The Filly & the Gambler (Book Fifteen of Brides of the West Series)

by Rita Hestand

  "Oh, Martha, I just don't know what to say…they are all so beautiful. I've never had so many dresses." Gabby stared, and real tears came into her eyes, as she leaned to kiss Martha on the cheek.

  "Well now," Martha dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief. "Try them on, we have to see how they fit."

  "Now?"

  "Sure, why not."

  "Okay," Gabby was so excited she started stripping off and wasn't the least embarrassed in front of Martha. She tried each dress on. They were all a good fit and Gabby couldn't believe Martha could judge her size so well. But the party dress was special it was silk and a beautiful light blue.

  "Oh, wait until Cole sees you in that one." Martha chuckled.

  Gabby stopped and looked at her. "Cole told me he didn't go to the dances."

  Martha smiled, "Well, maybe he didn't, before. But I got a feeling a lot of his habits are going to change now. He'll be there, especially when he sees you in that. You do know how pretty you are, don't you?"

  "Me? Never thought much on it." Gabby shrugged. "Most of the time around here, I look pretty ragged."

  "Wish I'd have brought my mirror, then you could see yourself, and how pretty you really are."

  "These are all so beautiful, it must have cost a fortune. How can I ever repay you?" Gabby asked, coming to sit at her knee on the floor.

  "You don't have to. Just seeing the delight on your face is payment enough. And a few dinners will be plenty payment. Do you have a place to put them when you aren't wearing them?" Martha asked.

  "I got an old trunk, that my Ma left me, all her clothes were in it, but I've worn them down to nothing now, it's almost empty."

  "I wish Harmon had told me years ago, how much you needed things. He was a proud man in many ways." Martha fussed. "I can see you must have had a hard time growing up with no mother about."

  "We managed. Well, until I started growing up. Then it got a bit awkward."

  Gabby looked down at her beautiful dress and nodded slowly, a tear slipping down her cheek. "I guess me, and dad always had too much pride. I gotta admit I love the dresses, but I'm not sure I should accept such wonderful gifts. I've done nothing to deserve it…"

  "Oh, on the contrary, you've done something for me that has uplifted me in a way you'll never know."

  "Me, what have I done?"

  "You accepted me, like any other woman. Like there was no difference in me and the other town women. No one has done that for me in a very long time. For the first time I feel happy, and good about myself. And I want to do this for you, Gabby. You are a breath of fresh air. I never expected to feel this way again."

  Gabby stared into her eyes and saw the truth. She also saw the hurt she hid so well. "What happened, if you don't mind me asking. How did you come to work in a saloon?"

  "A young man happened, long ago. We were so in love. He was a doctor, that's how I met him when my folks took sick. He courted me grandly too. He was handsome and kind, and everything a girl wants in a man. When my folks died, I came out west with him, and we were to be married as soon as we arrived."

  "What happened?"

  The look on Martha's face shocked Gabby, she was so pale as though she was remembering like yesterday. "A wheel broke on our wagon, and having no help to fix it, Robert tried to fix it himself. It was raining, and his hands slipped, he fell, the wagon kept moving in the mud, ran right over him, killed him instantly. He had treated me so wonderful, made me feel like I was someone special. I loved him truly. I was heartbroken, and broke. I had to find work."

  "What did you do, after he died?" Gabby asked her interest genuine.

  "With no one to go back to, I came here, and needed work to support myself. There was nothing but the saloon. I've been there ever since."

  "I'm so sorry…you must have hurt awfully bad."

  "I still love him to this day." Martha cried for a moment and Gabby hugged her to her. "That's why it was so easy to understand how your father felt about your mother. He talked about her endlessly. And I enjoyed hearing it. Knowing there was more than one good man in this world."

  Gabby smiled.

  "Enough," Martha waved her hankie. "We've got to put these clothes up and get supper ready, Cole will return soon."

  Gabby nodded. She opened the trunk, and was about to put the first dress in, when Martha pulled out a picture.

  "She's lovely, your mother?"

  "Yes, about all I have left of her, except the memories of her and dad." Gabby told her.

  "He told me about her. We shared a lot of things, me and Harmon. He was a good friend to me. It's like we were both still suffering. But there were good things about it too. Why, did you know he taught me to dance. I always wanted to be able to dance and he took the time and the effort to teach me right there in that saloon. I loved him for that. He was good to me, too." Martha smiled. "You look a lot like your mother, was her hair red too?"

  "Yes, darker red than mine."

  "She's lovely."

  Gabby put the dresses up and closed the trunk.

  As Martha sat the table for them, Gabby made the cornbread.

  By the time Cole returned, the women had talked themselves silly. It was a good time and Gabby would remember it always.

  "This roast is delicious." Martha told her. "It's so tender."

  "I know, it's a trick, I soak it in vinegar overnight, that makes it tender after slow cooking all day in the oven. I have to leave the door open when I'm cooking something that long, it gets way too hot in here if I don't."

  "The cornbread is the best," Cole told them. "Never had such sweet cornbread, what do you put in it?"

  "Honey, just a little." She smiled. "Dad used to crumble it in milk and have it for supper sometimes. Did you know in his early years he was a beekeeper?"

  "You're kidding!" Cole chuckled. "That old rascal surprises me even now."

  "He enjoyed it and we had fresh honey all the time. I miss that."

  "Where did you learn to make the cornbread like that?" Cole asked her.

  "My ma, she used to write things down for me, so someday I'd know how to fix stuff. I'm sure glad she did, or I'd have never really learned to cook anything but beans and greens."

  Cole laughed.

  Gabby had barely looked at him all night, but when she did, he was looking at her. It startled her because it sent a tingle through her that she'd never experienced before. Her stomach ached too, not a regular ache, but a funny kind of ache, she noted. Cole had the strangest effect on her.

  As her and Martha did the dishes, Cole sat on the porch.

  "You know honey, Cole is a very good man." Martha told her.

  Gabby nodded, "He is, isn't he?"

  "I hope you make this marriage work."

  Gabby firmed her lips. "It's not really a marriage Martha."

  "Then maybe you should make it one." Martha advised. "Or at least think about it. I think that man out there might be really worth the effort."

  Gabby studied on that for a bit.

  As Cole and Martha left, Gabby stared after them. She had promised to have Martha out at least once a week and Martha had agreed to come. But what Gabby was thinking about was Martha's last words, 'Maybe you should make it one.'

  But if it was meant to be, the Good Lord would have to show her how, because she didn't know how to go about "making it one." Oh, she knew what it consisted of, she'd seen her folks plenty of times. But her and Cole started out a lot different, and she wasn't sure how he'd feel about making it a real marriage. No, she'd have to study on that a while.

  A woman taking care of a hundred and sixty acres didn't have much time to catch or lure a man, and she hadn't the least idea how to go about it.

  Chapter Ten

  On the ride, back to town Cole noticed Martha was quiet. The earth had cooled a bit, and the trees were brimming with noisy birds and crickets. The wind barely blew, one of those still nights. Then things got quiet as they moved away from the tree lines. The only noise seemed to be the sound of t
he wagon making its way over a rough and rutted road.

  "So how did your visit go?" Cole asked her.

  Martha stopped him with a hand on his knee, "Stop the horses for a minute, will you."

  "Sure." Cole stopped and looked at her.

  "She accepted the dresses gracefully, from me. And you were right, she wouldn't have accepted them from you. She feels so indebted to you for what you did for her father. But I've got a question for you now."

  "Alright, shoot."

  "When you gonna take her as your wife, Cole?" Martha blurted about as bluntly as a gun to the head.

  Cole fidgeted, he cleared his throat and looked off in the distance. "Well, I…well…you don't understand."

  "Oh, I do understand. You told Polly you were through, but you can't tell her that this so-called marriage is for real. Can you? And Cole Martin that is exactly what you want it to be. I saw you staring at her tonight. I saw what was in your eyes."

  He frowned. "In the beginning, it was all just for Harmon, Martha." Cole tried to explain, but he couldn't quite look Martha in the eye when he said it. Martha saw the truth, always, and spoke it too. "We both knew that."

  "I understand that, but you would have never told Polly goodbye if there wasn't more to this so-called marriage of yours and I know that very well. You've gone up those stairs with her for the past five years. Not that Polly is suffering a bit from it, but you cut yourself off from a healthy dose of lust, and I'm wondering why."

  Cole almost laughed. In a way, it was funny. "I don't even know for sure myself. Except she said I could get it annulled so I could see Polly. And somehow that didn't set well with me, Martha. When the preacher read those words between us, I don't know. How can anyone listen to those words and not take them seriously?"

  "What is wrong with you, Cole?"

  "Nothing!" Cole insisted.

  "Nothing? You are letting that poor little gal sit out there on that land, and work it every day, alone, just like Harmon did. And she's doing a bang-up job of it, Cole, but that's not right, and you know it. She's your wife now and you should claim her. What are people to think of the two of you? Why, they'll be talking all over town about how the two of you are married and living separately. It just isn't done. You either make that gal yours or get an annulment one."

  "Well what the hell am I supposed to do Martha?" Cole shouted. "I don't have the slightest idea how she feels about me."

  "Oh, don't give me that, you know a lot about women, Cole. So, tell me, have you asked her?"

  "I can't spit it out like that."

  "Well then, how do you feel about her?"

  "Truth?"

  "Truth!"

  "I like her!"

  "And that's it?"

  "Well Martha, Gabby was a complete surprise to me. But well, we are married, and somehow it doesn't sit well to get an annulment just like that. I got a responsibility to her."

  "Have you kissed her?"

  Cole stared at Martha a minute before answering. "Yeah, I kissed her." He blushed like a schoolboy.

  "Once…or more?"

  "More…" He frowned.

  "Why?"

  "I don't know. She's easy on the eyes Martha, and she's even better about how she believes and stuff. She's a surprise Martha. She's not some ignorant little lady. She's got a simple way of looking at things, and I like that. I somehow understand her, and I don't have any idea why."

  Martha smiled. "Soul mates."

  "What?" He twisted his head at her in question.

  "Soul mates, I've heard the term more than once in my life. It's when you connect with someone, like you almost know them, because their soul is like yours."

  "Where did you hear that?"

  "I don't know, some passing gypsy, I suppose, but when she told me about it, I understood it. That's what you got, you and Gabby. Oh boy, this is wonderful Cole. I thought maybe you just thought she was pretty and wanted to have her for yourself for a while, but this is even better."

  "You're talking nonsense."

  "Am I? I'll bet when the two of you are together, you can almost guess what she's about to say. How she'll react. You know her, Cole. Don't you? And you ain't known her that long."

  Cole sat stone still. Martha had somehow picked up on the same thing he'd been thinking for a while now and it was uncanny. Even if it was true, what should he do about it?

  "No, I’m sure of it now. I wasn't sure that old gypsy knew what she was talking about, but now I am. I see it between you. I didn't believe it at first. But you are drawn to this girl. And she is your wife, and despite what she might say, she's drawn to you. Oh, I’m so pleased. But there's one thing. Just don't hurt her."

  "I have no intention of hurting her."

  "Good. You better bed her quick then."

  "Now what are you going off about?" Cole frowned.

  "When two people understand each other without talking much, it means they were meant to be together. And you two were meant for each other, Cole. Don't let her get away from you. You'll never find it again! I can tell you that."

  "Now you're beginning to sound like a gypsy yourself, Martha."

  "Maybe, but don't underestimate the power between you two, Cole."

  "Look, I like her, and I think she likes me a little too. But that doesn't mean we can make this thing work, you know?"

  Undaunted Martha yelled back, "If you don't know how you really feel, you aren't the man I thought you was."

  "It was a deal, Martha, not the forever kind of marriage." Cole explained. "At least that's how it started."

  "Maybe that's how it started but, it's not how it should finish. It ain't right Cole, and you are the only one that can set it right. She doesn't belong out there alone working her fingers to the bone. She's a sweet little lady, but working like she does, she'll be dead before she's thirty, and you know it. You must move her to your place. And you know that too."

  "It's not that easy. She doesn't want to go."

  "You asked her?"

  "I have."

  Martha shook her head with disgust. "Then don't you think it's time you told her!"

  "Told her what?"

  "That you care about her, that's what. That she's got to go with you. That she's your wife and that's how folks live that are married."

  Cole opened his mouth to refute it, but in all honesty, he couldn't. He did care. But he hadn't wanted to force her into going with him. And he wasn't sure just how much he cared. At least not yet! The fact was, he'd never been in a real relationship with a woman before.

  "Unless you want an annulment. Is that what you want?" Martha asked, her face a wad of frowns now.

  "No!" He quickly affirmed. "I told Harmon I'd take care of her, I meant it?"

  "Is it Harmon you are worried about, or your feelings for her?" She asked. "Are you afraid to admit how you really feel about her?"

  "I don't know what my feelings are, Martha. Never had any for a woman before. I mean, not like this."

  "That's not true." Martha claimed.

  "What. I never have had…."

  "What about Polly? You gonna sit there and tell me you weren't sweet on her? You never went up those stairs with another woman before. You were so true just to her, and she walked all over you. And for what? Sex! That's what. But sex alone will never be enough, Cole."

  "That wasn't love, that was lust. I realized that this morning." Cole grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, maybe at first, I thought I loved her, but after a while it got to be a routine, more than a yearning. A man works hard and having a woman sort of relieves the tension."

  "That's true, I know that for a fact. Well, at least you got your head on straight about her now. But Gabby is something else. I know you didn't start out like most folks do, lovin' each other. But every time you look at her, I see something in those dark, brown eyes of yours that was never there before." Martha told him.

  "Look Martha, I know you mean well, I do. But this is something the two of us are gonna have to work out ourselves." Cole
told her. "And it's not going to happen overnight."

  "Well," Martha looked at him now, with sympathy. "You better do it soon, because people are gonna start talking. Your boys get a little loose tongued when they drink Cole. And before long everyone in town will know."

  Cole stared at her a long time, "You're right about that. I have considered that. Part of why I broke it off with Polly. I didn’t' want the town talking about it."

  Martha nodded.

  Cole whipped the horses and they rode in silence most of the way until they were almost in town. "I'll think on it, Martha."

  "Don't think too long. She's a pretty little gal, and if you don't do something, someone else might. You could lose her Cole, to some sweet-talking young man. Now that they know she's out there. It won't be safe for her…She's took care of that place almost completely by herself. She's worth ten Polly's."

  "You're right. I've thought about it before. But what the hell can I do?" He asked looking straight into her gray eyes.

  "Take her to your ranch. It's the only way to protect her now." Martha told him. "Even if you don't touch her, she'll be safe there. And maybe things will work out naturally once you get her over there."

  Cole's eyes narrowed. "I guess you're right. Just gotta figure out how I'm gonna do it. She's a stubborn little thing."

  "You're right about that too, but maybe you'll have to run roughshod over her, until she sees the wisdom of it."

  "You mean force her to go?"

  "Whatever it takes." Martha told her.

  Cole nodded.

  He dropped Martha off, after thanking her for the advice and the dresses.

  All the way home he tried to figure a way to talk Gabby into moving to his place. But nothing seemed to work in his mind. Aside from just physically making her move.

  He didn't like mountain-men tactics.

  No, he'd have to do some thinking.

  However, the problem was solved one day when he least expected it.

  Slim, his foreman came running up to him one morning, with a worried look on his face.

  "Boss we got a real problem." Slim Biggs told him. Slim was not just his foreman, he ran the ranch for him a lot of the time. He was a dependable and good man.