She closed her eyes and swayed to the beat of the music. He loved watching her like this. When the instrument stopped playing, she twisted the key herself.
While the music played again, she gazed into his eyes. “This is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever given me. Thank you, Franklin.”
When the song ended, she set the instrument on the table beside the lamp and rose gracefully. Her arms crept around his waist, and she rested her head against his chest, right above his heart. He wondered if she could hear his heartbeat galloping. All he could do was fold his own arms around her and revel in the feeling of his wife in his arms again, glad he’d taken time in town to go to the bathhouse and barber to get a shave and change into clean clothes. She wouldn’t have wanted to touch him if he was covered with the filth of trail dust, sweat, and a scraggly beard.
When Lorinda impulsively threw her arms around Franklin and leaned against his chest, she didn’t expect him to put his arms around her, but she liked it. Too much.
She lingered as long as she dared, enjoying the warmth, the rock-hard muscles, and the familiar scent of fresh Bay Rum Oil. As she released her arms and slipped back away from him, he let her go. How she wished he would gather her once again into his embrace. A sigh slipped out between her lips.
“Are you all right?”
His tender tone brought tears to her eyes. She turned away to hide them. “Yes. I believe Mrs. Oleson should have our supper ready.”
Franklin followed closely behind her as she led the way into the kitchen. She felt his every move.
“There’s my boy.” When the first word left Franklin’s mouth, Michael dropped both spoons and lifted his arms toward him, jabbering away in his own baby language.
Lorinda smiled as her husband lifted her son from his high chair and cuddled him against his chest. Just where she’d placed her face minutes before. Michael stayed there only a moment before lifting his head and reaching to pat Franklin on his cheeks.
“Hey, buddy.” Her husband’s words rumbled through the room. “I missed you, too.”
“Welcome back, Franklin.” Mrs. Oleson dried her hands on the towel tucked into the waistband of her apron.
“Something sure smells good.”
“Supper’s not quite ready.” The housekeeper took the lid off the large frying pan, then used a fork to start turning pieces of chicken. “Won’t be long though.”
Franklin turned to Lorinda. “How about I take this boy out to the barn while I put up Major?”
All Lorinda could do was nod and watch them head back up the hallway toward the front door. She knew what would happen. Franklin would hold Michael while he rode the horse into the barn. Those two really enjoyed spending time together.
Mrs. Oleson turned back toward the stove. She opened the oven to remove the biscuits that had risen tall and golden brown, filling the kitchen with another aroma to blend with the chicken. “I told you he’d be home today, but he was later than I thought he’d be.” She bustled around putting the finishing touches on Franklin’s favorite meal. “I’m surprised he already bathed, shaved, and changed clothes before he came home. He always comes straight from a cattle drive–dirty, smelly, and wrinkled. I guess being married has changed him in more ways than one.”
Lorinda started setting the table, keeping her head turned. She didn’t want the woman to see the blush making its way up her cheeks.
Yes, there were ways Franklin had changed, but they weren’t due to her or their relationship, because there wasn’t one. Could she really live this lie for the rest of her life? Everything within her rebelled at the thought.
Lorinda hurried from the kitchen before she could blurt out the truth. This had to stop.
Somehow.
Chapter 27
Since Franklin had been gone several days, he decided not to go out to work so early. He wanted to have breakfast with his family. Lorinda had already taken Michael into the kitchen by the time he finished dressing for the day.
Lorinda noticed him as he stepped into the doorway. “Here’s your daddy.” His wife’s smile arrowed straight to his heart.
Wanting to gaze at her while he ate, he took the chair across the table and pulled it out before dropping into it.
Michael banged a spoon against the wooden tray of his high chair. “Da...da...da.”
Franklin’s head shot up, and his eyes zeroed in on the baby. “Did he just say daddy?”
Lorinda laughed. “Sounds like it to me. I was hoping he’d say momma first.”
“He’s started cooing and then babbling really early. And Franklin...” Mrs. Oleson brought a plate of bacon and eggs and set them in front of him. “...when you were an infant, you said daddy first. Your mother was so disappointed.”
He looked up at her. “I didn’t know that.”
“You soon said momma.” The housekeeper smiled at Lorinda. “I’m sure our little prince will call you momma any day now.”
Our little prince? When had the baby become our little prince? He’d been missing too much of his family’s life. That was going to change...right now.
The aroma of the food sitting in front of him made his stomach growl like an angry bear.
Lorinda fed a spoonful of scrambled eggs to Michael. “You must need your breakfast right now.” She laughed.
He joined in her laughter. This homecoming was what he dreamed about the whole time out on the trail. The camaraderie lifted his spirits. But he wanted so much more from this marriage. Looking at his lovely wife’s face, he yearned for the time when they could take the next step in their relationship...if it ever happened. He wanted to accelerate his effort to woo her but knew he couldn’t rush her. It might push her away, and his heart couldn’t take the chance of her turning away from him. But today was a new day, and he’d make the most of it.
The sound of cowboy boots and spurs on the front porch was followed by a sharp knock on the door.
“Do you want me to go? I’m already up.” Mrs. Oleson dried her hands on the towel hanging from the waistband of her apron as she quickly stepped into the hallway. Soon the front door squeaked as she opened it. “Rusty, come on in. We’re just now eating breakfast. Do you want to join us?”
“No, ma’am. I’ve eaten, but I need to speak to the boss.”
“Can it wait until he’s finished eating?”
Franklin could tell from the tone of his ranch hand’s voice that something serious was happening. He quickly wiped his mouth with his napkin and dropped it beside his plate before he went to find out what.
Mrs. Oleson met him in the hallway. “I’ll keep your food warm for you.” She continued on to the kitchen.
Franklin hurried out the screen door, letting it slam behind him. Rusty stood on the porch, turning the hat he held in his hand. Worry wrinkled his brow.
“What’s going on?”
“One of the men just came riding in real fast from where the lane meets the road. A rider is headed this way, and she’s in pretty bad shape. I sent one of the men out with the wagon to check on her.”
“She? Is it anyone we know?” Franklin glanced toward the lane and saw the dust cloud near the other end. “She’s riding a horse, I see.”
“Yeah, but according to Charlie, she looks like she might fall off any time. That’s why I sent out the wagon.” Rusty’s gaze roved around the porch and out to the barn, even bounced toward the sky and trees.
Franklin wondered why he wouldn’t look him in the eye.
“Thought you might want to go meet her.”
“You didn’t answer my question. Do we know her?”
“Yes, sir. It’s Miriam.”
For a moment, Franklin expected to feel pain. The name only gave him a momentary twinge. What he’d felt for the woman in the past was a distant memory. But why was she coming here now? She could really muddy the waters.
What would Lorinda think about his former fiancée showing up like this?
He went inside, stopping in the hallway. Grabbing hi
s Stetson and jacket from the hall tree, he started to open the screen door. He stopped, turned around, and went to the kitchen. “I’ve got to check on something. I’m not sure when I’ll be back.”
Leaning down, he dropped a quick kiss on his son’s blond curls.
Michael once again pounded his chair tray with a spoon. “Da...da...dada.”
Even if they weren’t really words, the sounds warmed his heart, causing it to expand in his chest.
“Wait.” Lorinda grabbed a large biscuit. She broke it in two, piled it with scrambled eggs, then added broken pieces of bacon before putting the top back on. “Maybe this’ll stave off your hunger till you get back.” Her bright eyes as she handed it to him made him want to sit down and stay with her.
But he couldn’t. “Thanks.”
He took a large bite and headed out of the house, shutting both doors behind him. Rusty had Major saddled, waiting by the gate in the picket fence. He grabbed the reins and mounted.
“Want me to come with you?” Rusty sat atop his own horse.
“Yeah, I might need some help.”
Franklin was able to finish his biscuit before they reached where the wagon had stopped beside the woman on the horse.
Charlie was trying to coax Miriam into letting him help her down, but she wasn’t cooperating. Actually, she seemed to be in a daze.
Franklin dismounted and dropped Major’s reins to the ground. It looked as if Miriam wasn’t aware anyone else was around. That surprised him, because his horse and Rusty’s made plenty of noise as they approached. Something serious had to be wrong with her.
As he neared the horse she was riding, he noticed she was heavy with child. Why was she here on the Rocking V, and where was Marvin Pratt? The dirty, low-down, sneaky cuss brought the taste of bile rising in his throat. He never wanted to even think about that skunk ever again. Was his former best friend the father of her baby? If so, why was she coming here alone?
This woman hanging onto the pommel of the saddle as if her life depended on it was the most pathetic looking female he’d ever seen. As if a gentle breeze might blow her off onto the ground. Her hair hung in a stringy mess, and most of her body looked emaciated, her clothes hanging off her as if she were dressing up in someone else’s. And the palomino she rode didn’t look in much better shape than she was.
He stopped beside her, but she never looked his direction. “Miriam?”
She slowly turned her head, and her eyes widened. “Franklin...I need...help.” At the last word, her body tipped, and she lost her hold on the reins.
He moved quickly to keep her from hitting the ground. Clasping her in his arms, he was surprised at how light she was. Her bones stuck out with hardly any flesh between them and her skin that looked as thin as onion skin. He didn’t want to hold her too tight, fearful he’d hurt her somehow.
Carefully, he made his way to the back of the wagon, glad to see a bed of soft blankets spread across the floor. He gently lowered her onto the pile and covered her with another of the covers.
Her eyes slid closed, and her body went slack. Had she fainted, or was she dead?
The thought startled him. He’d never wanted to see her again, but he didn’t wish for her to die.
Leaning over the side of the wagon, Franklin held his fingers under her nostrils, trying to detect any air. She took a shallow breath, then a deeper one and let it out slowly, but she didn’t open her eyes. Franklin grabbed the reins of the sick horse and tied them to the back of the wagon.
“Charlie, you ride Major into town and see if you can bring Doc Winston. I’ll drive the wagon.” He climbed up on the seat and picked up the reins. “I’ll have to drive slowly, so I don’t jostle her too much.” He gave Rusty a pointed look. “Go back to the house and alert the women that I’m bringing in a patient. Miriam will need lots of help from them and from the doctor.”
He had been making some progress on courting his wife, and he didn’t want anything to come between them now.
Lord, please, don’t let this interfere with my relationship with my wife.
Lorinda had just finished nursing Michael when another knock sounded on the front door. She held out her son to Mrs. Oleson. “I’ll answer the door this time.”
Once again, Rusty stood on the front porch.
She opened the wooden door but stayed inside the screened one. “Where’s Franklin?” Her heart beat double-time. Had something happened to her husband? If not, why was Rusty back and her husband wasn’t?
“He sent me here with a message, Mrs. Vine.”
Lorinda had never seen Rusty look so nervous. Something must have happened. “What message?”
“He’s bringing a...” He cleared his throat. “...woman up to the house. She needs help, and he said for you...and Mrs. Oleson to get a room ready for her.” He turned to go.
Lorinda opened the screen door and stopped on the porch beside him. “Why is he bringing her here?”
“She was about to fall off her horse. She looks really bad.”
She shot her gaze toward the wagon slowly approaching the house. “Okay. I’ll have a place for her when he gets here.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Rusty settled his hat back on his head as he hurried down the steps.
If the woman was in a bad way, she might have trouble climbing the stairs. The only thing Lorinda could do was fix her a place to stay on the first floor. Without hesitating, she moved the baby’s cradle and his other things into the bedroom where she slept. That would work for the time being. They could settle the patient in the room where Lorinda first lived when she came to the ranch. She closed and locked the door that connected it to the dressing room where her husband slept.
By the time she’d changed the sheets on the bed and fluffed the pillows, Franklin came through the front door carrying the woman. Lorinda had never seen her before, but the poor thing was almost skin and bones, except for the fact that she was breeding. Lorinda wondered how a body so frail could carry a baby this far along. She was glad she had a bed waiting so close to the front door. Where was the woman’s husband? Was she a widow like Lorinda was when she came here?
Franklin pushed past her as he made his way into the room and deposited the woman on the bed. Lorinda pulled up the covers and tucked them under their visitor’s chin. After her fingers touched some exposed skin, she went back to the linen closet to get a couple more quilts. Their guest felt almost as cold as a slab of marble. The poor woman needed care if she was going to be able to give birth. And according to the size of her belly, that event might not be far off.
Her husband ushered Lorinda out into the hallway. “I don’t know what’s happened, but this is...Miriam.”
She couldn’t keep her eyes from widening at that announcement. What was Franklin’s former fiancée doing here? And where was the man she ran off with? Franklin must be hurting pretty badly because of the memories she’d aroused. What in the world do I do now?
Her husband led her into the kitchen. Mrs. Oleson held Michael sleeping on her shoulder.
“I took the baby’s bed and his things into m—our bedroom. Here, let me have him. I’ll put him down for his nap.” Lorinda wanted to get out of the way before she came apart at the seams. Her hands shook as she transferred her son to her own shoulder.
When she returned to the kitchen, Franklin and Mrs. Oleson sat at the table drinking cups of coffee.
“Good...” Her husband looked straight into her eyes. “...I wanted to tell you both at the same time. Miriam is here, and she’s in bad shape. I’ve sent for the doctor. She’s sleeping right now, so I’ll go put up the wagon.”
“What happened to her?” Lorinda grabbed a heavy shawl from the hall tree and followed him outside.
He shook his head. “I don’t know. She passed out before I could ask her anything.”
She glanced toward the wagon and gasped.
Franklin stopped and turned around. “What’s the matter, Lorinda?” He came back up the steps.
“Where did you get that palomino?” She could hardly get the words out past the lump in her throat.
“Miriam was riding it.”
Lorinda couldn’t hold back a shocked exclamation. “That’s Golden Boy, Mike’s horse! I’m almost sure it is. I’ve never seen him in such bad shape.”
She accompanied Franklin out through the gate. Going to the back of the wagon, she reached her open hand, palm up toward the horse.
“Golden Boy, do you remember me?”
The horse blew warm air on her palm before nestling his muzzle on it.
“You do.” Lorinda slid her hand up the horse’s withers and into the tangled mane. “You’re still a pretty boy, even if you haven’t been taken care of.” She turned toward Franklin. “We need to make sure he gets plenty to eat and is groomed.”
Franklin stopped beside her and placed his arm around her back. “We sure will. Look, I don’t know what’s been going on, but we’ll find out when Miriam feels well enough to tell us.”
Leading her horse, Lorinda followed the wagon to the barn. She stopped by the water trough to let the horse get a drink, making sure he didn’t drink too much.
When she led him into the barn, Franklin met her with a feedbag. “Here’s some oats for your horse.” He hung the bag on the horse’s head, so he could start eating.
While Franklin unharnessed the other horse from the wagon, she went to the tack room and got a brush and a mane comb. While Golden Boy munched on the feed, she started a rhythmic brushing of his sides and back. His muscles quivered under her ministrations. She wondered how long it had been since he’d been groomed. He’d always enjoyed the brushing.
Franklin picked up the mane comb from where she’d laid it on a bench nearby. He began to work the tangles out of the almost-white-blond mane and tail. “Someone needs to be horsewhipped for letting such a valuable animal get into this shape.”
She smiled at this man she’d married. His heart for animals touched her. “Thank you for helping me.”
“I’m not leaving you out here to finish this.” His return smile shot straight to her softened heart.
A Heart's Gift Page 21
