Blackstone's Bride (3 page)

“What about?” Abby asked. They all gathered around Tom, who sat down at the table to finish what was left of his dinner.

“I tried to tell him Katie started it, but he said that I mustn’t ever hit girls. No matter what.”

Abby wasn’t sure why that should have surprised her, but it did. “He said that?”

Tom nodded as he ripped off a bite of bread with his teeth. “When I tried to tell him she’s just my sister, he said that was no excuse. She’s still a girl and you never hit girls, not ever.”

“I think I like Uncle Jarrod,” Lily said, grinning.

“Me too,” Katie chimed in.

“Me too,” Abby added, a little surprised.

Tom glared at the three females. “Don’t go gettin’ ideas. Or I won’t do the other thing he said.”

“What was that, Tom?” Abby asked.

“He said we men have to take care of you women ’cause we’re stronger.”

“Did he say anything else?” Abby stifled a smile at the boy’s serious tone. She wondered if it was the same one Jarrod had used.

“Yeah. He said ’cause we are stronger, we can’t hit back.” He glared at his sisters. “Don’t you go takin’ advantage of this.”

“He didn’t raise his hand to you? Not at all?” Abby asked.

“Nope. I thought he was goin’ to. He said he’d be under-standin’ until I knew what was expected. Once I did, he was sure it wouldn’t be necessary. We just have to learn one another’s ways. ‘Just.”

“Adjust?”

“Yeah. That was it.”

Abby was ashamed it had even crossed her mind that Jarrod would strike the boy. It probably wouldn’t have except she sensed Katie’s fear. Again she wondered what these children had been through. Pushing the thought away, she put her hands on her hips and smiled at them. “Didn’t I tell you everything would work out fine?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Tom stuffed the last of his bread into his mouth. Before chewing and swallowing, he said, “Almost forgot.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Tom,” Lily reminded him.

He sent her a look fit to kill, but didn’t say another word until he’d swallowed his food. When he’d washed it down with a drink of milk, he looked at Abby. “He said for me to tell you he’d like to see you in his study.”

“Me?” She asked.

“Yes’m.”

“What could he possibly want to talk to me about?”

“He didn’t say. But he’s waitin’ in there.”

As soon as Abby left the room
, Lily raced to the doorway and watched until she disappeared into the study. She hurriedly turned back to the others. “It’s time for a family meeting.”

“How come?” Oliver wanted to know.

“We have some things to decide.”

“Like what?” Tom asked.

“Like what if we don’t want to stay here with Uncle Jarrod?”

“I like him,” Katie piped up.

“Me too,” Oliver added.

“He didn’t even holler at me for hittin’ Kate,” Tom said defensively.

“I like him too. But we just got here. I’m not saying things won’t work out,” Lily said. “I just think we need to think about what to do if they don’t.”

She motioned them all into the farthest corner of the kitchen, away from the door. Her gaze constantly darted in that direction. “We need to have a plan—just in case.”

“In case what?” Katie asked.

“In case Uncle Jarrod isn’t as nice as we all think.” Lily had been scared when Uncle Jarrod had taken Tom into
the study. Real scared. Like she used to be when Pa had come home, loud and mean. Lily wasn’t sorry when Mama had told her he’d died and was never coming back. She was only sorry he wasn’t the kind of father she would miss. Mama had said that not all men were like him. She also said her brother Jarrod would be good to them. But Lily was in charge of them now. She wasn’t taking any chances. Uncle Jarrod seemed all right, but what if he got mean, like Pa?

“Tell us the plan, Lily,” Oliver said.

She scratched her nose. “I don’t have one yet. You got any ideas, Tom?”

He shook his head. “He seems all right to me, Lil. Maybe we should hold off on this.”

“We met him less than an hour ago. You can’t tell anything yet.” She thought for a minute. “How about this? If we decide we can’t stay here, we’ll run away.”

Katie’s curls swung from side to side and her eyes widened with fear. Katie hadn’t slept the night through since Mama had died. Oliver was the lucky one. He still thought she was coming back.

“But where will we go?” Katie asked, her lips starting to quiver.

“Yeah. Where?” Oliver asked. Then his eyes lit up. “I know. Abby would take care of us.”

Lily smiled and brushed the hair off his forehead. “I bet you’re right. That settles it. If we don’t like it here, we’ll run away to Abby. Agreed?”

“I don’t need anyone to take care of me,” Tom said. “I’ll just run away and be a cowboy.”

“I like Abby,” Katie said, her curls bobbing up and down now. “I agree.”

“Me too,” Oliver said.

“Take your thumb out of your mouth,” Lily ordered her youngest brother. He shook his head and the hair fell into his eyes again.

She glared at him. “Brat. Never mind. We have more important things to do now.”

“What, Lil?”

“Uncle Jarrod wanted to talk to Abby, and I’d bet anything it’s us they’re gonna talk about.”

“I bet you’re right.” Tom’s eyes narrowed. “When I was in there with him, I saw a window that looks out on the back porch. Betcha if we’re real quiet we could stand outside and hear what they’re sayin’.”

Lily smiled at him, then looked at the two younger children. “You two stay here.”

“No,” Katie said stubbornly. “I wanna hear too.”

“Uh-huh,” Oliver added, shaking his head. “Wanna go too.”

Tom met his older sister’s gaze. “If we don’t let ‘em, they’ll tattle for sure.”

“I know.” Lily sighed. She speared first one then the other with a hard look. “Can you be quiet as mouses?”

“Yes,” Katie said, nodding hard.

Oliver nodded.

“All right. Not one word, not one sound out of anyone. Is that clear?” Lily asked.

“Yes,” they all said.

Abby walked into the room and stood in front of Jarrod’s desk. “Tom said you wanted to see me?”

“That’s right.”

He leaned back and laced his fingers together over his stomach as he looked at her. This was the first time he’d ever been alone with Abby. He’d never realized how pretty she was. Maybe because he was usually mad at her for delivering some item he had no use for or papers he didn’t want to see. Or because she sassed him back whenever she had a mind to. He liked that about her, even though he didn’t want to.

By the time he was not much older than Tom, this land had taught him to heed his instincts. Now, his gut told him to keep his distance from Abby. Under the circumstances, he had to admit he was glad of her company. The truth was, he would rather face a rabid wolf than be alone with these four kids.

“Sit down, Abby,” he said, indicating the spindle chair in front of his big desk.

“Thank you,” she said, gracefully lowering herself into the seat. For some women, that was a learned gesture. For Abby it was just naturally feminine, if for no other reason than she was always too busy to practice being a lady. She folded her hands in her lap and looked around the study. “I’ve always liked this room.”

“You’ve seen it?” he asked, surprised. She’d never been inside while he was there.

She nodded. “When Mrs. Blackstone was here, she invited me in for tea every time I delivered something. Once, she took me on a tour of the house.”

“I think that’s why she was always ordering from catalogs.”

“What do you mean?” Wisps of red hair curled around her face and she tucked a strand behind her ear.

Jarrod realized he’d never seen her hair fixed any way but in a braid that hung down her back. It was that way now except for the strands that had escaped. He wondered what her hair would look like without being tied back. Would it be as wild as he thought? Wild and free like the land … That was a dangerous direction for his thoughts. He turned his attention back to Abby’s question.

“Dulcy never adjusted to the isolation of the ranch.”

“Blackstone Ranch is the farthest from town.”

Jarrod knew that better than anyone. “She was trying to bring civilization to her.”

“And every time I came out here, she asked me to stay for a bit. You think she ordered things so that she could have company?”

“That was part of it.” He sure as hell hadn’t been enough for her.

She looked down at her hands, then back at him. “I liked her, Jarrod. I’m sorry I was the one who brought you the divorce papers. But even if I hadn’t, the result would have been the same.”

“I know.”

“You never had children.”

“We wanted them—in the beginning. Then she changed her mind.”

Because she’d changed her mind about him. Their dream of having children died when she left. Now all he had was the ranch. It was all he wanted. He glanced up and saw Abby staring at him, an expression on her face that looked a lot like pity.

He frowned. “That’s over and done with,” he said sharply.

She shifted in her chair. “I didn’t mean to bring up the past. What did you want to see me about?”

“The children.”

One auburn brow rose. “Oh? What does that have to do with me?”

“Do you have any suggestions about what I should do with them?”

“Why would I?”

“You’re a woman.”

“So?”

He clamped his teeth together. She was going to make this difficult. He should have expected as much.

“Just because I’m a woman doesn’t make me a mother. I have never had a child, although I practically raised my younger brother. But I don’t understand why you think that the mere fact that I’m a woman means I would know what to do with four motherless children.”

“They seemed to take to you.”

“I was kind to them. It wasn’t difficult. They’re nice kids. They didn’t know a soul in Hollister, so the stage driver brought them to me. They were frightened. If they took to me, it was because they hadn’t much choice.” She frowned. “All except Tom.”

“What did he do?” Jarrod asked.

“Nothing outright,” she said quickly. “Thanks to you, I think the girls are in no danger from his temper.”

“He told you about our talk.” He smiled in spite of his effort to remain serious.

“Yes. The others were curious about what happened.”

He suspected that she was too. She had tried to intercede for the boy. He had wondered about that. “Did you think I was going to take my belt to him?”

“The thought never crossed my mind,” she said, her gaze dropping to her lap.

“Liar.”

Blue eyes met his. “All right. It’s just that you looked so serious, I wondered what you would do to him.”

“Did I pass the test?”

She grinned. “You did with Lily and Katie.”

“How about with you?” he asked gruffly. For some reason he couldn’t explain, it mattered to him what she thought. His gaze narrowed on her, and her cheeks flushed a becoming pink.

“Why would you care what I think?”

“Because I’d like your help.”

“With what?”

“The children.”

“I’d like to, Jarrod. But Hollister is too far away for me to do much.”

“Yes, you made it clear the ranch is the farthest from town. But they do need looking after.” He thought for a few moments. “Lily is thirteen. That’s old enough to—”

“You can’t do that to her!” Her voice rose and the note of outrage in it was unmistakable.

Jarrod was intrigued. In about ten seconds she’d gone from sympathetic to blazing mad. His words had been the fuse that set her off. Firecracker. The nickname fit like a custom-made pair of boots.

“Why not, Abby?”

“Lily is a child herself. She’s too young to be responsible for three other children and a house. She lost her mother. Don’t take her childhood away from her too.”

A whole range of emotions crossed her face: anger, pain, loss, regret. She’d let it slip that she’d raised her younger brother. He had a feeling she’d been forced into a position of responsibility at a young age. He was sorry about that.
But he suddenly found himself with four children and a ranch to run. What did she expect him to do?

“Abby, I don’t see as I have a choice.”

“There are always choices.”

“Do you have another suggestion?”

She thought for a minute. “You need a wife.”

He winced. Firecrackers were unpredictable, sometimes went off in your hand. And hurt like hell. If she had tried, she couldn’t have picked anything he wanted to talk about less.

“I had one. That was one too many.”

“Sorry,” she said, rubbing her forehead. “I keep bringing up a sore subject.”

“It’s not sore, just closed.”

“But it would be an answer.”

“Not for me.”

He’d put away the hurt right after Dulcy left. He closed that door and he wouldn’t open it again.

“All right. But there’s got to be another solution.” There was a scraping noise out on the porch.

“Did you hear that?” he asked as she looked at the window.

“I thought I heard something,” Abby answered.

He glanced in the same direction. They listened for a few moments, but there was no sound. “I don’t hear anything now.”

“Me either. Must have been the wind.”

“I suppose so. Now, back to the problem at hand. How am I going to manage a ranch this size and raise four kids?”

“You could hire a housekeeper,” she said. “Someone to look after the house and the children.”

A reasonable idea; he’d thought of it himself. There was just one drawback.

“Housekeepers don’t grow on trees in this neck of the woods. How do you propose I find one?” he asked. An idea suddenly occurred to him. Couldn’t hurt to ask. “You interested in the job, Abby?”

“Me?” Surprised, she pressed her hand to her chest and stared at him for a moment. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Dead serious.”

She shook her head. “I already have a job.”

“You seem to like them. Are you sure you won’t—”

“No. My life’s in town.”

“All right, then. Do you have any suggestions? This won’t be easy.”

“No, but it’s not impossible. That’s where I can help. I know almost everyone in town. I’m sure I can find someone suitable for you.”