What a strange thing to say. After Chance’s reaction to him the day she arrived, she’d bet there was no love lost between them.
“Hayden,” Mrs. Klinkner said. “How many times have I asked you to dust off before coming in?” She clucked her tongue. “Sit down gently so as not to set it flying.” She pulled out his chair and he took his place at the table without taking his eyes off Evie. Mrs. Klinkner served each man a generous serving of each dish, after which Mr. Klinkner offered a short blessing.
“Evie and I are going to take our tea into the parlor. Just call if there’s anything else you need.” The woman picked up the tray she’d prepared while waiting for the men, then disappeared through the doorway. Evie quickly followed.
Chapter Fourteen
CHANCE MUSCLED open the tall barn doors and went inside, Dexter trotting at his heels. The tangy stench of skunk had weakened considerably, but the dog still acted shamefaced every time Chance looked at him. One by one, he pulled tarps off the few large pieces of furniture he owned, mostly handmade by himself, for inspection. There wasn’t much. A table and four chairs he’d made last year. A desk, two stools. A used stove he’d purchased three months ago.
The bed, too cumbersome to go through any doorway, had been built inside the large bedroom, facing a window that looked out on the front pasture. It, too, was covered in oilcloth since the gray-blue sky clouded up yesterday with the promise of rain. Satisfied with the way things looked, he ambled outside, oblivious to the pitter-patter on his felt Stetson or the light drops wetting his clothes. From the paddock, his saddle horse looked his way briefly, then lowered his head back to the grass.
Another calf had arrived last night, born in the wee hours without incident. The Charolais were proving to be exactly what they were known for, and he was thankful. He’d hate to lose a single one. Dexter had alerted him, already asleep in a bedroll on the floor of the house. The dog had nudged his master with his cold, wet nose, then whined unceasingly until he’d taken notice. He hadn’t had far to go to find the heifer and new baby. He felt like a proud papa.
Perhaps it was time to come clean with Evie. Just tell her straight out what had happened with the nails. In his excitement, he had gotten ahead of himself telling her the house was done. He’d wholeheartedly expected it to be. Wanted it to be. So it wasn’t really a lie. If there was anything he could do to get it finished now, he’d do it. Yesterday Lichtenstein had no new news for him.
He missed her. A day without his wife seemed like a week. Her face had colored pink, prettier than snow flowers poking out of the ground in November, when she’d told him she wanted to be alone with him. Imagine that. He took a deep breath, then lifted his face to the sky to have it kissed by the light rain.
It might not be all that bad if she came out, camped, helped work on getting the house finished. She may even like it out here.
Don’t kid yourself, Holcomb, an annoying voice taunted. A city girl afraid of spiders ain’t going to want to camp. She’s used to that two-story mansion in St. Louis.
Still, just her being around would make him happier, and he’d want to work that much faster. Hell, truth be known, he didn’t know when Lichtenstein would get any nails in. It could be months! Keeping her in town that long would bleed his bank account dry.
***
Back in town, and feeling much happier after her visit with Ina, Evie headed toward the hotel. If she couldn’t be with Chance, she’d be sure to be ready when he did come calling. It was only a little past noon. Maybe he would miss her. Come into town for dinner at the restaurant. A girl could dream.
About to enter the hotel, she stopped when a man appeared out of Lichtenstein’s Provisions and hurried her way. “Mrs. Holcomb?”
“Yes, that’s me.” Living in a small town did have some advantages. Seemed many people knew who she was without even being introduced.
He smiled and nodded, then pushed his spectacles up the bridge of his short nose. “I am Herr Lichtenstein. Proprietor of the mercantile next door. It’s my pleasure to meet you. I’ve been waiting for your return.”
“Thank you.” He must have asked for her in the hotel where she’d let the clerk know she was going to Mrs. Klinkner’s, just in case Chance came looking for her. “I’m pleased to meet you, too.”
His face beamed. It was as if he couldn’t get the words out fast enough. “Please tell Chance that the nails he’s been waiting on arrived today by freight wagon.” His wrinkled hands fairly shook with eagerness, and he clamped them together, weaving his fingers. “Fifty pounds. Plenty to complete the whole house. I’m sure you are as anxious as he is to get it finished so you can move in. I apologize that it has taken this long. He’s been checking with me daily, as well as riding all over the countryside trying to find some.”
Nails?
Finish the house?
Poor Chance! He hadn’t wanted to tell her after she’d gushed so much about having a new home to move in to, that the house wasn’t finished. “Yes, I’ll tell him,” she answered as soon as she found her voice.
Beyond his shoulder, she saw Francis coming down the street in a wagon and another cowboy riding alongside. They reined up, and the cowboy dismounted and left in the opposite direction. Did she dare do what was whispering in her heart?
“Thank you so much for letting me know, Mr. Lichtenstein. I’ll tell Chance the moment I see him,” she said quickly. “I’m very sorry to rush off, but I must speak with Mr., er, Francis, before he slips away. I see him down the street.” The shopkeeper smiled happily, nodding his agreement as she breezed past.
The moment the boy saw her coming, he turned and started across the street toward the leather smith’s. If she didn’t hurry, she might miss her only opportunity to help Chance. “Francis,” she called. When he didn’t respond, she tried a bit louder and crossed the street after him.
When she called a third time, garnering several townspeople’s attention, propriety insisted he stop and turn around. “Ma’am?”
She stopped by his side and lowered her skirt. This town was dustier than St. Louis. His scared, ready-to-bolt expression almost made her laugh. “I never got a chance to thank you properly for standing up for Chance and me at the wedding yesterday. You were very good natured about the whole affair, holding my flowers and all.”
He scuffed his boot on the boardwalk and a line of red slowly started up his neck.
“Especially when I saw the spider.” Just saying the creepy word sent a shiver up the back of her legs. “I’m sorry if I frightened you with all my screaming.”
“No, you didn’t scare me, ma’am. It was my pleasure to help.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
She felt a bit guilty about having ulterior motives when he was so shy and charming.
“Lucky and me like Chance a lot. He’s family.”
She nodded encouragingly when he relaxed and uncrossed his arms. She even thought one corner of his lips lifted up in a smile.
“Family?”
Francis pushed his hat up and gave her his first real smile, one that went all the way to his eyes. “Sure, he lived with us for years in the McCutcheon bunkhouse. It don’t feel quite the same since he left. Why, he still signs on and helps with the big fall drive once a year.”
“I didn’t know all that. Thank you. I have so much to learn.”
“My pleasure. If you need anything else, just let me know…”
He must have read something in her face. His head tipped away and a wary expression crossed his eyes.
It’s now or never. “Actually there is something, Francis. I would like to ask for one more helping hand, if that’s all right with you. I don’t know who else to turn to.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed. “What is it?”
“Chance is out at the ranch checking on the cattle since they are having babies.”
“Calving.”
“Yes, that’s right. Well, Mr. Lichtenstein just told me the nails Chance is waiting
for just came in. Do you think you might give me a ride out there, so we can deliver them? I’d like to surprise him. It would mean so much.”
Francis glanced over at his wagon, and the horse tied at the hitching rail beside it. “Don’t know. Roady and me came into town to pick up a couple of saddles getting repaired and need to get back to the ranch.”
She nibbled her bottom lip. “I see.” She glanced around. “Well, thank you all the same. I’m sure it’s a long way out of your way. I know you would if you could.”
When she turned to leave, he stopped her. “Mrs. Holcomb?”
“Evie.”
His face flamed. “Where’re the nails?”
She couldn’t stop a smile from bursting onto her face. “At the mercantile.”
“I’ll pick ’em up right as soon as I get the saddles and then let Roady know where I’m going.”
“Thank you! I’ll just run over to the hotel and get my few things and be ready to go in five minutes. I’ll wait for you at your wagon. Thank you so much, Francis. I can’t tell you how much this means to me. Chance is going to be so surprised to see us both.”
Chapter Fifteen
FINISHED WITH all he could do for now, Chance saddled his horse and mounted up, ignoring the dark clouds threatening above. The spattering rain had stopped yesterday, but a cool wind pushed at his clothes and chilled his skin.
Dexter barked with excitement.
“Nope, you’re not going,” he said, anxious to get back to town and Evie. The dog trotted back and forth excitedly, ready to go out to check the cattle. He wasn’t going to like it one bit being left alone again. Dexter wiggled and whined, then darted underneath his gelding, making Boston pin his ears.
“I’ll be back out tomorrow.” He pointed to the house. “Stay.”
Dexter’s head dropped and his ears flattened against his fur when he realized he wasn’t going anywhere. Chance almost smiled.
He was sore. Residual aches and pains from sleeping on the floor nagged him. On top of that, thoughts of Evie had kept him awake most of the night, so he was tired and grumpy. He needed to get back to her. Talk with her. Hold her hand in his.
With a soft cluck, and pressure from his leg, he maneuvered his horse in a half circle and eased him into a lope down the winding wagon track toward Y Knot. Wide rolling hills dotted with oak and pine, plus iron-tough chaparral, so worrisome to a newborn calf’s tender hide, stretched out as far as the eye could see. The view never grew old. It was good land. Their land. Every time he traveled it, pride of ownership warmed his soul. Maybe today would be the day the nails arrived. If it happened, he’d hire all the extra hands he could find, regardless of the cost, and get the house completed. Evie was being darn agreeable. How many other newly wedded women would stay alone in an unfamiliar town?
Rounding the bend, he sat back in his saddle, his mount sliding to a halt. Surprise made him blink several times, grit from no sleep making him wince. He didn’t know if he was seeing things, or his deep desire to see Evie had conjured her up out of thin air.
A wagon approached. It rocked back and forth with the gentle hills and dips of the terrain. Francis drove with Evie next to him, and Roady Guthrie, the McCutcheon’s silver-tongued foreman, rode his horse alongside. Chance’s first delight at seeing his wife dissipated with a snap of anger. He told himself to rein in his temper. Just because he asked her to wait for him in town and said no to her many eye-batting, soft-voiced requests to come, didn’t mean she had to mind him. But it did mean he wanted her to, that she should. Couldn’t she take no for an answer?
She’s not a slave, Holcomb, he reminded himself. Still. Here she was now, right before his eyes, as if she didn’t have a care in the world. In a few minutes, she’d see the unfinished state of affairs she believed was her new home, and there was nothing he could do to stop her.
When they were within hearing distance, he called out. “Francis, Roady. You’re a far cry from the Heart of the Mountains. What brings you out this way, boys?” He gestured to the stormy sky, and the broiling black clouds above.
Evie’s keen gaze studied him. The finely shaped lips he’d been dreaming about all night long, the ones he longed to kiss right now, pulled down at the corners. Perhaps she could feel his anger all the way over to the wagon seat.
“Found ourselves a traveler,” Roady said with a laugh. “She asked for a ride out to the ranch. We were only too happy to oblige.”
“I can see.” He couldn’t stop the way her gaze drew him like a magnet, the way a handful of oats drew his horse. Was he a sap, to be pulled this way and that?
Francis brought the team to a halt when the wagon reached where he sat in the road. A light wrap was all Evie had to keep off the cold bite of the wind. Her apple-red nose looked painful. Anger zipped through his insides again, making him clamp his teeth together and look away.
“Chance?” Evie said.
Several seconds passed, the wind nipping the top of his ears. Was she tongue-tied? Well, good. She should be. He was the man of the house. She needed to listen to what he said. Respect his wishes. No mistaking, Roady and Francis thought the turn of events quite amusing.
“Trouble in paradise?” It was Roady. His all-knowing smile stretched Chance’s already taut nerves to a breaking point.
Francis closed his mouth.
“I—” She hesitated. “I have a message from Mr. Lichtenstein at the store.”
He shifted in the saddle. He’d checked with the shop owner yesterday. “Go on.”
“The nails you ordered came in. He was very pleased because he knows how important they are to you and how you’ve been trying to get the house done before I arrived.” She stopped and took a long breath. “Anyway, they’re here. In the back.”
The nails had finally arrived?
Chance shot a look into the wagon bed. It hadn’t even crossed his mind that there might be another reason for her appearance. Shock registered when he recognized her carpetbag next to a large wooden crate. She’s planning to stay? Now? To camp outside? With me? An uncomfortable warmth moved through his chest, then up into his face. “Fifty pounds?” he asked. Meanwhile, his mind was racing.
“You bet,” Roady answered. “Fifty pounds down to the last nail. Along with some hardware you’ve been waiting on. Now, get out of the way so we can get this unloaded.”
Before moving his horse, he slipped off his jacket and handed it to Evie. “Put this on before you freeze,” he said. She took it without complaint and slipped it on, the coat engulfing her in heavy leather. He turned his horse around. She’d come with the nails. Still, he could have picked them up himself and gotten the house finished this week, as he’d planned. Darn, if he didn’t hate to have her see it now. Dexter raced out to meet them.
“There it is, Mrs. Holcomb,” Roady said, pointing. He had her complete attention. “That’s the house. The smokehouse and well. Over there’s the barn, windmill, and some livestock paddocks.” He looked over to Chance. “You’ve done a fine job, Holcomb. Looks well-thought-out. I like it.”
Chance stepped his horse forward. “I’m glad you like it, Roady.”
Francis shot Roady a look.
Chance had wanted to be the one to show her the house; now it was Roady who was doing the showing, pointing things out.
“As a matter of fact,” Chance added a bit sardonically. “I did want to get your opinion on the house placement, and the size of the barn.”
Grasping his meaning instantly, Roady scowled. “You hold on a minute,” he barked. “We didn’t come out here to start any trouble. We were just being neighborly when your wife asked for a ride. Hell, I can take her back if you want.”
Chapter Sixteen
EVIE’S HEART lurched with regret as she took in Chance’s dark, angry eyes and slate-hard expression. He wore a gun strapped to his thigh, and a rifle, encased in leather, hung from his saddle. She stilled the urge to scamper for cover. Sorrow over killing the sweet feelings building between them bruised her he
art. Still, her delight over her first glimpse of the ranch made her clamp her hand over her mouth and her eyes go wide. Her wildest dreams couldn’t touch the beauty of the house—even unfinished. And the setting stole her breath. The sky stretched so far and looked so mystical. Oh, how she’d been blessed! Such a man, a home, a life. Had she ruined everything by disobeying him? Maybe he’d send her packing even without finding out about her past. Her stomach churned, threatening to spill out Ina’s delicious cookies.
“Don’t get mouthy with me,” Chance shot back at Roady.
She should have listened to him. Stayed put until he was ready for her. “I was only trying to help.” Her comment, offered softly from the wagon seat, fell on deaf ears. She’d thought that after his surprise at seeing her, he’d be pleased she was trying to be useful. Delivering the nails had saved him hours, maybe even half a day. Instead, he looked cross.
Roady stiffened. “You’re a stubborn fool. If your wife weren’t here, Holcomb, I’d teach you a lesson in manners.”
“I didn’t mean to cause an argument,” Evie added, hoping for forgiveness. She’d learned on the ride out from Y Knot that Roady also worked for the McCutcheon ranch and lived in the bunkhouse too. They all were close friends—or used to be.
“Here, Mrs. Holcomb, let me help you down. Your husband can’t seem to remember his manners.” Roady held out his hand and waited for her to take it. She didn’t want to. Didn’t want to add fuel to the fire, so to speak.
“Go on, Dexter, get back,” Roady said to the dog whose shrill barks and yips filled the air.
Having no other choice, she took the proffered help and climbed out of the wagon, feeling awkward and conspicuous. With her dress and Chance’s heavy coat, the task proved more difficult than it should be. When her feet were safely on the ground, she sent up a silent prayer of thanks that she hadn’t made a complete fool of herself by falling on her head. She hefted Chance’s large coat up around her shoulders, his musky scent and the blessed warmth the only good things, besides her lovely visit with Ina, about this day so far.
Mail-Order Brides of the West: Evie (McCutcheon) Page 9
