“She said she’d never leave her husband.”
“She won’t have a choice if he’s dead.”
“She asked me if you planned to kill him.”
Damn kid. Why did he have to start running his mouth? I shouldn’t have trusted him. Aloud he asked, “What’d you say?”
“I told her you’d never kill anybody.”
“What else did she want to know?”
“She wanted to know if you wanted her daddy’s ranch.”
Vince frowned. “Did you tell her I did?”
“No. Her husband came back in and Stanley told me to deliver the preacher’s order, so I got out of there.”
“Are they still at the store?”
“I don’t know. They had a lot of shopping to do.”
“Why?”
“I guess they’re setting up a household or something.”
Vince frowned. So they were getting ready to settle somewhere. He wondered where. At least he knew it wasn’t on the Double D. Rafe had made it clear he wouldn’t allow them to live there.
“Do you know where they’re settling?”
“She didn’t say, but she bought a lot of bed clothes and some household items.”
“Like what?”
“Pots, dishes, curtains, that sort of thing.”
“Anything else you can tell me?”
“That’s about it.”
Vince straightened his hat and picked up the reins. “Go back to the store and find out anything you can about them. If they’re not there, ask somebody.”
“I’ll do it, Vince. I’ll get word to you when…”
“I’ll come to you. I don’t want people seeing you talk to me. Now, head out and if anyone asks, I saw you leaving the preacher’s house and stopped to ask if you got the new branding iron I ordered.”
“I didn’t know you ordered a brand…”
“Damn it, Andy. Don’t be a fool. I didn’t order anything, but who has to know? That’s just something to cover up what we were really talking about.”
Andy swallowed. “I’m sorry, I thought…”
“Don’t think. Do what I tell you to do. You want to work on the Double D when I get it, don’t you?”
“Sure, Vince. That’s why I’m telling you this.”
“Then get back to the store and I’ll see you in a couple of days.”
Vince rode off muttering, “That kid’s gonna be trouble. I’ll have to get rid of him as soon as he’s no more use to me.”
Chapter 11
The next morning Jed left Amelia at the hotel when he went to testify against the McBride gang. Mrs. Olsen said the cook, Effie Vaughn, had everything under control in the kitchen and suggested Amelia and Grace spend some time together since the Wainwrights were moving to the ranch that afternoon.
The girls were delighted and spent the morning shopping mostly at Miss Purdy’s shop for some personal things Amelia wanted.
At noon, Jed came to the hotel and told her the trial was over and the prisoners were on their way to Cheyenne. He asked if she was ready to head for home. With a promise to get together again soon she and Grace said goodbye. Amelia left with her husband and Grace returned to help out with the hotel dining room evening meal.
It was after three o’clock when Amelia and Jed led their horses into the barn at their new ranch. He dismounted and held out his hand to assist her. “Well, Mrs. Wainwright, we’re home.”
“I’m glad to be here, Mr. Wainwright.”
“Really?” He looked surprised.
“Yes, Jed, really. The Olsens have been wonderful, but I was ready to leave. I wanted to get out where I could ride Rambler and check fences and look at cows again.”
He began unsaddling his horse. “I was ready to leave, too. It’ll be good to get out here and work with the cows instead of looking at them like you do.”
Before she could reply an older man with a scraggly beard and a floppy brown hat stepped into the barn. “Hello, boss.” He looked at Amelia. “Ma’am, I’m Mort Godfrey. Mr. Curt said you’d be here today. I’m glad you made it.”
“Thank you.”
“We’re glad to be here,” Jed said.
“I’ll cool your horses down and turn them into the corral for you.”
“Thank you, Mort.” Jed took their saddle bags and turned to her. “Let’s go see what needs doing in the house before Curt gets here with the supplies.”
They went inside through the back door. Amelia moved to the large wooden kitchen table and waited for Jed to lay their saddlebags down. “It’s not too bad, is it?”
“I know it’s not what you’re used to, Amelia, but…”
She frowned. “I wasn’t comparing it to my daddy’s house, Jed. I meant the kitchen wasn’t too dirty.”
He gave her a sheepish grin. “Then, you’re right. It isn’t bad.”
She put her hat on the rack beside the door. “Mort is kind of old for a hired hand, isn’t he?”
“He is and I don’t think he’ll be much help rounding up horses and cows, but Curt said he kept things in pretty good working order around the house and the barn.”
Amelia nodded. “Why don’t we check out the rest of the house so I can see what I need to do to make us comfortable?”
They ended the tour in the upstairs bedroom she liked. “I thought we’d use this room if it’s all right with you.”
“I think it’s fine.” He moved to the window. “I like the fact it looks out toward the front, but the furniture isn’t great.”
“I know. I bought some things to make it look better.”
“We’ll buy a new bed, too. I still have some money left and I haven’t touched the five thousand you gave me.”
“I want you to use that money to build up the ranch, Jed.”
“The house is part of the ranch.”
“I know, but it wouldn’t be fair to Curt if we started spending money on things only we would use.”
“He might want a new bed, too.”
Amelia laughed. “All right, if he wants a new bed, you’ll both get new ones.”
“I’m a little hungry. Think we might find something in the pantry to hold us until Curt gets here with the food?”
She reached for his hand. “Let’s go see.”
When they looked in the pantry, Amelia had to laugh. “Gladys left some furniture, but she sure took all the food. There’s not a smidgen to eat. Only an old bucket and a worn scrub brush.”
“I could go out and scare up a rabbit or something.”
“How would we cook it? She took the pots, too.”
He shook his finger at her. “If I recall correctly, you’re pretty good at making a meal over a campfire.”
“So you bought a ranch, but I still have to cook over an open fire?” she teased him.
Before he could answer there was a shuffling on the back porch.
“It could be Curt.” Jed moved to open the door.
“I come to see if you and the missus would like a cup of coffee or something. I know Miz Lawson cleaned everything out cause she only left me and Curt enough food to get by for a couple of days.”
“Coffee would be great, Mort. You’re right about Ms. Lawson. We checked the pantry, but couldn’t find a thing.” Jed turned to Amelia. “Let’s go have a cup of coffee.”
“I’ll bring it to you. The bunkhouse ain’t no fit place for a lady like Miz Wainwright.”
“I understand.” Jed grinned. “I’ll walk with you and bring her back a cup.”
When Amelia was alone in the kitchen, she looked around again. Jed was right. This place was nothing like the big house she’d grown up in, but she’d never let Jed know she’d made the comparison. It would hurt his feelings and she knew he’d had enough of that in his lifetime.
Lifting a burner lid, she decided the stove was clean, but the kitchen table was another matter. It was caked with grease and probably ground in food. It would never do.
Moving back to the pantry, she looked at the buck
et with a worn scrub brush left in it. She picked it up and returned to the kitchen. She filled it with water from the pump over the sink and grinned as she dumped the hunk of lye soap she found on the window sill into the water. Wouldn’t her daddy gloat if he could see her getting ready to do the work only the cook and maids did at the Double D? She’d show him. She was a woman and she could make this place as clean and livable as his fancy house. Without another thought of Rafe Donahue, she plunged the brush into the soapy water and began scrubbing the table.
* * * *
Two weeks after Amelia’s visit, Rafe Donahue lit a cigar, puffed deeply, sat back in his leather chair and glanced out the window. His wife was cutting flowers from the rose garden. Thank God he’d managed to calm Elizabeth down. It took promising her he’d try to make peace with Amelia by accepting her husband. It didn’t matter if it was a lie. She didn’t know the difference and by the time she learned he’d never accept the half-breed as Amelia’s husband, she’d come around to his way of thinking. Probably Amelia would, too. He still couldn’t see his spoiled little girl living the way she’d have to with Jed Wainwright. Why he wouldn’t put it past the man to make his daughter live in a cave or a tent or something worse. Indians had no feelings about where they made their women live. He knew for sure the man couldn’t continue to live at Olsen’s hotel with Amelia. Being a bounty hunter didn’t pay enough to live like that long. He’d seen the wanted posters. He knew most of them offered one hundred dollars for a man’s capture. It wouldn’t take long for that amount of money to get gone when you lived in a hotel and ate in a restaurant all the time.
So now was the time to relax and let Amelia realize what a mistake she’d made. It wouldn’t be long until she’d be begging to come back home. And of course he’d let her. After all, he wanted her and Vince to have those grandsons for him.
In the meantime, Rafe decided he’d get back to taking care of the ranch as it should be taken care of. He’d talked with Vince a few days ago and laid out his plan of how he intended to buy two more ranches. The Lawson place butted up to a corner of his land and though the Garcia ranch was small, it was situated in such a way it squared off the land between the Double D and Lawson.
“I’ll probably have them both by the time you get back from the cattle drive,” he’d jovially told Vince.
“I’m sure you will, boss. I’ll look forward to bringing them under the Double D brand.” Vince grinned. “If there’s any way I can help you speed up the purchases, let me know.”
“I will.”
Rafe knew there wouldn’t be a problem getting the Lawson place. Gladys was eager to get to Texas and though he put John off the other week, Gladys would now push him to sell at a bargain price. Rafe liked bargaining. He’d acquired a lot of his land at a rock bottom price by making his offers at the right time.
Roberto Garcia might be a little harder to deal with, but the man had no idea Rafe knew he was behind on his mortgage payments and was about to lose the place. Garcia was proud of his ranch and he worked hard, though rustlers kept stealing his cows. He’d even accused Rafe of letting his cowhands take the young calves and putting the Double D brand on them. Rafe knew this wasn’t the case. Vince would never permit this to happen.
Vince was an honest man and Rafe trusted him more than anyone else on the ranch. He let his mind wander back to when his foreman had earned that trust. It was soon after he’d come to work at the Double D. Rafe was complaining about there not being enough profit for the amount of work they did and the number of cattle they sold. Vince told him to slip the books to him and he’d see what was going on. He’d told Rafe he’d been a bookkeeper in Georgia. Rafe did get the books to him and it wasn’t long until Vince pointed out how old man Downey was trying to cheat his son-in-law out of part of the ranch profits. Of course there was no way he could tell Elizabeth about this. Downey was her father. She’d never believe he was trying to run Rafe off the place so Elizabeth could marry a man he liked better. Though a name was never mentioned, he and Vince together figured out that man was probably Charles Fielding since he was one of Elizabeth’s suitors before Rafe came along.
Rafe pulled his thoughts back to the idea of buying the neighboring ranches. He knew another problem Garcia had been facing was the fact that his hired hands kept leaving after only a few weeks. Rafe didn’t know why nobody seemed to want to work for him. Of course the fact he was Mexican could have something to do with it. Though the Garcia place was smaller than most, there was no way he and his eight-year-old son could run it without help.
Rafe decided he’d pay a fair price for their land even if Roberto was about to lose it. He’d make sure there was enough for the family to relocate or maybe he could talk them into working for him. Since Garcia’s wife was related to Delores, he might be able to. He could always use another cowhand and the wife would make a good maid. Lula, one of their present maids, was getting old and would have to be replaced soon. The Garcia woman was in her late twenties or early thirties, so she’d be able to work hard for several years.
Bringing his thoughts back to the present, he took his gold watch out of his pocket and glanced at it. Six o’clock.
A knock sounded on his study door. He grinned and muttered, “Charles Fielding is right on time. I always look forward to his visits. Not only does he envy me all my money, he can’t hide the fact he still worships the ground my wife walks on. Even after all these years, I like seeing him jealous because I’m the one who got the girl and he never will.”
* * * *
Wilma Lawson sat back in the stagecoach as it got ready to pull out of the way station. It had taken her a while to talk her father into letting her return to Settlers Ridge. Of course she knew it never would’ve happened if her mother hadn’t said she couldn’t stand riding any further in the wagon and had decided to take the train from Denver to Texas. Wilma didn’t know what her mother would say when her father and brother arrived at the Texas ranch without her, but she’d worry about it later. Now all she wanted to do was get back to Settlers Ridge, but what she’d do when she got there she wasn’t sure. She no longer had a home, which didn’t bother her much. Wilma didn’t like ranch life. All she wanted to do was move to town and marry Stanley Brown and work in his store.
Of course when she got back to town, she’d have to stay at the hotel. Maybe she could get a job from the Olsens. Grace liked working for them and they might need somebody else to work there. She sure had enough experience in the kitchen, cleaning rooms and making beds. Since Gladys Lawson gained so much weight, she couldn’t get around as she did when Wilma and her brother were younger. In the past couple of years all the household chores fell to Wilma. She was even a good cook.
Wilma smiled to herself. These were things she’d gladly share with Stanley when she was able to convince him to overcome his shyness and notice her. That wasn’t going to be easy, but she knew she’d do it one way or another.
Since she was the only passenger, Wilma was settling back to take a nap when the stagecoach door opened. She jumped and let out a little gasp.
“Don’t worry, ma’am. We’re only picking up a woman and her kids. They just got to the station,” the burly driver said.
A woman climbed inside followed by two children. The boy looked to be about eight and the girl looked like she was probably ten. The mother sat on the seat facing Wilma and the children sat on either side of her. “Good afternoon, miss,” she said. “My name’s Esther Venable and these are my two children, Benita and Joel.”
“Hello. I’m Wilma Lawson.”
As the stage lurched forward, Wilma saw a sadness in Esther’s eyes. She was probably in her mid-thirties, tall and thin with soft brown hair. Her expressive dark brown eyes and the sadness in them were somewhat hidden by the spectacles she wore. Yet, Wilma thought there was something striking about the woman.
“I’m hungry, Mama,” the boy announced.
“We’ll get something at the next way station, Joel. In the meantime yo
u may have an apple from the sack we brought with us.”
“I’m tired of eating apples, Mama. That’s all you ever give us.”
“Don’t complain, son. Apples are a wonderful food and are very good for you. They’ve been a favorite of mine since I was a child.”
“May I have one, too, Mama?”
“Of course, Benita.”
She handed the children their apples and glanced at Wilma.
Wilma shook her head. “Thank you, anyway.”
“Are you on your way to Settlers Ridge?” Esther put the sack away and looked intently at the young woman on the seat in front of her.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I’m going there, too. I hope it’s a nice town.”
“It is. I was born and raised on a ranch near there.”
“So, are you headed home for a visit or something?”
“Yes.” Wilma didn’t want to go into detail of why she was headed home so she asked, “How about you, Mrs. Venable? Are you going to Settlers Ridge to visit someone?”
“No. I’m taking a job there. I’m a nurse and I’ll be working for a Doctor Sheldon Wagner. Do you know him?”
“Yes, I know Dr. Wagner. He’s a nice man. I’m sure you’ll like working with him.”
“I hope so,” she mumbled and brushed some dust from her gray skirt. “Is it always this dusty and hot in Wyoming?”
“On the prairie it is this time of year.” Wilma smiled. “You’re not from around here are you, Mrs. Venable.”
“We’re from Nashville, North Carolina,” Benita spoke up. “And I want to go back home. I don’t like it here.”
“Mama said we couldn’t go back home,” Joel said.
“But I want to.” Benita puckered her mouth as if she was going to cry.
“Children, please,” Esther said. “You must calm down. I’m sure Miss Lawson doesn’t want to hear you argue.”
Wilma didn’t say anything and Esther went on, saying, “This change has been a shock to all of us. I lost my parents suddenly and we were forced to come west. When I saw Dr. Wagner’s advertisement for a nurse, I decided this is where we should come.”
Amelia's Marriage Page 14
