Groom For Hire (Pioneer Series #3)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  She heard him snicker, so she turned around to face him.

  “That’s adorable,” he said. “You think all your school studies and prancing around on a horse qualifies you to do a man’s job. Darling, when you can dig a bullet out of a man’s arm because he got into a duel or shoot at a group of outlaws who are trying to steal your supplies, then I’ll admit you’re able to handle a man’s job.”

  He leaned close to her, and she had to grit her teeth so she wouldn’t grow weak under those beautiful blue eyes.

  “Life is hard out here,” he said. “Nothing is guaranteed from one day to the next. Your father is paying me to take you to a world that’s safe, and that’s what I’m going to do. I’m not trying to be mean. I’m just doing what your father hired me to do. Understand?”

  She crossed her arms and turned her back to him again. How was she supposed to respond to that? She couldn’t come out and argue his point. He won the argument, and he knew it.

  “So am I supposed to do anything besides make sure no strangers come in our direction?” she asked after a long moment passed between them.

  “That’s one possible threat,” he replied, not sounding the least bit upset by their argument. “If you see a storm coming up on the horizon, that’s something else to watch out for. Basically, if anything poses a threat, let me know.”

  “You’re right, Joe,” she said, her apologetic tone laced with sarcasm. “Those are things only a man can handle. I hope I don’t make a grievous error, like mistake a little old mouse for a big and mean outlaw who’s coming to raid our supplies.”

  “Considering the fact that you’re a woman, both seem like they’d equally terrify you.”

  She gasped and turned back to face him, but he was lying on the bedroll, eyes closed, hands folded over his chest, and his hat on the ground beside him. She had the inclination to dump water on his face for that remark, but she couldn’t bring herself to do it. “You should be glad I am a woman. If I wasn’t, I’d show you what I think of you for that comment.”

  Though he chuckled, he didn’t open his eyes. “Which is why you couldn’t do the harder tasks when the situation calls for it. Women are just too gentle for this kind of life.”

  She reached for the pitcher, ready to really do it. To dump it right on him. But what would it prove? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. She turned her back to him again and searched the landscape around them.

  * * *

  It took Joe a good half hour before he was finally able to fall asleep. It wasn’t that he wasn’t tired. He was. But he was intrigued by Michelle’s spark. She had fire in her. That much was evident. He hadn’t expected it.

  Even after being on the trail for several weeks, she wanted to help out. That marked another difference between her and Amanda. Amanda would never have pressed him to help with the lookout.

  He didn’t know if the refined gentlemen out there would like a lady who had a spark in her, but as long as Michelle knew how to host a dinner party and keep up appearances, he supposed it didn’t matter. Wealth had its expectations, and those expectations were wildly different from anything out here.

  Come morning when he woke, it was well past dawn. He sat up in the bedroll and looked over at Michelle who was drinking a cup of coffee from his tin cup.

  “Why did you let me sleep for so long?” he asked.

  “You were snoring pretty hard,” she replied. “I figured you were tired.”

  Well, yes, he was tired, but that was no excuse for sleeping in. Someone was bound to think he was lazy.

  “Besides,” Michelle continued, “the people are in no shape to travel today. They need to rest up.”

  He shook his head. “One night on lookout, and you think you’ve got my job all figured out.”

  “I didn’t say I had this job all figured out. It’s common sense. You can’t expect people who’ve been vomiting all night to be strong enough to head out today.” Then she shot him a pointed look. “Can you?”

  There was that spark again. Even after staying up most of the night, she was as feisty as ever. He didn’t know whether to be annoyed or impressed.

  Since she insisted on staring at him, he let out a long sigh. “No, I don’t expect them to travel today. It’s just that I’d like to be the one who makes the decision, that’s all.”

  “Why? Because I’m a woman and you think women aren’t capable of making decisions?”

  “No. It’s because I’m the leader. It’s my job to lead this group. Even Brandon has to report to me.”

  She seemed to accept that answer well enough since she offered a nod and sipped more coffee.

  “Look,” he said, “I don’t want to argue with you. Thank you for helping me keep watch last night.”

  “You’re welcome.” Then, after a moment, she asked, “Do you think you’ll ever ask me to keep watch again?”

  “Didn’t you get bored?”

  “No. I found it peaceful. It gave me time to think.”

  “Let me guess. You were thinking of how nice it’ll be when you’re in California and can sleep in a comfortable bed again.”

  She smirked at him. “On the contrary. I was thinking of how nice it was to have the stars above my head. When I was in Omaha, I never took the time to really notice them. They really do twinkle like that song says.”

  “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star?”

  She nodded. “It was the first song I learned when I played the piano. Being out here, I appreciate the lyrics more.”

  Yes, he supposed there was that. From time to time, he would watch them twinkle, though he enjoyed picking out the constellations more.

  She poured more coffee into the tin cup and held it out to him. “You’ll be happy to know that I saw a big bug fly by last night and managed not to leave my post.”

  He accepted the cup. “When you manage to keep calm with a mouse running by, I’ll be impressed.”

  With a sniff, she rose to her feet and gathered her bedroll. “You’re a hard one to please, Mr. Otto. I’m relieved not all men are like you.”

  “You’re right. Not all men can handle spending so much time outdoors. For all the talk Danny does, he’s better suited for what’s waiting for him in California.”

  “You don’t like it when he helps you keep watch?”

  “The man is scared of his own shadow.” He quickly shut his mouth before he said anything else. Why was he telling her that? Even if it was the truth, it wasn’t something he should be spreading. “Look, I shouldn’t have said that. He’s a fine man.”

  He stopped there. There was no sense in giving her ideas. Danny’s pa had enough money to rival what her father owned. The two just might be well matched once they got to California. Danny had made his interest in her known. It wasn’t up to Joe to intervene. He’d made that mistake with Amanda and Richard, and it wasn’t a mistake he was going to repeat. Ever.

  “At least I know I’m braver than one man in this group,” she said, seeming awfully pleased about it.

  “If you tell anyone what I said, I’ll deny it,” he warned.

  “Oh, I wouldn’t dare tell anyone. I like Henrietta. No sister wants to think her brother does a worse job than a woman when it comes to the lookout.”

  His eyebrows arched in response. So it was alright if she was better than a man at a task, but it wasn’t alright if he said men were better at some things than women were?

  She shot him a triumphant grin then headed to the wagons.

  Chapter 9

  A few days later after people had stopped for the day, Michelle overheard Matthew talking to Danny while she was bringing a pail of fresh water to the wagon.

  “Stuart said he saw a group of deer not too far from here,” Matthew was telling Danny. “Do you want to help us hunt for them? We’ll share the meat.”

  “Is hunting hard?” she asked as she approached them.

  The two jerked before they turned to her, and it was Matthew who answered. “The only thing hard about hunting is keeping quiet s
o you don’t let the animals figure out you’re there.” He looked at Danny. “What do you say? Are you in?”

  “Sure,” Danny said. “It’d be nice to have something other than jerky for a change.”

  “Great! Grab a gun and join me at Stuart’s wagon. We’ll all be heading out in ten minutes.”

  As Matthew left, she followed Danny to the back of his wagon. “Can I come along?”

  He jerked again. Recalling how Joe had said Danny was afraid of his own shadow, she had to bite down on her tongue so she wouldn’t laugh.

  Danny looked at her as if he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. “You want to go hunting?”

  “Yes. It sounds like fun,” she replied.

  “Well, I don’t know. I mean, I never heard of a woman hunting before.”

  She groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re like other men, thinking that a woman can’t do the same things they can. All you’re doing is holding a gun and shooting an animal. I’m not going to pick it up and drag it back here. You men can do that.”

  He considered her words and nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Anyone can fire a gun.”

  Surprised it’d been that easy to get him to agree to it, she said, “I’ll be right back!” She hurried to Henrietta and her mother and set the pail down. “I’m going to help the men hunt for deer.”

  “You’re going to do what?” Henrietta asked.

  “The men are going to hunt, and Danny said I could come along and help.”

  Henrietta stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “But why would you want to do that? Hunting can take a long time, and when the animal’s shot, it gets all messy.”

  “I don’t know how to explain it, but it seems like fun. It’s part of the adventure of being out here on the trail.”

  “Oh, let her go,” Mrs. Taylor told Henrietta. “There’s enough of us to take care of things here. Besides, if a woman can manage a homestead all on her own, one can hunt.”

  “I know a woman can do it. I just don’t understand why one would want to,” Henrietta clarified. She glanced back at Michelle. “If you really want to do this, you have my full support. Just don’t take lessons from Danny. He might be my brother, but the man is a lousy aim. Stuart’s much better.”

  “You better not tell Danny that,” Mrs. Taylor told her daughter.

  Henrietta held her hands up in the air. “I’ve never told Danny how incompetent he is at hunting before. Why would I do it now?”

  Michelle giggled as Mrs. Taylor groaned. “Thank you, you two. I’ll be back later when the men are done.”

  Once Michelle took care of her personal needs, she hurried over to Stuart and Danny who stood with three other men. Matthew, it seemed, was the leader of the group. Upon noticing her, Danny handed her a rifle, and she clasped the cool metal in her hands. She’d never held one of these before, much less taken a good look at it. It was amazing how powerful something so simple was. With this, men could provide food for their families and defend their homes. And now, she’d get to learn how to use it!

  “Have you ever used a gun before?” Matthew asked her.

  “No, but I’m willing to learn,” she replied.

  “I don’t know if I want to take the time to teach her what to do,” Matthew told Danny. “We aren’t going for target practice. We’re actually going to hunt. We’ll be lucky if we get more than one shot in.” He turned his gaze back to her. “As soon as animals hear the gun go off, they run away.”

  Oh. She hadn’t thought of that. “So I won’t be able to use this today?” she asked, nodding to the rifle.

  “We need the meat,” Stuart said.

  “Well, what if I watch? Then,” she almost said Danny but stopped herself when she recalled Henrietta’s warning, “someone can teach me what to do later after we get the meat. It’ll be safe to do target practice at that time.”

  The men glanced at one another. No one but Danny seemed willing to do it.

  “What’s going on over here?” a familiar voice called out from behind them.

  They turned around in time to see Joe jogging their way.

  “Your wife wants to join us for hunting,” Matthew replied. “The trouble is, she’s never used a gun in her entire life.”

  Before Joe said anything, Michelle already knew he wouldn’t approve. “I’m just going to watch,” she told Joe. “I won’t use the rifle.” Even though she wanted to in the worst way. Men were so lucky. They got to do a lot of fun things while women were stuck with cooking and cleaning. She gave the rifle back to Danny. “See? I’m not shooting at anything today.”

  Joe slowed to a stop as soon as he reached them. “This is ridiculous. You can’t go out there with these men.”

  “Why not? You think I can’t learn from watching them?” she asked.

  Joe took her by the arm and led her away from the group.

  “What are you doing?” she demanded in irritation. She was beginning to feel more like a child than a grown woman with the way he was treating her.

  When they were out of everyone’s hearing, he faced her and let go of her arm. “I’m stopping you from making a foolish decision,” he told her. “Think about what you’re about to do. You’re willing to go with five men away from the group. Don’t you know what kind of trouble you’re asking for?”

  It took her a moment to understand what he was getting at, and when she did, she gasped. “That’s awful, Joe. Just awful. Why would you agree to take men to California if you think they’re the type who’d take a woman’s innocence?”

  He blinked, her answer having the desired effect of surprising him. Then he shook his head and said, “I wouldn’t agree to take men on a wagon train if I thought they were the type who’d mistreat a woman.”

  “In that case, why are you worried?”

  “Because I don’t know them that well. I don’t think they would do that, but one can never be sure about anything. Who knows if the temptation might be too much for any one of them? It’s in your best interest to make sure you’re never alone with any of them, understand? That’s why I tell women and children to go to the stream together or go with a male relative. It’s for your protection.”

  “Well, I want to learn how to hunt, and in order to do that, I need to learn to shoot a gun. I think of Danny as a brother, and he thinks of me like a sister. He’ll take care of me.”

  Joe laughed. “You are so naïve.”

  She frowned. “I don’t appreciate being laughed at.”

  He shook his head. “Why can’t you be content being a woman? Why do you need to act like a man?”

  “I’m not trying to act like a man. As Mrs. Taylor said, women have owned homesteads. If they can own property, then I can hunt.”

  “When I talked to your father, he made you sound like a sweet young woman who wouldn’t cause me any problems, but so far, you’ve been the biggest problem I’ve had on this trail.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “Thanks a lot!”

  “You can’t be surprised I think that about you. You’re determined to do everything I tell you not to do.”

  “That’s because you are determined to prevent me from living the adventure that’s part of this journey.”

  “Adventure?”

  “Yes. I like being out here. I have an opportunity to learn how to do new things, and you’re not letting me do them. Danny’s willing to let me do them. The other men only had a problem because I don’t know how to use a gun, but once I know how to use it, they’ll let me hunt with them. Danny will teach me how to shoot. And you aren’t going to stop me.”

  That said, she stuck her nose up in the air and turned to get away from him. But he quickly slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her to his side.

  “You’ll do that over my dead body,” he said.

  Not to be deterred from his comment, she made eye contact with him. “You either teach me, or I’ll have Danny do it.”

  After a long moment, he gritted his teeth. “Fine. I’ll do it. You’re
my wife. That makes you my responsibility. That means I have to deal with you.”

  “Good,” she replied. “When will you teach me?”

  “I’ll teach you in a month.”

  “No. It has to be sooner than that.”

  He tapped his boot on the ground, and she could only guess what thoughts were going through his head. He wasn’t the least bit happy with her. That much she could tell. But she suspected he didn’t know what to do with her, and that gave her the upper hand. She’d done exactly what he’d wanted up to this point in the trip, and she was quickly dying of boredom. If she didn’t do something that interested her soon, she didn’t know if she could make it all the way to California.

  Finally, she said, “I want to learn tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?”

  “I would say right now, but I don’t want our target practice to make the deer run off.”

  After a long moment, he groaned. “Fine.” He let go of her. “Tomorrow. But,” he pointed to himself, “I get to choose the time.”

  “You can choose any time you wish, even if it’s three o’clock in the morning.”

  He grumbled something under his breath about her father lying to him about her sweet disposition then stomped away from her, signaling an end to their argument.

  Well, his unpleasant attitude wasn’t going to deter her from the excitement she experienced at knowing she was going to learn how to shoot a gun. She returned to the men and explained that Joe was going to take her out to target practice the next day. Then she went over to Henrietta and her mother, who were rolling out dough.

  “Did Joe say you couldn’t go with them?” Henrietta asked.

  “He did, so I made him promise to teach me to shoot a gun,” Michelle replied.

  Mrs. Taylor chuckled.

  “What’s so funny?” Henrietta asked. “I thought you didn’t think a woman shooting a gun was ridiculous.”

  “Oh, I don’t think that at all. It’s just funny to see the wagon master so upset.” Mrs. Taylor winked at Michelle. “Only jealousy riles a man up like that.”