The Touch of Sage (6 page)

Sage looked
to Eugenia, who was smiling—
too amused to
do
anything else.

“
I never thought he
’
d cause such a fuss,
”
Eugenia said.

“
He probably feels like he
’
s stumbled into some saloon girls
’
graveyard,
”
Sage whispered
,
trying hard not to giggle out loud.

“
The one where all the saloon girls go when they
’
re old and gray,
”
Eugenia added, also stifling her giggles.
“
Well, it
’
s a good thing we
’
ve got you here to give him somethin
’
young and pretty to look at.
”

Sage felt her smile fade—
felt extremely self-conscious all at once.
She knew good and well she was no kind of young and pretty type woman to catch the eye of such a man.
She was almost irritated with Eugenia for saying she was.

But as the smiling faces of her friends, and the handsome face of Reb Mitchell
,
met her as she entered the kitchen, Sage pushed thoughts of loneliness and despair to the back of her mind.
Or, at least, she tried to.
However, as the man
’
s dark eyes seemed to follow her during each task of serving breakfast, she found nervous perspir
ation gathering at her temples—a slight trembling in her hand—and she knew he was dangerous,
this nephew of Eugenia Smarthing.
This was the kind of man who left a trampled trail of broken hearts in his footsteps
,
and Sage Willows had no desire to feel the heel of his boot.
She would h
ave to strengthen her defenses—
avoid him as much as possible.

For pity
’
s sake!
she thought suddenly.
She didn
’
t even know him!
Reb Mitchell was a complete stranger to her.
Why was her mind lingering on how to keep from falling in love with him anyway?
The very notion was ridiculous!
And so, determined to purge her mind of even the idea of any silly schoolgirl daydreams about a handsome stranger, Sage sat down to breakfast.

“
Whatcha got in mind fer the ranch there, Reb?
”
Mary asked, buttering a steaming biscuit.

“
Well, I got me a purty big herd rounded up and waitin
’
down in
Santa Fe
,
”
Reb answered.
“
I figure there
’
s probably some fence that needs mendin
’
out on the ranch.
That right, Auntie?
”
Eugenia nodded as she took a bite of her biscuit.
“
So,
”
Reb continued, drizzling honey over a biscuit with his fork,
“
I
’
ll patch up any fence troubles then have my partner, Dugger
,
run the herd out here for me.
”

“
Are you…uh…unattached as yet, Mr. Mitchell?
”
Rose
asked.
Reb looked up at Sage and smiled when he heard her fork
tumble
to the table.
Sage scolded herself silently.
She was a mess of nerves
,
and she couldn
’
t seem to simmer down.

“
Yes, ma
’
am,
”
Reb answered.
“
As unattached as they come.
”

“
Well, that
’
s nice!
”
Rose exclaimed.
“
Ain
’
t that nice, Sage?
”

Sage wanted to simply curl up and die as Reb chuckled, all too wise to the woman
’
s inference.

“
Yes,
”
Sage said.
“
Milly Michaels and all the other girls in town will be pleased as petunias to hear that.
”

“
I don
’
t plan on spendin
’
much time in town,
”
Reb said.
“
Besides…I plan on stayin
’
unattached, Mrs. Applewhite.
”

“You call me
Rose
, hun,
” Rose
told him.
“
And unattached is fine by me.
”

Sage felt her face go as hot as the
embers
in the oven.
Did these women have no manners at all?
She had never seen them so forward.

“
Yer indecent, Rose,
”
Mary scolded, slathering a biscuit with butter.
“
He
’
s Eugenia
’
s nephew for Pete
’
s sake!
”

“
Yes
,
he is,
”
Rose admitted.
“
And he knows a little harmless flirtin
’
never hurt anybody.
Don
’
t ya know it, Reb?
”

Sage couldn
’
t even take a bite of the biscuit sitting on her plate.
In reality, she had seen the widow
s do this kind of thing before—
flirt, tease, flatter in their playful and friendly manner.
But for some reason, it was causing her great discomfort this time.

“
Yes, ma
’
am,
”
Reb answered with a smile.
“
Ain
’
t nothin
’
wrong with a little flirtin
’
.
”

“
I like this boy, Eugenia,
”
Livie giggled.
Eugenia smiled, obviously delighted with the goings on.

“
How
’
bout sparkin
’
then?
”
Rose
asked.
“
You think there
’
s anythin
’
wrong with a little sparkin
’
?
”

“
Mercy sakes!
”
Sage exclaimed
,
fairly leaping from her chair.
She couldn
’
t sit still any longer.
All the talk of flirting and sparking with Reb Mitchell somehow completely disconcerted her.
He hadn
’
t been in their company for fifteen minutes
,
and already they were asking the most personal, flirtatious questions a body could ask!

“
Nope,
”
came Reb
’
s chuckling answer.
“
Ain
’
t nothin
’
wrong with a little sparkin
’
neither.
”

Sage went to the sink and worked the pump
,
filling the sink with water.
She had no reason for doing so, save she needed something to distract the others from her nervous condition.

“
You see, Mary,
” Livie said, “h
e
’
s game for a little sparkin
’
here and there too.
”

“
Well, he ain
’t a-
plannin
’
on sparkin
’
with you two…so let the man eat his biscuit
’
fore Sage drops dead in the sink,
”
Mary grumbled.

At that moment, Sage wondered if in fact dropping dead in the sink would be better than enduring the teasing of her friends.
She knew darn well they were trying to embarrass her, attempting to discover whether Reb Mitchell might be a candidate for saving Sage Willows from spinsterhood.
But good intentions often led to disaster, and Sage had never been more thankful to hear a familiar pounding on the
boarding house
front door.

“
Well…there he is,
”
Eugenia said, pushing her chair away from the table.

“
And here it comes,
”
Livie added, pushing her chair back as well.

Sage took a deep breath, dried her hands on her apron
,
and started for the front door.

“
I
’
ll take care of it,
”
she said as Eugenia and Livie started after her.
“
He
’
s my dog, after all.
”

Bullet was a sweet dog, but he had caused Sage a lot o
f grief—
especially where Forest Simmons and his precious lady dog were concerned.
As much as she liked the troublesome pup, she wished Karoline a
nd Joel had taken it with them—
for he was obviously too much for Sage to handle.
As the memory of being wrapped up and lying on the porch with Eugenia
’
s nephew, Sage sighed.
Yep!
Far too much for me to handle,
she thought as she brushed a strand of hair from her cheek and drew in a courageous breath.
Forest Simmons had a very distinctive manner of knocking on a door.
Two knocks in succession, a pause
,
and then four knocks.
No doubt he had found Bullet consorting with his lady dog and was crazier than a fox in a henhouse.

“
Hello, Mr. Simmons,
”
Sage said, opening the door to see Forest Simmons glaring at her.
The scruffy old man held Bullet
’
s rope tightly in one hand, the truant mutt wagging his tail and panting happily.

“
This dog of yers is on his last leg, Sage!
”
the man nearly shouted.
“
I don
’
t want me no pups!
I done told ya that last time!
”

“I-
I know, Mr. Simmons,
”
Sage stammered.
“
It was an accident.
He just
—”

“
This would be my fault, sir.
”
Sage felt the hair on the back of her neck tickle at the sound of Reb
’
s voice behind her.
Stepping in front of her
,
Reb offered his hand to the man and shaking it firmly said,
“I own the dog now. Miss Willows gi
ve him to me just this mornin
’,
and I guess I just didn
’
t tie him up proper while I was in for breakfast.
”

“
And who are you?
”
Mr. Simmons asked.

“
I
’
m Reb Mitchell…Eugenia Smarthin
g’
s nephew,
”
Reb explained.
“
I
’
ve come up from
Santa Fe
to get the ranch runnin
’
for her again.
I do apologize for the dog, sir.
”

“
Forest Simmons,
”
the older man said
,
eyeing Reb suspiciously.
Sage watched his eyes move to her, traveling the length of her body and back
,
and she resisted the urge to sneer at him.

“
Well,
” Mr. Simmons grumbled, “y
ou just keep this mutt off my property.
I don
’
t like puppies.
I drown
’
em.
”