by Irene Brand
“Then I’ll settle in here today, come to your ranch, prepare supper, spend the night and tomorrow we’ll go shopping. How’s that?”
A wide smile spread over his face, and his whiskers seemed to bristle with pleasure.
“That’s music to my ears. If I’m not at home when you arrive, go on in. The door’s never locked. The freezer is full of meat.”
Mason’s gaze roved over the secluded valley that surrounded the Bar 8, and he reflected, “For the past four years I’ve often considered this ranch a pain in the neck.” He looked pointedly at her, and his dark eyes were gentle and contemplative as he added, “Today it looks better to me than it ever has.”
His words brought a glow of warmth to her face, and her heart sang with delight as he stepped into the pickup and drove away.
Chapter Three
Norah had just started checking out the kitchen appliances when a knock sounded on the door. A petite brunette entered at Norah’s invitation.
“Hi,” the newcomer said. “I’m Sheila Johnson, Doug’s wife. I’ll be your closest neighbor. Is there anything I can help you do today?”
“I hardly know what to do myself,” Norah admitted. “Mason seems vague about the rehab program. Have you talked with any of the staff members about their planned schedule?”
“Yes, a little.” Sheila shivered. “It’s cold in here. We need more heat to take out the dampness. Come in the dining room, and I’ll turn up the thermostat. I run the sweeper and dust once a month, but I haven’t been here for three weeks.”
Heat soon penetrated the house as Sheila and Norah sat on the sofa located at one end of the large dining room.
“The equine therapeutic program is called Horses and Healing,” Sheila explained, “better known by H & H. Their activities start the first of June and will end by September. That’s about all I’ve been told. I have the telephone number of the Omaha office if you want to talk with the director.”
“I’ll do that. I’ve never handled a job like this,” Norah admitted, “and I’m a little anxious about it. I want to be well prepared before the first group arrives.”
Sheila stood. “Let me know when I can help you. Will you come to our house for supper this evening?”
“Thanks, but I’m going back to Mason’s tonight, and he’ll take me into town tomorrow. I need to buy groceries for myself until the therapy sessions start.” A smile touched Norah’s shapely mouth. “He invited me to supper, but I have to prepare it. He mentioned meat, but I wonder what else he has to cook.”
Sheila laughed. “Precious little! He keeps meat, potatoes and apples, but not much else. He’d starve to death if he had to depend on his own cooking. He goes to town several times a week, and he always stops in at a restaurant.”
“He mentioned that you invite him to dinner often.”
Sheila’s eyes gleamed fondly. “Yes, we do. Doug’s father and Mason have been friends for years. He’s almost like one of the family.”
“I’m sure he appreciates it.”
“By the way, I keep a well-stocked pantry and freezer, because sometimes in the winter we’re snowbound and I can’t go to the store for a week or more. Come to our house for lunch, and you can choose some food from the freezer to supplement what you’ll find at the Flying K.”
“Thanks, I’ll do that. It’s not easy to step into a strange kitchen and prepare a meal, although I managed breakfast this morning.”
After Sheila left, Norah took an inventory of the kitchen equipment and serving dishes, but she couldn’t keep her mind on the work she’d be doing throughout the summer months. Instead, she kept anticipating another evening in Mason’s company.
Soon after she returned from lunching with Doug and Sheila, she packed her overnight bag and headed toward the Flying K headquarters. Sheila had contributed some fresh vegetables and other staples to supplement the supplies she’d find in Mason’s kitchen.
Barking loudly, the black Labs surrounded her car when she reached the Flying K. Their tails were wagging, and considering that a good sign, Norah got out of her car, let them sniff her hands, then scratched their backs before she went inside.
She didn’t know when to expect Mason, but she figured he’d work until almost dark. She took a thick steak from the freezer, and while it thawed in the microwave, she checked out the rest of the supplies she’d need.
Three hours later, when she saw Mason, on horseback, hazing a small herd of calves toward the corral, she had the meal prepared. Swiss steak, curried rice, green beans, vegetable salad, hot rolls and custard pie should be the kind of meal he’d like. As hard as he worked, Mason would soon throw off the calories from that kind of meal, but Norah knew she’d have to eat small portions.
When had she suddenly become concerned about the extra ten or fifteen pounds she carried? Oh, just in the past twenty-four hours! Admiration of Mason’s muscular body had prompted her to take a closer look at herself, making her wish she still weighed the same as she had twenty years ago.
All day long, Mason had looked forward to another evening with Norah. While he rounded up calves for branding, he kept remembering how well she’d fit into his environment. It hadn’t seemed awkward to have a strange woman sitting at the table. He couldn’t recall when he’d ever met a woman who put him more at ease. Living alone as he did, he’d talk for hours when he met one of his male acquaintances, but he never had much to say to women.
He’d used the excuse of a meal to persuade her to spend another night at the Flying K, although it wasn’t the food, but Norah’s company that he wanted.
After he’d thought about it, Mason figured Norah had hesitated to accept his invitation because she wasn’t comfortable staying in the house with him. He supposed he should have thought of that. He knew she was safe with him, but she had no way of knowing what kind of man he was. He’d wondered all day if she would really come, but his heart beat a little faster, and he jiggled the reins for added speed, when he topped a small rise and saw her white car parked in front of his home.
Norah was standing on the porch, and she waved as he drove the calves into the corral. He hustled to finish his evening chores, so eager to see Norah that he didn’t even think about food until he stepped up on the porch. It was such a change to smell food cooking when he approached the house that he halted abruptly. What had he missed all of these years by not having a wife waiting for him at the end of his day’s work?
Norah smiled easily, and Mason’s smile, gleaming from his bewhiskered face, matched hers in contentment when she appeared at the door, dressed in a red blouse and tan pants.
“Good evening, Mason. You work late.”
Mason had never experienced such a pleasurable homecoming. If she’d been his wife, he could have taken her in his arms and kissed her, but he only said, “There’s always a lot of work on a ranch in the spring. I usually have a man or two working with me, but no one could help today. Smells like you’ve got a fine supper waiting. I haven’t eaten since morning, so I hope you fixed plenty.”
“I don’t think you’ll go away from the table hungry.”
And he didn’t. When the meal was finished, dishes put away, they sat down to relax. He’d forgotten how much pleasure a wife could bring to a home. He’d only lived one year with his wife, and that had been a long time ago. Besides, she’d been ill most of that time carrying their child, and they hadn’t had much opportunity to enjoy each other’s company.
Just two days of Norah’s presence, and he’d started thinking of marriage again. He’d told himself, over and over, during the past twenty-four hours that his thoughts were ridiculous. He knew they were, but he could see no reason not to enjoy Norah’s company to the fullest when he could.
Wanting to learn all he could about her, Mason asked, “What about your family, Norah? Your childhood?”
Norah’s dark eyebrows curved mischievously. “You’ve already hired me. It’s a little late for a background check.”
He countered her lighth
earted mood by saying, “After that feast tonight, regardless of your credentials, you won’t get fired. I’ll kidnap you if I have to, just to have you cook for me.”
“But when Horses and Healing starts operating, I’ll be cooking for them,” she responded. An eyebrow tilted provocatively, and her lips trembled slightly in amusement.
“Surely you won’t turn me away if I come around for an occasional handout.”
“We’ll see,” she said, her azure eyes sparkling with silent laughter. “But about my childhood,” she continued, seriously, “it’s been so long ago that I can hardly remember. Actually, I had a fine childhood but my mother was killed in an automobile accident when I was almost eighteen. I grew up mighty fast after that.”
“My mother died when I was two. I can’t even remember her.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
“My dad made up for it, though. He didn’t marry again and devoted his time to me. But go ahead with your story.”
“There were five of us. I was ten years older than the other children, so Dad asked me to take over managing the house after Mother’s death. I didn’t hesitate to do that, although it was a great disappointment when I couldn’t go to college as I’d planned.”
“What was wrong with your disabled brother?”
“Billy had cerebral palsy, and I cared for him as my mother would have done.” Her lips quivered as she added, “He died six months ago, a month before my father. My other brother and two sisters were away from home by that time. The work I’d spent over half of my life doing was suddenly taken away, and I was at loose ends. I admit that I’d chafed at my lifestyle—often thinking I was in bondage. But when I had my freedom, I didn’t know what to do with it.”
Norah paused, and her thoughts filtered back to the time when her whole life seemed to collapse around her. “While I was casting around for some direction, I came across your e-mail advertisement. Coming to do this work seemed like an opportunity to get away from familiar surroundings for a few months and find a new perspective on what I can do with the rest of my life.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Become a missionary,” she said simply. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I was fifteen when I experienced God’s call to go overseas as a missionary. By the time I graduated from high school, I’d been accepted at a Christian college. My training would have started a month after my mother was killed.”
“Are you going on with that training now?” Mason asked, with some disappointment. His dreams of a future with Norah had been nipped in the bud before they’d hardly materialized in his own mind.
“I don’t know. I’m kind of apprehensive about starting college at my age. I’d be almost fifty before I could get the necessary education and training. And I’m not sure I could receive an appointment at that age.”
“It seems a bit selfish of your father to ask you to give up the career you’d planned.”
“I’ve never blamed him. He couldn’t care for Billy by himself, and none of us wanted to put Billy in an institution, so I was happy to do it. But I fully expected, when my siblings became older, that they would assume some of the responsibilities and free me to go to college, but none of them even considered it.”
“Did you ask them?”
“Yes, of course, and they’d give me half promises, then pursue their own lives as if they had no obligation to their family. I’d been a mother to them, and I’m ashamed to admit that I find it hard to forgive them for being so insensitive to my needs.”
“It does seem as if they could have helped.”
Norah leaned back and closed her eyes. “You would think so, but they didn’t. In fact, they compounded my problem by using me as a baby-sitter. They knew I’d always be at home, so they brought their children to me for an afternoon, a day, sometimes as long as a week while they went on vacation. It didn’t seem to occur to them that I might like a break. My father took over so I could attend church services, but I didn’t even do that after Billy’s health worsened.”
“Sounds like your siblings are selfish.”
She opened her eyes and nodded. “Yes, they are. And they’re so mad at me now that they won’t speak to me. My father willed the family home to me, and they didn’t mind at all because they thought the situation would continue as always. But I put the house up for sale several weeks ago. I might use the money from selling the house to go to college, but that depends on whether I’m too old to still realize my dream.”
Mason slanted a speculative glance in her direction. “So that’s why they’re mad at you!”
“Yes. Their free baby-sitter is gone.” She paused, thinking of the quarrel she’d had with her family. “The things they said to me hurt deeply—words that I find hard to forgive.”
“Sounds to me like you’ve done enough for them.”
“I suppose so, but I keep remembering that Jesus taught His followers to be servants. He said once, ‘Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’ And the Apostle Paul made a strong point when he said, ‘Serve one another in love.’ So I’m probably a disobedient Christian by resenting the years I spent serving my family.”
“I assume your siblings are Christians, too. Looks like serving ought to work both ways,” Mason argued in her defense.
“I’ve tried to justify my attitude, using the same line of reasoning, but my conscience makes me wonder if the mission field God had in mind for me was serving in my own home. I did my duty by taking care of Dad and my brother, but maybe I was doing it for the wrong reasons.”
“I don’t believe that for a minute,” Mason said. “I’ve only known you for a short time, but I’m convinced you’re a loving, compassionate woman.”
“Thanks, Mason. I’d like to believe that, but when I take an introspective look at myself, I don’t like what I see. I pray that this summer’s work will give me a new perspective on what God wants me to do. With all my heart, I want to accept His will for my life.”
Mason watched the play of emotions on Norah’s face, and as she sat with eyes downcast, he wanted to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. But now wasn’t the time. Nor would it be appropriate to tell Norah that the longer he was around her, the more he liked what he saw.
Chapter Four
The two dogs jumped on Mason as he and Norah exited the door the next morning. He wrestled playfully with them for a few minutes.
“Okay, you guys are in charge,” he said. “We’ll be gone most of the day. I’m taking Norah on a tour of the county.”
He opened the truck door for Norah. There wasn’t a running board, which meant she had to manage a step of almost two feet to get into the vehicle. Mason pushed back his hat and scratched his head, a habitual gesture of his.
“Well, now!” he said. “I swing into the truck seat like I mount a horse. That is a big step for a lady.”
Without a word, he put his arms around Norah’s waist and effortlessly placed her on the seat. She sensed the warmth of his large hands through her shirt.
“If I’m going to ride in your truck, you’ll have to bring a ladder along for me,” she said, when he swung into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
Grinning provocatively, he said lazily, “Oh, I don’t know. I kinda liked the way we did it this morning.”
Flustered, Norah looked out the window and waved a hand at the dogs, who were standing downhearted, tails between their legs, watching them leave.
“The dogs like to ride in the truck, but not when I leave the ranch.”
“What’re their names?”
“Pete and Repeat.”
“What!”
“I got them when they were pups. They’re from the same litter and almost identical, so I thought those were good names. They’re good hunters. We have lots of water fowl in this area.”
Mason threaded his fingers through his bushy beard. “I don’tknow if I can stand these whiskers for six more weeks. They’re about to drive me crazy
.”
“Then you don’t usually wear whiskers?”
“Never have before! Ranchers in this end of the county gather on the Fourth of July for horse racing, fireworks, music, ox roast—that sort of thing. We try to revive the Old West for a day. We give prizes for the most authentic costumes, and for riding contests. But last year, somebody came up with the crazy idea of having a beard-growing contest to see who could grow the most outstanding beard from New Year’s Day to the Fourth of July. I didn’t mind it so much when the weather was cold, but whiskers are too hot for summer. I’m tempted to shave now and be done with it.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that,” Norah said as the truck whizzed past the spot where she’d had the encounter with Buster.
“Do you like my whiskers?” he asked, a quizzical expression in his eyes.
A flash of humor spread across her face. “Not particularly, but you’ve put up with them this long, you shouldn’t give up now. They might not be so bad if you’d trim them.”
“I might as well shave completely as trim the beard. We’re judged on who has the longest and thickest whiskers.”
“Then, by all means, don’t trim them. I believe in finishing what you start. Since you’ve had the whiskers for almost five months, you might as well keep them on until after the contest.”
They met a few other pickups as they traveled northward toward Valentine, and Norah noticed that all the male drivers had beards.
“Where do you have the celebration?”
“Each rancher takes turns hosting the event, and it’ll be at the Flying K this summer. A committee plans the day’s activities, so all I have to do is supply the place and the meat. I’ll provide a steer.”
“Sounds like fun.”
“You’re invited to come. Ranchers’ clothes haven’t changed much in the last hundred years, but the women wear vintage outfits. I think you can rent costumes in Valentine.”
“I’d like to be there, but it will depend on my duties for Horses and Healing.”
