Coming From California (The Pioneer Brides 0f Rattlesnake Ridge Book 2)

by Catherine Bilson

  Garrett sighed, and Grant had the unsettling feeling his uncle was disappointed in him. The banker walked away toward a waiting Mr. Blake, shaking his head. Grant returned his gaze to Daisy, who was smiling and walking down the steps to join Rockford.

  “Soon enough,” he muttered, feeling in his pocket for his cigarette case. “I’ll get my chance soon enough.” But jealousy ate at him as he watched Rockford pull Daisy into his arms, and he couldn’t make himself look away.

  * * *

  Dusk was falling as Luke came back to Daisy to ask her for another dance, the sunset in the western sky bathing the whole street in deep orange and crimson hues.

  “We could just sit a spell, if your feet are sore?” Luke said.

  Daisy laughed, reaching for his hand. “You’re not getting out of dancing with me that easily. We didn’t finish our dance earlier.”

  “This’ll be the last opportunity, too,” Luke noted. “The mayor said the party’s to end at sundown, so folks can get home safe.”

  “Probably for the best, considering how many children are here. All this excitement will have them worn out!”

  Her eyes shone in the twilight, making her whole face glow with joy. Luke thought he’d never seen anyone so beautiful, so radiant with happiness. His own heart felt filled to bursting just looking at her. Dancing with her, well, it all felt like some fantastical dream. “Pinch me,” he requested.

  Daisy tilted her head, frowning curiously. “Excuse me?”

  “I feel like I’m in a dream, dancing with you,” he confessed. “I know we ain’t been acquainted long, and maybe there’s a dozen other men in the Ridge already asked you this, but I’d sure like it if you said I could take you out walking sometime, Miss Daisy.”

  There was more than enough light for him to see a soft glow enter her eyes, a pink blush rising up her cheeks. “I’d like that,” she answered without even a moment’s pause.

  “Really?” Luke could hardly believe she’d said yes.

  “Yes, really.” The pink deepened on Daisy’s cheeks, but she didn’t look away. “I’m glad you asked.”

  “You are?” He was sure he sounded like a total fool, but a beautiful, intelligent woman like Miss Daisy being interested in him seemed so unlikely he couldn’t help but question it.

  “Yes, I am!” Mischief entered her smile, and she pinched his arm. “There, see? You’re not dreaming. Everyone I respect in this town has had nothing but good things to say about you, you’ve been kind and generous to me ever since we met, and I’m honored you want to take me out walking.”

  The music ceased playing at that moment, and Luke was saved from having to make a response by the disappointed cries of the crowd rising above them.

  * * *

  “Now, folks,” Sheriff McCullough stood at the top of the schoolhouse steps, hands held out calmingly. “Y’all knew the party ends at sundown. Time the children went on home and we got this place all cleared up.”

  A few grumbles greeted his remarks, but everyone began to gather their things and clear the street.

  “There you are,” a cheerful voice said, and Daisy looked around to find Barb and Mr. Hollis standing just behind her.

  “Where are the children?” Luke asked.

  Suddenly aware she was still standing close to Luke with one of his arms looped around her waist, Daisy edged away a little. He let her go with no attempt to restrain her, which she appreciated.

  “Probably looking for more food,” Mr. Hollis said wryly.

  “Well, it looks like there’s plenty left.” Daisy glanced at the trestle tables. While they were noticeably less full than at the beginning of the celebration, few of the platters and bowls were empty.

  “Speaking of which, no need to cook tonight,” Barb pointed out. “Let’s just take some of these leftovers and have supper here tonight. You shouldn’t eat alone on your first night in your new home!”

  So it was; she found herself sitting at her new table in her newly built cabin behind the school, the other chairs occupied by Barb and the twins, the two men perching on the edge of the cabinet as they ate leftovers from the feast, laughing and talking well into the evening.

  * * *

  Across the street in a dark alley, Grant Watson stood watching, smoking a cigarette. He stood there for a long time, growing progressively angrier, waiting until Rockford, Hollis, Barbara Jones, and the children left.

  The fact that Rockford left last, lingering to speak with Daisy alone for a few moments, made Grant grind his teeth and clench his fists. Why would she want to associate with a man like Rockford, who had nothing to offer her when Grant had made his own interest clear? It made no sense. He was everything Rockford wasn’t with a steady job, a nice house, and a good reputation. He had even more than Daisy knew since his parents owned a large shipping conglomerate in Rhode Island. Grant stood to inherit a large amount of money one day, both from his father and from Uncle Liston, since he was the bank owner’s only heir. Maybe he should drop a few hints, make her think twice about him.

  He waited until Daisy’s company was inside the boarding house to make his move. Looking around to check nobody was watching, he crossed the street and crept quietly up beside the window he knew belonged to Daisy’s main room.

  He could still see a light inside, so he knew Daisy hadn't yet retired for the night. When he leaned over and peered cautiously through the side of the window, he saw a lit candle on the cabinet and Daisy putting away clean plates and cups.

  Obviously unaware of her silent observer, once she had finished tidying up, she took a seat at the table. With visible relief, she began to pull out the pins holding up her hair. Grant watched as the long dark tresses fell down around her shoulders and she slowly brushed out the tangles.

  Watching her like this, it felt almost as though she was brushing her hair only for him, a private show for his benefit alone. He hardly dared to breathe, praying she wouldn't look up and see him. Why, she might even undress within his sight!

  He was destined to be disappointed, however. Once she had finished brushing out her hair, she picked up her candle and disappeared through the door which led to her small bedroom, closing it behind her. He knew the small window to that room looked out on the schoolyard on the other side of the building. A yard where it would be far too easy for somebody to observe him skulking about.

  Still, he decided to remain a little longer in the hope she might come back out. He was rewarded for his patience when the door opened again a few minutes later. Daisy had changed into a nightgown, and although it was modest—white cotton reaching to her feet and wrists and buttoned up to her neck—the way the soft material moved against her body made his mouth go dry.

  She lingered only a few moments, checking the bolt on the door then pouring a cup of water from the jug on the cabinet to take to her bedroom. The door closed behind her, and Grant sat back against the wall, breathing heavily.

  Even though he’d done nothing but watch, the illicit feeling of having spied on Daisy without her knowledge—seen her in a private state in her nightgown with her hair down—had his heart racing and his palms sweating.

  This will definitely become a part of my evening routine from now on, Grant Watson thought as he crept away from the schoolhouse and resumed his patrol through the streets of Rattlesnake Ridge. Even though it would likely get him fired if Sheriff McCullough caught him, the need he felt to be close to Daisy was much too strong to be denied.

  Chapter 10

  While Daisy had specified school would begin at eight o'clock sharp Monday morning, children started arriving a little after seven. Barrett Wright's older two sons rode in on a single horse, and they were followed only minutes later by several more children.

  Scarcely able to sleep from excitement, Daisy had awakened and eaten early. She was only too happy to go out into the schoolyard with a ball for the older children to play with.

  Daisy picked up a nearby fallen stick to draw hopscotch squares in the dirt. Soon,
she was teaching a group of the children how to play the game, laughing as she hopped along with her skirts caught up in her hands. A fence had been erected to keep the children inside the yard and off the street, and movement just on the other side of it caught her eye.

  Luke leaned casually against the fence, a grin plastered on his handsome face as he watched her. He waved when she looked at him. With a slight blush, Daisy let go of her skirts, told the children to try it for themselves, and went over to speak to him.

  “Good morning to you, Miss Daisy.” Luke’s blue eyes were warm as he regarded her.

  “Good morning, Mr. Rockford,” she said formally, mindful of curious little ears close enough to overhear. “I understood you were going to Reno this morning?”

  “Jack's fetching our horses now,” he told her. “We'll be off in a few minutes. Just wanted to stop by and see how you were getting on with the children. Looks like you're having a darned good time!”

  Daisy chuckled. “We'll be going in to start lessons shortly. I can’t believe so many children arrived early. I think they're eager to learn.”

  Luke’s grin was full of mischief as usual as he said, “Well, if there’d been a schoolteacher as pretty as you when I was a small child, Miss Daisy, I've got no doubt I'd have been eager to get to my schooling as well.”

  “Oh you.” As was usual in his presence, she felt a blush heating her cheeks. “Get away with you now.”

  “That invitation for supper tomorrow night still open?”

  “Of course, it is,” Daisy insisted. “It's the least I can do for you.”

  “You don't owe me nothing, Miss Daisy, but I'm sure looking forward to your grub.”

  Jack, as he’d insisted she call him when they ate together after the hoe-down, came across the street leading two horses. Luke accepted the reins of the big buckskin gelding, swinging easily into the saddle with a lithe, muscular grace which made Daisy's blush deepen.

  Stop thinking about the way his body moves, she chided herself. It really isn’t decent!

  “We'll make sure we get back to town by tomorrow evening then,” Luke told her with a respectful tip of his hat. “Good day to you, Miss Daisy, and I hope you have a good first day with your pupils.”

  “Safe travels,” she wished them and waved as they rode away.

  “Miss Daisy,” a small voice piped up beside her. It was Isabelle Jones, tugging at her dress.

  “Yes, Isabelle?”

  “Is you gonna marry Uncle Luke?” Isabelle asked, wide-eyed and innocent.

  Daisy thought her blush couldn’t get any deeper, but she was fairly sure she turned almost purple at the little girl's question. “Are you going to, Isabelle,” she said, “is the correct way to ask that question, but that's not a polite question.”

  Isabelle looked disappointed. “Well — Mommy says I'm not always polite.” She twisted a long curl around her finger, peeping up cheekily through her eyelashes at Daisy. “So, are you going to marry him? Because I really hope you are. Mommy says he's like her brother so that would make you my auntie.”

  Daisy couldn't help but laugh. “Please don't try to matchmake, Isabelle. While Mr. Rockford is a very nice man, I’m not ready to marry anyone just yet. I'm a teacher and my pupils are much more important to me than getting married.” She straightened. “Speaking of which, I think it's about time we began lessons.”

  Ringing a large hand bell located near the main door, she summoned all of the children into the schoolroom and guided them to the desks she wanted them to use before making her way to the front of the room and turning to face her class.

  “Good morning, children!”

  A disjointed chorus of greetings came back, making her chuckle. “A good try, but let’s try it my way. When I say ‘Good morning, children’, you say ‘Good morning, Miss Daisy’ with your best smiles and nice clear voices.”

  “Good morning, Miss Daisy!” came a chorus of excited responses.

  “Very good! We’ll be doing that every day, right before I call the roll, which is my list of who’s supposed to be here. When I call your name out, I’d like you to say ‘Here, Miss Daisy!’ Does everyone understand?”

  One or two of the younger children looked hesitant, and Daisy smiled at them. “I’ll start with someone I’m sure does know how to do this, to show you all how it’s done. Phillip Dobson, Jr.”

  “Here, Miss Daisy!” the teenager said promptly.

  “And that’s how it’s done!” Daisy clapped her hands together. “Now, today we’re going to do things a little bit differently, because it’s our first day and we all need to get to know each other better. I’d like you to add your age and something about yourself—maybe what you like to do for fun, or what you want to be when you grow up. Could you start us off please, Phillip?”

  “Yes, Miss Daisy! I’m fourteen, and when I’m older I want to be a schoolteacher. Like you!”

  She had to suppress the urge to go to the boy’s desk and pat his cheek; he was a delight to have in her class. She didn’t doubt he’d probably do a decent job of teaching the other children already if he had to. She certainly planned to rely on him and the other older pupils to help manage intermediate students while she worked closely with those who needed the most help.

  “Very good, thank you, Phillip,” she said aloud before glancing down at the roll and moving to the top of her alphabetical list. “Astrid Anderssen?”

  “Here, Miss Daisy,” a tall, thin girl with a coronet of tightly wound golden braids sitting at the desk beside Phillip Jr. said. “I’m sixteen an’... an’ my favorite thing in the whole world’s my dog, Rascal. He howled when I had to tie him up so’s I could come to school without him followin’ me.” The girl sounded almost as heartbroken as her dog.

  Daisy nodded sympathetically “Rascal sounds like a wonderful dog,” she said warmly. “I’m sure you’ll be happy to go home to him when school’s over.”

  Astrid nodded eagerly, and Daisy moved on to the next name on her list, another of the Anderssens. There were five of them in the schoolroom of various ages, all easily identified by their bright golden hair.

  Throughout the day, she found her mind returning to Isabelle’s question about whether she would marry Luke Rockford, pondering the answer she’d given. While only days before she would have said the words were perfectly true, now she found herself wondering what it would be like to be married to a man who loved and respected her, to have children of her own. A family of her own. The mere thought stole her breath away. She’d been alone in the world since her father’s death. Being part of a loving, tight-knit family again was a dream she’d be willing to fight for—whatever it took.

  Shaking off mental images of Luke with a baby in the crook of his arm and a toddler on the other hip, Daisy told herself to focus. She was getting too far ahead of herself. While Luke seemed to show a preference for her company and even flirted with her, she had no doubts that a man as handsome as Luke could have his pick of women.

  Though there aren’t many single women in Rattlesnake Ridge… and I’m doing it again. She pushed the thoughts away. The children in her schoolhouse deserved her full attention.

  * * *

  Her first day challenged her both physically and emotionally. Still, she felt accomplished. Accomplished and exhausted. Although she was ready to fall into her bed when the last child left, she nevertheless took the time to straighten desks, put away books, and collect her broom to sweep out the schoolroom. A knock at the door made her pause, rubbing at the small of her back as it protested.

  “Come in,” she called, wondering if it was a student returning to ask her a question or collect a forgotten lunch pail.

  It wasn’t.

  Instead, Deputy Grant Watson entered the room. He stalked forward, his boot heels echoing. The schoolhouse, which had been warm and spacious earlier when filled with children, suddenly felt cold and confining. She wanted to get away, or at least not be alone with him. She couldn’t explain why he made her feel
this way; she only knew it was the exact opposite reaction she had to Luke Rockford.

  “Good afternoon, Deputy,” she managed to say politely. “Can I help you?”

  “Just stopped in to see how the first day of school went,” he said with a friendly smile. At least, he probably intended it to be friendly. Daisy thought it resembled the hungry grin of a shark.

  “Very well, thank you.” She resumed her sweeping, thinking wistfully that Luke would probably have offered to take the broom and finish the job by now. “The children all seem eager to learn, which is about all a schoolteacher can ask on their first day.”

  Watson sneered a little as he looked around the simple room, and Daisy recalled Luke mentioning once that Watson had attended fancy boarding schools on the East Coast. No doubt he’d disdain her efforts at education, but she was determined to teach her students to read, write, and do enough simple arithmetic to figure their grocery bills.

  “I’m happy with their first day, anyway. Although I’m very tired, so if you’ll excuse me?” Propping the broom against the wall after sweeping the dust outside, she held the door open for him in clear dismissal.

  “I was wondering if perhaps you’d like to come out to dinner with me? It’d be a pleasure to dine with a pretty girl like you,” Watson asked, clearly ignoring her remark.

  Daisy gaped at him in astonishment. What have I said or done to make him think I might possibly welcome his attentions? she wondered, before realizing nothing she’d done had figured into his thinking at all. She was a ‘pretty girl’ he wanted to get to know, and he was arrogant enough to believe she must be interested in him.

  “No, thank you,” she said coolly, and made the mistake of adding an excuse as his face darkened. “I’m very tired.”

  “Tomorrow night, then.”

  It wasn’t a question. Anger rose up in her at his presumption. “I’m afraid I’m otherwise engaged, Mr. Watson. Good afternoon.” She looked pointedly at the door, then back at him.