He’d committed to the job, invested in the cattle. If he wanted Rose to stay with him, the only answer was to marry her.
Would she even agree to it?
He liked her a lot. He could see himself falling in love with her without much difficulty. If they had a marriage based on friendship they could grow into a deeper relationship. Marriage would solve her need for a husband, and maybe having a family of his own would ease the ache in his heart that had become so apparent after Ricky had left.
It might not be the perfect solution, but it was a solution. The question was: what would she say if he asked her?
* * *
Rose woke groggily from the deep sleep she’d fallen into after the noon meal.
It was quiet in the house. Were the smaller children asleep? Faded yellow light slanted through the curtains at the window and she had the sense she’d slept the afternoon away.
Fear rose to choke her, and she kicked her feet off the side of the bed and pushed up with some difficulty.
Was Davy already gone? She knew he had been gathering supplies to go back up to the line shack. What if she had missed her chance to say thank you?
How could she say goodbye to him? She couldn’t quantify their relationship. They were friends, but somehow...their relationship felt deeper.
A sharp knock came at the door, and she reached a hand up to her hair that had fallen all out of its pins.
Breanna stuck her head inside. “You up?”
Rose made some noise of agreement. She wanted to ask if Davy was gone but was half afraid of the answer.
“Davy said you might like a riding lesson,” Breanna said cheerfully.
She shook her head, still disoriented. “I don’t even know if I can ride in my condition.”
“If you’re just walking a horse around a corral, I can’t see how it would hurt.”
But Breanna was a young girl and probably didn’t know about bearing babies. Why would she?
Rose hesitated and Breanna grinned. “C’mon. Don’t you want to try?”
Against her better judgment, Rose tucked her hair back up and donned the sweater Breanna thrust on her. It smelled like Davy, and Rose wondered if Breanna had filched it from his things.
She swallowed against the hot feeling in her throat and followed Breanna outside. The cold air swirled around her and she shivered as she crossed the yard, avoiding the worst of the muddy spots.
Then she noticed the cowboy standing next to a rail fence beside the barn with what she now recognized as a bridle hanging from the fingers of one hand.
Her chest tightened so she couldn’t breathe.
“I thought...” She swallowed hard. “Aren’t you leaving?”
As Breanna drew up right next to her, she didn’t know how to say more. But he seemed to understand. Just like always.
He held her gaze steadily. “Not today. It’s mild enough they’ll be all right for the night. You remember how to do this?” He held out the bridle to her.
Her hands shook as she reached for the leather straps. He released them but covered her hands with his large ones for a brief second. The sky behind his head seemed bluer than usual.
And she got warm all over.
Breanna hopped the fence, and Rose lumbered over with Davy’s assistance. Breanna held the horse Rose recognized as Davy’s with a rope loose around its neck.
He stood back by the fence while Rose struggled to get the bridle on. As aware as she was of Davy’s eyes on her, it took three tries, and she grumbled under her breath all the while.
“Why doesn’t he bite me?” she mumbled.
Breanna was closest and answered her. “He’s past retirement age. But my softhearted brother keeps him around for sentimental value.”
Davy snorted. “I do not. He’s a workhorse through and through. Still in his prime.”
Breanna winked at Rose, but as she was on the other side of the animal’s neck from her brother, he didn’t see her.
Rose’s lips twitched. Was that...laughter she felt? Joy? Because of their sibling teasing? Or because he hadn’t left?
She finally buckled the bridle into place and stepped back.
Davy took a bulky saddle from the fence and placed it over the animal’s back, buckling and tying.
She eyed the animal’s height. Its back was higher off the ground than she was tall. What if she fell? She could be injured. The baby could be injured.
Davy had held her on horseback coming down the mountain, and she’d been too preoccupied with her pain to really pay attention.
But now, on her own, all she could remember was Jamie falling from the rearing horse and not getting up.
Nerves made her breath come out short. Her mind spun with everything that could go wrong.
“Davy has always had a soft spot for hard cases,” Breanna said with a wink in Rose’s direction. It took her a moment to realize the younger woman was still talking about the horse.
Rose swallowed hard. Was that how his family saw her? Someone out of place whom he’d taken pity on?
And worse, had she cared? She’d been more worried about survival than his feelings or reputation.
The horse bobbed its head and she stepped back reflexively.
Breanna was at her elbow, reaching up and grasping the side of the bridle gently. “Even if you’re upset, try to pretend like you’re calm. The horse reacts to you.”
Rose drew a deep breath. She had no pretense of calm. How long had she lived with this burden of panic and desperation? And even with Davy’s and his family’s efforts this morning, there was no end in sight. No future for her.
She started to turn away, but Breanna’s soft words stalled her. “C’mon now. He believes you can learn to ride.”
Rose followed her nod to Davy, who had his head down as he adjusted the saddle.
“You don’t want to disappoint him, do you?”
She hesitated long enough for Breanna to guess there was a part of Rose that wanted to give it an attempt.
“And what about for yourself? Think about the boost of confidence you’ll feel when you are on the horse’s back.”
Breanna was right. She wanted to do it—for herself. So if she was ever stuck on mountain again, she could make her own way home.
Wherever home ended up to be.
“I’m frightened,” she whispered, admitting to the other girl what she wouldn’t say to the cowboy.
“We won’t let you fall.”
And so she found herself looking at a stirrup, a circlet of leather attached to the saddle. She was supposed to get her foot up into that?
“Is it proper for me to ride astride?” she asked, stalling.
Breanna answered, “I do it all the time.”
Davy grinned at her from across the horse’s back. “And if that’s not enough to ease your mind, my ma has done the same on occasion if we need an extra hand during branding or such.”
“Ha,” Breanna said in a clipped voice.
Rose was unsure about getting her bulk up in the saddle at all, but Breanna helped her place her foot in the stirrup and then boosted her into the saddle.
Davy steadied her with a hand at her waist. He stood a head above the horse and helped tuck her other foot into the opposite stirrup.
The height made her slightly dizzy as she looked down. She breathed in through her nose.
But she’d done it. She’d mounted the horse.
“What now?”
Davy pressed the reins into her hands, showed her the proper hold.
“Squeeze your legs a bit,” Breanna advised.
Rose did, and the horse began walking, throwing Rose off balance.
She wobbled precariously and her natural inclination was to squeeze with her legs to
try and get some kind of grip on the animal. But that only made it speed up, rattling her with a bone-jarring bounce.
“Whoa,” came Davy’s soft command. She felt a tug on the reins as if he’d grabbed them closer to the animal’s mouth.
And the horse stopped.
She was breathing hard, more from fear than anything else.
“You didn’t fall off,” Breanna said cheerfully.
A bubble of panic burst in Rose’s throat as a laugh. “Well, if nearly falling off a horse is all I must do to impress your family, perhaps we should be attempting this up closer to the house.”
Davy and Breanna’s eyes met over the horse from where they walked, and then broke into almost shocked-sounding laughter.
Breanna patted Rose’s knee. “I knew there was more to you beneath the surface.”
Davy just grinned at her. “Try to anticipate it when he walks this time.”
They paced her around the circular, fenced pen several times, until Rose’s fingers had gone numb in her borrowed gloves and she couldn’t feel her nose. The sun was going down, but she was glowing with success.
Davy helped her down from the horse. His large hands cradled her easily, even with the baby’s extra girth.
He lifted her to the ground, but he didn’t release her immediately. He looked down intently into her face. For once, she couldn’t read the emotions in his blue eyes.
“I know you’re probably cold and ready to go inside, but will you walk with me for a few minutes?”
Breanna cleared her throat. “I’ll give the horse a good rubdown and put him away.”
Rose grimaced; she’d been so wrapped up in the cowboy that she’d momentarily forgotten about his sister.
“Thanks,” he said.
He guided Rose through the corral gate but instead of setting off at a walk, he took her elbow and pulled her to a stop. He stood looking at her long enough to make her avert her face and wonder if she had dirt smudged on her cheeks. She looked down at the snowy patches on the ground at their feet.
“I’ve been thinking a lot today...these past few days since we’ve met.”
He cleared his throat, and she raised her eyes to his face. There were twin spots of color high in his cheeks. And the intensity of his gaze made her swallow hard.
“There’s been a kinship, a...connection between us since we met. I don’t think I’m the only one feelin’ it.”
She couldn’t hold his gaze, not after he’d said that and with the way her cheeks were heating. She had felt something for him, been attracted to him, but she’d never imagined he felt it, too. She found it hard to believe he found her attractive at all—she was huge with child.
“I know you were disappointed not to find work in Bear Creek. I think my ma’s connections in Calvin could find ya something’, or I’d be willing to loan you the money to get back to St. Louis, but I’d be a little afraid you might not be able to find something there, either.”
He was speaking her fears, and hearing them aloud made her stomach clench painfully.
He took a deep breath. “I know it ain’t the solution you were looking for, but I think we should get married.”
It was the last thing she’d expected him to say.
Her mouth fell open, she couldn’t help it. “What? You and I?”
He took off his hat, and ran his opposite hand through those red curls. Against the blue sky behind him, they appeared even brighter.
“I know I can’t take the place of your husband. I know you’re still mourning him, and I don’t expect that you’d...fall in love with me or anything. But we’ve begun a friendship and I’ve seen marriages start with less.”
She turned away from him, gripping the wooden rail with both hands and squeezing it.
What he was asking...she’d thought of it in those dazed, pain-filled moments riding down the mountain.
She’d rushed into marriage with Jamie after her father’s death, believing she had no other choices. Her stepmother had been very clear that she was no longer welcome in the house in which she’d grown up.
Nothing had changed now; she still had no choices. With no job and no way of making an income, how could she provide for herself and a child? She could only live off the charity of others for so long. And the baby was almost here...
But marriage? He would suddenly have the burden of a wife and child to provide for. What could she bring to a marriage? Doubts whispered in her mind, in both Jamie’s voice and her stepmother’s.
She’d trusted the cowboy since the beginning. But how could she risk being in a relationship again?
“I don’t know if I can give my heart again,” she said softly.
She heard his harsh exhale. He settled at the railing next to her. “I know you miss your husband and your pa. I just want you to give me a chance to be the husband you need.”
“Why?” She confronted him, whirling on him, looking straight up into his face. “We barely even know each other.”
He didn’t flinch from her. “I know enough. And because you need someone.”
What did that mean? He knew enough. He’d seen her at her weakest, about to give up. The turmoil of her emotions made her voice sharp. “And what of your needs?”
He blushed, deep color filling his cheeks, but he still didn’t back down. “I would want our marriage to be real...eventually. Not a marriage in name only. And...in time, I would hope your feelings for me would grow.”
“But...” Her excuses were gone, all except one. Her choices were limited, dependent on the kindness of strangers, and her time for having the baby was here. What choice did she have? Davy was kinder than most. She’d witnessed his patience. He would make a good papa for her baby.
He went very still beside her, and she looked up at his face to see he’d focused his eyes on the colorful streaks arcing across the sky as the sun set. “Is there...something about me that’s not to your liking?”
The hint of vulnerability in his voice made her answer quick and honest. “No.”
His gaze came back to her quickly and the glint of pride in his blue eyes made her heart thump.
She tilted down her face, afraid of the swoop her stomach made. “We’ve never even kissed.” She voiced her last objection in a whisper. “How do you know...?” She couldn’t finish and squeezed her eyes closed with mortification.
“I can solve that,” he said quietly. There was the sound of clothing rustling, as if he’d taken off his glove.
Before she could guess at his intention, he’d stepped closer and tipped up her face with his hand, warm against the cool skin of her jaw.
She kept her eyes closed, even as his warm, sweet breath hit her lips.
There was a moment of hesitation, as if he waited for her to reject him.
She was trembling through and through, but she had to find out...
His lips brushed hers softly, like a snowflake on the wind.
Her eyes fluttered open as he moved away slightly, and she found herself in the depths of his affectionate gaze. They remained like that, connected by the light touch of his hand at her jaw, for long moments, until he whispered, “Will you marry me?”
And she whispered back, “Yes.”
Chapter Ten
The next morning, Davy faced his pa and ma across the breakfast table. His brothers and sisters had cleared out, giving him privacy to tell them he’d decided to marry Rose. He’d make an announcement to his siblings next.
Rose had excused herself to her room after the meal. He hoped she was resting.
Latent smells of cooked food lingered in the air as he settled onto the long bench. “I’ve been thinking about what you said yesterday, Ma.”
Dirty breakfast dishes littered the table, but his ma had waved him off when he’d started carting
them into the kitchen. Apparently this conversation took precedence over the chore.
His fingers wanted to play with the coffee mug on the table in front of him, but he kept his hands in his lap, attempting a calm demeanor.
“And I’ve talked to Rose. We’re getting married.”
Penny uttered a small gasp. Jonas looked over at her and touched her hand.
Davy held his ma’s gaze evenly. He wasn’t ashamed of his decision. And he was an adult. They couldn’t stop him.
“We’ll be married this afternoon and head up to the line shack,” he told his parents calmly. “We’ll winter there and figure out other living arrangements in the spring.”
He still planned to split the profits from the winter herd with Ricky, when his brother came home. He was counting on there being enough profits for the both of them—enough for a small start for him and Rose.
But his parents exchanged a speaking glance.
“This afternoon?” Jonas asked in his quiet way.
“What is the hurry to marry?” Penny put in. “Surely you could wait a few weeks, or even until the spring...”
Davy shook his head. “I’ve got to get back up to the cabin. The cattle—”
“If that’s what you’re worried about, Matty and Seb can winter up there,” Jonas said. It was unlike his father to interrupt, and it was a sure sign of his concern.
“I can’t see a woman being happy up there all alone for months,” Penny pushed. “And what about when the baby comes?”
“The cattle are my investment. My responsibility,” he countered. “I can’t see Rose being happy here all winter.” He’d talked to her briefly after his proposal about the cabin, and she’d agreed. She’d been so uncomfortable around his family and it hadn’t gotten any better by this morning.
“And about the baby...” He shrugged. “We’ll manage.”
Penny reached out and clasped his hand over the table. “Davy, we’re concerned. You barely know each other.”
They were concerned? He looked at Jonas’s steady brown gaze. Or she was concerned?
“What about Edgar?” he asked.
Her Convenient Cowboy Page 11
