“I’ll be certain to tell Mother. And, hopefully, she’ll drop this ridiculous idea.” Rosie wiped her eyes with an embroidered handkerchief.
“Whether she does or she doesn’t has no bearing on you.” Michael smiled at her and touched her face. Soft as satin and warm. He couldn’t believe he was about to say this. “Now that I’ve gotten to know you, I trust you completely.”
“Odd turn of events considering we got off on the wrong foot when we first met,” she reminded him.
“My opinion of you has changed for the better. You’re remarkable. I’d planned to ask your mother’s permission to court you.” He trailed his fingers down her cheek.
Rosie gasped. “And now?” Her hand reached up and rested atop his.
“I’m not certain what to think about your mother. But I’m not letting her misplaced intentions dissuade me from the courting,” Michael vowed. “I definitely see you in my future.”
Before he realized what he was doing, he leaned down and caressed her lips with his in a quick, feathery kiss that surprised them both. “I’m sorry. I probably shouldn’t have done that,” he said, softly.
“You probably shouldn’t have.” Rosie giggled and peeked up at him, smiling mischievously. “But you could do it once again to be certain.”
Michael laughed. Oh, how she tempted him, but reason won out over longing. “No, ma’am. I’m going back to work.”
With that said, he strode toward the corral, leaving Rosie standing alone in the garden. McLennon men respected the women they hoped to marry one day. And he wasn’t certain, but he suspected he might have found that woman.
Chapter 14
Rosie wandered into the kitchen the next morning after tossing and turning and getting very little sleep. She would never forgive her mother for her conniving scheme to selfishly declare herself the rightful owner of the Double M. Especially now, after the decades’ worth of improvements the McLennon family completed which obviously increased the property’s value since the day AJ inherited it back in 1855.
“Good morning,” Lily greeted her. “You look worn out and it’s barely eight o’clock.”
“I feel limp as a washrag,” Rosie muttered, slumping onto a kitchen chair. She couldn’t imagine how she would ever explain what her mother had in mind. “Is Mother here?”
“Actually, she’s not.” Lily glanced at Mrs. Sheridan.
“She stormed into the kitchen around seven o’clock, dressed like it was Sunday morning and she was late to services,” Mrs. Sheridan explained. “She demanded I find someone to drive her to Butte, which I did.”
“Butte?” Rosie exclaimed. Her mother must have altered her plans after Rosie warned her the lawyer in Milestone wouldn’t represent her.
“Yes, to Butte. Anna never mentioned if she’d be returning tonight or what her plans were. Jackson sent a less experienced ranch hand with her so it won’t matter if the fellow’s waylaid in Butte for a day or two.” Mrs. Sheridan poured Rosie a cup of coffee and placed it in front of her. “Drink that, miss. You look like you need it.”
Rosie felt her face flaming. So that was her mother’s intentions. If the local lawyer wouldn’t help her win the ranch away from AJ, as Rosie had informed her last night, Anna would move farther afield to succeed in her ploy. Rosie sipped her coffee. She couldn’t believe how devious her mother had become.
Why had Rosie ever written that letter informing her mother where she’d traveled to and the reason for the trip? All of this nonsense could have been avoided if she’d kept her mother in the dark. But Rosie never considered her mother capable of such underhandedness.
“I’m furious with Mother. You wouldn’t believe her intentions.” Rosie wrapped her hands around the cup to warm them. She shivered slightly, chilled to the bone from lack of sleep. Or from embarrassment. Or devastation.
“Nothing would surprise me,” Mrs. Sheridan muttered, standing at the woodstove and preparing a plate of eggs for Rosie and Lily.
“Try us?” Lily added. “What is she planning?”
Rosie heaved a sigh. “She’s convinced Mr. Miller fathered her, and she’s taken it into her head that had he known, he would have bequeathed the ranch to her, and not some insignificant ranch hand as she referred to AJ.”
Mrs. Sheridan chuckled. “That’s a stretch if I’ve ever heard one.”
“I agree. That estate was settled decades ago.” Lily occupied a chair beside Rosie. “I doubt any judge would overturn a decision made over thirty years ago.”
“My thinking, too. But Mother won’t hear a word of it.” Rosie shook her head. “I’m so embarrassed by all of this. And I’ve no idea what is motivating such blatant greed.”
“There’s no explaining some folks’ thinking,” Mrs. Sheridan said, sounding every bit the wise sage.
Rosie whispered, “When I talked with Mother last night, I even confided my feelings for Michael. That he told me he intends to court me.”
Lily gasped. “That’s wonderful,” she exclaimed, beaming. “Oh, I pray that it works out between you two.”
“I couldn’t be more pleased about this.” Mrs. Sheridan served both young ladies their breakfasts.
“Well, even the prospect of having me become a part of the McLennon family and living on this ranch the rest of my days wasn’t good enough for Mother. She went so far as to declare I want every last McLennon off my father’s ranch.” Rosie brushed at the tears slowly sliding down her cheeks.
Mrs. Sheridan gasped.
Lily shook her head. “What is that woman thinking?”
“I’m so afraid Michael will turn his back on me if she succeeds in pursuing this.” Finally at age twenty, Rosie had found someone she could love. Someone who’d remain true and shared similar feelings as her. There’d been a reason for her trip to Montana and she firmly believed meeting Michael and falling in love with him had been the purpose. Now, like Grandmother Lucille, would she lose the man of her dreams due to parental interference? The thought of such misfortune angered Rosie more than she would have believed possible. She silently vowed to attempt anything to prevent such a tragedy.
“I’ve seen how that young man looks at you. There isn’t a doubt in my mind… he’s completely smitten.” Lily reached out and grasped Rosie’s hand. “Whatever happens, Michael McLennon would never desert you. Unless I miss my guess, he’d be more than willing to team up against your mother if you asked him.”
“I’m totally on AJ’s side.” Rosie met eyes with each lady in turn. “My mother wouldn’t know a Hereford from a ground hog. Why would she demand ownership of a ranch?”
“To sell it,” Lily and Mrs. Sheridan answered in unison.
Rosie gasped. “No.”
Lily nodded. “Oh, yes.”
“Why else?” Mrs. Sheridan added. “She obviously has no use for the land or the animals or the people living and working here. She would sell the place in a heartbeat, high-tail it to Boston with a newly fattened bank account, and never look back.”
Rosie swallowed hard, bile rising in her throat. “We cannot allow such a thing to happen,” she whispered. “Poor AJ would be devastated. All of you would.”
“Absolutely.” Lily leapt off the chair. “We need to talk to AJ and Jackson about this, and the sooner the better.”
“I don’t doubt Michael has discussed the entire matter with them already, after we talked yesterday,” Rosie speculated. “He’d be foolish if he hadn’t given them a warning.”
“That would be my guess. Now sit down and eat your breakfast, ladies.” Mrs. Sheridan stood, hands on hips. “Not ten minutes after your mother left, AJ and Michael saddled up. Told me they were headed to Milestone and wouldn’t be back before supper at six.”
Rosie blew out her breath and collapsed back on her chair. “I pray they stop Mother before this entire matter gets out of hand. No one deserves to live on this ranch more than AJ and his family. No one.”
“I couldn’t agree more.” Lily peeked at her son, sleeping peacefully
in his crib before returning to her chair.
“Even if your mother somehow proves Michael Miller was her father, the poor man will be rolling in his grave if she so much as attempts to overturn his last wishes and remove this family from the Double M.” Mrs. Sheridan whipped off her apron and tossed in onto the kitchen table. “I need to take a walk and calm down. This foolishness isn’t good for my heart.”
Rosie gasped. “Do you have a bad heart?”
“Not that I know of, but I’m not taking chances,” Mrs. Sheridan quipped, winking at Rosie. “Besides, I should pop in and say hello to Sammy. He’s always coming up here and dropping off biscuits or something. Baked a cake this morning, and I believe I’d like to share a piece with him.”
“It’s only eight-thirty in the morning,” Lily exclaimed, stuffing a forkful of eggs into her mouth.
“Is there a rule that you can’t eat cake at eight-thirty?”
Lily met Rosie’s eyes. Rosie shrugged, enjoying her own breakfast.
“Didn’t think so.” Mrs. Sheridan slid the cake plate off the counter and took it out the door with her. “Be a couple dears when you’re done eating, and wash the breakfast dishes for me, please.”
“All right,” Lily called as the door closed behind her.
“You wash. I’ll dry,” Rosie suggested, always happy to lend a hand. “At least, she could have left each of us a slice of cake.”
Lily grinned. “Mrs. Sheridan and Sammy are quite smitten with each other. They’re always exchanging recipes or bringing each other little tidbits and treats. There’s over twenty years difference in age between them, but it doesn’t seem to matter one iota.”
“Over twenty years?”
“Sammy is seventy-three, I believe. Jackson has hinted Sammy should take it easy, but as ranch manager, my husband hasn’t had any luck finding another cook.” Lily filled the kettle and placed it on the woodstove to boil, adding a log to the fire as she spoke.
“Goodness, I wouldn’t imagine Mrs. Sheridan is much past fifty,” Rosie offered a guess.
“Fifty-one. But keeping house for the family is enough for her to handle. She’s not cooking for all the men down in the cookhouse as well.” Lily fetched the dishwashing tub and placed it on the table before pouring the steaming water into it. “Let’s get these dishes done before Edward wakes up and wants his breakfast.”
“And let’s hope Simon and AJ have a successful day in Milestone,” Rosie added. If the McLennon family were forced off the Double M Ranch, she would never forgive herself for ever reading her grandmother’s diaries and putting this miscarriage of justice in motion.
Chapter 15
Michael gazed at the darkening sky in the distant north. Rainstorm on the way, he reckoned. Might miss them here in Milestone and on the Double M, but Butte would see some wet weather today. He hoped Rosie hadn’t taken it into her head to go riding today. Best if she remained at home safe and warm and dry. Why his mind had immediately wandered to the pretty easterner’s well-being, he hadn’t a clue. Or so he hoped to convince himself. He suspected he’d be thinking about her quite frequently, now that he’d realized the depth of her character and her true intentions for showing up at the ranch.
He’d shared Rosie’s story with his pa last night, and they’d considered it wise to consult with Jamieson Davies. AJ insisted they meet with the lawyer as soon as possible to counter any action Anna planned to initiate in her pursuit to overturn Michael Miller’s bequest. After Anna departed from the ranch, AJ accompanied Michael to town.
Michael rode his mare down Main Street, riding alongside his pa. The two of them tied their horses’ reins to the hitching rail outside the DAVIES LAW OFFICE, and then without exchanging a word, they wandered inside.
“Good morning, Agnes,” AJ greeted Jamieson’s aunt who worked for him.
Agnes Davies stood when they entered the office. “Good morning, AJ. You, too, Michael.”
“What is Jamieson doing this morning? We’d like to speak with him, if possible.”
A few moments later, Agnes showed them into her nephew’s office and the three of them discussed the matter in question at great length. After he and his father finished presenting the issue to Jamieson, Michael sat holding his breath and waited for the lawyer’s opinion.
“That is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Jamieson decreed. “What’s the dang woman thinking?”
“I suppose Anna truly believes her interpretation of Lucille’s version in her diary is correct,” AJ suggested.
“Greed,” Michael blurted. “Even Anna’s daughter, Rosie, told me her mother has no interest in the ranch except for the value it represents. If she succeeds in acquiring ownership of the Double M, Anna will sell the ranch in a heartbeat and return to city life without a moment’s hesitation.”
“City gal, you say? I’d wager you’re right in that thinking, Michael.” Jamieson leaned back in his chair.
“I refuse to believe what’s written in those diary entries.” AJ sat, arms crossed, in the chair facing the lawyer. “I won’t stop until I prove the wording false. I don’t believe Lucille was deliberately lying, but she didn’t divulge the entire truth either.”
Jamieson met his eyes. “How do you mean?”
“Knowing Michael Miller as I did, there’s no possible way he’d compromise Lucille Woodley. No chance at all. When I was a young man, Michael lectured me on respecting ladies. Don’t matter how old I was, he’d have blistered my tail feathers if he’d caught me dishonoring a young lady’s virtue. And Michael wasn’t a man to preach one thing while he partook of another.”
Jamieson leaned across his desk. “I was well acquainted with Michael Miller in his later years, and I believe you.”
“Some other fellow is Anna’s father. No one will convince me otherwise. And I’m not inventing tales to protect my inheritance of the Double M, as Anna claimed when she talked over her intentions with Rosie.”
Michael heard his father’s conviction in his voice, and his determination to search out the truth couldn’t be more evident on his face. His father would never stop trying to prove the accusation against his youngest son’s namesake. His pa would stake the ranch on his opinion being the correct one, and his father wouldn’t make the wager lightly. Mind you, if Anna had her eye on winning the Double M for herself, Michael supposed in a way his pa was actually betting the ranch he was right.
“Well, AJ, if you don’t believe Michael Miller fathered that gal, then who do you reckon it was?” Jamieson ventured.
“That’s a damn good question.”
“And we need to find an answer before that blasted easterner steals your ranch out from under you.” Jamieson pointed a finger at AJ. “I’m not sitting by and allowing that to happen.”
“Be warned, Rosie’s mother left for Butte this morning to hire herself an attorney,” Michael chimed in. “No idea who she has in mind, but we’d best be prepared for anything.”
“There are only a few attorney’s in Butte, and I’m friends with most of them.” Jamieson scratched his chin. “I’ll send off a telegraph to a few of the more prominent ones like Kenneth Sturgeon and Randolph Barnes. Then I’ll wait to hear if Anna has retained anyone.”
AJ stood and extended his hand. “We appreciate any help with this you can provide, Jamieson.”
The lawyer shook his hand. “AJ, I won’t allow this damned easterner to steal your ranch.”
“Thank you. That can’t happen,” Michael added, glancing at his father. “That ranch is my pa’s entire life. If he lost it…”
Jamieson clasped Michael’s hand tightly. “He won’t. I promise you. I’ll stop that from happening or find someone else who’ll do it.”
“You always win your cases. We know you’ll handle this matter the best way possible.” AJ stuck his Stetson on his head. “We’ll be back in town on Friday, and we’ll drop by to see if you have any news for us.”
“Should know something by then,” Jamieson suggested, holding open
his office door. “You folks take care and I’ll see you in a few days.”
Michael led the way outside and paused on the sidewalk. “Do you reckon he’ll prevent Anna from succeeding in her plan to claim the ranch as hers?” His voice caught on the last few words, unable to hide his fears from his pa.
AJ slapped his son on the back. “Don’t worry, son. No one’s stealing the Double M from the McLennons. Not as long as there’s breath in this old body.”
“Pa, I surely hope not,” he muttered. “I’m plenty fond of my home.”
“Same here, son. I’ve spent most of my life building up the Double M to the success it is today. No one’s claiming everything I’ve worked so hard for, as theirs.” AJ spoke his conviction with a strong, determined voice.
Michael nodded. Keeping his namesake’s bequest in the family meant everything to him. Born eight years after Mr. Miller’s death, Michael had never known the man who’d been such a powerful influence on his pa. But he’d heard stories of the wonderful man his entire life, and Michael wore his namesake’s moniker proudly.
“Let’s head home, son. We’ve got a ranch to run, and I predict the Double M will remain in the family for decades to come.” AJ untied his horse’s reins and mounted up.
“Pa, you’ve always told me to never turn your back on a mama bear, especially one with a cub. Keep your eye on her or likely as not, you’ll regret it.” Michael mounted up.
“Are you comparing Anna to a mama bear?”
“Could say that. We need to keep a lookout for the enemy’s next move.” Michael didn’t trust that conniving woman, not for a moment.
“And two sets of eyes are better than one,” AJ agreed. “I reckon on outsmarting this mama bear. To do so we’ll need all the sets of eyes we can rustle up.”
“I’m right fond of that mama bear’s daughter. And I know she’ll be keeping an eye on her mother, same as us.” Michael rode alongside his pa out of town, silently praying they could prevent any disaster ensuing.
He hadn’t admitted to his pa how hard he’d fallen for Rosie, but he couldn’t imagine life without her. What would happen to them if Anna succeeded in winning the ranch from his family? He hoped his and Rosie’s feelings for each other proved strong enough to weather this storm. And trying every way possible to stop Anna in her pursuit couldn’t hurt. Especially with Rosie on their side.
A Lost Love's Legacy (Sons Of A Gun Book 5) Page 10
