Lana bit her lower lip. “Don’t worry about it Ginger, I’ll go find them and get them in here to help me get some lunch together. I am sure that everything is going to work out just fine.”
As Lana turned to go, she was surprised when Ginger reached out and clutched her hand. Lana turned back and their gazes locked. “Thank you, Lana. You have no idea how much this means to me.”
Lana’s heart swelled with happiness. She knew that she had done the right thing by coming here. Any doubt she might have had disappeared and she walked out of the cabin briskly to find the children.
She was going to make Ginger’s recovery fly by without incident. She was going to try and make her friend’s life good again. She knew that she couldn’t erase the hurt and the pain that Ginger was feeling from her husband’s death, but she could certainly do her best to make things as good as they could possibly be.
Chapter 7
As Lana stepped out of the front door of the cabin her eyes first found the place she had just come from not even half an hour beforehand. The sun was still shining brightly and there was an intensity to it that surprised her.
There was a large barn not too far from the house. Lana didn’t have time to explore it now, but she was fairly certain she had spotted horses and a few cows inside it.
To the left side of the barn there was a large chicken coop with a number of hens and roosters hopping about, scratching and pecking the ground as they searched for morsels in the dust.
Lana walked around the side of the cabin and nearly ran into some lines of rope that were hung up between two tall stakes. She assumed this area was for hanging clean clothes. A little way from the clothesline, Lydia was playing with a little boy who Lana was fairly certain was Freddy.
“Lydia! Freddy! Can the two of you come here a second?” Only after the words had left her mouth did Lana realize she hadn’t sounded as loud or used as much authority as she should have. The two children eyed her cautiously but didn’t move from what they were doing.
Lana stood there awkwardly for a moment. Should she call them again? Or should she go over to them?
After a moment, she decided to do the second. She hurried over briskly to the children and decided to take a different approach. Sometimes kids needed things to be a little more creative to listen.
She knelt down to their level and peered at the ground. “What are you two up to?” she asked kindly.
“We’re making a house,” Freddy informed her with a huge, boyish grin. He looked a little younger than his age of six.
“Well, it looks very nice,” Lana gave their project another glance. “Would the two of you come with me to the house? We have to get some lunch ready for your mother.”
Lydia and Freddy exchanged glances. “Won’t Mr. Craig make us lunch?” Lydia asked at last.
“Actually, I haven’t seen Mr. Craig around and your mother is very hungry. How about we all help and we’ll have something ready to eat in no time.”
The two seemed to consider it for a few more minutes before finally standing with large grins. “Okay, we’ll help,” Lydia said.
Despite having won this small moment, Lana still felt doubtful about the victory. It seemed that the only reason that the children had agreed was that it was to help their mother.
That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but Lana had a feeling that once the newness of her visit had worn off, these two children were going to be quite the handful. She could see it in their eyes.
“I really need someone to show me where everything is. Do you guys know of anyone who is super smart and knows where the food is kept in the kitchen?”
Lydia giggled and nodded. “We can show you.”
Lana followed the two children on a tour of the kitchen and the pantry. Surprisingly, it was well stocked. Lana had expected it to be lacking since Ginger had been unable to care for it herself for a few weeks.
All of the essentials were there; flour, coffee, sugar, eggs, and several other things to make plenty of good food.
Lana found some potatoes and set the children to peeling them after she had made sure that their hands were properly scrubbed. She took note and realized that while the pantry was well stocked, the children really needed a bath and their clothes needed some heavy scrubbing.
She wondered if Nick had been caring for them all alone. Lana’s stomach twisted as she thought of Nick. She had only seen him from afar when they had lived in the city. She and Ginger had been friends at school. When they did spend time at their homes, her brother was usually playing with boys and largely ignored them.
So far, she seemed to have things under control. She looked on happily as the lunch she was preparing cooked seamlessly on the stove and the children chattered as they helped her prepare the rest.
She wondered how hard the chores would be. Surely they wouldn’t be much harder than what she’d had to do back home.
There was no reason for Nick to worry about her helping Ginger. They didn’t know each other that well, but surely after he realized that she was going to be a huge help to Ginger and make her life easier, he would see the benefit of having her around.
Despite trying to convince herself, Lana still felt nervous about it. She hoped that she could get everything under control and have a feel for things before Nick got there.
She pulled the potatoes off the flame and divided the food onto four plates. Once it was ready she handed one to Lydia to take to Ginger.
A knock on the door made her heart jump. Was Nick back already? Ginger had said he wouldn’t be here until tomorrow at least, hadn’t she?”
Lana tried her best to fix herself up and hurried over to the door. She opened it timidly to find a large man with a worn cowboy hat standing there, looking at her with a friendly smile. Either Nick had changed his mind about her already, or this wasn’t him.
“Howdy, miss, you must be Lana. Ginger said you would be here soon. I’m Craig.”
Lana searched her mind for where she’d heard that name before. Then it clicked. Craig was the ranch hand that Nick had left behind to care for Ginger.
“It’s nice to meet you, Craig.” Lana extended her hand and Craig took it, giving it a firm shake.
“Did you find everything? I was just coming to make sure that Ginger and the children had something to eat but it smells as if you’ve already got that covered.”
Lana gave a little laugh. She liked Craig already. “Yes, I was able to find everything. Thank you.”
Craig nodded and seemed to look over her shoulder for a second. “Well, I’ll leave you to it then. And be sure to let me know if you need anything.”
“Um, there is one thing when you next go into town. I left my trunk at the train station. It was a bit too much to carry out here. If it wouldn’t be too much trouble if you could just toss it in your wagon and bring it out here I’d be very thankful to you,” she said.
“Sure, ma’am. I need to take the buckboard out there to pick up some grain tomorrow. It will be no trouble at all. I’ll bring it up right away.”
“Thank you so much, Mr. Craig,” she said.
He threw his head back and laughed heartily. “It’s just Craig, ma’am. No mister to it.” He laughed again and bid them all goodbye.
Lana nodded and thanked Craig once more before turning back to the cabin. Lydia was sitting beside her mother, enjoying lunch, but where Freddy had been eating, there was just a plate of half-eaten food and an empty chair.
“Lydia, where did Freddy go?”
Lydia shrugged and put another bite of food in her mouth.
“I think he might have gone outside again,” Ginger said with a tired sigh. “He is a bit hard to keep up with sometimes.”
Lana tucked a stray hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll get him.”
She turned and hurried outside. She hadn’t seen Freddy leave, but it would have been easy enough for him to slip by Craig without her noticing.
“Freddy?” She called, her eyes swee
ping back and forth over the buildings and the grass. After a few moments, she began to feel panic. How had she managed to lose one of the children only hours after arriving?
“Freddy!” she called louder this time.
“Yes?” the voice was faint but sounded fine. It took Lana a few minutes to locate where it was coming from. Freddy was hiding by the barn, his red hair poking in every direction as he stared at her with sparkly, mischievous eyes.
“Freddy, come here this instant.” This time, Lana managed to sound firm and stern. She knew that the heat and the day were getting to her. All of a sudden she felt exhausted and overwhelmed and her earlier enthusiasm was beginning to be squashed.
“Why?” Freddy stepped a little away from the barn but made no move to come toward her.
“Because I said so. Your mother is looking for you.” Lana struggled to keep a patient tone. She was hungry and hadn’t had a chance to eat the lunch she had made. She also didn’t want Ginger to feel stressed because Freddy had left again.
“But I want to play in the creek. Mama always lets me play in the creek.” Freddy’s lower lip pushed out and his eyes filled with tears.
“You can play in the creek later, okay? Right now I need you to come in and finish your lunch.”
After another moment of what seemed like internal debate, Freddy moved toward her in a reluctant way. Lana felt relief once she had his hand inside hers.
They walked back to the cabin together and for a moment, Lana felt as if she’d won with him; but then they stepped into the cabin.
Lydia was standing in the kitchen, tears streaming down her face, crying. At her feet was the pot of coffee, its contents spilled all over the floor.
“Lydia! What happened? Are you all right?” Lana rushed to her side.
Lydia nodded, “I’m sorry, I spilled the coffee.”
“Are you burned?” Lana asked with concern,
“No it fell and missed me,” She replied through tears.
Lana turned briefly to see Freddy by his mother, also crying as he mumbled something about wanting to go play in the creek.
His mother comforted him and told him he could go later.
Lana rocked back on her heels. This was going to be a tough day. She had felt like everything was going so well, and it had spiraled out of control so quickly. She hadn’t been expecting it.
She fought the urge to run the other way and hop on the next train back to Southport. Instead, she grabbed a rag and began to clean up the spilled coffee. She could do this, she would do this, no matter how hard it was.
Chapter 8
“I’m sorry, son, but I sold them to someone else this morning.” The man threw his hands up in a hopeless gesture, his round stomach jiggling as he did so.
Nick’s stomach boiled with rage, “What do you mean you sold them to someone else? You told me on the telegram that you would sell them to me! I just rode a whole day to get here.”
Nick began to pace back and forth in front of the man. What was he going to do now? He was fairly certain there was no one else in this town looking to sell the number of cattle he had come to purchase today.
This man had made a deal with him. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have traveled all the way out here. He angrily kicked a rock in the road.
“Look, son, I don’t know what to tell you. I shouldn't have sold them cattle this morning, but I went and figured you might not be showing up. Besides that, he gave me a dollar more per head than what you offered me. It’s just good business.”
Nick wanted to ask him why he would have figured that he wouldn’t show up, but he didn’t bother. He knew exactly what had happened. The man had been worried about not selling his cattle at all and someone had come before him showing him the cash in hand.
The man hadn’t been able to resist it. With a frustrated puff of air, Nick turned and walked back to the hotel. It was already early afternoon. If they left right now, they would make it home by the next morning. He was hoping that it wouldn’t take long for him to sell the old milk cow.
He didn’t really like traveling at night, but he didn’t want to stick around town for another unnecessary night.
He took the cow to the man who always bought the old ones and sold them for meat. It must have been a bad day for selling and buying cattle because the man only offered half of what he wanted for her and had told him he was lucky to even get that.
Nick left the buyer angrily and set out for the hotel to find Derek.
“Derek? Derek, are you in here?” He searched the small hotel room for his friend but he was nowhere to be found. “Great, exactly what I needed right now,” Nick mumbled to himself under his breath.
When Derek had offered to come, Nick had agreed thinking it would be nice having someone to help him with the cattle. But as usual, Derek had let his desires get the best of him.
Nick knew with little doubt where Derek would be. He hurried briskly down the street until he reached the saloon.
The happy music did little to lift his spirits. He pushed through the door and his eyes scanned the people around the room. In a far corner, Derek was sitting with a bottle of whiskey and crooning to a young woman.
Nick lost no time in crossing the room to get to him. “Derek, come on, we’re heading out tonight,” he said sternly.
“And this… Is my stick - in - the - mud friend.” Derek waved in Nick’s direction but made no move to get up, and the young woman giggled, obviously smitten with Derek.
Annoyance pricked Nick. “I’m not a stick in the mud tonight, Derek. I’m going to be riding home and there’s no mud on the way last time I checked. I’ll leave your horse prepared for you out front. Catch up when you decide to come.”
“Aww come on, Nick. We don’t have to hurry.” Derek and the young woman’s laughter followed him out. Nick would normally haul his friend out or wait for him, but not tonight. They had already lost a lot of time.
Surprisingly, while he was mounting his horse, Derek caught up to him at a slow run. It was a bit of an uneven run and he looked as if he might stumble at any moment.
“Wait up, would ya? I was just having some fun with you back there.” Derek’s words were slightly slurred and his eyes looked a tad red.
“I’m sorry but the cattle deal fell through. We need to get home as soon as we can.”
Derek nodded and mounted his own horse and the two set off at an even trot. “What are you in such a hurry for? Didn’t you leave Craig at your sister’s place?”
“That’s not what I’m worried about. Apparently, she invited some friend of hers to come and live with her. I don’t even know the woman.” It was the first that Nick had said anything about this since Ginger had told him.
It felt good to get it off his chest, but it also felt a little silly hearing his worries out loud.
“You’re worried about her childhood friend? Maybe it’ll be good for her to have a woman around to talk to. She’s seemed so down after the accident.”
Nick tried to see it that way. He hated seeing his sister depressed and grieving. But it was all the more reason not to have a stranger in their lives. They didn’t need some strange woman from the city watching them going through the grieving process and judging them for it.
“I don’t like it. She could be anyone and what if she isn’t good for Ginger? What if she convinces Ginger to go back to the city with her or something?” Nick had plenty of fears to choose from, but the idea that Ginger could leave now that her husband was gone was one of the bigger ones.
An Encounter of Courageous Hearts: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 6
