Beauty and the Beasts [Bride Train 6] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (19 page)

“Someday I want three men to make mad, passionate love to me,” said Sophie. She squeezed Sarah’s shoulder. “Now that I think of it, things are changing in Tanner’s Ford. Life would be perfect if I had a child to raise. It would be best if the man who gave it to me married me to give the child a name. But, now that the town is growing, and with Judge Thatcher married to Lily, Jennet and Rivers won’t be able to take my hotel away just because I have a child on my own. Maybe I could have a babe without a marriage.” She looked out the window, eyes unfocussed, while Sarah pulled herself together. “Do you want children, Sarah?”

“When I got on that Bride Train last fall there was nothing I wanted more than one loving husband and a few children in a home of our own. After I came here I thought no man would want me. If Luke had proposed in October, I would have said yes, just out of gratitude. But, thanks to Lily, and Rosa, and you, I got stronger. I decided I like being in control of my life. I no longer want, or need, a husband.”

“And now?” Sarah drew patterns on her dress with her finger.

“No matter how much I want it, I can’t let myself love them. Not with Luke saying I have to marry him for his sake and forget about my dreams.”

“So, enjoy your life as best you can and don’t tell them about your love.”

“I suppose so…”

“It’s late, we’ve had a very long weekend, and you’ve had little sleep the last few nights. Things will look clearer in the morning. They always do.”

Sarah followed Sophie from the kitchen. She could have the men she loved, as long as they didn’t discover how much she cared for them. She just had to pretend it was their bodies, and how they used them, that attracted her.

Sex, not love. And certainly not marriage.

Something pounded on the floor right under Luke.

“Haul yer ass outta bed. We’ve got a pack of Elliotts heading our way, along with a mess of outriders.”

Oz. And he’d have a nasty smile on his face as he jammed the rake into the ceiling, hoping to hit under Luke’s ribs.

“I’m up!” At least, part of him was. Very, very up.

“Better get down here. Sarah’s coming.”

“Sarah? What?” He shook his head to clear his ears. Oz didn’t reply.

The cabin’s loft didn’t have a window, so if he wanted to see, he had to go downstairs. He dressed and gingerly backed down the ladder. It was only seven feet, but even that made him nervous. It bugged the hell out of him that he could do so many things, but put him more than six feet in the air and he got shaky.

He turned to the open door. At least a dozen men on horseback milled outside. He recognized Elliotts, MacDougals, the Double Diamond crew, and more. What the hell was going on? It couldn’t be a posse since they’d brought loaded wagons. He stomped into his boots, slapped his hat on, and went out.

“Looks like sleeping beauty’s finally awake,” called Oz. “We can get started.”

Wisps of dream still fogged Luke’s brain. He looked around the clearing. “Get started on what?”

“You didn’t tell him?” asked Nevin. He sported an evil grin.

“Nope.” Oz grinned back. “If Luke knew Sarah was coming, he’d get in a dither. I figured it was better for all of us that he didn’t know.”

“I don’t dith—” He blinked. “Sarah’s coming here?”

“Yep,” replied Oz. “She’ll be staying a bit.”

If Sarah
was
coming, then— “She can’t come here! Not now.”

“Why?”

Because of Trace’s hoarse rasp, Luke couldn’t tell if he was asking the question, or questioning his judgment.

Luke spit out the first thing he could think of. “We don’t have a real floor.”

Trace stuck his thumb over his shoulder. “Floorboards are in the Flying X wagon. Cole said he doesn’t need them yet. You can have his today, and replace them later.”

Luke looked to his right. Cole Taylor, Byron Ashcroft, and Eldon Stevens nodded hello. They were Southerners, yet had brought their own supplies to the Circle C.

“Much obliged,” he said.

“Jest bein’ neighborly,” replied Cole in his slow, deep drawl.

“The foundation’s laid and the logs already notched and squared,” said Gabe loudly to the men. “We’re adding a room at the back of the cabin, with a long rectangle behind that. Sarah will have a room of her own, even if it’s just two hard walls and a curtain to start.”

“But, why is she coming to the Circle C?”

“Someone tried to grab her Friday night,” said Oz to Luke. “Since she can’t open her bakery because of the council’s ruling, we figured she’d be safer here for a bit. Now, you gonna work, or stand there with your mouth open all day, catching flies?”

Luke shook the last of the cobwebs out of his brain and set it into gear. Maybe Sarah would realize a husband wasn’t a bad thing if she stayed here. She could get used to their home, and their life. He could show her that he was a true gentleman, just like his father, grandfather, and all the way back since the first Frost crossed the ocean. She didn’t like how he acted before. Perhaps if he treated her like his father did his mother, with the respect due a lady of breeding, she’d respond more appropriately. After all, what woman wouldn’t want to be treated like that?

Because he, Gabe, and Oz had prepared the logs, only last-minute shaping was needed. They hobbled the horses to graze and began laying the floor. The boards went on the first row of squared timbers, and then they began building the walls. With Trace in charge and twenty strong men working, they went up quickly. They butted the new addition right against the old wall, putting a narrow board between to fill the gap. They’d stuff any gaps and cut a door between the buildings later on.

When they stopped at midmorning, Luke couldn’t believe they were already at window height. Men sat around the clearing, a few with their shirts off, and drank deeply of the well water. Luke sat next to Cole Taylor. The Southerners used the Flying X brand, calling their home the Sweetwater ranch. Cole was the shortest of his partners, but his bearing was the most powerful.

“Ever think you’d find a few Johnny Rebs building your place?” Cole turned his head just enough to see Luke out of the corner of his eye.

Luke tipped his hat back an inch with his forefinger so he could return the look. “About as much as you figured to be helping some Yanks.”

“If Miss Unsworth would like a change of scenery, we’d be mighty proud to have the lady visit. Southern gentlemen are known for treating a lady well.”

“Not happening,” said Luke. “Sarah’s mine. You’ll have to find your own wife.”

They both turned at the sound of a feminine squawk. Sin lifted Jessie by her elbows to face height and kissed her. She only kicked her dangling feet a few times before grabbing his ears and enthusiastically returning the kiss.

“Dang. When’s the next Bride Train?” Cole’s voice was rough.

“Sophie said there might be one the end of July.”

Cole groaned. “I’ll be meeting that train.”

Luke didn’t blame Cole for being envious, both of Sarah visiting and Sin’s happiness. He’d love to lift Sarah in a crowd of men and kiss her like that. But, though she was pretty enthusiastic with his partners, she wasn’t interested in him. He’d wondered just how enthusiastic the petite woman had been the previous two nights. Oz came home whistling, and Gabe held himself with more confidence.

“Just because a Bride Train crosses the Missouri, doesn’t mean any women make it to Virginia City,” warned Luke. Cole shrugged. It wasn’t as if the man had much choice, considering the lack of available females. Nettie was far too brazen for their liking.

Gabe’s sharp whistle stopped the conversation. “Listen up. Trace and Ben have an idea that might help all of us.”

“Things are changing in Montana Territory,” said Trace. “The placer miners were bad enough, messing up our creeks as they panned for gold. But now they’re bringing in big machines to tear up the earth and mine deep underground.” He looked around the ring of men, catching every eye. “Alone, we’re only one ranch going head-to-head against them, like a fly easily swatted. Together, we have a voice. Ben’s been talking to government, railroad, and finance men, as well as lawyers and judges in Helena. This is his idea, so I’ll let him talk.”

Trace pulled himself up on the back of a wagon nearby. Ben stood straight. Instead of the laughing younger brother who’d worked that morning, a seasoned man with knowledge stood in front of them. Even without a shirt, he looked like a lawyer speaking to a judge.

“Water rights,” said Ben quietly. “Mineral rights. Big companies taking what they want and destroying what they don’t. Your land. Your water. Your ranch.” He paused. “Your life, and that of your children’s children.”

Luke listened carefully, thinking of Sarah and, one day, their grandchildren.

“We’ve got a Territorial Legislature and Senate. But one fine day Montana will be a State. There’ll be laws to protect the men who helped create them. We’re working too hard on our land to spend time sitting at a table in Helena or Virginia City to help create those laws.” Ben looked around the ring of ranchers. “But, unless we’re at that table, we won’t have a say. It’s too late once the laws are made. Mining corporations will hire lawyers and buy a few judges and politicians. They’ll destroy our land, and our grandchildren’s futures, unless we work together to stop it.”

“How can we fight them when we’re riding all day chasing cattle, fighting fires and floods, and everything else?” asked Henry Bennett. His words were met with nods of agreement.

“I’m not the strongest in the Elliott family, certainly not the strongest in this valley,” said Ben. Ranger, his much more muscular twin, yelled out a rude comment in agreement. “But what I can do is think, reason, and talk. If we create something like a Tanner’s Ford Valley Rancher’s Association, there’ll be twenty-one of us talking at that table, not just me. Twenty-two if we include Walt Chamberlain.”

“And more when women get the vote,” called Jessie, jumping to her feet.

“Not now,” said Ace quietly. She huffed and glowered, but sat down.

“One day women
will
get the vote,” she muttered.

Luke realized Sarah would agree with Jessie. Give a woman an education and she wanted to use her mind. It was sacrilege to many men, including his father. Compared to the fluff-headed women he’d known growing up, those in Tanner’s Ford were smart and strong, both in body and mind. They were also demanding, impertinent, and from everything he’d heard, highly sexed. They had to be, to ride herd on three men.

“As I was saying,” said Ben, with an affectionate glance at his sister, “at least twenty-two votes. We’d talk first, of course, to make sure we were in agreement. But I would then speak for all of us at those meetings, whether in Helena, Virginia City, or even Washington. You could work your ranch and take care of your families, knowing your interests were being taken care of.”

“No disrespect, but how do we know you can be trusted?” asked Cole Taylor. His partners nodded at the question.

Ben grinned wryly. “I’ve got five brothers, three cousins, and three brothers-in-law who will squash me to a pulp if I do anything wrong. As well as a sister and three sisters-in-law,” Ben added before Jessie could interrupt.

“Think about the idea, discuss it with your partners, and we’ll talk during dinner,” said Trace.

Luke stood up. “I don’t need to think,” he said. “I know my limits. Each of us has things we’re good at, and things we’re not. I wouldn’t want to spend weeks away from home, especially when I’m married. So, you have my vote. Unless Oz and Gabe disagree?”

“Nope,” answered Oz. Gabe shook his head in agreement.

Cole and Jed collected nods from their partners and then gave their approval to Ben and Trace.

“Then let’s spend the rest of the morning thinking about what we need to work on,” said Trace. He held up his hand to keep them sitting.

“One more thing. It’s time for the spring gather. We’ve got big ranches and cattle spread for miles. We worked together to move the J Bar C cattle home. For our first action, think about us doing the same for our valley. We can start at the west and move east. The ranches we stay at will supply the food.”

“Ye can use our bunkhouse,” called out Gillis. He grinned. “Auntie and Sunbird will be cooking so ye needn’t worry about a bellyache. Amelia’s too busy with the babes to cook.”

Jed Adams of the J Bar C walked over and shook Ben’s hand. “You got my vote, Mr. Lawyer. Let us know when you want to hold your gather. We’ll be there.” He turned to the others. “Thanks to all of you, we’ve got cattle. Victoria will be pleased to show our thanks by proving how great a cook she is.”

“Much obliged,” said Ben. “There’s a few more hours before Sophie and Sarah get here. They’ve been cooking and baking all morning, so let’s surprise them with how much work we can do.”

“I’d rather be working in my bakery,” said Sarah, frowning. She sat on the wagon seat between Sophie and Billy.

“Stop grousing and enjoy this beautiful day,” replied Sophie. “Billy’s doing an ace-high job driving, but he needs to concentrate.”

Sarah took Sophie’s advice and relaxed. For the first time since arriving the previous fall, she’d left town. Bright wildflowers bloomed in abundance, ones she never saw in the dusty street. The mountains rose on either side, clear and crisp in the bright sun. With the sun came heat, but since the men were building a house, it was better than rain or snow. Even in July, snow was possible at higher elevations. But today the sun shone and the air was filled with the fragrance of flowers.

She had her few things in the wagon, though she wasn’t able to find Oliver before leaving. Sophie said she’d make sure the cat arrived safely, but Sarah still twitched at missing him. If she was honest, she would admit that there really wasn’t room in the wagon for a furious cat in a basket.

In addition to food, they had a keg of beer. Baldy said it was his contribution, as long as she made sure everyone knew where it came from. Sarah thought it was an apology for having to vote against her. The Tanners had donated cheery gingham for curtains and, since they didn’t know what food the men had in the pantry, added the basics of flour, lard, oatmeal, baking powder, potatoes, onions, and carrots. That morning Smitty, the blacksmith, sent some door hinges and Dieter Arnott, the butcher, brought sausages. They also came with apologies for not going against the mayor and banker, but it did make her feel welcome.