A Love of Her Own (35 page)

“Wes, if you’ll give me a hand, I’m pretty sure I can do this,” Jane said.

April walked up and stood behind them to watch.

“Billy, hold on to Cinnamon’s reins to keep her steady.” Wes reached up to lift Jane’s right leg across the horse’s back, and she half slid down the side of the horse. She stood with wobbly legs, then held out her hand to take Billy’s while still holding on to Wes with her other hand.

Billy stared in disbelief as she took a small step in the direction of the blanket. “Jane! You’re moving your legs!”

Jane took another tentative step, her face beaming pink. “I can walk some, Billy. I’m just shaky.”

“You’re doing fine, Jane. This is wonderful!” April clapped her hands.

“But why didn’t you tell me?” Billy’s look was mystified. “How’d this happen?”

Jane took a few more steps, and her walking became steadier. “I wanted to surprise you.”

“We think it’s a combination of passing time and the horseback riding somehow,” Wes added.

“Well, whatever it is, I’m mighty happy for you! Now you’ll be able to attend school with the rest of us instead of doing your lessons at home.”

After they tied their mounts close enough to the stream for drinking, they settled down on the blanket. April reached inside the basket and found roast beef sandwiches and McIntosh apples. Wes had even remembered to pack napkins. She handed the sandwiches around, and Billy was nearly finished with his before she took her second bite.

“It’s a good thing I packed two for us, Billy. I think you have a hollow leg.” Wes laughed and the rest joined in.

“Lenora is a good cook, but I can always eat,” Billy said, patting his stomach.

They ate the shiny red apples for dessert and enjoyed the pleasant fall weather while chatting. Wes asked April if she’d like to walk along the creek, and when she said yes, he pulled her up from the blanket with both hands. Billy lazed back with his arms under his head while Jane propped up on one arm talking with him.

When they were out of earshot, April said, “Thank you for doing this today. Jane seems a changed girl, and I think she and Billy will become great friends.”

“Like us?” Wes asked, his arm firmly planted around April’s waist.

“Yes, like us. I have a good feeling about them. This has been good for Jane and no doubt for Cynthia.” They continued walking until they got to the water’s edge and found a seat on the fallen trunk of a ponderosa pine. April tucked her arms around her legs, and Wes scooted closer to her. He smelled of shaving cream and the outdoors, and his leather vest gave off a pleasant smell that was becoming familiar to her. His spurs gave a light jingle at the slightest movement. She loved the manliness of him all the way down to the tops of his leather boots.

Wes lifted her hair and took a deep breath. “You smell so good. If you were a glass of water, I’d drink you up.”

“Wes, you’re getting to be a poet, I declare.” April felt heat rising in her cheeks.

“I’m not totally uneducated, you know,” he said, still playing with her hair.

“You never told me so.” It seemed there was another side to him that she didn’t know, and she was secretly pleased that he may have had more schooling than she’d first thought. “It hadn’t come up yet. I attended Montana State College of Agriculture in Bozeman, and I have a degree in agriculture, but I do minimal farming. I’d rather be handling horses. I never know how much money I’ll make from month to month with farming.” He paused and gave her a level stare. “I may have an order coming up soon for several horses for a rancher in Bozeman, but the deal’s not firm yet. Do you think you could be happy with that kind of uncertainty?”

“I think as long as we’re doing what we like together, I can be.” She reached over and clasped his hand. “I’ll have some of my own money from my father. Who knows, perhaps we could open up a business. I think there’s a need for a good leather or tack shop here, instead of always ordering from a catalog. Maybe things made by hand and such.”

“You
have
done some thinking.” He squeezed her hand hard, then gave it a swift kiss. His eyes smoldered with love for her, and April’s heart did a somersault.

Was she doing the right thing? She couldn’t wait to talk to Josh. She couldn’t believe she was already considering moving here. “I wired my maid Tilly to see if she’d come to Montana. That’s how serious I am.” She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, but he grabbed her arms.

“Oh no you don’t . . . you can’t tease me that way and get away with it. I need the real thing.”

Wes placed his hand behind her neck beneath her silky hair, pulled her closer, and kissed her pouting mouth. He never knew that a kiss could taste so good. A flash of desire like a fire hit him in his belly, surprising him. He never wanted to let her out of his sight. She returned his kiss with a passionate one of her own that only ignited his craving for her. Wes pulled back, touched his fingertip to the end of her nose, and drew it down to her mouth, where she kissed it tenderly.

“Ever since you rode into town dressed like a man, and when I saw you at the wedding in that crumpled yellow gown, I knew there was something different about you. You’re feisty, determined, and sometimes downright exasperating, but you are the woman I want to share my life with.”

“I may make you wish you could take that back in a few months,” she teased, then batted her eyelids.

“Sweet thing, you will be a pleasure to fight with.”

“I don’t—”

Wes crushed her mouth with his to silence her protestations and felt her ragged breathing. “No need to say more.” His hands were trembling, and he decided that he’d better stop now, or heaven help him, he wouldn’t be responsible for what he might do. “It’s time to go.” He puffed out a breath of air. “The kids will wonder what happened to us.”

He searched her dreamy blue irises, and she huffed in exasperation. “You’re right, but it’s so nice being in your arms. I never want to leave them.” She pulled away and stood up, her chest heaving in and out, and Wes thought she couldn’t look any more desirable than she did at that moment.

“I feel the same way, but one of us needs to stay in control, or Miss Margaret or Morgan will skin us alive. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to face either of them . . . or Josh.” He took her hand and led her back to the picnic area, his heart full of this incredibly beautiful woman from Colorado. She might drive him crazy sometimes, but that was worth the risk to have her enduring love.

27

Miss Margaret sat with her chair pulled up close to the window so she could see outside. She wanted to be on the front porch in her rocker, but earlier there had been a sharp wind, and though it had died to a gentle breeze, she still found it chilly. Better to be inside with a fire in the grate, she decided. She’d been making notes in the journal she kept with her Bible, and she penciled a big check mark of praise next to Wes’s name.
God, You’re always
faithful to me. All that I have and all that I need has come from
You, Lord. Thank You for Your tremendous love and sacrifice.
As soon as her quick prayer was offered, Margaret felt a warmth flood her heart.

She closed the leather journal, recalling her conversation with April, whom she’d grown to love. She hoped that she’d been able to instill more confidence in April. She should be returning any moment from her trip out to the Rusty Spur, and Margaret wanted to know how things went. Cynthia had confided Jane’s lie to her when she had come to work yesterday. Over the last few months, Cynthia and Margaret had prayed about Jane’s healing together. And indeed, that prayer had been answered. As Margaret had pointed out to Cynthia, Jane’s truth was a type of healing. Now, the two of them knew the truth, and the truth would set them free. Already she noticed that Cynthia stepped lighter, and her shoulders weren’t hunched over from the burden of caring for a crippled child alone. Margaret hadn’t said anything to a soul about Jane being able to walk, but she was sure that Jane would say something today.

She saw April and Sassy appear next to the side of the house, heading to the barn. She’d go make a pot of hot tea and slice some pound cake for a little snack before supper. Louise and Natalie should be through with their chores by now. She rapped on the Wingates’ door with her cane to invite them to join her as well, but there was no answer. May and Willard had spent the day with their daughter, but she guessed they hadn’t come back yet. So she moved on to the kitchen to make the tea.

Delicious smells of beef stew tickled her nostrils. Margaret loved the smell of supper cooking in the afternoon, permeating her household with its homey aroma when guests arrived. Natalie, in her apron, her hair tied back with a kerchief, turned from the sink with soap suds on her hands as her mother entered the kitchen. “I thought you were resting.”

“I was, but I have a chill and I thought a cup of hot tea would chase it away. I saw April ride up and head to the barn, so maybe she can join us,” she answered, taking a knife out of the drawer to slice the cake. “Where’s Louise?”

“Here I am, Mother,” Louise answered as she pushed through the swinging doors to the kitchen. “I’m ready for a break. I’ve just set the table for supper. Oh, and I invited Mark too, if that’s okay?”

Margaret paused with the knife and looked up with a smile at her oldest daughter. “Louise, you know that’s fine with me. Dr. Mark would make a wonderful husband.”

“Not so fast, Mother, we just started seeing each other.” Louise’s face mirrored her excitement, and she stepped up to kiss her mother on the cheek. “But he is wonderful, isn’t he?” She twirled around, her skirts swishing like a schoolgirl’s.

Natalie leaned her head back and laughed at her sister. “You care for the nice doctor a lot, don’t you?”

Louise popped her with her dish towel. “Oh, shush, it’ll be you soon enough, my dear sister.”

“Could one of you carry this tray to the parlor for me?” Margaret asked. The happy banter between her daughters filled her with joy, especially where Louise was concerned. April had burst in like a tornado and stirred things up a bit, and even though Natalie had lost out on Wes, Margaret knew there was someone, somewhere, for her daughter.

She followed Louise out to the parlor as her daughter balanced the tray of tea and cake.

Natalie called out, “I’ll be right there as soon I dry my hands.”

April was just entering the hallway, looking flushed and happy from her afternoon outing. Margaret caught her breath.
She has
no idea how really beautiful she is with the first blush of love on
her face.
“April, as you can see, we are about to have afternoon tea. Would you care to join us?” She waited for April’s response and leaned heavily on her cane.

“Let me freshen up a bit and change out of these jeans, and I’ll be right down.” April stopped with one foot on the bottom stair. “I’m sure I smell like horses and the barnyard, and I don’t want people talking about me behind my back again,” she teased. She posed in a hoity-toity fashion and held her nose between her thumb and forefinger, her pinky finger sticking out to the side.

Louise giggled at her. “I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that anymore. People are getting used to you wearing britches and riding your horse.”

“Mmm . . . Wes likes the jeans, but he seems to love me in a dress, so you may be seeing more of me like that.”

“You mean you’re willing to compromise? I’m shocked!” Louise dramatically clasped her hand over her forehead.

April poked her tongue out at her friend. “I’ll be down in five minutes.”

Margaret just shook her head at the two of them and nudged Louise to move ahead. “Best hurry. The tea won’t be hot or fit to drink if we stand here jawin’ all day!”

It was a delicious feeling, sinking down beneath her quilt after such a long, sweet day. April’s thoughts tumbled around in her head. So many things had happened since she’d left Steamboat Springs. Some good, some not so good, but overall, she was very happy she had come for Josh’s wedding. April had filled in Miss Margaret and her daughters on Jane’s slow but definite recovery, while omitting the truth about Jane’s lying.

Sunday they would attend the mayor’s meeting at noon in the square.
Maybe Josh will return next week. He might be surprised
to see Wes and me together
. April laughed to herself.
It will be
delicious to see the look on his face.
Knowing that he never knew what to expect from his little sister made life so much more fun for April.

When fuzziness crept over her eyes into that place of neither awake nor asleep, all April could see was the strong, chiseled jaw of Wes’s profile as they rode side by side today, and then she could feel the taste of his lips on hers . . .