“That’s very kind. How can I get in touch with you?”
“Ask anybody in Boulder Gap. I’m easy to find.”
“I don’t like that man,” Moriah said after Baucom had left.
“He didn’t tell me anything I haven’t heard already,” Abby said.
“Don’t trust him,” Zeb said. “He’s a mean, greedy man.”
Abby wasn’t sure she could hold that against him. It would take a greedy man to choose such a hazardous way of making a living, and a really tough one—maybe even a mean one—to succeed. The real question was whether she would be able to succeed where he hadn’t.
“I don’t care what he’s like as long as he doesn’t get in my way.”
Abby’s words were bold, but she didn’t feel nearly so confident. She was beginning to wonder whether it was possible for anyone to handle the beef contract and the trading post. Her father had died before he’d been able to answer that question for himself. She stood up from where she’d been bending over to wash a shelf and stretched to get the knots out of her muscles. “We should start thinking about supper,” she said to Moriah. “You ready to go?”
“Give me five minutes.”
That would give Abby a chance to clean up herself. “It’s time we had a talk with the colonel about this beef contract.”
“If you decide to give up the store, you could hire out as cooks,” Bryce said as he savored the taste of a prairie chicken cooked with rice and simmered in its own juices. He didn’t have to worry about his compliments hurting Zeb’s feelings. His striker wasn’t the least bit upset about having his kitchen taken over by the Pierce sisters. At this moment he was in the kitchen enjoying his own share of the supper.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Abby said. “Maybe someday we can offer a few simple dishes for officers not fortunate enough to have a striker who can cook.”
“That will depend upon how much time we have,” Moriah said. “Men don’t realize how long it takes to cook a meal.”
Actually he did know. It was one of the things he’d learned from being the commander of the fort. He had to know everything about everybody’s job in order to make sure everything ran smoothly. And Bryce was determined things would go smoothly until he got posted back East.
“Maybe you can find someone who will work with you,” Bryce said, “and give you more time.”
“I’m more worried about the beef delivery,” Abby said. “I haven’t found anything about it among my father’s papers. Wouldn’t he have some sort of written agreement?”
“I would expect so, but I can’t be sure. The Indian agent is appointed by and works under the Department of the Interior, not the army. I’m only called on when there’s trouble.”
Which was a stupid arrangement. The Department of the Interior could make all the half-witted mistakes it wanted, like giving guns and ammunition to Indians who were friendly at the moment, but when it came to dealing with those same Indians when they got angry and were no longer friendly, it was the soldiers who had to face up to the guns their own government had provided. And the reason the Indians got angry was because the Indian agents, miners, or settlers ignored the terms of the treaties, something else the army had no control over.
“Who would I ask to find out who’s delivering the beef and when?”
“The Indian agent.”
“What do I do about payment?”
“What do you mean?”
“I expect the man providing the beef will want his money before he turns the beef over to me.”
“Over to the agent You’re only the go-between. Your contract determines how much you’re paid. Your arrangement with the rancher determines how much you owe him. The difference is your profit”
“I can figure that much out for myself,” Abby said.
Bryce thought she was only being abrupt because she was caught in between and didn’t have enough information. It wasn’t his job to educate her, but no man could ignore a woman like Abby. Besides, if the beef didn’t come, the Indians would get angry and possibly cause trouble, and then it would become his job. Also, several people were trying to take advantage of her father’s death to cheat a little. Or a lot. That angered him. He didn’t think Abby and her sister ought to stay, but that was no reason to cheat them.
Besides, despite everything, he liked Abby. He had decided he would keep his distance, that she had too many sharp edges to appeal to him, but his brain was in a corner by itself. The rest of him liked everything about her. She had courage. She was in a tough place, but she wasn’t running scared. Though she would accept help, she didn’t expect it. Bryce didn’t mind admitting to himself he enjoyed having her around. She brightened up his dull evenings. He couldn’t imagine being married to such a spunky woman—he looked for comfort and support in a wife, not entertainment—but she did make for interesting company.
And Pamela couldn’t stop talking about her.
He had still another reason for helping her. He didn’t like the circumstances surrounding Abner Pierce’s death. Everyone was satisfied it was an accident, but something about the way he’d died—combined with the fact that he’d just won the beef contract—had made Bryce uneasy. He had no facts to support his suspicions, but if he was correct, Abby and her sister could be in danger.
“I will ask around tomorrow,” Bryce said. “Someone is bound to know who’s delivering the beef, but keep looking for the contract. Your father may have had an oral agreement with the rancher, but I doubt it. He wasn’t a trusting soul.”
“Unlike his daughters, you mean.”
“You’ve been brought up among people who’ve lived in the same community most of their lives. You know their histories and their reputations.”
“Not everybody you’ve known for years can be trusted,” Abby said. “A man I’d known for some time was arrested and convicted of embezzlement. It came as quite a shock to his family and friends.”
“We have a lot of men in the West who’ve run away to avoid facing up to the consequences of what they’ve done. It’s best to put everything in writing.”
“I plan to do that,” Abby said.
Bryce could see fear in the back of her eyes but not panic.
“What if Hinson has already paid for the beef and I haven’t paid the rancher? Will I lose the contract if he takes his beef back?”
“That could be a blessing in disguise. Then you could concentrate on the store. Your father should have done well with the store, but he never seemed to have more than enough money to keep his head above water.”
“That’s because he was sending a monthly allowance to support us,” Abby said. “He’d been doing so ever since our mother died.”
That explained why Abner never seemed to stop working, never drank or gambled—two of the most common activities of western men—never patronized saloons or the women there.
“We told him he didn’t need to send as much after I started to work,” Abby said, “but he always sent the same amount That’s the money we used to come to Fort Lookout We don’t have much left.”
“As long as you’ve got good references, you can get credit from your suppliers,” Bryce said.
Abby didn’t know what kind of references people needed to get credit, but she couldn’t ask anybody in St. Louis. “I’ve never tried to run a business before,” she said. “I have no references. What can I do?”
Chapter Six
“I can vouch for you.”
Bryce had considered his decision carefully, but he still found it hard to believe he would tie his reputation to two women he barely knew. His instincts told him Abby and her sister were honest, but he’d just counseled Abby to get a contract to make sure she was always on firm ground. He should have at least gotten to know these women before agreeing to vouch for their character and fiscal responsibility. What was it about Abby that caused him to keep doing things he’d never done before? It wasn’t as if she was helpless and clinging. She had enough vinegar in her personality for
two people.
“Why would you do that?” Moriah asked. “You don’t know us.”
“For goodness sake,” Abby said, “we’re not going to cheat him.”
“I know, but we shouldn’t ask him to vouch for strangers.”
“I didn’t ask. He volunteered.”
“That’s all the more reason we shouldn’t take advantage of his kindness.”
“What do you propose we do?”
“I don’t know,” Moriah admitted.
“Neither do I. Until we figure it out, I say we accept Colonel McGregor’s offer.”
“Call me Bryce,” he said. “I’m called Colonel McGregor all day long.”
“I call you Daddy,” Pamela reminded him.
“I’m glad I have a daughter to call me Daddy,” he said. “You haven’t eaten all your dinner. You don’t want the ladies to think you didn’t like it.”
“I’m full.”
“I’m afraid she sampled everything with us in me kitchen,” Abby said.
Bryce felt warmth flood through him. He remembered doing the same thing as a small boy when he could sneak into the kitchen without his mother knowing. He was pleased his daughter was able to enjoy that important part of childhood. She had missed so much as a result of her mother’s untimely death.
“You’ll have to go to bed early if you don’t eat all your dinner,” Bryce said.
“But I ate an awful lot.”
“I didn’t see you.”
“Miss Abby and Miss Moriah did.”
“Do you think they’ll vouch for you?” Bryce winked at Abby.
Pamela turned to Abby. “Will you vouch for me?”
“Of course we will,” Abby said.
“Maybe I should ask Zeb.”
“He tasted everything, too. Miss Abby kept asking him if he thought you would like it or if she ought to make something else.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Bryce saw Abby looking very self-conscious. He could have told her never to depend on Pamela not to say the one thing you wished she wouldn’t.
“It would have been foolish to prepare something you didn’t like,” Abby said, a bit stiffly, he thought.
“I doubt there’s anything you could cook that I wouldn’t like.”
“Liver.”
“I love it.”
“Grits.”
“If they’re anything like hominy, I’ll love them with gravy.”
“Collards.”
“Where in St. Louis would you learn to cook collards?”
“My mother came from South Carolina.”
“If we ever end up in South Carolina at the same time, you can fix me some.”
He realized what he’d said. There was an awkward silence.
“I want to thank you again for sending the men to help us,” Abby said, changing the subject. She smiled. “All of them except Zeb proposed to Moriah and me. Do you think I ought to inquire as to whether they want us singly, or should we take them as a package?”
“We can’t continue staying in the colonel’s house,” Moriah said as they prepared for bed.
“We’re not staying here,” Abby said. She was unpinning her hair and brushing it before going to bed. “We’re only here until we can make our living quarters bearable.”
“They’ll never be fit for decent people,” Moriah said.
Abby turned to dispute with her sister, but the words froze on her tongue when she saw tears running down Moriah’s cheeks. She laid her brush aside, sat down on the bed beside her sister, and embraced her. “I know it’s not what we’re used to, but it won’t be so bad after we get everything cleaned and painted.”
“It’ll always be an awful cave,” Moriah said, giving in to the tears now.
“There’s no reason for you to stay here if it upsets you so. You ought to go back to St. Louis as soon as you can.”
“I’ll do no such thing! I may hate it here, but if you stay, I stay.”
“But I wanted to come here. You didn’t.”
“You’d never have come if that horrible Albert hadn’t stolen money from the bank, then tried to make them think it was your idea.”
“I love Aunt Emma, but it was never the same after Father left.”
“That didn’t mean you wanted to come here.”
“Lots of things have happened that I didn’t want, but I have to make the best of it all. Fort Lookout has been a shock to me. I thought there’d be some kind of town, schools, churches, women with their families. It’s nothing like what I expected. It’s even a bit frightening, but I mean to stay. I’m never going back to St. Louis, but that doesn’t mean you have to stay here just because I’m too full of pride to put up with distrustful looks and whispering behind my back.”
Moriah stopped crying. “I couldn’t live with myself knowing you were out here alone, facing God only knows what horrors. What kind of sister do you think I am?”
“The very best,” Abby said as she hugged Moriah.
“Not if you think I’d stay back in St, Louis. Despite the horrible place we have to live, I’d rather be here than with those wretched people who suspected you had anything to do with stealing that money.”
Abby gave her sister a heartfelt hug, grateful Moriah had come with her, guilty for being the reason she was so miserable. “Things are going to be all right,” Abby assured her. “I have a feeling Bryce will make sure of it.”
Moriah broke the embrace. “Abigail Emmeline Pierce! Don’t tell me you’re falling in love with that man!”
Abby was so surprised at Moriah’s remark, she was momentarily speechless. Then it struck her as so funny she started to laugh. The more she thought about what Bryce’s reaction to such a statement would be, the harder she laughed.
“It’s not funny,” Moriah said.
“Yes, it is,” Abby finally managed to say. “You know I have absolutely no intention of getting married. Albert soured me on men forever.”
“That’s not the impression I got watching you with the colonel.”
“I’ll act as sweet as can be as long as he helps us.” She suddenly felt less amused. “How could I fall in love with a man who thinks we’re ignorant about everything and incapable of learning anything? He’s only helping us because it’s his duty—and because he’s afraid something will go wrong and he’ll be stuck here forever. Zeb told me he has an important family with lots of connections trying to secure him an appointment. An Indian uprising is the worst thing that could happen. Why else do you think he’s so willing to help us?”
“He’s letting us stay in his house.”
“Only because his daughter offered and he couldn’t think of a way to refuse.”
“You’re making him sound mean-spirited and selfish.”
“I expect he’s really quite nice. He doesn’t mind helping us as long as he’s helping himself, but Zeb said he’ll wait to marry until he’s back East and can choose a wife from among the wealthy and influential families.”
“You’re making him sound even worse.”
“That’s the smart way to do things: Don’t let your heart get in the way of your head. I forgot that with Albert.”
“I don’t think you ever loved Albert. I never trusted him.”
Moriah never trusted any man, especially one as handsome and charming as Albert. She always thought they were up to something. In that instance she had been right.
“I intend to behave exactly like Bryce,” Abby said. “If I ever do consider marriage, you can be certain it will be to my advantage.”
But as Abby drifted toward sleep, her attitude softened and her attraction to Bryce reasserted itself. He really didn’t seem angry with them or resentful of their presence in his house. She was sure he would have offered them his extra bedroom if Pamela had given him a chance to think of it himself. And he didn’t have to help them. If he was only worried they would cause trouble that would endanger his promotion, he could have canceled their lease and ordered them to leave the fort. He really was tryin
g to help in spite of the possibility of danger to himself. He really was kind. She had known he was. No mean-spirited or selfish man could love his daughter the way he obviously loved Pamela. Abby was sure he would love his wife just as wholeheartedly.
She drifted off to sleep with a smile on her lips and that thought in her heart.
“I’ve found the beef contract,” Abby announced, striding into the store, where Moriah was explaining to the carpenters exactly how she wanted the shelves built. They had decided Moriah would run the store and stock merchandise, while Abby handled the accounts and the beef contract.
“Does it say how much we owe the rancher?” Moriah asked. She pulled Abby back into the living quarters and closed the door so they could have some privacy.
“Yes. I also found the agreement with the rancher, a Mr. Lavater. We’ll make twelve dollars on each head of beef that’s delivered to the reservation. That’s six hundred dollars, enough to resupply the store without having to depend on Bryce to vouch for us.”
This was the first good news she’d had since coming to Fort Lookout She was still overwhelmed with the whole idea of running the store, but it would be a lot easier with money. Now she only had to find where her father had purchased his goods, decide what she needed, and place the order.
“Start making up a list of what we need,” Abby said. “I’ll ask Bryce if we can use his telegraph to send the order. In the meantime, I’ll look for father’s records of what he bought and from whom. I can’t believe everything is in such disorder.”
“I’ve been thinking about mat,” Moriah said. “Our money was never late and was always exactly what he said it would be. That’s not the sign of a man who’d run his business the way this seems to have been run, or keep records in such a sporadic way. I think somebody has been through everything looking for some-thing. Where did you find that beef contract?”
“At the bottom of a sugar tin.”
“I think Father hid it because he didn’t want anyone to find it.”
Abby bad been thinking the same thing, but she kept telling herself she was imagining things, that she didn’t know how people in the West did things, that she hadn’t even really known her father. She’d been nine when her mother died. A year later her father had moved to St. Louis from South Carolina, left them with his sister, and disappeared into the West. They had gotten letters and money regularly, but they’d never seen him again.
The Independent Bride Page 7
