Cowboy to the Rescue (11 page)

“So you think Tolley getting his neck broken is helping?”

“Hey—” Tolley now scowled at Nate.

Nate waved a hand to silence him. “Both of you ride out and help Seamus and Wes check the fencing, especially in the south pasture. You know it needs to be checked every day.” The brothers exchanged glowering looks all around. “Now!”

Tolley jumped at his command and hurried to exit the corral.

Rand lifted his hands in surrender. “All right. All right. Ladies.” He tipped his hat to Susanna and Rosamond and sauntered toward the gate. Then he jerked his head toward the horse and gave Nate another smirk. “I’ll leave you to take care of Spike.”

“No.” Nate took a step toward him. “You’ll take care of him and put away this saddle.” He paused as if waiting to see whether Rand would obey him.

Rand glared, then shrugged and moved toward Spike. “Come on, you dumb beast. Back you go to your friends till the big boss here makes time for you in his busy schedule.”

“And about tonight,” Nate said, “just because the Colonel is away, don’t get any ideas about going over to Del Norte with Seamus.”

Spike snorted, and Rand laughed. “That about sums up what I think of that order.”

As he led the horse out of the corral, Nate didn’t respond. Susanna couldn’t help but admire his self-control, even as she failed to comprehend why he and his brothers, especially Rand, seemed to have some sort of rivalry. She and Edward had always gotten along so well, despite his being six years older. A sudden ache to see her dear, protective brother swept through her. All the more reason to go back home.

“Did you ladies finish your tour?” Nate spoke so pleasantly one would never know he’d almost come to blows with his brother.

“Yep.” Rosamond stepped down from the railing. “I guess it’s about time to help Angela fix supper.”

Nate came out of the corral, and the three of them walked toward the house.

“What did you like best, Susanna?”

Hoping to ignite some playful banter, she gave him a saucy smile. “Why, the puppies, of course. I fell in love with one in particular.”

His responding frown sent a shard of worry through her. “Yep, they’re heartbreakers. That’s for sure.” He kicked a stone in his path with unusual force.

Susanna’s heart sank. Had he changed his mind about giving her the puppy? Or had she made a mistake by hinting at his promise while they were in Rosamond’s company?

No matter the cause of his displeasure, one thing seemed apparent. She would not be getting Lazy Daisy for a pet. And that hurt more than she could have imagined.

Chapter Twelve

T
he next morning, Susanna approached the breakfast table with great hesitation. Nate’s pleasant but subdued greeting confirmed her fears. He’d changed when she’d mentioned the puppies, so something had happened between his promise and that moment. From the cheerful way Mrs. Northam and Rosamond greeted her, she knew they were not the cause. It had to be the Colonel. While the three family members carried on their usual morning chitchat, she considered her options. Maybe the mean old bear of a colonel would sell her Lazy Daisy. She’d hand him a solid five-dollar gold piece and enjoy the shock on his face. That would show him she wasn’t a poor little nobody who didn’t even deserve common courtesy.

Having cheered herself, she looked across the table at Nate, trying to think of something clever to cheer him up, too. He chose that second to rise from the table and gather his plate and silver.

“Well, those rooms won’t get finished if I sit here jawing.” Now he gave Susanna a warm smile that held no reservations and punctuated it with a wink. “You ladies have a nice day.”

As disappointed as she was that he was leaving, her heart still skipped pleasantly. Until she shushed it up with a reminder that he was not the Southern gentleman of her dreams, and Four Stones Ranch was not the home she’d always wanted.

“Rosamond, you may use the Singer today.” Mrs. Northam stood and straightened her apron. “Angela and I will clean up the kitchen so you can get started on those shirts right away.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rosamond finished her glass of milk. “Susanna, would you like to help?”

“Indeed, I would. For whom are you making shirts?”

“Just about every man on this ranch.” Rosamond beckoned to her, and they proceeded up the back stairs.

“Oh, my. How many will that be?” The more, the better to Susanna’s way of thinking. She loved to sew and should have brought Mama’s Singer on the trip west. Of course, the horse thieves probably would have stolen or destroyed that, too.

“About eighteen or twenty.” Rosamond headed toward her parents’ bedroom at the far end of the hall. “Give or take a few. Some hands aren’t as reliable as others, so Father and Mother aren’t as eager to provide for them.”

“That makes sense.” She hesitated at the bedroom door, hoping they wouldn’t be sewing in there.

“It’ll take both of us to carry the machine downstairs.” Rosamond’s words set her mind at ease.

“Of course. Just a moment.” After a quick hello to Daddy and reporting the happy news that she would be sewing today, she joined Rosamond in carrying the Singer downstairs to the sunny dining room. The heavy treadle machine, housed in an oak sewing cabinet, gave them more of a challenge than either one had expected. As usual, Susanna knew Mama would be shocked at how strong she had grown over these past months.

After they set the machine in front of the two wide windows, Rosamond stood back and breathed out a hearty, “Whoosh! Next time we’ll get the men to move it.”

Susanna laughed as she tried to catch her breath. “Sounds like a good idea.”

The time had come for her to revise her opinion of Rosamond as a spoiled girl. She was as hardworking as her parents and brothers. Now she sorted through the heavy bolts of fabric Nate had brought over the mountains nestled among and cushioning the boxes of china.

“This green plaid will make a nice shirt for Nate, don’t you think?” Rosamond nodded toward a bolt of bright cotton she’d set on the dining table. “Of course, there’s enough to make shirts for Rand and Tolley, too. What do you think?”

Susanna guessed that her friend was baiting her, but she refused to bite. “I suppose. Do your brothers mind dressing like triplets?”

They both laughed, but Susanna did wonder how the three men—well, one boy and two men—would appreciate having that connection, considering their quarrels.

“They don’t have much choice.” Rosamond sat in front of the Singer and started pumping the treadle to wind thread onto a bobbin. “We girls often run into a twin at church because we can’t let the material go to waste. Oh, here’s Nate now.”

“What about Nate?” As he entered the room, he gave his sister a suspicious frown. “What are you two up to?”

“Oh, nothing.” Rosamond kept her eyes on the machine. “Susanna, would you hold that material up to him and see what you think? If it doesn’t suit him, we’ll use it for the cowpokes. Most of them don’t care what color they wear.”

Susanna did as she was told and was not in the least surprised when Nate’s green eyes lit up like emeralds. This was a good color on him, all right, and her pulse started to race when he gazed down at her. Gracious, what was wrong with her?

“It’ll do.” She set the bolt back on the table and took up the sleeve pattern they had made earlier from newspaper. “Stick out your arm.”

“Yes, ma’am.” As he obeyed, he grinned at her with mischief in those green eyes. All of his reserve had disappeared, so maybe she was wrong about the puppy.

That happy thought swept away her fears. Or was it his increasingly intense gaze? She avoided looking at his eyes and concentrated on measuring the length of his arm. His very muscular arm. Trying not to touch him, she felt her insides shake like aspen leaves in the wind. No sense in denying that he was an attractive man, but she must not let him affect her this way.

“So, Mr. Nate Northam, what have you been up to the past hour?” She kept her tone as light as possible but still could hear her own breathiness. She gave his shoulder a shove so he’d turn his back to her for measuring.

“Like I said at breakfast, working on the addition.” As he turned, he tilted his head toward the double sliding doors he’d just come through. “Just a few more finishing touches, then the carpenter can come in to do the fancy woodwork. That’s going to be one very fine ballroom, not to mention the additional bedrooms upstairs.”

“A ballroom!” Susanna couldn’t have been more surprised. “My, my.” She held a piece of newspaper and marked his size on it with a stubby pencil, then used a tape measure to double-check her work. Gracious, what a broad back. She wrote down the measurements with a shaking hand. “Just imagine having a ballroom way out here in the country.” She laid the paper on the table and took a deep, quiet breath to calm her nerves while she cut it to shape.

“Mother loves to entertain.” Rosamond’s voice held a hint of defensiveness. “Other than barns, nobody has enough room for the whole community to come together, and she didn’t want to leave anyone out of the anniversary party.”

Having intended her teasing remark for Nate, Susanna was appalled that she’d wounded Rosamond. “Well, I think it’s just grand. All the plantation houses back home have ballrooms for entertaining.” She shouldn’t have said that. Daddy wanted her to keep their social prominence a secret. “I attended a ball once.” More than once, of course. Oh, she was making a muddle of it all. “I think I hear Daddy calling.” She left the pattern pieces spread across the table and fled the room, using the back stairs to avoid any possible encounter with the Colonel.

* * *

Nate stared after Susanna until he noticed Rosamond watching him. “Wonder what got into her.” He shrugged for effect before heading for the door.

“Yes. I wonder.” Rosamond’s laughter followed him all the way into the kitchen.

She and Mother were getting a little obnoxious in their subtle teasing about their houseguest. Didn’t they know the Colonel had other marriage plans for him? Not that he’d go along with those plans, even if Susanna weren’t here. But he sure wished they’d all leave him alone to decide what to do with his own life.

One thing he’d decided overnight was that he would keep his promise to Susanna about the puppy. He would tell the Colonel not to pay him next month’s wages in exchange for it. That should impress his father with how serious he was. There would be other litters, but a promise was a promise, no matter what the Colonel thought about either Mr. Anders or Susanna. Nate would have to find out which one she’d fallen for so he could give it to her as a surprise, maybe with a big red bow around its neck.

Other than trying to figure out how she knew so much about Wedgwood china, he hadn’t been too concerned about her past, but that comment about attending a ball rang true. While not one item he’d seen in the prairie schooner indicated Mr. Anders came from money, Nate got the impression they’d once been wealthy, maybe before the war. Of course, Susanna would have been a small child when the war ended, so that didn’t answer his questions about her fine manners. He’d never known a poor person who behaved with such grace nor one with such knowledge of fine china.

He didn’t care whether the Anderses had been poor. He just wanted,
needed,
to know more about them. If he decided to go to war with the Colonel over letting them stay until Mr. Anders healed, he didn’t want any unpleasant surprises about them to come up later. Of course, his father would misunderstand his intentions and assume he was interested in Susanna, a luxury Nate couldn’t afford until he’d settled on his own future. If she turned out not to be what she seemed, that would be the last straw in losing what little respect his father had for him. Not to mention the heartache he would bring upon himself, maybe even Mother and Rosamond. He’d visit Mr. Anders this afternoon and check up on him. If a few personal questions slipped out, all the better.

After dinner, he left Zack to finish painting the ballroom ceiling and made his way upstairs. Last week when he’d brought Susanna and her father to the ranch, he’d been more than willing to surrender his own bedroom to the injured man. Now seeing Mr. Anders’s pale face and sunken cheeks reinforced his determination to keep him here until he regained his strength. He must make certain the Colonel didn’t turn the old man out.

“How’s it going?” Nate kept his tone cheerful as he pulled a chair up beside the bed.

“Can’t complain.” Mr. Anders tried to sit up but fell back with a grimace. “Not much, anyway.” His deep chuckle brought another pained expression.

“Hush, now.” Nate already felt guilty over his plans to interrogate the man, and now he’d caused him pain. “Have Angela and Zack been keeping you comfortable?” The room smelled surprisingly fresh for a sickroom.

“They have indeed.” Gratitude shone from the invalid’s eyes. “I just hope we’re not putting you out too much.”

“Not at all, sir.” Nate waved a dismissive hand. “In fact, Susanna’s been a big help around the house. She’s helped with everything from cooking to sewing, not to mention working in the kitchen garden.”

“That’s good.” The older man gave an approving nod. “She’s like her mama, not wanting to sit idly by while others do the housework.”

Nate scrambled to decipher that comment. Had her mother been able to choose whether or not to perform household chores?

Mr. Anders stared at him. “You want to ask me something?”

Feeling foolish over his suspicions, Nate shrugged. “Nothing in particular.” Maybe Mr. Anders was one of those people a man could talk to with candor. Not like the Colonel, whose anger Nate was always trying to dodge. “Just thought it was about time we got better acquainted. Mind you, I don’t mean to be nosy.”

“Of course not.” Mr. Anders’s doubtful expression belied his words. “I understand your father doesn’t think much of prospectors.”

“Yessir.” Nate appreciated the way this man took the bull by the horns. “And if Susanna told you that, she probably told you it’s because of the freight drivers who left our cargo at Pueblo so they could go off prospecting.” He didn’t need to add that the Colonel didn’t want prospectors to settle in the community because of their generally unreliable character.

“She did. That was downright dishonest of those men, especially if your father paid them in advance.” He pressed a hand against his ribs and took a deep, raspy breath. “But I can’t say I’m sorry they did quit the job. No telling how long we would have been up on that pass without help if you hadn’t come along.”

Nate chuckled. “And I wouldn’t have come along if I hadn’t gone to Pueblo. Yessir, I’ve thought of that.” Probably wouldn’t have met Susanna, either, an idea he didn’t care to dwell on because it made his heart sink clear down to his belly. He really needed to stop that nonsense.

“Then rest your mind about it, Nate. It was God’s plan all along.” Mr. Anders stared at the wall, but didn’t really focus. “The Lord’s been leading me across the entire continent, so I have to trust that the robbery was part of His plan.” His eyes closed briefly, then he gazed at Nate again. “About my prospecting, I’ll know what I’m looking for when I find it.” His eyes briefly flared with some emotion Nate couldn’t define. Rage? Lust for riches? It sure was different from Susanna’s detached viewing of the china.

Mr. Anders’s face softened into a more peaceful expression, so much so that Nate wondered if he’d been mistaken. “After I find it, I’ll go home.” The old man’s voice grew even raspier as he closed his eyes again and shuddered, as if the warm breeze coming through the window had chilled him.

“Yessir.” Worry for Mr. Anders threaded through Nate, so he tugged the patchwork quilt up to the old man’s chin. Lying still like this could give the man ague, so he’d better consult with Angela or Charlie Williams about the situation. “I’m praying you’ll be back on your feet soon so you can start your search.”

Not that he was in a hurry for them to leave. After this short talk, Nate felt certain Mr. Anders was a man of integrity, whatever his past, just as he was a man of faith. If he needed to restore his lost fortune for his family’s sake, then that made him all the more admirable. And it made Nate all the more determined to get closer to Susanna before she left Four Stones.

Giving her the puppy would be just the beginning of what he would do for her.