by Ciara Knight
Clayton let out a breath that whistled between his teeth. “Thank you, Lord in Heaven.”
She swallowed the boulder of dust and anxiety. “I’m her sister.”
“What?” Clayton said in a tone that left no room for doubt that he was not happy.
Mary had a tight face, pointed chin, and hard gaze, but she patted Elizabeth’s shoulders with a motherly touch. “How is it that you are here instead of Francine?”
“Miss Scarborough stated that she’d sent word to both of the betrothed that we were switching.”
Clayton threw his hands up in the air and paced like a wild mustang around them both. “I don’t have a say in such matters? This manipulative woman already cost me hours of work. Now, she says I’m responsible for her because she traded with her sister? A woman that we vetted based on my criteria that we agreed to.”
Mary ignored her son and rubbed Elizabeth’s shoulders. “Why did you switch?”
She searched the ground, the sky, and then Mary’s eyes. “Because she was sick. The man in Seattle had a comfortable home with an easier life. I figured a cattle ranch would require someone sturdier.” It was a twist of a truth more than a lie. She lifted her chin, bound to prove her worth.
Clayton huffed. “I didn’t care if she couldn’t work the land. I just need her to—”
“Be a good heifer and produce your livestock,” Elizabeth said flatly.
Mary spun on her son. “You didn’t say that.”
He grunted and continued pacing. Then he stopped, removed his hat, and ran a hand through his wild hair. “I don’t want her, send her back.”
Elizabeth fought the rise of acid bubbling up her throat. Hunger, exhaustion, desperation all played a part in her actions, but she wouldn’t cave, not to this man. “I don’t want you, but you made a promise. Are you breaking your word?”
He whirled on her, gripping his hat so tight that it crumpled. “No, you did. You came on a lie. That’s all women know how to do, lie, cheat, and manipulate.”
Men passed by on horseback or walking, meandering along the way to watch the show in town. They wanted a show? Fine. She took in a deep breath, then spoke at a Southern belle distress level.
“You would bring a girl all the way out here with a promise of marriage and then break your contract? What kind of man are you?” She cried into her hands with a little extra shoulder bounce.
“Stop that,” he ordered. “You’re causing a scene.” But the more he barked the more she cried. For once, she didn’t mind shedding a few tears.
If he was going to send her away, she’d get some money out of it. No way she’d traveled this far for nothing. She didn’t have a husband, but maybe she could return to Georgia and use money to buy her and Cora a place in Atlanta. They could have a little shop or something. That was if Cora was even still there. “If you don’t want me, if you want to be a scoundrel, then you need to take care of your financial obligations.” Elizabeth dotted her eyes with the corner of her handkerchief.
“No way. I am not giving you anything, you’re the one in breach of contract.” Clayton crossed his arms over his chest and stood in a defiant, firm-jaw, puckered-lips stance.
“Come, dear.” Mary wrapped her arm around Elizabeth and nudged her toward a wagon. She kept the tears rolling for extra emphasis.
Clayton shoved his hat on his head. It sat crooked, wrinkled from his earlier assault on it until he punched it into perfection. He shoved it back on his head, and rounded them both, blocking their path to the wagon. “No. I forbid it.”
Townspeople loitered around them, whispering and pointing. Mary stopped two paces from him. “If you won’t pay her, and she won’t leave unless you do, we need to send word to Miss Scarborough and find out what is to be done.”
“Fine, lets go send her a telegraph.”
Mary guided Elizabeth over to a ranch hand with a missing front tooth and small eyes. “At this hour? Good luck, there isn’t going to be anyone to send it, and it is hours later there, so you won’t reach anyone. Best to take her home for now and get her fed and cleaned up.
“Don’t you dare help her up in that wagon, Teddy.”
Teddy hesitated, but then ignored Clayton and helped her up. “Sorry, but your ma hired me, so I gots to listen to her.”
“I’m the one in charge,” Clayton said with a growl chaser.
Elizabeth didn’t know what waited for her at the end of this wagon ride, but she knew she wasn’t going back empty-handed. She’d figure something out, anything except marrying the handsome but heinous Jeb Clayton.
Chapter Four
Jeb saw the ranch in the distance, a beacon of salvation in the long trip with hostiles on board his wagon. The entire drive out to Clayton Ranch, Elizabeth sat to the right of Jeb’s ma with perfect posture and complete silence. Elizabeth was probably planning her next move to insert herself into his life and land. It wouldn’t happen, though. He knew better after watching his pa at a young age. He’d never forget his eighth birthday, when his pa took him into town to make him a man. Only five minutes after arriving, he’d forgotten all about Jeb hiding in the corner of the saloon. All afternoon, he’d been forced to sit quietly, watching his pa drink and gamble until he only had enough left for a woman in the brothel. The fancy-dressed, beautiful woman lured him behind the saloon for the bartender to beat him, so they could split his winnings.
Jeb shifted in his seat. He wasn’t about to settle that manipulative woman into his house. He was smarter than his pa. She might not be a saloon girl, but she’d already lied to him. She wasn’t Francine, the woman who’d claimed to have strong hips and a desire to raise boys on a ranch.
“I’ll have Cookie take her back to town in the morning,” he said. “There are plenty of saps there worthy of her lies.”
Ma’s elbow hit his ribs, but it was too late.
Elizabeth’s expression looked as though she barely restrained herself from lunging forward with wide eyes. “I am not one of your cows that you can sell off to the highest bidder. Now, you listen to me Jeb Clayton. You will make this right or I’ll get the sheriff involved.”
He leaned forward to see around his ma. “That’s where you’re wrong. No one’s going to care about this situation. Not much law in Sherman or anywhere around these parts. You’re lucky I even allowed you to ride to the ranch with us. I should’ve left you in town.”
“I would’ve gladly remained in town if the stingy, rude, egotistical, self-important cowboy had parted with his precious money to put me in the hotel.”
“If you don’t have a man, and you don’t want to marry one, maybe you should’ve stayed at the brothel.” Jeb regretted his words as Elizabeth gasped and held her hand to her chest.
“That’s enough,” Ma said. “You mind the horses and leave the conversation to civil people.” Her nose crinkled in that way that told him he would be cooking his own dinner if he didn’t stop talking. And if he didn’t want to eat Cookie’s food, he’d best shut his mouth. Cookie’s cooking was good enough for the ranch hands, but he wasn’t eating that slop.
The sun drifted down the horizon, leaving a rippling wave over his land. The day had withered away before he could get any work done. At least he’d secured the deal for the military order. Five hundred head of cattle would get Ma and his credit paid, and once they delivered the sample to the union camp, they’d negotiate the two thousand head that they wanted for the fort. That would pay off all the debt with some left over to insure they were comfortable. Maybe it was time to buy some more land. He wanted to own all the way to Sherman by the end of the year.
“You look tired. I’ll get you fed and settled in the room before too long. Rest is the best thing after all that traveling,” Ma said, coddling Elizabeth like a new baby. What was with her? His ma never coddled anyone.
Teddy leaned against Elizabeth’s old carpetbag in the back of the wagon. The woman hadn’t brought anything with her except the dress on her body and a fancy one in her bag. She’d been so
uppity when he’d met her, as if she owned all the Texas territory. Well, she didn’t look so rich now.
“I’m fine. I’ll make some supper and clean the dishes. If I’m going to stay the night, I should earn my keep.”
Ma patted her hand. “Nonsense. You’re our guest until we work this out.”
What on the big pasture had gone on with his ma? The woman was never that gentle or kind. This girl had bewitched her or something. Well, she wasn’t going to tame him into agreeing to marry her. Not when she’d lied to him. Just like his pa had lied to his ma to get her to marry him. If there was one thing Ma had taught him, it was not to trust someone who lies, especially when it came to situations involving the heart. And this girl had already been caught in a barn-sized lie.
Jeb slowed the team when they reached the bunkhouse. The odor of Cookie’s food invaded the spring air from across the corral. It blended with the smell of animal waste as they passed the barn. Perhaps he should tamper his attitude long enough to eat his ma’s supper. No, that woman needed to understand her place and know he wouldn’t fall for her kind of manipulation.
Jeb pulled the team to a stop in front of the house.
“Teddy can put away the team. You come inside so we can get Elizabeth settled,” Ma said in a matter-of-fact tone.
“I’ve missed an entire day of work. I need to go check on the men.” There was nothing he could do at this hour, but he didn’t want to go inside that house with that pretentious woman and his bewitched mother.
“The men are fine. They’ve eaten and already sacked out. They been working on rounding up cattle all day. Some of the new ones gots saddle sores,” Teddy said with a chuckle. He enjoyed breaking the new cattle hands into their job.
“It’s getting dark now,” Ma said, brooking no disagreement. “Nothing you can do at this hour.” She was stubborn. He loved her for it, though. If it wasn’t for her, they wouldn’t have survived all those years on that failing farm.
Jeb wrapped the reins around the brake and hopped down, then helped his ma from the wagon. She nudged him in the side and tilted her head toward Elizabeth, still sitting with perfect posture. “Don’t be rude. I didn’t raise you that way.”
He paused at the back of the wagon and snarled at her. “You taught me not to fall prey to a manipulative stranger and a bad business deal.”
Elizabeth sat forward, and he held her by the waist to help her down. He didn’t like the way she fit easily in his hands. And he certainly didn’t like the way she looked like an angel in the fading sunlight.
A steady breeze swept across his land, sending dust around his legs. Elizabeth looked like she was about to collapse. And if he admitted it to himself, his back, neck, and legs were done for the day.
“Come. Let’s get you something to eat.” Ma wrapped her arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders Did Ma really want him to get married that badly? He’d only agreed because he knew he needed boys to help run the ranch someday. No way he’d be like his pa and lose everything, leaving his wife and kid to starve when he was too weak to stay away from the bottle, women, and ultimately his grave.
Jeb begrudgingly followed them inside and plopped his hat on the hook by the door. “Gonna go wash up. I’ll be down for dinner in a bit.” With one breath of hardwood floors and Ma’s apple pie, he had a jolt of renewed energy and headed up to his room.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Ma asked.
He paused on the first step and looked back at her and Elizabeth standing near the brand-new stove he’d bought a few weeks ago for his ma. “Told you I was going up to change and wash up.”
“Not up there you’re not.” Ma retrieved an apron while Elizabeth rummaged through the kitchen as if it were her own.
“What are you talking about?”
“You can’t sleep up there. Not when we have Elizabeth staying with us,” Ma said, but he wasn’t following her words. “It wouldn’t be proper since you’re not married.”
“There’s an extra bedroom upstairs.”
“As I said, not appropriate. You can either stay with the men or on the sofa down here.”
Heat flashed through him. “This is my home, and I’ll sleep in my bed.”
Elizabeth removed her greenish-brown bonnet—revealing her curiously red hair again—and placed it on a chair. “I’ll sleep on the sofa. It won’t matter. I’m not used to any better.”
The thought of her sleeping on that lumpy sofa didn’t sit well with him. She’d been the one who caused all this, but he wasn’t as heartless as she insisted.
“This is ridiculous. There isn’t any reason she can’t sleep in the guest room upstairs and I stay in my room.”
Ma set the knife down on the counter and poked one hip out. “What’s gonna happen when one of those ranch hands goes into town and tells everyone you been sleeping upstairs with Elizabeth? Then what man’s gonna marry her?”
“There are plenty in town desperate enough.”
Elizabeth picked up the knife. And if he didn’t know better, he swore she thought about stabbing him with it. “I insist. I’ll stay on the sofa. Now go wash up while I fix dinner. Mary, you sit down. I don’t need anyone waiting on me.”
Darn woman, even now she was making life more difficult. She was a master at making him look bad. If he didn’t let her stay upstairs, he was a scoundrel, and if he slept on the couch, he was weak. “I’ve got work to do. I’ll eat with the men. Tomorrow, I’ll have Cookie drive you back to Sherman after breakfast. We’ll have this settled and everything will be back to normal.” He stormed out of the house and didn’t look back.
He’d been kind enough. Tomorrow, he was gonna lay the law down. It was his house, his land, his life. That woman wasn’t going to manipulate him into losing it all. Not like the widow from Kansas his Pa had professed his love to. The woman who had promised to run away with Pa only to steal the last bit of his money, then left him dead on the side of the road the same day the bank took the farm. No. He wasn’t his pa, and no woman would stir him up inside and make him stupid.
Chapter Five
Elizabeth woke before the first rays of the sun filtered into the simple but comfortable room. She savored a few more minutes in the soft, luxurious bed. How long had it been since she’d slept like that? Five years? If she’d only known how rich her life had been before the war. Not just in things, but with family, home, food, land, love.
Now that she didn’t have her sisters, would she ever feel loved again?
Not in this home, not by Jeb Clayton. And she never wanted to be his wife. The man only cared about money and babies. There had to be another way to live than married to a man who treated her like his livestock.
She stretched, then rose and donned her old dress. It was perfect for cooking and cleaning. Mary had been so kind to her that she wanted to save her the trouble of cooking breakfast. Based on their conversation last night, she and Jeb took meals together that she prepared while the ranch hands ate outside with their own cook.
Elizabeth tiptoed downstairs. The wooden planks provided a solid home compared to her former rubble, but with no paint or fancy furniture, it looked sparse and less homey. Too masculine. However, the kitchen was a delight with all the newest conveniences, including a new stove and hand pump for the sink. Not to mention food. She found flour, sugar, eggs, meat, and more that she hadn’t even thought about in years. She didn’t want to be kept in a kitchen, but she did make great food. And right now, she wanted to eat great food.
For a few hours, she worked on making homemade jam out of fruit she found in a cupboard. After that, she made dough, letting it rise, punching it down, rolling it, and baking it. Then she set to work on making eggs and frying some meat. The smell of savory food made her mouth water. She hadn’t wanted to eat too much last night of the leftover meat and potatoes, but she couldn’t resist tasting as she cooked.
When the first rays of sun shot through the windows, she heard the men stirring outside.
The stove had
made the room warm, so she opened the front door to let some fresh morning air inside.
She stacked the biscuits high on a plate and cleaned up the extra flour left behind from rolling the dough.
Two taps at the front door sounded before Teddy opened it. “Hello, ma’am. Sorry.” Teddy snatched his hat off his head and held it in his hands. “Excuse me, thought you were Jeb’s ma.”
Another man with freckles scooted around him and peered into the house, his eyes wide and fixed on the biscuits. “Sure does smell good in here. Whatcha making?”
A fella with a grimy hat and silver hair strands dusting around his ears stepped around them both and patted his belly. “Smells better than anything Cookie’s made in a long time.”
“You mean ever,” the freckle-faced kid said.
“Sit,” she said. “I’ll plate you some food.”
Both of the other men looked to Teddy, who glanced through the door to the outside world, then back at them.
The silver-haired man elbowed Teddy. “Cookie’s sick, so he can’t make nothing. And boss headed out to check on the cattle we rounded up.”
“I guess boss will be gone a while,” Teddy wagered, but before he could say anything else, the silver-haired guy stuck his head out the front door and let out an ear-piercing whistle, and men flooded inside.
Teddy introduced them as they passed her at the door. The freckled boy was Samuel, the silver haired was Bart, the bucktoothed was Charles, and the rest blurred. She’d have to focus on all their names later.
They were like hungry wolves, attacking the food with their dirty paws and non-existent manners. They surrounded the table, filling each seat. She hurried and set out the food and some plates she’d found in the center of the table. Before the plate of eggs could even rest on the wooden table, the men scooped them clean. She laughed and headed back to the kitchen to fry up some more. “Don’t they feed you here?”
