Emma shuddered. Even though she couldn’t build a barn all by herself, she also couldn’t bear the thought of Jared Mattson staying in their house for however long it took to rebuild. But one look at Pa’s blue eyes beaming with gratitude and joy told her she had no choice. She was stuck for who knew how long with the man who’d courted her with flowers and buggy rides for a whole entire summer. Then without a word after that harvest dance, he’d up and quit coming around, breaking her heart. Now he had the unmitigated gall to march around like a peacock as though he’d done nothing wrong.
She might have to accept his help, but she didn’t have to like it. Snorting out her displeasure, she started back to work tossing boards with a vengeance, imagining all the while one of them landing on Jared Mattson’s head.
*
Jared hadn’t expected it to be easy to work around Emma. Even two years after briefly courting her, he couldn’t look at her without considerable admiration for her beauty, strength and feisty disposition. But he wasn’t about to let his heart go, as he’d almost done back at that harvest dance when they’d both taken turns stepping on each other’s feet. That very night he’d learned that his oldest brother Rob’s wife, Maybelle, had taken their baby girl and left Rob and their six-year-old son, just as Mama had left Pop and their five sons six years ago.
Maybelle wasn’t the only woman besides Mama to leave her husband when life got too hard out here. It just proved what he’d always believed: Women couldn’t be trusted. So he was more than just skittish about trusting his heart to one. He absolutely refused to risk it. Three of his brothers agreed, but not Cal, who was eager to marry Julia. Jared would leave the sappy, lovey stuff to him, and he would stand by him if and when his heart got broken. At twenty-one, Jared was settling comfortably into his bachelor ways.
Trouble was, being around Emma at church and other gatherings burdened him with a powerful temptation to hand his heart to her on a platter, all ready for carving. She was such a good-looking woman, and he was, after all, only a man. His sole protection against the danger was to tease her until she got riled, just like now. If she hated him enough, he’d be safe from those fine blue eyes surrounded by black lashes as soft as down on her tanned cheeks. Safe from wanting to touch that thick black hair framing her pretty oval face. Safe from wanting to run a finger down that straight, pretty nose. Safe from wanting to place a kiss on those sweet rosy lips…
Thunk! A board landed about two inches from his right foot, and he jumped to the side.
Thank You, Lord, for the interruption. He’d been falling in love again just like he promised himself he’d never do.
She sure could toss a board as easy as any of the men who’d come to help. ’Course, other than Jose, they were a sight older, closer to Mr. Sharp’s age and probably not as strong as they used to be. Jared didn’t even mind that Emma wore men’s trousers and a rough shirt. Her younger sister looked all right in that frilly blue dress, but she wasn’t out here clearing away fire damage. Probably couldn’t heft more than that tray of coffee and cookies, fare that he’d yet to earn.
“Now, Emma.” Mr. Sharp laughed, then coughed real hard. No doubt he still had smoke in his lungs from the fire. He bent over, and Emma patted him on the back and helped him sip some coffee. When he could finally speak, he waved a hand toward Jared. “Be careful throwing those boards. Don’t injure the helpers before they even get started.”
“I won’t, Pa.” She went back to work. “Just getting rid of the rubbish.”
Ouch. That stung. Jared swallowed hard. It was also no less than he deserved. He knew he’d hurt her, but it couldn’t be helped. When he’d quit courting her, he’d saved them both from a worse grief down the road.
“You’re sure your pa can do without you and Cal for a while?” Mr. Sharp beckoned to Jared, and Jared stepped away from the dangerous area.
“Yessir. He said to tell you he could send over some lumber if you need it. We were gonna build an addition on the east side of the house.” More than an addition. It was to be a separate house for Cal and Julia, assuming she agreed to marry him. But he couldn’t tell Mr. Sharp that until the wedding was for certain. “Pop said it can wait until spring.”
Mr. Sharp’s eyes got a little red around the edges, and he coughed again. Emma’s jaw dropped, but even then she looked pretty as a cactus bloom. And twice as prickly, too, he reminded himself.
“We’ll be much obliged, son.” The old man shook his head in wonder. “I’ll settle with him come spring after sheep shearing.”
“That’ll be fine, sir. I’ll send word for my brothers to haul the lumber over tomorrow.”
Mr. Sharp put an arm around Jared’s shoulder. “I know you and your brothers built a barn a couple of years ago, so you know what you’re doing, like most men around here. These other fellas have their own responsibilities, but they’ve said they’d help when they can. Since you’ll be right here, I’d like for you to take charge, if you don’t mind.”
“I’d be pleased and proud to do that, sir.” His heart felt near to bursting over the man’s trust in him. With four brothers, he’d always had a hard time getting noticed, mostly because Pop was too busy to pass out praise. With Mama not there to encourage him like she used to, Jared often felt lonely in the midst of his large family. Right now he couldn’t resist a glance at Emma. To his surprise, she glowered at him. Hadn’t he just offered to help her pa?
“Pa, I know how to build a barn.” Her cross expression didn’t diminish her beauty one bit. “Put me in charge. I worked side by side with you when we built this one.” She waved a hand toward the sad remains. “Don’t you remember?”
Mr. Sharp chuckled. “Yep, I remember. You did a mighty fine job for a fourteen-year-old girl, and you’re doing a mighty fine job of cleaning up this mess. Tell you what. You and Jared can share the responsibilities. What do you say?”
If flames could shoot from a woman’s eyes, Jared would be on fire right about now. But Emma smiled at her pa and spoke in a deceptively sweet voice. “Why, that’s just fine. We can have a contest to see who’s the better builder. He can build the frames for two sides, and I’ll build the other two and get them ready for a barn raising.”
“You do that, my gal. Get ’em all ready for a raising. We’ll send out the word. I know we can count on our neighbors to help us finish the job. A little competition will make the work go faster.” Mr. Sharp chuckled again. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Mrs. Sharp made me promise not to stay out here long.” He hobbled away toward the house leaning on his cane, and then turned back. “If we get it built by Christmas Eve, maybe we can finish the Las Posadas celebration here after all.”
Jared had sensed a heap of relief in the old man, and his heart went out to him. Mr. Sharp was getting on in years. He was forty-five if he was a day. Too old to be hit with a tragedy like losing his barn and much of his winter’s supply of hay, not to mention wrenching his hip real bad. At least all the animals had survived, and hay could be bought from their neighbors. God was merciful. Jared wasn’t too sure about a building contest, but what choice did he have?
Then it struck him. A contest would keep Emma and him at odds, a sure remedy to stop him from losing his heart to her. What did the Proverb say about a contentious woman? Something about constantly dripping water? Yep, that was Emma. He chuckled to himself.
“What are you laughing at?” There she stood, her face still covered with soot, her fists posted at her waist in a challenging pose, still looking mighty fine.
Jared laughed out loud. “Just thinking how much fun I’m gonna have whupping you in this contest.”
“Whupping me—?”
“Emma, dear.” Julia dragged Cal over to her sister’s side. The two of them had been making calves’ eyes at each other while Mr. Sharp had stood right there. Either the old man approved of Cal, or he was too concerned about the barn to notice.
Emma’s expression softened as she gave Julia her attention. “Yes, dear?”
&nbs
p; “Do you really think the barn will be finished by Christmas Eve? That’s just eight days.”
Jared suspected sweet Julia was trying to smooth the waters between him and Emma. Cal’s little gal didn’t seem to understand that some folks liked to bicker. As long as it didn’t turn cruel, a healthy argument could fuel a man’s energy for the job at hand. He and Cal would need a heap of energy if they were going to finish the barn in time for the final night of Las Posadas. The Christmas celebration was important for unifying the community, so they just had to finish.
“It’ll be finished if the bad weather holds off and if we get back to work.” Emma scowled at Jared. “That mule good for anything besides being a pack animal?”
“Yep. That’s why we brought him. He can haul away the boards that can’t be salvaged.”
“Then get your gear into the house and get started.” Emma brushed an arm over her forehead to shove back her hair, but fuzzy little baby hairs fell back into place around her face, making her look younger than her twenty years. “And don’t forget to salvage the nails.”
“Hold on.” Annoyance gripped Jared. “Your pa put me in charge.”
“Humph.” How could she look so pretty with that scowl on her face? “If all you want to do is stand around chin-wagging, somebody’s got to give orders.” She spun away from him and marched across the barnyard toward the other men.
Jared watched her for about five seconds too long before he set about unloading old Homer, the mule. How could a woman dressed in men’s clothes look so entirely appealing? And how was he going to keep from falling off of the bad side of good sense and landing smack dab into love with her?
Pop had five sons. He could have sent any two over to help Mr. Sharp. Why did Jared have to be one of them?
*
Darkness was near to falling when Emma strode over to the back porch where Ma and Julia had set up a table with hot water in porcelain basins and soap and towels on the side. Before washing her face and hands, she brushed off as much soot as possible from her clothes. It would still be a challenge to wash out the rest.
She hadn’t stopped working all day except for a few minutes in the early afternoon when she’d eaten a sandwich and drunk some coffee. Now she was powerful hungry, and the smell of beef stew and fresh baked bread had wafted out across the barnyard and teased her for hours.
After that first shock of having to work with Jared Mattson, she’d managed to stay far enough away and keep busy enough to forget him. Mostly. The only problem had come earlier this afternoon when new help arrived and he’d insisted on giving them orders. To the credit of most of them, they’d looked to her for confirmation. She got a kick out of seeing the consternation on Jared’s face. Whup her in this contest? Not likely. Not with most of the men wanting to please her. Not that she understood why, but as long as it got the job done, she appreciated the way they deferred to her. And unlike Jared, they spoke to her respectfully and without a hint of teasing.
Most of them could only stay for a few hours, but it helped considerably. Now where the old barn had stood, only blackened earth remained. Tomorrow they’d use brooms made of dried tree branches to clear away the rest of it. Then the rebuilding would begin.
“Save some of that hot water for us.” Jared stepped up on the porch with Cal right behind him. “Although I’m sure you need it worse than we do.”
Emma had promised herself she would ignore him, but once again he’d said just the right—or wrong—thing. “I doubt there’s enough water in the whole Rio Grande to get you clean. That soot looks mostly ground in permanent like.” She wanted to say it probably went all the way to his black heart, but decided that was just a bit too much. To forestall any comeback she glanced over at Cal, who was busy cleaning up at the third basin. “You’re pretty good at salvaging those nails. That’ll save Pa a heap of money.”
Cal gave her a brotherly grin. “Glad to help, Miss Emma.” His gray eyes had a happy twinkle to them as he hurried through his ablutions.
Emma figured he couldn’t wait to join Julia in the kitchen. Ma had told Julia to make the bread and some corn pudding, which would probably encourage Cal to propose sooner rather than later. Having learned to cook from Ma, Emma wasn’t ashamed of her own skills, but this was Julia’s time to shine.
Once she finished washing and drying her face and hands, she lifted the basin to dump the water in the yard. She managed to slosh just enough water onto Jared’s trouser leg and down into his boot.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were standing there.” Lying wasn’t all that bad if it was teasing, was it? Then why did she feel a pinprick of guilt? Probably because the weather was mighty cold, though not quite as freezing as it would be once night came.
“No harm done.” Jared lifted his basin, and Emma knew she was in trouble. “Oops! Sorry.” He gave himself away by apologizing before dumping the sooty water down her side. “Clumsy me.”
Her guilt disappeared as she stifled a scream, but his crooked grin almost made her laugh. She did manage not to jump as he had. If the air weren’t so cold, she’d take time to throw Cal’s basin over Jared’s head. “Is that a confession? You agree that you’re the clumsy one?”
Before he could answer, she ducked into the house through the back door and into the warmth of the kitchen. Ma and Julia looked up expectantly from their tasks.
“Supper’s almost ready.” Ma tilted her head toward the hallway. “You’d best change out of those dirty clothes before you come to the table.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Put on a dress, dear.” Ma gave her a smile that seemed suspiciously sly. “And brush your hair.”
Oh, no. If Ma and Julia were playing matchmakers, they’d be sadly disappointed, at least where Jared Mattson was concerned. She’d never again let him break her heart.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Emma hurried down the short hallway to the room she shared with her sister to keep from having to heat two chambers. Sure enough, they’d laid out her blue dress made from the same bolt as Julia’s to save money. They’d also set out the tin can of Pretty Lady’s Dry Shampoo and Emma’s boar’s bristle brush. At first, she thought about ignoring both and going to the table in another pair of Pa’s old trousers. But even at her age, when she ought to have her own children to boss around, she didn’t like to disobey or disappoint Ma.
After wrapping a towel around her shoulders, she sat at the vanity table Ma had ordered from the Montgomery Ward catalog, one of her attempts to help her daughters become ladies out here in this wild country where fine manners didn’t always show up. Or matter.
Usually, Emma and Julia brushed each other’s hair to a fine sheen before bedtime. This time Emma had to work through the tangles of her bushy black hair by herself. Even with the hair powder, soot rained down on her white towel and the bare floor. After several minutes, though, she decided she was presentable. If not, too bad. She was hungry enough to eat a grizzly.
As much as she’d tried to hurry as she changed clothes, she still found the others already waiting for her in the dining room. Jared and Cal had cleaned up pretty well, at least well enough to sit down at the Sharps’ formal dinner table rather than eating in the kitchen. Even with their damp, slicked-back hair, they looked as handsome as ever. At least at first glance. A closer look showed nothing but kindness in Cal’s eyes, while Jared’s uplifted chin and arrogant smirk revealed a callous, coldhearted man.
Julia rushed over to Emma and grasped both of her hands. “Emma, Cal’s asked Pa’s permission to marry me! Pa said yes, and I said yes, and now we’re gonna to get married two days after Christmas!”
The squeal of delight in her voice warmed Emma’s heart. Sweet Julia deserved to be happy. Emma pulled her into a tight embrace. “I’m so pleased for you, my dear.”
Over Julia’s shoulder, she could see Jared’s arrogant expression had turned to…what? He looked as if he’d chewed on a lemon. Did he disapprove of Julia, or was it marriage in general h
e didn’t favor? Either way, Emma would make sure he didn’t get in the way of her sister’s happiness. Even if it meant making him miserable enough to go home. Maybe Mr. Mattson would send one of his nicer sons back to help.
That was it. Emma would make sure Jared was miserable enough to hightail it home. Who needed him and his mean ways?
How odd that the thought of him leaving sat like lead in her heart.
*
When Emma walked into the dining room, Jared had to grit his teeth real hard to keep from gawking at her. My, she cleaned up good. Although he could detect a few smudges around the edges, probably no more than he himself had, she looked mighty fine. He swallowed hard, puckered away an involuntary smile and lifted his chin, a pose that was sure to hide his unwilling admiration.
He was happy for Cal, maybe even wished some of that happiness would rub off on him. If their eight-year-old nephew, Robby, hadn’t been crying for his mama just a few nights ago, Jared might reconsider his bachelor existence, which this woman threatened in ways he’d never imagined. But what had his brother Robert told his son about a mama who didn’t love them enough to stay? Jared reminded himself of how often he’d had to hide his tears from his brothers after their own mama left. He supposed they’d all found ways to deal with it. Then there was that woman on the other side of the river who’d up and left her husband…
“Aren’t you hungry?” Cal clapped Jared on the shoulder and gave him a little shove toward the table.
“Enough to eat a horse.” He hadn’t realized he’d been woolgathering. Taking a deep breath to hide his embarrassment, he looked to Mrs. Sharp to show him where to sit.
Naturally, she pointed to the empty spot next to Emma, ’cause Cal would want to sit beside Julia. Good thing the table was long enough so Jared didn’t have to rub shoulders with Miss Prickly Pear. He sat adjacent to Mr. Sharp and across from Cal.
Another good thing was he didn’t have to talk to Emma ’cause all the conversation at the other end of the table was about the upcoming wedding. Emma and Mrs. Sharp seemed as excited as Julia.
Love Inspired Historical October 2015 Box Set Page 58
