A collective gasp went around the room, and Lucy couldn’t help noticing the way several women turned to look at a tall woman standing near the glass jars of candy. Her thick red hair was caught carelessly in a tail at her neck, and she wore leather boots similar to Nate’s under her heavy skirt. She exuded an animal magnetism that held Lucy’s attention.
At Nate’s words, the woman’s head snapped back as though she’d been slapped. Her deep green eyes, mesmerizing and compelling, looked almost feverish. Hectic spots of red in her cheeks, she held her head high as she stepped forward with an outstretched hand. “I’m Margaret O’Brien, your neighbor to the south. Congratulations, Lucy. You’ve succeeded where so many of us have failed. We thought Nate here would die a bachelor.”
Margaret’s handshake was firm, almost like a man’s. Lucy’s heart sank like an anvil in water. She felt like an incompetent child next to her. No wonder Nate was upset. This woman could have been his partner in every meaning of the word. Lucy would never manage to fill those boots.
“Pleased to meet you,” Lucy choked out.
Margaret raised her gaze to meet Nate’s. “I wish you well, Nate.” Then her composure failed and a hint of pain flickered in her eyes. With a muttered apology, Margaret fled the store with an almost palpable wave of sympathy behind her. Lucy felt small and mean that she had hurt this woman, even unknowingly.
Once the store door slammed, the glares from the other women should have cowed Lucy, but she couldn’t let them. Too much depended on her fitting in here. She managed a smile. “I do hope you’ll feel free to call on us whenever you can. I look forward to learning much about ranching from you.”
Several of the women looked at one another, then one by one they grudgingly welcomed her to the community. After a pause bordering on rudeness, they scuttled out the door, no doubt to find Margaret and commiserate with her. And who could blame them? Lucy was an interloper here.
THIRTEEN
The hem of Margaret’s blue dress disappeared around the corner as Nate walked across the street to the sheriff’s office. His spirits were low after seeing Margaret’s obvious distress. It had taken a lot of strength for her to keep her composure as long as she had.
He frowned. His father had encouraged him to think about Margaret as a possible wife and yet had gone out and brought Lucy home. When Nate had a chance, he was going to ask his father why he had done it. If anyone was to blame for Margaret’s upset, it was his pa.
He heard a familiar voice and went that direction where he found his brother on a bench outside the saloon. Roger’s voice carried on the wind, and he told the men gathered around about the wonders of San Francisco.
Roger saw him and the animation faded from his face. He nodded at Nate. “Looks like my brother has something on his mind. I’ll meet you for poker later.”
The men glanced at Nate, then dispersed back to the saloon and down the street. Nate joined his brother on the bench. “Pa had another spell.”
Roger bolted to his feet. “Is he going to be okay?”
“I hope so. He’s resting now. We need to take as much strain off him as possible.”
Roger sat back down. “He’ll use this to control you. But not me. I’m shoving off.”
“I need you, Rog.”
“No, you don’t, Nate. You have all you want right here. A big spread, a pretty little wife. But it’s not for me. If you need help, hire it. You’re not poor. Pa is already trying to tempt me with a new horse, responsibility on the ranch. But I see through him. When are you going to wake up?”
Roger had always had a chip on his shoulder about being told what to do. This was an old argument. Nate took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess there’s no more to say, then. When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow. First thing in the morning.”
“You ever coming back?”
Roger hesitated, then shook his head. “I doubt it. This time was a mistake. Pa hasn’t changed.”
And neither have you. Nate bit back the words. “I wish you well, brother.” He rose and put his hand on Roger’s shoulder.
Roger stood and embraced him. “I’ll write when I have an address.” He released Nate, then turned and strode toward his horse.
Nate watched him go with a sense of regret and futility. He stepped onto the boardwalk in front of the sheriff’s office and pushed open the door. Sheriff Borland wore a harried expression as he turned from the board where wanted posters hung. He tugged at the pants that drooped low on his hips and straightened when he saw Nate.
Stepping to his battered desk, he pointed to the wooden chair on the other side. “I reckon you’re here about your cattle?” He pulled out his chair and settled into it.
“Mostly my bull. You ask Larson?”
“Yep.” Borland leaned back in his chair and frowned. “He claims you’re harassing him. And I didn’t find any cattle on his property. No bull, either.”
Though he’d expected Larson to deny it, Nate had hoped the sheriff could uncover some clue. It was clear Borland thought Nate was accusing Larson unjustly. “He’s done it before,” Nate said. “Last year when he was working for O’Brien, he rounded up some of my cattle.”
Borland nodded. “He gave the cattle back, though, and apologized. O’Brien said it was an honest mistake.”
Nate didn’t believe it for a minute, but he could tell by the expression on the sheriff’s face that Borland wanted the matter to drop. “What about the man Larson hired? He tried to burn down my barn.”
Borland shrugged. “Larson said he didn’t hire him. That he just saw the fellow by the side of the road and stopped to talk. It’s your word against his.”
Nate stood and headed for the door.
The sheriff called after him. “Where you going?”
“Home. It’s clear I’ll have to protect my property by myself.”
His temper was just simmering under boil when he exited the office into the sunshine. He motioned to Jed, who was waiting for him on the bench outside the general store. When the lad joined him, they headed for the feed store. Nate stopped in the doorway when he saw Margaret’s father inside. Before Nate could backtrack, the man turned and saw him.
Paddy O’Brien’s florid face went redder. His lips flattened and his nostrils flared. “What’s this nonsense I hear about you being married. It’s not true, is it?”
Trapped, Nate stepped into the store. Four other men turned to stare. “It’s true, Paddy. Lucy is yonder at the general store.”
“Who is she? Your pa never said a word about you keeping company with a woman. I just saw him last month, and he asked after Margaret.”
Nate felt Jed’s stare and didn’t want to dishonor Lucy by revealing the truth. “Lucy is from Indiana,” he said finally. “You wouldn’t have met her. This is her brother, Jed.”
O’Brien glanced at Jed and seemed to deflate a bit. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell Margaret.”
“She knows,” Jed blurted out. “She was at the general store.”
O’Brien scowled. “I ’spect dinner will be burned and she’ll be moping around. What did she say?”
Nate did not want to discuss this in front of everyone. Did Margaret’s father have no sense of propriety? “You’ll have to talk to her about it.”
“You should have given us warning,” the older man said. “It wasn’t fair to Margaret. Or to me.”
The man was more worried about his bottom line than his daughter. Nate hadn’t seen this side of him before. His respect for his neighbor went down. But he couldn’t tell O’Brien that he hadn’t had any warning himself. “Sorry. It was a little sudden.”
O’Brien grabbed his bill of sale and headed for the door. “See you around, neighbor.” He glared at Nate as he passed.
LUCY WANDERED THE aisles with Eileen’s hand in hers. Eileen fingered some crystal beads that caught the light, and Lucy wished she had the money to purchase them for her sister. The child loved bright, shiny things.
Lucy’s arms were already full of articles of clothing. She’d chosen the least expensive prairie dresses for herself and a pale blue dress for Sunday that seemed well made and inexpensive. The same for Eileen. She’d picked dungarees and simple shirts for Jed.
Nate and Jed had gone down to the feed store, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d really gone after Margaret. No one could have missed how stricken the woman had been by the news. All Lucy’s earlier hopes of making this marriage work had taken a setback when she’d seen the kind of woman Nate should have married. What had Henry been thinking to match the two of them? They were so different.
She pushed her misgivings aside and perused the tables of fabric and ribbons. She had a few coins of her own, and when Eileen begged for a bit of blue ribbon, she hesitated, longing again to indulge the child. What if she needed it later for something more necessary? She shook her head, then froze in the aisle when she saw a man staring at her. The man had a shock of graying hair that fell across his broad forehead above hazel eyes and an aquiline nose. His eyes widened the longer he stared at her.
He took a step closer to her. “Jane?”
Her mother’s given name. Lucy forgot to breathe as she stared into the man’s face. Her mother’s eyes were the same shape and color, at least according to the locket around her neck.
“Drew, your supplies are ready,” the shopkeeper called.
Drew. “My name is Lucy. Are you Drew Larson?”
He rubbed his head. “I’m sorry to disturb you. You look so much like my deceased sister that it took me aback.”
“I’m Lucy, Jane’s daughter. I do believe you’re my Uncle Drew.”
He went white and took a step back. “Jane’s girl, Lucy? You were three the last time I saw you.” His hand trembled as he pointed at Eileen. “She looks like you did. She’s your daughter?”
Lucy shook her head. “This is my sister, Eileen. My brother, Jed, is outside helping my husband load the wagon.”
He glanced around the store. “Is your father here too?”
He hadn’t gotten the letter. Her eyes burned as she took his hand. “Pa died in a buggy accident. About three months ago. I sent you a letter, but it was only a few days ago. I didn’t find your address at first.”
The eagerness in his face vanished. His fingers tightened on hers. “I’m so sorry.”
Lucy clung to his hand and tried not to let her tears spill. “Thank you.”
With a visible effort, her uncle composed his expression. “What are you doing here?”
“I—I married last week and will be living here now.”
“Who is your husband?”
“Nate Stanton.”
His eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened. “Stanton.” He said the word as if it were a curse.
“You know him?”
He hooked a thumb in his belt loop. “He’s been a thorn in my skin for years. How did you end up with him? To my knowledge, he’s never left the county.”
“It’s a long story.”
“I have time,” he said in a clipped tone.
She bit her lip, then told him how she’d met Henry and the offer he presented. Uncle Drew’s face grew more thunderous as she went.
“So you married him sight unseen. You should have come to me instead.”
“I dislike burdening anyone with my problems. And quite honestly, I wasn’t sure your address was still accurate.”
“We’re family. The Stantons are enemies.”
She searched his forbidding expression. “Why? They’ve been nothing but good to me and the children.”
“They gobbled up land that rightly belonged to me. Nate has besmirched my name in the county with lies about my character.”
She winced. “I detest lying above all else,” she said when he paused, obviously waiting for a response from her.
“You’ll soon see that husband of yours is not a man to be trusted. If you need haven, my home is always open to you.”
She’d been around Nate only two days. So far he’d been merely gruff and taken aback at her arrival as any man would have been when a wife appeared unexpectedly. “Perhaps it is merely a misunderstanding between the two of you. My arrival could be the bridge to bring the two of you to a better relationship.”
His scowl deepened. “I want nothing to do with the Stantons unless he gives me back my land.”
Could there be any truth to her uncle’s accusations? She liked Henry, but she didn’t know him well. He was obsessed with land, land, and more land. But would he swindle someone for more? It grieved her to realize she didn’t know.
Her husband’s voice spoke from the doorway. “Lucy, I’m ready.”
He hadn’t seen them yet. She pressed her uncle’s hand. “I shall be in touch.” Stepping away from Drew, she answered Nate. “Coming.”
Nate smiled when he saw her, but his grin quickly faded when his gaze went over her shoulder. With his lips pressed together, he glared at Drew. “He been bothering you?”
She grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the door. “Not at all. I’ve got everything on my list, but we need to hurry home. I need to get dinner on the stove.” Please, Lord, don’t let him make a ruckus.
He walked toward the door with her. “Percy will have it under control.”
“We aren’t eating at the main house. Your father was insistent we stay at the cabin.”
Nate shrugged, and they stepped out onto the rough board sidewalk.
Lucy peeked back at the general store. She breathed a sigh when her uncle didn’t follow them outside. Drew had said the relationship was irreparable, but she would do all she could to bring peace between the two men. It was likely a misunderstanding. Then she remembered poor Margaret. Maybe Lucy didn’t know any of the Stantons well enough to make a judgment on the truth.
FOURTEEN
The wagon, laden with food, fabric, and planks of wood, lumbered along the road. Bits of mud, left from the melted snow, flew up from the wagon wheels. Nate risked a glance at Lucy. She hadn’t said much, and he had to wonder if she was angry. She didn’t look angry though. She looked tired and sad.
Though she was a tiny thing, her courage facing the wolf had startled him. She was a tiny Titan, and he was beginning to question his initial assessment of her. But the thing that stuck in his craw was that he hadn’t picked her for himself. A man wanted to choose his own wife. Not that she wasn’t attractive. Maybe that was half the trouble. Being around her made his palms sweaty.
Nate cleared his throat. “I thought me and Jed would build some more chairs with this lumber. Anything else you can think of, Lucy?”
“That’s a good start,” she said, her tone distant.
“You mad about something?” he asked, when she didn’t look at him.
When she finally turned her stare his way, her expression was cold. “What promises did you make that poor woman?”
He should have realized Margaret’s pain would bother her. “I never promised Margaret anything. I never even asked to call on her.”
“Then why was she so upset?”
“It was assumed by our families that we would someday join our spreads into one. A merger, if you will,” he admitted. “But though she would have been willing, I wasn’t so sure.”
After a long moment in which he held her gaze, she nodded. “I see that’s true. Poor Margaret.”
Nate had to wonder about this woman who was his wife. He would have felt rivalry toward another man, but Lucy seemed to see right to a person’s heart and feel something that mattered. She truly was sorry about Margaret’s pain.
Eileen nestled her head under his arm, and Nate looked down in surprise. The little girl’s long lashes lay soft against her pink cheeks, and his heart softened. His life was changing already, and parts of it felt mighty good. He wrapped his arm around Eileen and pulled her close so she didn’t jerk so badly when the wagon hit the ruts in the road.
Lucy brushed the blond hair back from Eileen’s face. “She’s tuckered o
ut. I think we all are.”
“I shouldn’t have made you come to town so quick.”
“I had to face them all sooner or later.”
“Later would’ve been better. I should’ve given you time.”
“It wasn’t your fault. I’m the interloper, the one who snatched a handsome, eligible man out from under their noses.”
Nate stared at her. Was that really the way she saw him? A warm glow of pleasure spread through his chest. Women had flirted with him before, but he’d always thought it was simply because he was a Stanton. Those women had wanted something from him—it seemed all women did.
He hunched his shoulders and stared ahead at the road. Lucy’s words were likely a ploy to make sure he didn’t send her packing. Or were they? Lucy had been nothing but honest with him, and for that matter, with everyone she’d encountered. Maybe she wasn’t a manipulator. How could he know for sure?
The cabin looked cold and forlorn when they stopped at the barn. This probably wasn’t what she expected when Pa told her of all their holdings, but she hadn’t faltered when she saw it. What did that say about her? Was he wrong about her?
Clouds gathered overhead, and cold drops of rain splashed onto Nate’s face. The wind freshened, and he squinted at the sky. “Storm’s coming, but at least it’s not snow.”
He jumped to the ground and held out his arms for Eileen. Lucy passed her down to him, and he held the little girl close to protect her from as much wetness as he could.
“Jed, help your sister down, then see to the animals,” he said. “When you’re done, start bringing in the supplies. I’ll be right out to help you.”
“Yes, sir.” Jed jumped from the wagon. He helped Lucy down, then led the horses inside the barn.
The rain began to come down in earnest, hard droplets that chilled him instantly. Holding Eileen in one arm, Nate took Lucy’s arm, then they ran toward the house, splashing through the rivulets of mud that were already beginning to fill the yard.
He threw open the door and followed Lucy inside. It wasn’t as cold as he had expected. Heat still radiated from the last of the fire. The rain drummed on the tin roof as he handed Eileen to Lucy then went to stir up the embers.
Blue Moon Promise Page 10
