by Cyndi Raye
A sudden thought occurred when Ruby got her head on straight. She was marrying this man as Catherine Jackson, not Ruby Adams. Therefore, there was no marriage to end. No one would ever know if she took her land certificates and moved on from here. She could pull this off. She would have to leave this small town but that was okay. There was land to be had all over the west, it didn’t mean it had to be right here. Nine chances out of ten, she’d never run into Marshall Montgomery after today.
Ruby had to make some amends and change her plan of action. Marshall Montgomery was staring at her, hard. As if she were expected to say something. Next, the boy looked up, his guilty little eyes staring at her in amusement. The man he called Daniel held open a bible. He smiled at Ruby.
She was expected to say something but what had they asked of her? “I’m sorry, I guess I’m a bit nervous,” she told them, taking a step back.
“It’s not unusual ma’am,” Daniel told her. “I just need you to agree to become Marshall’s wife so we can wrap this up.”
The three of them stared at her, waiting.
“I, well, yes. Yes, I do.” At least Catherine does.
Marshall sighed. She didn’t miss the fact his shoulders relaxed at her words.
“I now pronounce you man and wife, you may kiss your bride.”
Kiss his bride! Oh, dear!
Marshall moved towards her, the look of intent on his face taking her breath away. Ruby wasn’t sure she would recover from a kiss by him. He was not what she had expected, although she had no idea what she expected. Certainly not such a handsome, fine man like him.
He placed warm hands on her shoulders. She stared at one of them, noticing the large calloused hands. Yet they were soft to the touch. A hard working man, yet gentle, stirred her insides even more.
Closing her eyes, she puckered her lips. She waited for a moment for him to kiss her. When she didn’t feel anything against her mouth, her eyes flickered open to see him right there, inches from her face. He was staring in to her very soul. Did he see her deceit? Shame showered down on her, almost forcing her to take a step back but his large hands held her there. He dipped his head and kissed her.
Oh, sweet Jesus, thank you! The man was a gift from above. The soft, gentle way he placed his mouth on hers stirred every inch of her into oblivion. She should push him away but instead, Ruby grabbed his shirt to pull him closer.
The preacher cleared his throat.
Ruby stepped back, pushing herself away from this man. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, not sure what had gotten in to her.
“Perfectly fine, Mrs. Montgomery. The two of you are married, allowed to have a kiss in public.” The preacher looked at his own wife, who stood beside him. “We certainly don’t need any fireworks,” he teased in a low voice.
Ruby was so shaken up she didn’t recall how she wound up an hour later riding shotgun on a wagon bench with the boy between the two of them. Marshall had the reins wrapped around his powerful hands. He gazed over at her when he saw her staring. “Everything alright, Mrs. Montgomery?”
“Fine,” she got out, then turned to the prairie. The kiss had shaken her up. She never expected to feel anything. There was something between the two of them, for sure. This could develop in to a problem. She wasn’t supposed to feel anything for the man. No, she was going to get to the ranch and turn the kid upside down for her land certificates and flee before anyone knew she was missing.
Ruby bit her lip. Her plan didn’t sound like it would work too well. Not with a man like Montgomery. He was too keen, to strong and too, well, too kissable.
“Penny for your thoughts?” he asked.
She turned back to him, avoiding looking in to his beautiful eyes. “I’m anxious to see your home, that’s all.”
“It’s right over yonder,” he told her, pointing ahead of the wagon with the reins. Looking ahead, there was miles and miles of barren land. Marshall turned down a dirt path. “It sets way back but you can see the outline of the barn and house over there.”
Twenty minutes later they were in the yard, looking at a towering two story house and barn. “It’s nice,”she told him, hiking up her skirts and jumping off the wagon before he could help her. A frown appeared on his face when he noticed she didn’t wait for his help, but he didn’t say a word.
He would have to get used to her independent spirit, she mused. That is, until she left here. Taking the steps two at a time, Ruby flung open the door to find a large space filled with a long table and some wooden benches, along with a few chairs scattered about. A cook stove set in the corner, along with space to do some serious preparations. On the other side of the room, several rockers were lined up around a fireplace. It was cozy yet there wasn’t a woman’s touch here at all.
That would change if she had any say in the décor. Of course, she wouldn’t be here long enough to make a difference.
“Does it suit?” Marshall stood beside her.
“It’s nice. Needs a woman’s touch.”
“I give you full rein to do as you will.”
He was a nice man. She felt a tinge of regret to lead him on this way. Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. “I think it’s fine for now. I’d like to get started with the meal if you don’t mind.”
“Everything is in the kitchen,” he told her, pointing towards another door leading outside. “There are potatoes in the root cellar right out back and we finished building the smoke house over yonder. If you need anything, ask Joe, he’s been doing the cooking for some time now.”
“Thank you. Where do I find Joe?” she asked, shyly stepping back from his towering physique.
“Out in the barn, mucking the stalls this time of day while the horses are gone. He’s an all around cowboy, does the cooking, keeps the ranch in shape. I’m sure he’ll be happy now that you’re here to take over some of the work.”
Oh brother! Ruby smiled but turned away before he could see the lies all over her face. Setting to work, she grabbed an iron to stir the embers in the fireplace in the kitchen, bringing them to life. When she had a good fire going, Ruby looked over the shelves to find something to cook for their dinner.
Marshall stood at the door, his hand on the knob. “When supper is ready, you can ring the bell out here on the porch. We’ll all be up for dinner in no time flat.”
“We?” she questioned. How many people was she supposed to feed?
As if he could read her mind, he said, “There’s five of us, six with me, plus you and the boy. Good day, Mrs. Montgomery.”
Ruby sighed. There wasn’t a whole lot of variety on the shelves, which was so unlike the pantry in their brownstone. Even though her uncle had a cook, her mama made Ruby cook and clean over the years, too. She never wanted her daughter to be idle. Right now, she was glad her mother took the initiative to teach her. Otherwise, Marshall would see her for the fake she was and probably throw her out on her own in the middle of the Texas prairie.
She ventured out back and found the door to the root cellar, and worked her way down the three rickety steps. Walking across the ground dirt floor, Ruby couldn’t help darting her eyes back and forth for rodents or anything that may be hiding in the dark corners. Holding open her apron that she put on from the hook on the kitchen door, Ruby gathered enough potatoes for a large pot of stew. Feeding more than a few people would be difficult but she would do her best.
Back in the kitchen, she began to clean the skins of the potatoes, before cutting them up and placing them in the pot to stew. Looking out of the kitchen window, Ruby smiled. Two full-grown apple trees, along with some she wasn’t sure what they were, stood in the yard, big and tall and proud. One thing she did know how to make was a wicked apple pie. Even her uncle would rave about the delicious taste whenever she did the baking. She’d find some good apples and throw in a pie or two for desert. That way when she did leave here, perhaps he’d remember that she wasn’t all that bad.
Ruby set about gathering carrots, onions and other vegetables fro
m the garden to add to her stew. Then she shook a few of the branches of the apple tree until plenty fell on the ground and commenced to make her apple pie. Before long, the hours flew by and it was time to call them in for supper.
Ruby cleaned herself up the best she could and went outside to ring the big iron bell hanging from the porch. She moved the makeshift cord back and forth, the bell filling the air with a loud noise. Men came out of nowhere, yelling suppers done before taking the few steps to the back door of the kitchen. Ruby watched from her place on the wooden porch until each man went through the kitchen door. She had set up the table earlier, pushing two benches along each side of the table for them to sit down together.
As she looked around, she didn’t see the boy or Marshall so went inside to help serve supper. “Where’s Mr. Montgomery?”
“Boss said to go ahead and serve supper, he’ll be along in a while. Seems a cow that strayed is having trouble bearing her calf. Him and the boy are out there now. It’ll be a few hours until they get back. Said to save him some supper.”
Joe lifted the Dutch oven from the fireplace. “I’ve done this before, ma’am. I’ll help to serve supper if you want to get to cutting the pie on the windowsill.”
Ruby was glad for his help. Joe was a large man, strong hands and a smile that helped put her at ease. She wasn’t sure how to feel having so many men at the table but they all seemed harmless enough. She was sure a man like Marshall wouldn’t allow them inside if he didn’t trust them.
Joe ladled stew for each man. As he sat down and crossed his hand over his chest, a small prayer was heard by one of the men. Then they picked up their spoons and began to dig in to the meal. One by one, each man’s eyes looked at Ruby.
Finally, one of the men stared at her, disapproval on his hard-lined face. “Where in tarnation is the meat?”
Chapter 5
Ruby’s hand stilled. “The what?”
Another ranch hand chimed in. “The meat! We have a smoke house out back here filled with meat. We want meat with our supper, no offense ma’am.”
Ruby’s face paled. Oh darn, she had forgotten to put meat in the stew. With all the things she had been doing, she meant to go to the smoke house and grab a ham for the pot of stew. She bit her bottom lip. They were going to think she was incompetent if she didn’t clear this up. Then Marshall would make her leave and she’d have to leave her land certificates behind. At that very moment she wanted to shake the boy. He was the cause of all this distress. “I’m sorry, but I thought you’d like my special Potato Soup for tonight. I didn’t have a lot of time to cook and I wanted to concentrate on this special pie.” She held up the pie, it’s rich aroma filling the air. The men were silent for some time, staring at the pie in her hands.
“Well, alright. We’ll take pie then instead of meat.” The others nodded their heads and agreed. Ruby didn’t hesitate but served them each a large slice. She even poured some fresh milk in their mugs.
“Now that’s right fine of you, ma’am. Thank you and sorry for demanding meat. This is indeed a fine supper.”
“Anything’s better than the slop Joe was cookin’ for us. A hard-working man gets tired of beans every single night.”
Joe snickered. “If I never see a Dutch oven again, I’ll be a happy man.”
She smiled at the banter and nodded as each man thanked her for the meal. They left the kitchen one by one until she was left all alone. Ruby began to clean up, wondering where in the world Marshall and Billy were at. The sky was darkening. Was it safe to be out on the plains at night?
She kept the stew warm in the corner of the fireplace, away from direct heat so it didn’t dry out. The pie was still warm but it wouldn’t stay that way much longer. Should she be worried they weren’t back yet?
Ruby went outside on the back porch to find two rocking chairs sitting beside the other, facing the prairie. She lowered herself on to one of the chairs and began to rock back and forth, its lull causing her to drift off. When she stirred awake, the sky was so dark it frightened her. She stood up. Dare she go in to the barn? It was a ways from the house, she could stumble and fall in the dark night.
It looked like the bunkhouse sat beside the barn. Ruby could make out a faint light in the window. No one else seemed concerned. Should she be? She didn’t want to bother anyone and yet what if Marshall didn’t come back? Or the boy? Maybe someone should go looking for them.
Besides, her land certificates were on that boy and if anything happened to him, she’d never be free to live a life as an independent woman. She breathed in the clean night air. It was fresh, not like the city smells of dust and factory toils, garbage in the streets and other smells she’d be ashamed to name. A girl like Ruby could get used to living on a ranch. Perhaps she’d even have one of her own some day. If everything worked out right. Worry began to cover her brow. Not just for her land certificates but she was starting to worry a little bit about the two out on the prairie. How could that be in such a short amount of time?
She decided to wait on the porch, so sat back down in the rocker, since he never told her where she’d be sleeping. Ruby didn’t even know if she’d have her own bedroom or be stuck with Marshall. Chills went through her spine thinking about being in the same bed with him. After all, they were married now but she had no plans to make it a permanent position. He was married to one Catherine Jackson. Ruby Adams was still a single woman.
Ruby took her fingertips and rubbed her aching forehead. She began to rock back and forth until it seemed as if everything faded away in to the dark of the night.
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Marshall tried to explain to Billy how cows are born but he was a city boy. He’d never had to experience anything like this before. The fascination and stark fear on his face when the cow began her labor made him chuckle. The boy had a lot of learning to do. “You gonna throw up, boy?” he asked, amused.
Billy was on his knees beside the cow as she began to make painful noises. Mostly she was quiet but in these last stages of labor it was getting harder. “No, sir. I can take it,” he told his uncle.
Marshall grinned. Wait until he had to see what was about to happen. “I’m afraid you may want to turn your head, son.”
The boy stared at him before shaking his head. “I can take it, Uncle Marshall.”
As the cow screamed, Marshall did the only thing he could to help her. He had to move the calf so it could be born. He pushed his arm inside to pull the hoofs out of the mother. It was difficult and sweat poured from his brow. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to do this but he hated to watch her suffer. Hopefully, the calf would be born alive and the ailing mother would survive.
A few minutes of pulling and the calf slipped from its mother, covered in slimy liquid. Marshall looked up to see the petrified look on Billy’s face. “Do I have to ever do that?” he whispered, horrified.
“Maybe so, son. It just saved this mama’s life.”
“It did?” He sat back on his haunches as if in deep thought. “Well, then, I’ll do it too if I have to. I know what it’s like to lose a mommy. I’m glad she didn’t die.”
His words were so profound it took Marshall a moment to recover. This ranch would be good for the boy. Even though he was sad his parents were gone, there was nothing like hard work to help recover from tragedy. “Let’s back up a bit,” Marshall told the boy as he stepped away from mother and baby.
They watched silently as the mother’s tongue slaked out and licked the calf from head to foot then nudged the calf on its feet. The newborn wobbled on shaky legs for sometime before lifting herself up like a trooper, searching for food. She stood there, wobbling until she found her prize and began suckling.
Marshall began to gather branches and limbs from the area for a fire. “Son, we’re going to have to stay here and protect the mother and baby tonight. Do you think you can do that?”
He nodded, excitement in his next words. “Like a shepherd watching over the sheep?” he asked, his ten year old voice s
ounding loud and proud.
“That’s right, just like a shepherd.” While Marshall got a fire going, he pulled his saddlebags and two blankets from the horse. They didn’t have much of a choice, really. If a pack of wolves happened by, the mother and baby would die. Marshall couldn’t afford to lose any of his cattle. They would stand guard tonight and run them closer to the ranch at first signs of daylight. He wasn’t sure how this one slipped away so far from the ranch, but sometimes it happened.
After settling in, Marshall laid on his back, a rifle by his side. He looked up at the sky, a few stars twinkling in the darkness. He wondered what Catherine was doing right now? She sure was beautiful, except there was an air of mystery about her he wasn’t so sure about. She sure didn’t seem like a heartbroken woman who was jilted by her fiancé. Marshall had a feeling in his gut there was something else going on. He kicked some dirt from the tip of his boot.
When Billy called her Ruby instead of Catherine, he thought it strange at first. He was certain she wasn’t his intended. Later, when she had admitted she was indeed Catherine, claiming to be Catherine Ruby Jackson, he saw the twinge of fear on her face before she shielded it behind that sweet smile. He sighed, taking in the night air deep in his lungs.
There was also something strange about the boy, too. He just couldn’t put a finger on it. Yet. Billy kept pulling up his pant leg, checking for something in his shoe. When Marshall told him he’d have to trade those shoes in for a pair of cowboy boots, the kid took a step back in fear as if Marshall would take the shoes from him right then and there. He assured the boy he’d have to wait to get a new pair when they went back in town next. The look of relief on the boy’s face made Marshall wonder why a kid his age wouldn’t want to trade his city shoes for a fine pair of boots. What was he hiding in those shoes?
