The look she gave him would have been comical if it wasn’t so serious. “Now, why would you do that?”
“It will give me a chance to thank each of them.” He even tied one of the large utilitarian aprons around his waist. “I’ll dish up the stew while you take care of the biscuits.”
The first of the hands sauntered in, followed by several more in quick succession. The men picked up a bowl and a plate. Tin cans scattered along the length of the two tables held eating utensils.
Joshua ladled a big scoop of the savory soup. “Good job on the roundup, Hankins. Thank you.”
The man studied him through squinted eyes, then gave a nod.
The next few minutes passed in the same manner. After getting a serving of stew, each man went to India for two or three of the fluffy biscuits. Joshua had eaten enough of them the last few days to know how good they tasted.
When all the men were seated, Joshua filled a bowl for himself and one for India and set each in front of one of the two empty chairs at the end of the table. India started a heaping plate of biscuits down each table before bringing some more to share with him. While the men ate and talked to each other, Joshua enjoyed his own food.
“So when are you going back into town to work at the orphanage, India?”
She looked up from her plate and gave him a questioning look. “I told you why I haven’t been going so much. I’m really tired of all the questions and insinuations.”
Joshua took a drink of the cool well water. “How about if I go help you and your friends tomorrow? Then they can get to know me, too. That way I won’t be such a mystery to them.”
India studied him thoughtfully before answering. “Don’t you need to stay here with the men?”
“I’ll give them assignments before we leave. None of these men are slackers.”
She studied him for a moment. “If you’re sure you want to do that.”
“I’d like to get a look at this orphanage, since I contributed to it the day of the barbecue.”
India had a hard time deciding what to wear to town. On any other day, she would have just slipped into the first skirt and blouse she picked up. For some reason, knowing that Joshua was accompanying her made her pause and consider before she chose something. She stared into the looking glass above the bureau. What did he think about her nearly white blond hair? He had told her he missed her freckles, but when she leaned closer to the mirror, she saw plenty of them. Maybe he hadn’t been close enough. Just the thought caused heat to start in her midsection and make its way into her cheeks, leaving a blazing path on her skin. She pulled the neck of her unmentionables away from her chest and used it as a fan. She shouldn’t be thinking about the man as anything but an old friend who would leave when Nathan came back. Didn’t most people consider her a spinster? He probably did, too. Although she was only in her early twenties, most young women around here wed in their late teens.
After giving her head a quick shake to dislodge these thoughts, she picked up a navy blue skirt, sprigged with tiny white flowers. The light blue lawn blouse brought out the color of her eyes. After turning the long braid that hung across one shoulder into a figure-eight bun at the nape of her neck so it wouldn’t interfere with her Stetson, she took a deep breath and ventured out on the porch.
Joshua was hitching the horses to the wagon. For a moment, India watched the sun play across his muscles, bunching and releasing as he worked. The man was strong … and good-looking. The fluttering that settled in her stomach brought a sigh to her lips. Why couldn’t she control these feelings as well as she took care of everything else?
When he finished his task, Joshua looked toward the house and gave a wave of his strong, tanned hand. “I’ll be right there.”
India picked up the wooden crate she had filled earlier with things for the orphanage. The wagon stopped in front of the house as she made her way carefully down the three steps. Joshua’s long stride brought him quickly up the line of flat stones that led from the house to the gate.
“Here, let me carry that.”
He took it from her arms before India could tell him that she was doing fine. He even crooked the arm closest to her as if he wanted to escort her. She started to tell him just what she thought about that but decided not to. Instead, she slipped her hand into the space beside his elbow. The muscles of his forearm felt hard as rock. How could a man who worked behind a desk most of the time develop these kinds of muscles?
The man was an enigma.
Joshua enjoyed the ride into town. Since he shared the wagon seat with India, he made sure he sat close enough that when they hit a bump, their arms touched. The first time, she flinched, almost as if it hurt. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She tightened the muscles in her jaw and turned her attention to something off in the distance ahead. This gave him the opportunity to study her. With skin that looked soft and smooth despite the fact that she was often out in the sun, India was by far the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He could imagine her holding her own in any society gathering in San Francisco.
But did he want to see her there? This wild, sometimes desolate land was part of who she was. Could he take her away from all of this?
Did he want to stay here with her? The more he thought about it, the more feasible it sounded.
“So what’s so interesting out there?”
She turned startled eyes toward him. “I was just watching the green trees that line the river bordering the ranch. We really need its water in the late summer.”
Always the ranch. Did she ever think about anything else?
Before he could decide how to bring up her need to control everything, he noticed four men riding toward them. As a precaution, he had strapped a pistol on his hip before they left the ranch. He never knew when he would need it for protection from snakes—of many kinds.
“Do you know those men?”
India studied them as they got closer. “That’s another rancher with some of his men.”
When the men drew close enough, Joshua raised a hand in a friendly salute. The cowboys pulled close to the wagon and stopped their horses, raising a large cloud of dust. If it had been Joshua, he would have slowed his horse gradually in consideration of the other travelers.
“Have you been to town?” India gave the first greeting.
The taller man took off his hat and fanned himself with it. “Yes, my wife had several things she wanted us to take to the orphanage today, and the boys had a little business they needed to take care of.”
Joshua could smell what kind of business they had been participating in. The fumes of alcohol wafted toward the wagon. He was glad India wasn’t alone. Maybe he should make sure she didn’t ride into town alone again.
After India told the rancher to greet his wife for her, the men rode on, and Joshua clicked his tongue as he picked up the reins. The rest of the way to Cactus Corner, he tried to figure out how he would broach the subject with India. He knew she wouldn’t welcome his interference.
India felt relieved when they arrived at their destination. The ride hadn’t been comfortable. The attempts at conversation during the ride had fallen as flat as her first pancakes. Where had their easy comradery gone?
Every time their arms brushed against each other, that silly sensation once again rushed through her. If she didn’t know better, she would think she was a young teenager just becoming aware of the masculine gender. Then she realized that it was the first time she had ever been interested in a specific man.
When she came home from back east, none of the young men sought her out. Although her father did what he thought was best for her, he couldn’t have been more wrong. No one in this area of Arizona Territory wanted someone from Mrs. Collier’s Finishing School. They wanted a woman who knew how to thrive in this part of the country. That might have been one of the reasons India tried so hard to prove she could run the ranch—even before Daddy died.
After stopping the horses, Joshua rushed around the
back of the wagon to help her alight. The gold flecks in his dark brown eyes glistened in the bright sunlight, and his fingers splayed around her waist made her feel breathless.
Unfortunately, Anika, Elaine, and Jody came through the open door of the orphanage and witnessed her exit from the vehicle. Hopefully they would think her cheeks were red from being in the sun, but she knew different. His touch sent a blush to her cheeks as quickly as the bumps on the ride made her stomach jumpy.
“So”—Anika stood arms akimbo—“this is the Joshua Dillinger that I’ve been hearing so much about.”
Joshua released his hold on India and turned around, but not before she heard his soft chuckle. “Just what have you been hearing about me? You’re Anika, aren’t you? India described you exactly.”
He held out his hand, and Anika gave him the firm handshake she always used, almost like a man’s. “Yes. I’m a lawyer, also. Maybe we can compare the differences in practicing law in a small place like Cactus Corner as opposed to a city like San Francisco.”
His questioning gaze targeted India. “So what have you been telling her about me?”
Thankfully Jody intervened. “Oh, she’s not the only one in town talking about you.”
Joshua pulled his Stetson from his head and brushed it against his leg as he often did. “Don’t you work in the office of the freight company?” After Jody nodded, he continued, “I remember seeing you there when I bought King.”
“King?” Jody wrinkled her brows. “I thought Elmer sold you Goldie. I don’t remember him having a horse named King.”
Joshua’s rich laugh pealed forth. “Goldie isn’t a very good name for a stallion, so I renamed him King. He took to it pretty quickly.”
The group moved around to the back of the wagon and started carrying in the things India and Joshua brought from the ranch. Cook had sent a few cuts of the steer he butchered yesterday, which they kept in the springhouse overnight. Elaine took it to the kitchen so Carla, the cook at the orphanage, could start chopping it into smaller pieces for the stew they would eat at noon.
India couldn’t believe how much they accomplished that day. With Joshua helping, they completed many of the needed repairs. He promised to come on his next day off and give the building a new coat of paint.
She and Joshua started home in plenty of time to reach the ranch before dark.
When they were away from town, India turned toward him. “I didn’t want to say anything back at the orphanage, but we don’t have enough extra money to buy paint.” When he turned to face her, she read the surprise in his eyes.
“I gave a pretty substantial amount at the barbecue.” He cleared his throat as if the admission had a hard time coming out.
She nodded. “Pastor Gavin showed me the wad of bills you dropped in, and we are thankful.”
“Then what’s the problem?” He looked back toward the road.
“Well, the fund-raiser wasn’t for the day-to-day running of the orphanage. Didn’t you notice how crowded it is?”
“It did seem so.” He certainly wasn’t wasting any words. “So what was the money for?”
“We’re saving to buy the empty mercantile building next door.” Just the thought made India happy. “We’ll have more room for the kids we have now, and we can even take in more, if we need to.”
They rode along in silence for a while. India spent the time thinking about what needed to be done at the ranch when they got back. She almost missed his next softly spoken sentence.
“Then I’ll pay for the paint myself.”
Chapter 7
Over the next two weeks, whenever India went to town, Joshua accompanied her. Soon everyone she knew seemed to be in cahoots, figuring out ways that she and Joshua would have to spend time together. Pastor Gavin along with the rest of them. Not that she minded, but the time would come when he would go back to his law practice in San Francisco. She tried not to think about that.
Anika, Elaine, and Jody each found a chance to talk to her alone. Every single one of them told her not to let him get away, as if she were trying to snag him for a husband. She didn’t want to think about that either. Sorting out her jumbled emotions would take more time than she had to give to it.
All too soon, India received the letter she had been dreading. Nathan and Martha would be home today. As she read the words, her heart pounded in panic. What would she do now?
India took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She would run the ranch just as she did before that man rode back into her life. That’s exactly what she would do. Unfortunately, the thought settled like a huge stone in the pit of her stomach.
Pasting a smile on her face, she went out to the barn to give the news to Joshua. Within half an hour, they were headed toward town in the wagon with their horses tied to the back. She hadn’t wanted to ride in the back of the wagon on the way from Cactus Corner to the ranch, and she wouldn’t think of asking Nathan and Martha to do it either.
Evidently Joshua was affected by the news, too. Neither of them talked on the way to town. They arrived just in time to hear the train whistle as it approached the depot. To India’s heart, it sounded mournful, a death knell to hopes she hadn’t even admitted she harbored.
After all the greetings, Joshua helped Nathan load the baggage into the wagon. Then he invited them to go to the café with him and India. He would buy everyone a meal before they returned to the ranch.
Nathan looked rested. As a matter of fact, so did Martha. Even though he’d lost his father, the trip must have been good for them. Over a meal of smothered steak and mashed potatoes, Nathan told all about his family. Martha inserted that they were glad to be back home.
India was just as quiet as Joshua during the delicious meal that went down like sawdust in his throat. The time for a decision was here, and he wasn’t sure what India would think of his ideas.
After getting Nathan and Martha situated in the wagon and started toward the ranch, Joshua turned to India. “Let’s take a detour by the river on our way back.” He stuck his fingers in the hip pockets on his dungarees. “Maybe we could sit on that big rock that juts out over the water and talk awhile.”
For some reason, her eyes held a wary expression, but she agreed.
The summer sun beat down on them as they rode across the arid land, but their speed whipped up a wind that cooled them. When they slowed near the river, the canopy of sheltering branches gave comforting shade. After walking the horses to the span of grass that lined the riverbank, Joshua quickly dismounted. How he wanted to help India down and encircle her with his arms, but that would have to wait … hopefully not forever.
India sat on the rock and arranged the split skirt to cover her legs completely. She stared across the water that shimmered with reflected sunlight. Joshua lowered himself beside her.
He waited a minute or two before he broached the subject on his mind. “We need to talk, India.” She turned her gaze toward him, and he found it unreadable.
“Okay. What do you want to talk about?”
“You … me … the future.” He felt like a stammering schoolboy.
The wall of her defenses strengthened visibly. “So what about me?”
He took her hand, and she didn’t pull away. “Can we pray together first?”
She nodded her assent and bowed her head.
Lord, help me. Joshua cleared his throat. “Lord, we’re at a crossroads here. We need Your wisdom to help us see the way You’ve set before us. We ask for that wisdom, in Jesus’ name. Amen.”
When she raised her head, she still didn’t take her hand from his. That was a good sign, wasn’t it?
He might as well plunge right in. “I’ve noticed that you always have to be in control.”
India clenched her other hand but still didn’t remove the one he held. “And?”
“Maybe you’re not trusting God enough.” The expression in her eyes hardened a little. “I know you’re a Christian. I’m just saying that maybe you should trust Him to fight
your battles for you.” What else could he say to get her to understand? Maybe he should just let her think about it for a bit.
They sat in silence with India staring across the river for quite a while before she spoke. “Maybe you’re right.” She turned to look at him. “I understand that He knows best, but it took a long time for the men around here to accept me as a ranch owner—not only because I’m young, but also because I’m a woman.”
He smiled into her eyes. “Yes, you are.”
A blush stole over her cheeks, giving her a special glow.
“When I was a boy, my father had me memorize a Bible verse that has carried me through many hard times. It tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts, instead of leaning on our own understanding. If we acknowledge Him in all our ways, He will direct our paths. I believe that’s one of the reasons that I’ve been so successful.”
India glanced down at their hands and gently pulled hers away before clasping both hands around her upraised knees. She stared into the water flowing below them. “Do you think God brought you here, Joshua?”
He liked the sound of his name on her lips. “Yes, I do.”
“You know I thought you came here to try to take over the ranch, don’t you?”
He needed to be totally honest with her. “I guessed as much. Do you still believe that?”
“No.” The soft word floated toward him on the breeze. “What are you going to do now? Go back to San Francisco?”
“Is that what you want?” He watched her intently, trying to discern her thoughts.
Finally, she turned to look back at him. “I’ll really hate to see you go.”
That was all he needed. “I don’t have to.”
She stood and walked to the back edge of the large rock before she turned around. “What are you saying?”
He scrambled to his feet but stood where he was, afraid to approach her yet. He’d be tempted to pull her into his arms and smother her with kisses.
“That I love you, India.”
Love Is Patient Romance Collection Page 31
