A hum of agreement swept through the room. Even in the dim lamplight of the church tent, Edmund could see a pleased blush fill her smooth, tanned cheeks. Again, pride filled him, this time for her ranching skills. But why? She wasn’t his wife. And never would be, he reminded himself. Speaking of pesky flies, that’s what such bothersome thoughts were!
“Thank you, Zeke.” Lula May straightened a bit taller. So that’s where Jacob learned to do that when he sensed approval. Edmund knew all the men respected Lula May for her horses. That meant a whole heap out here. “And thank you all for listening to me.” She glanced around and gave them a pretty smile. “Well, I suppose I’d best turn this meeting over to your...our chairman.” She arched those fine brown eyebrows. “Who is...?”
The men muttered among themselves.
“We don’t have a chairman, Mrs. Barlow,” Sheriff Fuller said. “But it seems like you’re doing a fine job of corralling these here mustangs.”
“Must be your experience raising those fine cow ponies,” someone else called out.
“Or five chilluns,” someone else chimed in.
The room erupted in laughter. Even Edmund broke out in a laugh he felt clear down to his belly.
“Oh, but—” Her big blue eyes got rounder than usual. “I just—”
“I vote we elect Miz Barlow as our chairman,” Abe Sawyer called out.
“I second that.” Edmund said the words without thinking, and drew a dozen stares of surprise. Not to mention some speculative looks.
The usual grumbling objections filled the room, while others shouted their agreement.
“Wouldn’t that be chairlady?” Sheriff Fuller moved up to stand beside Lula May. Tall and lean, the blond fella lent an air of authority to everything he said and did.
Edmund wasn’t jealous of the newly married younger man, but he did wish he’d been the one to step up beside Lula May.
“I never heard such nonsense.” Magnuson stood up and waved a fist in the air. “What kind of man ties himself to a woman’s apron strings? Is she gonna ride out with us after the rustlers?” He pinned several men with a harsh stare. “Bake ’em cookies to get ’em to stop stealing our livelihoods?”
Lula May stiffened. “I can shoot as well as any man, and I have land and family to protect, just like you do. If need be, I can ride out with you. But it seems what you need more than anything is some organization. Have you all formed groups to keep watch on the herds? Instead of each rancher protecting only his own herd, you could take turns and protect a different herd each night. The rustlers won’t know which herd you’re watching, so they’ll think twice about coming up on the wrong place for fear they’ll get outgunned.”
“Good idea,” several men said.
Edmund could see more men now listening to Lula May’s ideas with obvious respect. Once again, pride filled his chest. Bringing her had been the best idea he’d had in a long time.
“All right, then.” Lula May paced across the front of the room. “Let’s name a captain for each group and then make up a schedule.”
After much debate, Edmund, CJ Thorn and Abe Sawyer were named, and they chose their teams.
“My team will take this first night,” Sawyer said. “Since my place was hit last night, they probably won’t come back, at least for a while. Let’s go out to Smitty’s place.”
A verbal list soon met with everyone’s approval, with the agreement that no one would talk about the schedule to anyone outside of the association.
“Just one more thing.” Lula May raised her voice and rapped her knuckles on the lectern to get their attention. “An organization needs a name, and I want to propose the Lone Star Cowboy League. What do you gentlemen think?”
Once again, her idea met with approval. Seemed to Edmund that everyone was pleased to have someone else take charge, even if that someone was a woman.
Later, as the men filed out of the church tent, Abe Sawyer made his way over to Edmund and patted him on the back. “That’s quite a woman you got there, McKay.”
“Um. Well. No.” Edmund searched desperately for a way to deflect such an idea, which could quickly become a rumor that could hurt them both. “Just wanted to include my rancher neighbor in our association.”
“Oh, sure.” Sawyer’s guffaw trailed him out the door.
* * *
“That went well.” Lula May sat beside Edmund on the wagon bench. She’d never had quite so much fun in her life. Most of those men respected her and had listened to her ideas. So much for needing Edmund to voice them for her. On the way out of the church tent, the two of them had even managed to speak to the appropriate fathers about resuming the Young Ranchers’ Club. Next week, she would come by herself. And she would bring up the church building.
“Yep.” He guided the horses down the darkened main street past the bank and toward Mercy Green’s café.
A thread of doubt wove into her. “Is that all you have to say?” She bit her lip. “Did I overstep any boundaries? Embarrass you? Are you sorry you invited me?”
“Yes, no, no and no.”
Even in the dark, she could see a twinkle in his eyes. She had the urge to smack his shoulder playfully, but managed to keep her hands to herself. Instead, she gazed up at the three-quarter moon and countless stars sprinkled across the inky sky. “We forgot to talk about Thursday’s celebration.”
“I thought the townsfolk were responsible for the Fourth of July events. I’m pretty sure they have everything all planned.”
“Oh, yes. Of course.” She tried to think of another topic to fill the time on the way home. Funny how she could be so talkative in front of the ranchers, and yet now her mind refused to produce a sensible thought.
At the café, they climbed the back steps to Mercy’s living quarters. After many thanks to her friend for keeping the children, Lula May herded them down the steps and into the wagon. Daniel was sleepwalking most of the way, but Pauline and Jacob were full of chatter. Mercy’s son Alec and Jacob had made friends last week during their ranching lessons, so they’d entertained each other while Pauline had helped Mercy make bread for tomorrow’s breakfast customers at the café. But even those two grew sleepy on the ride home and curled up on the blankets Lula May had brought.
For all the success of the evening, the closer they came to her ranch, the more Lula May felt her trepidation grow. What if Uncle told Calvin and Samuel that he planned to take over the ranch and send them packing? What if—
“For a lady who’s had a successful evening, you’re mighty quiet.” Hands firmly holding the reins, Edmund nudged her with his elbow.
Before she could stop herself, instinct had her nudging him back, as she would one of her children. Which sent a wave of heat over and through her that had nothing to do with the warm July evening. How mortifying to be so familiar with this man. She really needed to stop it. If the wrong person saw such behavior, her reputation could be ruined.
While Jacob managed to make it to his room on his own, both of the younger children were fast asleep. Lula May carried Daniel inside, and Edmund carried Pauline, who had grown too heavy for Lula May. There was something inexplicably sweet about this large man’s tenderness toward the children as he helped her put them to bed. Then he seemed to come to himself.
“Well, I’d best get home. Got a full day ahead of me tomorrow.”
“Yes, of course.” Hearing Uncle snoring in her stepsons’ room, she walked Edmund down the hallway toward the parlor, where he paused.
“Say, I’d like to get started on A Tale of Two Cities. You still willing to let me borrow it?”
“Yes, indeed.” She retrieved the book for him, pleased to provide something he would enjoy in addition to her cooking.
They made their way outside in the dim moonlight, where Calvin had already taken care of the horses and wagon. Samuel
brought Edmund’s stallion from the barn to the hitching rail and returned to the barn to help Calvin.
“You haven’t told me about your uncle.” Edmund stuck the book into his saddlebag.
“Nothing much to tell.” Lula May glanced away, afraid of those probing green eyes. If ever there was an honorable man, it was Edmund McKay. The kind regard he’d shown her and the children this evening, the whole past week, would disappear if Uncle found a way to prove she’d stolen the necklace.
“Hmm.” His skeptical look made it clear he didn’t believe her. “You sure everything’s all right?”
“Everything’s fine. Just fine. See you Thursday.” She backed up so he could mount Zephyr. “I’ll be entering the cake-baking contest. Are you doing anything special?”
“I think I’ll try to get on as a judge of the cake-baking contest.” His twinkle had returned.
They shared a laugh that seemed all too companionable. And yet Lula May had to force herself to stop watching him as he rode away into the darkness. She turned toward the house just as Calvin and Samuel joined her.
“Aren’t you boys tired? Don’t you want to turn in?” She nodded toward the barn.
“We’d like a word with you in the parlor, Ma.” For a change, Samuel took the lead in the conversation.
As tired as she was, her pulse began to race. Did something happen with Uncle? “All right.”
With Uncle still sawing logs in the bedroom, he wasn’t likely to hear their conversation.
Calvin brought a kerosene lamp from the kitchen, and both boys stood in the center of the room.
“What’s this all about?” She looked from one to the other.
“Ma, we think it’s time to move that picture.” Samuel pointed to the mahogany-framed wedding portrait of his parents that had hung over the mantelpiece for nearly twenty years.
Lula May’s eyes suddenly burned. “What makes you say that?” She had no doubt Uncle had said something cruel to her stepsons. “Those are your parents. I don’t want you ever to forget them.”
“I’ll never forget Pa.” Samuel gently gripped her shoulders and stared deep into her eyes. “But I can’t forget what I never knew. What I mean is, I don’t remember my ma at all. I’m grateful to her for birthing me, but you’re the only ma I’ve ever known. You nursed me though sickness, taught me to read and ride a horse...everything.”
“But—”
“Mama was a good, sweet lady, and I loved her,” Calvin said. “It would have been nice if she and Pa could have raised us here in this house. But God had a different plan. He meant for you to come out and marry Pa and give us two bothersome little brothers and one perfect little sister.”
The brothers chuckled. Lula May hoped they wouldn’t notice her desperate attempt not to cry.
“Even when Pa was dying,” said Calvin, “he said it was God’s plan, so he didn’t want us to grieve overmuch.”
Samuel reclaimed her gaze. “God also brought you out here to give you a better life than you had in Alabama.”
So they knew about her wretched years with Floyd! But what did they know? Somehow she managed to hold on to a sob, even when Samuel pulled her into a strong embrace.
“What happened while I was gone?” She looked up at him, surprised at how tall he’d grown lately.
They traded a sly look.
After a long pause, Calvin said, “He cheats at checkers.” As if that explained it all. From the way they clammed up, though, it was all she would get out of them.
“What a shame. I’m glad the younger ones didn’t see his bad example.” And look at how these boys...young men had seen the truth about Uncle’s character.
Samuel released her and went to the wall, where he gently lifted down the picture frame. “We’ll wrap this up real good and put it in storage. Maybe later when the folks of Little Horn build a town hall, we can hang it there to remind everyone of one of the founding pioneer couples of the county, two people we’re proud to be descended from.” He glanced at Lula May. “That is, if it’s all right with you, Ma.”
The gentleness in his voice almost broke her hold on her tears. “That would be fine.”
A sudden realization swept over her and sent a chill down her spine. How wrong she’d been all these years to call Calvin and Samuel her stepsons. All that time, in the back of her mind...and her heart...she’d thought of them as different from the children she’d given birth to, somehow not as good, somehow not as dear. But that wasn’t true. They might not have come from her body, but in every way that mattered, they were her sons, her children just as Pauline, Jacob and Daniel were. And she loved them more dearly now than she ever had. Not only that, but these two had just shown her much more spiritual and emotional maturity than their years warranted. They never ceased to surprise her.
“That’s a fine idea, Sammy.” She drew in a deep, shuddering breath. “Now you boys get to bed. It’ll be a short night for you as it is.”
“Of course you realize we’ll have to put another picture in that spot.” Calvin tilted his head toward the pale oval spot on the floral wallpaper revealing where the picture had been. “Maybe another wedding picture.” He sent her an innocent look.
“Are you referring to you and Daisy Carson? Because that’s not going to happen anytime soon.”
Calvin gave her a rueful shrug. “No, ma’am. I know that.” A smile brightened his face. “I was thinking of you and...”
“Shh!” She waved him toward the door. “Get out of here. You’re not too big for me to whip.”
The boys ducked out, laughing softly as they carried away the reminder of their parents...and leaving behind a stepmother, no, a much-blessed mother who had to protect them and their inheritance, no matter what it cost her.
Chapter Nine
Edmund took his time returning home. Since buying his ranch, he hadn’t spent much time out on the road by himself, so this was his chance to do some thinking without having to be busy with some chore, like cleaning his guns or oiling harnesses. Besides, he liked to linger beneath the stars and enjoy the moonlight over the Texas prairie. It reminded him of his days alone after he’d left his cousin’s home when he spent many a night sleeping outside, those stars his only companions.
Because “home” had never been a happy or even a safe place for him, he’d learned long ago to treasure his solitary life. Not only was it all he’d ever known, but it was pointless for a man to grieve for what he never could have. Even during his years with Old Gad, they’d respected each other’s times of solitude. Trouble was, after hanging around Lula May and her children, Edmund felt an odd hankering for a loving family of his own. Putting those sleepy young’uns to bed, seeing their absolute trust in their ma...in him...had melted some of the self-protective shell he’d built around his heart since before he could remember. They made him want to be a better man. A family man. It was getting harder to shove away those feelings.
Speaking of protection, after today, he was even more certain the Lord wanted him to keep watch over the Barlows. Something wasn’t quite right about Floyd Jones. Something peculiar was going on at the horse ranch. Edmund just wasn’t sure how he could dig out the truth, especially since Lula May insisted that everything was “just fine.” Stubborn woman. No matter. She could reject his attempts to help her all she wanted to. He would keep checking up on her for her own good. A man had to obey the Lord, not some bossy female.
Good thing Jacob had the idea to continue the Young Ranchers’ Club. That would make it easy to visit Lula May every day, assuming she’d want to continue feeding him in gratitude for his spending time with her son. While none of the other parents felt the same obligation, nor did they need to, her insistence on repaying him would make it easier for him to obey the Lord.
Edmund chuckled, and Zephyr perked up his ears. Edmund leaned down and patted his ne
ck. “Yep, old boy. I’m going to enjoy some of that nice cooking again. Don’t worry. I’ll try not to eat too much. Wouldn’t want to get too heavy for you.”
Zephyr snorted and pranced along the dusty roadway, probably trying to prove himself stronger than Edmund gave him credit for.
But just how strong was Edmund? Would he be able to protect Lula May and her young’uns without letting go of his solitude? His privacy? And most of all, his heart?
* * *
In spite of her older sons’ grand, heart-melting gesture, in spite of being bone weary, Lula May lay awake for some time pondering her long day and trying to sort things out.
What on earth had prompted her to behave as she had at the ranchers’ meeting? What did those men really think of her? More important, what would their wives, her friends in the quilting bee, think when they learned about her brazen ways. It was one thing to take over her own ranch when Frank became sick, another entirely to take over the ranchers’ meeting. Maybe in the back of her mind, she’d just been trying to compensate for her helplessness in the face of Uncle’s threats. To prove to herself that she might not be able to control Uncle, but she could control the other important parts of her life. She’d always been so careful to do what was right. Didn’t seem like it had done her any good at all.
There was one thing she could set straight. Her children and their shenanigans about that book Edmund brought back. First thing in the morning over breakfast, she took them to task.
“Why on earth did you take a book over to Mr. McKay yesterday and say I sent it?” As she and the three younger children sat around the kitchen table, she kept her voice soft so as not to wake up Uncle. Calvin and Samuel had eaten early and were out in the pasture working the horses.
The children got busy with their bacon and eggs as though she hadn’t said a word. Time to go for the weakest link in their chain of silence. “Daniel?” She gave him a warm smile so he wouldn’t think he was in trouble. Not that being in trouble ever really bothered him, the little rascal.
He blinked his big blue eyes at her. “Ma’am?” Oh, my. He could become a real lady’s man one day.
A Family for the Rancher Page 13
