“And your wife?”
“In spite of our forced marriage, she seems willing enough now. She likes company, though. Hell, they have these parties, what they call ceilidhs, three or four nights a week. Never saw so much celebrating. No telling how she’ll feel once she meets with the isolation and long workdays of ranch life.”
“What has she said about it?” Josh asked.
Embarrassment flooded Dallas. “Dang, I told her about the ranch but didn’t ask her how she felt about living there. Wonder how she feels about staying in one place forever, even if her parents agree to remain with her?”
“You two getting along so far?” Josh asked.
“She’s agreeable enough. I figure she’s like a new filly, and I have to give her a chance to get used to me, break her in easy without shattering her spirit.”
Josh laughed. “She’s a beautiful woman. Reckon the nights make up for a lot.”
Unwilling to discuss his wife’s passionate nature, no matter how much he enjoyed it, Dallas said. “Her mother is pleasant but lost in a laudanum haze most of the time. Her father has more than enough advice for a dozen men, and the man has a toast or a bit of poetry or a saying for everything.”
He paused for a minute. “Cenora is nothing like the woman I had imagined finding one day.” He exhaled in a puzzled whoosh. “No point dwelling on that. If Cenora can adjust to the quiet, reckon she’ll like having her own house.”
Austin raised his eyebrows and met Dallas’s gaze. “No parties on Running Horse Ranch.”
“I never wanted a wife, still don’t as for as that goes, but reckon I’m stuck with her, and I aim to honor my part of the bargain. But danged if I’ll change my life to please her or anyone else. Best to start as I mean to go on. My routine’s set.”
He looked at his uncle. Where would he be without his family? Only the Good Lord knew. “I know you gave me a good start with the training and letting me have a share from cattle sales, and I thank you for it. I’m not making light of your help when I say I’ve worked hard for what I have, but I mean to go on just as I’ve been for the past two years.”
Josh and Austin laughed. Durn their hides, let them laugh. They’d see he meant what he said when he kept to his ways. After all, Cenora might be off traveling again within a year.
But if she did stay, how did he feel about Cenora sharing his life forever?
****
His family stayed with them until they stopped for the noon meal. Dallas hated to see them making ready to go home and leave him stuck with this crowd, but he figured the Travelers would never find his ranch without him to tell them the turns. This bunch reminded Dallas of those Israelite people in the Bible who left Egypt with Moses. Dallas figured the Travelers would wander back and forth for at least forty years before they found their way west.
Not that he cared if they meandered around, but he’d promised, and he always kept his word. No, best he stayed with the group and led them to his ranch. Then, he’d try to get his in-laws away with their belongings before Williams could stop them.
Austin shook Dallas’s hand. “We’ll ride on home and let Xavier know when to expect you. Figure at this pace it’ll take about three days.” His uncle mounted Shadow and smiled. “Don’t worry. Leastwise, Kathryn, Gran, and Grandpa will have time to settle down a mite and get used to this marriage before you two show up.”
“Hope so.” Dallas chuckled. “Won’t Grandpa be fit to wrestle a bear when he hears the news?” Dallas could hardly wait to see all of his family. He’d always appreciated them and what they did for him, just as he’d told Austin. Since his time with the Travelers, though, he’d developed a deepened gratitude for the discipline and moral training he’d received growing up and the solid support his family offered his endeavors.
Most of his family.
Cenora had joined him beside the wagon. She handed Austin a bundle of food for the journey, bread she’d baked and cheese they’d bought from a farmer they passed a day or two back. He guessed she didn’t realize the three would ride hard and be home by bedtime.
Austin accepted the bundle from her as if it were treasure. “Cenora, we’ll expect to see you at our place real soon. The rest of the family will be eager to meet you.” He stowed the food in his saddlebag and tipped his hat, obviously eager to leave.
“Thanks for loaning us your saddle, Daniel.” Dallas clapped his cousin on the back. “Cenora will be able to ride Queenie now.”
“Aw, I don’t mind riding bareback.” Daniel flashed a shy smile and climbed on his horse. He tipped his hat to Cenora. “Thanks for showing me the wagon.”
Dallas suppressed a smile. Danged if Daniel wasn’t smitten by Cenora.
“Come on, boys, time to go home.” Austin waved, then led off on the trail toward McClintock Falls.
Dallas watched them leave and wished he could call out to them to stay with him the rest of his trip to the ranch. Yet, deep inside him excitement built, for in a few days he’d be home. He couldn’t stop thinking about his big bed there and having his wife share it with him.
Already he saw what Austin meant. Some things about his life had to change. One change wasn’t bad because he sure as hell approved of nights with his woman.
After they’d gone, Williams swaggered by and cornered Dallas alone. “So, your high and mighty kin deserted you. Guess that leaves you in my charge.” He laughed at his remark as if it had been witty. He poked a finger at Dallas’s chest. “Don’t you forget, fool. I’ll get even with you, and Cenora will be mine.”
Before Dallas could answer, Williams turned and swaggered off. Just as well, for the less said to the bully, the better. More could only lead to open battle, something Dallas hoped to avoid.
Three days later, as Austin had predicted, Dallas saw the landmark he’d longed for. He waved his hat in the air. “Yeehaw!”
Cenora stuck her head out the curtain. “What’s the matter?”
“See that big tree?”
She nodded but looked puzzled at his outburst.
“It’s the boundary marking Running Horse Ranch.”
Beside him on the wagon seat, Finn asked, “So we’re on your land, eh? Where’s your house? I see no buildings o’ any kind.”
“At this pace it’ll be after noon before we reach the river, and then we’ll be near the house.”
Finn’s eyes widened in surprise. “So much land is yours? And ‘tis sure you are we’ll be unharmed if we camp there?”
Dallas nodded. He restrained himself from urging Finn to push the mules harder. “I give you my word you’ll have a safe camp on my land.”
He hoped his land would be as safe from the Travelers.
Finn nodded, “Then ‘tis glad I am you talked us into going on when Williams wanted to rest. Soon you’ll be shut o’ Williams’ dark scowls, and me sister will be safe from the man.”
Dallas nodded. “I won’t be sorry to part from him, that’s for dang sure.”
Finn pulled the wagon to the front, and they passed by flocks of sheep grazing. Dallas waved at his shepherds. Eventually, he guided the way to a grove of trees where the Medina River made a lazy bend. Banks sloped to a long, sandy beach. To his way of thinking, it made a perfect campsite. From the smiles on their faces as they set up camp, the others thought so, too.
“Would you look at the wildflowers? ‘Tis like a rainbow laid across the field,” Brendan said and turned his face to the warm breeze as if soaking in the peace of the scene.
Dallas smiled, shooed away a honeybee, and picked a bluebonnet. He inhaled its sweet scent before he presented it to Cenora.
“Aye, such a wondrous place. ’Tis sure you are we won’t be chased away from here, lad?” Murphy asked.
Dallas said, “I own this land and all you see around you.”
He hated to be stuck with these people, but a few of the countless times he’d been ostracized because of his own Indian blood flashed through his mind. He’d never treat anyone that way. “You’re welcome her
e.”
“Can you mean it?” Murphy asked.
Though he had a lot of misgivings, Dallas nodded. “Yes, sir.” In spite of his reservations, he knew the Travelers had been forced to move on too many times for them to trust in his invitation. “I’ve the right to say who uses my land.”
“’Tis very kind of you.” Cenora’s sweet smile sent a surge of pleasure shooting through him.
He forced his attention back to the matter of the Travelers and turned to speak low to Padraic Murphy, “I trust you to see I’ll have as many chickens, hogs, sheep, and cattle when you leave as I have now and the same for my neighbors.”
Murphy flushed red and kicked at the dirt with his toe. “Aye, I get your meaning, lad. I know some o’ me mates find treasures laying about and just beggin’ to be picked up when no one’s looking, and I’ll speak to them. Sure and young Will O’Leary will back me there.”
“Thank you.” He addressed the group. “I’ll go on to my home, but I’ll send food over for your evening meal.”
He turned to his in-laws, “Are you coming with us now and see the house?” Say no, he thought, let me at least show Cenora this on our own.
Brendan looked ready to accompany them, but Aoife sent her husband a quelling look. “No, it should be a private time, seeing where you’ll live together. You two go on, and we’ll wait here ‘til you send for us.”
Before Brendan could change Aoife’s mind, Dallas saddled Red and Queenie then helped Cenora up on her mare and stowed the broom and bundle she insisted she needed. Since Daniel’s saddle required she ride astride, she smoothed her skirts to hide her legs, but her beautiful ankles showed pale and satin. Dallas ran his hands along her leg as he pretended to adjust the stirrup. She met his gaze and passion flared in her beautiful green eyes.
They turned to wave goodbye. The look Tom Williams shot their way would have boiled water, but he made no move to stop them. Ha, now Dallas and Cenora would be rid of that troublemaker, and it couldn’t be too soon to suit Dallas. How he’d get his in-laws away safely had yet to come to him. Turning his thoughts back to his wife and the delights that lay ahead, he leaned toward her.
“Come on, Cenora. I’ll take you around the long way so your first sight of the house will be my favorite. It sits atop a hill overlooking the Medina River.”
“Hurry, for I can’t wait much longer to see the grand place where I’ll be living with you.”
****
Mac and Finn unhitched the mules. They’d already taken their three ponies to the river then staked them on some thick, tall grass. Mac took the mules’ leads. “You see about Ma, and I’ll take them to water. Reckon she’s feeling a mite weepy with our sister going off.”
After they’d drunk their fill, Mac staked the mules near the ponies. He worried about what Tom would say now that Cenora had gone off with her man and stiffened when he saw the leader approach. For a change Tom didn’t have his two kinfolk trailing him.
Mac pasted on a smile and waited. “’Tis ready for a rest I am, how about you, Tom?”
Tom glared in the direction his sister had ridden. “I won’t rest ‘til I have your sister back where she belongs.”
“Now, Tom, she’s wed. Da had to make them after the stranger compromised her.”
His face grew red, and he scowled. “Damn him to hell. I’ll get even. She should have been mine.”
“We’ll likely run across a comely lass soon, one who’ll be happy to wed a powerful man like yourself.” Mac’s unease increased. He didn’t have Da’s gift of gab, and he feared he’d say the wrong thing and set Tom off in a rage.
Tom pushed his face near Mac’s. “I want her. And how can you leave her to suffer among the settled folk?”
“Suffer?” Mac had thought her marriage a good thing. She’d have food a plenty, a house, and horses to ride or sell.
“You know how we’re looked down on by the settled folk. How do you think she’ll be treated by her new kin and the townsfolk, eh? They’ll be calling her the same names they call us, insulting her.”
“Her man has money, Tom. You saw how he bought that mare from you in a snap, no scraping or saving as we’d have to do. Money makes a difference in how folks treat you.”
“Ha, ‘tis his money, not hers. You think he’s likely to keep her once he sees how embarrassing it is to have her around?”
Bloody hell. “Mayhap your right. It’s preyed on my mind she might be sent away once he tires of her.”
“Damn right. She’ll be hurt and confused and have no way to find us.”
Mac stroked his chin. “What shall I do?”
“We’ll fix that know-it-all, and then she’ll come back where she belongs. I’ll study on it and let you know when to act.”
“Yeah, Tom, you study on it.” Damned if he knew how to ask, but he had to. “You know, Tom, there was talk when Bridget died, and more when Colleen met the same fate. Some say you beat them to death. I’d not want my sister misused.”
Tom narrowed his eyes and balled his hands. Mac feared one of those ham-sized fists would visit his nose and braced himself.
“Who’re the bastards who dared say such a thing? Never mind, I can guess, and they’re only jealous o’ me leading our clan. I only hit Bridget or Colleen when either o’ them needed it, mind, and it was not my fault each fell and struck her head.”
Relief swept through Mac. “Their deaths were accidents then?”
“Aye, and you know how I feel about your sister. I’d be that good to her she’d feel like a queen.”
“That’s good to know. She’s a bit bossy, but a good woman.”
Tom pointed a thumb at himself. “And she’ll be my woman soon. I’ll be telling you when I need your help.” He turned and stomped toward his wagon.
Mac watched him. Would Cenora be better off wed to Tom than to a settled man? He remembered the awful bruises on her when they’d found her after those two devils stole her. He hadn’t paid attention to Bridget, but he remembered all the times he’d seen bruises on Colleen.
What should he do? Though he’d not like to see Cenora hit again, he didn’t want her shunned either. Tom said he’d be good to her, but could he rein in his temper? Mac stood lost in indecision until Finn sauntered over.
“What did that one want?”
Mac knew Finn had no use for Tom. “Nothing. We were just jawing is all.”
Chapter 6
Dallas and Cenora broke through a stand of live oaks, and he reined in Red at a shady spot.
“There it is, your new home.” Tucked among large trees, the sight of his house filled him with blending sensations—pride, pleasure, hope, and especially, relief.
“Saints preserve us, I expected a cottage, but ‘tis almost a castle. Did you not say you live there alone?”
“Yep, I did, but now you’ll live there, too.” He’d worried a lot about whether his family would accept Cenora. He knew they’d treat her politely but wondered at their thoughts on his hasty marriage. He’d soon know, for his aunt and grandparents wouldn’t wait long to meet her.
Dang, for now he couldn’t quit thinking of that big bed with the soft feather mattress and pillows. His body strained against the buttons of his britches. He’d been randy as a stallion with a new mare since he first thought of Cenora in his bed.
She looked incredulous that so fine a place would be his and now hers, too. “Go on with yourself. Look at the size o’ the place, and it looking neat as a button—as if you took sunlight and painted the walls, then dipped the brush in the green o’ leaves and grass for the trim.”
Thinking how she’d look lying across the bed upstairs, he smiled at his wife. Her curiosity consumed her attention, and he doubted she noticed his heated message. She peered around like a kid at the candy counter.
He smothered his thoughts long enough to explain. “I painted it that buttery yellow last spring. See, over there, even the privy’s painted. Paint protects the wood.”
He turned his attention back to t
he house and gazed at the sight he loved. “Dang, I can’t help feeling proud of my home.” Dark green on the shutters looked good with lighter green trim around the windows and the screen at the front door.
“Aye, ‘tis inviting with the little fence built on the house.”
“Porch railing. Had to replace it, so I painted it white to match the trim at the eaves. Maybe it’s not fancy as some, but to me it looks more inviting than any place I’ve ever seen.”
His excitement must have conveyed itself to Red, for the big horse sidestepped. “Easy, Red, you’ll be home with a nice bucket of oats soon.”
“So many buildings spread out behind the house, and we saw sheep coming here, but where are the cattle you mentioned?”
“A ways off, can’t see them from here.”
She turned in the saddle to face him, her emerald eyes round with awe. “Why ‘tis a grand looking place, not just a castle but more like a village.”
“Yep, guess it is at that.” Though he had long ago given up on fair treatment from most of the townspeople, he longed to prove himself worthy of his neighbors’ respect for his ranching ability and horse breeding. Now it appeared his spread had impressed his new wife.
“Sure and you were funning me. You can’t be living all alone in that grand mansion?”
He tugged at his ear and wondered what she’d think when she saw inside. A prickle of unease crept up his spine. Women needed niceties he couldn’t offer, and he couldn’t be buying much until he sold cattle and made this year’s payment on the ranch mortgage. He had other obligations as well to demand his money.
“Reckon it’s not so fancy inside. Came with only the furniture the man I bought it from didn’t want in his house in town. We can get more as I sell mares and cattle. Aunt Kathryn and Gran will have some things to give or loan us.”
He flexed his shoulders. His wound had healed over, but it throbbed with the exertion of saddling their horses and the ride over here.
Excitement heightened her color, and her eyes sparkled when she turned to him. “I’m sure ‘twill be fine.”
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