Tom's Angel (5 page)

Chapter 4

Tom came for Rosalie in the buggy just before daybreak the next morning.
It wasn't far to Gabriel's ranch, but Tom had never been there so he wanted plenty of time to find it, with daylight to spare. As though daylight might ever be sparse in Texas. When the sun came up, the temperature jumped from a heavy eighty-five into the nineties. They could expect a scorcher for sure.

“
Now, tell me about your ranch.”

Tom grinned.
Rosalie hadn't stopped talking since they'd left Fort Worth. Cattle, horses, Texas weather, Indians, cowboys, she had opinions on everything. Surprisingly, Tom agreed with most of what she said.

“
The McCabe Ranch. Twelve hundred acres. Horses and cattle. Miles of fence that always needs mending.”

“
So, your land is fenced.”

“
Yes, ma'am.”

“
Some ranchers are offended by other men's fences.”

“
That's certainly true, but finding cattle that have wandered halfway to Wyoming takes more time than we have. Besides my two brothers and me, we have a dozen hands. Still not enough to keep strays rounded up outside of our own land.”

“
Do you ever find your fences have been cut or damaged?”

“
Sometimes.”

Rosalie didn't press.
He didn't seem interested in talking about his ranch. His reluctance piqued her interest. It would be impolite to prod a man into talking when he wasn't of a mind to. But an opportunity like this couldn’t be ignored.

“
You don't seem enthusiastic when you talk about your ranch. Forgive me for asking, but why is that?”

Tom stared straight ahead for a long moment before he answered.

“I told you about tick fever taking a sizable portion of our herd, including both our bulls. There isn't money to buy another bull. My father will have to borrow the money. We already owe the bank a pretty big chunk from herd expansion during the past two years, so losing a lot of those new cows to this damn...excuse me, ma'am...this blasted fever is putting us in a real bind.” Tom hung his head and shook it slowly.

She saw immediately how distressed he was.
“I'm terribly sorry. I never should've asked such a personal question.”

He grinned.
“Don't worry yourself about it. I'm just wondering why I answered the way I did.”

“
I don't understand.”

“
Never mind.”

They rode along in silence for a while.
Tom tried to figure out why he'd told her the whole truth. Normally tight-lipped about the running of the ranch, people accused him sometimes of being downright unfriendly. But he considered McCabe business to be McCabe business, dammit! That is, until Rosalie Kincannon asked why his enthusiasm had run dry. Damn. What could he have been thinking, to tell her all that? She'd think they were dirt poor, which they weren't. And what she thought about him mattered. He wondered for a moment why it mattered as much as it did.

He shifted on the hard seat.
Sitting so long on a buggy seat always made his butt go to sleep. He preferred a saddle for a long trip any time.

“
How did you get here, Tom?” Her cheeks pinked at the familiarity her use of his given name suggested.

He liked the sound of his name on her lips.

I rode the train from Denver to Lubbock. Paw has a friend there he's known for the better part of forty years who has a bull we want to buy. I went to make arrangements to bring that bull to Denver. Then, I came on south to Fort Worth.”

“
It would certainly help if the railroad came straight from Denver to Fort Worth, wouldn't it?”

“
No reason to go that direction from Fort Worth. Railroad is primarily for transporting cattle north.”

“
I know. Don't you think, though, the railroads will eventually go everywhere? I've dreamed of the day when I can board a train and see every major city in the country, coast to coast, without skipping a single one.”

“
I reckon you could do that now. You just couldn't go straight to Denver from Fort Worth. Not yet, anyway.”

“
Soon, maybe.”

A far-away look came into her eyes.
Tom understood why she dreamed of leaving Hell's Half Acre. He thought about all the cities he’d been to and wished he could show all of them to Rosalie. The thought made him happy in a way he couldn’t remember feeling before.

<><><><>

They arrived at Gabriel's ranch way before noon. Tom spied the house when he crested the hill overlooking the ranch. There, in the front yard hanging clothes on a line to dry, stood a woman with red hair and a huge belly.

“
Trina!” Tom urged the horse into a faster trot.

“
Tom!” She hurried around the back of the house as fast as a pregnant woman could hurry and came back with Gabriel in tow just as the buggy pulled up out front.

Trina
hugged Tom until they were both breathless. Gabriel shook his hand a dozen times, grinning like a possum.

Tom remembered his manners, finally, and motioned for Rosalie to come forward and be introduced.

“Trina, Gabriel, this is Miss Rosalie Kincannon. I'll be escorting her to Denver. Rosalie, this is my sister, Katrina McCabe Hart, and her husband, Gabriel.”

Trina
grinned until Tom wondered if her face might freeze that way. Why hadn't he anticipated her reaction to his showing up with an unmarried woman? She'd jump to conclusions for sure, just as she'd done her whole life.

Gabriel tipped his hat to Rosalie.
“Welcome to the Hart Ranch, Miss Kincannon.”

“
I'm pleased to meet both of you. I hope my coming won't inconvenience you. I'm certainly willing to help with chores or cooking.”

“
Hells bells, that's music to my ears! With this baby due any minute now, it would be a pleasure to set the table while someone stirs the soup. Gabriel has helped a lot, but having another woman around…” Her cheeks turned as red as poppies.

“
No need to rattle on and on, Trina.” Gabriel nudged her elbow. “It's no secret that I'm no cook.”

Rosalie saw in his eyes and heard in his voice that his scolding came not from anger, but from a deep love for his wife.
Rosalie envied Trina McCabe Hart so intensely, tears filled her eyes.

“
Oh, my, he didn't mean it. Look what you've done, Gabriel. She thought you were serious.”

“
No, that isn't it at all.” Rosalie hurried to explain. I just...that is, you seem to...to love each other so much.” Rosalie pulled a hanky from her bodice and dabbed at her eyes. “I just filled up with happiness for you and it spilled out my eyes. I apologize.”

Trina
grabbed her arm. “Come into the house. I can see you and I have a lot of talking to do. Gabriel, help Tom with the horse and buggy, and bring in some water when you come, please.” She leaned toward Rosalie and confided, “I can't tote that heavy bucket without sloshing water all over this big belly. Would you like some tea? It's all right if I call you Rosalie, isn't it? You may call me Trina, of course. I noticed Tom is calling you Rosalie and not Miss Kincannon. How long have you known each other?”

Gabriel and Tom watched the women disappear inside.

“Hasn't changed a bit, has she?” Tom shook his head.

“
Nope. Thank the Lord. Let's tend to your horse.”

In the barn, Tom brushed the horse down while Gabriel prepared a stall with fresh hay and water and a bucket of oats.
Tom didn't quite know how to talk to his brother-in-law. Gabriel had stayed at the McCabe Ranch while waiting for word that Blackburn, the man he'd been hunting, had been spotted. After Blackburn died, Gabriel turned his whole heart and soul toward Trina. Two weeks later, resisting all suggestions they should wait longer and go through the normal round of parties and preparation, they got married and headed for Texas. During those weeks at the ranch, Tom hadn't had much of a chance to get to know Gabriel better. Other than cattle and a certain redhead, they didn't have much in common.

They left the barn and came in
side to get cleaned up for dinner. Delicious smells filled the huge kitchen Gabriel had added to the house. Trina had written to them about it at least three times. The women fussed over setting the table, stirring whatever bubbled on the stove, giving off that mouth-watering aroma, and filling glasses with water from the well.

“
Chicken and dumplings. My favorite,” Gabriel said. “Yours, too, Tom, to hear her tell it.”

“
Yep. Haven't had decent dumplings since she left.” Tom gave his sister a wink.

“
Supper will be ready in a little while. You can wait in the front room.”

T
hey sat on a leather couch facing the fireplace, which wouldn't be used for months. In Denver, they'd be having morning fires in September, but not here. Tom surveyed the room and found signs of his sister everywhere. Crocheted blankets and doilies, covering furniture Gabriel probably had in the house before they were married. The furniture he and his first wife, Hannah, God rest her soul, had put in the house. Books seemed to be everywhere, on shelves and stacked on the floor beside Trina’s rocker. Wherever Trina went, books would never be in short supply.

“
Tom, the last letter we got said you'd lost a lot of cattle.” Gabriel spoke with concern. “How many do you have left?”

“
Barely enough to keep the ranch alive, if we had a bull.”

“
I'll gladly give you the first bull calf that's born next spring. We have only the one right now. But the next one is yours.”

“
Thanks, Gabriel.” Trina had married a good man. “Paw has a friend in Lubbock who's willing to sell us a bull. He'll cost aplenty, though. We're having to borrow the money.”

“
Any problem?”

Tom shook his head.
“We've been banking with Richard Strickler for twenty years. He's already told everyone he's leaving the bank this year, turning it over to one of his sons, but our loan will be in place by then, and, with any luck and diligence on the part of that bull, we ought to be able to pay back every penny in two years.”

Trina
appeared at the door to the front room. “Dinner's ready. If you don't come now, that pig out back is going to be mighty grateful to have chicken and dumplings tonight.” She didn't have to call them twice.

They sat down.
Trina said grace, then Gabriel dished the chicken and dumplings into bowls and passed them around. Rosalie pulled a pan of hot biscuits from the oven, tipped them into a basket then covered them with a dish cloth to keep them warm. The basket was passed around, too, then they dug into the feast.

Tom closed his eyes when he tasted the dumplings, dripping with chicken gravy.
Tom couldn't believe how good everything tasted. Just like old times, with Trina home, cooking for them every day. “You're a lucky man, Gabriel.”

“
I know.”

“Trina, these are the best dumplings you’ve ever made.”

Trina smiled.
“Rosalie made them.”

Now it was Tom’s turn to grin like a possum.
This time he winked at Rosalie.

Rosalie smiled shyly.
“My father loves dumplings better than anything. I fix them all the time. My mother taught me how.”

Tom forked another bite into his mouth.
The rich gravy coating the feather-light dumpling tasted like something from a dream. He would never say so aloud, but could Rosalie's dumplings actually be lighter than Trina's?

“
This has to be the best chicken and dumplings I ever ate,” Tom said carefully. He wanted to compliment Rosalie, but not at his sister's expense. Her face contorted into a grimace. Damn. He had to straight this out quick. “Trina, I'm sorry.”

She clutched her distended abdomen, releas
ing a thin cry of pain.

“
What's wrong?” Gabriel reached for her hand.

“
The baby. I think it's coming.”

Gabriel's face went white.
“The doctor. I have to go for the doctor.”

“
Don't leave me, Gabriel!”

Tom pushed back from the table.
“I'll go for the doc. Tell me where.”

Gabriel slammed one fist on the table.
“Dammit, I forgot. He's gone to Abilene for his brother's funeral and won't be back for two more days. He promised she wouldn't deliver for another couple of weeks.”

“
He forgot to ask the baby before he made that promise.”

Rosalie placed her hands on
Trina's huge belly. “Have you been having other contractions today?”

“
Yes, but I didn't think anything of it.”