A Headstrong Woman

by Maness, Michelle

  “If I thought it would work, I would,” he laughed.

  Alexandria sighed beside him. “I’ll be glad to get home.”

  “Listen, Alexandria, don’t let that catty…” he censored whatever he had been about to say. “Don’t let her words get to you. You may be taller than the average woman but I assure you sturdy does not apply. You have a very delicate build.”

  “Delicate may be a stretch,” Alexandria argued. “I think she was referring to the fact that I am not as…curvy as she was.”

  “Delicate isn’t a stretch,” Jonathon claimed her wrist from her lap and wrapped his hand around it. Alexandria was fascinated by the way his fingers overlapped each other.

  “You look as though any amount of pressure should snap your bones like toothpicks. And I assure you I mean that in a complimentary, feminine way.”

  “Regardless, I will be glad to be home,” Alexandria avoided responding to his compliment.

  “Me too,” he let it go.

  “Where is home to you, Jonathon?” Alexandria watched him closely as she waited for his answer.

  “Montana. I’ll always consider South Dakota home but I’ve come to love Montana. If you fire me, I’ll have to start my own place.”

  “I don’t plan on letting you go until some woman whisks you away,” she assured him.

  “That won’t be any time soon,” he said dryly.

  “I’m glad to hear that, I hear that good foremen are hard to come by,” Alexandria invoked a thoughtful tone while biting back a smile.

  “And I thought we were friends,” his tone betrayed false hurt.

  “We are,” she laughed and smiled up at him. “Truly, Jonathon, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “You’d have made it somehow,” Jonathon glanced down at Alexandria.

  “I don’t know about that, I’d be lost without you, Jonathon. Thank you for being so patient with me.”

  “You’re easy to work with.” Jonathon shrugged his broad shoulders.

  Alexandria snorted, “Now that is a bald faced lie! Just this past Friday I caused you all kinds of trouble.”

  “You didn’t mean to,” his smile when he gazed down at her was warm.

  Alexandria, unable to meet his any longer, dropped her gaze.

  “Would you have taken him up on his offer if I hadn’t been there?” Alexandria tried for nonchalance.

  Jonathon glanced at her and frowned. Alexandria forced herself to meet his penetrating gaze.

  “What do you think?” Jonathon’s gaze had darkened.

  Alexandria frowned and worried her lower lip as she considered it.

  “No, I don’t think… I know you wouldn’t have,” Alexandria felt relief wash through her as she realized she truly believed that.

  He smiled at her. “Thank you, Alexandria. I would be hurt if you thought me capable of that.”

  “I’m sorry that I doubted that, Jonathon… I was pretty shaken up Friday,” she admitted.

  “You really let me have it,” he teased.

  Alexandria colored, “I’m sorry about that.”

  “It’s okay,” he assured her.

  “I guess I would shock my family if I told them I marched into a brothel huh?”

  Her giggle was rather girlish and in Jonathon’s opinion endearing.

  “Please don’t; your dad would hurt me for allowing you anywhere near a place like that,” Jonathon grimaced.

  “Oh, he knows how stubborn I am,” she assured him.

  “I imagine that you were a hand full to raise,” he chuckled deep in his throat.

  The sound sent a small shiver through Alexandria.

  “Oh, I bet you were an angel,” she shot back at him.

  “My mom wishes I had been. Ted and I used to drive her crazy.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Fighting. We would fight over who was sitting where, who was supposed to do what chore, what to name whatever animal we had at the time. She always said she knew it was serious when I started calling him Teddy and he started using my middle name.”

  “What is your middle name?” Her curiosity was peaked.

  “I am not telling you or anybody,” Jonathon’s jaw was set mulishly.

  “Please?” her green eyes were pleading under her half lowered lashes as she had seen other women do; she had always wondered if it really worked.

  “You are not playing fair,” he accused and watched her blush. “Ashley.”

  “Jonathon Ashley Stewart,” Alexandria tried it out. “I like it,” she decided.

  “I’m glad you do; I always thought it was a girl’s name.”

  “It isn’t, it’s very pretty, Jonathon and I assure you that there is nothing girlish about you or your name,” she assured him.

  “Thank you, Alexandria,” Jonathon said sincerely and watched her color again. It made him smile. It made her look soft, feminine, and endearingly innocent when she blushed.

  “You’re welcome,” her attention was on the corrals just ahead.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Alexandria wished her in laws well and hurried to find a seat on the train. Jonathon had been late arriving after difficulty getting the cattle to the station. Rusty had volunteered to sit in the back car and to check on the cattle at each stop. Lilly clamored into one of the seats and sprawled across it, effectively claiming the entire seat for herself.

  “Care if I join you?” Jonathon joked from the aisle.

  Alexandria smiled and scooted over. “You look tired. What time did you leave this morning?” she asked.

  “About four, that’s not why I’m so tired, though. I spent most the night worried that I would wake up to Desiree in my bed,” he announced darkly.

  “What?” Alexandria’s eyes widened.

  “She came into my room last night. I told her to get lost. I can’t believe any woman…” Jonathon was shaking his head.

  “Why didn’t you say something to Janice or Nathaniel?” Alexandria demanded.

  “I didn’t know how to approach it and I didn’t want to cause trouble.”

  “You didn’t; she did. Why don’t you try to rest? You’re safe with me.”

  “You sure?” A smile pulled at his lips.

  Alexandria rolled her eyes and smiled, “Sorry to burst your bubble, but you’re completely safe with me.”

  Jonathon wasn’t sure he was, though he couldn’t tell her that. “Good, I think I will try to rest a little.” Jonathon leaned against the corner of their booth and stretched his long legs out into the cramped space.

  Alexandria eyed his legs and shook her head. He was definitely long limbed. She turned her attention to entertaining Lilly until the toddler fell asleep. Alexandria was enjoying watching the passing scenery when the train ground to a halt and almost dumped Lilly into the floor.

  Jonathon sat up and frowned. “Stay here,” Jonathon ordered before rising and moving down the aisle. Alexandria was growing anxious by the time he returned; his face was grim.

  “Give me your black scarf and the gun,” Jonathon instructed. Alexandria frowned, handed him the scarf and bent over to remove the gun from where it was tucked into her boot. It was small but at close range deadly. Jonathon had tied her scarf around his arm to look like a mourning band and hid the gun close at hand in the seat cushion.

  “Alexandria, there isn’t time to explain, but I’m asking you to please trust me and back me up, your safety depends on it,” he all but whispered in her ear.

  Alexandria was about to ask what was going on when a man, the lower portion of his face covered, stepped into the opening of their compartment.

  “I want all your jewelry and money,” the man demanded.

  “We’re in mourning and aren’t wearing any jewelry,” Jonathon responded. The man moved on.

  Alexandria shuddered and moved closer to Jonathon. Lilly climbed into his lap and the three sat quietly listening to the man repeat his demand up and down the car.

  Alexandria was relieved
, at moment that she wasn’t allowed to wear any jewelry. She supposed that she should feel guilty that she had already dispensed with her wedding ring but was unable to feel any real remorse about it. It was only as she glanced at her own bare finger that she thought of Jonathon. She glanced at his bare hand; when had he stopped wearing his wedding ring? Her sister’s words about the two of them traveling together unescorted suddenly came to mind and she found her cheeks staining scarlet. Somehow she had convinced herself that two widowed individuals traveling together wasn’t all that improper but it suddenly occurred to her that they were, in fact, a man and woman traveling alone together. What must people think?

  “Good Lord, Alexandria,” she chastised herself, “There are more important issues at hand; like the train being robbed!” Alexandria shook her head to clear it and wished that someone would let them know what was going on. They sat for minute after anxious minute waiting for something to happen. Finally, the train jerked into motion and moved slowly down the track. Alexandria hoped that it meant the thieves were gone. An armed man moved down their car and Alexandria felt her heart sink. The man spotted Alexandria and sat in Lilly’s vacated seat so he could stare at Alexandria.

  “Yer pretty; this your man?” he asked her.

  Alexandria swallowed hard.

  “My wife and I are traveling to my mother’s funeral, please sir…”

  “I’m talking to the lady!” the man snapped.

  Alexandria swallowed her distaste for lying and proceeded to lie, “My husband and I just want to make it to the funeral,” she meekly played the role of the submissive wife.

  “This your girl?”

  “Yes.”

  “She don’t look like either of you,” the man said shrewdly.

  “She gets her coloring from her grandmother,” Alexandria explained. It wasn’t a lie. She had Martha’s coloring and Martha had looked like her mother.

  “Whas’ your name darlin’?”

  “Camille,” she gave her middle name.

  “This your daddy, little un’?” he asked Lilly. Lilly looked up at Jonathon thoughtfully; then nodded. Alexandria felt her heart stop; then resume beating at twice the normal rate. This could get sticky later but worked in their favor for now.

  The train continued to move slowly only picking up speed when they passed through towns where they were to have stopped. The robber continued to leer at Alexandria until the train again ground to a stop and he moved down the aisle. A woman screamed from somewhere down the car and Alexandria tensed. Jonathon put an arm around her and his jaw tightened. Alexandria had no doubt that had Jonathon not felt responsible for her and Lilly, he would have gotten involved in whatever was going on down the car.

  “No…please?” a hysterical feminine voice pleaded. Jonathon’s hand tightened on her shoulder. The train again began moving at barely more than a crawl. Another gunman moved down the car and his gaze swept over them. His gaze settled on Alexandria before he moved on. She knew that Jonathon was sitting between her and danger.

  The train continued moving slowly; then speeding through stops before coming to a stop for the next several hours until darkness fell. Alexandria was relieved when one of the Pullman Porters moved down the aisle and assured them that the men were finally gone. The man had a large gash over his right eye.

  “I’ll be right back,” Jonathon told her before he released her, and moved down the aisle. He returned moments later; his face was angry.

  “What’s wrong?” Alexandria asked.

  “They got off a few at a time, stole everyone’s money and took three women who were traveling unescorted,” he shared with her. Alexandria blanched in the dim glow of the hastily lit lights overhead. Jonathon pulled her close as she started crying.

  “It’s okay,” he told her softly.

  At the Cold Springs depot they were questioned before disembarking from the train. Alexandria was thankful to find her parents and sister among those waiting on the platform. Apparently word had traveled down the track that something was wrong.

  “How did you all fare?” Rusty asked as he joined them.

  “We’re fine; you?” Jonathon responded.

  “Fine.”

  “What happened?” Shirley demanded.

  Alexandria gratefully took the offered cup of coffee and started relating all that had happened on the train ride home. She accepted a refill from a lady circling through the growing crowd and felt herself begin to calm. Alexandria quickly drained her cup; then asked for another.

  “You’ll never sleep tonight,” Jonathon commented from beside her.

  “I don’t think I would have anyway,” she admitted.

  By the time they started for the ranch, the nearness of her family had restored her calm and the three cups of coffee had kicked in.

  “How was your trip otherwise?” her mother asked. Alexandria filled her in on the how the Morrises were doing and touched on a few details of their trip.

  “How much trouble did she get into, Jonathon?” Clay asked.

  “Not too much,” Jonathon smiled.

  “Let me guess… she went somewhere she shouldn’t have,” he nailed it on the first guess.

  “You know your daughter well,” Jonathon laughed.

  “Where did she go this time?” Clay asked.

  “She’s okay, let’s leave it at that,” Jonathon dodged the question.

  “Please, Jonathon, I would like to know where my daughter went this time,” Shirley joined the conversation.

  “Really, Mom, you don’t,” Alexandria informed her.

  “Where did you go?” Shirley turned her attention to her daughter.

  “If he had just told me why he didn’t want me coming instead of …”

  “Where did you go?” Shirley asked more firmly.

  Alexandria sighed, “A brothel.”

  Her mother made a choking noise before recovering. “What- were- you- doing- in- a brothel?” she pronounced each syllable carefully.

  “I didn’t know that’s what it was until I was inside. That’s where we had to meet Mr. Kingston.”

  “Why did you ever agree to meet him in a brothel?” Shirley, her tone clipped, asked.

  “He changed the meeting place on me and there wasn’t time to change it again and Alexandria’s right. It’s partially my fault. I should have explained to her why I didn’t want her coming instead of handling it as I did,” Jonathon came to her defense. Alexandria could have hugged him.

  ***

  Despite her fears that she wouldn’t be able to sleep, Alexandria was barely able to hold her eyes open to unpack. She opened her trunk and frowned. The things inside weren’t hers! Thinking she might find a clue as to whose things she had, she laid aside the top layer and found her own things underneath with a note on top.

  Alexandria,

  I hope that you like these, I saw you eyeing the new clothes longingly when you toured the store. Please wear them when you feel comfortable doing so and know that we love you.

  Janice Morris

  Alexandria smiled at the gesture and put her things away, she knew it would be a long while before she would be comfortable wearing them. At least she believed it would.

  ***

  Alexandria was glad to be back on the range and familiar territory the next day after the strain of the past few. She was more comfortable among her men than she was among most women. The men smiled and greeted her warmly.

  “Hey, Alex, what’s this I hear about you visiting a brothel?” Ben teased her.

  Alexandria felt her cheeks color.

  “Alright, who’s been talking?” she looked between Jonathon and Rusty. Rusty was grinning. “Funny,” she smiled despite herself. “Anyone else want make fun of my naivety?”

  Ben had the good grace to look guilty.

  She looked over to find Sparky watching her. He dropped his gaze when she met his. She settled back in fairly easily and enjoyed the familiarity of the routine.

  That night after Anna, Lilly
, and Millie were in bed Alexandria found herself restless and not ready for sleep. She slipped out onto the downstairs back porch and breathed deeply of the night air.

  “What are you doing out here?” Jonathon asked as he crossed the yard.

  Alexandria smiled and shrugged, “I wasn’t ready for bed.”

  “Me either,” he leaned against the porch railing. “I should be, but I found myself so restless I was afraid I’d wake the others.”

  “Know what you mean,” she agreed as she watched him seat himself on the railing; his long legs stretched toward the other end. She moved to the post opposite him at the corner of the porch and copied his pose; her booted feet came within an inch of touching his.

  “This is comfortable,” she gazed up at the stars that she had been unable to see from the rockers on the porch.

  “So what drove you out here, Alexandria?”

  Alexandria smiled at him in the pale moonlight, “Too much thinking.”

  “Ahh, thinking, a dangerous past time you know?” he teased her.

  “So I’m finding out. I was startled to realize that I was more comfortable on the range today with a group of men than I have been with other women lately,” she admitted.

  “That bothers you?”

  “Yeah, I enjoy my mother and sister’s company and my friends but…”

  “The combination of Ellie and Desiree was too much? I’m aware that neither of them treated you very well this past weekend.”

  “I suppose so,” she sighed. “I try really hard to act like things don’t bother me but…”

  “That stubborn tilt to your chin is hiding how you really feel and a sensitive heart,” he asked her and watched her frown at him.

  “It really isn’t fair that you can do that,” she told him and gave his foot a gentle shove with hers.

  “Sorry,” he smiled.

  “Am I really that transparent?”

  “Not transparent as much as I’ve learned to read your moods.”

  “It scares me that you understand me so well,” she grumbled irritably.

  “Understand you?” Jonathon smiled with a raised brow and shook his head. “I suppose that I understand you as much as any man ever understands a woman, but I hardly understand you. I’ve merely learned to read your moods.”