Maureen McKade (13 page)

“Yep. Then me and Toby cleaned up the tack room.”

“Toby must’ve been a big help.”

“I taught him how to hang up the bridles.”

Kit laughed. “I’ll believe that when I see it.”

Footsteps at the front door alerted Kit to the entrance of her hired men, and a few moments later Charlie and Ethan stepped into the kitchen.

“I hope you’re hungry,” Kit said.

Ethan nodded. “I could eat a horse, Miz Thornton.”

“I hope you didn’t have any specific one in mind.” She winked at Charlie.

A blush reddened Ethan’s ruddy complexion, and deepened the purplish bruise on his high cheekbone. “Oh, no, ma’am, I was just—”

“I was just teasing you, Ethan.” Kit stepped forward and straightened the bow of his string tie. “Could you get the plates down for me?”

Ethan seemed relieved to have something to do, and he retrieved five plates from the oak china hutch.

“You’ll need one more,” Kit said.

“For who?”

“Jake Cordell will be joining us.”

Ethan scowled.

“That was mighty neighborly of you,” Charlie said. The twinkle in his coal black eyes told Kit he suspected more than a simple act of hospitality.

Kit narrowed her gaze at her old friend, but Johnny and Ethan’s presence kept her silent.

“Why’d you do a fool thing like that?” Ethan demanded.

Johnny tugged on the young man’s white shirt sleeve. “Why don’t you like Mr. Cordell, Ethan? He helped you when those bad men were hurting you.”

“It ain’t that I don’t like him, Johnny. I just ain’t sure I can trust him, is all.”

“You don’t trust nobody,” Charlie stated. “How many times have I told you, you can’t measure everyone with the same stick. Cordell proved he ain’t like all them folks that done those things to you.”

Kit’s heart constricted. Besides Ethan’s recent cuts and bruises, she’d seen scars on both him and Charlie, and she couldn’t fathom how a human being could treat another so cruelly.

“Mr. Cordell wouldn’t hurt you, Ethan. He’s nice,” Johnny interjected.

“And he’s fair,” Charlie added.

Ethan didn’t appear convinced, and Kit touched his forearm lightly. “I wouldn’t have invited him if I thought he was like the others.”

The young man’s expression eased, and he treated Kit to one of his shy smiles. “I know that, Miz Thornton.”

Kit gave his hand a slight squeeze. “Why don’t you and Johnny set the table?”

Ethan nodded, and he and Johnny disappeared into the dining room to do as she’d asked.

“You think Cordell might finally lose his blinders?” Charlie asked in a low voice.

Kit frowned. “What do you mean?”

“With them clothes on, Johnny looks a lot like his pa.”

Kit studied her son, who’d returned to the kitchen to gather napkins from a drawer. He’d changed clothes as soon as they’d arrived home from church. He had insisted on wearing tan pants and a navy shirt, just like
his hero, Jake Cordell. He even wore a light blue kerchief around his neck.

After Johnny left the room, Kit glanced at Charlie nervously. “Maybe I should have Johnny change clothes.”

The burly black man shrugged. “What’re you gonna tell him? That he can’t wear them ’cause he looks like his papa?”

Kit nibbled her lower lip. “You’re right. But Jake knows I couldn’t be Johnny’s mother if he was the father, so it probably won’t even occur to him that he and Johnny share some similarities.”

“You probably got a point there.”

Kit leaned over and pulled the ham out of the oven. The heat steamed her glasses, and she waited a moment for them to clear. “Do you think I’m wrong not to tell Jake about Johnny?”

Charlie crossed his brawny arms, and leaned against the counter. “That ain’t for me to say.”

She heard the censure in his deep rumbling voice. “You think I should tell Jake.”

“I think you’d best be knowin’ what you’re gettin’ into by bein’ so friendly with him.”

Kit basted the savory ham with the juices from the bottom of the pan, then did the same to the sweet potatoes tucked around the meat. She slid the roaster back into the oven and smoothed back a damp strand of hair that lay against her forehead.

Turning back to Charlie, she said softly, “There’s a part of me that wants Jake and Johnny to know each other as father and son. But there’s this other part that’s scared to death I’m going to lose Johnny if I tell Jake.”

Charlie settled his broad work-roughened palm on her shoulder. “No one said lovin’ someone was an easy thing, Kit. Sometimes a person just got to listen to their heart.”

“We got the table all set, Ma,” Johnny announced, as he and Ethan reentered the kitchen.

Kit sent Charlie a grateful smile and turned to her son. “You used the good silverware?”

“Yep.”

“And put them on the right sides of the plates?”

Johnny glanced at Ethan. “We did, didn’t we?”

“Just the way your ma taught us last Christmas.”

Kit observed the two of them with a fond smile. When Ethan had first arrived at the ranch, broken and bloody, she’d cared for his physical injuries. It had been Johnny, however, who’d begun healing Ethan’s spirit. Since that time, Ethan had taken on the role of older brother to Johnny. After the hatred the younger man had endured, Kit was determined to give him the security and acceptance he’d been denied for nineteen years.

The back door opened and Pete Two Ponies limped in. “You got any food left, or did you heathens eat it all?”

Kit smiled. “You’re in luck. We haven’t started yet.” She glanced at a kettle on the stove. “Charlie, could you stir the gravy, please? And Johnny and Ethan, I need you two to run down into the root cellar and get me the milk and a jar of pickles.”

Everyone moved to carry out their assigned tasks, and Kit neared Two Ponies. “Did you get the eggs hidden?”

He nodded his gray-haired head. “Seems like a stupid thing to do with perfectly good eggs.”

“That’s what you said last year, and the year before that. Did you hide all two dozen?”

Pete shrugged. “Got hungry while I was doing it, so I had me a couple.”

“I guess that’s better than last year.”

Indignation crossed Pete’s wrinkled face. “I didn’t have any breakfast that morning and them eggs tasted mighty good. Don’t understand this thing you call
Easter, anyhow. Whoever heard of someone rising from the dead? According to us ignorant savages, once someone’s been sent to the happy hunting ground, he’s gone.”

Accustomed to Pete’s irreverence, Kit grinned wryly. “You know darn well what Easter is all about. In fact, you told me it was a lot like one of the ceremonies in your tribe.”

“I told you that, huh?”

“Yes, you did.” She lifted serving bowls down from the cupboards, mentally counting the number of side dishes she had made.

“Gotta watch what I say around you. You remember everything.” Pete crossed to the stove and examined the abundance of food. “ ’Course, anything that makes you cook up a feast like this can’t be all bad.”

Johnny and Ethan returned with the milk and pickles, and she handed Ethan a shallow square bowl. “Could you put the pickles in there?”

He nodded and opened the jar. The sweet-sour scent of vinegar and pickling spices wafted up to mix with the rest of the food’s aromas.

Kit could barely move in the crowded kitchen, but contentment swelled within her. Charlie and Pete argued about the saltiness of the gravy; but if they hadn’t been quibbling, Kit would’ve worried. Ethan surreptitiously passed Johnny a pickle, and he popped it into his mouth and puckered his lips.

“Give me a ride, Ethan,” Johnny begged.

Ethan squatted down, and Johnny climbed onto his shoulders. Ethan galloped about the room, nudging Pete and Charlie aside. Johnny’s giggles echoed in the rafters.

Surrounded by her closest friends and Johnny, Kit wanted to savor the sense of well-being that imbued her. The only person missing was Jake.

The ranch house seemed abandoned, but Jake Cordell
knew appearances were often deceiving. He fought the urge to turn around and return to town. He paused, listening intently, and heard voices from inside
.

Taking a deep breath, Jake knocked on the door
.

A moment later, the door swung open. A gruff man dressed in black studied him
.

Jake’s palms sweated under his scrutiny. He’d faced down murderers without blinking an eye, but this man was different—this man was his fiancée’s father
.

“So you’re Jake Cordell,” he finally said
.

“
Yes, sir, I am
.”

Kit jumped as she spotted Jake standing hesitantly in the kitchen entrance, and her heart lifted. “Hello, Jake.”

“Nobody answered the door, so I just walked in. Hope you don’t mind,” Jake said.

“Not at all. Here, I’ll take your coat and hat.”

He handed her his Stetson and jacket, and she whisked down the hallway to hang them up.

Jake nodded at Charlie, then met Ethan’s brooding countenance. “How’re the bruises healing?”

“Fine.” Ethan lowered Johnny to the floor.

“I wish you’d have filed charges against them.”

“It wouldn’t have made no difference. No court’s gonna take the word of a—” Ethan glanced at the boy. “Of me against them.”

Jake took a step toward him. “You don’t know that. You have to give the law a chance.”

“Laws weren’t made for people like me.”

“They were made for everyone,” Jake said vehemently. “Kit and I would’ve testified on your behalf.”

Ethan shook his head. “Look, I owe you my thanks for stepping in and helping me, but I don’t owe you anything else.”

Jake sighed. “I wish you’d reconsider, Ethan. The courts are changing, and judges aren’t as narrow-minded as they used to be. You have the same rights as anyone
else to bring charges against those who violate your liberties.”

“Better look out Jake, you’re beginnin’ to sound like a lawyer,” Charlie teased.

Jake paused. He
had
spoken as a lawyer, but he believed every word he’d said. Glancing at Ethan’s obstinate expression, he also knew he had little chance of changing his mind.

“I’m glad you’re finally here, Mr. Cordell. We’ve been waiting forever,” Johnny said earnestly.

“Sorry I’m late,” Jake apologized.

Kit returned to the kitchen, her heart-shaped face flushed. “You aren’t late, and we haven’t been waiting forever. I think you know everybody but Two Ponies. Jake Cordell, Pete Two Ponies.”

Jake eyed the scraggly-haired Indian curiously. “Nice to meet you.”

Jake stuck out his hand and Two Ponies ignored it, holding up his own hand, palm out. “How.”

“Pete,” Kit said, reproval in her voice.

Pete glanced at her. “Isn’t that the way I’m supposed to greet the famous white-eyes hunter?” Two Ponies turned back to Jake with a smile etching his creased face. “We got to sit down and talk sometime about the way you tracked down those outlaws in your books. Were you trained by a Pawnee?”

Startled, Jake shook his head. “My father.”

Pete nodded in understanding. “That’s right. Jonathan Cordell had the gift. He could track a snake across dry rock.”

“Did you know him?”

“We shared a couple of campfires.”

“Do you like my clothes?” Johnny tugged at Jake’s pantleg.

Examining the boy’s outfit, Jake was startled to see
Johnny had copied his own clothing down to the neckerchief. “They look mighty good, kid.”

“They’re like the clothes you wear.”

“I would have never guessed.” Jake sniffed appreciatively. “Something sure smells good.”

“Wait until you taste it,” Johnny said.

“The gravy needs more salt,” Two Ponies interjected with a pointed look at Charlie.

“Just because you’re made of jerky don’t mean the rest of us are, old-timer,” Charlie retorted.

“You can always add your own salt, Pete,” Kit said tactfully. “If anyone wants to eat, you’re all going to have to get out of my way so I can dish it up.”

“Mr. Cordell can give you a hand,” Charlie volunteered, then looked at Jake. “That okay with you?”

“Fine by me.”

Everyone else disappeared into the dining room.

Kit turned away from Jake to open the oven door, and as she bent over, her skirt outlined her curvaceous bottom. He took a few moments to admire the pleasant sight, then cleared his throat and shifted his gaze. He spotted a partially eaten piece of bread on the counter. “You must have awfully big mice.”

She straightened and followed his gaze. “Johnny grabbed it right after I sliced the loaves.”

“I’ve got a weakness for fresh baked bread myself. What do you want me to do?”

“Why don’t you cut the ham?” She held up a wicked-looking butcher knife.

He took the sharp-edged blade from her. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m glad you could make it, Jake.”

“I didn’t know it’d be a full house.”

Her pleasant expression sobered. “Does it bother you?”

“No, but I can imagine Bertie might be a little scandalized.”
He leaned close to Kit’s ear. “Personally, I think Bertie needs to have her knickers shocked off.”

Kit laughed. “That’s terrible, Jake.”

“That is a terrible picture, isn’t it? I’ll bet the Reverend Wellensiek would think so, too.”

Kit’s cheeks reddened, but her eyes sparkled behind her spectacles as she filled the serving dishes and took them out to the table.

By the time Kit had carried the last item out, Jake had slices of ham piled high on the platter.

“Thank you,” Kit said. “I hope you’re hungry.”

Jake gazed down into her heat-reddened face, thinking not of his stomach, but of another appetite.

She glanced away as if reading his thoughts.

Studying her profile, he found himself wishing things could’ve been different. He truly liked her son, and he admired her. More than that, he wanted her.

When she learned of the steps he’d taken toward regaining his father’s ranch, she’d be hurt and angry. And he didn’t want to lose the kinship he had with Johnny, or the friendship he shared with her.

“I think that’s everything,” she said, reaching for the plate of ham.

“I’ll take it,” Jake offered.

Kit smoothed back her hair from her temples and opened the door to the dining room. Finding an empty space on the linen-covered table, Jake set the platter down, then held Kit’s chair for her. He lowered himself to the last chair, between Kit and Johnny.