The Rancher's Courtship & Lone Wolf's Lady

by Laurie Kingery

  “And then what?” Prissy asked. “What if nothing happens then?”

  “If nothing happens, we might need to...ah, encourage Jack a little. Fight fire with fire, so to speak.” Milly’s eyes gleamed with purpose.

  “What do you mean?” demanded Sarah warily. She’d become a good deal less distrustful of her sister’s schemes in the past couple of years—after all, Milly’s idea to start the Spinsters’ Club had gained the three of them happy marriages—but she didn’t have any hint what Milly had up her sleeve now.

  “If there’s no change after Christmas,” Milly said, “we ought to speak to Gil and see if he’s willing to make it appear that he is seriously courting Caroline,”

  “And make Jack jealous,” Prissy breathed. “Oh, how delicious!”

  “I don’t know,” Sarah said, twisting the corner of her apron, anxiety clouding her blue eyes. “Couldn’t that...um...have unexpected consequences? What if Gil really began to care for her? He already does, to some extent. Can we really ask that of him?”

  “Hopefully, it won’t be necessary,” Milly said. “And it’ll only work if Gil is willing, of course. But we want Caroline to be happy, don’t we? We’ll only take action if we have to, after Christmas,” she repeated, and the other two ladies nodded their agreement.

  * * *

  Jack studied the flyspecked calendar Cookie had torn out of his almanac and tacked up on the bunkhouse wall. Saturday, December 21 already. The calendar sure seemed to be his enemy these days. He’d wanted to have the house completed, or at least a lot more nearly done than it was, by Christmas. And it just wasn’t going to happen. Especially not after Shep had brought the news this afternoon that the mercantile wasn’t able to get in the window glass he’d ordered until after New Year’s. Apparently there was a lot of snow between here and St. Louis, where he’d ordered it from.

  “Of all the luck,” he muttered.

  He hadn’t been aware that he’d said it out loud till Raleigh looked up from the mirror, where he was shaving, and chuckled. “Christmas is right around the corner, boss. Why don’t you just get Caroline something special from town for her present and save the surprise of the house for later?”

  “Did I ask you?” Jack growled, wondering how his ramrod even knew what he was fretting about. “Why don’t you mind your own business?”

  “You’ve been staring at that calendar for half an hour now, and it’s gettin’ so I can read your mind,” Raleigh said, unperturbed at Jack’s crossness. “I know you’d’ve liked to have the house done by Christmas. We’ve all worked as hard as we could, but we aren’t miracle workers.”

  “I wasn’t blaming any of you,” Jack murmured, slumping onto his bunk. He hadn’t made them feel that way, had he? Maybe he had. “I didn’t mean to sound that way, if I did. It was crazy of me to think we could get it done in that space of time. Sorry if I’ve been hard on you men.”

  “You haven’t been,” Raleigh assured him. “If anything, you’ve mostly been hard on yourself. You’ve been out there morning, noon and night, and when it rains, you’re cranky as a red-eyed cow ’cause you can’t work on it. If you’re buildin’ that place so you can have a life with her, why don’t you just go ahead and buy Miss Caroline a ring?”

  “’Cause I don’t know if she’d accept it,” he mumbled, too low for Raleigh to hear.

  “What’s that?” Raleigh said, shrugging his clean shirt over his head.

  “I said, why don’t you just go on into town like you were intending to and leave me alone?” Jack snapped. “Just—”

  “Don’t get yourself into trouble,” Raleigh finished for him. “I know, I know. Don’t worry, all I’m going to do is go to the saloon. You reckon they got some mistletoe in that place? I reckon there’s a pretty girl or two workin’ there who wouldn’t mind standin’ under it with me. Say, why don’t you come into town with us? I’m sure Wes an’ Cookie an’ Shep can handle things by themselves. There’s been no trouble lately. Come on, come with us. It’ll do you good.”

  “No thanks,” Jack said, pulling off his boots and throwing them into the corner. “Tomorrow’s Sunday, so I’ll be going into town soon enough for church. You oughta try that sometime. It won’t leave you with a sore head.”

  Raleigh grinned. “If I had a pretty lady like Miss Caroline to sit in a pew with, I just might.”

  * * *

  Sunday started out in a promising way—Caroline arrived at church wearing not some version of gray, but a dress of forest green that complemented her dark eyes and hair, and smiled at him in a way that had Jack longing for time alone with her. Amelia and Abby were pretty as a picture in new dresses, too, one in green with a red sash, the other in red with a green sash. They even managed to sit reasonably still, and when the congregation said the Lord’s Prayer in unison at the end of the service, his girls joined right in.

  Staying with the Wallaces had been good for them, he thought. Given them the stability they’d been lacking ever since their mother had died. He silently thanked God they had been led to this family, no matter what happened between himself and Caroline. But having Caroline for their new mother would be even better. If all went well tonight, after the children had gone to bed, he’d start taking steps to make that happen.

  Gil Chadwick, the preacher’s son and a new preacher himself, was giving the sermon today. Caroline had told him how Gil had intervened to prevent Caroline and young Billy Joe from being harmed by the drunken Mr. Henderson.

  Henderson was now sitting in a middle pew with his wife and son as if nothing had happened, Jack noted. He’d like to have been there to give Henderson the drubbing he deserved, but he was glad that in his absence, Reverend Chadwick’s son had stepped in.

  Gil seemed like a good preacher, too—eloquent without resorting to flowery oratory, persuasive without shaming as he spoke about sin. He seemed like a good man, one Jack would like to get to know better someday.

  After the service, while Caroline and the Wallaces were speaking to friends, and his girls chattering to a couple of older girls from their school, Jack caught sight of Sheriff Bishop and ambled over to see if the lawman had anything to report about the drovers-turned-thieves.

  “No one’s reported seeing them, not hide nor hair, but I heard from Sheriff Teague in Lampasas that a couple of fellows have been up to the same kind of mischief there. They spent some time in jail after shooting up the saloon, then folks started reporting chickens missing, then more cattle rustling... I sure wish those ornery polecats would ride outa Texas, or someone’s going to have to put them out of business eventually,” he added with a grim look.

  “I’m hungry, Papa,” Amelia said, coming to grab his hand. Abby seized the other.

  “Me too, Punkins. Why don’t we find Aunt Caroline and walk back to the house?”

  “She’s the one who sent us to find you,” Abby informed him importantly. “She said the preacher and his son were comin’ to dinner with us, and to tell you she’d gone home with Aunt Mary to start cooking. She said to bring the Chadwicks home with us.”

  “Then that’s what we’ll do.” Looked as though he was going to get his chance to get to know Gil Chadwick better sooner than he’d thought. He was pleased with the prospect.

  Pleased, that is, until he was sitting across the table from the younger preacher, and he noticed how Gil Chadwick watched Caroline when he thought no one saw him.

  Gil looked like a man who’d caught sight of a priceless jewel sitting just out of his reach. He was always careful not to gaze at her too long or look too deeply into her eyes when she spoke to him, but Jack could still tell. It was too easy when a man loved the same woman.

  This was the sort of man Caroline would have much in common with, he thought with a sinking feeling in his heart. An educated man, just as Thurgood was, but young and handsome as the superintendent was not and never had been. A genial, kind man, and good w
ith children, judging by the way he joked with Abby and Amelia and got both the girls giggling.

  “More parsnips, Jack?” Mrs. Wallace asked.

  “No, thank you, ma’am.” He found he’d quite lost his appetite in the past few minutes.

  “Miss Caroline tells me you’re spending the winter here in Simpson Creek, Jack,” Gil said, accepting another helping of parsnips himself.

  “That’s right,” Jack said, wondering what else Caroline had told him. “I’ve got a herd bedded down at the old Waters Ranch south of town. We were headed to Montana, but it got to be too late in the year to move on.”

  “Montana, hmm? Beautiful country up there, I’m told. Amazing scenery.”

  Jack nodded. “So my partners say.” If it’s so wonderful why don’t you go there? Preferably this very afternoon.

  He was amazed at the ferocity of the thought. Gil Chadwick had never done anything to him—except want the same lady he did.

  “When will it be time for you to start out? March or so?”

  Why? Are you in a hurry to get me out of the way?

  He shrugged. “Probably March is the soonest to start a trail drive in that direction. Winter holds on longer farther north, of course. Why?”

  There. It was out in the open, at least between himself and Gil Chadwick. Each man understood it was a direct challenge, even if no one else at the table did.

  Gil blinked as if surprised. He shrugged. “Pure curiosity, that’s all. Montana sounds wonderful, but from what I’ve seen of Simpson Creek, a man could do worse than put down roots here.”

  Caroline looked up then and glanced from one man to the other as if aware of the tense atmosphere that had sprung up between them.

  “You’re right about that, Gil,” Jack said quietly. He looked away from the younger Chadwick to find the older one watching him with perceptive eyes.

  * * *

  “Time for bed, girls,” Caroline said. “Don’t you have something to tell your papa about before you say good-night?”

  Both girls grinned. Amelia said, “Papa, we got a...a inva-inva—”

  “A invitation,” Abby said. “We got a invitation for you, Papa.”

  “Oh? What kind of invitation?” he asked, charmed by the sight of his two girls dressed in their nightgowns, their faces scrubbed, eagerness shining in their eyes.

  “To the school Christmas re-reci—” This time Abby looked to Caroline for help with the big word.

  “Recitation,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, recitation!” Abby said. “All us children are gonna recite things we learned, and read things and sing....”

  “Will you come, Papa? We worked very hard to learn our parts, an’ Aunt Caroline helped us,” Amelia told him. “Mr. Raleigh can watch the cows for you, can’t he?”

  Jack put an arm around each girl and gathered them close. “I wouldn’t miss your recitation,” he told them solemnly, “for all the cows in Texas.” It sent them into gales of giggles. “When is it?”

  “Tomorrow, at seven,” Caroline said. “I’m sorry, we should have mentioned it earlier, but with all that’s been happening, it slipped my mind.”

  “It’s at the school,” Amelia added. “And there’ll be punch an’ cookies!”

  “I’ll be there.” He thought quickly. The shops were closed on Sunday, of course, and Wednesday was Christmas, so he could come into town a little early and visit the mercantile to find Caroline’s present. He needed to find gifts for the rest of the Wallaces, too, but he wanted to make Caroline’s gift very special.

  “We’ll have an early supper beforehand, if you want to join us, Jack,” Mrs. Wallace said, as he walked toward the girls’ room.

  “Thank you, ma’am,” Jack said, his throat feeling suddenly tight because of their continuing, generous hospitality. “I hope someday I get a chance to repay y’all for all the kindness you’ve shown us.”

  “It’s our pleasure, Jack,” Amos Wallace said gruffly.

  Jack smiled. “Okay, girls, time to scoot off to bed. Come on, I’ll tuck you in and hear you say your prayers.”

  The Wallaces had probably begun doing their kindnesses for his brother’s sake, he thought as he pulled the quilt over his children, but it had become something they did for him and the girls.

  He hadn’t experienced such care once his mother had died. His father had soon become so busy courting a widow named Elnora who lived in town—and keeping her happy once he’d won her and brought her out to the ranch—that he seemed to forget all about his own children. Pete, the favored son, got a little more of their father’s attention—but not much. When his father died, he’d left the ranch to Jack—but what little money he had left and everything else of tangible value had gone to Elnora. His stepmother had stripped the ranch house of almost all its furniture, leaving Jack and his girls barely more than their beds when she’d moved back to town.

  So when his two friends had moved to Montana and offered to cut him in on their partnership, he’d jumped at the chance to leave his bitterness behind in south Texas.

  He didn’t want Amelia and Abby to grow up with such a love-poor existence, any more than he wanted to continue without the love of a good woman—Caroline. If he could win her, he would never lack for love or have to leave this family who had enveloped him and his daughters with such warmth. If.

  “God bless Papa and Aunt Caroline—”

  “And Aunt Mary and Uncle Amos—”

  “And the kitties...”

  “Amen,” he concluded for them, for he knew from experience that the twins were capable of blessing every one of their fellow students and all his drovers one by one if he let them, just to postpone sleeping.

  “And Jesus, please say hello to our Mama in Heaven,” Abby added in a determined afterthought. Both of them winked at him, knowing he wouldn’t prohibit a prayer postscript like that.

  At that moment, both of them reminded him so much of Lucinda—the sweetness of her expression, the way their mouths curved... Lucinda, they’re going to be as beautiful as you were when they’re grown—I just hope they marry better men than me. Could she see them from Heaven? He hoped so. He’d planned to marry again for the sake of the girls, and hadn’t expected to love anyone again the way he had Lucinda. But now he did—Caroline.

  “Good night, girls,” he said, kissing each of them on the forehead, and left the room.

  When he returned to the parlor, he was pleased to see that the other Wallaces had gone to bed. Only Caroline remained.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Caroline saw Jack smile as he reentered the parlor.

  “Everyone’s gone to bed,” he observed. He seemed pleased about that, pleased they were alone, she thought, and her pulse quickened.

  She was suddenly nervous about being alone with him—nervous, but excited, too. “Yes...and I probably should go, too...it’s been a long day, and tomorrow will be another, what with the recitation and all....” She was babbling, she knew it.

  “But?”

  She shrugged. “I didn’t want you to come back to an empty room, with everyone gone. I... I wanted to say good-night....”

  “I’m glad,” he said and took a step closer. If Jack took another step he would be close enough to put his arms around her.

  All at once he seemed too close. She took a quick breath, struggling not to show her panic. Stop acting like an old-maid schoolteacher. You’ve been courted before. You were ready to marry. And now you love Jack.

  “Caroline, what’s wrong?” he said. “You can talk to me about anything, you know that.”

  She seized upon the first subject her brain thought of. “I was just wondering...why don’t you like Gil Chadwick?”

  He took a step back, paled a little. “What?” His jaw tightened, and his blue eyes bored through her. “Why did you ask that, just now?”

  She
realized immediately that it was the wrong thing to have asked. His reaction told her she’d been right about the way he felt about Gil, but in asking she’d done irreparable harm to the intimate moment between them. Now he was wondering why she’d bring up another man when he was alone with her, and he’d think exactly the wrong thing. But it was too late now to take back the question—now she’d just have to plow her way through it. And maybe, she hoped, she’d learn something about him in the process.

  She shrugged. “I... I just noticed there seemed to be some tension between you, that’s all. I wondered if he’d somehow done something to offend you?”

  He shook his head. “No, of course not. I only met him today. How could he have offended me?” he asked. But there was something about his quick denial that told her he wasn’t being entirely honest.

  “Because you acted like he had,” she insisted. “I’ve never seen you so quarrelsome with anyone, Jack. Please be honest with me. What has he done?”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “This is a mistake,” he muttered. “I—I’m going to bed.” He turned on his heel and headed for the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

  “Jack, please wait. I—”

  But he had already entered the room he shared with Dan and shut the door.

  * * *

  He’d been right about Gil Chadwick being attracted to Caroline, he thought as he lay awake, and he’d been this close to asking her if the feeling was mutual. But some shred of caution, mixed with hurt that she had brought up another man’s name just as he was thinking about how much he wanted to take her into his arms, had shut his mouth before he could say too much. You’ve still got your pride left. If a man had no pride, he had nothing, Pa always said.

  This afternoon, he had spent time with his girls until the Chadwicks had left. He knew Caroline had noticed the tension between him and Gil, but he hadn’t thought she cared for the young preacher the way Gil did for her.

  Until she’d mentioned Gil just as Jack had stepped close to her.