Tom's Angel (23 page)

A baby's wailing pulled
Trina toward the house like a magnet. “Come on inside! Rosalie, would you help me in the kitchen while I tend to Hannah?”

“
Of course.” Happily, she left Tom and Josh to take care of the horses and wagon and hurried to the house.

“
There are clean didies in the top drawer of that chest, right by her bed.”

In Hannah's room,
Trina had hung crocheted curtains at the window. A huge multi-colored rag rug covered most of the floor, and carved wooden toys sat everywhere. Sunny and colorful, it was the perfect child's room.

“
Did Gabriel make the toys?”

“
Yes. He'd never whittled in his life until he heard the baby was on the way. We have a friend, Seth, who lives four miles south who whittles all the time. Seth taught Gabriel. Keeps me busy, cleaning up little piles of wood shavings. But I don't mind.”

Clean and dry, Hannah waved tiny arms and studied Rosalie's face with dark blue eyes.

“I thought her eyes would be brown, like yours and Gabriel's.”

“
Liza, Seth's wife, says all babies start out with blue eyes. Hannah’s get darker every day. I expect they'll be brown before she's even a few months old. Bring her into the kitchen. I'll nurse her there while you slice the bread.”

Rosalie fell into the routine of helping
Trina with no trouble at all. Even in the kitchen, with the oven blazing, it didn't feel as hot as in the Acre. Maybe heat was easier to tolerate in a place where the people were loved, and loving.

“
So, how are things in Fort Worth?” Trina leaned back in the chair, her eyes half-closed as Hannah nursed hungrily.

“
Rusty, the horse we brought, will be racing Saturday.”

“
Then what?”

Rosalie told her all of it.
Trina frowned through the story, shaking her head. She switched Hannah to the other breast. “I swear, Rosalie, you can get yourself into more trouble faster than anyone I know, other than me, of course. What is Tom doing to fix all this?”

She told her about
Josh riding Rusty, the stripped saddle, and their attempts to shorten the race.

“
Now, we have to wait and see what happens.”

Trina
didn't comment right away. Hannah had fallen asleep. Trina took her back to her room, then reappeared smoothing her blouse back into place. She went straight to the front door.

“
Suey, pig pig pig!” she yelled.

“
Trina, what are you doing?”

“
Watch what happens. That pig won't get even a taste of that pie.”              

The men appeared at the door in two shakes, with
Josh on their heels.

Rosalie couldn't help laughing at their flushed faces.

Tom shook his head at Gabriel. “Will she ever change?”

“
God, I hope not.”

After they sat down,
Trina made them all join hands and said a short prayer before the meal.

“
Dearest Lord, we pray Your help for Tom and Rosalie, Josh and Rusty come Saturday. Rusty needs to win and we know You can do it, Lord. Oh, and thanks for this food. Amen.”

Gabriel spooned beef
, vegetables, rich gravy, and chunks of flakey crust onto each plate. Trina added a thick slice of bread, still warm from the oven. After everyone else had been served, Gabriel commenced to empty the dish onto his own plate.

“
Gabriel! Someone might want more.”

“
They won't. I gave everybody a heaping helping.”

Tom forked a chunk of beef into his mouth.
“I'll say. Trina, tell Rosalie how to make this, please.”

“
Well, now, Tom, I'm betting Rosalie already knows how to make beef pie.”

“
Yes, I do.”

“
Great.” Tom grinned and chewed.

Trina
chewed for a moment, then turned to Gabriel. “I assume you'll be exercising Rusty to get him primed for the race.”

“
You assume right. What do you have in mind?”

“
Well, when I was a little girl, I remember Will and Bo having a race to see which of their horses was faster.”

Tom perked up.
“I remember that. Those horses were so evenly matched, there was no way to tell who would win.”

“
Exactly. Except Will exercised his horse with a big saddle and rocks in his pockets.”

Rosalie frowned.
“Why add all that extra weight? We asked Josh to ride Rusty to have the least weight possible.”

Trina
nodded. “That's what Will did, too. Got me to ride his horse come race time, and made me do without a saddle altogether. So there I was, riding bareback, on a horse used to carrying Will and rocks. Guess who won?”

Tom shook his head.
“I can't believe I forgot that. It could work again.”

Rosalie nudged
Trina. “What happened after the race?”

“
Bo stomped around, claiming Will cheated, but Paw set him straight in a hurry. Made him chop wood for a week for the mean things he'd said to his brother and sister. Told him, next time, to make sure they spelled out the details of the race in advance.”

“
What did you get out of the deal?” Rosalie knew Trina well enough by now to know she'd never do it just for fun.

Tom interrupted.
“I can answer that. Trina had Will doing her kitchen chores, hauling wood and water, shoveling ashes out of the oven, for a week!”

Rosalie retreated into her own thoughts as they talked about other times Will or Tom had bested Bo
, sometimes with Trina's help and sometimes without. Rosalie longed to be a permanent member of this family.

She realized with a start that Tom was smiling at her.

“Penny for your thoughts,” he whispered.

She smiled and finished the pie.
It could’ve used a little more onion.

<><><><>

That afternoon, they saddled Rusty with the heaviest saddle Gabriel owned. Gabriel filled his pockets with as many rocks as they'd hold, then took Rusty out for a ride. They didn't run right at first. He didn't want to stress the horse by asking too much too soon.

By the time he got back, though, Rusty was lathered and puffing hard.

“He's a good one, Tom. Another workout tomorrow like this one, and he'll think he's floating when you put that tiny little saddle and Josh on him Saturday.”

Josh
grinned. “That saddle was the first one I ever had. You want me to ride bareback, Mr. McCabe? There's no way I'd fall off.”

“
I think the competition might have something to say if we tried to pull that. Your saddle will work fine.”

Josh
took Rusty to the barn to towel him down, curry and feed. Tom and Gabriel leaned against the fence and waited to see how Rusty moved after his workout. Tom didn't want him the slightest bit stiff, but he looked great when he came into the corral, prancing, exploring the perimeters.

Trina
and Rosalie came from the house with glasses of lemonade for everyone. “How's he doing?”

“
Couldn't be better. He's going to be in top shape for the race.”

Tom knew this respite from the waiting had been the best thing they could've done.
Rosalie seemed so much more peaceful than before. She kissed him and went back to the house.

“
She's a fine woman, Tom.” Gabriel gave Rusty some oats and a flake of hay.

“
I agree.”

“
What are you going to do if Rusty loses?”

Tom turned and gazed across the corral toward the distant mountains.
“I don't know. Every time I think about her in Zane Strickland's house, scrubbing floors, putting up with his lewd remarks and actions, I want to burn the place down. He's made it clear how he intends to treat her. I can't let it happen.”

“
No way to pay off the indenture?”

“
Two thousand dollars might as well be two hundred thousand right now. Paying the notes will strip us bare.”

“
That's rough, Tom. I don't suppose, if Rusty wins, there's any way to get Strickland to leave the notes alone.”

“
Zane is taking over the bank next month.”

No reply necessary to that.

Tom had been over it dozens of times. Rusty had to win. That's all there was to it.

<><><><>

After supper, they all settled in the front room to talk and laugh and avoid what Rosalie faced on Saturday.

When Gabriel started yawning on a regular basis, and Tom joined him, it was time to decide where everyone would sleep.
Trina had it all worked out. Rosalie would sleep with her. Josh, Gabriel and Tom would bed down in the barn with Rusty.

Rosalie noticed Tom's scowl at the plan, but he didn't say anything, just hugged
Trina, kissed Rosalie. Gabriel's ritual was reversed. Then they trudged out to the barn.

Gabriel forked some sweet hay into a pile, then spread a blanket over it to make a pallet.
Josh hadn't shown the slightest sign of being tired until he sank down on it. In less than a minute, he fell asleep.

Tom and Gabriel made similar pallets.
Tom had to admit his bed in the hay felt awfully good.

“
If there's anything I can do, Tom, you only have to ask. You know that.”

“
I know. Thanks.”

Tom listened to the soughing of the wind outside, an occasional nicker from the corral, and slipped into sleep wishing for Rosalie by his side.

In the house, Rosalie felt a bit uncomfortable, having taken Gabriel's side of the bed.

“
I can tell you're fretting about my sending Gabriel to the barn,” Trina said. “I could've let you and Tom sleep in the baby's room, but I thought you might want to talk without us in earshot.”

Rosalie didn't answer.
The remark indicated Trina knew about their intimacy. She ducked her head with embarrassment, then realized there was no reason to be embarrassed. Trina understood better than anyone she knew what it meant to her to be intimate with Tom.

Trina
fluffed new sheets for the bed and tucked the corners, while Rosalie tucked the other side, then reached for the counterpane and billowed it over the sheets.

“
Being loved is wonderful, isn't it?” Trina's eyes sparkled. A smile played around her lips.

“
Of course.”

“
I can tell, you know. You don't treat each other the same as you did at the Mallorys, or when you came here the first time.”

Rosalie's face must have turned
crimson, her cheeks burned so.

“
Oh, now, it's nothing to worry about. No one else would've noticed but me. I have a sixth sense about that sort of thing, especially when it involves someone I know well, like my brother, and someone I love dearly, like my future sister-in-law.”

This was what Rosalie had come for.
To confide.

“
We gave each other a pledge.”

Trina
hugged her. “I knew it. I'm so happy for both of you.”

“
If Rusty wins, we'll be married.”

“
And if he loses, you'll still be married.”

“
No. I couldn't do that to Tom. It would shame him to have an indentured wife.”

“
You don't know my brother as well as I thought you did.”

“
Oh, he'd never say so. He'd swear it made no difference that I spent my days cleaning for that vile man. But I can see it in his eyes when he thinks about it. Trina, it would kill him, little bits at a time. I could never do that to him. I love him too much. I can't marry Tom until I'm free.”

“
Which will be Saturday, after Rusty wins that race. Will and I proved it could be done.”

“
I pray you're right.”

“
Of course I'm right. Gabriel and I will be there to help you celebrate when the race is won.”

“
I can't ask you to come. It's too far for the baby to travel this soon after the trip to the Mallorys.”

“
Remember my friend, Liza? She's been after me since Hannah was born to let her baby sit a while. She'll be tickled to have the baby overnight. And, she has a little one, too, who’s just about finished nursing. There'll be plenty of milk for Hannah, too.”

“
It'll be good to have you there with us. No matter what happens.”