“He can’t hurt you anymore,” she spoke in a quiet, coaxing voice, raising a finger to wipe away another tear that had just escaped the corner of the woman’s eye.
Without warning, Long’s fiancée sprung into Kate’s arms and continued to sob, her whole body shaking uncontrollably. Kate stroked her hair, holding the woman while she cried. While she mourned the loss of the man she’d thought to love.
After a few moments, Stella hiccupped as she pulled herself together.
“It was you, Miss Callahan. You gave me the courage to do what was right. I didn’t mean to get him hung, but he wasn’t a good man, and I had to stop him from killin’ any more folks.” She looked up at Kate with wide eyes. “I’m so sorry about your pa. If I’d been stronger before…”
“Shhhh…” Kate shook her head. “What happened to my da wasn’t your fault. You were very brave going all the way out to Mr. Boswell’s ranch and telling him what you knew. Thank you.”
Stella nodded.
Hiccup.
She raised her fingers to cover her mouth.
“Do you need anything?” Kate asked out of habit.
Stella shook her head.
“There’s nothing left for me here in Laramie. I think I am going to head up to Montana. Reverend Jones just obtained a job with a new parish and Cindy, I mean Mrs. Jones,” she corrected, “invited me along. Says there are a lot of good men looking for wives there.”
“I hope the best for you, Stella.”
“You could come too, you know,” she said with a sniff, then looked up as if noticing Levi and the other men with her for the first time. “Or,” she leaned a little closer and spoke in whispered tones, “you might just be lucky enough to find a good man right here in town.” Her head jerked only once in the affirmative.
Kate opened her mouth, then closed it again. She hadn’t told anyone in Laramie about her ad for a husband, but she’d already vetted the unattached men in town and there was certainly no one local she had any intention of marrying.
Levi was more like a brother to her than anything else. Of course, he fit the bill, everything she’d asked for—came from a family of ranchers, kind, and she had no doubt in her mind that he would be unyieldingly faithful to the woman lucky enough to capture his heart.
She glanced over at the man and stared for a long moment.
Nope. Nothing. There wasn’t any kind of spark or feelings, other than brotherly affection, when she looked at him. She shrugged. Besides, Levi worked for the railroad and she needed someone who could plant his roots right here in Laramie and help her run the ranch.
“I’d better get back,” Stella said with a sniff. “The pastor is letting me stay in the room at the back of the church tonight. I just can’t bring myself to go home. Not now.” Stella’s solemn face returned as she brushed past Kate, blowing her nose as she bustled toward the small, newly erected chapel—so out of place against the backdrop of several all-night saloons.
As she turned around, Mr. Dixon, the town undertaker scuttled down the boardwalk toward the cabin turned gallows, holding out his lantern, his measuring tape dangling from his pocket.
It’s done, she reminded herself again as she joined the others where the horses had been tied. She was pleased to see that her mount and another she didn’t recognize had been strapped to a buckboard with lanterns dangling on either side.
She glanced at each of the men now surrounding her, her eyes stopping momentarily on the stranger Levi had brought with him. There were definitely sparks with him. He tipped his hat and smiled, revealing straight, white teeth—a feature hard to come by this far west. Her belly did a little flip-flop inside.
Who is he?
“You fellas had any supper?” she asked, forcing herself to look away from the mysterious man who’d caught her interest. “Fannie made fried potatoes and ham. I’m sure there’s still some left in the kitchen.”
Emmett Callahan had hired the woman to help Kate learn how to cook. With all of the duties the ranch required of her, Kate had neglected to be a good domestic student. She was grateful, however, that Fannie had agreed to stay on after her father died—something that most of the ranch hands had refused to do. No one wanted to work for a woman out here.
A coyote howled and Kate glanced out into the vast darkness beyond the town. She didn’t hear if any of the men had responded to her earlier question as her attention was now focused elsewhere.
Though the moon was full, it sat too low in the sky to provide much light for the ride home. Her heart beat fast and her shoulders tightened. The urgency that had fueled her journey into town had fled, and she had to remind herself that she would be surrounded by able-bodied men. There was nothing to worry about. The ranch wasn’t far. It was only the dark. The dark couldn’t hurt her.
“Ready?” A low, warm voice asked at her side.
She jumped.
“You startled me.” When Kate looked up, she was greeted by Levi’s friend with the sultry eyes. She glanced down at his extended hand and bit her bottom lip as she slid hers into its warmth.
He helped her up onto the seat, then turned to say something to Levi, who’d already mounted a horse much too short for his long, muscular legs. It didn’t suit him.
Kate gathered the reins and waited.
“Excuse me, ma’am.” The gentleman with the white smile and perfect jaw climbed up next to her on the wagon seat and handed her an additional lantern.
He’s driving me home?
Her mother would turn over in her grave if she knew that Kate had allowed herself to be unaccompanied in the front seat of a buckboard with a man whose name she didn’t even know, let alone letting him drive her home. She held up the lantern to get a better look at his face. Strung on one of his coat buttons dangled a postage delivery tag and she couldn’t help but see her name written in big fancy letters.
“May I?” she asked.
The man nodded.
Kate picked up the tag and read,
To: Kate Callahan, Laramie
One mail-order-husband—
Husband? She shot a look at him, then back down at the tag and read it aloud. The speed of her heart increasing with every word.
“Mr. Noah Deardon, first cousin of Levi Redbourne...” She cleared her throat. “Knowledgeable of cattle ranching. Kind to a fault. Young and able-bodied.” She paused, heat flooding her face. “And a man who will be faithful on his word—on the word of Levi Redbourne. Hand delivered by Levi Redbourne.”
Kate looked up at the man who was shaking his head, but smiling all the same.
“I should probably introduce myself, ma’am.” He looked at her with eyes that glinted like steel in the moonlight, sending gooseflesh down her arms. Again. “I am Noah Deardon, first cousin to Levi Redbourne, and all of those other things. I am here in response to your ad—one mail-order husband.”
The dark, weighted cloud that had loomed over her for months, lifted and for the first time in a very long while she had hope.
Chapter Four
Even dressed in men’s clothing, Kate Callahan was easily the most beautiful woman Noah had ever laid eyes on. Her unkempt hair and flushed cheeks only added to her appeal.
He shook his head and smiled as the woman seated next to him read the blamed tag Levi had insisted he wear. He felt like a fool, if ever there was one, but if it evoked another smile from the lady, he was happy to oblige.
“You’re my package? Hand-delivered from Oregon?” She breathed a laugh.
“Guilty as charged.”
“Only Levi would bring me a…a husband.”
As they pulled out toward White Willow, Noah stayed close behind Levi and the others, careful not to get separated. The last thing he needed to do was to prove himself the fool by getting lost in the dark.
“What’s wrong with you?” Her question startled him.
“Ma’am?”
“There aren’t many men who would be willing to give up their lives and move a thousand miles away from h
ome to marry a woman he’d never met. So, what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you already married? You’re certainly handsome enough. And you look strong and able bodied.”
Noah was glad it was dark outside as he could feel the heat rush to his face and neck at her assessment of him. He sat up a little taller and cleared his throat.
“Well,” he had to think for a moment.
What was wrong with him?
“I don’t always take my boots off before walking into the house. I whistle when I have a lot on my mind and sometimes that annoys my brother. I often let my cousins—particularly that one,” he said as he pointed at Levi a few yards ahead, “talk me into doing some cockamamie things.”
“Like moving across country to marry a woman you’ve never met?”
“Yes, like that.” He laughed.
She laughed too.
Kate was straightforward. No nonsense. It was refreshing. Most of the women he’d courted or been around had a tendency to play coy and often sent mixed signals. He didn’t need a woman who played games. He needed someone with a good head on her shoulders, someone willing to stand beside him. Work alongside him. Someone he could take care of. Love.
After everything he’d seen tonight, he hoped that someone might be Miss Kate Callahan. From the moment he’d caught her staring at him, there had been something between them that he couldn’t explain, and he wondered if she’d felt it too. It was almost like a spark.
She was beautiful and strong, resilient, yet he’d seen the compassion in her face as she’d spoken to the young woman on the boardwalk. The woman who’d been betrothed to the man who’d taken Kate’s father away from her. That alone would have impressed him.
“So, why did you agree to come to Wyoming? It’s not the green forests and hills of Oregon, that’s for sure.” Her voice brought him out of his reverie and he cleared his throat again.
He’d thought about that question many times over the course of the last month on the trail. He could give her a nice flowery answer. Something he thought she might like to hear, but if he didn’t want a woman who played coy, he certainly didn’t want to be a man doing the same thing.
He glanced over at her. She smiled, her eyes fixed on his. A light breeze swooped across the landscape, flickering the lantern’s flame and catching her hair like a blanket drying on a line.
Kate shivered.
Noah slowed the horses a bit as he reached into the back of the wagon and pulled out a thick woolen blanket.
“Was it that obvious?” She asked as she set the lamp down on the step in front of her and wrapped the covering around her shoulders. When she was settled again, he could feel her eyes on him and she raised the light again. “Wyoming?”
“Honestly, I needed a place of my own. My older brother, Jonah, has taken over the family’s ranch back home. He’s married with four little ones.”
He missed those four little ones more than he cared to admit and it had only been a couple of weeks.
“Lucas is my younger brother. He moved to Montana several years ago to work on our grandfather’s ranch. He met his perfect match, Lucy, and they now have two children and are expecting their third this month.”
He still regretted that he’d never gotten to know their estranged grandfather before he’d passed away. But a few years back he’d at least been able to make the trip to Whisper Ridge where he’d gotten to know Lucy, his Montana nephews, and a handful of relatives he’d had no idea had even existed.
“So, you’ve got just the two brothers?” Kate turned in her seat enough that she was almost facing him.
“And Henry,” he said, focusing fully on the trail in front of them. “Henry was the oldest.”
“Was?”
“He died about ten years ago, while breaking a mustang.” He dared a glance in her direction.
Her head bowed.
“My condolences.”
“It was a long time ago,” he shrugged, though he wished he could say he didn’t think about it much anymore. That day still haunted him in his dreams.
Enough about me.
“I was sorry to hear about your father.”
“Thank you.”
“Levi said he was a good man.”
“He was.”
She obviously didn’t want to talk about it either. They rode for a few minutes in a comfortable silence as the stars came out to play, peeking out between the dramatic strokes of clouds as they transformed in the sky. A soft tune danced around in his mind and he started to whistle.
“That’s lovely,” she said. “What is it?”
“Ah, I don’t know. Sometimes I just get a tune in my head that won’t go away.
“I love music.”
“I understand that you didn’t grow up ranching,” Noah said, wanting to hear her voice again. “From Chicago?”
“Why, Mr. Deardon, I think you have me at a disadvantage.”
As they passed through a large wooden archway, the homestead came into view. It was dark except for the room at the front of the house where a man’s obscured silhouette was visible in the window.
Noah reached down for the rifle he’d holstered at the side of the buckboard. From what he’d learned about Kate and the ranch, the only men that would be in the main house were Dell and Eamon, and both of them were still mounted just ahead of him in front of the house.
Levi’d drawn his pistol. He’d seen the man too.
Loud laughter came from one of the out buildings where a dim light flickered. It had to be the bunkhouse where the last couple of hired hands would be settling in for the night.
Noah didn’t want to alarm Kate, so he continued talking.
“What about you? You are beautiful and smart. I’d bet there’s any number of men around these parts that would marry you and help run your ranch. Why place an ad?”
“Have you seen the men around here? They are either married, or…well, no thank you.” Kate stood, but Noah put a protective arm up in front of her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, sitting back down on the bench.
“Just stay here. We’ll be right back.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, pulling a small revolver from the pocket of her britches. “If there’s a problem on my ranch, I’m perfectly capable of handling it.”
“I have no doubt of that.” Noah jumped from the wagon, ran around to the other side, and raised a hand to help Kate down.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she started for the door, but stopped and waited for them at the bottom of the stairs while they hitched their horses and the wagon to the rail post.
After Levi and Noah took their places on either side of the door, and Eamon and Dell had disappeared around the back, Noah nodded that they were ready for her to barge inside.
She reached for the handle on the door.
Noah took a deep breath, prepared for the worst.
She pushed.
Chapter Five
“Miss Kate,” Fannie rushed forward. “This man says he’s come a long way in answer to an advertisement you placed in his local paper. I told him you had gone into town, but he insis—”
“It’s all right, Fannie.” Kate smiled at the woman, grateful for the lit lamps throughout the room. “Thank you for entertaining our guest while I was away.”
He couldn’t be much of a gentleman if he’d insisted on sitting in a house alone with a woman—even if Fannie was old enough to be his grandmother.
“Clifford Thomas, ma’am,” the man said, already on his feet and taking a step toward her. “From Abilene. I apologize for calling at such a late hour, but I just arrived in town and wanted to meet the woman I’ve come to marry.” He flashed a smile that would be hard to forget.
Kate’s jaw dropped.
She’d been in Laramie for nearly two years and in that time the only men who’d paid any attention to her were either already spoken for or those who frequented the saloons. Well, except for Dell. Since placing the ad over a month ago, she’d rec
eived correspondence from only one man from Montana, but nothing else. Now, two seemingly respectable suitors had appeared in one day. That made three.
“You’re an awfully long way away from home, Mr. Thomas. I wasn’t aware that my ad would reach Texas.”
He wasn’t as tall as Noah and he had dark hair, but he also looked as if he knew his way around a ranch.
“Well, actually, ma’am, I just finished a drive up through Colorado and a few of the boys mentioned your advertisement.”
Mr. Thomas’s eyes unexpectedly grew wide and he glanced from one position over her left shoulder to another position over her right. She smiled a little, realizing that Levi and Noah must be standing directly behind her. She could feel them scrutinizing every inch of this man and could imagine how imposing a backdrop they would be. He looked down at the drawn gun in her hand and swallowed hard.
“Were y’all expectin’ someone else?”
Kate hastily tucked the gun into her belt and turned back to look over her shoulder to where Noah stood, eyebrow raised, staring at the man like a skilled wrangler staring down a wild horse.
“Mr. Thomas, I am Kate Callahan and this is Levi Redbourne and Noah Deardon.”
Dell and Eamon took that moment to come through the kitchen and into the living area, both with weapons drawn as well.
Mr. Thomas nodded at each of them, his hands raised slightly in front of him. “Are all of you here for Miss Callahan’s hand?”
Everyone just continued to stare at the man, until finally Noah stepped forward next to Kate.
“Just me,” he said in a rich, deep voice that sent butterflies sprawling through her belly. She could get used to that sound.
Mr. Thomas looked Noah up and down as she was sure Noah had already done to him.
“You don’t mind a little friendly competition now, do ya, friend?” Mr. Thomas asked.
“Not when it’s someone worth competing for.” Noah looked down and winked at her. Warmth spread over her whole body.
Compete? For me? She wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that.
The Deardons Complete Mini-Series Page 24