“Where are you staying, Mr. Thomas?”
“Well, ma’am, as I said before, I just got into town and I thought I’d be staying here. At the ranch. With my wife. Didn’t make no other arrangements.”
Eamon coughed behind his hand, which Kate suspected hid a chuckle.
“Surely, Mr. Thomas, you didn’t think we’d just march down to the chapel and have Reverend Jones marry us? How could you think I would make you a part of my life on this ranch without so much as having a conversation?”
He cleared his throat. “From your ad, I figured you’d want to get started as soon as possible. It sounded like you needed a bit of help getting this place in order. I thought we’d spend a few hours talking, sure, but it’s not like you’re looking to be courted? You put an ad in a newspaper for a husband, not for a suitor or business partner.”
Kate could not believe her ears. He was a blamed fool if he didn’t think a woman needed to be courted—by her suitor or husband, it didn’t matter. She hadn’t been looking for love exactly. She’d learned from her parents that love grew over time, but respect and consideration were not negotiable.
“We’ve not exchanged any correspondence nor do I know anything about you. We haven’t been acquainted for all of five minutes and, frankly, I find your arrogance off-putting.”
Be polite, Kate.
Maybe placing that ad had been a mistake.
She looked up at Noah, with his broad shoulders, tousled blond hair, and easy smile.
Maybe not.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Thomas, I know you’ve come a long way. There is a lot of work to be done. My father purchased a herd of three-hundred head just before he died. They have been delayed in Denver, but I am assured they will be delivered in the next couple of weeks. Until then, I have time to decide what, or who as the case may be, is best for me. And my ranch.”
“I understand completely, Kate. May I call you Kate?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “Would you mind terribly if I stayed in the bunkhouse until you’ve reached your decision?”
“Do you know anything about the cattle business, Thomas?” Levi asked incredulously before she could respond. “Are you a kind person? Loyal? No one here knows the answers to any of those questions. You don’t just expect her to take your word for it?”
It was obvious he’d taken a dislike to the man.
“Well, yeah.” Mr. Thomas nodded. “I’m sorry, who are you exactly?”
“Do you have any credentials? Anyone who can vouch for you?”
“In Abilene, of course.” His jaw clenched momentarily before continuing. “Or the trail boss from the drive to Colorado would—”
“Fannie?” Kate interrupted. The last thing she needed after the day she’d had was to have a full out brawl in her living room. It had been a long day and her body just wanted to crawl back into her bed and sleep for a few days. Unfortunately, running a ranch did not allow for such luxuries.
She looked over at the older woman who’d been observing the entire interaction from the doorway into the kitchen. “Do you have any of that ham or those fried potatoes left from supper?”
Fannie’s eyes grew wide. “I saved what was remaining, Miss Kate, but not enough to feed five grown men. I’m afraid what’s there is a might cold.” She turned around and headed back into the kitchen. “I suppose I could warm some of yesterday’s stew to go along with it.”
“Would you mind terribly, Fannie?” Kate called after her. “I think these gentlemen all need a little food in their bellies,” she said this last part more to herself than the cook. She needed the distraction.
Chapter Six
Noah’s stomach grumbled with a month’s lack of good hearty meals of meat and potatoes, but the food could wait. There was something about this Clifford Thomas that made him want to punch the man in the nose and send him right back to Abilene with all of his presumptions and lack of respect. He watched the man jaw at his food like he was a prince in his palace and lost his appetite.
He needed air.
He and Levi had been on the road for most of the day. Then, when they’d arrived in town, he’d witnessed a full on lynching of the man Levi had told him about—the one who had killed Kate’s father. To top it all off, he met the woman he’d travelled all this way to marry, only to discover he wasn’t her only would-be suitor. He was exhausted and looked forward to a good night’s sleep in a real bed. His head would be clearer in the morning.
He stood.
“Well, thank you kindly for the supper, Miss Fannie, and for the pleasure of making your acquaintance, Miss Callahan. I best be heading out if I’m going to make it back to town in time to get any sleep tonight.” Luckily, the ranch was only a few miles out of town. He should be able to make it to the inn he’d seen at the far edge within the hour.
Kate stood as well.
“I hope it wasn’t presumptuous of me, Mr. Deardon, but I already had Dell put both Levi’s and your things in the bunkhouse.” She stood, her plate in hand, and walked over to the sink to deposit her dishes, then turned back to look at him.
“That’s mighty kind of you, ma’am.” He reached up and tipped the air where the brim of his hat normally rested on his head. “I’d be much obliged. Thank you.”
“Are you sure you wouldn’t like something to eat?” she asked, pointing at the large pot of stew warming on the stove.
“I’m real grateful for your hospitality, ma’am. The horses have been out there tied to the post a might too long. Apollo needs to be attended to—brushed down and fed.”
“I’ll show him to the stables, Kate,” Levi said, joining Noah at the door.
“I think I’ll turn in after that, if it’s all right with you, of course,” Noah said, pulling the door open. “It’s been a long day.”
She nodded. “Of course.”
He managed a smile before he took a step over the threshold, then stopped, leaning back through the door to look at her. “Miss Callahan, it’s been a real pleasure to meet and talk with you. Thank you.”
He walked out into the yard and over to the hitching post where Levi’s mule of a horse was tied up next to Apollo and the chestnut mount Kate had ridden into town.
“You really need to get a new horse,” Noah told his cousin with amusement. “When you’re not riding the train, you need a mount that will get you out to some of these towns without worrying your pony is going to up and die on you.”
“Mock all you want, but this little fella got me all the way to Oregon to collect you, now didn’t he? And back.”
“That he did. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“I know,” Levi relented. “If my brothers saw what I was riding, I’d never hear the end of it. Especially from Cole. He’s been working with a new stallion, imported from overseas and bought at auction. Mama says he’s even riding bareback.”
Noah took Apollo and Kate’s chestnut horse by the reins, the wagon still attached, and followed Levi toward the barn. After backing the buckboard into the corner, next to what looked like a winter sleigh, he unhitched the team, then he and Levi led all three mounts to the stable where they discovered a couple of stalls had already been cleaned and swept out for them.
“Here, I’ll take her.” One of the ranch hands appeared behind them, reaching out for the reins on Kate’s mare. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Redbourne,” he said with a nod, then turned to Noah. “Name’s Virg.”
Noah handed him the requested reins.
“Noah.”
“Mr. Walker told me you might be staying a while. Let me know if you need anything.” He tipped his hat and headed to another stall to take care of the mare.
“Thank you,” Noah called after him.
A large stack of fresh straw mounded in one of the empty stalls. He grabbed a pitchfork off the wall and took several large measures of the bedding, tossing it into Apollo’s stall.
Silence passed between the men for a number of minutes before Noah started to whistle. The ranch and i
ts owner were a lot to take in. After a few more minutes, Levi finally peeked over the stall, his arms perched on the short partition separating them, his chin resting on his hands.
“So, what do you think of Miss Kate Callahan?” he asked.
Noah had noted a barrel of oats and a scoop in the corner next to the work table and stepped over to retrieve them. How could he tell his cousin that Kate was already more than he’d ever dreamed she would be, that not only was she the most beautiful woman he’d ever had the pleasure of meeting, but he’d thoroughly enjoyed her company?
He wasn’t worried as much about Mr. Thomas and the man’s ill manners as he was about the others that would surely start arriving. He couldn’t allow himself to fall for a woman who may never be his. He’d married for the wrong reasons the first time, and the next time would be the last time. It had to be right.
“I can see why you were tempted to settle down,” he said coolly as he lifted the saddle from Apollo’s back and hung it over the partition next to Levi. “She’s pretty and no nonsense. I like that.” He unhooked the brush that hung just outside of the stall and proceeded to groom the gelding’s sleek grey coat and long black mane. “How many men do you think will answer her ad?”
“I don’t know. Maybe a dozen or so. It only got through to two different newspapers. One in Colorado and the other in Montana. Why?”
“I just need to know what I’m up against and how quickly I need to win her over.”
“You like her. Don’t you?”
Noah could not stop the smile that cracked through. “It’s too early to tell, but if I am going to have a fighting chance, I need to get to know her better. And the ranch. I’ll ride out first thing tomorrow and get a good look at the herds, the pastures, and the outbuildings.”
Usually, a ranch this size would have at least a dozen hands, but the foreman, Dell, had told him that only three had agreed to stay on after Mr. Callahan died—Virg, Oscar, and Cal, if he remembered correctly.
“I’d like to speak with Dell and make note of any repairs that need to be made. Also, I heard the clerk at the telegraph office mention that there are several thousands of acres for sale out this way and I would like to look at buying some.”
“Whoa, slow down there, Noah. You’re going to hurt yourself with all that planning.” Levi moved out in front of the tack room and leaned back against one of the beams, his ankles crossed, and his arms folded.
Noah laughed. “It’s not worth doing if you don’t do it right.” He stepped out of the stall and latched it shut, placing the pitchfork back on its proper hook. “Granddad was very generous with our inheritance and I want to put it to good use.”
“I wouldn’t know about that…yet,” Levi said, shaking his head. “I’m not too worried about it, though. If it doesn’t happen in time and I don’t get the money, would it really be that bad? It’s not as if my family struggles. Financially, I mean.”
“It’s not a trivial amount, Levi. You could do a lot of good with the money Granddad left you. However, you are still quite a ways off from the ‘end of your twenty-fifth year.’ You’ll be fine.”
Liam Deardon had believed that unmarried men over the age of twenty-five were a menace to society. Thus, he had been very specific in his will that each portion of his grandchildren’s inheritance was dependent upon them getting married before their twenty-sixth birthday.
Noah hadn’t felt deserving of the sizeable sum he’d received after he’d wed Persephone Whittaker and had been very reluctant to spend any of it until he was good and married to a woman he loved. If that woman was Kate, all the better.
“Not that far off? I’m twenty-three.”
The horse in the next stall nickered quietly and stuck his head out over the short gate wall to say hello.
Noah laughed and reached into his saddle bag for another apple. He’d spotted a whole bushel at the livery in town and had purchased some of them from the liveryman when he’d rented the buckboard this evening.
“Yes, you’re a right old man.” He held up the lantern and placed the apple on his open palm. When the light-colored steed had finished eating the treat, Noah rubbed the mount’s neck and face. “What a beautiful horse. I’ve never seen one like him.”
“And you probably won’t. Around here anyway,” Levi said as he came closer.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, not that I’ve seen one as well-mannered as this,” he reached up and scratched behind the horse’s jaw, “but if you ask me, that’s an Arabian.”
“How do you know?”
“You remember when I told you about my kid brother, Cole’s, new horse. Well, he saw one of these at auction just before I left for Oregon. It was just a colt, but Cole fell in love. He was a sleek, black color. Although, this one is lighter, he has the same characteristics as Cole’s. He looks like a cross between a Quarter Horse and a mustang. See here,” Levi pointed to the bulge on the horse’s forehead. “He’s an Arabian all right.”
“Is he one of Kate’s?” Noah had worked with a lot of horses—mustangs mostly, but this one seemed special somehow.
“I’ve never seen him before. It’s more likely, he belongs to Thomas.”
“What’s a drover on a cattle run doing with a horse like that?” Noah asked, wheels turning wildly in his head.
“I don’t know, but it can’t be something good.”
Noah’d had a bad feeling about the man from the start. Now, that warning was amplified tenfold.
“Shhhh.” Levi placed a finger over his mouth as he pushed himself away from the beam in front of the tack room and leaned up against the front door, peering out into the dark.
Voices carried into the stable from the yard. Noah immediately recognized the Irish lilt of Kate’s speech. He peeked around the opposite side of the stable door to see Dell, Mr. Thomas, and Miss Callahan walking toward the bunkhouse.
He forced the sharp pang in his belly away as he pulled back out of sight—not that they would be able to see him in this light anyway.
“You do like her,” Levi taunted.
“Did you suspect it would be any different?” Noah shook his head. “Aren’t you the one who brought me all the way out here because you knew she was the kind of woman any man in his right mind would want?”
“Of course, I knew. I’m just glad to hear you’re in your right mind.” Levi chuckled.
Now that the horses had been taken care of, Noah was ready to turn in for the night. He had already made a mental list of things he needed to do in the morning—return the buckboard he’d rented from the livery, ride the perimeter of the property, and observe the current workings of the ranch. If he was going to make a difference here, he needed to know what he was up against. Of course, he wouldn’t be good for anything tomorrow if he didn’t get a decent night’s sleep.
“Goodnight, Kate. Mr. Thomas.” The foreman’s distant voice faded as he headed for the bunkhouse.
Noah stuck his ear to the door. He didn’t want to eavesdrop, but his gut told him not to leave this Thomas fella alone in the dark with Kate. He took a deep breath, debating whether or not he should wait for them to finish their conversation, but decided better of it. He stepped out into the yard and strode toward the bunkhouse, Levi at his heels.
“Why, Mr. Deardon.” Kate looked up at him as if she were surprised to see him. “Is everything all right?” The moonlight spilled down the side of her face, adding a child-like quality to her features. She was even more beautiful than he’d remembered.
It took a moment before he realized he hadn’t responded. He cleared his throat, heat collecting under his collar.
“Fine,” he responded, cursing the crack in his voice. “Horses are all situated for the night and we’re just about to turn in. Thought we’d take Mr. Thomas along with us.”
“But, I was saying goodnight to Miss Callahan,” the man protested, but Levi took him by the arm and led him away from Kate.
“Goodnight, Miss Callahan,” Noah said
on all of their behalf as he reached up and tapped his imaginary hat once again.
“Goodnight,” she whispered, turning back for the house.
Noah watched as she ascended the stairs and he sucked in a breath when she turned back to look at him over her shoulder, her long, wavy mane blowing lightly in the cool autumn breeze. She reached up and tucked a lock behind her ear and Noah groaned.
It was going to be a long night. He had a lot to think about.
She turned back for the stairs.
Crash!
Her hand had slipped, missing the handrail completely, her body colliding hard into the feeble barrier. The wood gave way, sending Kate tumbling off the four-foot drop to the ground with a squeal.
Noah was at her side in an instant.
“Miss Callahan?” he called, alarmed when she didn’t respond. “Kate?” he tried again, all too aware he’d used her given name.
A soft moan escaped her lips and he closed his eyes in gratitude that she hadn’t gotten herself killed.
“I’m all right,” she finally said with a groggy tone as she attempted to sit up on her own.
Noah placed a hand in the small of her back to keep her from falling backward, her proximity wreaking havoc on his senses.
After a moment, she made a move to stand, but quickly sat back down again, amongst the piles of splintered wood.
“Maybe I’ll just sit here a moment and lick my wounded pride.”
Noah laughed.
She’ll be just fine.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “The air is a might chilly tonight.”
When her fingers touched his, a light, tingling jolt spread up his arm, but he couldn’t pull away. He attempted to help her to her feet, but her ankle buckled beneath her.
“Upsi-daisy,” he said, her hand still firm in his grasp.
Kate started to giggle, but winced in pain.
“I think I may have hurt a little more than my pride,” she said, rubbing her ankle.
Without waiting any longer, Noah released her hand and reached down, scooping her up easily into his arms. He climbed the porch stairs, opened the door, and carried her inside.
The Deardons Complete Mini-Series Page 25