Montana Sky: Snare His Heart (Kindle Worlds Novella) (Loving A Rancher Book 5)

by Caroline Clemmons

  Frances stood behind her father and pulled her younger sister close to her. Addie wondered if the shy child was afraid of anyone but her father.

  Testing her reception, Addie offered the girl her hand. “Why don’t I help you and Daisy into the wagon?”

  Frannie grabbed onto her like a lifeline and Addie scooped her up into the wagon bed then did the same with Daisy. Both girls settled on the bench behind the driver’s seat. Frannie didn’t look up but sat with her hands in her lap. Daisy hopped around and talked to her sister.

  The little girl being withdrawn weighed heavily on Addie. Helping her would be an important task, but how? She’d bought a book on child behavior but she’d already discounted most of what the author had written. She doubted the man had children of his own and probably wasn’t even around them.

  Ethan stared at the girls then at Addie. “Now that the nuptials are over, I’ll head on to my place. Be seeing you now and then.” He climbed on a horse and gave a big wave.

  Addie gave him a small flutter of her hand before he rode down the road.

  Forrest didn’t react to his stepbrother’s departure. Instead, he helped Addie into the wagon.

  Daisy climbed from her seat and draped herself over the back of the front bench. She tapped Addie on the shoulder. “Frannie don’t talk no more. You can’t make her neither. She just looks at you, but I can talk real good. Don’t you think I talk good?”

  Addie couldn’t stop the laughter that bubbled up. “I do and I’m happy to meet you, Frannie and Daisy.”

  Forrest clambered up and snapped the reins. They were on their way to her new home. The two hired hands rode their horses. They waved and were soon far ahead of the wagon.

  ***

  Forrest couldn’t believe his good fortune. Addie was beautiful and her disposition appeared to be pleasant. Danged if she hadn’t looked him square in the eyes as he’d asked in his letter.

  She hadn’t blanched or cried out in fear or looked away when she looked at his scars. Her wide blue eyes had sparkled and shone with pity. No, not pity. Empathy was a better word.

  The nest of rattlers coiled in his stomach since the wire had arrived had quieted with her smile. Maybe this marriage would work. The Good Lord knew he needed help.

  He knew nothing about raising girls. Besides, he couldn’t be in two places at once. The children needed supervision and he had a ranch to run.

  Evie had been a good wife and saw to the dozens of things he hadn’t realized she’d done until she wasn’t there to take care of them. Men raised children without a wife, but he sure didn’t see how he could and do a good job. His children meant too much to him to slack on their care and education.

  He wasn’t asking for or offering love and had made that clear in his letter to the matchmaker. Losing Evie had left a hole in his heart too big for him to ever love again. Certainly, he planned to be a considerate husband and see his spouse had everything she needed that he could afford. Beside him, his new wife’s voice startled him from his reverie.

  He sensed her eyes on him and glanced her way. “I’ve forgotten how far from town your ranch is.”

  “Takes two hours by wagon to the house. Faster by horseback and the men will beat us there by at least an hour.”

  She inhaled deeply. “The air here smells so fresh and clean.”

  He shot her a glance. “You lived in the city?”

  Her smile lightened his mood. “Yes. Atlanta is a lovely place but the air is not as clear as yours and is much more humid.”

  “As of today, Montana’s air is yours, too, Mrs. Clanahan.”

  The comment obviously startled her. “Oh, you’re right. I’m still adjusting to the change in my circumstances.”

  Noah shoved a trunk closer to the wagon bench and climbed onto it as a high seat. “You got to ride on the train. Was it fun?”

  She didn’t appear to mind questions. “My traveling here was an adventure. I’d never ridden the train more than a few towns away to visit an aunt. Sleeping and eating on my trip was new to me.”

  Noah leaned forward. “Did you have to get off and go to a hotel to sleep every night?”

  “I didn’t want to waste the time or the expense. The train keeps going through the night. I slept sitting in my seat but the seats were quite comfortable. The lack of privacy took some getting used to, but I sat by the window and had a nice view of the countryside as we chugged from town to town.”

  Forrest shrugged, but he was ashamed. “Sorry I couldn’t send enough money for a compartment. Frankly, the ticket and cash were all I could afford.”

  “No need to apologize. You sent more than enough money for food. I still have a little left.” Her comment sounded sincere.

  Daisy tapped her again. “You ate on that train? What did you eat? Was it good? Are you gonna cook for us?”

  Her laughter lightened his mood even more. “Daisy, I’ll take your questions in order. Yes, I ate on the train and the food was very good but not as good as homemade. For breakfast, I had oatmeal or eggs. For midday, I had whatever the special was. Usually they served ham or pork chops but on one occasion we had roast beef and on a couple of others we had chicken. At supper, I ate a sandwich. Yes, I’m going to cook for you. What are your favorite foods?”

  His little girl clapped her hands. “Cookies and cake and pie.”

  Addie smiled at him then at Daisy. “I’m not surprised you love sweets. What vegetables do you like best?”

  His youngest daughter’s tiny face scrunched into a displeased look he knew all too well. “I don’t like veg-ables. Sometimes I like potatoes, but no more beans. We have beans too much.”

  She patted his shoulder. “Don’t we, Papa?”

  He exhaled a whoosh, embarrassed by his daughter revealing his kitchen shortcomings. Cooking was one reason he’d needed a wife. “I’m afraid we’ve mostly eaten beans. Whatever you prepare will be better than I can manage. Biscuits and Rowdy help but neither of them cooks any better than I do.”

  “I guess they eat with your family, don’t they?”

  He needed to get that straight right off. “Because I consider them family. They’re good men and saved the ranch when I was laid up. Saved me, too.”

  She nodded as if she approved. “They both seem nice. At first I thought Biscuits was about a hundred, but then when he was closer I realized he’s really only about middle-aged. I guess Rowdy is in his twenties.”

  He relaxed a bit more. She hadn’t appeared to mind cooking for two extra. “Biscuits is forty-four, which is old for a cowboy. Cowboying is a rough life with long days spent outside in all kinds of weather and lots of ways to get injured. Men age quickly. Rowdy’s only twenty-two, but he’s responsible and trustworthy for his age.”

  Daisy tapped Addie again. “Know what? My dolls and Frannie’s all died when Mama did. We had a foon’ral for Mama but not for our dolls. Papa got me a new doll but it’s not like my old one and I don’t like it as much.”

  Forrest slumped on the seat and sent his youngest a resigned glance. “Daisy, I explained the store didn’t have any like the ones you girls had.”

  If he knew where, he’d order dolls just like those they lost to give them at Christmas. He thought how he’d ordered them a new mother. For him, no one could replace Evie.

  Addie smoothed a strand of hair from his daughter’s face. “Daisy, it’s kind of your father to find new dolls for you. What’s your favorite kind of doll?”

  “I like soft ones I can sleep with. Frannie likes pretty ones she sets on a shelf but she had one she slept with that was soft.” Daisy turned to look at her sister. “Ain’t that right, Frannie?”

  Forrest said, “Daisy, don’t say ain’t. You know better.”

  “Sorry, Papa, I forgot.” Daisy tapped Addie on the shoulder. “Do you ever say ain’t?”

  Addie shook her head. “No, dear. My papa didn’t want me to say it either.”

  Daisy’s wide-eyed expression made him smile. “He didn’t? What’s your
papa like? Do you have a mama?”

  “My father is very nice. He’s tall but not quite as tall as your father and he has dark brown hair. My papa smiles a lot in spite of the fact he works awfully hard. My mother is a kind and lovely person with blond hair like mine. I have a sister named Julie who’s my best friend and her hair is more like Noah’s.”

  Daisy tilted her head as if in thought. “I guess Frannie’s my best friend. And Noah. He takes care of me sometimes. ’Course he gets awful bossy.” She sent a glare at her brother.

  Before he could correct Daisy, Addie said, “Big brothers are protective. Don’t you imagine that’s because he cares for you and doesn’t want you to get hurt?”

  “I don’t know.” She went to her brother. “Is that why you’re always telling me what to do?”

  “Sure. I don’t want you to get hurt or lost.” He braced her with his hands. “Sit down so you don’t fall off the wagon.”

  Forrest lost count of the questions Daisy asked Addie. Noah asked a few, too. Addie answered each one cheerfully.

  But, Frannie sat with her hands in her lap and stared blankly at the roadside. Seeing her that way sliced through Forrest’s heart. Before the fire, she’d been cheerful and eager to participate in any activity the family chose.

  Addie must be getting a catch in her back from turning to look at the children because she turned so she faced the front.

  Forrest glanced at her. “How old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “I’m twenty-four.” She chuckled. “You saved me from being an old maid.”

  A beautiful and graceful woman like her? Not a chance. “I suspect there’s more to your story than that. You’re far too pretty to be an old maid unless you chose to be.”

  She lowered her head demurely. Long eyelashes dark for a blond shaded her eyes from view. “Thank you, Forrest.”

  Daisy’s head was near Addie’s. “What’s an old maid?”

  She turned slightly to look Daisy in the face. “An old maid is a woman who never married even though she’s old enough.”

  “But you’re married to Papa, so you can’t be an old maid. Why didn’t you marry before?”

  Forrest reached back and tickled his daughter. “That’s enough questions. Let Addie get used to us before you pester her with more.”

  Addie took out a book from her purse. “I’ve been reading about Montana Territory. This was the only book I could find on short notice and it’s so dry I’m surprised it hasn’t turned to dust.”

  Another good sign she’d work out here. “Nice of you to care. Anything you want to ask?”

  She set the tome on the seat beside her. “Not from this awful book, but I heard you had a terrible winter. Is that true?”

  “Terrible is an understatement. Driest summer on record was followed by the coldest weather ever recorded here. Temperature reached forty degrees below zero in some places. Too many cattle to count froze. People died who either ran out of fuel or got caught away from shelter—one man was found only six feet from his door. This spring, many families pulled out for more moderate climes. Reckon most went to California.”

  “Did you lose a lot of cattle?”

  “Too many. We’d had a meeting of ranchers. I’d taken the advice of neighbors Wyatt Thompson, John Carter, and Thomas Kincaid and his son Preston. I stockpiled hay and oats so I could feed cattle when the snow was too deep for them to find grass. Also, I moved them to where they were sheltered in ravines or up near the barn.”

  “The ground looks flat so I’m surprised you found such places.”

  “You’d think the land was a tabletop all the way to the woods. Here and there are places where long ago creeks cut into the soil to create ravines before the water disappeared. I’m grateful they’re there.”

  “Papa, I gotta go.”

  Forrest reined the horses to a stop and set the brake. “When she says she has to, she means now.” He climbed down.

  Frannie hopped down too.

  “Will you take her, Frannie?” When the girls were holding hands they walked toward bushes beside the trail.

  “Watch for snakes.”

  Addie’s expression grew wary. “I hate you had to add that caution. Are there many snakes here?”

  “Enough to remember to watch for them. Don’t go to the privy at night without a lantern. In fact, we have a lot of wildlife, Addie. Can you shoot a gun?”

  “Y-Yes. My father insisted I bring one with me, a small pistol. He told me to keep it on my person so it’s in my pocket.”

  “Sounds as if I’d like your father. Do you know how to shoot a hunting rifle?”

  “Not at living things. I’ve only ever shot at practice targets but I’m good then.”

  “Same principle except sometimes here the targets are moving toward you.” He touched her hand. “I hope I haven’t frightened you but I wouldn’t want you to leave the house without protection.”

  “I certainly won’t now, especially since I have children to protect.”

  Her statement reassured him she’d keep an eye on the children. The girls came back and Forrest lifted them into the wagon then climbed up himself.

  Daisy pulled at her father’s sleeve. “Can we eat now? I’m hungry. I’ll bet ever’body is.”

  “We’ll be home soon enough and can eat then and share with Biscuits and Rowdy. Settle down now.”

  Chapter Four

  Addie couldn’t stop thinking about needing to carry a gun when outdoors. She’d brought the pistol as protection against men who tried to take advantage on the train. Not only would she have herself to protect, but now she had three charges to watch as well.

  The weight of her responsibility hit her. They were miles from anyone. When Forrest and his two workers were tending cattle or crops, she would be on her own. When she’d agreed—when she’d leapt at the chance—to come here, she’d pictured other houses in the distance where she could go for help. Neighbors whose homes were close enough to walk to for a visit.

  Not one building was in sight. Even with four other people in the wagon, the isolation of her position gnawed at her. How could she be a ranch wife? She’d never even visited a family who lived outside of town. Before she succumbed to panic, she needed a distraction.

  Heart pounding, she searched her surroundings and stopped her gaze at the dark green pines in the distance. “Those are beautiful trees. Did you cut the wood from there for your home?”

  “Over to the northwest.” He gestured up ahead and to the left. “The hills and mountains are further away than they look. When the first house burned we rebuilt better and larger. Like I said, neighbors helped with the house raising.”

  “I look forward to meeting your… um, our neighbors.” She hoped she at least met a nice ranch wife or two to offer advice.

  “We depend on one another yet everyone minds his own business. Sounds contradictory, but isn’t. If a man sees you need help, he offers. If you don’t let anyone know when help’s needed, that’s your fault.”

  “I can understand that having good people living nearby would be important.”

  “Addie, I hate to tell you that nearby is a relative term. In Montana Territory, ranches require a lot of land to be profitable.”

  “How close is your nearest neighbor?”

  “That’d be Ethan and he’s about three miles away if you mean our house to his.”

  Heavens, that was a long ways. “Other than Ethan, who are your other neighbors?”

  “Next closest would be the Murdoch Ranch east of us. They’re only half the distance from town we are. They’ll probably come calling someday soon. If not, we’ll go there. Even some who live far off came to help rebuild after the fire. In summer, most make their way to church at least a few times.”

  “You and your family attend services?”

  “Since the fire I stand at the back, but yeah, we go. Good for the children to see other young ones. Biscuits isn’t much in favor but goes with us. Lately Rowdy’s sweet on the
little gal that helps out at the millinery shop, so he’s always ready to go to town on any excuse.”

  “Before the train ride, I’d no idea population would be so sparse. To me, the closer we came to Sweetwater Springs, the fewer the houses on the landscape.”

  He gestured to a large cairn of rocks beside the road. “Here’s where our land starts. In another mile you’ll see the house and outbuildings.” Pride tinged his voice.

  She wondered what the coming winter would bring. She couldn’t imagine cold like he’d described. How could anything survive? Even indoors, how did people heat a home when the weather outside was so severe?

  “I suppose I’d better get busy sewing warm clothes for the children and making quilts.”

  “That’d sure be nice. People were generous and donated blankets and such but we could use more. The Cobbs surprised me by letting me run up a larger bill than they would have otherwise. I’ve caught up except for twenty dollars.”

  “I take it they’re not usually generous.”

  “They’re both—” He glanced backward where the children were leaning forward to hear. “Later. Little pitchers and all.”

  She nodded. “I understand.”

  Daisy jumped up and down. “There’s our house. See it, Addie? It’s big, isn’t it? I sure like my room. Papa said Frannie and me don’t have to share but we want to now. He said when we’re older we’ll want our own rooms.”

  “That’s an impressive home, Daisy. You and Frannie will have to give me a tour when we get inside and the trunks are unloaded.”

  The little girl glanced over her shoulder then turned back to face forward. “Whatcha got in them trunks anyway, huh? You must have an awful lot of things in there. Do you have anything for children? I sure do like surprises if they’re nice ones.”

  Addie had given up and turned to look at the children. “I might have a nice one or two. I suppose you’ll have to wait until later to find out, though.”

  She was pleased when Frannie looked her way and a spark of interest replaced the blank stare. “When we get home, we’ll need to unload the wagon and have our meal.”