Rebellion in the Valley (5 page)

She produced the bag of candy, opening it up
to show him the contents.

“And now I owe you a double squeezin’ once I
get cleaned up; thank you,” he told her.

“You’re most welcome. You don’t think I’d
come into town and not say hello, do you? I came by earlier but you
were busy over there,” she pointed.

Gus explained he just got a big order in from
the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company last week.

“That’s great! What are you making for them?”
Hailee asked.

“Well, they want me to make up a whole mess
of parts for the dynamometer. Should keep me busy for some time to
come, because after I’m done with that job, they have more waitin’
for me,” he told her with an air of pride.

Hailee couldn't have been happier for Gus;
jobs for a blacksmith in the area had given out a bit the last time
she and her father were in town and Gus had even given thought to
moving more northwest.

“So you won’t have to move, will you?”

“No, I’m afraid you’ll be stuck with me for a
long while now,” he grinned with a hand stuck in the bag of
jellybeans. “You haven’t told me how long you’re in town for-or
where your Pa’s been hiding, for that matter.”

Hailee explained that the group would be
heading back the following day when an idea struck.

“Gus, why don’t you meet us for dinner
tonight? Richard and Tobias will be there, and you can all get
caught up!”

From the look on his chubby face, she could
see her old pal thought it was a dandy invitation; Gus agreed to
meet up later with the group of his friends-if a slice of Ethel’s
apple pie slipped into the deal somewhere along the way.

P

Richard laughed harder than he had in a long
time; Gus had a way of telling stories that made a fella burst at
the seams!

“Stop!” Richard told him as tears streamed
down his face. “My jaws are achin’ and my sides can’t take any
more!” He laughed rather loudly, even though he strained to keep
his voice down some.

Bruce drained his coffee cup and agreed. “It
has been too long since we did this, Gus. Why don’t you ever come
up into the hills and spend time with us?”

“I sure would like to do that someday, but
it’s gonna have to be awhile now, what with my big contract goin’
with the railroad,” he reminded.

Their food server set the check down near
Bruce’s mug of beer, cleared the table of two plates and nudged
Hailee with her elbow when nobody else was looking.

Hailee glanced up to find the woman winking
at her; the puzzled look on her face caused the server to nod
toward Tobias and grin.

Hailee blushed and turned her head away,
pretending to fasten her bootstrap so nobody would know she
required a moment to regain her composure.

“Well, we have us an early morning ahead, so
I reckon we best tie this visit up,” Richard moaned. “Much as I
hate to admit it, this old rooster is too tired to cluck.”

While the group found their way outside, Gus
stayed behind with Bruce as he payed the bill.

“They make a real nice couple, Bruce; you
must be mighty proud to have a fella with such a good character
comin’ into the family tree,” Gus ribbed him.

Bruce shook his head. “What do you mean?”

Gus chuckled.

“Aw, come on, Bruce! You don’t mean to stand
there and tell me you don’t know!” Gus blurt out.

Again, Bruce shook his head. “What are you
talkin’ about?”

Gus turned around and nodded to the group
standing outside on the wooden sidewalk.

“Tobias. He’s sweet on your Hailee. And
you’re double blind if you can’t see the way she looks back at
him…yeah, sometimes I wish I had me a whole flock of children,” Gus
trailed off in his own thoughts.

Whatever Gus said after that point faded into
the night air, with Bruce giving a nod every then and again when
his old friend said something and laughed.

Sweet on Hailee? Tobias? No - he was the
ranch help and an old family friend, that’s all. Gus was just
reading too much into it, that’s all.

Sometimes people who live and work
together-the way Bruce and his daughter did up on the ranch – form
good friendships with the help. They become real close friends,
that was all. There wasn’t anything else to it.

At least, that’s what Bruce Johnson tried to
convince himself of as he snuggled down under the handmade motel
quilt and leaned over to snuff out the oil lantern.

Chapter 5

W
hile Hailee chattered on about the general store being sold
out of that burgundy yarn and not having any idea about where she
could even begin to look for more in that exact same color, her
voice drifted in and out of the minds of both Bruce and
Tobias.

Occupied deep in their own thoughts, both men
concentrated on the pretty thing sitting between them. The one
thing which brought them together and yet separated them about as
far apart as they could get. And those thoughts had nothing to do
with yarn of any color.

Reminding himself of the biggest mess he had
ever backed into, he scolded himself, thinking of Hailee’s heart
and how it was not some game to be toyed with. how he should have
remembered they would all be returning back to the ranch. Flirting
with her in town and confessing himself to the girl was probably
the dumbest thing he had ever done.

Maybe his life would have been miserable
without Hailee, sure, but if he was to get kicked off the ranch and
hurt that girl, it would be something he would never be able to
live with.

Bruce sat firmly in place on the buckboard
seat, eyes on the team of horses in front of the wagon, unable to
shake the words of Gus out of his head. He could hardly up and ask
either his ranch hand, who also happened to be a good personal
friend, or his daughter, for that matter - if the words Gus spoke
happened to be true.

Bruce wanted - no, needed - to find out if
Tobias honestly had grown sweet on his daughter, but risking the
dignity of such a valued worker wouldn't be worth it. How, exactly,
does a man just come right out and ask a fella if he’d been
thinking romantic thoughts about his daughter? It just wasn’t done,
and especially not between old friends.

How would either one of them handle the
situation if Tobias found no attraction at all to Hailee or the
thought even repelled him? Would Bruce be able to look him in the
eye ever again? Moreover, if Hailee ever discovered her father
invaded her privacy with such questions ...

‘No,’ Bruce told himself. ‘Some things are
better left alone. Time will tell.’

A dizzy feeling at the back of his eye
sockets tugged off to the side when he felt Hailee yanking on his
shirtsleeve with some persistence.

“Daddy, are you okay? You didn’t answer
me.”

He smiled at his daughter as if nothing was
on his mind at all.

“No, I don’t suppose I did at that. Just
paying mind to the team, Honey; I believe they might be on the
brink of quitting on us if we don’t give them a little break. Soon
as we get up Hardscrabble, just a bit beyond the pass, we’ll pull
over.”

He cracked the whips and the horses hurried
the pace, almost as if they understood what he’d decided..

“Now, Darlin’ what were you saying?” he asked
as he turned his attention back to her.

“I was asking you about the trip. Did you
have a nice time while we were in town? You were so busy making
sure the rest of us filled our lists, I was wondering if you were
able to tend to your own.”

“Sure enough,” her father nodded. “I was
fortunate enough to find most of it, anyway. Some of the larger
items will have to be delivered when the next train pulls into
Canon City with more supplies. Most of the shop owners think it
should be within another week or so; they’ll start deliveries
shortly after that. And of course, I’ll have a wait on my fruit
trees. They won’t be delivered for a few more months.”

She thought for a moment before giving one
more report concerning the elusive burgundy yarn. “Do you think my
crochet supplies will be in the next train delivery, Daddy?”

Bruce turned to his daughter.

“Darlin’, how important is that yarn to you,
anyhow? Seems like you’ve been goin’ on about it for some time
now.”

“Oh, Daddy,” she groaned with mock disgust.
“Guess I should have bought all I needed when I first started my
project, but I didn’t think it would be this hard to get more.
People in Westcliffe or Rosita should sell threads and yarns in all
my favorite weights and colors; it sure would help me out, that’s
all I know.”

The crochet mistress snapped her fingers,
jerking Tobias’ head toward her to see what the hub-bub was all
about.

“Maybe we could get that lady down the road
to teach me how to spin my own yarn; I heard she uses the wool from
their sheep.” The sun-blonde girl thought for a couple of seconds
before asking, more to herself than anyone else, “What’s her name
again?”

Tobias interjected. “Are you talkin’ about
the Hoods?”

She snapped her fingers and smiled.

“That’s it! She made a winter scarf and hat
set, mittens and all, for Preacher McDermott last year. And she got
the yarn from her own sheep!”

Hailee sank back into the buckboard seat and
scrunched up her nose like she was thinking about things.

Bruce chuckled and gave a nod at Tobias.

“Uh-oh. We’re in for it now. I know that
look, and it’s gonna cost me more money!” Bruce told him over his
daughter’s head.

Tobias shook his own head and grinned in
agreement.

“Like that girl needs another project,” he
commented. “She’s got herself knee-deep in training Epoenah to walk
backwards and the dogs to sit up straight. She needs another seven
critters to take care of, don’t she, Boss?”

He had to laugh when she looked up at him,
stuck her tongue out, and slugged him in the arm.

“You don’t think Epoenah will ever do it, do
ya?” she asked with her head cocked to the side.

Bruce called the team to a halt.

“Here’s what I think: it’s time for a break;
my back is killin’ me right about now.”

P

Several hours after the sun had gone to rest
over the Red Bone Ranch, four of the most exhausted horses once
again found comfort in their own pens for a good feeding and
watering.

Hailee rubbed a hand up and down the back of
her horse and cuddled her neck.

“I love you,” she cooed into the horse’s
fur.

Tobias was about to hand Hailee a bucket of
feed when he overheard her.

“Aw, cut it out, Hailee. You’re gonna spoil
her even more than you already have,” he teased.

She shook her head and tightened her
hold.

“Nope. I ain’t ever gonna cut it out with
this girl. She’s the best horse I ever owned, Tobias. And
besides…are you jealous?” she teased back.

The truth was, maybe he was just a bit
jealous. Tobias had imagined Hailee whispering those words to him
on a chilly winter’s evening as the couple snuggled up in front of
a popping fire, but he wouldn’t dare let her know about that
now.

His eyes grew as almost large as Epoenah’s
when he realized she’d said those words aloud; his head whipped
around the barn real quick to spy out who else was in there with
them.

“Hailee! You can’t be talkin’ like that! What
if someone hears you-like that man over there?” he asked with a tug
of his thumb.

She glanced. He meant her father.

“He’s bound to figure it out. And besides,
whose business is it, anyhow?”

Duffy walked into the barn with a burlap bag
to hang up before heading to his bunk house and eyeballed the pair
standing there in the darkened barn with the horse; he had
obviously walked in on a private conversation and knew it. The man
almost paused before deciding to go ahead and enter, but his eyes
didn’t leave the couple as he made his way to his tack room. A
smirk made its way to the corners of his mouth, and he looked
satisfied in that smirk.

Tobias shook his head in an attempt to cover
what he was afraid Duffy was bound to figure out-both him and
Bruce.

Knowing he had to think of something real
fast, the man whipped out his rough tone of voice to use with the
pretty girl.

“No, Hailee,” Tobias pretended to scold her,
turning his back on Duffy. “It’s not a good idea to do that.
Epoenah’s dog-tired. You best let her alone for a couple of
days.”

His eyes were bugged out and he had a look on
his face as if he were telling her to roll with it.

“But I’m not a bit tired and I want to ride
just a little while more. I won’t be long.”

It’s all she could come up with at nearly two
in the morning.

Now it was Tobias’ turn to roll his eyes.

Hailee shrugged her shoulders and mouthed an
‘I’m sorry’.

Duffy poked his head out of the tack room,
obvious his ears had been glued to the tack room wall so their
conversation could be overheard.

“Ain’t none of my business, but I’m with
Tobias on this one.”

Tossing her locks over a shoulder in
frustration that her conversation had been cut short, denying her
the courtesy of giving the man a proper goodnight on her own terms,
Hailee huffed her way past Duffy and out the barn doors. On her way
out, she made sure that her gaze hit the tack room in hopes that he
saw her disgust in him.

He saw – and smirked once again.

Stomping a new trail toward the house, the
girl noticed her father leaning over the pigpen. He wasn’t really
doing much else, just standing there.

“Daddy, it’s late. What are you doing?”

The man didn’t look up.

“Thinking about your ma. She would have
enjoyed the trip into town. And she would have made sure that you
got that yarn, by golly.” His voice began to crack, so he cleared
his throat.