Blue Moon Promise (14 page)

The coming night terrified her. What if Nate took his father’s request seriously and demanded his husbandly rights? She threw her cloak about her shoulders and went outside.

“Looks like we’re getting back to normal weather.” Nate paused on the porch. “How about we take the buckboard to town? The snow is almost melted, and we’ll need the space to bring our supplies home.”

“Whatever you say.”

Nate went to hitch the horses to the buckboard, and Lucy turned to stare out at the land. Though the day had warmed enough for the snow to melt, the air still held a crisp edge. Would she still be here when spring finally came? She didn’t know whether to pray for that or not. Taking her place as this man’s wife, in all ways, left her trembling.

But she wasn’t a coward. She drew herself up to her full height and marched toward the buckboard. Following behind her, Jed and Eileen were unusually quiet, as if they sensed her mood. Nate tossed Eileen up onto the second seat, and Jed joined her there. Nate’s big hands spanned Lucy’s waist as he lifted her to the seat. His grip held on a moment longer than necessary, and Lucy saw the same trepidation in his eyes that she felt.

She yearned to touch his cheek with her fingertips, but she resisted the impulse. They had much to learn about one another, and she didn’t want to rush anything.

The trip to town was silent. Lucy tensed as the buckboard rattled nearer the cluster of buildings that was Larson. She dreaded the pleasantries she would have to face as Nate’s new wife. Just from looking at their holdings, she guessed the Stantons were a prominent cattle family.

Nate stopped the buckboard in front of the general store. “Ready?”

“About as ready as a chicken is to get its neck wrung off,” Lucy muttered.

Nate grinned. “It won’t be as bad as what you’ve already faced today. Come on, let me introduce you, and you can pick out everything you need.” He jumped out of the wagon and held up his arms for Lucy.

He helped her down. “Jed, collect your little sister and meet us inside. You all need some new clothes, so we might as well get them while we’re here. Get three of whatever you need. Skirts, blouses, a nice dress for Sunday.”

Lucy stopped in her tracks. “I’ll not have you buying us all these things, Mr. Stanton. People will say I married you for your money.”

“That’s pretty accurate, though, isn’t it? If you’d had enough money, you wouldn’t have agreed to my father’s plan. You would have found some other way around it.”

What he said was true. She would have spurned Henry’s offer if she’d had any recourse. “I didn’t want anything for myself. Only to protect the children.”

Nate held up a hand. “I didn’t mean to insult you, Lucy. What’s done is done. I don’t want people thinking I’m not able to take care of my wife and dependents. I’m not poor. So get what you all need or I’ll pick those things out myself.”

“Very well.” The words were hard to say.

“We have to see if we can work this marriage out so we’re not at each other’s throats like Bridget and the wolf. Are you ready to be introduced as my wife?”

Lucy nodded. She drew in a deep breath, pinned a smile in place, then took hold of his arm. Nate led her into the general store, milling with people, mostly women. The familiar scents of cinnamon and mint mingled with leather and perspiration. It smelled just like the general store she frequented back in Indiana, and a wave of homesickness gripped her.

The chatter in the store ceased as they stepped to the middle of the large room crammed with everything from foodstuffs to notions to tools. Every gaze in the room pinned Lucy to the floor. Gathering her courage, she managed to smile as Nate waved his hand.

“While you’re all here, I’d like to introduce you to my wife, Lucy.”

A collective gasp went around the room, and Lucy couldn’t help noticing the way several women turned to look at a tall woman standing near the glass jars of candy. Her thick red hair was caught carelessly in a tail at her neck, and she wore leather boots similar to Nate’s under her heavy skirt. She exuded an animal magnetism that held Lucy’s attention.

At Nate’s words, the woman’s head snapped back as though she’d been slapped. Her deep green eyes, mesmerizing and compelling, looked almost feverish. Hectic spots of red in her cheeks, she held her head high as she stepped forward with an outstretched hand. “I’m Margaret O’Brien, your neighbor to the south. Congratulations, Lucy. You’ve succeeded where so many of us have failed. We thought Nate here would die a bachelor.”

Margaret’s handshake was firm, almost like a man’s. Lucy’s heart sank like an anvil in water. She felt like an incompetent child next to her. No wonder Nate was upset. This woman could have been his partner in every meaning of the word. Lucy would never manage to fill those boots.

“Pleased to meet you,” Lucy choked out.

Margaret raised her gaze to meet Nate’s. “I wish you well, Nate.” Then her composure failed and a hint of pain flickered in her eyes. With a muttered apology, Margaret fled the store with an almost palpable wave of sympathy behind her. Lucy felt small and mean that she had hurt this woman, even unknowingly.

Once the store door slammed, the glares from the other women should have cowed Lucy, but she couldn’t let them. Too much depended on her fitting in here. She managed a smile. “I do hope you’ll feel free to call on us whenever you can. I look forward to learning much about ranching from you.”

Several of the women looked at one another, then one by one they grudgingly welcomed her to the community. After a pause bordering on rudeness, they scuttled out the door, no doubt to find Margaret and commiserate with her. And who could blame them? Lucy was an interloper here.

THIRTEEN
 
 

T
he hem of Margaret’s blue dress disappeared around the corner as Nate walked across the street to the sheriff’s office. His spirits were low after seeing Margaret’s obvious distress. It had taken a lot of strength for her to keep her composure as long as she had.

He frowned. His father had encouraged him to think about Margaret as a possible wife and yet had gone out and brought Lucy home. When Nate had a chance, he was going to ask his father why he had done it. If anyone was to blame for Margaret’s upset, it was his pa.

He heard a familiar voice and went that direction where he found his brother on a bench outside the saloon. Roger’s voice carried on the wind, and he told the men gathered around about the wonders of San Francisco.

Roger saw him and the animation faded from his face. He nodded at Nate. “Looks like my brother has something on his mind. I’ll meet you for poker later.”

The men glanced at Nate, then dispersed back to the saloon and down the street. Nate joined his brother on the bench. “Pa had another spell.”

Roger bolted to his feet. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I hope so. He’s resting now. We need to take as much strain off him as possible.”

Roger sat back down. “He’ll use this to control you. But not me. I’m shoving off.”

“I need you, Rog.”

“No, you don’t, Nate. You have all you want right here. A big spread, a pretty little wife. But it’s not for me. If you need help, hire it. You’re not poor. Pa is already trying to tempt me with a new horse, responsibility on the ranch. But I see through him. When are you going to wake up?”

Roger had always had a chip on his shoulder about being told what to do. This was an old argument. Nate took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. “I guess there’s no more to say, then. When are you leaving?”

“Tomorrow. First thing in the morning.”

“You ever coming back?”

Roger hesitated, then shook his head. “I doubt it. This time was a mistake. Pa hasn’t changed.”

And neither have you
. Nate bit back the words. “I wish you well, brother.” He rose and put his hand on Roger’s shoulder.

Roger stood and embraced him. “I’ll write when I have an address.” He released Nate, then turned and strode toward his horse.

Nate watched him go with a sense of regret and futility. He stepped onto the boardwalk in front of the sheriff’s office and pushed open the door. Sheriff Borland wore a harried expression as he turned from the board where wanted posters hung. He tugged at the pants that drooped low on his hips and straightened when he saw Nate.

Stepping to his battered desk, he pointed to the wooden chair on the other side. “I reckon you’re here about your cattle?” He pulled out his chair and settled into it.

“Mostly my bull. You ask Larson?”

“Yep.” Borland leaned back in his chair and frowned. “He claims you’re harassing him. And I didn’t find any cattle on his property. No bull, either.”

Though he’d expected Larson to deny it, Nate had hoped the sheriff could uncover some clue. It was clear Borland thought Nate was accusing Larson unjustly. “He’s done it before,” Nate said. “Last year when he was working for O’Brien, he rounded up some of my cattle.”

Borland nodded. “He gave the cattle back, though, and apologized. O’Brien said it was an honest mistake.”

Nate didn’t believe it for a minute, but he could tell by the expression on the sheriff’s face that Borland wanted the matter to drop. “What about the man Larson hired? He tried to burn down my barn.”

Borland shrugged. “Larson said he didn’t hire him. That he just saw the fellow by the side of the road and stopped to talk. It’s your word against his.”

Nate stood and headed for the door.

The sheriff called after him. “Where you going?”

“Home. It’s clear I’ll have to protect my property by myself.”

His temper was just simmering under boil when he exited the office into the sunshine. He motioned to Jed, who was waiting for him on the bench outside the general store. When the lad joined him, they headed for the feed store. Nate stopped in the doorway when he saw Margaret’s father inside. Before Nate could backtrack, the man turned and saw him.

Paddy O’Brien’s florid face went redder. His lips flattened and his nostrils flared. “What’s this nonsense I hear about you being married. It’s not true, is it?”

Trapped, Nate stepped into the store. Four other men turned to stare. “It’s true, Paddy. Lucy is yonder at the general store.”

“Who is she? Your pa never said a word about you keeping company with a woman. I just saw him last month, and he asked after Margaret.”

Nate felt Jed’s stare and didn’t want to dishonor Lucy by revealing the truth. “Lucy is from Indiana,” he said finally. “You wouldn’t have met her. This is her brother, Jed.”

O’Brien glanced at Jed and seemed to deflate a bit. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell Margaret.”

“She knows,” Jed blurted out. “She was at the general store.”

O’Brien scowled. “I ’spect dinner will be burned and she’ll be moping around. What did she say?”

Nate did not want to discuss this in front of everyone. Did Margaret’s father have no sense of propriety? “You’ll have to talk to her about it.”

“You should have given us warning,” the older man said. “It wasn’t fair to Margaret. Or to me.”

The man was more worried about his bottom line than his daughter. Nate hadn’t seen this side of him before. His respect for his neighbor went down. But he couldn’t tell O’Brien that he hadn’t had any warning himself. “Sorry. It was a little sudden.”

O’Brien grabbed his bill of sale and headed for the door. “See you around,
neighbor
.” He glared at Nate as he passed.

LUCY WANDERED THE aisles with Eileen’s hand in hers. Eileen fingered some crystal beads that caught the light, and Lucy wished she had the money to purchase them for her sister. The child loved bright, shiny things. Lucy’s arms were already full of articles of clothing. She’d chosen the least expensive prairie dresses for herself and a pale blue dress for Sunday that seemed well made and inexpensive. The same for Eileen. She’d picked dungarees and simple shirts for Jed.

Nate and Jed had gone down to the feed store, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he’d really gone after Margaret. No one could have missed how stricken the woman had been by the news. All Lucy’s earlier hopes of making this marriage work had taken a setback when she’d seen the kind of woman Nate should have married. What had Henry been thinking to match the two of them? They were so different.

She pushed her misgivings aside and perused the tables of fabric and ribbons. She had a few coins of her own, and when Eileen begged for a bit of blue ribbon, she hesitated, longing again to indulge the child. What if she needed it later for something more necessary? She shook her head, then froze in the aisle when she saw a man staring at her. The man had a shock of graying hair that fell across his broad forehead above hazel eyes and an aquiline nose. His eyes widened the longer he stared at her.