by Bobbi Smith
“There’s the house,” Emmie pointed out some time later.
Kenneth was impressed with the main house and the numerous outbuildings. The spread reflected the family’s wealth and made him feel a little more at ease. For a while there he’d feared he was going to end up living in a one-room cabin.
George drove them up to the front of the house to let them out. He looked down at Emmie as he asked, “Do you want me to take Kenneth’s bags on down to the bunk house?”
Miss Harriet, looking her most prim and proper, spoke up first, dictating, “Yes.”
“The bunk house?” Kenneth repeated in confusion. He’d expected to stay at the main house.
“With Miss Harriet and Millie here, there aren’t any extra bedrooms,” Emmie explained.
“And,” Miss Harriet added, “since you’re not family, it wouldn’t be proper for you to stay in the house with the ladies anyway.”
Kenneth knew he had no recourse. “Which one’s the bunk house?”
George pointed it out for him. “I’ll leave your bags there, and the boys can tell you which bunk will be yours when they get back in.”
“Thank you, George.”
Kenneth followed the ladies indoors and was immediately impressed by the home’s interior. Though he was going to have to tolerate sleeping in the bunk house for a time, as soon as he could get Emmie to say “I do,” all that would change. “Your house is very attractive.”
“Thanks. My father believed in being comfortable when he came home after riding all day.”
Millie and Miss Harriet retired to their rooms to freshen up a bit.
“Would you like to take a look around the ranch? We can ride out for a while, if you’d like,” Emmie offered.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
“All right, I’m going to go up and change my clothes. You’ll need to change, too, and I’ll get one of my father’s Stetsons for you to wear. It’s going to be hot this afternoon.”
“Thanks.”
“Why don’t you go on down to the bunk house and take a look around, and I’ll meet you at the stable shortly. George and Josh should be nearby if you need anything.”
“I’ll be ready and waiting for you.”
Emmie started to move away to go upstairs, but Kenneth took her arm and drew her back to him. She had little time to protest as he kissed her.
“Kenneth!” Emmie broke away, startled by his move. “Someone might walk in on us.”
He just smiled confidently down at her. “Hurry up and change.”
Kenneth was feeling quite smug as he left the house. He made his way toward the bunk house, but the closer he got, the more disgusted he became. The bunk house was located near the stable, and the smell in that area was nauseating.
Two years, he told himself. Just two years…
That was all he had to endure.
He could do it.
He went inside to change his clothes and get ready for the ride.
Millie knocked on Emmie’s door a short time later.
“Come in,” Emmie called out as she finished pulling on her riding boots.
Millie went into Emmie’s bedroom to find that she’d changed into her work clothes and was obviously ready to get back to ranch life. “What are you planning to do this afternoon?”
“I’m going to take Kenneth out for a ride and show him around. Do you want to come?” she asked hopefully.
Millie could understand why Emmie didn’t want to be alone with Kenneth for any length of time. “I’m a little tired,” she fibbed. “Could you get Miss Harriet to ride with you?”
“Oh, you!” Emmie tossed the pillow from the bed at her friend, and they both broke out laughing. “If you won’t go, I just might ask her.”
“No, that’s all right. I’ll go, but I thought you might be taking him to your secret swimming hole this afternoon—it is a little hot out today.”
“Millie!” The thought of swimming with Kenneth shocked her.
“All right, all right. Give me a minute and I’ll change, too.”
Emmie got her holster and checked her gun to make sure it was loaded. She knew Kenneth would question the need for it, but she didn’t want to be caught unprepared.
It wasn’t long before Millie returned, dressed in her pants and boots, too, and they started down to the stable. Kenneth wasn’t there yet, so the two girls started to saddle up the horses, with Burley’s help. Just as they finished and were leading the horses out of the stable, Kenneth came out of the bunk house.
“How do you think your dude is going to like being here?” Burley asked Emmie, eyeing Kenneth as he walked their way.
“I guess we’re going to find out real soon,” she replied noncommittally
Kenneth was looking around for Emmie as he headed toward the stable. As he reached the open doors, he saw her for the first time dressed in her work clothes and wearing a cowboy hat, just like the ranch hands. If that sight wasn’t shocking enough, Millie was with her, dressed the same way. He was mortified as he stared at the two women.
“Emmie…?”
“There you are,” she began, unaware that he was upset. She turned to face him. “We’re all ready to go.”
When Emmie turned his way, he realized she was wearing a gun and holster, too. “Emmie, what are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, you’re dressed like a common ranch hand—and, my God, you’re carrying a gun!”
She understood his shock and hastened to explain. “Kenneth, it’s all right. Out here, there’s work to be done, and I have to do it. As far as the gun goes, this isn’t Philadelphia. There are times when there is no one else around, and we have to be able to take care of ourselves.”
“I’ll be with you today. You’ll be safe,” he insisted.
Emmie fought hard not to laugh at him. “Are you carrying a gun?”
“Well, no.”
“Then you wouldn’t be much help if we have a run-in with a rattlesnake or some rustlers. Come on. Let’s go for our ride.” She handed him the hat she’d found for him among her father’s things.
Kenneth realized she had just made him look the fool in front of the ranch hand, and her response didn’t sit well with him. She was a lady, and she was supposed to act like one. He let the matter go for then, but he knew he would have to speak with her about it later. He couldn’t very well be a successful ranch owner if the hands didn’t respect him. He jammed the hat on his head and walked to the horses.
They mounted up, and Emmie led the little group away from the ranch house. She was looking forward to showing Kenneth around the Rocking R. She knew he had his own ideas of what ranch life was like, and she hoped to show him what it was really like. She loved this place, and she wanted him to understand why.
The following three hours were among the longest Kenneth had ever spent in his life. He could tell that Emmie was enjoying showing him around, but he found it hard to get excited about seeing a herd of cattle or a watering hole. He could appreciate that the cattle were dollars on the hoof, but the heat, the filth, and the smell left him yearning for his gentleman’s club back home. He’d seen absolutely nothing on the ranch that seemed the least bit civilized, and he understood more clearly than ever why Emmie’s mother had left and never returned.
When Emmie finally said it was time to head back, he was hard put not to celebrate openly—even though he was returning to the bunk house. He looked over at Millie, who seemed to be completely at ease riding across the long miles with Emmie.
“So, you’re having a good time in Texas?” Kenneth asked, finding it hard to believe that she was.
“Yes,” Millie answered him. “It’s been a true adventure. I love it here.” She was thinking of George when she said the last.
“You’ll certainly have a lot of tales to tell everyone when you get back home.”
“Yes, I will.” But even as Millie said it, she wasn’t certain she would be going back to Philadelphia. She missed
her family, but she loved George, and she wanted to be with him.
They rode up to the stable and left the horses there before returning to the house to find Miss Harriet sitting out on the porch waiting for them.
“Did you have a nice ride?” she asked, her gaze on Kenneth.
“It’s a big ranch. That’s for sure,” he answered.
“Yes, it is,” Miss Harriet agreed, noticing that he hadn’t praised anything. “Kate said dinner would be ready in about an hour.”
“Good, I’m hungry,” Emmie said. Looking at Kenneth, she explained, “Kate’s the best cook around, and we’re lucky she works for us. You’ll be finding out for yourself real soon.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it. For now, though, I think I’d better wash up.”
“Be back up here in an hour.”
“Oh, I will,” Kenneth promised.
Chapter Twenty-three
Kenneth spent the next few days trying to acclimate himself to ranch life, but it wasn’t easy. He had little interest in cattle and even less in horses. The ranch hands had tried to get him to saddle-break one of the horses, but he wasn’t about to put himself at risk that way He was a competent horse man, but he had no desire to try to ride a bucking horse.
When Kenneth had learned Emmie had to move to Texas and run a ranch, he’d never imagined just how much work that actually entailed. He’d thought she would simply direct things from the house and leave the actual physical labor to the hired hands. Now he saw how mistaken he’d been. He’d watched her rope and brand cattle with the men, and, to his disgust, she’d even helped deliver a foal when the mare had suffered complications and was close to dying during the delivery. He’d never seen anything so messy in his life. Still, he told himself he could come to accept the harshness of life on the Rocking R, knowing at the end of the two years they could escape back East.
It was on the evening of his third day on the ranch, after Miss Harriet and Millie had retired, that he sought Emmie out in her father’s study, where he knew she was going over the books. He knocked quietly on the door and opened it.
“Mind if I come in?” Kenneth asked as he found her sitting at the desk poring over the ledgers.
Emmie looked up at him. “No, I’m almost finished here.” Emmie was hoping that he was coming to tell her that he would be returning home soon. She had spent time with him over the last few days, but had not encouraged him romantically in any way, and she frankly couldn’t wait for him to leave. She was missing Josh. He’d ridden out to check stock the day before, and she hoped he would be returning soon.
“Good, because I wanted to talk to you to night,” he said as he came to stand beside her chair. “Emmie…”
Kenneth reached down and took her arm, gently drawing her up to him.
Emmie stood and looked up at him, hoping to hear him say that he was leaving.
“Emmie, I…” He stopped in midsentence and bent to kiss her. “I love you, Emmie, and I want you to marry me. That’s why I came out here to be with you. I knew you needed me, and I wanted to be here to help you.”
“Kenneth—”
As she started to speak, the door Kenneth had left slightly ajar opened and Josh walked in.
“Emmie, I wanted to…” As he saw her standing in Kenneth’s embrace, he stopped abruptly. The look in his eyes hardened. “Sorry.”
He turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
Emmie was so miserable, she wanted to scream. Josh couldn’t have picked a worse moment to walk in on her. She jerked herself free of Kenneth’s hold.
“Kenneth…”
Kenneth was completely surprised by her flustered response. What did it matter if Josh saw them together? They would be married soon.
“Emmie, I’m sorry Josh walked in that way. Does he always do that?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’re going to have to put some locks on these doors after we’re married.” He was smiling.
“What?”
Kenneth continued. “What I was about to say to you…Emmie, marry me, and we’ll never have to worry about someone walking in on us again, or Miss Harriet checking up on us.”
Kenneth had no idea that mentioning Miss Harriet would conjure up memories for Emmie of her time with Josh at the line shack and make this moment all the more embarrassing and painful for her. “Kenneth, stop.”
“What?” he asked, puzzled.
“I’m sorry, Kenneth. I’m sorry, but I can’t marry you,” she told him, feeling fiercely determined. There was only one man she wanted to marry, and she had to go find him—now.
“What are you talking about?” he demanded in open irritation. “I made the trip all the way out here to be with you. Back in Philadelphia you said you couldn’t think about marriage because everything was so confusing for you after your father’s death, but you’re here now and all settled in, and I’m here with you, too. There’s no reason we can’t get married just as soon as we can arrange it with the minister.” Kenneth was speaking with confidence. “Then I’ll be here to help you run the ranch and take care of things.”
Emmie couldn’t believe how egotistical Kenneth was. This was the second time she’d told him she couldn’t marry him, and yet he still believed otherwise. She knew in that moment that her future was with Josh, and she had to make that clear to Kenneth once and for all.
“Kenneth, you don’t understand,” she began in a sharp tone.
“What don’t I understand? I know that I love you and I’ve given up my life in Philadelphia to come here and be with you.”
“Kenneth, I don’t love you,” she said firmly. She knew her words were blunt, but since he was so wrapped up in his own desires, she realized it was the only way to get his full attention.
“What?” he demanded angrily.
“You heard me, Kenneth. I don’t love you. I never have, and I’m not going to marry you.”
Without another word, Emmie turned and left the room. She knew Kenneth well enough to recognize that he wouldn’t just let things rest, but she didn’t care. It was Josh she loved, and she was going to find him right now and tell him so. She went outside and disappeared into the night, looking for the man she loved.
Josh’s mood had been as dark as the storm-clouded night as he strode from the house. The lightning and thunder matched his anger as he faced the fact that Emmie and Kenneth obviously meant a lot to each other. Kenneth had come all the way to Texas just to be with her.
Images of Emmie haunted his thoughts—Emmie holding the gun on him in the study the sight of Emmie swimming, their passionate kisses at the line shack, and the way she’d felt in his arms when they’d danced at the social. He loved her. He’d been trying to deny that reality for some time now, but he finally faced it, and he wondered what he was going to do about it. He knew he had to do something. He’d never known another woman like Emmie, and he couldn’t let her get away. He was, after all, a bounty hunter, and she was on his wanted list.
Josh smiled grimly in the darkness as he found himself standing by Hank’s grave. Hank had been his friend, and he knew he could have used the older man’s help to bring in his daughter. He heard the rumble of thunder in the distance again and gave a shake of his head, wondering whether she would want to ride up to the line shack with him that night.
Emmie had no idea where Josh had gone. His house was dark, so she knew he wasn’t there. She skirted around the stable and then went out behind the house. A flash of lightning split the distant sky, and she caught sight of him standing near her father’s grave. She wasted no time hurrying to him.
“Josh,” Emmie called his name softly as she drew near.
He turned around, surprised to see her. The threatening storm had masked the sound of her approach. “What are you doing out here? You should get back up to the house before the weather breaks.”
“Why? I like being caught out in storms with you,” she said brazenly.
“Go on,” he urged.
; “No, I’m not leaving—not until we’ve had a chance to talk. I want to explain what—”
“There’s no need for you to say anything,” he cut her off. “I shouldn’t have walked in on you that way.”
“Josh Grady, I’m glad you walked in on me that way.”
“You are?”
“Yes, I am,” she insisted, moving forward to stand with him. “Kenneth proposed to me to night, and I turned him down. I said no. I don’t love him, Josh.” She stepped closer and looked up at him, all the love she felt shining in her eyes. “I love you.”
Josh gazed down at her, seeing the woman who had come to mean so much to him. Ever so gently he took her in his arms and told her, “I love you, too, Emmie.”
“Oh, Josh.” She sighed his name and gave herself up to his embrace.
Josh kissed her hungrily, wanting to tell her with his lips just how much she meant to him. “Now tell me, woman, if you aren’t going to marry Kenneth, will you marry me?”
“Oh, yes!” She kissed him again, thrilled.
“What are you going to do about Kenneth?” Josh asked. He could well imagine how angry the other man was right now.
“I’ll have a talk with him in the morning and make arrangements for him to go into town and stay there until he can leave for Philadelphia.”
“If he gives you any trouble, just let me know.”
“I can handle Kenneth,” she assured him.
Josh wasn’t quite so sure, but he didn’t say any more; he just kissed her again. At that moment the rain started to fall, and they broke apart, laughing.
“Come on, let’s get you up to the house.” Josh took her hand to walk her back.
“I’d rather go with you to the line shack,” she said seductively.
“Be careful what you wish for, woman; you just might get it,” he responded, more than tempted to carry her off with him in the night. “But we’re not on our honeymoon yet.”
“That’s too bad.”
The look Josh gave her sent a shiver of pure excitement through her, and she stopped and pulled him back to her.
“I need one more kiss.”
