It excited her as she thought back to the times she’d visited her aunt as a child. She’d often secretly walked outside of the town to sit under a tree and close her eyes, listening to the sounds around her and breathing in the fresh air. The growing crops rustling in the breeze had soothed her, and even as a young girl, she truly had believed her heart belonged here.
She swallowed hard as she tried to remind herself of those feelings, instead of the worry and doubt that had started to creep in. The knowledge that she would be able to watch this land turn green, then yellow, and brown as it filled with the food of the land, gave her a new sense of excitement.
She knew she could do this, even if the man in the seat in front of her seemed to believe otherwise.
And as they bounced up alongside the cabin nestled back among the trees, she repeated those words over and over in her head. She reminded herself how excited she was for this chance, and how beautiful this new little home of hers was.
With a sudden jolt, she realized, this was all hers. She’d never had a home to call her own before, and while this was nowhere near as glamorous or sturdy as the house she’d grown up in, her eyes almost filled with tears at the joy she felt looking at the wooden walls. This was where she was starting her new life, and she was determined it would be everything that little girl under the tree had always dreamed it would be.
“I’m so excited for you to be living here. I can come over and visit all the time. When I’m not in school, I mean.” Delia jumped up and clapped her hands together as Kathryn stood, holding onto the back of the seat in front for balance.
“Now, Delia, remember what we told you. Miss Reeves isn’t to be bothered, and that means you aren’t to be coming down here uninvited. She’s your teacher, so you will see her plenty enough during school hours.”
Kathryn smiled down at the little girl’s suddenly shy and embarrassed face. “It’s all right, Mrs. Hammond. I’m sure I would welcome a visit from both Delia and Owen any time they want. I’ll need someone to help me with some of the chores around here that only a man can do, so I hope you don’t mind helping me out, Owen.”
She hoped the young boy would feel a sense of pride at being asked to help her, giving him a reason to trust her. But he just shrugged and nodded his head as he hopped down from the wagon. “I can help, I guess. But I’ve got my own chores to do, and now I’m likely going to have homework too.” His voice didn’t sound impressed at that prospect.
“Owen.” His father shot him a disapproving look.
“Don’t you worry, dear. Between Owen and Colt, they’ll make sure you have everything done around here that you need. And if you ever need anything, all you have to do is come up to the house and ask.” Mrs. Hammond smoothed over the awkward moment and walked around to the back of the wagon after her son had helped her down. Kathryn’s heart did a leap as she realized he was now standing there at the open back waiting to help her too.
She’d managed to climb into the wagon with the help of her uncle when they’d left, and she hadn’t quite thought it through how she would get down. And, she wasn’t entirely sure why it bothered her so much that she’d now have to rely on this man’s help.
She pushed away the sudden thought that she’d have to take his hand, and for some reason, it made her nervous. It wasn’t like she’d never had a man help her in or out of a carriage before, so she couldn’t quite figure out what was wrong with her.
He grabbed Delia with both hands around the waist and lifted her high into the air, making the child squeal with delight. “Daddy, don’t drop me!”
He laughed as he spun around and set her on the ground beside him. “I’d never drop you. You know that.”
Now, he lifted his eyes and met Kathryn’s. She couldn’t be sure, but she almost thought she could see a glimmer of mischief in the dark eyes staring back at her. For a man who’d seemed terribly grumpy since she’d met him, she knew she had to be imagining it.
But when she walked to the back of the wagon and bent down to let him take her hand, he grabbed her around the waist as quickly as he’d done his daughter and spun her around to the ground before she’d even had a chance to scream.
“Colt Hammond. That is no way to be treating our guest and a lady.” Mrs. Hammond came over and slapped Colt hard on the arm before reaching out to wind her arm into Kathryn’s. “I apologize for my son’s manners. Honestly, I don’t know what goes on in his head sometimes. Let’s get your things inside your cabin and you can have a chance to freshen up before supper.”
Kathryn let the older woman lead her toward the door, her heart still beating twice as fast as it should be. While she’d been startled at being grabbed so quickly, she knew that wasn’t the only thing that had gotten her ruffled.
As she quickly glanced back over her shoulder and saw the man standing there grinning beside his children, she knew she’d have to be careful around him.
She was here to teach and start a life without depending on anyone but herself, in a place she’d always dreamed of living.
Not to get her legs swept out from beneath her by the likes of Colt Hammond.
Chapter 6
She walked up the center aisle, running her fingers along the handmade desks where the slates sat waiting for the students to practice their lessons. The school had been well stocked, thanks to the donation from Caleb Bailey at the mercantile. It wasn’t anywhere near as grand as what she’d had in her school back home, but there was something about this small one room schoolhouse that gave her excited chills.
Maybe it was the anticipation over what lay ahead for her, and how she was now responsible for teaching these children. If not for her coming out here to teach, maybe some of them would never receive any kind of education.
She walked outside and looked across the open fields, taking a deep breath of the fresh air while the gentle breeze tugged strands of hair loose from her combs. She’d been up before the sun today, even though she’d barely slept a wink last night.
After having a delicious supper of roast beef, potatoes, and fresh apple pie, Mr. Hammond and the children had walked her back to her cabin. Since it was still early summer, the sky had been lit up with the bright orange and purple of a prairie sunset. She’d told them she could manage getting back home on her own, but Mrs. Hammond had insisted her son escort her.
He’d been pleasant enough during the meal and had been a perfect gentleman on the walk to the cabin. But she sensed that he didn’t really like her very much, and that bothered her.
Of course, she hadn’t had much time to think about it after they’d left, and she’d been by herself as the skies turned dark. She had so much to learn about managing out here on her own. For one thing, she needed to remember to get water from the well and have some in the basin to wash with in the morning so it wouldn’t be freezing cold.
So many things were different out here, and what she’d always taken for granted would no longer be done for her.
As she’d climbed into her warm bed last night, the dark had seemed to close in on her and she hadn’t wanted to shut her lantern off. A window had been left open against the heat of the day, and in the distance, she’d heard howling noises that had terrified her. It sounded like an entire army of large animals intent on killing anyone who dared to go near them. At one point, she was sure they were right under her window, and she’d quickly run over to close it against the possible intruders.
She wasn’t even sure she wanted to ask anyone what they were. All she knew was that she would never be stepping foot outside in the dark by herself.
By the time exhaustion had finally taken over, the first rays of sun were already coming through the window. Thankfully, the excitement of her first day of teaching had kept her from falling asleep standing up so far. But it was going to be a long day.
She reached up and pulled the rope to set the bell ringing. Her heart jumped as the sound belted out across the open land. She knew there would already be children walking from their hom
es, and she hoped they were as excited to hear the bell as she was. After giving it a few good tugs to make sure it had been heard far and wide, she stood waiting at the top of the steps to meet her first students.
“Good morning, Miss Reeves! I’m so excited!”
She turned her head slightly to see Delia and Owen coming along the path that led up to their house. The girl was excitedly running, struggling to hold onto her lunch pail and book she was holding. She’d been so excited yesterday for homework, she’d asked to take one home even though Kathryn knew she wouldn’t be able to read it.
Owen, on the other hand, was walking as slowly as his legs would allow, kicking at a stone ahead of him. He was obviously not as thrilled about the first day of school as his sister.
“You can go on in and sit at your desk up front, Delia. Owen, if you want to take one next to her, you can.”
He gave a little shrug and followed his excited sister inside. Kathryn wished she could take the child into her arms for a hug, but she knew he would never allow it. She just hoped that someday she could get through to him and earn his trust. Her aunt had let her know that Mr. Hammond and his wife were estranged, so she knew the children had both been through a lot with their mother leaving them. She was prepared to give the boy both the time and space he needed to heal.
“Hello, Miss Reeves!” A little girl raced up the path from one of the neighboring farms. “I was up before the sun this morning, and my pa said it was too early, but I got ready anyway. I had all my chores done before breakfast and even had some time to play with my kittens. My ma was cross with me because she said I was going to get my nice dress all dusty before my first day of school.”
Kathryn laughed at the joyful exuberance of the small blonde-haired girl. “Well, I think you look lovely, Hazel.”
She remembered meeting the child yesterday when she’d been running around with Delia. Normally, the children in the community only got to see their friends at church and the occasional gathering put on in town. Going to school was going to be so much fun, giving them the chance to be together every day.
Hazel ran inside with a huge grin on her face, just as more children showed up. Kathryn greeted them all, and there were only a few whose names she couldn’t remember. She’d met so many people yesterday she was surprised she’d managed to keep any of them straight.
When she finally went inside, she stopped at the back of the classroom and took a deep breath. Her cheeks hurt from the smile that had been in place since she’d woken up this morning, and as she looked around at the excited faces in front of her, she couldn’t imagine ever wanting to be anywhere else. The chatter and laughter filled the room. She knew she needed to get control and set the rules for the classroom, but for this brief moment, she just wanted to take it all in. This was what she’d been dreaming of doing since she was a little girl, when she’d been sitting in her own classroom and listening to her teacher share her knowledge with all of them.
Yes, her classroom even all those years ago had been much more modern, but what she had here was just about close to perfect in her mind.
And as she walked to the front of the room, clapping her hands for attention, she realized being here during the day might be just enough to forget how scared she was alone in her cabin in the dark.
Chapter 7
“How is the plowing going on the land behind your west field? Is your neighbor still trying to cause you problems?”
Colt threw another bag of feed into the back of his wagon before turning to face Mr. King, or Old Tom as everyone around town called him, who owned the feed mill. The old man wasn’t much help with any heavy lifting anymore, but he refused to sell the mill, saying he’d die of boredom if he wasn’t there every day to visit with the farmers who came in. He had one man working for him who did most of the work, while Old Tom spent his days gossiping with the customers.
“I’m not paying any attention to Constantine Brown. He just wants a fight. I’ve got the surveyor’s reports and I know where my land ends. I’m nowhere near his land.”
Constantine Brown had applied to homestead the land bordering Colt’s two years ago and had been a thorn in his side ever since. He argued that the land Colt was clearing for a new field was on his property, even though he’d been shown the surveyor reports numerous times. He was the type of man who wanted an argument about everything.
Old Tom shook his head. “I’ll never know how that poor woman puts up with a husband like him. I’m sure if he wasn’t the nephew of Mrs. Pembrooke, there isn’t a person in this town who’d have anything nice to say about the man.”
“You’re right about that. As far as I’m concerned, Mrs. Brown is a saint because no other woman would have married him.”
Colt turned and nodded a greeting as the blacksmith, Layne Perkins, walked up behind them and joined the conversation. His shop was right next door to the feed mill, so he would often come over to say hello when he saw Colt there. He’d been good friends with Colt’s brother growing up, and they’d known each other since they were children.
“Well, I’m sure the poor woman didn’t have any idea of what she was getting into when she agreed to come here and marry him. I never saw the advertisement he put out for a bride, but I have serious doubts he was honest in it. By the time Mrs. Brown arrived here, and got to know the man he was, it was likely too late for her to change her mind. And now the poor soul is expecting his child, who I’m sure the man won’t treat any better.”
As though talking about him was enough to make him appear, Brown’s wagon bounced loudly over the small bridge into town in a large cloud of dust. Colt groaned to himself as the wagon turned toward the feed mill.
Mrs. Brown sat stiffly in the seat beside him, and as they stopped next to his wagon, she smiled down at Colt. He held his hand up to help her down while her husband hopped down and walked straight up onto the steps of the mill.
“Thank you, Mr. Hammond. I need to run these eggs over to the mercantile. I always try to be here first thing in the morning, but today I guess time got away from me. I was cleaning out the stalls in the barn where one of our horses had a new foal last night.”
Colt offered her a smile, clenching his teeth together in anger at the fatigue he could see reflected in her eyes. He knew without a doubt she’d have been cleaning those stalls out on her own, even with her newly expanding waistline which would make the chore more difficult.
“Hammond, you make sure you don’t get any closer to that tree line with your plow. You have more than enough land cleared for your crops. Don’t see why you need to keep pushing onto my land.”
Colt took a deep breath and turned to grab the last bag of feed off the dock that ran around the building. He threw it into the back of his wagon, continuing to ignore the man who was pushing him for a fight.
“If you stop by tomorrow, I’ll have that axe finished for you.” Layne came over to help him push the back of the wagon closed. Colt nodded, gladly accepting the change in topic.
By now, the town had become busier with the end of the school day. The parents who came in to pick up the kids still attending the Pembrooke School kicked dust up on their way past. Colt noticed there were a few children coming the other way, carrying books and skipping across the bridge coming from the schoolhouse on his property. He could see the pure happiness on their faces as they raced home to tell their parents about their first day of school.
“Must say, that new schoolteacher you got living out there with you sure isn’t hard to look at. Lucky for you, you aren’t saddled with a nagging wife, so nothing stopping you from enjoying her wares.”
Colt slowly turned his head to glare at Constantine, not willing to ignore the way he was talking about Miss Reeves.
“I beg your pardon?” His voice came out more like a growl, and as he spoke, Layne reached his hand out and put it on his arm, ready to stop him from fighting if needed.
“Now, Brown, I’m not gonna let you stand here and talk about Miss Reeve
s like that. If’n you don’t got anything nice to say, you can just pick up your feed and be on your way.” Old Tom looked like even he was ready to punch the much younger man between the eyes.
“I’m not saying anything that isn’t true, and you all know it. Why would a rich woman, who a man would have to be blind not to see her beauty, come all the way out here to the middle of nowhere if she didn’t have every intention of scooping herself up a man? Wouldn’t be the first time a rich city girl thought it would be some kind of romantic fun to marry someone beneath her, would it, Hammond?”
Colt swallowed hard, determined not to let this man get to him. But every time his heart beat in his chest, he could feel the blood pounding in his head. He didn’t even realize he was straining to move toward Brown until Layne’s fingers dug deeper into his arm.
“Don’t do anything you’ll regret, Colt. He isn’t worth the time of day.”
Thankfully, at that moment, Mrs. Brown walked back across the dusty street from the mercantile. She was a smart woman, and from the look on her face, she knew something was going on between the men. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, probably knowing full well her husband was causing trouble again.
Her smile faltered when she looked at the men in front of her, but she tried not to let anyone notice her shame. “I was thinking of asking Miss Reeves over for tea one day this week when the children aren’t in school. Could you pass the message on to her, please? Tell her to stop by whenever she has some time and I’ll be sure to welcome the visit.”
Colt’s eyes lifted in time to see the smirk on Constantine Brown’s face. “Yes, you tell the young schoolteacher she’s always welcome out at our place. Any time.”
Love is Patient Page 3
