“We had a rough day,” Jonathon answered before turning to Alexandria. “Go change into some dry clothes,” Jonathon ordered.
With stiff, awkward steps she moved to obey. The steps seemed steeper than usual as she climbed to her room and opened the door. Inside, she stripped and stood shivering a moment before pulling on her underclothes and a light green flannel dress, with cream-colored flowers scattered across it. It was the warmest dress she owned and she refused to wear her mourning clothes this afternoon. She needed cheering and her widow’s weeds would be anything but cheerful.
She sat down at the dressing table and loosened her braid to brush through her thick, wet tresses. Her hair needed to dry. Alexandria reached for a green ribbon and tied her hair off her face and left it hanging down her back in loose curls. Alexandria studied her face. She looked young; she didn’t feel young. Wide, sad eyes stared back her; she wasn’t certain that she recognized the woman in the mirror. Alexandria shook herself and stood. There were people waiting on her.
She entered the kitchen for Jonathon to place her in a chair by the fire.
“I need to help with dinner,” she attempted to stand. Jonathon handed her a bowl, potatoes, and a knife. Alexandria stared at the items a moment before smiling.
“Thank you,” she started peeling.
“How are things going out on the range?” Anna asked her sister.
“More cattle are missing,” Alexandria answered “and…we watched a calf drown, it was stuck in the stream and the water was rising too rapidly.”
“That well then? Alexandria, I don’t want to make you mad, but are you sure you want to stay?”
“Yes,” Alexandria answered without looking up from her work. Jonathon surveyed her, sitting as she was; the fire cast a glow over her and showed off her beautiful high cheekbones, straight nose, and full lips. She put up a good front he mused, but he had seen behind her façade to the delicate person underneath.
Alexandria looked up from under thick lashes and frowned at Jonathon.
“Are you okay?” she asked him. Her eyes were a perfect contrast to her dark hair and pale skin. Some women were everyday beauties, like Anna. Alexandria was a rare beauty, unique, he acknowledged to himself.
“I’m fine,” he assured her and tore his gaze from hers to find Anna watching him curiously. Jonathon turned his attention to Lilly.
Anna wasn’t certain what had just happened, but she had the feeling that something had and it bothered her.
***
Alexandria gasped as lightening forked across the green sky. She was huddled in the corner; someone was coming up the stairs for her. In the distance the calf was bawling and her sister’s words from earlier in the evening rang in her ear: “You two sure are getting cozy these days, Lexie.” Alexandria sat upright in the bed and searched the room for the images and sounds that had been plaguing her. All was quiet, she had been dreaming. Alexandria pushed hair from her face with a shaking hand and threw aside her twisted covers. After the dreams she had been having, she had no desire to go back to sleep. She pulled on the dress she had been wearing before bed, slipped on her shoes and a sweater, and crept down the stairs and into the yard.
She stopped, inhaled deeply of the crisp morning air, and let it out in a slow ribbon that curled into the air and vanished. She loved this time of year when warm currents of air caressed the days making them pleasant and evening and morning belonged to the chilly grip of winter. Alexandria crossed the yard, let herself into the barn and carried a lantern to the hayloft where she knew she would find a new litter of kittens.
She gathered a soft, warm, furry body into her lap and started petting the kitten’s back. Its soft rhythmic purr filled the still morning air. Alexandria let her thoughts wander. What should she do about the missing cattle? What could she do? She had placed an ad in the paper for more help in hopes of tightening security but so far had not received a response. She couldn’t keep losing her herd a small handful at a time.
They had lost a total of seventy-five head of cattle. Not an overwhelming loss but still a disturbing one. She also realized that she had been depending on Jonathon too much. She needed to be more independent, more self-sufficient rather than turning to her foreman and friend. The truth was, she wasn’t certain how to do that, she needed his help and as hard as she tried being independent she couldn’t do it alone. But what if he decided to leave? He certainly had the right to. She would not only be in trouble with the ranch, she would miss him, she realized. Jonathon had become a good friend to her. If Jonathon decided to move on or marry, she had no choice but to wish him well and pray for his happiness; she could do no less for her friend.
She had no illusions, though; she knew if he moved on she would be lost on the ranch. She had the unsettling feeling that Jonathon stood between her and something more ominous than she had yet to experience.
Alexandria shivered and forced her thoughts elsewhere.
What would her family do for her birthday? She was still in mourning so any kind of formal gathering was out of the question. She knew she was to join them for a special meal and figured that would be all this year. Alexandria sighed; she was tired of pretending to mourn. She missed Elijah’s friendship but a friend was all she had lost.
Jonathon entered the barn and frowned. Why was there a lantern burning in the loft? No one had any reason to be up there this time of morning. He climbed the ladder and paused at the top to smile. Alexandria sat crossed legged in the hay, a kitten curled in her lap. Wisps of hair had escaped her braid and created a dark halo around her head. She looked for all the world like a little girl.
“What are you doing out here so early?” Jonathon asked.
Alexandria looked up at him and smiled. “Thinking. I had bad dreams and couldn’t sleep,” she answered as Jonathon sat down beside her.
“What about?”
“Different things. It’s been a while since I had some time to myself…”
“I can leave,” Jonathon was already starting to stand. Alexandria stopped him with her hand on his arm.
“Stay. My thoughts were getting me nowhere.”
“I love this time of year,” Jonathon commented as though just noticing that it was a beautiful morning. “Everything is slowly coming to life and mornings are crisp and new, kind of like early apples.”
Alexandria was smiling beside him. “You aren’t a poet are you, Jonathon?”
Jonathon laughed. “No, but I do enjoy poetry.”
“You like poetry?” her head tilted inquisitively.
“Very much. Longfellow is one of my favorites, but I think Shakespeare is definitely at the top.”
“Shakespeare?” Alexandria looked shocked.
“What?” Jonathon demanded.
Alexandria was still staring at him in amazement. “You know Shakespeare?”
“’To be or not to be, that is the question:
Whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune…’ yes I know Shakespeare, now quit staring at me like that.”
“Hamlet,” Alexandria smiled. “’Fie, Fie! Unknit that threatening, unkind brow,
And dart not scornful glances from those eyes
To wound thy Lord, thy king, thy Governor.
It blots the beauty as frosts do bite the meads,”
“Taming of the Shrew,” Jonathon cut her off.
“You do know Shakespeare.”
“Why is that so shocking?” Jonathon asked her; she shrugged. “Do you like his sonnets or just his plays?”
“I like his sonnets, but I’m not as familiar with them,” Alexandria admitted.
“’Let me not into the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alterations finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no, it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wander
ing bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be
Taken
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.’ That’s my favorite,” Jonathon told her.
“Emily must have loved your ability to quote Shakespeare,” Alexandria commented with a smile.
“Actually, no. She was a wonderful woman but didn’t care for Shakespeare at all.”
“Oh,” Alexandria said in surprise.
“I never held it against her,” Jonathon smiled.
“Well, I wouldn’t let the ladies at church know that you can quote Shakespeare,” she teased.
Jonathon groaned. The ladies had church had redoubled their efforts to get his attention. “Please don’t let it slip that I can. I am so tired of being pursued…”
“Jonathon, most men would love to be in your position.”
“I’m not most men.”
“You still miss Emily?”
“I do. Not like I used to, but, at the moment I’m not looking for romance,” he grabbed a kitten from the pile and started petting it.
“Why not?”
“Why not? Excuse me, you’re the one who says she’s never marrying again, what gives you the right to ask that?” his tone was teasing.
“Curiosity.”
“You know what they say about curiosity…”
“Come on, Jonathon, you could have your pick of any girl at church. What’s holding you back?” she cut him off.
Jonathon sighed. “What’s holding you back?”
“I’m still in mourning,” she shrugged.
“Outwardly.”
“You know why I don’t intend to marry again. Why would I want to repeat that?”
“Who says you would?”
“Are you going to answer my question?” Alexandria’s tone was terse.
“I’ve met all of the women at church, if one of them was going to catch my attention; don’t you think that would have happened by now?” Jonathon asked, and then continued “When I meet someone who catches my attention, I’ll consider it.”
“That’s fair enough,” Alexandria conceded.
“What about you, Alexandria? Are you going to carry around your bitterness forever?”
“I’m not bitter!” she snapped.
“Aren’t you?” he asked gently.
Alexandria sighed. “Maybe with a little more time I’ll change my mind. Right now I don’t feel like I’ll ever want to marry again.”
“I need to get busy feeding these animals,” he said as he stood.
“Want some help?” she offered as she started to stand. Jonathon offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet.
“Sure, that would be nice,” Jonathon agreed. “Why don’t you pitch down some hay?”
“Okay,” she agreed and grabbed the nearby pitchfork.
Jonathon started feeding the horses below. He had just finished and was going to check Alexandria’s progress when he made the mistake of stopping beneath the hayloft. A large pile of hay landed on his head.
“Hey!” Jonathon protested.
Alexandria leaned over the side of the hayloft. “That’s what it is,” she responded with a cheeky smile.
“There’s more than enough here, come on down,” he suggested. Alexandria hurried down the ladder and turned to Jonathon, who stood, a hand behind his back, smiling.
“What are you doing?” she took a step backward. She wasn’t fast enough. Jonathon grabbed her and shoved a hand full of hay down the back of her dress as she let out an enraged squeal.
“Now we’re even,” he smiled.
Alexandria’s eyes narrowed. She grabbed a hand full of hay and Jonathon started dodging her. They were soon in an all-out war. Several minutes later, Jonathon pinned both hands behind her back to call a truce.
“Truce?” he offered. “Please accept, because I really do have work to do,” Jonathon was laughing.
“Truce,” she agreed.
Jonathon released her hands and wondered if she was aware that more of her hair was now down than up. Alexandria’s eyes were shining and her cheeks flushed. She looked so very alive and untroubled that Jonathon wanted to pause time right there. Alexandria had been through too much already.
“Have you had breakfast?” Alexandria queried after she had finished attempting to pluck hay from her dress and hair.
“Not yet.”
“So join us,” she offered.
“I’ll do that but I need to see to a couple of things here first.”
“Just let yourself in,” she told him as she started from the barn. “Hey Sparky,” she greeted the young cowhand as he passed her. Alexandria let herself into the house and greeted her sister, daughter, and Lilly.
“What happened to you? You’re a mess,” Anna responded.
“Do I look that bad?” Alexandria laughed. She had forgotten how good it felt to let loose and just be silly.
“You do.”
“I got in a hay fight. I haven’t been in a hay fight since we were kids; I’m going to go change.”
“It’s nice to see her so happy,” Millie commented as she stirred a pot of oatmeal.
“Who was she in a hay fight with?” Anna was frowning.
Chapter Thirteen
“What’s going on with you and Alex?” Sparky asked after Alexandria had left.
Jonathon frowned at the younger man. “What do you mean what’s going on?” Jonathon inquired as he cleaned up the mess that he and Alexandria had made.
“You two seem awfully close these days,” Sparky said nonchalantly.
“We’re friends.”
“You sure that’s all?”
“Certain. Why haven’t you told her how you feel, Sparky? Everyone but her already knows it.”
“I like her, heck, I love her, but I’m not the man she needs and I know it,” Sparky admitted as he saddled his horse. “Alexandria…she’s kind of like a thoroughbred…”
“You’re comparing her to a horse?” Jonathon was amused.
“Hear me out. She’s beautiful, but high-spirited. She needs someone who can lovingly keep her in line; I’d be mush in her hands. As much as I admire her, come time for me to settle it will be with a nice quiet woman.”
“Are you calling her a challenge?” Jonathon was starting to laugh.
“No, not exactly. You can word it how you want, she’s special and unique but… high spirited.”
“I’m expected inside, I’ll see you later, oh; I have to run to town today. Would you kind of keep an eye on Alexandria, without her knowledge of course?”
“Of course,” Sparky smiled. “Hey, Jonathon, why don’t you call her Alex like all the other guys?”
“I’ve been calling her Alexandria since before she decided she was Alex, she’s Alexandria to me,” he shrugged.
“Just wondered; see you when you get back from town.”
“See you, Sparky.” Jonathon mounted the porch and entered the house. He stepped into the kitchen for Millie to survey him and laugh.
“Who won?” she inquired.
Anna turned to look him over; her face flushed with anger. Her back rigid, she quickly turned back to her cooking.
“We called a truce,” Jonathon answered.
“You’re a mess,” Alexandria smiled as she breezed through the door and pulled a piece of hay from his hair.
“Shoulda changed huh?” he smiled back.
“Nah, just go brush off good,” she suggested.
Anna plunked the biscuit pan onto the stovetop with more force than necessary, and viciously stabbed each biscuit to transfer them to a plate. Friendship was one thing, but flirting?
“What’s wrong with you?” Alexandria asked her sister.
&
nbsp; “Nothing,” Anna bit out.
“Could have fooled me,” Alexandria frowned at her sister. “Does this have anything to do with the hay fight?”
“How perceptive,” Anna responded, then clammed up when Jonathon reentered the room. They were soon seated and plates were being passed around the table.
“Did someone attack the biscuits?” Jonathon inquired as he surveyed the damaged top of his biscuit. Alexandria watched her sister turn several shades of red as she busied herself with pouring a ridiculous amount of gravy over her own biscuit. Jonathon’s question went unanswered. After breakfast, Alexandria followed Jonathon outside.
“I need to go to town today; I meant to tell you yesterday. I have some personal business to see to.”
“Oh,” Alexandria looked taken back “okay, I have work here anyway,” she shrugged. She looked so lost that Jonathon almost invited her along, but he couldn’t.
Alexandria walked past him, into the barn, and saddled Spirit. Jonathon, anxious to have his trip over with, left for town. Jonathon combed town three times in search of a gift for Alexandria before settling on one. Once he had, he could only pray that Alexandria wouldn’t do bodily harm to him. It was with a smile and prayer that he left town.
***
Alexandria felt at loose ends all morning without Jonathon on the range with her and the men. Nick had been watching her intently and Alexandria finally decided to return to the house about lunchtime. Alexandria had just finished eating her lunch with Lilly and Millie; Anna had taken to her room with a headache, when a knock sounded at the door. She opened it to find a smiling Jonathon waiting.
“I want to blindfold you,” Jonathon announced without preamble. Alexandria, her look one of concern, stepped backward.
“Why?”
“I brought your birthday present home and I want to surprise you.”
“Why didn’t you just wrap it?” she was still watching him cautiously.
“Too bulky.”
“Okay, so just bring it in.”
“You don’t want this in the house,” Jonathon argued.
“Oh, fine, blindfold me,” she sighed as she turned her back to him. Jonathon blindfolded her and led her from the house.
A Headstrong Woman Page 15
