“Yes, Daddy.” Harmony turned toward the kitchen where her mother worked on dinner. So, Ben MacAllister planned on never getting married, huh? She would change his mind about that. Starting tonight.
* * *
Ben reined his horse in on the hill that overlooked the Watkins’ farm. Martin had him a nice little place, that was for sure. He grew just enough wheat to keep the farm afloat, and to keep his family fed and housed. He was a good man, Ben knew that.
And Harmony was a good woman, too. She was about seven years younger than he was, with pretty brown hair, and beautiful green eyes. A little on the plump side, but Ben had always liked his women that way. He thought again about the hopeful look on Martin’s face when he mentioned that Ben was the last single man in Mac’s Crossing, except the hands that traveled in and out of the area.
Ben knew he should probably settle down. He couldn’t keep sponging home cooked meals off his brothers and their wives. And now that they were all adding children to the bunch, it really wasn’t right.
He could continue to eat at the boarding house, he knew that, but having his own home to go to, and his own wife to cook for him, and keep him company at night, might not be a bad idea. And the idea of Harmony Watkins being that wife wasn’t so bad, either. He’d thought about it quite a bit over the past few days, ever since her father had come to see him at the jail. Part of him wondered if that was what Martin wanted, for Ben to think about marrying his daughter. He’d lifted his eyebrows in a hopeful gaze when the subject had come up. And he’d planted a seed that Ben hadn’t been able to shake.
At one point, he’d almost rode out to speak to Martin, to tell him he was interested in courting his daughter. Watching his brothers with their wives had given Ben more than a tinge of jealously this week. Still, even though he knew he should marry, something held him back. He wasn’t sure what, just some little devil inside him that said he’d lose his last bit of freedom.
A lot would be gained by marriage, true, but the ability to come and go as he pleased was something Ben loved. His job sometimes called for him to have to go out at all times of the night, to help someone who was in trouble. He didn’t want to know he had a wife at home, worrying about what was happening. There was hardly ever crime in Mac’s Crossing, so that was a good point, but still, she would worry, and that wasn’t a good thing.
But if he had to marry, Harmony would not be a bad choice. She was easy on the eyes, and she was feisty, something he enjoyed. He didn’t want a wife who would just nod her head and do anything he wanted. He wanted a wife who would talk to him, and be a partner in life, not a doormat.
From what he knew about her, Harmony was that kind of woman. Her three runs from the altar had shown that. It did make him wonder, though, if she would run from him. He sure didn’t want to ask her to marry him, and then have her run for the hills when the wedding day came. That would be more than a little embarrassing.
“Come on, Blue, let’s go.” He nudged his horse forward, heading down the hill toward the house, wondering what the night would bring.
* * *
“That was delicious, Katherine.” Ben wiped his mouth and sat the napkin on the table. “I haven’t had fried chicken in a long time.”
“Thank you, Sheriff,” Katherine said, standing. “But I had help. Harmony knows her way around a kitchen.”
One more marker in her corner, Ben thought, looking at the young woman who returned his smile with one of her own. She was prettier than he remembered. That had been his first thought when he saw her. The second was that waking up next to her every morning wouldn’t be a hardship at all. In fact, it might be rather pleasant.
She’d been sweet at dinner, not trying to overtake the conversation, but joining in when she had an opinion. And she had quite a few of them. She wasn’t hesitant to stand up to her father when he voiced his thoughts on President Cleveland’s fight with the railroads, saying she thought the President had done the right thing by starting the investigation into the ownership of railroad lands.
“They need to regulated,” she’d said. “People can’t just do what they want with no consequences.”
“Nonsense,” her father had replied. “Government’s got no business butting into the railroad’s business.”
They’d gone on arguing for a few minutes before Ben had cleared his throat. “Well, I’m going to vote for the man again. I think he did a fine job.”
Harmony had beamed at him, but Martin had shaken his head in disgust. “Damn fool, running again. What an idiot.”
Katherine had quickly changed the subject, saying that politics wasn’t proper dinner conversation. She’d then asked Ben about Corbin and Ruby’s baby, and how Sarah, Josh’s new wife, was settling into her own pregnancy
They’d talked for a while about family, and then Harmony said, “My horse had a new foal. Would you like to see him?”
“Yes, I would.” He stood and pulled back her chair for her to stand. “Martin, are you coming with us?”
“No, y’all go right ahead. I’ll stay inside with Katherine.” Ben didn’t miss the hopeful look her parents gave the two of them before they left the house. He was sure they were pressed against the open window, to see if they could hear the conversation.
At the barn, Harmony led him to a back stall where they found a beautiful paint horse nursing a foal that looked to be about a week old.
“He’s very sturdy,” Ben said. “You keeping him?”
“Yes. Daddy doesn’t want me to, says I have no need for more than one horse. He wants to wait until he’s old enough, then find a rancher somewhere down south to sell him to. But I love him. I’ve named him Peter.”
“Peter?”
“Yes, like Peter Pan. I want him to stay forever young.”
“Kinda like you’re trying to do?” He leaned against the railing and then turned a gaze on her.
“What do you mean?”
“Your father thinks it’s time for you to get married.”
She shook her head, a blush creeping up her face. “Did he come to town and tell you that? Is that why you’re here?”
“Well, he wanted me to put you in jail until you listened to him.”
Her laughter was genuine. “That sounds like something he’d do. If he’d let me pick my own husband, things would be fine. Instead, he finds these horrible men that he thinks I should marry.”
“He’s just concerned about you.”
Harmony shook her head. “If he was concerned, he’d let me pick my own husband.”
“Really? And who would you pick?”
“You.” She turned to him, cocking her head provocatively.
Ben looked into her green eyes, which sparkled in amusement. “You trying to run me off, or are you telling me the truth?”
“The truth. I don’t think you’d force me to be a boring wife.”
Ben lifted his brows in question. “A boring wife?”
“Yes, someone who does nothing but say yes to her husband and doesn’t have a life of her own.”
Her words caught him by surprise. A wife was expected to follow her husband’s directions. Not that any of his brothers forced their wives to follow them namby-pamby. Two of them worked, Ruby at the newspaper office, and Sarah at the store. Vanessa worked at home, as did Dawn, both of them taking care of the house and their children. The only difference between the two of them was that Vanessa had a houseful of servants, and Dawn did all the work herself, including caring for her and Rob’s children.
“Are you talking about being employed somewhere?”
She swallowed hard, and he knew she had a secret, something she wasn’t sure she should tell him. He was good at reading people.
“Well, not exactly.”
“Now I’m intrigued. Exactly what are you talking about?”
“Dime novels.” She bit her lower lip, then looked back toward the doorway of the barn to see if anyone was there.
“Dime novels? You wanna sit around all day and
read dime novels?”
“No, I want to write them. I, um, I do write them.” The words came out fast, as if she were afraid that if she didn’t say them now, she never would.
Ben looked down at her, a smile spreading across his face. “Excuse me?”
“I write dime novels. Ruby knows, and now, so does Josh. I send them to a publisher in New York, and they publish them. I make good money.”
“I see. And you haven’t told your parents?”
“Heck no. My pa would kill me. He thought it was foolish for me to learn to read and write, but mother insisted. And I’m so happy she did.” She studied him. “You’re not gonna tell him, are you?”
“Well, what do you write about?”
“Mine are detective stories. Somebody steals something, and then my heroine, Virginia, helps her husband, Seth, to solve the crime. They go from city to city, helping people.”
“Well, Harmony, that’s just fascinating. How come I’ve never seen one in the store with your name on it?”
He looked back at the foal, who had disengaged from his mother and was wobbling around the stall.
“I don’t write under my own name,” she said. “And I’m not going to tell you what name I write under, until you promise not to tell father.”
Ben considered what she’d said. For a woman to be a writer wasn’t totally unheard of. And for her stories to be published was proof that she could get it done, and enjoyed doing it. Still, he had to wonder exactly why she’d told him. He posed the question to her, watching her carefully when she answered.
“Because I know Pa’s getting antsy again. He’s going to insist that I get married, and I was hoping, well, you know, that it might be you.” She gave him an eager gaze. “I don’t wanna seem too forward, but I like you.”
Warmth spread through Ben’s belly. “I like you, too, Harmony. But it’s a little early in the game to be talking about things like this. I am intrigued, however, about your dime novels. I’d like to read one or two, if you have them handy.”
Indecision spread across her face. He could tell she wanted to, but she was nervous about opening herself up to him more. She’d already told him something that few people knew, and that alone had made her nervous. The way she wrung her hands together told him that.
“I’m not going to show your father. I promise.”
She let out a sigh of relief, and then opened the stall gate. The paint horse ambled toward her, and she rubbed the horse’s nose, gently nuzzling her before walking to a shelf in the corner. She took down a box and opened it, pulling out lengths of rope before reaching in again and taking out a few bound books.
Once the box was repacked, she came back and handed them to Ben, who put them safely into the pocket inside his vest.
“It’s our secret,” he said. “I promise I won’t tell, just like Josh and Ruby haven’t told.”
“Thank you, Sheriff.”
“Call me Ben. And I’ll get back to you in a few days, after I’ve read them.”
She looked a little uncertain about her decision, and then, as if realizing there was nothing she could do about it, she walked back to the gate.
“We made apple pie for dessert. Let’s go have a slice.”
“Let’s have two,” Ben said. “I love apple pie.”
* * *
Six days later, Ben finally sat down in his office and took Virginia’s Torment, by H. Rucker, from out of his desk drawer. He felt bad that it had taken him so long to read the book, since he’d told Harmony he’d get to it quicker.
It had been a busy week, though, and he’d had to travel twice to the Simpson farm when a land dispute between two neighbors, Jeff Simpson and Will Chambers, turned ugly. He’d finally convinced them to try and settle their differences before the judge.
Two days later the judge had been in to see him, none too happy that Ben had handed the problem off to him, saying there was no way to get the two of them to agree on anything. They’d discussed plans, then finally decided to sit them down one more time the next day.
It had taken all of that day to get them to agree to split the small parcel they were fighting over, since it wasn’t included in either of their deeds.
Then, he’d spent the next day with Margaret Thompson’s boys, who were sneaking into Josh’s store and stealing hard candy by the handfuls. To pay for their deeds, they were sweeping the store’s outside porch every morning at opening, and the indoor floors every night at closing.
Now, he stared at the cover of the dime novel, which showed a husband and wife on a train. Behind them a man stood, a knife poised at the woman’s back. Ben figured that Virginia’s torment was about to get worse.
He read through the first few pages, surprised that he enjoyed it so much. The writing was crisp, and Harmony’s descriptions were beautifully written. She really had a way with words.
He was partway through the second chapter when the door to the Sheriff’s Office opened and his brother Win came inside.
“Please don’t tell me you have somebody stealing from you at the bank.” He slid the novel back into the lower drawer of his desk.
“Nope, not today. Although, it looks like you need something to do, sitting around reading books.”
“I’m allowed. It’s been a busy week.”
“So I’ve heard.” Win sat down opposite his younger brother. “Rumor has it you went out to eat at the Watkins’s farm the other day. You going to attempt to be number four?”
“Maybe.” Ben laughed at Win’s reaction. “Don’t let your eyes pop out anymore. They might roll around on the floor.”
“Are you serious? You’re going to marry her?”
“I said maybe. She’s a nice woman, and she’s easy on the eyes.”
Win’s laughter filled the room. “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle. Do it soon so I can win the bet. I have until the first of the year.”
“Excuse me?”
“Yeah, the four of us have been placing bets on when we think you’ll get married. I have from July to January of this year. Do it then, and I win some money. I might even share with you.”
“You sons of – thanks a lot!” Ben stood quickly and walked to the jail cell, grabbing the bars and turning his back on his brother.
“Now, don’t get all bent outta shape. We’re just doing things that brothers do.”
“Pretty crappy, if you ask me.”
“Oh hell, Ben. You need a wife and you know it. You just might want to hold the ceremony in the jail cell, with the door locked. That way if she runs, she doesn’t have anywhere to go.”
“Go back to your bank.” Ben wheeled on Win. “Now.”
“Does this mean I won’t get an invitation to the wedding?”
“Out!” Ben pointed toward the door, then considered picking something up off the desk and throwing it at Win’s back as he left. His brother’s shoulders shook with laughter and Ben shook his head.
He sat back down at his desk and took out his book, determined to get at least half of it done without further interruption. Still, Win’s words flashed through his mind. You need a wife. He was right, of course, it was well past time, and Harmony had let him know that she would marry him.
Maybe he should stop reading right now and go out to the Watkins’s farm and tell Martin that he wanted to marry his daughter. He slapped the book shut when he realized he was just holding it, and not reading at all.
When all he could do was wonder what it would be like to come home to a wife every night, he stood and gathered his hat, locking the office behind him. He went to the stables and retrieved Blue, saddling him up quickly and heading out toward the Watkins’s farm.
He could hear a woman crying as he neared the house. He dismounted and knocked on the door. It took a few minutes for Martin to answer. When he was inside, he noticed the living area was empty.
“What’s wrong?” Ben took off his hat and looked questioningly at Martin. “I heard someone crying when I came up.”
“She
’s gone.”
“Harmony?”
“Yup. Had those new hands over to dinner last night. When it was over, I told her she had to pick one of the three as a husband. This morning, I woke up to find her gone. All her clothes are gone, as is her horse. Her ma’s done nothing but cry all dang morning. Said I ran her baby off.”
“Well, hell, Martin. I was just about to come and tell you I wanted to marry her.”
The look on Martin’s face turned from anger to supreme happiness.
“Really? You’re not just joshing me?”
“Nope. Which way do you think she went?”
“I have no idea, Sheriff. But I tell you what, if you can catch her, you can marry her. But first I want you to spank her, for me. And spank her hard for the pain she’s put her ma through today.”
Chapter 2
Ben felt as if the world had been pulled out from under him. Once he’d made his decision, he’d been looking forward to the idea of asking Harmony to marry him; excited about seeing the look on her face. Her comments in the barn let him know that she’d say yes; she wouldn’t run from him like she had the others. And now, she was gone.
Part of the blame, he thought, could be placed on his shoulders. Her father was anxious to see her wed, Ben knew that. He should have said something to him while he was at their house for dinner the other evening. It would have been easy to let him know that he was thinking about it, even if he hadn’t come to a definite conclusion yet. Instead, Ben had over-thought the situation, as he was wont to do, and now he was left in the lurch.
Well, not totally in the lurch. All he had to do was find her. Then he could marry her. The problem, of course, was finding her. She’d taken her horse, which meant she could be anywhere by now. Going north to Denver made sense, but then again, heading south toward Texas also made sense.
And, if she really wanted to spread her wings she would go to Denver, sell her horse and take the next train to San Francisco. That idea had merit.
Heart and Home: The MacAllister Brothers Page 30
