He grinned as he took a healthy bite of cake. “Hmm-mmm. Can’t beat this.”
“All right. Lemon cake it is.” She tapped her chin, counting the ingredients left in her larder. She might need to make a trip to town tomorrow. A picture formed in her mind of the men seated on the benches in the church tent and eating her cake. “You know, I’ve been thinking.”
A low chuckle came from the other end of the table. “Yes, ma’am?” My, my, he was handsome when he smiled. Never mind what that deep voice did to her emotions.
“It’s just too bad we don’t have a proper church building. Not just for Sunday services but for prayer meetings, community events, all sorts of gatherings, like the ranchers’ meeting.” The ladies of the quilting bee had raised some money by selling quilts at the Founders’ Day celebration, but it was soon evident the project couldn’t fund much more than a single load of lumber. “Could you bring that up tomorrow night?”
“I could.”
She beamed her best smile his way. “Nancy told me you men were planning to collect dues for joining the organization.” She wouldn’t mention that Nancy feared Lucas wouldn’t have any money to contribute. She didn’t say why, but Lula May suspected Lucas might be saving up so they could afford to have a baby. “Why not use those dues to build a church? What with beef prices being steady right now and roundup coming, soon everyone will have some money set aside for things like this. What better project than building a church?”
“Well.” Edmund cleared his throat. “The plan was to have funds to help people in need.”
“Seems like there should be enough money to get everything done.” Lula May knew how to pinch a penny, but she’d noticed some folks were a bit more careless with their finances. “And who’s going to be in charge of the collection?” It had better be someone she trusted, or she wouldn’t donate a dime.
Edmund finished his cake and set down his fork. “Why don’t you do it?”
“What?” Lula May was speechless. For about half a second. “Why, I’m not even invited to the meeting.”
There was that grin again. “I’m inviting you.”
* * *
If it wasn’t the worst of bad manners to laugh at a lady, Edmund would give in to a hearty guffaw at the look on Lula May’s face right now. Shock, surprise, a hint of a smile that was growing by the second.
“You’re inviting me?” She blinked those big blue eyes, and he had to swallow hard not to fall right into them.
Great hornets, she was a pretty woman, especially in that blue dress she now wore, which was a sight prettier than the getup she’d worn that morning. Oh, no. Those thoughts had to stop. He had no intention of being lassoed by a woman, especially not one so much like his strong-willed cousin.
“Yes, ma’am.” He couldn’t see any reason to leave her out, especially since she had so many good ideas and backed them up with a well-run ranch.
She sat there looking at him for a few seconds and then glanced around the table. “Children, time for evening chores.”
As all five got up to obey, she gave each one a motherly smile that hit Edmund right in the chest. These young’uns were mighty blessed to have such a loving mama, something he couldn’t remember having, though Josiah claimed their mama had heaped a lot of love on the three brothers before she died. Maybe she’d been just like Lula May, who, after a long day of ranch work, cooking, baking and visiting Nancy Bennett three miles away, still had a smile left in her for her children. And for him, though he couldn’t attach any meaning to it other than her fine manners. His cousin had doled out a fair amount of affection to her own four children, but never had anything left for Edmund.
He’d come here expecting to eat a quick supper and then to head on back to his own place. Now, with two big bowls of stew, three buttered rolls, a large slice of cake and several cups of coffee under his belt, he couldn’t move if he wanted to.
He’d say he’d been a captive audience for all of Lula May’s chatter, but that wouldn’t be fair. He liked what he heard. Liked what he saw. Not just Lula May, but the young’uns. They sat respectfully through the whole meal while the adults talked. They obeyed their ma, even when she just gave them a look or a tilt of her head. Now they were out in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes without bellyaching about it. Edmund couldn’t exactly say why, but he enjoyed it all, even though for him it wouldn’t last past this week.
“All right, puppy, let’s go.”
Edmund could see Calvin through the wide doorway talking to Jacob.
“Get the bucket. Let’s see if you can milk a cow as well as you can rope a heifer.”
Jacob’s shoulders slumped as he minded his oldest brother, trudging after him with bucket in hand. The bright-eyed, confident boy Edmund had brought home had faded quickly when his brothers called him a puppy. But it wasn’t Edmund’s place to correct them, so he’d keep his concerns to himself. And he’d try to figure out how to make Jacob’s confidence stick.
“About tomorrow night’s meeting.” Lula May stood up and waved Edmund toward the parlor.
He managed to get to his feet and follow her, one hand on his overstuffed belly. Maybe he should walk home rather than ride to work off that large meal. As he followed her, the scent of lilacs hit his nose again. If she was anything like Betsy, she probably made her own perfume from those bushes at the back of the house.
“Have a seat.” With a brisk wave of her hand, she ordered him to sit in Frank’s chair, which stood near the stone fireplace.
Didn’t seem right, but he wouldn’t embarrass her by refusing. Besides, the worn but fancy settee looked a mite fragile for a big man like him. He settled into the comfortable overstuffed leather chair and blew out a long breath. Tomorrow night, he wouldn’t eat so much, no matter how good her cooking tasted. He glanced around the room, noticing the frilly cotton curtains over the windows and the crocheted doilies on every flat surface. The main room at his house couldn’t even be called a parlor, much less boast such homey furnishings.
“I’ve been thinking about it, and I’m not going.”
Edmund opened his mouth to object, but she silenced him with another one of those brisk hand gestures.
“No, it’s best this way.” She picked up a sewing basket beside her rocking chair and started sorting through a small box, sizing buttons to a shirt that looked like it would fit little Daniel. Didn’t this woman ever get a chance to rest? “I appreciate your invitation, but I want you to ask the other men what they think about my coming.”
“I don’t think—”
“Because the last thing I want is to show up and be told it’s no place for a woman.” She bit off a length of thread and aimed it through the eye of a needle. “I can just see Lucas Bennett or Clyde Parker saying my ranch is too small for the rustlers to bother with. Never mind that I have a stake in the community as valid as anybody else’s. I want, no, I need to be a part of decisions that will affect the community where my children will grow up and live their lives.” She huffed out a long sigh like she was real tired.
Edmund felt a bit tired himself just from listening to her. No, that was a mean thought. With all of her responsibilities, no wonder she felt a mite protective. A whole lot protective. And she might not think she needed anything, but looking around this place, he could see a few things that needed fixing. Like that broken transom over the parlor door into the hallway and the buckled floorboard by the piano. He could do both of those in one afternoon and at the same time teach Calvin and Samuel how to do such repairs. Before he’d left his cousin’s home, he’d had to teach himself that sort of work on his own.
“So, tomorrow night, would you ask around and see whether the men have any objections to my attending? If they put up a fuss, I’ll just have to depend on somebody else to tell me what’s going on. If they say I can come, I’ll be there next week.” She folded the shirt and set it in her
lap. “What do you think?”
Edmund hesitated. Was it really his turn to talk? Again he scolded himself for the uncharitable thought. “I’ll ask ’em. Shouldn’t be a problem.”
“And don’t you go making it sound like we’re in need. As I said a while ago, I’ll be happy to help anybody, but we’re doing just fine.” She glanced at the transom as if she’d noticed him studying it. “Come winter, we’ll catch up with things like that, just like everybody else does. You hear?”
Her tart tone of voice stung, and he struggled to answer politely. Great hornets, she sounded like his cousin. Not everything she said, but enough to annoy him to no end and bring back some decidedly unpleasant memories.
“Yes, ma’am.” Yes, that was just fine with Edmund, to use her favorite words. Stubborn woman. How could a man help somebody who refused to see she needed help? And why should he care? He was a loner, and he wasn’t about to give up a piece of himself and start caring too much about anyone else, no matter how much he’d enjoyed this family supper.
Yet as he rode Zephyr home in the deepening twilight, he sensed the Lord reminding him of the importance of being charitable to widows. After throwing in with Old Gad and coming to faith in the Lord, he’d learned early on not to ignore the Almighty’s prompting. If He wanted Edmund to watch out for Lula May, he would do it. He could endure her scrappiness so he could eat some more of her tasty cooking. He chuckled to himself. What could she serve that could equal that fine beef stew and those fluffy biscuits? He couldn’t wait to find out.
* * *
After Lula May saw Edmund to the door and watched him ride away, she felt a flush of embarrassment over her excessive talking. Try though she might, she couldn’t hold her tongue, not when she had so many important topics to talk to him about. Being here with the children all week, she rarely got a chance to talk with other adults. Even joining the ladies’ quilting bee hadn’t turned out to be the outlet she’d hoped for, because most of the other members chattered about women’s issues and left the ranching and business discussions to their husbands. Not having a husband, she didn’t have that luxury and wouldn’t want to do it anyway. She’d loved being involved with everything about the ranch even before Frank took sick.
Still, she continued to attend every other meeting or so just to get away from her regular work routine, and she truly loved participating in the many good works the ladies planned. Maybe she should try talking with them more so she wouldn’t unload all of her chatter on her poor bachelor neighbor.
She laughed to herself at the memory of his bemused expression as he tried to follow her jumping from one subject to the next. Frank always used to sit in his chair in the parlor and nod absently while reading his newspaper. At least Edmund had listened. At least he respected her enough to invite her to join the other ranchers. That respect meant a whole lot to her. Not that she could put any personal store by it. Edmund was just being polite. As for those foolish, pleasant little pinches she’d kept on feeling in her chest whenever he’d look at her, well, she’d just keep on ignoring them. She had enough to deal with without thinking about matters of the heart. The last thing she needed was to fall for Mr. Edmund McKay, no matter how attractive the man was.
Chapter Three
“Now don’t you forget what I told you.” Edmund set his hand on Jacob’s shoulder after they dismounted from their horses outside the Barlows’ house late the next afternoon. “Your big brothers aren’t tryin’ to whup up on you. They just like to pull your leg. The more you let them get to you, the more they’ll do it. Over time, you’ll learn how to give back as good as you get.”
“Yessir.” Jacob stared up at him, his blue eyes round and bright with confidence after a day of showing the newly invited town boys what ranching was all about. “Teasing’s different from mocking and just goes to show they’re including me.”
“Right.” Edmund had learned that lesson from Old Gad, but it hadn’t been easy to believe. He’d grown up under a constant barrage of criticism from his cousin and her young’uns. Nothing he’d ever done had been right in their eyes, even though he’d borne the brunt of chores and the carpentry upkeep of his cousin’s rickety old house. Old Gad was the first person to treat him with respect, the first one to say “well done” when he’d worked hard to learn something new. Not until Edmund had gained some confidence had his mentor started teasing him, mostly about his height. When he’d passed six feet, Old Gad, just five foot four on a good day, had called him string bean, lamppost or whatever foolishness came to mind. Edmund grinned just thinking about it. He sure did miss the old fella.
“Well, it’s about time.” Grouchy as usual, Lula May came out the back door wiping her hands on a fancy embroidered tea towel. “Supper’ll be ready shortly. There’s a cowboy having a look-see at my stock over at the corral, so I have to find out if he’s seen anything he likes.” She hung the towel over the hitching rail by the back door and strode toward the barn. “Want to come along?”
“Yes, ma’am.” Edmund and Jacob spoke at the same time and then shared a grin as they fell in beside her.
Lula May glanced from one to the other. “You men have a good day?”
Again they chorused “yes, ma’am,” which earned them one of her sweet smiles.
Today she was back in her skirt-trouser getup, but she didn’t really look any less ladylike than she had in that frilly blue dress last night. Edmund could see the importance of her wearing this outfit for horse trading. Made her look like she meant business so that cowboy couldn’t ride roughshod over her in case he was inclined to do so. As they neared the corral, where the man stood and studied the stock, Lula May’s smile went from sweet to businesslike. Edmund looked forward to seeing her in action.
“So what do you think?” She stopped a few yards away from the wiry man somewhere in his thirties.
Edmund recognized him from the area. Worked at the Ogdens’ spread, if he wasn’t mistaken. The way the cowboy looked Lula May up and down, much like he’d looked at the horses, caused an unfamiliar sense of protectiveness to rise up inside Edmund. He noticed Calvin and Samuel standing in the barn door, the expressions in their eyes mirroring his own feelings, and reminded himself that she didn’t need his protection. He’d woken up this morning not quite as certain about the Lord’s direction in that matter.
“If not for all the white among the spots and that pink nose, the paint would be a fine horse. Probably gets sunburned in this heat. I’ll do you a favor and take him off’n your hands for twenty-five dollars.”
The offer was an insult. Calvin gave out a fake cough, and Samuel snorted. They had no intention of letting Lula May get cheated, so Edmund could mind his own business. He kept his expression impersonal when the cowboy cast an uncertain look at him.
Lula May clicked her tongue. “Zeke, Zeke, what am I going to do with you? That horse is worth a hundred dollars to somebody who knows how to take care of him, and you know it. Besides, I have another buyer for him, so you’re too late.” She pointed at a brown mare. “Now, Circe here is a grand little cow pony, seven years old, well trained and a bargain at sixty-five dollars.”
“Sixty-five?” Zeke sputtered and coughed. “Why, I can get a better horse at any ranch around here.”
“All right, then.” Lula May clicked her tongue again. “You have a good evening. I’ve got work to do.” She turned toward the house.
“Now, wait just a minute.” Zeke shot another look at Edmund and lifted his hands like he was asking for help.
Edmund gave him a deflecting shrug and shook his head. No way was he a part of these negotiations, not when Lula May was doing such a fine job.
“Forty dollars for the mare,” Zeke shouted.
Lula May stopped and slowly turned back. “Fifty-five.”
“Fifty-five? That’s more’n five months’ pay.” Zeke ripped off his hat and slammed it t
o the ground. “Fifty, and that’s my last offer.”
A wily smile crept over the lady’s face. “Sold.”
Edmund caught the smothered grins on Calvin’s and Samuel’s faces. They must have seen their ma do this before. For his part, Edmund thought Zeke was getting a bargain. The mare was a fine-looking animal.
While Lula May retrieved a bill of sale from the house and Jacob tended his horse, Samuel led the mare out of the corral and removed her lead halter. Zeke saddled her up with his own tack, which he’d carried on his shoulders when he’d walked to the ranch, and soon the sale was completed. He might have huffed and puffed, but as he rode away, his relaxed posture and instant bonding with Circe showed he considered those fifty dollars well spent.
After watching her in action, Edmund’s admiration for Mrs. Lula May Barlow shot up about nine yards. Looked like nobody would ever be able to take advantage of her.
As they all trooped back toward the house, Calvin nudged Jacob. “You lose any mavericks today, puppy?”
Jacob glanced at Edmund and grinned. “Nope, but I did send a rattlesnake to its final reward.”
“What!” Lula May stopped and gripped the boy’s shoulders, her face growing pale beneath those scattered freckles. She glanced at Edmund. “What happened?”
Edmund shrugged. In addition to the lilac perfume she wore, he’d caught a whiff of some sort of fine-smelling chicken meal that stirred his appetite, and he’d hoped they could talk about this around the supper table. “You tell her, Jake.”
Jacob copied Edmund’s one-shoulder shrug. “Nothing much to tell. A rattler slithered in from the range and tried to get into the henhouse. I saw him first, so Mr. McKay let me use his six-shooter to finish him off.”
Edmund wouldn’t tell Lula May that he’d had to steady the gun for the trembling boy while he fired it. No sense in discounting the real courage Jacob had shown in overcoming his fears.
“Well!” Lula May shook her head and gave Edmund a grateful smile. “My, my.”
A Family for the Rancher Page 4
