9 Ways to Fall in Love

by Caroline Clemmons

  “Bet all the ranch hands are hanging around to welcome us. Come on,” he said and kneed Red. Remembering her limited riding experience, he let Cenora lead the pace, and they galloped down the hill.

  “Cooee!” Dallas yelled as they came near. When they rode into the yard, men came running. They lined up to meet Cenora. Dallas felt pleased and shy at the same time. When he had left he never dreamed he’d be bringing a wife home. Still seemed a bit like a dream gone astray, a nightmare, especially with that band of Travelers camped nearby.

  They pulled their horses to a halt near the hands in a puff of dust. Dallas nodded to all of them, while Cenora looked shyly at her lap.

  “Boys, it’s good to be home.”

  His foreman, Xavier Garcia, stepped forward. “Buenos días, boss, and welcome home safe. Señor Austin told us you would be here today. We stayed near to welcome you.”

  “Cenora, this is my foreman, Xavier Garcia, and these other men work here at the ranch.”

  Cenora ducked her head. “’Tis pleased I am to meet you.”

  Xavier kept his small mustache trimmed and neat. He stood five or six inches shorter than Dallas, but Xavier’s stocky, muscular body made him appear formidable. Having seen him in action these past two years, Dallas knew the man’s fierce loyalty and ability made him the best foreman around.

  “Xavier, boys, this is my wife. Her family will come in later today.”

  Xavier removed his hat and nodded. “Con gusto, with pleasure, Señora.” He donned his hat and pushed the brim up to look at Dallas. “We’re glad you’re home. Many problems have cropped up while you were gone, boss. I tear my hair until your return.”

  Worry seized Dallas. He knew his unexpected absence created hardships. His loyalties warred between hearing about the ranch, his first choice, and getting Cenora inside, the proper thing in the circumstances. “Anything that can’t wait another hour?”

  “No, we have made progress and await your approval, but we have much to discuss.”

  Dallas tugged at his ear and looked at Cenora then back to Xavier. “I’ll be out and talk to you as soon as I see my wife settled.” He pointed to the other men who waited. “This is Fred Benson, Two Bits Collins, and Armando Diaz.”

  The three men took off their hats and nodded at Cenora.

  “’Tis a pleasure.” Cenora looked more scared than pleased.

  The men mumbled greetings and stared at her as if seeing a dream.

  Xavier reclaimed Dallas’s attention. “We chased off some rustlers four days ago, but our efforts scattered the herd. Pete and Reno were already up to the shack rounding up the strays when Señor Austin sent word you would likely arrive today. They’ll be sorry they missed your return.”

  The hands appeared in awe of Cenora, and she seemed nervous of them. Twenty-year-old Armando gazed at her as if he’d been mesmerized. Two Bits nudged Armando and winked at Dallas. Dallas tried not to smile. The first time he saw Cenora dancing and singing in Hotaka Gap, he’d felt as dazed as Armando appeared. For that matter, Dallas still reacted that way on occasion.

  He remembered the promise he’d made. “Xavier, please send a bunch of our vegetables to that caravan by the river before supper. Enough for about twenty-five people. Toss in a few hams and some bacon, maybe some eggs if we can spare them.”

  Xavier frowned, and Dallas realized why. Dang, sharing with the Travelers meant he’d be forced to slaughter some of the swine and lambs he’d planned to sell. He’d need extras to feed the ranch hands and himself over the winter. That meant less profit.

  He figured he had to do it to keep temptation away from the light-fingered members of the Travelers. He hated to admit it, but it also gave him pleasure to be able to provide for his in-laws’ companions. In some way or other, it would probably just anger Williams.

  “Sí, pronto, right away.” Xavier tipped his hat again at Cenora and strode off toward the smokehouse. With a laugh he shoved at Armando as he passed. Two Bits and Armando followed the foreman.

  Dallas helped Cenora dismount. With his hands at her small waist, his blood fired at her nearness. He forced himself to remain proper in front of Fred, for he knew the cowboy would repeat anything he saw or heard. Dallas didn’t want to be the main topic this evening in the bunkhouse.

  Who was he kidding? He’d probably been the main topic since Austin sent word he’d arrive with his wife. Already he wondered what his hands thought of his abrupt marriage. He worked with these men daily and needed their respect.

  “I’ll be needing me broom and bundle.” Cenora tugged the broom handle lashings loose.

  Dallas had told his wife there were brooms at the ranch house, but she insisted on bringing a new one to her new home. He figured it was a harmless request, probably another fool superstition of hers, so he dug the bundle from his saddlebags. “I’ll carry them.”

  Fred rushed his long, lanky form forward to take charge of their horses. Dallas didn’t comment on Fred’s black eye but figured Xavier would supply the details later.

  “Good to have you back, boss.” Fred tipped his hat and blushed to the roots of his sandy hair, which made his bruised eye even darker. “Ma’am.”

  “Thank you, Fred.” Dallas offered Cenora his arm and guided her up the steps. “Come in, and I’ll show you the house.”

  He held the screen with his back and opened the door, then gave her the bundle and broom to hold. With a dare to his injuries, he scooped her up before he stepped over the threshold. She squealed with mock horror and wrapped her slender arms around his shoulders, but her giggle rippled afterward. He strode through the foyer hall and set her down in the great room. The pain in his shoulder was worth the sound of her laughter.

  “Well, this is it.” He gestured around them. “What do you think?”

  Cenora slid her hand from her husband’s shoulders and set down her broom, careful not to stand it in a corner and bring bad luck. Her heart plummeted as she looked around the large room. Larger than she’d ever imagined, but what happened to the fine furniture that should be here? Only a rocker, an aged armchair with sagging springs, and a table occupied a room as large as many cottages.

  Dallas hung his hat on a peg in the hall, then came back. “Dang, I forgot how sparse it looks. This here is the family parlor. Rocker’s mine. My grandfather, that’s my mother’s father, made it. Chair’s one old Marston left.” He shrugged. “I’m never inside more than to eat, sleep, or read a bit.”

  Both chairs sat in front of the wide hearth, but not even one item decorated the mantel. Books on a table beside the rocker, stacked almost as high as the lamp beside them, let her know her husband read a lot. He followed her, and his frown indicated he worried about what she thought of his home.

  She fought for words to hide her disappointment. “It—it’s very big, but...there’s, well, there’s not much furniture.” Where were the servants?

  He looked around the room, and a blush tinged his ruddy cheeks. “Made all the improvements on the outside, things needed to run the ranch. Guess I didn’t give much thought to the inside.”

  Cenora chewed on her lip, then sighed away her disappointment and sought to understand. Sure and in Ireland, Ma had worked in a great manse for a time when she was a lass. Her stories of the fine furniture and beautiful things setting about led Cenora to think it would be the same in any grand house, but there were no pretty trimmings here. Mayhap things were different in Texas.

  At least she saw no women’s things to indicate Dallas had kept a woman here. Though it wasn’t the grand place she had expected when she saw the outside, she’d soon make it a fine home. No doubt Dallas could make them more furniture.

  She surveyed the room, taking in large windows open to the spring breeze, wide plank flooring, and fancy wood trim at the doors. “‘Twould be fine for a dance or a party.”

  She craned her neck up. “Akh, the ceiling, ‘tis near high as the sky. You’ll not be needing to stoop to keep from banging your head in here.”

&n
bsp; Through a wide doorway, she spied a table and chairs. Thank goodness they’d at least have a place to sit for meals. She walked toward it and laid her bundled bread on it. She’d been careful to make three crosses on the loaf’s top for extra luck and wrapped it in a large towel to bring to her new home.

  “Aunt Kathryn made me take the table. Oh, I know none of those four chairs match, but we’ll get others some day. Don’t have many dishes, so never needed a sideboard or cupboard.”

  Cenora speculated on the changes she might make here. Mayhap some things from the wagon could be spared. Yes, it would give her a chance to show what a lucky marriage he’d made for his wife to bring a dowry of goods to his house. Maybe he’d keep her longer if she impressed him with her worth.

  Dallas shifted from foot to foot and looked nervous as a pickpocket in a room full of sheriffs. She didn’t understand his discomfort.

  He said, “I know it’s bare, but we can add to it gradually. I only bought this place two years ago, and I’m cash poor this time of year.”

  She wondered at that. Was the man daft? How was he after calling himself poor when he had this great house and all this land and animals with his ranch and that fat purse about his waist?

  He raked his fingers through his hair. “Might sell another mare soon. I’ll sell a bunch of cattle in four months or so, end of summer. We’ll have a bit of cash then for sure.”

  Incredulous, she asked, “You mean more than the fortune in your big belt?”

  He looked surprised at her question. “Hardly a fortune. The money you saw goes toward the hands’ wages and supplies. It takes a lot to run a ranch. Of course, if you need clothes or anything for you or your family, you’ve only to ask, and we can get whatever you need. I’ve an account at most stores in McClintock Falls.”

  Saints preserve us. He’d talked more in this room than she’d heard from him since she’d known him, except when he told the tykes his odd stories. Mayhap it meant he was nervous, and now his insides quivered much as hers did.

  Should she tell him about the fanciful hopes she’d had? No, for she’d probably have been sent from the elegant place of her dreams just as Ma had been, with a flea in her ear to tell her she wasn’t good enough. Best to say nothing of her girlish expectations.

  And isn’t this better? Sure and her heart had stopped when she saw the size of the place, with all the buildings and barns and who knows what around it. What man who had so much would keep a woman like her? Now that she’d seen inside, she breathed a bit easier. Mayhap he’d be grateful for her help and not send her away, at least for a while.

  Akh, she doubted a fine settled gent would ever keep a wife like her from a poor family. But a man with a plain room like this? Possibly this man might keep her longer. Her heart lightened, and she smiled at her husband.

  “It’s a pretty house, Dallas. Sure and the rooms are so big, it’s lost I’ll be without you to guide me.” She twirled around. “Other than our little cottage in Ireland, this is the first house I’ve ever seen from the inside.”

  He exhaled a great whoosh of air, as if he’d been holding his breath until she said something nice. Mayhap he worried how she’d like the place. As if she might tell him it needed this or that or refuse to stay until he bought her things. Sure and she knew better than to press her good luck with such demands.

  A plump hen of a woman all dressed in brown came into the room. She wore hair black as night pulled into a tight bun, which might be why her face looked strained. From the stains on her apron, she must be a cook.

  The woman’s appearance explained the aroma of roasting ham, apples, and cinnamon drifting through the house. Cenora’s stomach rumbled in anticipation of food that smelled this good. It was only plain fare the Travelers ever had with a tiresome amount of cabbage, turnips, and potatoes in summer and little but potatoes in winter—unless one of the men mysteriously showed up with a couple of chickens or a ham.

  Dallas placed his hand at Cenora’s waist. “Cenora, this is Rosa, who’s married to my foreman, Xavier. Remember, you met him outside. She cooks and sees after the house. Rosa, this is my wife.”

  Cenora greeted her and wondered if this Rosa would resent having another woman in the house. Apparently so, for though Rosa smiled with her mouth, her dark eyes remained cold. How many other servants were there?

  “Ah, Señora, welcome to your new home.” She offered Cenora a cool nod, then gushed to Dallas, “Señor, you are home at last. My Xavier had many worries while you were away. I am relieved you are home again and safe.”

  Dallas smiled. “It’s good to be back. Cenora’s a good cook, too, but she doesn’t know Texas foods.”

  “I’m sure she will soon learn them, Señor. I will be pleased to share what I know.”

  Rosa flashed a look that sent shivers down Cenora’s spine, but apparently Dallas didn’t notice.

  For Dallas, Rosa smiled. “If you will excuse me, I prepare a special dinner to welcome you and your Señora home. Will others join you?”

  “Her parents and her two brothers.”

  “This is good to have family here. I prepare much food.” With a brief nod, Rosa turned and left the room.

  Dallas asked, “Would you like a quick tour of your new home before I check with Xavier?”

  Didn’t it look big enough to take half a day walking through it? And wouldn’t she feel a right queen living here with her husband as mistress of her very own settled house?

  Excitement danced through her. “Sure and I want to see every inch.”

  He grabbed her hand and tugged her across the hall. “This is the formal parlor for company. Oh—”

  Dallas stopped and looked around in surprise, as if he’d only now noticed the spotless room hadn’t even a chair or table. She couldn’t help her giggle at his surprise when he realized the room was bare.

  He flashed her a grin. “Well, it would be if it had furniture.”

  Back in the hall, he took a right. “This is the only bedroom downstairs. Added on ten or more years ago when the former owner broke his leg and couldn’t handle steps.”

  She peeked her head into the big room. Curtains fluttered with breeze through the open windows, but she had only time to note the emptiness before he tugged her hand to follow him.

  She nodded her approval. “’Tis good it’s not on the west o’ the house, for ‘tis bad luck to build a room onto the west.”

  He narrowed his eyes and gave her an odd look, but tugged her through a narrow hall. “Bought some furniture for in here,” he said as he showed her his office. He ran his hand over his roll-top desk and scooted the matching swivel chair up to the kneehole. “Here’s where I do the ranch books, keep all our breeding records, and such.”

  Saints preserve us. Her husband had a special place to figure his money and take care o’ business. Wouldn’t Da love to see this room? She sat in the chair facing the desk. “And who sits here talking to yourself?”

  He smiled at her. “Xavier usually comes by after supper to talk about the day and plan the next day’s chores.” Dallas moved some books off the desk and stacked them on a shelf of the bookcase.

  More books to read. Her stomach knotted, and Cenora ran her finger along the polished wood of the wall near the door. “I see ‘tis the room you live in.”

  Did the man care only for making money, figuring up his profits, and reading then and nothing for the rest of his house? She wondered why he bothered with such a large home if that were the case. He could have done all this from a one-room cottage or her family’s wagon.

  They moved through the dining room and into the kitchen. He put his hand on a pump handle.

  “See, here we have a pump right in the kitchen so we don’t have to carry water for cooking. Kathryn and Austin ordered that range all the way from Chicago as a surprise when I bought this place.” He lifted a hinged lid at the side of the beast he’d called a range. “Keeps water hot here in this tank at the side. Uses either wood or coal.”

  Cenora
had never seen water inside a house, never heard such a thing was possible. “Imagine, no carrying water in all kinds o' weather. And a stove large enough to hold six pots at once and keep water heatin’ at the same time. ‘Tis wondrous.”

  Tempting aromas teased her, but she couldn’t identify all the smells. Rosa poured sugar over peeled and sliced apples in a big bowl near some pastry dough.

  Rosa scolded them. “Señor, Señora. If you wish your meal on time, you must move.”

  “We’re leaving. Those are powerful smells, Rosa.” Dallas took Cenora’s hand again. “Come on, I’ll show you the sleeping porch.”

  They moved to an area under the roof's overhang. Outside walls of the house formed two sides and screened sections with a screen door completed the square. “Always I have wondered what these odd structures are when we went past. Sometimes we saw people in such a place as this. They’d be sitting in chairs and watch us go by.”

  Cenora surveyed the large room. A light breeze carried the smells of the barnyard, but not in an unpleasant way. Shaded by the overhang and screened from insects, she imagined sleeping here on a summer night and never a worry of the snakes which plagued this land. Pity St. Paddy never made it here to drive the serpents away.

  “But where do you sleep? There are no beds or pallets.” To her it looked like a storage place, not a sleeping room.

  Dallas laughed and righted an empty milk can from its side. A wash tub and various odds and ends of household equipment littered the porch. “I don’t sleep here. Guess Marston’s family did in hot weather.”

  He tucked his hands in his pockets and looked around. “Probably it’d be nice to sit here in the summer if we put chairs out here. There’s another one like this upstairs that’d be better for sleeping. Gets more breezes.”

  As they made their way up the wide front staircase, Dallas said, “Reckon I ought to have listened when Kathryn tried to give me more furniture. After I sent for my desk and chair from the catalog she gave me, I never got around to ordering anything else.”

  Cenora didn’t know what this catalog thing was. But he should have bought some other furniture or made it by now, for he said he’d lived here almost two years. Upstairs, he showed her four rooms he called guest bedrooms.