“Hmm . . . I imagine Iris would have fared all right by herself.”
“I don’t know, Jake.” Emily pushed Iris into a better position, one in which her shoulder wasn’t Iris’s pillow. “As you can see, she sleeps through practically anything. She’s a sitting target.”
“Isn’t her grandmother going to be worried sick?”
“Perhaps . . . at first. But Iris left a letter and promised to return home with a . . . ” She paused.
“Yes?” Jake sat forward again. “With a . . . what?”
“Husband. Or at least a forloveden, that’s Norwegian for fiancé.”
He groaned.
“Mrs. Hopper has been pressing Iris to get married. She’s afraid she’ll pass on and Iris will be alone in the world, but Iris will always have my family and me. She knows that.” Emily gazed fondly at Iris. “Still, Mrs. Hopper considers it something of a social stigma to have an unmarried granddaughter of age twenty-four.”
“What about your parents, Em? They think it’s a social stigma that you’re not married?”
She smiled and Jake felt captivated. “You know Poppa. I’ll die an old maid if it’s up to him.”
Once again Jake found the comment amusing. “Emily, I can almost guarantee that you won’t die an old maid.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“A hunch.” He pulled the newspaper into his lap and decided he’d best change the subject. Still, a hope that maybe he’d win Emily’s heart sparked deep inside of him. “Iris said she’d like an invitation to the Ready Web, my brother-in-law’s ranch.” He glanced up to see Emily gape. Obviously she hadn’t been in on the plan. “At first I told Iris no.”
“Quite understandable. She shouldn’t have asked.” Emily flicked an annoyed glance at Iris’s sleeping form. “Such rudeness.”
“Well, I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon, and I’ve changed my mind.”
“Thank you, but that’s not necessary, Jake. Truly. We planned to ride the train to the Pacific coast.”
“I know.” Crazy idea! “But maybe you’d like to stop off in Fallon and visit. I realized my sister would enjoy some female companionship, and I can show you both around. I’ve decided to take time off from my work in order to pray over some important things.”
Jake saw a flicker of curiosity enter Emily’s eyes, but she quickly lowered her gaze and didn’t ask personal questions. “That’s a kind offer, Jake.” She looked up. “Let’s discuss it when Iris wakes up in the morning.”
“All right.” He didn’t see that there was much to discuss. It had been Iris’s idea, after all. But it was nice of Emily to consider her friend’s feelings. Again.
“And Jake?”
He raised his brows, expectantly.
Emily leaned toward him. “Perhaps you can show Iris the nitty-gritty of ranching and forever discourage her romantic delusions that you’re her . . . well, you know.”
He grinned. “I know.” He wasn’t able to contain a chuckle as he leaned forward. Their faces were mere inches apart, and what he saw in Emily’s pretty blue eyes made him think of forever. “Good plan, Em.”
“Think it’ll work?” She searched his face. “Iris isn’t easily persuaded.”
“We’ll make it work.” Lord, she’s so lovely. Jake fought the yearning to take her into his arms and kiss her.
But then a movement up ahead, behind Emily, caught Jake’s attention. He straightened. Seeing the conductor heading their way, Jake touched his forefinger to his lips and mouthed the word, “Later.” At this time of night conductors were quick with reprimands as others in the passenger car wanted to read quietly or sleep.
Emily seemed to understand and went back to her knitting. For now, watching her would have to suffice. But, God help him, Jake wasn’t sure how long he could look and not touch.
CHAPTER 17
EMILY WATCHED THE sun inch higher in the sky. After numerous stops, the conductor finally announced they’d pull into Fallon mid-morning. Jake suggested they eat a hearty breakfast as their next meal would likely be supper this evening. So after washing up in the ladies’ parlor, Emily and Iris met Jake in the dining car.
Emily tipped her head and watched him from a side-glance. She enjoyed his company and felt safe in Jake’s presence, particularly now that he wasn’t angry with her. She understood that he’d only been worried about her—them.
Jake looked her way, and Emily quickly returned her gaze to the passing scenery. A few hills were visible off in the distance, but mostly prairie stretched out before her. Occasionally the train rumbled over a trestle spanning a swollen, sparkling river.
“Would you ladies like me to give you some history about the Ready Web Ranch?”
Smiling, Emily turned away from the window. “Indeed.”
Iris bounced in her chair and rubbed her palms together. “This is so exciting.” She turned to Emily. “Isn’t it exciting? A real ranch?”
Emily laughed at her friend’s childlike exuberance.
Iris got immediately serious as though she remembered her age as well as her manners. “You’re a true gentleman, Jake Edgerton.”
“I try.” Jake wiped the linen napkin across his mouth. “Now then, the owner is Boyd Webster. Everybody calls him Web except my sister, who, for whatever reason, insists on calling him by his given name. Web purchased the ranch after Pa died and named it Ready Web on account of the fact that Web considers himself ready for anything. Coincidentally he married my sister, Deidre, in the process. They live in what we call the main house, and that’s where you two will stay. As I said, I’m sure Deidre will enjoy your company.”
“And what about you? I hope you won’t be sleeping in the barn on our account.”
“Nice of you to think about that now, Iris.” Jake chuckled lightly.
Emily smiled and picked at her blueberry muffin.
“But, fear not, I kept a parcel and built a small cabin in back of Web and Deidre’s house.” Jake continued to grin until he took a drink of coffee. “Okay, where was I?”
“You told us about your brother-in-law and sister,” Emily reminded him.
“Right. Then there’s Charlie, who’s the ranch foreman. He was Pa’s friend, and he’s what’s known as a wolfer. He kills the wolves and coyotes that terrorize farms and ranches. The State of Montana and occasionally even townsfolk pay him for each hide he turns in. After Pa died, Charlie stayed around to help us. Then Ma died.” Jake paused. Pain shadowed his face. “Charlie was a big help to Deidre and me. After Web took over with intentions of ranching instead of farming, he and Charlie built a bunkhouse, and Charlie moved in there, whereas before he stayed in the barn or camped close by.”
“He sounds like an interesting man.” Emily tried to picture what he might look like. An image of Buffalo Bill Cody came to mind. Emily had read a book to her class about the bison hunter and soldier turned international showman.
“You’ll like Charlie. He looks mean, but he’s got a good heart. And then there’s Greg Flores. Folks call him Rez. He hired on as a ranch hand a few years ago.” Another swallow of coffee. “Rez came up on a drive from Texas a long while back and decided to stay in Fallon, seeing as the town was founded by his same kind—Texas cowhands.”
“Really? Fallon was started by Texas cowhands?” Emily found the information astounding really.
Jake nodded and grinned. “You’ll believe me when you see it. Pa settled here because land, far and wide, was up for the taking. Pa set out to have a bigger and better farm and more land than his older brother in Manitowoc.”
“Are there Edgertons in Manitowoc?” Emily thought she knew most of the residents either through church, school, or one of the family businesses.
“Nope. My uncle and his wife are dead now and they never had children. Pa could have returned and taken over the farm on which he’d grown up, but he loved the beauty and ruggedness of Montana.”
“Just how exactly does a ranch like the Ready Web make its money?” Iris adjus
ted her eyeglasses on the bridge of her nose. “Or is it a self-supporting enterprise?”
“It’s both, I’d say. Self-supporting, although Web’s in the cattle business. Web and his men recently got back from driving eight hundred head up from Wyoming. They’ll get the cattle fattened up over the summer, and then in the fall they’ll round up the ones Web wants to sell and drive ’em into Fallon. The town is the central hub for cattle drives.”
“So will you be gone during the roundup and drive?” Emily felt disappointed at the thought, although she and Iris would be back in Manitowoc by then anyway.
“Nope. I don’t help with the outfit. But Web, Charlie, and Rez will be gone a few days. Maybe a week. They don’t have far to drive the cattle.” Jake glared at Iris. “And, no, you cannot go. Understand?”
Iris blinked. “Well! I wouldn’t dream of it.”
Emily lifted her napkin and laughed. Knowing Iris’s lack of ability as a horsewoman, the idea was quite hilarious.
“Oh, quiet.” Iris gave her an annoyed glance. “It’s not that amusing.”
She laughed all the more as she imagined Iris on a cattle drive. Last Sunday she’d all but gotten lost on her parents’ small acreage. And try as she did, Emily couldn’t teach Iris to stay up straight in the saddle as the gentlest of horses trotted. “Iris on a cattle drive?” Oh, the idea was just too funny!
Jake chuckled from Emily laughing so hard.
“Stop it at once, Emily Sundberg.” Iris glared at her like any good grade-school teacher.
“I apologize.” Emily dabbed the tears from the corners of her eyes and concentrated on taking a few deep breaths. But when she looked at Jake, her giggles returned.
He chuckled and shook his head.
“Stop it, Emily. You’re hurting my feelings.”
She wouldn’t hurt Iris for the world. Emily stymied her chortles.
“Aw, Emily’s just laughing with you, Iris.” Jake sent a wink Emily’s way.
“That’s right.” Breathe. In and out. “And you know how once I start laughing I can’t seem to stop.” She was only too glad that the din of the voices and sounds of plates and flatware being removed from tabletops covered her hysterics.
“It happens in church all the time.”
“It does not.” That did it! Emily sobered and looked over at Jake. “I was a child when I last giggled in church.”
With a satisfied smirk Iris readjusted her glasses, which had, again, slipped a ways down her nose. “So why don’t you participate in the cattle drives, Jake?”
“Not my calling.” The amusement hadn’t quite dissipated from his expression as his gaze danced between Emily and Iris. “The only time I’d get involved is if there’s horse thieving going on or some heads of cattle are stolen and the local authorities ask me to step in.”
“But you’re a deputy US marshal,” Iris said. “Why wouldn’t you step in even if you weren’t asked?”
“I’m mindful of not crossing jurisdictional lines. Unless a federal offense has been committed, I have to leave matters in the hands of the town marshal or the county sheriff. Now, on occasion, he asks me to lend a hand and I do.”
“How often do these crimes occur?” Iris queried.
“All the time.” With his elbows on the table, Jake held his coffee cup between his hands. “Plenty of cowboys are out of work these days, so they make trouble in towns and turn to drunkenness, gambling, robbing banks, and . . . trains.”
“You can’t scare us, Jake Edgerton.”
Emily lowered her head to hide her smile at Iris’s bravado. Far be it from her friend to accuse her of laughing at her again.
“Fine. But you might keep my words in mind, Iris, as you’re husband hunting.”
“Iris and a . . . a cowboy?” That did it. Emily began laughing all over again.
The train pulled in to Fallon, Montana, around ten o’clock that morning. Emily and Iris disembarked onto the wooden platform.
“Wait here, ladies.” Jake’s hand held Emily’s elbow. “Will you do that for me?”
“Of course.” She watched Jake set off on whatever business he needed to tend to. “But don’t forget us here.”
Jake sent her a glance from over his left shoulder.
“Dear God, don’t let him forget us here.” Horror and wonder caused her to stare at the landscape again. Prairie spread out as far as the eye could see, although the town of Fallon consisted of no more than the train depot and platform, a grain elevator, a general mercantile, a grocer’s, and a saloon. “Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all.” She glanced at Iris.
“A step back in time, isn’t it?” She sounded just as awed but hardly deterred.
Railroad men in blue caps emptied the freight cars. Emily spotted her two alligator-leather Gladstone bags. Her parents had given them to her after she’d earned her teaching certificate. She’d used them only to visit Grandpa Ramsey in New York before acquiring her job, and then to move her clothes into her room at the boardinghouse so she could feel more independent and live closer to school.
Iris recovered her two tapestry-covered valises, and together they waved good-bye to the Carlsons who sat near the windows of the passenger car. Standing at the end of the platform, Jake finally waved them over to where a wagon sat parked on the dusty road. Two men leaned up against nearby hitching rails, wide-brimmed hats covering their features.
“Ladies, please meet my brother-in-law, Boyd Webster, and his ranch hand Greg Flores.”
The two men wiped their hats off their heads.
“Please to meet you both.” Mr. Webster nodded to each of them. Strands of his sun-brightened hair stood on edge.
The ranch hand stepped up to the platform. “Welcome to Fallon.” Emily detected a hint of a Mexican accent in the younger man’s voice. Lanky and dark-headed, he gave them each a wide smile.
“This’ll be a surprise for my wife, Deidre—a nice surprise.” Web gave a nod at Jake. “Like I said, you’re welcome to stay as long as you’d like.”
“How very kind of you to say so.” Emily thought a week should suffice.
“We’ll stay as long as you’re willing to have us as your guests,” Iris blurted. “Maybe even all summer.”
Emily felt a measure of alarm and glanced at Jake, who acknowledged her with a curious light in his dark eyes, but he remained unmoving and calm.
“We’re hardworking,” Iris prattled on, “so your wife won’t feel put out. Right, Emily?” Iris nudged her.
Emily forced herself to nod.
Jake finally spoke up. “Emily and Iris are schoolteachers on summer break. They want to experience a ranch firsthand so they can tell their pupils about it this fall.”
Mr. Webster scratched his jaw, looking impressed. “Well, okay then! We’ll show you a ranch.” He grinned.
“Yes, it will be a pleasure.” The ranch hand smiled. “You’ll be like sunflowers among weeds.”
“How poetic.” Iris folded her gloved hands and tucked them beneath her chin.
Emily frowned at her best friend’s sudden bedazzled expression.
“Just so I make myself clear, I ain’t a weed, cowboy.” Mr. Webster sent his man a dark glance. “Remember that.”
“Right, boss.” Mr. Flores tucked the brim of his hat, albeit his grin never wavered.
“How ’bout let’s get that second surprise for Deidre loaded into the wagon.” Jake faced his brother-in-law. “Then we’ll load up the ladies’ things.”
“Jake?” Emily caught his duster’s sleeve. “Is there somewhere I can send a telegram?”
“Uh-huh.” He gave a nod and pointed across the street. “See that little house behind the grocery store, there across the road?”
“The log house with the postal sign?”
“That’s it. You can send a telegraph there.”
“Thanks, Jake.”
“And come right back. Don’t let Iris get herself into trouble.”
Emily saw the teasing flicker in his gaze.
“A tall order to be sure.” She whirled around and strode over to Iris. “Let’s send telegrams home. Jake pointed out the way.”
They crossed the road to the rustic home in which the postmistress and her husband lived. The slim woman was eager to help them and wrote down their messages. She promised to wire them right away.
With that accomplished, Emily and Iris strolled back to the wagon. Scores of people had disembarked the train and stood in clusters on the platform or on the unpaved street. To the north, a ferry, operated by pulleys, took a small crowd across the Yellowstone. Emily wondered on which side of the river the Ready Web was located.
Watching the action, Emily saw it took three additional men to help load the crated stove and oven that Jake purchased for his sister. Mr. Webster complained about the wagon springs, but Mr. Flores was convinced they’d manage the weight.
With a smile sent their way, Mr. Flores tossed their bags to Jake, who threw them at Mr. Webster, who placed them strategically into the wagon’s already overloaded bed.
Mr. Flores approached them. “Shall we go?” He offered his arm to Iris.
“Yes, thank you.” Two steps later Emily overheard her say, “I’ll bet your wife is so grateful to have such a strong husband.”
“Oh, I’m not married.”
“What a coincidence.” Iris laughed her fluttery laugh. “Neither am I!”
Emily blinked. Her jaw dropped. What in the world? She set her hands on her hips and planned to sit Iris down tonight and have a good, hard talk with her, for whatever good it might do. This husband-hunting business had gone too far. Besides, hadn’t Iris said that Jake was her destiny? Why was she flirting so brazenly with Mr. Flores? Here Emily had been feeling so guilty for having feelings for Jake . . .
She gazed over at him. Removing his hat, Jake watched Mr. Flores assist Iris into the wagon. He scratched his blond head then walked slowly toward Emily. “Looks like I might be off the hook.” He chuckled and swung his gaze at her before donning his Stetson. Then he held out his arm. “May I assist you, Miss Sundberg?”
“Why, yes, but—”
“Don’t even wonder, Em. You’ll never figure it out.”
Threads of Love Page 16
