Blue Moon Promise (5 page)

“Yes, ma’am. I always do.” But her conscience stirred. Did she really? Or did she tend to rush into things and then ask God to bless her decisions?

She ate her dinner and said good night, then made her way through the car to her sleeping quarters. She first peeked in on her brother and sister. Jed’s red hair fell across his forehead, and his freckles stood out on his pale skin. A wave of love for him choked her. He’d had a rough year. He and Papa had been so close. The trauma of seeing their father die in a runaway buggy had scarred him. He’d been in the buggy as well but had been thrown clear before the horses plunged with their father into a swollen river. In one crushing blow, they’d been orphaned. Papa’s body hadn’t been recovered for three days. Jed hadn’t been the same since.

She dropped the curtain back into place and entered her own compartment. A lingering scent of hair tonic hung in the air. Lucy had smelled it before. It was the same scent she’d noticed on the intruder last night. She froze and stared at the berth. Hadn’t the covers been straight and taut when she was last in here? Now the blanket had been pulled back.

She pulled her valise from under the berth. She was sure it had been rifled through. Who would search her belongings? She sniffed the cologne again and wished she could talk to the kind policeman again. It was surely a common hair tonic and she was jumping to conclusions.

She exited the compartment and peered in on Jed and Eileen. They still slept. She couldn’t tell if anything had been disturbed and she didn’t smell the cologne. She rubbed her head and tried to puzzle it out. She went back to her compartment and gathered her pillow and a blanket, then settled on the floor by Jed and Eileen. If anyone came, she intended to stop him from harming her siblings.

FOUR
 
 

N
ate pushed his broad-rimmed Stetson away from his forehead and leaned back in his saddle. He’d lost ten head of cattle from the frigid cold in the past twenty-four hours. He couldn’t remember ever enduring cold like this, not even in February. And snow. The most they usually got was an inch or two that quickly melted away, not six inches like that covering the ground now.

He squinted toward town. Pa should have been home two days ago. A dart of worry kept Nate on edge. He hoped this sudden and unusual snowstorm hadn’t trapped Pa somewhere. Turning Whisper’s head, he plodded toward the house. Smoke curled from the chimney, and his mouth watered at the aroma of steak that blew in with the smoke. It had been a long time since breakfast. He would be glad when Pa got home. Their cook, Percy, didn’t talk much. Nate rode into the barn and curried his horse before heading to the house.

Not for the first time, he wondered what it would be like to come home to a wife and family. Someone strong and knowledgeable who would discuss cattle and ranching with him. Maybe someone like Margaret O’Brien. She was almost as tall as Nate was himself and could rope a calf nearly as well too. She was attractive enough, but she was more like a sister than a lover.

He bounded up the steps and had his hand on the door when he heard the rattle and clank of a wagon coming across the snow-covered meadow. He turned and shaded his eyes with one hand while he studied the approaching convoy. Three wagons. It had to be Pa with provisions. His spirits lifted.

As the wagons neared, he recognized his father’s gray head. Nate lifted a hand in greeting and went to meet him. Then he saw the young woman clinging desperately to the wagon seat beside his father. Her youth and beauty seemed to bring sudden color to a blank landscape. She peeked at him from under her bonnet, then stared down at her hands.

He stared harder. What had Pa done? Nate remembered his father’s ramblings about the place needing a woman’s touch.
“One of us needs to get married.”
That was one of the things Pa had gone on and on about. He wouldn’t have. Would he? But this woman was young enough to be his daughter.

Nate eyed her. Could he have hired a housekeeper? Studying the tiny woman, Nate couldn’t see it. Pa wouldn’t have hired someone so puny. Nate gritted his teeth. The little wench probably took one look at Pa and saw him for a rich sucker. And if that fancy blue dress was any indication, she’d expect him to lavish pretty dresses and fripperies on her. Well, if she thought she was getting any money out of this ranch, she was sadly mistaken.

Nate waited for his father to step down from the wagon and explain. Maybe he hadn’t married her yet. Maybe there would be a chance to talk him out of such a fool notion. His thoughts were interrupted when his father enveloped him in a bear hug. Nate tried to return the embrace, but his agitation kept his shoulders stiff.

His pa released him. “Boy, you did good while I was gone. We passed the south pasture and saw the herd there. They look fat and sassy.” He jabbed a thumb back toward the wagon. “Help Lucy down while I get her luggage.”

He didn’t wait for an answer, but then, he never did. Nate suppressed a sigh and offered his hand to the young woman. Lucy, his father called her. She was a cute little thing. Tiny, barely five feet if he had to hazard a guess, with huge blue eyes. A wisp of fine blond hair had escaped her bonnet and lay across the delicate pink of her cheek.

She took his arm and nearly fell when she tried to step down. He caught her in his arms, and the contact sent a shock of awareness through him. He hastily set her on her feet and backed away. “Miss Lucy.” He tipped his hat.

She stared at him with those enormous blue eyes. He’d never seen eyes so big and blue. A man could get lost in those eyes. No wonder she’d snared his pa.

He heard an excited shout and turned to look at the last wagon. A boy of about twelve, his cheeks red from the cold, came bounding through the snow. His amazingly red hair stood up on end, and he carried a little girl who looked like a tiny version of Lucy.

“Did you see how big everything looks out here, Lucy?” He turned his gaze on Nate. “How far’s the nearest neighbors, Mr. Stanton?”

Nate softened a bit at the lad’s exuberance. “Nearest would be the O’Briens, about ten miles away.”

Lucy gave a timid smile. “Uh, Mr. Stanton, this is my brother, Jed, and my sister, Eileen.”

Nate shook the boy’s hand brusquely and nodded to the little girl, then turned to lead the way to the house. That boy might be her brother, but he’d bet the little girl was her own daughter. Percy and Rusty, the foreman, had come to help with the provisions and the luggage, and he followed them into the house. Lucy had a bit of difficulty walking through the heavy snowdrifts. What had Pa been thinking? If he wanted a wife, why hadn’t he picked one who had some gumption? This pale lily wouldn’t last long out here.

He took her elbow and helped her along near the house where the drift went clear up on the porch. She shot him a grateful look from those amazing eyes again, but he was much too cautious to be caught in her little web of deceit.

In the parlor, Lucy sighed and sank into the rocker near the fire. She held out her arms for Eileen and took off the little girl’s coat, then spread it out in front of the fireplace. Lucy set Eileen on her feet, then stood to take off her own cloak, bonnet, and mittens. When she pulled her small, white hands from the mittens, his heart sank when he saw the plain gold band on her left hand.

She’ d gotten Pa to marry her
.

Nate’s eyes met hers, and he saw the fear in them again. He stared her down with a contemptuous curl to his lips. She paled and looked away.

His father came into the room, rubbing his hands. “I’m famished. We haven’t eaten anything since breakfast. Let’s eat while it’s hot.”

“Aren’t you going to introduce me properly?” Nate asked. “Is Miss Lucy your new housekeeper?”

“There’s time for all that after lunch.” His father avoided Nate’s gaze. “After we eat, we’ll have some coffee here in the parlor by the fire, and I’ll explain everything.”

Lunch was a stilted affair. Nate saw the glances Jed kept tossing his way. Lucy grew more strained and silent. Her knuckles were white from gripping her fork, and she kept her eyes trained on her plate throughout the entire meal. His father tried to draw her into the discussion several times, but she wouldn’t look at him and answered in the briefest of words.

Finally, his father pushed back his chair and gave a satisfied sigh. “I missed that good grub of yours, Percy. Now how about some of your famous coffee? They just don’t know how to make the stuff in the city. Bring it to the parlor when it’s ready.” He stood and led the way down the hall.

Lucy pleated her dress nervously. “Could I put Eileen to bed? She’s exhausted.”

“Of course, dear girl.” His father turned to Nate. “Show her to the little guest room, son. The coffee should be ready by the time you get back.”

Nate had been watching for an opportunity to talk to her alone all evening. The candle in his hand cast a flickering light ahead of them as he led her up the stairs and down the hall. He pushed open the door to the smallest guest room. Lucy slipped past him into the room. A blue quilt his mother had made covered the bed, and a small cot was pushed up against the wall.

“I’ll be outside the door. Let me know when you’re ready to go back to the parlor.” He closed the door and leaned against the wall. The soothing murmur of her voice to the little girl sounded motherly. He heard her singing in a low, sweet voice for several minutes, then the door opened and Lucy stepped into the hall.

She eased the door shut. “She’s asleep.”

He took a step closer and lowered his voice. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Lucy lifted her chin toward him. “I don’t think you do, Mr. Stanton. You’re not going to be happy about it.”

The certainty in her voice alarmed him. “I’ve seen your kind blow through here before. You’re just out for all the money you can bleed out of Pa, but you’ll have to go through me first,” he said, gritting his teeth. “So why don’t you just pack your things and get out before you get hurt?”

Lucy smiled wearily. “It’s a bit late for that.”

“You can’t mean you actually care for Pa. He’s an old man.”

“It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, I think it is.” He spun around and stormed out of the room. He hadn’t handled that well. She’d stayed too calm, as if she knew something he didn’t. Had Pa already given her money?

Moments later Lucy joined them in the parlor. Nate stood, staring morosely out the window at the driving snow. He turned when she entered the room and glared at her. He thought he saw tears shimmering on the tips of her lashes, but he had to be imagining it. She was much too calculating to cry.

His father rubbed his hands together. “Ah, Nate, I’ve got some explaining to do.”

Nate gave him an ironic smile. “I reckon so, Pa.”

Pa stared at him with a steady gaze and a hint of compassion in his eyes. “This is Lucy, your wife.”

NATE’S FACE WAVERED through the tears that rimmed Lucy’s eyes. He hadn’t spoken since his father told him that he had a wife. She had felt a thrill of joy at the first sight of her handsome husband, so strong, so manly, his feet planted apart like the king of his realm here in Texas. But with his rejection of her, all those hopeful wonderings had vanished like yesterday’s sunshine.

“You mean
your
wife,” Nate corrected.

But his lips went white, and shocked comprehension settled over his face. She wished she could take her trunk and run off. Find her family and not face this man’s wrath. She twisted her hands together.

Mr. Stanton shook his head. “No, son, I mean
your
wife. It’s time you settled down and saw to raising a family. I won’t be around to help you forever. You need a passel of strong sons to build our cattle empire.”

Nate sank onto the sofa, and the lines deepened in his tanned face. “Pa, what have you done?” he whispered.

Mr. Stanton hunched his shoulders and raised his voice. “If I waited for you to find a wife, I’d be too old to enjoy my grandchildren. Lucy here, she’s a good Christian girl. She’ll make you a fine wife.”

Lucy saw the shudder that passed through Nate’s frame. A lump grew in her throat. Did he find her so unattractive? She had no claim to great beauty, but he had barely glanced her way to even know what she looked like.

Nate waved a hand in her direction. “Look at her, Pa! What were you thinking? The work here is hard. The vision we’ve talked about will take a woman who can carry her own weight.”

Lucy’s tears dried up with the bolt of rage that shot through her. She drew herself up to her full height of just under five feet and glared at her new husband. “I’m stronger than I look, Mr. Stanton. I’ve worked long hours at the dressmaker’s shop, and I’m not afraid of hard work. I can tackle any chores you care to throw my way.”