His eyes lingered on her lips while his hands spanned her waist. Looking deep into his eyes, she felt a connection she’d never experienced. She stepped away and put a trembling hand to her hair to make sure it was still in place. Nate’s hand dropped, and Eileen took it as though he had put it down for her. Her small fingers curled around his big hand. Nate exchanged an amused look with Lucy.
“Watch it or she’ll have you wrapped around her little finger,” Lucy whispered.
“Too late,” Nate whispered back, leading them toward the door. “I was lost when she let the calf suck her fingers. She has a lot of spirit like her sister.” He glanced away. “I never did say thank you for your sharpshooting.”
“It was the least I could do for making you give up your pet.” A slight shudder passed through her frame.
“You replaced Zeke with Bridget.”
“At least Bridget looks good with hair.”
Nate grinned. “Zeke would be offended that you didn’t care for his haircut.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t have my way. If I had, he would have been bald and flattened.”
Nate chuckled. The door swung open, and Doc Cooper let himself out. His lean face held a trace of worry, and Lucy tensed with concern.
The mirth left Nate’s face as well, and he reached out to touch the doctor’s arm. “How’s Pa?”
Doc pressed his lips together. “Weaker than I’d like to see him. He had another spell a few hours ago.”
Nate’s face went white. “I should have been here.”
“No, no. Percy fetched me, and your pa is resting comfortably.”
“We’d better stay here instead of at my place.”
Doc nodded. “Couldn’t hurt, providing the old coot will let you coddle him a bit. I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I say your pa is the most stubborn man I know.”
A ghost of a smile lifted one corner of Nate’s mouth. “He’s ornerier than a newly branded calf when he’s sick. I’m not sure my—my wife is up to this.”
The doctor’s eyebrows went up to his hairline. “I wondered who this pretty lady was, Nate. Where you been hiding her?” He turned to Lucy and nodded. “These cowpokes have needed a woman’s hand for a long time. It’s a big job, though, missus. I’ll be prayin’ for you to withstand the strain.”
Lucy laughed and took hold of his hand. “Until you’ve faced matrons determined to fit into clothes two sizes too small for them, you don’t know what strain is, Dr. Cooper. I think I can handle two cantankerous men. But the prayers would be most welcome.”
The doctor guffawed and slapped his hat on his leg. “You’ve got your work cut out for you handlin’ this little woman, Nate. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and watch.” Still grinning, he went toward his buckboard. “Send Percy if you need me.” He climbed into the seat.
Sneaking a peek at Nate, Lucy caught his stare fixed on her with an expression on his face she couldn’t read. “I’m sorry, Mr. Stanton. I didn’t mean to cause you embarrassment,” she whispered. “When will I ever learn to watch my tongue?”
“I thought you handled yourself right well. Doc’s sense of humor can be pretty intimidating. I was proud of you.”
A lump grew in Lucy’s throat. No one had ever told her that. Nate’s pride—for she recognized that emotion on his face now—was heady stuff.
TWELVE
The warmth of the fire welcomed them. Nate strode straight toward the hall to the bedrooms. Lucy and the children trailed behind him.
Before they reached Pa’s bedroom, he could hear his father’s voice raised in disgust. “Look at this food, Percy. It’s not fit for man nor beast. Bring me some of that soup I smell cooking. A man needs more than this thin broth! I’ll waste away to nothing.”
“Doc Cooper thinks you need to shed a few pounds, Boss. This is good for you. He told me not to let you have none of that soup just yet,” Percy said. “Besides, it’s for supper. The meat is still stringy. You gotta wait.”
Lucy crowded behind Nate to peer into the bedroom. Pa turned his head and saw them at the door. “Give me that spoon.” He snatched it from Percy’s hand. “I’m not so far gone I can’t feed myself. Get in here, all of you. Don’t stand there gawking.”
Lucy followed Nate into the room and went to the bed. “Can I help you, Mr. Stanton?”
He waved a hand. “I’ve had all I can take of Doc and Percy treating me like an old woman. Tell me about your day yesterday. How do you like your new home?”
What would she say? Nate hid a grin as he waited to see if she’d tell his father about the run-ins with the spiders and the wolf-dog.
“I didn’t get much of a chance to see it until I cleaned it,” she said. “Your son is not the best housekeeper.”
Nate pulled up a chair and propped a booted leg on it. “She didn’t cotton to Zeke. I had to take him to the back forty and let him go.” He shot her a glance and was gratified to see slight amusement on her face.
His father huffed. “Good for her. I never did understand why you had a spider as big as a dinner plate wandering around your place.”
Nate shrugged. “Oh, and Lucy saved my hide when she shot a mongrel wolf aimed straight at my throat.” He would carry that picture of her holding that shotgun the rest of his days. It was about as big as she was.
Pa sat up a bit straighter. “I told you our Lucy would make you a fine wife, Nate. Sometimes your old dad knows what he’s doing.”
Nate’s amusement vanished. His pa was determined not to admit he’d had no business finding a wife for him. “We’ve got other problems too, Pa. Rustlers.” Too late he realized he probably should have kept the information from his father. He was so used to reporting to his pa. With his pa’s gaze on him, he had no choice but to tell him what he’d found.
His father put down his cup. “Rustlers, eh? You find them yet? How many head? You tell Roger yet?”
“Don’t know how many yet. I think at least a hundred and fifty are gone. And our bull.” Nate shrugged. “I’m going to look around on the way to the feed store though. I didn’t see Roger on the way in. Where is he?”
“Said he was going to Larson, but I thought he’d be back by now.”
“I’ll check with Percy,” Nate said. “We’re heading to town after a while. I can track him down there if he hasn’t returned.”
His father yawned and his eyelids lowered. “Guess I’ll sleep now.”
Pa’s disinterest told Nate more than anything else. If his father were himself, he’d be climbing out of the bed and going to search for the rustlers himself. “You rest,” Nate said.
“You didn’t eat your broth.” Lucy fluffed his pillow and helped his father ease back against it.
Pa seemed already half asleep. His eyelids were half closed. “Stuff’s nasty. I want a man’s meal. Some of that soup Percy’s cooking.”
Lucy pulled the sheet up around his father’s shoulders. “I’ll try to make you something tastier for supper. Soup’s a little much.” She stepped away. “We’ll be going now, Mr. Stanton. There are some things we need in town.”
“We’ll be back for the night in a few hours,” Nate said.
His father’s eyes opened. “I thought you were going to stay at your place,” he grumbled.
“We will when you’re better.”
Pa pointed a bony finger at Nate. “You’ll do no such thing. I won’t be coddled. When the good Lord calls me home, I’ll go, but until then I intend to get on with my life and have you get on with yours. If you want to do something for me, produce me a grandchild before I die.”
Nate inhaled at his father’s boldness. He stole a glance at Lucy and saw her drop her gaze to the floor. She didn’t look at Nate.
She lifted her head and smiled at her father-in-law. “You rest, Mr. Stanton. We’ll check in on you tomorrow.”
“Do you think you could bring yourself to call me Pa or at least Henry?”
She peeked at Nate as if to ask permission. When he nodded,
she smiled. “All right, P-Pa.”
His father relaxed against the pillows. “You’re a good girl, Lucy. If I were thirty years younger, I would have married you myself. Lucky for Nate I was too old to compete with a young buck like him.”
“And I might have been interested if you were thirty years younger.” A dimple appeared in her cheek.
He waved his hand. “The rest of you get out of here. I want to talk to Lucy.”
Nate lifted his brow, then shrugged and left the room, closing the door behind him.
LUCY HAD THOUGHT of little else since Roger had warned her of Henry’s penchant for controlling his family. What should she do if he tried to tell her how to deal with his son or tried to interfere? The fact that he wanted to speak to her alone alarmed her. “Is there something I can do for you, P-Pa?” She settled on the chair by the bed.
Henry fixed a stare on Lucy. “My son treating you right? I thought he might send you packing as soon as we showed up.”
“You should have warned me.”
He waved off her censure. “I didn’t want to scare you off. What do you think of him?” He flashed her a sly grin.
“Nate’s a hard worker.”
Henry barked a laugh. “That’s all you got to say? Nothing about his looks?”
“What matters is what a man is inside.” Besides, she wasn’t about to say Nate was the handsomest man she’d ever laid eyes on. Or that her mouth went dry every time he looked her way. “He’s older than I expected. He’s about thirty?”
Henry nodded. “He’s a good son, but you’re right. He’s getting past marrying age. That’s why I had to take charge. Once a man gets set in his ways, it’s hard to make room for a wife and family.” He looked out the window where the sunshine illuminated the prairie. “Take a gander out there, girlie. Someday we’ll own as far as you can see.”
She shivered at the barren landscape peeking through the melting snow. “I thought you did already.”
“Not yet.” His jaw flexed. “I aim to own all the land between here and Wichita Falls. I’ll be the biggest land baron Texas has ever seen. If I have anything to say about it, your sons and daughters will be someone in this state.”
Heat scorched her cheeks at the mention of children. “I just want any children we have to be happy.”
He snorted. “Happiness is up to them to take hold of. With your guidance, of course. And I plan to be around to offer it as well. Nothing else you can do about it but give them enough money. And land. Land is king out here.”
She couldn’t put her finger on why his words made her stomach clench. “The ranch seems to be providing everything you need. How much is enough? Why do you need more?”
His eyes narrowed. “I aim for the Stanton name to be known in all of Texas.”
“Why?”
His lips pressed together. “It’s not your worry, Lucy. Nate and I will make sure you have more than you can imagine. You’ll never want for anything again.”
An unnamed hunger stirred in her belly. Not for money or things but for a connection to her parents. She leaned forward. “I’d like to know more about my father’s life out here. He never talked much about it. When did he leave?”
His gaze shifted and became dreamy. “He was eighteen when your mama came home from boarding school. She was the prettiest gal this town has ever seen.”
“I never knew her.” She fingered the locket under her gown. It held a picture of her mother when she was young. “I wish I did.”
“You look quite a lot like her, Lucy. It took me aback to meet you the first time.”
“My father said that once. He said sometimes he couldn’t bear to look at me because I reminded him of all he’d lost.” She swallowed down the familiar pain.
Henry frowned. “She didn’t have eyes for anyone but your pa. He married her within two months of coming home. I thought they’d stay here. She even inherited land next to mine, ten thousand acres. Your pa was pleased, and I don’t blame him.”
He shook his head. “I would have bought it myself if her grandma would have sold it. We’d planned to run our cattle together. But your mama wanted city life. She was never happy here after being in Boston for school. Said the sand made her crazy. A year after they were married, they packed up and headed for Indiana.”
“Did you see them after that?”
He had a faraway look in his eyes as he shook his head. “Got a letter once in a while over the years. Knowing your mama, I reckon she wanted more than being married to a store owner.”
The contempt in his voice was disconcerting. What did he really think of her mother? “Was there—conflict—in their marriage?”
He shrugged. “There was conflict before they left here. But once she got her way, she was probably happy as long as there was enough money. Was there?”
She struggled to remember when things had been better. Before Catherine. But Lucy had been so young when the two married, only eight. “I don’t know about earlier. We didn’t have much in the last few years. I remember a nice house we had once. But then Pa married Catherine and over the years we moved to more and more run-down places until we settled at the house on Smith Street in Wabash. We lived there for ten years.”
“No wonder Catherine contacted me. I was surprised to find she had abandoned all of you.”
“How did she know to contact you?”
His brows rose. “I assumed your pa had talked about our friendship.”
“Did you see her while you were in Wabash?”
He fussed with his sheet. “I didn’t know how to contact her. I’d expected her to be at the house.”
Lucy tensed. Should she tell him about Catherine’s boyfriend? Before she could decide, the door opened and Nate stuck his head in.
“We need to be going, Lucy.”
“Coming.” She turned toward the door. “Will you be all right, Pa?”
“You young’uns get going. I’ll be fine.”
STILL CHURNING INSIDE from Henry’s mention of children, Lucy almost flinched when Nate touched her elbow and guided her out of the room. She found the children in the parlor and had them get their coats, all the while conscious of Nate’s overwhelming presence beside her. She longed to be back in Wabash, away from these confusing emotions that ravaged her.
The coming night terrified her. What if Nate took his father’s request seriously and demanded his husbandly rights? She threw her cloak about her shoulders and went outside.
“Looks like we’re getting back to normal weather.” Nate paused on the porch. “How about we take the buckboard to town? The snow is almost melted, and we’ll need the space to bring our supplies home.”
“Whatever you say.”
Nate went to hitch the horses to the buckboard, and Lucy turned to stare out at the land. Though the day had warmed enough for the snow to melt, the air still held a crisp edge. Would she still be here when spring finally came? She didn’t know whether to pray for that or not. Taking her place as this man’s wife, in all ways, left her trembling.
But she wasn’t a coward. She drew herself up to her full height and marched toward the buckboard. Following behind her, Jed and Eileen were unusually quiet, as if they sensed her mood. Nate tossed Eileen up onto the second seat, and Jed joined her there. Nate’s big hands spanned Lucy’s waist as he lifted her to the seat. His grip held on a moment longer than necessary, and Lucy saw the same trepidation in his eyes that she felt.
She yearned to touch his cheek with her fingertips, but she resisted the impulse. They had much to learn about one another, and she didn’t want to rush anything.
The trip to town was silent. Lucy tensed as the buckboard rattled nearer the cluster of buildings that was Larson. She dreaded the pleasantries she would have to face as Nate’s new wife. Just from looking at their holdings, she guessed the Stantons were a prominent cattle family.
Nate stopped the buckboard in front of the general store. “Ready?”
“About as ready as a chicken is to ge
t its neck wrung off,” Lucy muttered.
Nate grinned. “It won’t be as bad as what you’ve already faced today. Come on, let me introduce you, and you can pick out everything you need.” He jumped out of the wagon and held up his arms for Lucy.
He helped her down. “Jed, collect your little sister and meet us inside. You all need some new clothes, so we might as well get them while we’re here. Get three of whatever you need. Skirts, blouses, a nice dress for Sunday.”
Lucy stopped in her tracks. “I’ll not have you buying us all these things, Mr. Stanton. People will say I married you for your money.”
“That’s pretty accurate, though, isn’t it? If you’d had enough money, you wouldn’t have agreed to my father’s plan. You would have found some other way around it.”
What he said was true. She would have spurned Henry’s offer if she’d had any recourse. “I didn’t want anything for myself. Only to protect the children.”
Nate held up a hand. “I didn’t mean to insult you, Lucy. What’s done is done. I don’t want people thinking I’m not able to take care of my wife and dependents. I’m not poor. So get what you all need or I’ll pick those things out myself.”
“Very well.” The words were hard to say.
“We have to see if we can work this marriage out so we’re not at each other’s throats like Bridget and the wolf. Are you ready to be introduced as my wife?”
Lucy nodded. She drew in a deep breath, pinned a smile in place, then took hold of his arm. Nate led her into the general store, milling with people, mostly women. The familiar scents of cinnamon and mint mingled with leather and perspiration. It smelled just like the general store she frequented back in Indiana, and a wave of homesickness gripped her.
The chatter in the store ceased as they stepped to the middle of the large room crammed with everything from foodstuffs to notions to tools. Every gaze in the room pinned Lucy to the floor. Gathering her courage, she managed to smile as Nate waved his hand.
“While you’re all here, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Lucy.”
Blue Moon Promise Page 9
