Mail Order Bride Collection (A Timeless Romance Anthology Book 16)

by Stacy Henrie

  Katie’s stomach knotted with nervousness at the thought of Jake’s return and what that would mean, but she wasn’t sure how long she could go on living with Eliza and Caleb without the propriety that marriage would afford. Her life here lacked the sophistication and affluence she’d once known, but she already loved the rugged beauty of the land and the simplicity of their everyday life.

  Working alongside Eliza had also given Katie a purpose, and she cherished the older woman’s kindhearted acceptance. Would Jake treat her the same way? Would he ever feel more for her than that? Unbidden, the memory of Caleb’s hands around hers filled her mind. She pushed the image away and tightened her hold on the broom handle.

  “I hope we hear something soon,” she said.

  “Me too,” Eliza agreed.

  After lunch, Eliza stayed seated while she talked Katie through the process of making biscuits. And, when Katie took the puffy, golden brown circles out of the oven, Eliza was full of praise for her first-time effort.

  “They’re as near perfect as I’ve ever seen,” Eliza said, struggling to come to her feet.

  Katie put down the towel in her hand and hurried over to Eliza’s side.

  “Are you ready to lie down for a bit?” she asked.

  Reluctantly, Eliza nodded. “This fool lumbago’s such a nuisance, but I’ve learned that, if I rest up the first day, the pain’s usually better the next.”

  “That sounds very wise,” Katie said, offering Eliza her arm as they made their way slowly to the bedroom.

  “Why don’t you leave the biscuits cooling and go out and get some fresh air while I’m resting,” Eliza suggested.

  Katie gave her a grateful smile. “Maybe I will,” she said.

  The air felt damp as Katie made her way down the narrow path that led to the meadow. She tucked her shawl more closely around her shoulders and glanced at the sky. Patches of pale blue were still visible, but, to the south, a bank of dark gray clouds was rolling steadily nearer, portending rain by the end of the day.

  The birds, which usually maintained a continual chorus, were silent, the sound of their voices replaced by a steady rumble that vibrated through the ground. Katie could hear the lowing of cattle up ahead, and, when she turned the bend, her feet came to an abrupt halt. The meadow, which usually rolled out like an expansive green carpet all the way to the river, was completely hidden beneath a mass of moving steers.

  Katie slowly moved toward a nearby fence. She stepped onto the lowest rung and watched in wonder as two cowboys rode up from behind the herd, one on one side and one on the other, using their horses to guide the moving cattle toward the open gate of the south pasture. While the steers jostled for position, mooing loudly as they pushed and shoved against each other, the cowboys funneled the cattle through the narrow opening.

  All of a sudden, a steer broke loose, bolting away from the gate. With a warning shout, the cowboy that she recognized as Caleb turned Mica around and galloped after the escaping steer. His arm shot up, his hand swinging a circle of rope. Seconds later, the rope sailed through the air and slipped around the steer’s neck.

  The steer staggered to a stop as Caleb drew up beside it. With its head in a noose, all the fight left the animal, and it fell into step beside Mica. When they reached the gate, Caleb leaned down from his saddle and pulled off the rope. Without a backward glance, the steer ambled into the pasture to join his herd. Then the second cowboy moved from his position beside the gate, swinging it closed and latching it.

  Katie stood on the fence for a few more minutes, watching the cattle milling around as Caleb conferred with the other cowboy. Then a large raindrop landed on her cheek. She looked up as a roll of thunder sounded, and, all at once, the rain started falling in earnest.

  Jumping off the fence, she ran for the path that led to the cabin. Behind her, she heard the echo of hooves on the ground, then the hissing of something flying past her ear. Suddenly, a rope snaked down from her shoulders to her waist.

  “Caleb!” she gasped, swinging around as he and Mica drew closer. “You roped me!”

  “Yep,” he said with a grin. “And you were movin’ pretty quick.”

  “Take it off,” she said, squirming to free herself.

  He reached down and gently pulled at the wet rope around her waist, his touch quickening her pulse. The rope fell to the ground, and Katie stepped out of it and away from Caleb. With the speed that comes from practice, he looped the rope over his saddle horn, and then he stretched out his arm to her.

  “The storm’s coming in fast,” he said, rain now dripping off the brim of his hat. “I’ll give you a ride to the cabin.”

  Katie took another step back. She wanted to sit astride a horse again more than she could say, but she was afraid— afraid that if she put her arms around Caleb as he rode home, she wouldn’t want to let go. To protect her arrangement with Jake, she knew that she had to keep her distance.

  “I can run,” she said.

  Thunder rolled again, and Mica sidestepped nervously.

  Caleb frowned. “You’ll get soaking wet.”

  “I’m already wet,” she said, backing up farther. “I’ll see you at dinner.” Then, before he could say anything more, she turned, lifted the hem of her dress, and hurried up the wet, muddy path.

  Chapter Eight

  Katie went straight to her room and stripped out of her wet clothes. Taking a towel, she dried her hands and face and put on her clean blue dress. Then she moved back into the kitchen and sat down in front of the stove. One by one, she pulled the pins out of her hair until it fell like a damp curtain all the way to her waist. She turned slightly, hoping the heat from the stove would speed her hair’s drying time.

  Suddenly, the front door flew open. She swung around, and Caleb stepped in, dripping water all over the floor and panting as though he’d just finished a race.

  “I need your help, Katie,” he said, his words coming out in gasps. “Echo’s in trouble.”

  She stood up. “The foal?”

  He nodded. “It’s coming. But something’s not right.”

  Katie ran to her room and snatched her wet shawl off the floor. Tossing it over her head, she raced back to the kitchen where Caleb had the door open again. Lowering her head against the driving rain, she sprinted toward the barn.

  Caleb barely beat her there. He shut the door behind them and took off his hat, shaking the moisture from it onto the floor before hanging it on a nail beside some horse tack. Katie took off her shawl and did the same thing. Then they both moved quietly toward Echo’s stall.

  The mare was lying in the straw. As they drew near, the muscles across her torso rippled, and she gave an agonized groan. Katie fell to her knees beside the struggling horse.

  “It’s all right, Echo,” she said, running her hand down the horse’s neck. “It will be over soon.” She looked over at Caleb. “What’s wrong?”

  Caleb was rolling up his sleeves next to a bar of soap and a bucket of water. “There’s only one hoof in the birthing canal,” he said. “No sign of the nose yet. But, if I can’t get the other hoof and the head down in the next few minutes, it’s going to be too hard to work against these strong contractions.”

  Katie swallowed hard. She’d seen this happen to a foaling mare once before, but that time there’d been a vet, her father, and three experienced stable hands available to help.

  “Lubricate your arm as well as you can,” she said. “Follow the one leg until you feel the foal’s chest. That should guide you to its face, nose, and other leg.”

  “Can you let me know when she has her next contraction?” he asked.

  Katie nodded and placed a gentle hand on Echo’s abdomen. Almost immediately, she felt the muscles begin to tighten.

  “It’s coming,” she said.

  Caleb knelt at Echo’s tail, placing his hand on the tiny, sack-covered hoof protruding from the horse’s birth canal. Echo groaned again, her eyes rolling, and Caleb’s arm disappeared. Katie stroked Echo’s nec
k, talking softly. Caleb closed his eyes, and Katie saw beads of sweat appear on his forehead as he leaned up against the horse’s rump.

  “The head’s in position,” he said through gritted teeth. “I’ve just got to get the other hoof.”

  Echo shook her head and raised her shoulders as if she were about to rise.

  “Keep her down,” Caleb urged. “I’m almost there.”

  “Lie still, Echo,” Katie said. “Lie still.”

  Echo rubbed her nose against Katie’s long hair before flopping back into the straw as her muscles tensed again.

  “Another contraction,” Katie said.

  Caleb’s grunt coincided with Echo’s groan.

  “It’s through,” he gasped as his hand reemerged holding a second tiny hoof.

  Relief flooded Katie’s heart. Caleb slid back on his heels, and, as the contraction peaked, he grasped both of the foal’s hooves and pulled gently. Immediately, a little nose appeared. Moments later, the head and shoulders were through. Echo gave one more groan, and, with a whoosh, the foal was born.

  Looking exhausted, Caleb got to his feet and walked over to the bucket. He washed his hands and arms then dried them on a towel. Katie rose from her position at Echo’s head and moved to stand beside him. He reached for her hand, and she threaded her fingers between his, watching as the mare met her foal for the very first time.

  “It’s a miracle,” she said. “Every time, it’s a miracle.”

  She turned to look at him. As their eyes met, he raised his free hand to her cheek, and she leaned into it. He drew her closer and bent his head until his lips touched hers. Gently, he ran his fingers through her long hair, and, as she responded to his touch, his kiss deepened.

  When they finally drew apart, Katie’s legs felt as wobbly as the newborn foal’s.

  “Heaven help me— I’ve done this all wrong,” Caleb breathed. Then, releasing her abruptly, he stepped out of the stall.

  In a few long strides, he had his cowboy hat in hand and the barn door open. A gust of wind blew in, and the tack clanged against the post. He turned back to face her.

  “I have to write Jake,” he said.

  Katie reached for the stall railing. “What will you tell him?”

  The agony in his eyes now was as real as the tenderness she’d seen there just moments before.

  “That I’ve fallen in love with his bride,” he said.

  The door closed behind him, and Katie lowered herself to the straw-covered floor.

  “Perhaps you should tell him that she’s fallen in love with you too,” she whispered.

  She had to leave. After tossing and turning in bed until the early hours of the morning, examining one heartbreaking scenario after another, Katie had come up with no other solution. If Jake were to walk through the cabin door tomorrow, she couldn’t marry him— not when she knew full well that she was in love with his brother. And, if Jake didn’t return for weeks, living and working beside Caleb while knowing they would have no future together would be torture for them both.

  With almost no money to her name, her first priority would have to be finding a job. Then, once she’d saved enough for a train ticket, she’d have to decide on a destination as far from Walker Ranch as she could go. Saratoga Springs held little appeal. Even though there was some comfort in familiarity, she didn’t want to return to the painful memories that New York held. She’d have to pick up the pieces of her broken dreams and patch them together somewhere else.

  The most obvious answer to her financial difficulties was to go into Birch Creek to see if there were any positions available at the hotel or the mercantile. She didn’t relish the thought of running into Amy Skidmore again, but Katie knew from past experiences that desperation enabled a person to face a great many unpleasant things. Asking Caleb to take her into town would be another of those. But it would have to be done.

  Katie heard the shuffle of feet coming from Eliza’s room and knew she had waited long enough. Slipping out of bed, she hurried to dress before the cold floor spread its chill any farther than her feet. She ran a brush through her hair, blocking out the treacherous memories of Caleb’s embrace as she plaited her hair into a long braid and deftly wound it into a coil at the base of her neck. It could not be loose when she saw him again.

  She entered the kitchen at the same time as Eliza. The older lady was walking slowly, but she didn’t seem as stiff as she had the day before.

  “How are you feeling?” Katie asked.

  “No better than you, by the look of things.” Eliza reached out to touch Katie’s cheek. “You’re very pale.”

  Katie gave a wan smile. “I’m afraid I didn’t sleep very well.”

  “And no wonder,” Eliza said. “You had a very eventful time yesterday.”

  Katie’s heartbeat quickened. How much did Eliza know? After Caleb had left the barn, Katie had stayed to do the afternoon milking and had lingered there late into the evening, waiting for the storm to pass and watching Echo and her foal. She’d missed dinner and had returned after Eliza had retired.

  “Caleb told me he couldn’t have managed without you,” she said. “Said he’s thinking of naming the foal Saratoga.”

  Katie’s eyes widened. “Saratoga?”

  “Yes. Fitting, don’t you think? That young colt had to fight a mighty battle to get here,” Eliza explained. “And you came all the way from Saratoga Springs to help him win it.”

  “It is a good name,” Katie said, touched by Caleb’s thoughtfulness.

  Eliza looked pleased. “Well now,” she said, tying on her apron. “I think this aching old body might be up for making breakfast if you’d be willing to take care of the milking again.”

  Thanks to Caleb, Eliza’s request didn’t fill Katie with the same panic she’d experienced the day before.

  “I’m not as efficient as you,” Katie said, “but I think I can manage it.”

  “Take all the time you need,” Eliza replied, carefully reaching across the table for a bowl of eggs. “I daresay I’ll be moving a mite slower than usual too.”

  An hour later, Katie returned to the cabin with a pail of milk and a small basket of eggs.

  “The pigs and chickens are fed,” she said. “And I let Daisy out into the meadow.”

  “Thank you, dear.” Eliza handed her a plate of eggs and biscuits. “Now, come get some breakfast.”

  Katie glanced at the chair that Caleb usually occupied. “Is Caleb not eating today?” she asked, dreading their next meeting, yet aching to see him again.

  “Oh, he’s come and gone already,” Eliza said. “I must say, I’ve never seen him be so anxious to go into town. Said he had business he had to take care of right away, and he left as soon as it was light.”

  Katie lowered her fork. He was sending his letter to Jake. “Did… did he give you any idea when he’d be back?”

  “Can’t say that he did,” Eliza said, giving her a curious look. “But I don’t suppose he’ll be too long. Sometime early this afternoon, I’d wager.”

  Katie stared down at her plate, her appetite now gone. “I’m sorry, Eliza,” she said, “but I don’t seem to be very hungry this morning.”

  Concern filled the older woman’s eyes, and she studied Katie’s pallid complexion more carefully. “Are you sickening with something, child?”

  Katie shook her head. “I’m fine,” she said, feigning a cheerfulness that she didn’t feel. “What chores do you have for me today?”

  Eliza looked unconvinced. “I don’t want you overdoing things,” she said.

  Katie leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the older woman’s cheek. “I won’t, I promise,” she said. Then, with a small smile, she added, “But you have to promise the same.”

  Chapter Nine

  Caleb had ridden hard, giving Mica his head on the open meadows and pushing him upward on the steeper climbs. The buffeting canyon wind was a perfect reflection of the battering his heart had experienced over the last twenty-four hours, and he felt
physically and emotionally spent. He rode into town, determined to have the letter, which he’d spent all night composing, on its way to Jake on the first available train. But, before Caleb could mail it, the postmaster handed him an envelope addressed to Katie in Jake’s distinctive handwriting.

  With a sinking feeling, Caleb accepted the letter, got back into the saddle, and started for home less than ten minutes after his arrival in Birch Creek. He didn’t know what the envelope contained, but his gut told him that his future happiness would depend upon what was written within the folds of the papers now lying in his inside jacket pocket.

  When he reached the ranch, Caleb dismounted and led Mica into his stall in the barn. Grabbing a brush and a towel from a small pile in the corner, he began the horse’s regular rub down. A hint of lavender reached him, and he groaned.

  “Am I always to be tortured by that smell, Mica?” he asked.

  The stallion snorted, pushing his nose against the empty water bucket.

  “Don’t give me that, you big phony!” Caleb said. “You may think water’s more important right now, but I’ll wager you’d feel pretty low if Katie were to stop coming to see you.”

  He gave Mica some water and feed then checked on Echo and Saratoga. Already the young colt was prancing around the stall, testing his legs and his mother’s patience. Caleb smiled. Katie had been right: yesterday, they’d witnessed a miracle. He pulled Jake’s letter out of his pocket and gazed at it. Was it too much to ask for another one?

  When he entered the cabin, Katie and his mother were making cheese at the kitchen table.

  “Goodness, Caleb, that was a fast trip!” his mother said.

  Katie’s hands froze over the cheesecloth bag she had been squeezing. She looked over at him, her blue eyes appearing troubled.

  “I have a letter for Katie,” he said, holding out the envelope.