The Cowboy's City Girl (13 page)

“Come here, kitty.”

Smokey meowed.

Levi glanced down. Both Dolly and Beatrice looked up at him, hope and fear mingled in their expressions. He liked to think at least some of the fear was on his behalf. He managed to get his hand around the kitten and lifted her from her perch. She dug her claws into him, afraid of falling. He wasn't sure how he'd hold her and still hang on to branches as he descended. Only one way he could think of, so he stuck the kitten inside his shirt.

The kitten turned around twice, realized it was safe and curled into his body. Now he could climb down.

“Where's Smokey?” Dolly whispered as he stood in front of the pair.

He patted his shirt at his waist. “Right here.” The lump wriggled and meowed.

Dolly leaned from Beatrice's arms, and Beatrice set her on the ground. Dolly held out her arms to receive the kitten.

Levi pulled his shirttail from his waistband and lifted Smokey to her owner.

“Thank you,” Dolly whispered, then sat down, drew her knees up and buried her face in the kitten's fur.

Levi smiled at Beatrice. “It's good to see them both safe and sound.”

“Thanks to you.” She set his hat upon his head and drew her finger down his cheek. “You're bleeding.” She pulled a beautiful white, monogrammed hankie from her pocket and dabbed at the wound. “It must hurt.”

“It's nothing.” Indeed, the touch of her fingers had erased all pain.

She caught his chin and turned his face so she could see the scratch better.

His heart kicked into a gallop that stole away his breath.

“I think it's stopped bleeding.”

He swallowed hard. “I expect I'll live.”

“Good to hear.”

The husky tone of her voice brought his gaze to hers and he felt as if he had missed the last three steps of a stairway and hung suspended in air. He knew he'd hit bottom, and reality, with a thud, but for now he let himself enjoy the sensation. The sounds of the woods were distant, like something in a dream. All that mattered was the warm look in her eyes. Like sunshine poured from her. To him.

Her gaze shifted to his mouth.

Was she remembering the way he kissed her? Was she hoping he'd do it again?

He dipped his gaze to her mouth then back to her eyes. She watched him. “Beatrice.” His throat was so tight the word barely escaped.

She looked toward Dolly. His gaze went the same direction.

There would be no kissing with the child right there.

In fact, if he cared to remember his earlier decision to guard his heart, there would be no more kissing at all.

“Let's get them back home,” he said, and despite every word of warning he'd ever given himself, he reached for Beatrice's hand. His heart rejoiced when she did not resist.

“Come on, Dolly,” Beatrice said and the child followed them, the cat safely cradled in her arms.

* * *

Beatrice had watched Levi climb the tree, her heart stuck in her throat. What if he fell and injured himself? What if Dolly fell? She held Levi's hat, somehow finding strength and courage in the warm felt between her fingers. Levi was a man of the West, used to all sorts of challenges. In fact, his mixed race uniquely prepared him to face any number of things, such as city girls stranded in the river or a kitten and a little girl stranded in a tree.

She knew with her mind that he was safe and Dolly was in good hands, yet she couldn't pull in a satisfying breath until he stood in front of her.

She had placed his hat on his head, almost hugging him in the process and wanting so much to hug him because he'd saved Dolly and because he was safe. But she must remember her goals. And remember she didn't belong here. She was only helping Maisie and then she'd move on. It was what she wanted, what she needed, but oh, how hard it was to believe that at the moment.

With a muffled cry she had realized he bled and tenderly wiped at his wound. And if her fingers should linger longer than necessary, who was to know? Except her.

It was getting harder and harder to remember why she had come west and what she must do.

And yes, when their gazes had locked, she had wished for another kiss. There had been something about the gentle way he'd kissed her that had...what?

She tried to convince herself it had done something she didn't welcome—like shatter the walls she had erected around her heart. But the truth was, his kiss had melted the walls.

It must not be. Neither of them wanted it. Yet when he reached for her hand, she took his willingly.

Only, she firmly informed herself, because both of them had been frightened by Dolly's disappearance.

They reached the house. “I best get back to work,” he said.

“Me, too.” Yet neither of them moved.

“I'm relieved she's safe and sound.” His gaze went to Dolly and then back to her.

“Me, too.” She crumpled the soiled hankie in the palm of her hand.

“Sorry to ruin your pretty handkerchief.”

“It will wash.”

“You'll be okay now?” His gaze drifted from her eyes to her mouth to her chin and back again, as if assuring himself she hadn't suffered because of their adventure.

“We're fine. You're the one that got hurt.” She resisted an urge to touch his cheek again.

“It's nothing.”

Somewhere in the far distance, a pot banged against another.

He blinked. “Soupy's making supper. I better get my work done.” He slowly eased away to return to whatever he'd been doing.

And she must return to her work. She would take Dolly inside with her to make sure she didn't wander away again, but before she did, she knelt before the child. “Honey, what happened?”

Dolly's eyes were big as she whispered, “Smokey ranned away and climbed the tree. I tried to get her down.”

“Next time Smokey runs away, you tell me or Levi and we'll help you find her. Okay?”

“Was you scared?” Dolly said.

Beatrice tried to think what the child meant. Scared Dolly was lost? Or scared the kitten was stuck in the tree? She settled for an answer that would address both issues and reassure Dolly and herself. “I knew Levi would take care of us.”

Maisie looked up from her mending as they entered the kitchen and smiled. “I heard Levi out there.”

“Yes, Dolly followed Smokey into the trees and they both got stranded up a tree. Levi helped me get them down.”

Maisie turned to the child. “Are you okay? Were you frightened?”

Dolly clung to Beatrice's side. “I thought no one would find me.” Her whisper was barely audible.

Tears sprang to Maisie's eyes. “You poor child. But if you got lost everyone here would search for you day and night until we found you.”

“Levi found me.” Her whisper was stronger, more confident.

“Levi knows how to find people,” Maisie assured Dolly.

Dolly settled nearby, content to play with her kitten, and Beatrice turned her attention to preparing supper.
Levi knows how to find people.
The words echoed in her head. Could he find her? How could he when she hadn't found herself?

Chapter Eleven

“I
've asked Big Sam to send messages to Johnny and Tanner and their families to join us on Sunday. It's been far too long since I've seen everyone.”

Beatrice stared at the dishpan full of Saturday breakfast dishes without seeing them. She'd heard about the lovely, practical, courageous and hard-working wives the older Harding boys had married. If they came here, she would be exposed as the opposite. A city girl with city ways and little experience at practical things that they would take for granted.

“I've asked them to bring food so don't worry. You won't have to cook for them all.”

Beatrice smiled and nodded as Maisie continued, little knowing preparing a meal was but a fraction of things she felt incapable of doing. And now her ignorance was to be revealed before the whole family.

Unless she could find a way to escape the gathering.

“Big Sam is bringing in a roast. I'll show you how to cook it. We'll have it hot for supper tonight and slice the rest cold for tomorrow.” Maisie rattled on about cooking potatoes and boiling eggs for a potato salad. She mentioned the things Susanne and Willow would bring. “They are both fine cooks. You'll enjoy meeting them.”

Beatrice wondered how Maisie could voice both thoughts together.

“I'll help you make a chocolate cake.”

A cake? Beatrice had barely managed muffins and her first attempt at bread had been a failure. Now Maisie wanted her to bake a cake.

Maybe she should go back to Chicago, where she knew how to fit in.

But of course she wouldn't. She would learn how to bake a cake, make bread, cook a meal and whatever else she must know to survive in the country.

So she could be independent? A thin little idea crept in. Or so she could fit into ranch life?

Ranch life, town life—what did it matter so long as she could prove she could take care of herself? That she was more than a pretty little reward for people using her to achieve bigger and better plans.

“That's Levi's favorite,” Maisie said.

Dolly had been listening to the conversation. “My papa liked chocolate cake best,” she whispered.

Beatrice looked at the child, seeing tears pooled in her eyes. She knelt and pulled Dolly into her arms. “Then you must help me make a chocolate cake for Levi and his family. Okay?”

Dolly nodded.

Beatrice allowed herself just a tiny hope that the cake would turn out and Levi would be pleased to have known she'd prepared his favorite. She pulled a chair to the table for Dolly to perch on, got the ingredients Maisie listed and, with Maisie directing them, she and Dolly mixed up a cake and stuck it in the oven. Beatrice held up crossed fingers. “I hope it turns out okay.”

Maisie chuckled. “It's never failed.”

Indeed, it looked just like a cake should look when Beatrice pulled it from the oven a short time later and set the pans on a rack to cool.

“Now you'll have to make the icing.”

Beatrice gulped. “Don't you think you're expecting the impossible to think I can make a cake and the icing?”

Maisie only smiled. “Not at all.”

And so Beatrice, with Dolly's eager help, mixed together the sugar and cocoa and cream in a pot and set it to boil. She cooked it, cooled it and beat it according to Maisie's instructions, then spread it on the layers of the cake. Done, she stepped back and admired her creation.

“It wasn't hard, at all, was it?” Maisie asked.

“Not with you guiding me.” Would she be able to do it again on her own? She hoped so. She ticked off on her fingers the things she now knew how to do—make a few meals, make biscuits, do the laundry, clean the house and now, bake a cake. She was getting downright domestic. Her victory faded a bit. Likely no one else would think so.

As she worked throughout the day, she thought of meeting Johnny and Willow for the first time, and their children—baby Adam and his two sisters, Celia and Sarah. They were twelve and ten respectively. She'd also meet Tanner and Susanne, and Susanne's two nieces and two nephews, whom they were raising. She had asked Maisie to repeat their names and ages several times, determined to keep all the children sorted out. Frank, eleven, Liz, ten, Janie, six, and Robbie, five.

In the afternoon, she took Dolly outside and sat in the shade to talk. Every time the visitors were mentioned throughout the morning, Dolly had grown stiff. Beatrice hoped she could prepare the child for the upcoming day.

Or should she take her and the two of them could go elsewhere until the visitors left? The thought was tempting, yet she felt honor-bound to help Maisie take care of the meal. Plus she was eager to see Levi with his family and watch his reaction when he tasted the chocolate cake she had made.

“Two of the children are your age so you'll have someone to play with.”

Dolly stared at a spot on the ground, not moving, not saying anything.

Beatrice glanced toward the barn, saw Levi standing in the doorway watching. A smile tugged at her lips. Try as she might, she could not forget the few tender moments they had shared—one when he'd surprised her with a kiss and another when they knew Dolly was safe. She wondered if he felt the same way. But right now, her concern was Dolly and she sent him a silent plea for help.

He must have heard her unspoken request for he ambled toward them and sank to the ground on the other side of Dolly. He smoothed Dolly's hair. “What are you fine ladies doing this afternoon?”

“I was telling her about your brothers and their families visiting tomorrow.”

Dolly stiffened.

Levi shared a look of concern with Beatrice and then bent his head close to Dolly's. “Are you scared of so many people?”

Dolly nodded.

Levi chuckled. “Can't say as I blame you.”

Beatrice wanted to warn him his words were only adding to the child's worries, but he continued before she could speak.

“Did you know Tanner caught a bunch of horses and is taming them to start a new herd?”

Dolly shifted a bit as if interested.

“Funny thing is he caught himself a pretty young woman with four orphaned children at the same time.”

“Their mama and papa are dead?” Dolly whispered.

“Sadly they are. But they had their aunt Susanne and now they have Tanner. One big happy family.” He paused to let her digest the information. “And then there's Johnny.”

“What's he do?” Dolly asked in her quiet little voice.

“He's raising horses, too, only he's raising those big horses that pull heavy wagons or plows. They're very nice horses. Gentle and easygoing. You'd never guess where he found his wife.”

Dolly rolled her head back and forth.

“She was in a rickety wagon with her little baby boy trying to get to her orphaned sisters.”

“No mama and papa?” Dolly said again.

“No, but they have their sister, Willow, and now Johnny, and they live in a very pretty spot.”

He'd once told her that was where Helen had lived and Beatrice wondered if it hurt to see his brother and family living there.

Dolly studied Levi for several seconds, looking for and finding encouragement to face children who had suffered the same sad loss of parents she had, and then Dolly turned to Beatrice.

“Will they tease Smokey?”

At a loss to know how to answer, Beatrice looked to Levi for direction.

He smiled, turning her heart all mushy soft. “I think Maisie would let Smokey sleep on your bed while they're here. If Beatrice thinks that's a good idea.”

Beatrice hugged Dolly to her side. “It's fine with me.”

Her arm brushed along Levi's side and she remained there, content for this small contact and happy to know Dolly felt safe with them.

“Can I take her to the room now and tell her she will have to stay there when your family comes?” Dolly asked.

Even though the kitten spent every night in the bed and was welcome anywhere in the house, Beatrice understood Dolly needed to prepare herself and answered, “Yes, you may.”

Dolly got up and took the kitten inside.

Neither Levi nor Beatrice moved.

Levi was the first to break the silence between them. “I'm going to miss her when her aunt takes her.”

“Me, too.” She couldn't keep the pain from her voice. “I've grown to love her.”

He squeezed her hand. “I pray the aunt will be loving and understanding.”

Just like he'd promised. “Me, too.”

He pushed to his feet and reached down to pull her up. Gaining her feet, she stood but a few inches from him, close enough to see how the pupils of his eyes disappeared into his irises. She was drawn into his gaze, floating like a leaf in the wind. She knew all her longings and dreams showed on her face, but at the moment she couldn't think why she should care that he saw them. But would he? Would he understand what she wanted when she wasn't even certain herself? Was it independence or acceptance? Would she know what she wanted if she found it?

He still held her hands, folding them to his chest.

He shifted his gaze past her to the barn and the fence he was working on and pulled his hands free. “Pa wants me to finish the new enclosure before Johnny and Tanner come.” His gaze did not return to her as he murmured a quick goodbye and hurried away.

She sucked in warm air, sweet with the scent of roses, and willed her heart to stop fluttering. He'd been clear that he wasn't interested in caring for another woman. Not after Helen. Why that knowledge should sting she couldn't say...or admit.

As soon as she felt she had schooled away every hint of her wayward reaction, she returned to the house to finish the meal preparation under Maisie's instructions.

Somehow she managed to avoid looking directly at Levi when he came in for the evening meal, but when they went around the table to tell of their day, she let her hungry eyes find satisfaction.

He looked at Maisie as he spoke, his gaze drifting to Beatrice where it stalled as he talked of his day.

She heard not a word of what he said, trapped by the look in his dark eyes.

Did he intend for her to see longing, or was she only seeing the reflection of her own thoughts?

* * *

The next day was Sunday and she dressed in a stylish gown. One in dark gold that she thought emphasized her eyes and hair in a becoming fashion.

Dolly scrambled from the bed. “What I wear?” she asked in an anxious whisper.

Beatrice had gone through her clothes and decided she liked the purple dress she'd worn when she and Levi found her. She'd washed and ironed it. Again she thought how much pleasure it would give her to take the child shopping. She handed it to Dolly and helped her with the buttons, then brushed and braided her hair.

She talked as she did so. “Remember all the people who are coming to visit. You'll have friends to play with. I'm sure you'll have fun.”

Dolly listened carefully as if trying to believe that Beatrice was right.

As soon as they were ready, they went to the kitchen, where she made and served a simple breakfast. She was so nervous she couldn't hold a thought for more than a second and her gaze darted from one thing to another throughout the meal. Nor did her tension ease when the men went outside.

Her hands were in soapy dishwater when a wagon drove into the yard. She stared out the window as a man as dark and handsome as Levi swung to the ground and reached up to take a little boy from the woman's arms then helped her down. The woman took off her hat and shook her long, dark hair free. It tumbled down her back.

Two girls jumped from the back of the wagon.

This must be Johnny and Willow and their family.

Levi and Big Sam greeted them and then Big Sam ushered them to the house while Levi took care of the wagon.

As they drew closer Beatrice stared at the woman. Her dark, bold look made Beatrice feel mousy and colorless. So much for thinking she looked fine in her dress.

They stepped inside and all of them kissed Maisie on the cheek then turned to Beatrice.

“Johnny and his wife, Willow,” Big Sam said. “Their children, Adam, Celia and Sarah. This is Beatrice Doyle, who has kindly been helping Maisie.” He smiled down at Dolly as he introduced her.

“Pleased to meet you,” they all said in a flurry of greetings.

The sound of another wagon drew Beatrice's attention back to the window to watch the newcomers. Tanner was darker than Levi. Susanne as blond as Beatrice but with dark-fringed eyes. Tanner lifted her to the ground, the look between them so warm with love it made Beatrice's eyes sting.

Four children jumped from the back of the wagon.

She smiled at how the two littlest ones bounced up and down. She squeezed Dolly's shoulder. It would be nice for the little girl to have some playmates.

The family trooped in and Beatrice and Dolly were again introduced.

“What's this I hear about you?” Johnny asked and Maisie explained about her accident.

“But enough about me. I want to hold our church service outdoors.” She reached for Sam, who picked her up and led the procession from the house.

Beatrice followed them outside, purposely staying a distance behind. She was not a part of this family. She clutched Dolly's hand, feeling every bit an orphan as the child beside her.

The family sat on a slight knoll. Beatrice sat two feet away with Dolly clinging to her side but Maisie would have none of it. She patted the spot beside her. “Sit by me.”

Beatrice could not refuse without drawing attention to herself and she and Dolly slid over. She tucked away a sigh of relief when Levi sat down beside Dolly and smiled at them both. She'd never been part of such a large family gathering and struggled against a desire to belong. She ought to write across her brain in large and bold letters
Must Find Independence
, more for her sake than for anyone else's.

She kept her attention on Big Sam, who stood before them to lead the service. She joined in as they sang two hymns, then Big Sam opened his Bible. “Maisie asked me to read these verses in Jeremiah chapter twenty-nine.” He read aloud. “‘For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.'”