To Love and to Cherish (7 page)

“Mrs. Spencer, this is my nephew, Steven Smith. Steve, this is Mrs. Laurie Spencer. She's going to buy a full partnership in our ranch. As part of the bargain, she'll cook and clean for us.”

Steve attempted to speak. His lips moved, but no sound came out.

“Steve is nervous around strangers,” Jared said. “We grew up in Texas, in a small town where we knew everybody.”

“I did the same,” Laurie said to Steve, “but I find I like meeting new people.”

“I like meeting you,” Steve managed to say in a reverential voice. “I like it a lot.”

Laurie blushed. “I'm sure you would like meeting some of the young people in Cactus Corner. Maybe you can come with your uncle the next time he comes to town.”

“He's not my real uncle,” Steve said. “He was adopted.”

Jared ruffled Steve's hair. “Adopted or not, I've been your uncle your whole life.”

Steve ducked away from Jared but didn't take his eyes off Laurie.

“Do you work with the cows?” Laurie asked.

“I have to with Jared being locked away in the office all the time.”

“I'll be cooking breakfast and supper,” Laurie told him.

“She'll be cleaning and washing, too,” Jared added. “From now on you'll have to keep your room neat.”

“You can have my room, ma'am,” Steve offered. “I've been aiming to move into the bunkhouse.”

“I won't need anyone's room,” Laurie said. “I'll go back to town each night.”

“You can't do that.”

Laurie reacted as though he'd made an improper suggestion. “Under no circumstances will I stay here. I'm surprised such a possibility would even occur to you.”

Jared hadn't meant for his objection to sound like an order. He certainly didn't mean to suggest anything improper. “Despite the presence of soldiers at the fort, it's not safe for a woman to travel alone at night. You'll have to set out in the dark to get here in time to get breakfast on the table before we head out to work.”

“Then I shall prepare the midday meal instead.”

“We don't usually eat then. Most of the time we're on the range, and it's a waste of time to ride back just to eat.”

“Then I will limit myself to supper.”

“But breakfast is the best meal of the day,” Steve protested. “But not when Odell fixes it.”

“Can't you eat breakfast later?”

“No.”

Laurie thought for a moment. “Suppose I do the washing?”

“I do that,” Steve told her. “I had to learn when Mama got sick.”

“Do you have a suggestion?” she asked Jared.

“I know!” Steve danced with excitement. “I can go home with you. That way you won't have to drive here by yourself.”

“But you would have to get up in the middle of the night to get to my house each morning,” Laurie pointed out.

“I meant I would
stay
at your house,” Steve explained. “That way you'd have somebody with you both ways, and Jared wouldn't have to worry.”

An objection was on Jared's lips, but he swallowed it. He didn't know if Laurie would agree, but there was too much at stake for him to raise any objection that didn't have to do with her safety. Laurie didn't appear to find the idea appealing, but she seemed to be considering it.

“Can't nobody object to somebody as young as me staying in your house,” Steve eagerly buttressed his solution. “It'd be like having your own nephew. I could do stuff like chop wood and haul the heavy stuff.”

The longer Laurie remained silent, the more the tension in the room grew.

“A nice lady like you shouldn't be alone in a house.” Steve watched Laurie intently. “You never know what might happen.”

“Cactus Corner is a small town. I have neighbors close by.”

“They won't do you any good if you're in no position to call them, will they?”

Laurie turned to Steve. “Why are you so willing to stay at my house? You'll have a long ride twice a day.”

Jared thought the boy was going to melt under Laurie's gaze, but he managed to keep his wits about him.

“You're the only chance Jared has to get his Herefords and for me to get some food that's fit to eat. Every bit of money we have is sunk into this ranch. It's got to be successful, or we're liable to be asking you for a job.”

That was not the way Jared would have put the argument, but Laurie hadn't rejected it outright. He could almost hear the arguments going through her mind. Did she want to make such a long drive twice a day? Would she be comfortable with a boy she didn't know sleeping in her home? Was investing in his ranch worth this much trouble? What would family and friends say about her decision?

What would he do if she changed her mind? The ranch wouldn't be profitable if he couldn't change over to Herefords. Limited land meant a limited herd. It would take four hundred longhorns to produce as much meat as two hundred Herefords, and the Herefords would require only half the grass.

But he needed to do more than just make a profit. Steve wasn't cut out to be a rancher. He should go to school back East before deciding what to do with his life. He had to have Laurie's money. Steve's future depended on it. Jared wanted a bigger house in preparation for the day he would marry the girl of his dreams—a shy, upright girl of unimpeachable morals, a girl different from the kind of woman his adopted mother turned out to be. But Laurie was so beautiful he couldn't even picture another woman.

Laurie's voice cut through his abstraction. “I'll do it.”

A smile split Steve's face, and he shouted, “Yippee!”

Jared had been so deep in thought it took a moment for Laurie's words to register. “Are you sure?”

Having made up her mind, Laurie favored him with a smile so glorious he was in danger of losing his ability to think. “I've said for many years that our community needed more new people, particularly people who weren't related to us.”

“We're not moving to town, are we?” Steve asked.

“I'm not, but it looks like you are.”

“I'll just be sleeping there, not moving there, right?”

Steve wasn't the secure, self-confident boy he pretended to be. The humiliation caused by his grandmother's behavior had scarred him as deeply as it had Jared. Jared had insisted Steve join him in Arizona to get him away from the taunting and scorn from people who should have tried to help him.

“There's no reason you can't get to know people while you're there,” Jared told Steve. “You can help Mrs. Spencer with her shopping and running errands.”

Steve wasn't so overcome by Laurie's beauty that he was ready to be part of what he would call
female
doings
. Much to Jared's surprise, Laurie caught that immediately.

“I don't think there'll be much need for shopping or errands. I'll be eating here, and I don't need new clothes to clean and wash. I expect it'll be time to go to bed when we get home, so you probably won't have to chop wood, either.”

Steve looked relieved. “I don't mind chopping wood, ma'am. You can't go to sleep in a cold house.”

“We'll see.” Laurie turned to Jared. “When do you want me to start?”

Steve didn't wait for Jared to answer. “Tomorrow.”

Jared laughed. “We ought to give Mrs. Spencer a few days to make any arrangements she might need before starting. After all, she'll be here virtually all the time.”

“I won't need more than a day or two,” Laurie said. “Since we're going to be partners, I would like you to call me Laurie.”

“How about I call you Miss Laurie?” Steve asked. “My mother would haunt me if I was to call a lady by her first name.”

“Miss Laurie will be fine. I'd hate to be the cause of a haunting. I'm told it's bad for sleeping.”

Jared was relieved to discover Laurie had a sense of humor. He knew undertaking this partnership was a big step for her, but if she could laugh, it would be easier on all of them. Well, maybe not for him. The attraction had been strong from the beginning, but now that he knew he would be seeing her each day, it had leapt to the front of his mind. He had to remember this was a business arrangement. If she even guessed at some of the thoughts in his head, she'd back out.

“I promise you'll have the money when you need it,” Laurie said, “but Norman can't know anything about it. No one can.”

“I'll write down the terms of our agreement so we'll have a firm contract,” Jared told Laurie. “Do you want to show it to a lawyer?”

“No. The only lawyer in Cactus Corner is Norman's father-in-law. I don't want him to know anything about it. There are other people I trust.”

“When do you want to go to the bank to transfer the money?”

She looked uncomfortable. “The money isn't in Norman's bank, but it's somewhere safe. I'll give it to you when it's time to buy the Herefords.”

Now it was his turn to be uneasy. He had no reason to believe she had lied about the money, but he wouldn't feel entirely comfortable until it was deposited in his account. This whole situation was a little too cloak-and-dagger for his peace of mind.

“While I write up our agreement, you and Steve can talk about traveling back and forth.”

There wasn't a lot to put in the agreement and it wasn't complicated, but Jared had difficulty keeping his mind on what he was doing. Knowing Laurie was in the next room, knowing that she would be in the next or the same room for the foreseeable future, played havoc with his concentration. He had to start over twice before he completed a copy without a mistake. He was almost as bad as Steve, and he didn't have youth or inexperience as an excuse.

He was a very sensual man and had been with more than his share of women over the years, but none had affected him as Laurie had. She was like a physical force pulling him toward her. He knew she was aware of this. He just didn't know how she felt about it. He would have to be careful. Until he got the money in his hands, she could back out of the deal and there was nothing he could do about it.

When Jared reentered the parlor, Steve was asking if he could handle the reins. “I wouldn't feel right being driven by a lady.”

“As long as you don't turn me into a ditch, we can share the driving. I'm not fond of horses, but I like to handle the reins myself.”

“Do you have your own horse?”

“Yes, but he's kept at the livery stable. They harness him and bring the buggy to the house.”

“I can do that for you,” Steve said. “No use wasting money.”

“You'll have plenty of time to work out such details.” Jared handed the agreement to Laurie. “See if that's satisfactory. You don't have to decide now. You can bring it with any changes you want when you come to work.”

Laurie read quickly. “It looks fine just as it is, but I'll keep it a little longer in case I think of something else.” She rose. “I should be going. I won't fix breakfast on my first day. I'll need time to settle in first.”

“That's up to you,” Jared said. “If you need more time before you start, let me know. By rights, you don't need to start until you give me the money.” He had struggled with himself over whether to say that, but honesty won out over lust.

“I thought about that, but a full-time housekeeper wouldn't cost you nearly as much as my share of the ranch is worth. I'll start in two days.”

He tried not to show his relief, but Steve wasn't so circumspect.

“Hot damn!” he exclaimed. “Now I won't have to starve.”

Laurie laughed softly, and Jared thought his insides would melt.

“You haven't sampled my cooking yet,” she told Steve.

“Anybody as beautiful as you has to be a great cook.”

It delighted Jared to see Laurie blush at things he felt but wouldn't dare say.

“We'll see. Now I'd better be getting home. I have a lot to do in two days.”

Jared didn't know what that might be, but he hoped nothing would cause her to change her mind. He wasn't sure he could stand the disappointment.

***

“You did what?” Sibyl exclaimed.

Naomi was in complete agreement with her cousin. “You can't possibly do anything that crazy. You have to sit down immediately and write him saying you've changed your mind.”

“I haven't changed my mind, and I'm not going to,” Laurie insisted. “I thought about this a long time.”

“You couldn't have,” Sibyl said. “Noah's only been dead two weeks.”

“I thought about this long before Noah died. Not this exactly, but doing something to escape his control.”

“But you have escaped his control,” Naomi reminded her.

“Norman is even worse. I told you what he said.”

“He'll change his mind after a while,” Sibyl said. “You know it's all about power. Once he feels you'll do what he wants, he'll forget you and start thinking about something else.”

“I don't want him to think I'll do what he wants,” Laurie protested. “All my life I've done what somebody else wanted—first my parents and then Noah. I'm not going to add Norman to the list, and I want everybody to know it.”

“There must be some other way,” Naomi said.

“I'm not going to work in the mercantile. I refuse to work with my father.”

“You could work in the millinery shop with Mae Oliver or in the bakery with Polly Drummond.”

“I don't like to sew, and I don't bake better than any other woman in town.”

“If you insist on working, there must be something you'd like to do.”

“Nothing that would get me a partnership.” She bit her tongue. She hadn't meant to say that. Neither Sibyl nor Naomi knew about the money.

Both cousins pinned her down with their gazes. “What partnership?” Sibyl asked.

“Jared is going to give me a partnership in the ranch for working for him.”

“When did working as a housekeeper start being worth a partnership?”

“When I made deal with Jared that said it would,” Laurie answered back. “I knew you wouldn't like it, but I'm telling you because I want you to know. I'm going to need your support once everybody in town hears about it.”

“But I'll agree with them,” Naomi said.

“Me, too,” Sibyl added. “How could we not?”

“Because I'm your cousin,” Laurie replied. “Because I've been miserably unhappy for years. Because I want to be in control of my life. Because I want to have something of my own that Norman doesn't give me just because he's gotten tired of torturing me and is looking for another victim.”

“You can't be getting much of a partnership just for cooking and cleaning,” Naomi said.

“It doesn't have to be that much,” Laurie said, “as long as it's something Norman can't control.”

“I'm sure if you talk to Mae—”

“I don't want to talk to Mae or anybody else in Cactus Corner. I'm tired of being surrounded by people who think they know more about what's best for me than I do. I even considered moving to Tucson.”

“That's out of the question,” Naomi declared, “but I'd like that better than your being at Jared Smith's ranch all day. You can imagine what people are going to think.”

“Yes, and I'll think less of them for it. I've done nothing in my whole life to warrant such suspicions.”