A Heart Renewed (15 page)

Hannah entered the dining hall.  Not much had changed since she left a few months ago to marry Will.  The main room still housed the three tables with long benches on both sides—enough room for about ten men at each table.  The savory smell of the midday meal drew her to the kitchen.  Thankful that her stomach settled on the drive in.

The older, somewhat plump woman hunched over the stove stirring a pot of stew.  Betty’s silver and black streaked hair was pulled back tightly at the base of her neck.  She hummed one of her favorite hymns as she added a dash of salt to the bubbling pot.

“Please tell me you aren’t working by yourself and that you’ve hired some help,” Hannah said, announcing her presence.

“Hannah, dear!”  Betty said, turning in surprise before engulfing her in a warm embrace.  “Let me look at you.  You are positively glowing!  Marriage must agree with you.”

After greeting her friend, she continued, “In all seriousness, haven’t you hired any help yet?”

“Well, there are still so few women here.  And most of them are too busy with their own families to take on a job.  I’m hoping the next wagon train will bring someone.”

The dark circles under Betty’s eyes did not match her happy tone.  There was no doubt that her friend was exhausted and working much too hard.

“Has Paul been helping?”

“Oh, yes, dear.  He barely even goes out to do his mining anymore.  Only once every ten days so he can legally keep it.  He’s out hanging the laundry now.”

“Maybe I should send Rosa to help out for a while?”  If Betty continued to work this hard, she was sure to get sick.

“Oh, no.  I am sure there is far too much work on the ranch for you alone.”

Perhaps Betty was right, she thought, subconsciously placing her hand over her abdomen where her child grew.  It would be too much to handle alone especially as time went on.

“So, how is that husband of yours treating you?” Betty asked, changing the subject.

Hannah sighed.  “He’s wonderful.  I think the most difficult adjustment has been getting used to what it takes to run a ranch.  They were stretched pretty thin while most of the men were driving the cattle to California.  I’m so glad they are back now.”

“Ben stopped by on his way through town yesterday.”  Betty’s expression softened as she let out a gentle sigh.

“Ben?”  Hannah asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Betty’s face flushed as she ignored the question.  Taking a seat across from Hannah at the small table in the kitchen, she said, “You were telling me about Will.”

Shrugging, Hannah decided to let the subject lie for now.  “Will has a horse trainer coming from his hometown in Texas—Mr. Larson.  He should be arriving soon.  We just received word that Will’s sister, Julia, will be with him.”

“So, his sister is coming?  Tell me about her.”

She only knew a few things about Julia.  “Will says she is only seventeen, thirteen years younger than him.  He speaks very fondly of her and I hear their closeness in his tone of voice.  He loves his sister dearly and would do anything to protect her.  I’m afraid we know very little about what prompted her to head west.  Will seems to think something happened with their eldest brother Reuben.  It’ll be nice to meet her when she arrives.”

A noise from the dining hall brought Betty to her feet.  It was Mr. Boggs, one of the miners who boarded there.  He had been elected to the territorial legislature earlier this fall, probably because of his outgoing nature.

“Mrs. Lancaster, I thought you might like to know we have a wagon train headed our way.  They are less than an hour away.” Nodding toward Hannah, he said, “Mrs. An— , I mean Mrs. Colter, nice to see you again.  Is Will about town today?”

“Yes.  He was going to meet with Mr. Vincent from the La Paz Express at the Juniper House.  Then I think he was planning on visiting Gray & Company’s store.”

“Ladies, I shall be off then,” he said, bowing in mock formality.  Hannah giggled at the silly gesture.

Standing, Betty moved towards the stove.  “An hour will put them here right around lunch time.  I best get more food started.”

Remembering how full the dining hall gets when a wagon train arrives, Hannah stood.  “What can I do to help?” 

After Betty discussed what additional food items they would need to prepare, both women set about their tasks.  It was just like all those months ago, working and talking alongside each other.

“Dear, I am so glad that you are happy with Will.”

She thought back to their short romance.  “I guess I knew a good thing when I saw it.”

Both women laughed at this, knowing full well it had been a difficult decision for her to let go of mourning her first husband.

Nervously, Will looked around the lobby of the Juniper House, the hotel that opened earlier in the year.  Though he corresponded with Mr. Vincent about the possibility of selling him horses for the new pony express line, the La Paz Express, he had no idea what the owner looked like.

This opportunity was a good one.  Since the line ran from Prescott to La Paz, Mr. Vincent would need quality horses to make the run across the three hundred some miles of desert.  From Mr. Vincent’s returned correspondence, he learned there was also a second line from La Paz to Los Angeles, finally opening up communication outside of the Arizona Territory.

A thin, short gentleman dressed in a fine black suit caught his attention.

“Will Colter,” he said, holding out his hand to the man he hoped was Mr. Vincent.

“Albert Vincent,” the gentleman responded, craning his head up to make eye contact with him.  A smile played on his lips.  “Shall we find a place to discuss business?”

At Will’s nod, Mr. Vincent led him from the lobby to a table in the dining room.  After a man came by and filled two coffee cups, Mr. Vincent started the conversation.

“I must admit, I was surprised to receive your letter stating that you were breeding and training horses here in the territory.”

“Pleasantly surprised, I hope?”

“Most definitely.  The cost of shipping quality horses from California is astronomical—especially to the more interior locations, such as Prescott.  Between that and the toll roads, it’s a wonder I can make any profit on the La Paz Express line,” Mr. Vincent said, lifting the steaming coffee to his lips.

“From what I was told, you have a need for a large number of horses.  Is that still the case?”

“Yes.  Right now, I need a few here in Prescott rather urgently.  Then there are several way stations on down the line that could use a few more horses.  The Apaches are doing what they can to keep the mail from making it between Prescott and La Paz.  Just last week they decimated all of the horses at one of the more remote way stations.  I’ve already shuffled horses between other stations to cover that part of the line for now but I could use some more.”

Over the next hour, Will and Mr. Vincent finalized the arrangements.

Mr. Vincent had the livery owner, Craig Roundtree, join the tail end of their discussion.  “Craig will handle purchasing the horses for Prescott and the stations between here and Wickenburg based on the instructions I’ve left him.  The rest of the line, I’ll be supplying from California for the time being.  If I’m pleased with the quality of horseflesh, Mr. Colter, we’ll be in touch.”

With that, Mr. Vincent stood and held out his hand.  Will shook it, satisfied with sealing the deal verbally for now.

“Craig will show you the livery and pass on any additional information that may be helpful.  Good day, Mr. Colter.”

“This way,” Craig Roundtree motioned as they stepped onto the busy street.  “Leland Frye is the rider I work with.  He’ll want to give a test run to any horse prior to finalizing the sale.  He’s usually in town every other Wednesday and Thursday before he heads out on the next run.”

After arranging a date and time to bring by one of the horses, Will took his leave.  He had the buyers.  Now all he had to do was build up his breeding and training business with Adam.

If he still hired Larson.  That would all depend on what the real situation was with his sister.  The Adam Larson he knew was an honest young man, extremely gifted with horses.  Yet, since receiving the letter from him and the one from Pace, Will wondered how well he really knew him. 

You already offered him the job.
  The little voice in his head reminded him.  It was right.  He had offered Larson the job and he wouldn’t be on his way here without having accepted the offer.  It was only right to stand by the agreement.  Didn’t mean he had to be happy about it.

As Will walked down Montezuma Street towards Gray & Company’s store, he heard the unmistakable sound of a wagon train rolling into town.  When he turned towards the sound, he saw Mr. Boggs heading towards him.

“Will, there you are!  I saw your wife was here and she mentioned you might be at Gray’s.”

Will shook the miner-turned-politician’s hand.  “How are you, John?”

“Doing well.  I was wondering if anyone had invited you and Mrs. Colter to the governor’s ball next week, on the eighth?  Governor Goodwin wanted to make sure all of the area ranchers and their families were included.”

“This is the first I have heard of it, but I’m sure Hannah would be upset if I declined.”

“Excellent.  We’ll see you at the Governor’s mansion then around six in the evening on the eighth then.”

Seeing the wagon train settlers had stopped at the town plaza, Will decided to visit Gray & Company later.  Knowing Hannah, she was probably helping Betty cook and planning to serve.  He was almost to the dining hall, when one particular wagon caught his attention.  A young man was untying two of the most magnificent horses Will had ever seen.  Then the young woman with him stepped out from the shadow of the wagon, sandy brown curls bouncing with each step.

“Julia!” Will yelled from across the plaza before he fully realized it was his sister.  Covering the distance quickly, any thoughts of anger over the situation fled.  He swallowed her in his giant big brother bear hug, lifting her feet from the ground.  “You’re here!”

“Will.  Oh, I’ve missed you,” she said.  Her excited words did not match the stiffening of her body as he set her down.  Something seemed odd about her reaction.  “Let me look at you.”

Her eyes traveled the length of his body, before she said, “Still tall and tan, huh?”  She giggled.

He grinned.  He wanted so much to pepper her with a thousand questions, but held back, knowing there would be plenty of time for that later.  Remembering that Larson was supposed to be with her, he turned and looked around.

“Will, it’s good to see you,” Adam said, extending his hand.

Will frowned and shook the young man’s hand, squeezing his hand tight.  “Tell me, Larson, what exactly is going on between you and my sister?”

Chapter 11

“William Edward Colter!   What kind of question is that?” Julia scolded, taking in the bone-crushing grip he had on Adam’s hand.  She was surprised he wasn’t grimacing from the pain.

“It’s a reasonable question, given the letter we received from Pace, stating that ‘Adam and Julia Larson’ were on their way.”  Will’s ire was evident.  “How do you explain that?”

Julia forgot how much he looked like Reuben, especially when he was angry.  The darkness in his eyes brought the memory of Reuben’s abuse to the forefront of her mind.  Shivering against the images, she took a deep breath and turned her focus on what Adam was saying.

“Did you receive our letters?”

“I received one from you, wherein you simply said that Julia was with you.  Not Miss Colter.”

“Didn’t you receive my letter?” she asked, trying hard to push away the fearsome memories.

At the curt shake of his head, she began to understand what he was thinking. 
He thinks Adam married me. He has no idea why I am here.
 

Sighing, she looked up to make eye contact.  His golden brown eyes were still dark.  Swallowing the lump in her throat, she said, “Please listen.  Things with Reuben were… I had to leave… It wasn’t safe for me to stay any longer…”  Her voice caught as the emotion trapped her again. 

Another deep breath and she continued, “I really do not want to go into all the details now, but please believe me when I tell you that Adam has been a perfect gentleman.  We have travelled west under the pretense of being siblings.  When we ran into Jethro Pace, we were in the company of a friend that thought we were related and he heard our friend call me
Miss
Larson.  I’m certain that is where the confusion lies.  Adam has done nothing wrong.  He saved my life and protected me.”

Will eyed the young man warily, acting as if he did not fully believe her story.  Crossing his arms, he stood rigidly straight.  She had seen this maneuver more than once.  He was much like their rooster when he puffed his chest out before staking his claim.  He meant to be intimidating.

And Adam fell for it.

“If there had been any other way to see to Miss Colter’s safety, I would have made every effort.  Unfortunately, the circumstances required a hasty departure and I thought the guise was the best way to protect her reputation.”