Noah (10 page)

“Kathryn,” Ingrid greeted her as if she were
the wise matron of the group, though she was the youngest of all of them.

“It’s Kate,” she reminded her politely through
the smile hiding the grit of her teeth.

“Oh, yes. Of course. Kate,” Ingrid corrected as
she held out a basket covered in red and white checked gingham and leaned down
to give her a sort of half hug.

“Thank you.”

“What is Mr. Dixon doing here? Is everything
all right?”

“No. There’s been an accident.”

“Who is it?” Ingrid asked, bringing her white glove-covered
fingers up to her mouth.

“Clifford Thomas,” Kate responded
matter-of-factly.

“Who?” Ingrid asked again.

“A man from Abilene, here on…business.” How
else could she describe his purpose here? She glanced at Cindy who had been the
only person she’d confided in when she’d placed the ad.

“Hi, Kate.” Cindy nodded, waving from the step
below as she handed Kate a slender white paper bag around Ingrid. “Are you all
right? He wasn’t…” Cindy’s question trailed, but Kate understood.

Kate shook her head.

Cindy was the oldest of them at twenty-four and
had been the closest thing Kate’d had to a real friend in town. It had only
been a few months since the girl had married the preacher and their friendship
just hadn’t been the same since. She looked happy, though. That was all that
mattered. The reverend had just been offered a job with a small parish in Montana
and they would be moving soon. Kate had been saddened to hear the news.

She lifted th
e bag and
sniffed the delicious scent rising from its contents.

“Is this what I think it is?” Her tongue
touched her lips in anticipation as she opened the top of the petite package.
The sweet, buttery aroma that arose from the bag in a wave tickled Kate’s nose
with its surprising warmth.

Cindy was a wonderful cook and had recently
discovered the art of candy-making. Several large pieces of warm golden toffee
had been wrapped and placed carefully inside the bag.

“Why, Mrs. Jones,” Kate said excitedly,
deliberately using the woman’s married name, “they look simply delightful.”

Cindy beamed at her, obviously pleased by her
appraisal.

Mary finally joined them, her arms held out
with what Kate guessed was a sweet potato pie covered in a blue and green
striped cloth. By what Nate had said, Kate thought the woman was going to stop
by sometime later in the week or even the next, but Mary had always had a keen
intuition for knowing the precise moment to call.

“I’m so sorry to hear about this Mr. Thomas
person,” Mary said with a frown. “I understand he’s been helping out around the
ranch.”

Kate brushed her hand across her skirt, hoping
to smooth out the wrinkles. She rested Ingrid’s basket on the porch with
Cindy’s toffee on top and took the pie with a gracious smile.

“If you must know…” She hated to tell them the
real reason Mr. Thomas had been there, but they would find out sooner or later
and she figured it would come better from her. “He was here in response to an
advertisement I placed in the newspaper. For a husband,” she finished her
sentence without remorse.

Cindy smiled sympathetically, but the other
two’s eyes opened as wide as saucers and their jaws dropped unbecomingly.

“You what?” Ingrid was the first to recover.
“But, why? You’re so…so…”

“Perfect,” Cindy finished for her.

“Yes, well, of course that’s what I meant.”

Kate recounted her reasons for requesting a
‘mail-order-husband’ and informed them that Noah was at White Willow for the
same reason.

When Cindy looked at her with raised brows,
Kate nodded.

“Excuse me, ladies.” All of a sudden, Noah was
standing there as if just by thinking his name, he would appear.

He climbed the stairs and took the pie from
Kate’s hand, then reached down for the gingham covered basket. He took them
inside the house and returned with two more chairs to add to those already
situated on the porch behind the veranda railing, then handed her the walking
stick.

As the ladies each took a seat, Noah held out
his arm for Kate. She slipped her hand into the open space and, with his help,
hopped to the chair he’d brought out for her. Once she was situated, he
descended the stairs and rejoined the men, still in deep conversation.

“You
must
tell us everything,” Cindy
said with a smile.

It had been a long time since Kate’d had a
woman around, at least a woman her age she could talk to, confide in. She
missed it. Fannie was great, but it wasn’t the same. She told the girls about
everything that had happened, including how she’d damaged her ankle falling
through the railing. They were a perfect audience, ooooing and aaahhing in all
the right places.

“Oh, I nearly forgot.” Ingrid handed her a
sealed letter with a postmark from Montana. “The postmaster asked me to deliver
this to you.”

“Is that from the gentleman who’s been
corresponding with you?” Mary asked excitedly.

Kate hadn’t received a letter from Mason
Everett in a couple of weeks.

“Well, aren’t you going to open it?” Ingrid
coaxed.

Her hands shook as she turned the envelope
over. In their last correspondence he’d mentioned his desire to come to White
Willow and meet her in person, but she’d been hesitant, wanting to know more
about him before taking that leap. She realized now, that the best way to get
to know a person was to talk with them, face to face, to observe how they
interacted with others, to spend time with them.

“I’ll be right back,” she said as she pushed
herself into a standing position and reached for her walking stick.
She
could probably have managed without it, but she liked the feel of it in her
hand, knowing Noah had made it just for her.

“Can I help you?” Cindy asked, pushing her
chair backward in an attempt to stand.

“I’ll be fine. Just give me a moment.” As much
as Kate appreciated everyone’s help, she hated being dependent on other people
and knew the more she did on her own, the more she would be able to do.

With the aid of the giant stick, Kate made it
inside the house and to her bedroom, without incident, where she kept a small box
of Mr. Everett’s letters hidden in the back of the drawer in the night table
next to her bed. She retrieved it, along with the letter opener sitting
adjacent to her pen and stationary.

With a little effort, she tucked the box under
her arm and made her way back out to the veranda where the others sat, chatting
quietly. She set the box on the short tea table, glancing out into the yard.
The intense conversation between the men had apparently been adjourned or they
had taken it elsewhere as she couldn’t see a single one.

“What’s this,” Mary asked, reaching into the
box, pulling out a few letters, and letting them slip back out of her fingers.
“Are all these from him? From
Mason
?” She asked as though using his
given name was something forbidden and wicked.

Kate nodded.

The women all scrambled to retrieve Mr.
Everett’s messages to her. As they read about the man’s life and what he hoped
for in a wife, their hands migrated to their hearts and mouths. No one would
have ever guessed that she was the lone spinster in the group.

“Are you sure Mr. Everett doesn’t have a
chance?” Ingrid asked after reading aloud the last note Kate had received
before today. “He sounds like such a lovely man.”

Cindy and Mary both nodded their heads in
agreement.

Over the last couple of months, Kate had looked
forward to the arrival of each new letter. Mason Everett had seemed like the
perfect man on paper, but the idea of perfect and the real thing—flesh and
blood—were two very different things.

Noah Deardon was the right man for her. And
this ranch.

Finally, she could admit it to herself. Somehow
she’d known it all along, but it hadn’t seemed real. Noah hadn’t seemed real.
He was exactly what she’d dreamed the man who answered her ad would be. Exactly
what she wanted and needed in a husband. While she’d been incapacitated for the
better part of a week, he had put his head down and gotten to work on the
things that needed doing around the place. If it hadn’t been for his expertise
and knowhow, White Willow would be no better off today than it was three months
ago.

He was real. Very real.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Mary asked.

“I’m dying to know what Mr. Perfect has to say
next,” Ingrid added.

“Why Ingrid Fulgrum, you are a happily married
woman,” Cindy playfully chastised.

“Married,” she responded with a raised brow.
“Not dead.”

The three visiting women all laughed.

Kate picked up the last envelope in one hand
and the letter opener in another. Slowly, she sliced open the top, unsure why
she’d been suddenly washed over with apprehension. She placed the sharp metal
instrument down on the table and pulled the linen paper from its case.

With a slow, deep breath, she unfolded the
letter, cleared her throat, and began to read.

Dear Miss Callahan,

I hope my letter finds you in good spirits. Thank
you for your lovely note. I appreciate you opening up your heart to me with the
struggles you are facing on the ranch. I’ll be there within a fortnight. I know
you said to wait, but I feel it necessary to get there in time to help you with
the winter preparations. I look forward to our meeting.

With admiration,

Mason Everett

“A fortnight?” Kate turned over the envelope to
look at the postmark and calculated the days since it was sent. “That’s
tomorrow.” She dropped her hand with the letter down into her lap.

“How exciting,” Mary said, clapping her hands.

How was she going to tell Noah about the
letters? About Mr. Everett?

“What am I going to do?” she asked, looking at
Cindy for answers.

The preacher’s wife scooted her chair closer to
Kate and put a reassuring hand on her knee. “You’ll figure something out.”

Kate caught glimpse of Noah leaving the
bunkhouse with a large leather satchel, heading toward the stables. She sat up
a little taller in her chair to get a better look over the railing. She leaned
forward slightly, squinting her eyes. Her heart thumped in her chest and dread
filled her mind.

He can’t be leaving. Can he?

Not now. Not after she’d realized he was the
one she wanted to stay.

“Excuse me for a moment,” Kate said, not taking
her eyes off of Noah until he disappeared inside the wooden structure.

She stood. Taking the steps one at time, she
made it to the bottom, hobbled across the yard with scarce use of her stick,
and swung the stable door open wide.

“Are you leaving?”

Noah walked into a room of chaos. Beds had been
upended, drawers pulled out of the dressers, and the table, with its several
chairs, had been knocked over. Someone had tossed the bunkhouse, but what had
they been looking for? And had they found it?

He shook his head and breathed out an
exasperated sigh before bending over and picking up the overturned table and
righting the chairs.

Who would’ve had access to the building in the
last few hours? The list wasn’t very long and Noah had his suspicions. He
arranged the mattresses back on their bedframes and as he walked between two of
the beds to return the drawers to their places, the floor beneath him creaked
loudly.

He stepped away from and back onto that section
of the floor, adding a little bounce as he stepped, then dropped to his knees,
feeling for any indication that there may be a hidden chamber beneath the
floor. He discovered a divot in one of the boards and slid his fingers along
the ridge, pulling as he went. The end plank lifted to reveal a large, brown leather
satchel jammed inside of a hollowed out cavern.

Noah glanced over his shoulder to make sure no
other eyes were on him as he lifted a few more boards and pulled the bag from
the concealed cavity in the ground. He threw back the top flap and a dozen paper
bills floated out. He grabbed them, shut the satchel and quickly returned the
floorboards to their secured position.

Levi and Eamon were still out in the stable
preparing for their trip to the newly established rail station in Green
River—loading their saddle bags and securing their tack. Of course, they only
had to ride as far as the rail depot in Laramie and then load their horses and
bags onto the train when it came through.

Too bad the sheriff had left with the
undertaker. But it was a good thing Eamon was a Pinkerton and good at his job.
He would be able to help them get to the bottom of all the recent troubles at
the ranch.

Noah picked up the bag and headed for the door,
scanning the yard for any prying eyes, before venturing out toward the stable.

“Just about done in here,” Levi said as he
looked up in greeting.

Noah set the satchel down on the work table.
“Are we alone?” he asked quietly.

“What are you talking about?” Levi asked, but
with one glance at Noah’s face, his playful smile fell. “Eamon?” he called for
his friend and the man popped his head out from the stall his horse had been
staying in. “Come on out here.” Levi turned back to Noah. “What is it?” he
asked, nodding toward the satchel.

Noah picked it up and turned it on end.

Ching. Ching. Ching.

Gold and silver coins of all shapes and sizes
spilled out onto the table accompanied by hundreds of dollars in paper bills.
Several rolled pieces of parchment and a leather-bound folder also fell to the
counter.

“What is all this?” Eamon asked, an eyebrow
raised at Noah, joining them at the work table.

“I found it hidden under the floorboards in the
bunkhouse. Somebody had ransacked the place looking for it.” He turned to
Eamon. “I thought we might be able to find something that will help us figure
out what is going on around here. It’s too much of a coincidence that Thomas
died this morning and he’s got all this money stashed away.”

Eamon picked up the leather folder and opened
it.

“There must be a dozen papers of cattle
ownership in this folder. And…”

“What?”

“A deed. To White Willow,” he said, pointing at
the ground. “It is signed by Clifford Thomas and…Kate Callahan.”

Levi and Noah exchanged glances.

A nagging feeling sat in the pit of Noah’s
stomach. He just couldn’t believe that she would choose Thomas over him.
Wouldn’t believe it.

“It’s a forgery,” Eamon stated nonchalantly—as
if Noah’s whole world didn’t depend on it.

“How can you tell?” Levi asked while Noah
caught his breath.

“That’s not Kate’s writing.” He pointed at her
signature. “I have seen enough of her lists of supplies she made me pick up in
town to tell you that I know what her scribbling looks like, and that is not
it.” He picked up a chunk of metal from the table. “It wouldn’t be legal anyway
until he had a notary’s stamped seal.” He held up the authentic looking notary
stamp.

Noah unrolled the closest parchment to him.
There, staring back at him, was a picture clear as day of none other than
Clifford Thomas, the word WANTED written in huge letters across the top. He
turned it around to show the others.

“No wonder someone wanted him dead,” Eamon said
loudly. “I knew I’d seen that fella somewhere before. He’s been thieving cattle
all across the west.”

The scratching sound of the stable doors as
they swung wide had Noah scrambling to re-roll the parchment and cover the
money with the oversized satchel.

“Are you leaving?” Kate’s voice had a hint of
anger mixed with confusion.

He spun around to face her.

“Kate,” Noah said, recognizing too late his
informality. “What are you doing out here? Don’t you have guests?”

“Are you leaving?” she demanded again.

“Not unless you’re giving me the boot.” He
tried to appear calm, but he didn’t know what to do with his hands, so he stuck
them firmly into his pockets.

Her face relaxed and she exhaled loudly, her
relief visible.

The sound of the coins scratching against the
table and clanging against each other was hard to miss. Noah closed his eyes.
He didn’t want to keep anything from Kate—especially something that could be
putting her and her entire ranch in danger.

“Listen, Miss Callahan, we need to talk.”

“Yes, we do.” Before he could say another word,
she took a step inside the stable. “A gentleman who has been writing to me for
several weeks has just written to inform me that he is coming to White Willow.”

That was the last thing he had expected her to
say and it took him completely off guard.

Slow down, Deardon
, he told himself as he
struggled to gather his thoughts. And his emotions.

He waited, staring at her for a moment before
he trusted himself enough to speak.

“Thank you for letting me know.” He didn’t want
to wait anymore. Didn’t want to keep wondering if she’d felt the same
connection between them as he had. “Are you interested in him?” He wanted to
smack his forehead against the palm of his hand. “What I mean to ask, is…”

“I thought he was the perfect suitor. He said
all the right things in his letters and had the experience and intelligence
that I was looking for when I first placed the ad.”

“I see.” He swallowed, unsure he wanted to hear
anymore. “Well, I…”

“If you’ll just let me finish,” she said,
reaching out and brushing her fingers against the flesh of his arm.

He wanted so badly to pull her into his arms,
tell her that was where she belonged, and to taste the sweetness of her kiss,
but he rooted his feet to the ground and flexed his jaw in restraint.

“I realized that everything I knew about him
were from words on a page. And everything I know about you is from talking to
you, watching you…being with you.”

“So, what are you saying?” He wanted to be sure
he understood the meaning in her words.

“Are you going to make me say it?” she asked
with a smile.

“Yes.”

“It’s you, Noah Deardon. You are the one I
want. I don’t care who else comes knocking at our door. I’ve made my choice.”

His heart flipped inside.

Our door.

She’d made her choice. He should be jumping up
and down, knowing she would be his, but something was missing.

Love.

Levi cleared his throat.

Noah had almost forgotten that he and Eamon
were still behind him.

“This is great and all, but do you think this
conversation could wait?” Eamon asked from behind him.

Kate’s brows scrunched with concern.

Noah nodded. “Eamon’s right. Look, Kate…”

Her jaw tensed and her chin lifted.

“I have to tell you something. And you’re not
going to like it.”

Kate took a step backward, literally bracing
herself against the stable’s doorframe. She stared at him, the catch-lights in
her eyes wet. He took the two steps that separated them and placed his hands on
her shoulders, looking down into her honey-colored eyes, her emotions as
transparent as glass.

She shook her head as she turned on her heel,
escaping his touch, and started back for the house, faster than he would have
thought her able with a sprained ankle.

“Well,” Levi said in a ‘you’re-such-a-dolt’
sort of way, “go after her.”

“Miss Callahan,” Noah called as he followed her
outside of the stable. “Where are you going?”

She didn’t pause even for a moment, but still
limped as quickly as she could toward the house and the ladies sitting on the
veranda.

“Katie Callahan!” he yelled. “I love you!”

She froze and slowly turned around to face him.
The women on the veranda stood and Noah could hear the crunching of gravel
behind him. They had an audience.

He closed the distance between them in a few
heartbeats, delving his hands into her dark brown tresses, and bracing the back
of her head as he lifted her face to meet his kiss. He didn’t care who watched.
Kate would be his wife as soon as they could get the pastor and he needed her
to know how he felt.

He’d waited long enough and didn’t want
anything standing in the way of their new life together. He deepened the kiss,
dropping his hands so his arms could wrap all the way around her and pull her
in tightly to him. He groaned softly when her hands slid up his chest and around
his neck, her fingers grasping the hair at the back of his neck and holding him
in place as she readily returned his affection.

Well aware of their spectators, Noah broke the
kiss, but did not release his hold around her as he bent down to look into her
eyes. Wet trails lined her face and his gut churned at the thought that he’d
put them there.

“Now that we’ve got that settled, can I talk to
you?”

Kate bit her lip and nodded. “Just let me say
goodbye to the girls.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, then lifted her
into his arms and carried her up the porch steps, setting her down in front of
the table where the ladies awaited with appreciative smiles. Noah was glad
these women seemed like real friends and not like so many of the busy-bodies
he’d encountered back home. The last thing he wanted was for her to be the talk
of the town for a simple kiss.

Who was he kidding? It had been an incredible,
delectable kiss.

Cal had already hitched the carriage the women
had arrived in and had it waiting for them as they descended the stairs with a
wave. Mrs. Jones, the pastor’s wife, hugged Kate tightly and whispered
something in her ear before leaving.

Once the women pulled out of the drive, Noah
leaned down to pick her up again.

“I can walk, you know.”

“I know,” he said as he pulled her back up into
his arms and headed back toward the stable, past Levi and Eamon who both stood
there grinning, the satchel strung over Eamon’s shoulder.

He set Kate down on the table and they
proceeded to tell her everything they had discovered about the rustler from
Abilene.

“So, you think those cattle I saw this morning
are stolen?” she asked.

She took the news surprisingly well.

“I’m afraid so, but just as I promised, we’ll
head out to the east pasture and check that downed fence and the cows, just to
be sure.”

“Should we have Dell ride out and get Nate?”

“No!” All three men said in unison.

“Surely, you don’t think Dell has anything to
do with this? He’s been at White Willow nearly as long as I have.”

“Let’s just keep it between us for now. At
least until we know what we’re up against,” Noah said.