Cate Corrals a Cattleman

by Linda K. Hubalek

  Cate turned to the mirror by the door to watch Isaac fasten the necklace around her neck. She removed her gold ear drops from her earlobes and laid them in the jewelry case, then picked up the pearl ear drops and carefully hooked them through her earlobes.

  She slid her fingers across the pearl strands gently lying on her neck and tipped her head to one side and then the other to see the ear drops. Isaac watched her gestures through the mirror and smiled when Cate’s eyes connected with his.

  Cate turned to face Isaac and wrap her arms around his middle. “Thank you, Isaac. I’m proud to wear them.” She gave Isaac a sweet kiss on the lips. “Now I believe we have a dance to attend. I want to show off my new dress and jewelry.”

  ***

  There was a pleasant evening breeze, considering the heat of the day. Isaac didn’t push the horse to travel more than a walk to pull their two–wheeled buggy into town. He half listened to Cate talk about her trip, the antics of the grandchildren, the garden harvest, and he added a word or nod as needed to keep her talking.

  His mind kept going over and over the plans for the evening, trusting nothing was forgotten, and hoping it would happen as he had planned.

  “Oh look, Isaac. There’s a white ribbon bow tied to the porch posts on the Paulson Hotel. Did some child die there this week? I’m sure the dance has been canceled then.”

  Families put a white ribbon wreath on their front door if one of their children died. He quickly looked down the line of posts and saw different colored ribbons. “No, I think the variety of ribbons are decorations for the dance.”

  I still can’t believe the Paulsons offered to host a dance.”

  “Of course they would if an event draws in business for them. They built the dining room and sitting area to accommodate receptions and such. I’m sure the dance will extend outside, though, since it’s a nice evening.”

  “That’s true. It will be interesting to see what the dance committee decided to do for refreshments, too.”

  They were early, so there weren’t many horses or buggies tied along the rails lining downtown yet. “I thought I’d park near the front, so we don’t have to walk over to Adam’s place in the dark after the dance,” Isaac said when Cate expected him to turn the corner to go around to the alley behind Adam’s house.

  “I hope Adam can go to part of the dance tonight instead of having to patrol the streets all night. I know it’s his job, but he misses family events because of it.”

  “I’m sure he’ll be there if he and his deputy take turns,” Isaac assured her.

  Isaac pulled up to a rail spot, handed the reins to Cate before stepping down from the buggy. After tying the horse’s lead rope to the railing, Isaac reached for Cate’s hand and helped her down the steps of the buggy.

  “I believe we are early. Shall we stroll down to the church and back before the dance gets into full swing?” Isaac, held out his elbow to Cate.

  “Well, yes, it’s a nice evening and no one seems to be around yet,” Cate looked about her, wondering about the buggies, when there were empty boardwalks.

  Isaac half listened to Cate’s running commentary about the shops they passed, who she expected to see at the dance, things women talk about and men tend to let go through one ear and out the other. He kept his pace slow and steady, closing the distance between the hotel and the church.

  Cate was ready to turn around in front of the church and start walking back, but Isaac stopped her. “Let’s have a seat on the bench outside the church for a minute.”

  “Yes, I’d like that,” Cate said as she sat on the bench and looked around. “Oh, one of the Reagan boys just ran between the house and the church. I hope Pastor and Kaitlyn get to go to the dance, also.”

  “Cate,” Isaac waited for her to look his way, then slowly bent down on one knee in front of her. Her gasp and beaming face meant he could go ahead with his plan, instead of pretending to reach for a twig or something underneath the bench.

  Isaac took Cate’s left hand in his. “I’m sorry my first attempt at proposing to you was interrupted, and that it took a while for me to be ready to propose again. I must confess, I…threw your ring into the pasture the night Faye arrived, and it took me a while to find it.” Isaac stopped to let Cate get over her laughing outburst and compose herself again.

  “Your boys insisted it had to be the same ring I bought for you originally, and which you saw when I started to propose. We kept the horses out of that area of the pasture and I walked it looking for the ring during the day with no luck. Then we went out into the pasture with lanterns every night, looking again for your ring. Finally, my lantern light glanced off the diamond just right and I found it the last evening you were away.

  “So, Catherine Marie Jones Wilerson, would you give me the pleasure of being your husband for the rest of our lives?” This time he wasn’t going to get the ring close to her finger until she said yes. “And could you make up your mind before my knee gives out?”

  “Why don’t you get up and sit by me then?” Cate’s face turned serious as she said it, and Isaac’s heart stopped, now unsure if she would accept his proposal after all.

  “I can’t remember a time, except those years apart during the Civil War, when you and I weren’t friends and living close to each other. From children to adults, over forty years, I’ve been blessed to have you in my life…” Cate stopped to sniff her nose, then wipe a tear from her cheek. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Isaac’s worried face.

  “I clearly remember the evening my father told me a special young man had asked for my hand in marriage, and he had gladly given his blessing. I was ecstatic! I was going to marry the man of my dreams, who I’d secretly loved for years. He was finally going to ask me to be his wife…

  “Not an hour later, Moses arrived for a visit. We sat in the parlor and he said he had talked to my father that afternoon. I didn’t think anything of it, as our families crossed paths daily. Then Moses left his chair and got down on one knee in front of me where I sat on the settee. I was shocked at his proposal, and stammered my agreement, because I then realized my father had given his blessing to Moses—when I thought Father meant you…”

  Isaac stared at Cate’s face in shock. All these years, and she’d never said a word. He felt tears forming in his eyes. If he had only spoken to her father sooner, Cate would have been his wife—her sons would have been his…

  He turned to stare straight ahead, then dropped his elbows on his knees, his hands in a fist over his mouth. Isaac heard Cate get her handkerchief out of her reticule and blow her nose.

  “I loved Moses, but it wasn’t the passionate marriage I always thought you and I would have had. I never said anything to Moses, but he knew…and the sweet soul never stood in the way of our friendship.

  “Maybe this was what fate had planned for us. I can’t imagine not having Sarah, and her wonderful husband and flock of children, if I had not married Moses.”

  Isaac jerked up to stare at Cate. “But you wouldn’t have been attacked and carried the heartache of it all these years if we’d married instead!”

  “And you could have died during the war and I would have been a young widow. We never know what will happen in our lives or in this world. We need to appreciate and love the people—past and present—who’ve been in our lives and enjoy what time we have left with them on this earth.” Cate reached for his hand, brought it to her lips and gave it a soft kiss. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

  Isaac sighed before pulling her hand to his mouth and giving it a kiss. “Yes, Cate, you’re right most every time.”

  “So, the answer is yes, I’d love to marry the man of my dreams as soon as we can arrange our marriage ceremony.”

  Isaac pulled Cate into a tight hug, before pulling back a little to give her a passionate kiss.

  “Are you sure this is what you want, Cate? Need any more time to think about it?”

  Cate gave Isaac a quick peck on his lips. “I’ve been waiting for thi
s moment for thirty years, so you’re not getting out of marrying me now,” Cate might have been shedding tears moments ago, but she was beaming now.

  “How soon can you get ready for our ceremony then?” Isaac asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

  “I have my new dress already, but I have yet to get that ring on my finger,” Cate wiggled the fingers on her left hand in front of his face.

  Isaac laughed, so happy to have Cate in his life. “Okay, third time’s a charm, as they say.” He took the engagement ring out of his vest pocket, took Cate’s left hand, and slid the ring right onto her finger. Isaac smiled to himself, thinking how worried he had been that it wouldn’t fit. “Cate, I’ve loved you since we were kids and I want to spend the rest of our lives together as man and wife. Will you marry me?”

  “Yes!” and she happily kissed his lips three times. “And I’ve loved you forever too, Isaac.”

  Isaac gave a big sigh of relief, glad they were finally going to get married. “I believe you said, you wanted to wear your new dress to church, a dance and a wedding?”

  “Of course, I’ll wear it for many special occasions,” Cate said, looking a little perplexed at his question.

  “How about we do all three occasions this evening? Pastor Reagan, our families and friends are all waiting inside the church—right now—to begin our wedding service,” Isaac beamed with excitement. “Ready to change your name to Cate Connely?”

  Cate laughed out loud, so surprised that he had planned this special evening and she hadn’t had a clue. “Was Tully Reagan supposed to let his father know we were out here?”

  “Yep.”

  “Is there really a dance tonight at the Paulson Hotel?”

  “There would have been the first Cattleman’s Ball even if you’d said no to my proposal. Now it’s a wedding reception too and I’m going to be dancing with joy to celebrate that we’re finally married.”

  Cate stood up, offering her hand to Isaac to join her. “Do I have a flower bouquet to hold during the ceremony?”

  “Yes, especially designed by Rania using flowers from her own garden. It’s inside the church door waiting for you.”

  “Flower girls?”

  “Our three granddaughters are dressed up in their pretty pink dresses they wore to Sarah and Marcus’ wedding, and I imagine the girls have run up and down the aisles many times already waiting for us. Sarah made a little matching dress for baby, Violet, too.”

  “Ring bearer?”

  “No. I wouldn’t trust our grandsons, Marty or Moses, with our precious rings. Pastor already has them sitting on the altar behind him.”

  “Rings? Did you get one for yourself, too?”

  “Yes. My wedding band matches yours.”

  “Who are our witnesses?”

  “Everyone in the church is witnessing our happy event.”

  “Who is walking me down the aisle?”

  “I am, because I’m not letting you slip out of my reach again.”

  They may have been in a church sanctuary, but their family and friends stood and clapped when Isaac open the church door and shouted, “She said yes!” Isaac and Cate laughed at the congregations greeting and proudly walked down the aisle together.

  Cate wanted to raise her bouquet in a triumphant wave. She’d finally corralled her cattleman…and her first love.

  The End

  I hope you enjoyed reading Cate Corrals a Cattleman. Please help other readers discover my books by recommending them to family and friends, either by word of mouth or writing a review. I’d really appreciate it.

  Many thanks from the Kansas prairie!

  Linda K. Hubalek

  Dear Readers:

  Cate Corrals a Cattleman is the sixth book in the historical romance series Brides with Grit featuring the Wilerson and Hamner families.

  The series setting is based on the famous old cowtown of Ellsworth, Kansas during its cattle drive days. The town of Clear Creek though, is fictional, based on the many little towns that sprang up as the railroad was built across Kansas.

  This particular area is now the current Kanopolis State Park in central Kansas. Being local to where I live, I've hiked the park’s hiking trails where it’s easy to visualize what the area looked like in 1873—because it remains the same now—as then.

  Although not all of the Brides with Grit titles may be published as of this book’s debut, please visit your favorite vender to find out when they are available.

  You don’t have to, but I recommend reading the books in order to get full benefit of the story line.

  Rania Ropes a Rancher (Rania and Jacob)

  Millie Marries a Marshal (Millie and Adam)

  Hilda Hogties a Horseman (Hilda and Noah)

  Cora Captures a Cowboy (Cora and Dagmar)

  Sarah Snares a Soldier (Sarah and Marcus)

  Cate Corrals a Cattleman (Cate and Isaac)

  Darcie Desires a Drover (Darcie and Reuben)

  Tina Tracks a Trail Boss (Tina and Leif)

  Rania Ropes a Rancher

  A Historical Western Romance

  Brides with Grit Series: Book 1

  Rania Hamner and her family emigrated from Sweden fourteen years ago to work on a Texas ranch, working cattle and herding them up the Chisholm Trail. Something in her life on the trail caused her to doubt her worth, and her ability to trust a man enough to become his wife. Once the family buys a homestead in Kansas, she meets a rancher who begins to make her believe she can trust and fall in love after all.

  Rancher Jacob Wilerson noticed Rania last year when she rode drag behind a herd of longhorns—right down Main Street of Ellsworth, Kansas. He’s been waiting for her family to return this spring with another Texas herd to the booming cowtown, because he hopes to rope her into staying permanently on his ranch—the way she had already roped his heart.

  When Rania's past attacks with new danger, she decides to fight for all she's worth because she realizes she wants to be with Jacob forever.

  When Jacob realizes Rania is in danger, he rushes to save her, whether or not she still loves him, hoping to rope Rania—his heart—once more, as she has roped his.

  Enjoy the beginning of Rania Ropes a Rancher

  Prologue

  May 2, 1872, Ellsworth, Kansas

  Jacob Wilerson stood on the dusty boardwalk on the north side of South Main in Ellsworth, marveling at how the town had changed in the five years since the town’s birth. Wooden buildings of all sizes and shapes, mostly with false fronts, mixed in with a few brick establishments like the bank on the corner. The Ellsworth Café. Miller’s Livery. Homestead Hotel. Bold painted signs hanging above the business door or painted on the front of the buildings. The first businesses sprang up overnight in tents and shacks. Some of them are long gone, but other businesses have taken their space. The dirt streets—once an original carpet of prairie grass—varies from muddy ruts, hard-packed snow and ice, to hot powdery dust, depending on the weather conditions and time of year.

  There wasn’t a tree in sight; buildings just cropped up on the prairie with the wide–open sky as a backdrop.

  Jacob was fourteen, ten years ago, when his folks brought their young family out to the virgin prairie of the Kansas Territory to escape the Civil War. He and his older brother Adam and younger sibling, Noah, each a year apart from Jacob, were at the age they would soon be pulled into the war if they didn’t leave civilization behind.

  They left Illinois and kept traveling west, past the Kansas and Missouri border problems, to central Kansas. His father Moses filed a claim on homestead land between the Clear Creek and the Smoky Hill River, two miles south of the Butterfield Overland Route that ran from Kansas City to Denver. But within a few years, forts were established along this same route to handle the Indian uprisings. Fort Harker was built two miles west of their claim and Ellsworth five miles further west. Now their peaceful, private prairie teemed with businesses, people and more cattle than a person could ever imagine—because now the railroad traveled acr
oss the prairie too, bringing civilization with it.

  Of course his family had changed, too. Adam was now the marshal for the little town called Clear Creek north of their ranch. Adam said he was never going to marry because of his chosen profession. Noah homesteaded the land next to his parents and was writing to a girlfriend back in Illinois.

  Jacob had taken charge of the original land when his father died three years ago. His mother Cate and sister Sarah still lived with him. He was marrying age, twenty-four, but hadn’t met the right woman yet to take on ranch life.

  Jacob didn’t mind being close to towns and supplies. It made life easier, and hopefully would bring more women and families this way. Even though the extra cattle that the drives brought up each spring brought good income to town, it also brought noise, smell and ruckus when herds—and cowboys—got riled.

  The herds grazed south of town and used the river as their water source, until it was time to load them onto the trains heading to the Eastern states. Groups were brought across the river and down the street to the pens and chutes that would load the animals onto railroad cars.

  Right now the noise—and dust level—rose as a new herd trotted right down South Main Street. Everyone scattered out of the street when they heard the rhythm of the hooves hitting the packed dirt heading for the rail yards. It was beginning to be an everyday occurrence as thirty thousand head of cattle were expected to arrive and ship out of Ellsworth over the next few months. That’s a lot of dust, mud and manure.

  Abilene was once the main cowtown, but drovers switched to Ellsworth this year as the train tracks went farther west now, and the Abilene businessmen and area ranchers were tired of the giant herds and Texas Fever cattle disease that encompassed Dickinson County spring through fall. There were around forty thousand cattle shipped out of Abilene last year, and Jacob couldn’t fathom that many longhorns roaming around Ellsworth County this summer—but they were starting to arrive.