“That’s what he wants you to think.”
“I don’t ask you to approve of Benjamin, but I do ask you to meet him,” Pearl said.
“Fine. Stuck in bed as I am, I have no other choice.” Ma looked down at her night shift. Though the garment was fashioned from opaque cotton and the collar covered her neck, she grabbed her bed jacket from the foot of the bed and donned it, fastening the buttons with quick expertise that reminded Pearl of how Ma used to dress her.
After a nod from Ma, Pearl went to the door and motioned at Benjamin. Without hesitation he set down his coffee and made his way into the room.
Ma tilted her head and peered at him through narrowed eyes. “Well, well, lookee here. Cat’s been busy today.”
Benjamin was obviously taken aback by Ma’s odd greeting. “Come again, ma’am?”
“Ma’s just being Ma,” Pearl said, rushing to intervene before she made the introductions.
Ma looked Benjamin up and down. “You must think a mighty lot of my daughter to follow her all this way. Though only the good Lord can understand why.”
Benjamin shot Pearl a distressed look before he answered. “I think your daughter is a fine woman, Mrs. Hubert.”
“You do, do you? Turn around and let me see you.”
Benjamin hesitated.
“Go on, boy. What’s the matter with you—got some sort of defect you don’t want me to see?”
“Ma!” Pearl objected. With his fine features and strong physique, Benjamin had nothing to be ashamed of in his appearance.
“Now, you shush. I want to see what kind of man would follow you all this way.”
Benjamin, looking stunned, complied.
“I think you’ll do.” Ma nodded. “You’ll do just fine working here on the ranch.”
“What?” Benjamin and Pearl said in unison.
“You came all this way. What else were you plannin’ to do?” Ma’s tone feigned innocence.
“He didn’t come out here to be a ranch hand.” Pearl looked at Benjamin. “Did you?”
“No, I’ve never worked the land a day in my life.”
Ma sniffed. “I won’t bother to ask how you do make a living.”
Pearl decided not to enlighten her. “I’m sure Benjamin wouldn’t mind doing a little work around here in exchange for room and board.”
“Room and board? No, that won’t do. I can’t have a man livin’ here with you the way you are and me too sick to stop whatever it is he plans to do. No, he’ll live in Rope A Steer and report to work every day just like he was a paid employee.”
“You can’t expect him to work for free,” Pearl said.
“I suppose you’re right about that,” Ma conceded with a sigh. “We’ll pay what we can.”
Pearl turned to Benjamin. “You don’t have to work here.”
Benjamin set his gaze on the open window that offered a view of the land, land that appealed to him. Though the idea of winning money from the ranch hands crossed his mind, Pearl was more important. He wanted to stay near her. How could he refuse her ma’s invitation?
“No, I don’t have to work here,” he answered Pearl. “But I will.” He looked toward the older woman. “I accept your offer, Mrs. Hubert.”
Chapter 4
Later that evening, after Pearl had served her mother the omelet she promised, she sat with Benjamin at the table. She took delight in how he savored every mouthful of omelet and the satisfied grin that accompanied each bite. Though it was much too soon to entertain such thoughts, she couldn’t help but dream about dining with Benjamin every evening. His presence lifted her spirits and soothed her mind in the face of Ma’s criticisms.
Pearl didn’t want to consider the possibility that he regretted promising Ma he’d work at the ranch. Yet she felt she had to offer him a way out, just in case. Courage to broach the topic arrived over after-supper coffee.
She cleared her throat. “I know Ma must have taken you aback today with her offer of a job. Truth be told, it surprised me, too. I have to ask, are you sure you want to work here?”
He didn’t hesitate. “I’m sure. The idea’s kind of grown on me.” He swirled his half-full cup in circles with more enthusiasm than was required to melt the two lumps of sugar he took. “Uh, I realize I won’t get treatment this good every night. Reckon I’ll be eating with the ranch hands from here on out. Living with them, too.” He looked up. “You don’t mind showing me the quarters after supper, do you?”
“The—the quarters?” She set down her cup and patted her lips with her napkin.
“Uh-oh. Are you telling me you don’t have an extra bed?” He shrugged. “Well, I can sleep on the floor if you can spare a blanket.” He downed his coffee. “How many hands do you all employ, anyway?”
She stiffened. “Employ?”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “Yeah. You know. Like a man works for you, and then you pay him. We have this here paper in the U.S. of A. that we call money. The same paper we used to win at our games.” He winked.
Instead of consoling her, his wink made her uneasy. Because she knew Benjamin’s schemes, her mind didn’t take long to form an unhappy conclusion. “Games, huh? I hope you weren’t thinking you’d win the ranch hands’ paychecks. Now you wouldn’t be thinking that way, would you?”
His lips twisted into a little grin. “You know me too well. All right. I admit it. I confess I followed you out here because I couldn’t stand the thought of being without you.” He placed his elbow on the table and set his chin in his palm.
Pearl knew him well enough to realize the blue-eyed puppy dog look he gave her was contrived to melt her heart. Though it was working, she decided to remain steely. “But?”
“But.” The puppy look disappeared, replaced by a mischievous light as he retreated by leaning back in his chair. “In the back of my mind, I thought maybe I could rustle up a few extra dollars from the ranch hands.”
“Benjamin! You’d take advantage of our ranch hands?”
“I wouldn’t call it taking advantage. Gambling’s a form of entertainment, the way I see it. Everybody knows there’s a risk. But for your sake, I wouldn’t have taken too much of their money.” Sincerity coursed through his voice.
“I believe you,” she answered.
“I must say, things have changed a little since your ma hired me. So I’ll go you one better. Now that you’ve got me working, eating, and living with them, I won’t be taking any of their money by cheating. I’ll win every game fair and square.” He lifted his forefinger to emphasize his point.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Why would I lie to you?”
“I don’t think you’re lying. I just think you don’t possess the conviction to keep your promise.” She sighed. “Maybe you’d see the real need to be an honest man if you knew God. I wish you weren’t so mad at Him.”
“I’m not mad at God. I know He’s there. He must be, for all those people to pour into church every Sunday morning. He just hasn’t showed up a whole lot for me, that’s all.” Benjamin’s voice betrayed sadness and defeat.
“I reckon He’s not too easy to find in a place like Sadie’s. I know I didn’t see much of Him there. Not that I looked too hard.” She let out a breath. “Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about my life.”
Benjamin surveyed the room. “Being out here does that to you, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. Not too much music and talk to distract you.” Pearl let out a little laugh.
“You know, I thought I’d miss all the noise, but I don’t. Isn’t that strange?”
“Strange in a good way. Maybe the good Lord’s telling you how you don’t need all those distractions after all.”
“Maybe. But I interrupted you. What have you been thinking?”
“Oh.” Pearl got her thoughts back on track. “When I left home, I was hoping for a lot of things. I wanted to help Ma by sending money to her and my widowed sister, too. I thought living in a bigger town would be exciting and talking to men woul
d be an easy way to get money. After all, Ma kept reminding me how I attracted too many men for my own good. And I have admitted to the Lord that a part of me wanted to get away from Ma’s strict rules. But I didn’t know until I got to Sadie’s how high the cost of escaping Ma’s domineering ways would be. These past months away from home were the worst I’ve ever had. I wouldn’t have survived if not for you. I’ll always be grateful to you for being there during my darkest hour. But now it’s time for me to see the light and to try to walk with God once more.”
Benjamin didn’t answer right away. Pearl gave him time to absorb all she had shared. “Where does that leave me?” His voice was quiet.
She placed her hand on his knee and gazed into his eyes. “Walking beside me, I hope.”
“But I am right with you, by working here. Right?”
“There’s more to it than that.” When she hesitated, the silent air seemed to oppress the room. “I–I’d like you to start going to church with me.”
His eyes widened. “Church?”
“Is that so bad?”
He chuckled and nodded at once. “I don’t reckon so. You know you can make me do almost anything when you look at me like that.”
Pearl laughed. “I hope so. But I’m leaving the heavy work up to the Lord.”
“You’re going to need Him to convince me to repent. Churchgoing and all is nice for a lot of folks, but you know it’s not something I’m used to. Maybe things would have been different if Pa hadn’t died. But my outlaw brothers had plans for me that didn’t include God.”
“They did the best they could.”
“I know it. And I understand they’ve changed—although I haven’t seen them in years to find out one way or another.” He leaned closer and, with his blue eyes, searched her face. “You don’t think I’m like them, do you?”
“I—I never thought much about it.”
“Well, I’m not. I might cheat a little at cards, but I never stole outright from anybody. I never robbed a bank and sure never shot anybody over money or anything else. And how many other men would live at Sadie’s and still resist the ladies?”
“You—you have?” Though she’d never seen him act un-toward to any of the women there, she didn’t realize he had maintained his virtue. In her eyes he was becoming more and more heroic.
His face reddened, and he pulled away from her. “Don’t tell anybody what I told you. Some of the men would never let me live it down.”
“I wouldn’t tell anybody if my life depended on it,” Pearl promised. And she meant it. They were silent for a moment before she spoke once more. “I won’t even tell anyone if you decide to go to church.” She smiled.
“Do I have a choice? I’ll bet your ma makes all the ranch hands go to church every Sunday, doesn’t she?”
Sorry he had returned their conversation to a raw topic, she took her hand off his knee and didn’t look him in the eye. “I have to tell you. We—we don’t have any ranch hands out here. This is a small enterprise. My parents ran it themselves. Ma owns a few acres, but she and Pa just subsisted.”
His expression took on a confused light. “What? You mean you don’t own all this land I see?”
“Not all of it by any means. No, most of it belongs to Oliver O’Connell, proprietor of the Double O Ranch next door. Now that’s a man who owns some acreage.”
“Then why do you insist on calling this place a ranch?”
“That’s what they planned for it to be one day. Pa hoped to buy more land in the future. But he became ill soon after he settled our little parcel, so he was never able to bring the ranch up to its potential. Now Ma doesn’t even farm except for keeping a little livestock and growing a few vegetables to eat. When she’s well enough, which isn’t often, Ma takes in sewing and laundry and sells eggs to make enough money to buy the dry goods she can get by on. Of course, I’ve always sent her a good part of the money I made at Sadie’s. Now don’t you mention it to her, because she’d never admit it. She thinks my money is dirty.” Pearl slumped in her seat, and her voice grew quiet. “Maybe it is.”
“You need money to live, though, don’t you?”
“Yes, but maybe we’d all be better off with a little less money and a little more ingenuity. Although I was glad for what I earned with you. I sent a good part of it to my widowed sister. With four boys and a girl, she needs all the help she can get.”
He could do nothing but shake his head in amazement and admiration. “I had no idea. I thought all your money went to pretty dresses and perfume.”
“Had you fooled, didn’t I? I’m pretty good with a thread and needle, so I managed to keep myself in fancy costumes.” She looked down at the plain gray housedress she wore at that moment. “Truth be told, I’m happier wearing this.”
Benjamin studied her. He remembered how she once looked in low-cut, beaded gowns fashioned from silks in colorful hues. The way she looked now, with a simple kitchen as her backdrop, made him comfortable. Pearl presented the vision of a strong woman, capable of hard work. “Truth be told, you look even better dressed like that than the way you looked at Sadie’s.”
“Now you’re just funning me.”
“No, I’m not.”
Pearl looked beyond him through the open window. “The sun’s getting low. You’d better be going. Why don’t you use one of our horses for a ride into town? Get yourself a room at the inn.”
A half hour after he left Pearl’s, Benjamin rode a gentle horse into Rope A Steer. His second look at the dust-ridden town revealed that his first impression had been right. The place felt dead. He spotted only one sign of promise—HOOT N HOLLER INN. Not that the wooden structure, in dire need of paint, looked like anything to hoot or holler about.
The inside didn’t offer much more promise. An old man sat behind a tall counter boasting a sign that read NO PAY, NO Stay in bold letters. The rack housing three rifles on the wall behind him indicated he planned to enforce his policy.
“Got a room I can stay in for a couple of months? Maybe more?” Benjamin asked.
“I got something for a dollar a week if you’re not too picky.”
“I’m not.”
The innkeeper held out his palm. “That’ll be two weeks in advance.”
Benjamin peeled two dollar bills off his roll of cash and relinquished them.
“You can call me Mr. Dimsbury.” He handed Benjamin a key. “Third floor. You won’t have trouble finding it since it’s the only one up there.”
The idea of an attic room hadn’t occurred to Benjamin, but considering he hadn’t seen any other inns, he figured he’d best take it without complaint. Once he navigated the narrow stairs, his fears of a tiny room with a pointed ceiling proved true. The bed looked no larger than a coffin, and there wasn’t even a desk. He figured it was a good thing he wasn’t much of a writer or scholar.
Unpacking, he was almost grateful he couldn’t stay at Pearl’s. Had he remained on the ranch after work hours, she might have sensed his mood and realized how distressed and shocked he felt. He’d come all this way only to find a pathetic little enterprise with no ranch hands to cheat? The idea of leaving suddenly seemed fine. But if he did, what would life be like without his Pearl? Making money by cheating a few ignorant and bored ranch hands appealed to him, but Pearl appealed to him more. He couldn’t leave her. He was going to stay, even though that meant rooming in a hole in the wall in a tiny speck on the road that considered itself a town, where no one knew him.
As soon as he set himself up in his new quarters, Benjamin looked for a saloon. He didn’t see much prospect of being paid to work at the ranch no matter how noble the Huberts’ intentions. Sure, Pearl had decided to walk the straight and narrow, but even without her he could make money. Why, maybe even better money than before. With that thought he allowed himself a triumphant smile.
He hadn’t been in the Drunken Steer Tavern a moment before he attracted the attention of a woman wearing a revealing dress. “Hey, handsome, you new around these part
s?”
“Sure am. Thought I might set up a little card game.” He cocked his head toward an empty table.
She shrugged. “I don’t mind, but Bart might want a cut of your winnings. He’s the owner.”
Benjamin hadn’t thought of such a possibility. Then again, Sadie had always been his friend and knew Benjamin’s card games attracted customers. At least this woman hadn’t asked to be his partner. If she had, he’d have turned her down. No one could take Pearl’s place.
That fact became more evident as he played that night. He won, but not as handily as usual. Without Pearl’s help, Benjamin wasn’t gambling in the fine form to which he had become accustomed. He had to convince Pearl to change back to her old ways. And fast.
Chapter 5
The following morning Pearl opened the door to her mother’s sickroom, expecting her to be asleep. Instead, Ma sat in bed, looking outside through the open window. Her Bible rested in her lap.
“You got my bed jacket?” she asked Pearl.
“Yes, ma’am. All nice and clean, fresh off the clothes line.” Pearl walked toward the bed and handed the garment to her mother.
“Took you long enough.” Ma brought the article of clothing to her nose and inhaled. Pearl expected to be complimented on how fresh it smelled, but Ma had other ideas. “This is still damp.”
“It is?” Pearl reached for the bed jacket and squeezed the cotton until she felt a tinge of dampness on one edge. “I suppose I could have let it stay out there a little longer, but I thought you wanted it back.”
“I know you’re tryin’ real hard, and I appreciate it, but you burned my bread and forgot to put the sugar in my coffee this morning,” Ma pointed out. “You haven’t been yourself ever since you got back. It’s that man, isn’t it?”
“You mean Benjamin?”
“Of course that’s who I mean. Who else? He’s all you can think about, isn’t he?” Ma didn’t wait for an answer. “He’s a handsome one, all right. But he ain’t no good for you. Not until he gets right with the Lord.”
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