by Rita Hestand
"That's the truth. You never did." Anna agreed. "But she's had a crush on you a long time, and y'all are about the same age. Which she reminds me of endlessly."
"You want the truth?" He folded his napkin and looked at her.
"Yeah… I'd prefer it."
"She's one of the ones that said I shouldn't be hanging around with a kid like you all the time!"
"How long ago was that?"
"Fifteen years ago."
"You mean when we first met?"
"Yeah I told her no one was going to hurt you while I was around. A boy or man picking on a girl is not right."
"He was mad because I won the horse race." She chuckled.
"I know, I heard all about it, from her. It made me mad then, and still does. She gossips about everyone, and only half of it is true. She said you shouldn't have been racing a boy. That you were a complete tomboy and that's why everyone picked on you in school. That you deserved what you got. I thought that a bit mean hearted. And mean hearted women are not something I enjoy being with."
Anna thought about that a minute. She supposed most had a right to think that, but it wasn't exactly true. "I wasn't really a tomboy, I don't think, I mean, yeah, I climbed trees, and rode horses all the time and caught a lot of fish, but it wasn't a contest to me, it was just fun. Most everyone had brothers and sisters to play games with and learn from. My sister was too old to play games with, and most the girls and me didn't get along too well. I'll admit I was never one for frills. All they wanted to talk about was their new dresses and going to parties all the time. Most of the time they didn't bother inviting me to their parties as I wasn't interested. I guess I deserved to be left out from their circles as I wasn't interested in the same things. They started flirting with boys before they were ten years old even. And the boys picked on me because they thought I acted like a boy. I always challenged them. Something I never understood was why boys always tried to act like little men, and girls like older girls. I mean all I wanted to do was have fun."
Joe smiled, "Yeah, I remember that. I know, two weeks later Boyd pushed you in the mud pond over at Leonard's and when you came up muddier than a pig, everyone started laughing. But I saw him push you, and when everyone left, he and I had it out. You see he was making it look like you were just clumsy, but I knew better."
"I wondered why he stopped picking on me. You fought him. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Too proud. I had a loose tooth after that fight. Sure, you were just a kid, but he had no right treating you like that."
"Well, I knew you saved me from a lot of embarrassing things, that I didn't know about." She stared. "You want to hear something kind of funny?"
"What?" he smiled seeing the tension easing around her now.
"George used to court Mary."
"Your sister?" Joe looked shocked.
"Yeah, they courted a short while. I didn't know it either until he told me. I think he was kind of sweet on her."
"What happened?"
"Mary is too refined for him, and he found that out quickly. She loves to dance, and George didn't at the time, he also had some habits she didn’t care for. Tobacco and beer. But he wasn't a drunk or anything. Mary had a set of rules she went by when it came to boys. And they had to tow the line."
"I can't imagine them together." Joe told her.
"Why not?"
"Mary was pretty, smart, and a good person, but she also was a bit bossy around men. She'd have made a fine schoolmarm."
Anna chuckled. "Never thought about it, but she used to boss me around when I was little. I loved Mary, but there was a lot of difference in age, and she was more like a second mother to me than a sister. Age seems to be a real factor in my life."
The way she said that had Joe thinking of the conversation he had with her dad.
"What's her husband like?"
"Henry Thompson," Anna shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I'll give him his due he's nice looking and all, but he's a dude as far as I can tell. He's a college man, went to school up north. He studies cows from books."
"Well, it is a new theory. There are things to learn about animals in books."
"I was talking to George at lunch about Mary and he said I should give Henry another chance. All people are different. I guess he's right. I sure am." She remarked. "There's no telling what he thinks of me."
When they finished eating, she got up to help Maria, but he pulled her away and into the front room.
"We need to talk." He told her.
"About what?" She asked innocently.
"About us."
"I thought we had been talking." She uttered.
"Not about us!" he told her.
She turned away, "So, talk." She muttered the tension returning.
"I don't want a divorce. And I don't want you even thinking about one. Do you understand?" He said rather forcefully.
She faced him now, a bit shocked. "Are you sure about this?"
He came closer, his eyes pinning her, "Very. Promise me you won't seek a divorce."
She sighed, "But why? Don't you want to be free of me?"
He started to come closer, but one of his hands came rushing in, "We got a problem over in the North Pasture, come quick." Burt Harkins told him.
"Can't George handle it?"
"George has already gone to bed, that's why I came to you, boss."
"Alright Burt." He turned to Anna, "Promise me?"
"I promise," she nodded.
"I better go see what's going on." He told her and rushed out. But he looked back at her, "I'll hold you to that promise."
She nodded.
***
When Joe left, Anna went in the kitchen to see if she could help. Maria had cooked chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes and butter beans, with cornbread and butter. Anna smelled it and smiled. "Supper was so good. You cook so well. When Pettigrew gets back, I want you to teach me how to cook some of your Mexican dishes. I'm gonna be home all day tomorrow, so we'll have to try one."
"Alright," Maria chuckled. "But why are you home tomorrow?"
"There were some suspicious looking men at the livery today and Joe wants me home, he's going to help George."
"Bad men?"
"I don't know, just not the normal customers." Anna told her.
"Garcia came in today, he took some horse over to Sherman for an auction. He said the bank had been robbed there the day before. Do you think it could be the same men?" Maria asked.
"I don't know, but I'll tell Joe about it when he comes in." Anna told her.
"Good."
Anna stayed up a long time, but it got dark and Joe still hadn't returned. She curled up in a chair and went to sleep, the sofa was just too soft, and she was still tired from yesterday's work.
Joe came in later and saw her and took her upstairs.
When he laid her on her bed, her eyes popped open. "Hey."
"Hey, you fell asleep on the sofa." He told her.
"Oh, I was trying to stay awake until you got back. Maria told me something and I needed to let you know."
He came to sit on the edge of her bed. "She said Garcia took some horses for auction up in Sherman yesterday for you?"
"Yeah, he did, so?"
"Well, the bank was robbed the day before in Sherman and everyone was talking about it at the auction."
"The bank?"
She could tell he was considering the connection of the strangers in town with what she'd told him.
"I got to thinking maybe those men… But it is a long shot, Sherman's a long ways away."
"That's true, but good grief. Then if that's them, they are on the run, and could do mischief here. Thanks for telling me. I might take an extra hand with me tomorrow. I appreciate you letting me know."
He started to leave and hesitated, turning to look at her. He leaned down and kissed her tenderly on the lips.
She moaned a little in her throat and the kiss deepened for a moment. When he pulled away, she looked thoroughly kiss
ed.
"What was that for?" She barely whispered.
"Luck, I might need it tomorrow." He grinned, and started to move away, but she grabbed his arm.
"Be careful, Joe," she murmured.
"Night darlin'." He smiled and left.
Chapter Sixteen
The next day Joe was gone before she even got out of bed. She went downstairs and looked for Maria. "Why didn't someone wake me? I slept a little late." Anna asked as Maria came out from the kitchen with a feather duster.
"You probably needed the rest." Maria insisted. "There's coffee on, and I've got some breakfast for you on the stove."
Anna smiled, "You're spoiling me."
"You work hard, you deserve it." Maria smiled. "But sometimes I do not understand why you work. Joe can support you well. Most women would be happy just to be the woman of the house."
"I need to feel useful for one thing. A woman that sits around letting someone else wait on her all the time gets lazy."
Maria chuckled. "I would never call you lazy."
"Did Joe get off alright?" She asked her out of the blue.
"Si, he took Randal and George with him. He said he was glad you told him about the robbery."
"Have I met Randal?"
"Probably not, he's a young man and very fast with the gun. He's a good hand, but sometimes a bit hot tempered. Still, he will back Joe if need be."
Anna's eyes widened, "It sounds like Joe is expecting a lot of trouble."
"It is good he will be prepared though, no?"
"Yes, it is."
"Those men might just be travelin' through, but since George made a lot out of how hard the horses were rode, it could be they are on the run from the law. He'd know more than I do about those kinds of things."
"For Joe's sake, let's hope they are not."
"Maria, is Joe good with a gun?"
"Garcia says he is very fast, yes. But unlike the young Randal, he uses his head and is not fast to reach for his guns, I am told."
"It's one of the few things I don't know about him. I've never seen him in a gunfight. I hope I never do."
"Do not worry, he will be fine. You love him very, much don't you?" Maria asked.
Taken by surprise with that question Anna nodded, "I guess I do. I mean, for years we were just good friends, best friends. But now that we are grown, that has changed a lot."
"He is a good man, and a very lucky man too."
"Why do you say that?"
"He has a good wife."
Anna blushed. Did he? She didn't feel much like a wife. And it still weighed heavy on her that she asked him to marry. She should be over that by now, but it was hard to put it away. How could she be sure how Joe really felt about her. For it wasn't he that proposed. How could she have had so much gall?
"I kind of miss going in, but it sure felt good sleeping in this morning." She smiled changing the subject. "I think I caught up a little on the sleep I've been missing."
"It is good that you get some rest. You can barely hold your eyes open in the evenings." Maria told her.
"There's been a lot of work at the livery since Pettigrew got sick. I'll be glad when he comes back, things run so much more smoothly." Anna told her. "I never realized how much he does every day. I don't think anyone did."
"I'm curious. It is an odd job for a woman, why did you take it?" Maria asked.
"I guess it does seem odd. No one else would hire me." She chuckled. "I went to the General Store, and a dress shop, none of them would take me on. I know horses pretty well, and I'm not afraid of dirty work. Pettigrew had a sign out saying he needed help. I told him I'd dress like a man and work for him. He took me on."
"You enjoy working with the animals?" Maria asked.
"Very much. I know it looks kind of strange to a lot of people, but I don't mind. It keeps me fit. I like hard work. Susan Dixon wanted to know why I didn't work here on the ranch, but Joe has this place running well, with his men. I didn't come here to interrupt that. I needed to do something on my own. He's built a small empire here."
"Yes, and he did it alone mostly. He has worked very hard, like you to make something of himself."
"Did he have a lot of admirers?" Anna asked.
"Joe, no, once in a while he would invite a girl out to have dinner, but nothing ever came of it. Sometimes I think he takes things too seriously. He's not a flirt. But I don't know, he always acted as though something were missing."
"How about Melanie, she's rich, very pretty and they do business together. They have a lot in common."
"I think at first she had a feelings for him, she came here a lot back then. But he didn't return her feelings, so she gave up. Now, she has a boyfriend of her own and she's happy."
"And Susan Dixon?" Anna asked.
"That one, she's been after him for years, but he doesn't even like her. She gossips and most of it isn't true. Joe does not approve of such."
"They are both beautiful girls though."
"Si. But you, you have a beautiful figure. You have a different kind of beauty" Maria told her.
"Me?" Anna looked at her strangely, her brow going up. "I don't think anyone has ever said that to me."
"You have good hips for having babies, and ample breasts to feed them with. You will do well having children. You have many curves for a woman so little. A man likes curves, I should know."
Children! Anna stared into space now, she'd never contemplated having children. It wasn't that she wouldn't mind some, but she'd never gotten past the fact that no man wanted to marry her. How did you plan ahead when you couldn't see the future? And so far, the bedroom was off limits to her, so how could that ever happen?
She'd certainly never spoken with Joe about children. She looked down at herself and blushed. Her throat bottled up and she was unable to speak for a moment.
"With your golden hair, and his handsome eyes, you will have beautiful children."
"We haven't talked about children." Anna blurted.
What was hilariously sad was that they had never consummated the marriage. How could they have children?
She was beginning to think that he wasn't interested in her wifely duties so to speak. He gave her a room to herself, and never touched her except to kiss her every now and then. And the room was all the way down the hall, far away from him. She had wondered why.
They didn't have the usual kind of marriage. And it was getting to the point that Anna needed to know exactly what he did expect. If he didn't want a real marriage, then a divorce or separation was the only answer.
But one of the reasons she was sure he didn't want a scandal.
A strange sadness took hold of her now. Part of the reason she had wanted marriage so badly was to have children, like Mary had. To make a family, a happy family. For Mary had done everything so right in her life, and Anna wanted to be like her.
But then she wasn't like her sister, she finally admitted to herself. She had to face that fact too. Perhaps children were not in her future.
When Maria saw her facial expression, she put her hand on her arm, "Do not worry, they will come, in time."
Maria was under the impression they slept together she guessed.
"I suppose." She murmured softly.
Seeing she had made her sad, Maria decided to show her a recipe for one of her favorite meals.
Anna let the sadness go and got busy in the kitchen with her. She stayed busy all day long. Anna made a mess, but Maria never scolded her, instead, they had fun and enjoyed each other's company.
It was late when the wagon came barreling into the yard. The men looked tired and weary, but no one was hurt.
"How did it go?" Anna asked Joe as she ran and put her hands on his chest, waiting for his answer.
He smiled at her action; she didn't even realize she was touching him. "Everything was fine, they didn't show."
"Didn't show?"
"No, I went to talk to the Sheriff about it and he's going to be watching them too. You won't be
going in for a few days until we figure out what is going on. No one saw them today. Their horses are still at the livery. I am not sure at all, what they are up to, but I got a feeling they are the ones that robbed that bank in Sherman just like you thought. The Sheriff sent a telegram to the Sheriff in Sherman. He requested he come on the run."
She sighed, and slowly bent her head on his shoulder.
Surprised by her action, he held her in his arms.
"Hey, something wrong?" he asked pulling her so he could see her face.
When she realized what she was doing, she backed away a bit. "Don't you think I should go back to work?"
"No, I don't. Not until we are sure about what is going on. I don't want you in town until we get this straightened out. If they are running from the law; it could get messy."
She nodded. "Alright, you’re the boss."
"Am I?" he smiled.
"Of course, I wouldn't argue with you."
Then she turned to look at all of them, "Maria and I made enchiladas. So, you are all welcome to eat with us."
"You?" Joe chuckled.
"Me!" she sent him a mock glare.
The men were eager to sample the food, it was a treat for any of the men to eat with the boss, but they all knew how well Maria cooked.
They all washed up and sat down to eat. Maria served them and informed them that Anna had cooked it.
Anna was anxious to see their faces when they tasted it, but strangely from the first bite the men nodded and smiled and ate. They didn't say much but kept eating.
Anna took a bite and almost spit it out.
"Oh no, oh no, too much salt." She cried and went running from the table.
Not one man had complained, but after she left Maria gave them hers and explained, "It is her first time to cook it, she was so excited, I think she salted it three or four times. I am proud you all ate despite it."
Joe excused himself and went upstairs to find Anna crying on her bed.
"Hey, it's not that bad, just a bit salty was all." He told her, brushing her hair from her face.
"You don't understand. I can't do anything right, not anything female at least." She cried. "I belong in a livery stable Joe. I've come to the conclusion I'm no lady."