne blinked hard and looked from Olivia to the gentleman. “Oh, yes, right. Nice to see you both,” she said as she shook their hands and followed Sadie the rest of the way into the restaurant.
When they were seated, she leaned her head toward Olivia. “Olivia, this sounds serious,” she said quietly.
“And dangerous,” Sadie added as she placed her napkin in her lap.
“Absolutely,” Suzanne said, nodding her head vigorously. “And Percy can’t possibly be any help to you. He’s...well, he’s...”
“Yes, he is,” Olivia said and laughed. “Not particularly helpful, to say the least. I’m confident, though, that I can fend them off and get your inventory to you in the next few days. All will be well if we can hurry it up.”
Sadie waved to the waitress, asking for tea. “Your pork is the best in the territory, Olivia. There won’t be any problem with price. Count on the purchase. Suzanne and I will buy all of it, and we’ll settle between us who gets what.”
Olivia smiled as the twins exchanged a quick glance, their faces troubled but their crystal blue eyes gleaming. She was quite fond of them both, and sometimes even wished she had their blonde curls and town manners. But that wasn’t her lot in life. And besides, she loved the solitude of the ranch and it was her aim to make her father proud, no matter what she had to do to honor his memory.
Chapter 7
Olivia had thought she might spend the night at the hotel after her lunch with Suzanne and Sadie, but she found herself anxious to get back to the ranch to finalize the sale. They’d settled on a very generous price for her inventory and shortly, she wouldn’t have to pinch pennies any longer.
She breathed a sigh of relief that things had worked out so well. With this money, she could take some time and decide what to do...with the ranch and with herself. This butchering was the final one her father had been involved in, and he’d been very clear during his illness that he didn’t expect her to stay a hog farmer forever.
As she passed down the rolling hills that lined the San Pedro River and the horses settled into a rhythm, she thought of her father. He’d been ill for months before he’d passed, and she’d cherished the opportunities they’d had to talk.
One of the things she remembered most vividly was his insistence that she and Percy finish out the slaughter, sell the bacon and hams at the highest price—that they could get from Sadie and Suzanne—an
d then sell the ranch. Percy hadn’t been too happy about that prospect and even though she’d smiled and nodded while her father spoke, she’d had no intention of moving on from the ranch. The Double Barrel Ranch was all she’d ever known, and she couldn’t even conceive of doing anything else.
She crossed the river and the terrain changed as she entered the mountains on the west side. The further she traveled from the river bed, lush with cottonwoods during the monsoon season, the drier the climate. The ranch was in a canyon, and she traveled up the road toward it, the landscape changing from deep green by the water to sparser foliage. Cactus dotted the horizon and the cottonwoods disappeared, replaced with mesquite and palo verde trees that could flourish with much less water.
She flicked the reins and peeked from under her bonnet at the sun as it set behind the mountains. There were few monsoon clouds and she said a silent thanks for a dry trip home.
As the sky darkened and the clouds to the west changed from white to gray to orange, then purple, she closed her eyes and let the horses find their way home, something they’d done hundreds of times. The stars made their appearance slowly, one by one, and she looked forward to her own bed, in her own home. She was anxious for the silence of the ranch. The fair bit of commotion in town had been plenty of interaction for her for a single day.
Darkness settled in, but in the twilight she saw a plume of dust—a wagon pulled by four horses, racing along at a fairly good clip. They must be hurrying to get home before it was completely dark, like she was. She knew everyone in the canyon, and she squinted to see whose wagon it might be traveling at breakneck speed almost in the dark and her stomach clenched when she couldn’t make it out. It wasn’t familiar to her at all.
Her eyes followed the trail of dust and she shivered as it ended at the entrance of the Double Barrel Ranch, even pluming from inside the gate. She’d left Percy to guard the ranch, but if the racing wagon had been him—which it wouldn’t have since everything he did was slow as molasses—it wasn’t their wagon.
The Blacksmith's Mail Order Bride (Wild West Frontier Brides Book 5) Page 3