Montana Morning (15 page)

“And you won’t be
able to stay here; that you’ll lose it all and this place will be just a
memory,” Will finished for her.  He stepped in front of her and saw the
tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.  “I must say I’m a mite
disappointed in you.” 

Addy gave him a
look of bewilderment.  “Disappointed?”

“Yeah,
disappointed,” he growled and then snickered.  “You appear to be a pretty
bright woman, and you act in control and tough, but, Gal, you’re a
chicken.  You’re nothing like Em.”

“I don’t
understand.” She had no idea what he was trying to tell her.

“Let me tell you a
story.” He took a deep breath and stopped to lean on the corral. “I didn’t love
Emily when I married her.  Shocked?” He looked at her and knew she
was.  “Nope, I was in love with a bright eyed, beautiful, sassy city
girl.  I couldn’t see anyone but her.  Then one day after a Grange
meeting, Emily walked up to me and asked if we could have a talk.” He grinned
at the memories floating around in his mind.  “I’d known her since
childhood and being a gentleman of eighteen, I had to be polite, so I said I’d
be happy to talk with her.   Anyhow, we walked for a couple of miles
and she didn’t say anything, then we came to the creek.  She turned
around, looked me right in the eye and said “
William Kilbourne, I know you
love that city gal, but she don’t know how to love you.  I do.  I’ll
be waiting for you.  Don’t take too long!”

Adrianna couldn’t
help it; she laughed and Will laughed right along with her. 

“What did you
say?” she asked after she caught her breath.

“Nothing.  I
was so plum shocked I couldn’t even breathe, let alone talk,” he
chuckled.  “We walked back to the Grange Hall and neither one of us said a
word.  A couple of months later, I found out the city gal was two-timin
me.  I bought this place and built a small cabin.  I kept hearing
Emily’s voice in my head telling me she’d be waiting.  Finally, I went to
town and married her.”  He laughed at the look of total disbelief on
Adrianna’s face.  “Guess I loved her for about a year before I knew I
did.”  He gazed up into the morning sky. “Of course, she’d known all
along.”          

“Will, that’s a
terrific story.”

“Every word of it
is the truth.” He raised his hand, as if taking an oath.

“What’s it got to
do with me?”

“Lordy!”  He
shook his head and rearranged the hair under his hat. “Gal, I don’t know what’s
happened between you and my son, but I do know this for a fact, since Jack
brought you here, he’s as happy as I’ve ever seen him.” He studied her, not
knowing how much to say.  “Doggone it, Addy, how much do you know about
his marriage?”

“I know he’ll
never trust another woman enough to let her share his life,” she said sadly.

“Not unless she is
tough enough, cares enough, to fight for him.” He looked at the house at the
end of the lane. “Guess, I thought you did,” he said kicking the mud from his
boots off on the corral post.  “Addy, you’re scared all right, but not of
losing this job, me, Scotty, or this place.  You’re afraid of losing
Jack.”

“Whatever made you
think that?”

Will was giving
her the same lopsided grin Jack always gave her when he knew he’d made his
point.  “You did.”  Nothing more needed to be said and they headed
back to the house.  Just before they went through the gate Addy stopped to
study the house.

“Will, would you
mind if I trimmed Emily’s bushes and cleaned out the flower beds?” she asked,
giving him a big smile.

“Would I
mind?  Why, I’d be tickled to death.  You know how to do all that
stuff?”  She could hear the excitement in his voice.  “I never knew
how to do it and was afraid I’d kill them, so I let them go.”

“So I’ve noticed,”
she chuckled, as she elbowed him affectionately.

“When do you want
to start?  Andy and I will help out, if you’ll just tell us what to do.”

She asked meekly.
“Can we start right after lunch?”

***

Jack’s trip to
town had been long and frustrating.  The hospital wanted money and
soon.  He had never borrowed money and he wasn’t about to start now if he
could help it.  Ranchers in debt were soon ranchers without a ranch. 
Scotty’s small inheritance had been placed in trust for his college education,
and although legally Jack could use it for the bills, he wouldn’t.  The
only bright spots in the trip were his meetings with Western Pacific, whose
buyer was to come up to the ranch next week to give him a bid on the yearlings,
and his lunch with Maggie.  She was turning out to be a true friend. ‘
Wonder
if she’d still feel as friendly if she knew I was . . . was what?’
He had
spent half his time wishing Addy was with him, half his time thanking God she
wasn’t.  Since the day he’d kissed her, she had avoided him like the
plague; to be honest he’d been giving her plenty of room too.  He missed
her easy smiles and warm friendship and found himself asking ‘the man upstairs’
for advice.
  ‘Women.’
 

He was so deep in
thought he almost missed the turn into the lane.   Everyone was busy
out in the yard.  Andy was rebuilding the fence around the house, Pops was
tilling the vegetable garden, Scotty was weeding in a flowerbed, and Addy was
on top of a ladder trimming the climbing roses on the side of the front porch.

“What on earth is
going on around here?”  he asked Scotty as he headed up the walk.

“We’re spring
cleaning.” Scotty grinned up at Jack.  His face was covered with the same
black soil as his hands.

“Looks more like a
slave labor camp to me.” He stopped, looking up at the top of the ladder.

“Woman, just
exactly which idiot around here said you could get up there?” The thought of
her falling made him instantly sick to his stomach.

“I told her you’d
have a fit if you caught her,” Will cut in, “but she said she wasn’t worried
about what you thought, as long as she got the roses trimmed before spring.”

 Jack looked
back up at Addy.  She was humming softly as she pruned the bush.  A
smile crossed his lips.  “Addy, would you come down from there.”

“Say please,” she
teased, smiling down on him.

“Please!” he
roared.

“Nicely,” she said
. . . so sweetly her voice dripped like honey.

“Enough is
enough,” he growled.  “You have to the count of three or I’m coming up
after you!”

“Pops said you
didn’t like heights,” she reasoned smugly.

“One, two . .
.”   

Addy started down
the ladder.   “If you’d stayed in town about two more hours, I’d have
been done.”

“If I hadn’t come
home when I did, you’d have broken your pretty little neck,” he chided, shaking
the ladder for effect.  “Anyway, you need to tell me where to put all
these plants and seeds Maggie sent.”  He had wondered why Scotty needed
all this stuff for his science lessons, now he knew.

“I was hoping
Maggie would catch you before you left town.” Addy said, as she started packing
boxes into the kitchen.

“She not only
caught me, she took me to lunch,” he told her as he lugged the huge box of
plant starts onto the back porch.  “Where do you plan on putting all this
stuff?”

“On the front
porch, as soon as YOU get the plastic over the screens.”

“Now I know who
the ramrod is on this project,” he growled.  “I should have known.”

“Welcome home,
Cowboy.”

His eyes traveled
her face, searching for a clue.  “Miss me, did you?” he forced himself to
ask.

Will’s words came
back to her in a rush. 
‘I thought you cared enough . . . ’

“Yes, I did,” she
said simply and turned to put the groceries in the pantry.

***

Addy thanked God
for every day of warm sunshine.  There had been five nice days in a row,
and the yard around the house looked ready for the spring rains.  Jack and
Scotty had put all the plastic on the front porch the day after Jack returned
home.  She and Scotty had spent most of the past two days setting up
makeshift tables and planting seeds.

“Addy, should I
water the plants again today?”  Scotty had never planted or cared for
plants before, but knew right away he was going to enjoy it. 

“They look a
little dry all right.” She went over to where he was standing and showed him
how to test the soil.  “Sure enough, they need a drink; be sure not to
give them too much or they’ll rot.”

“You do one or two
and I’ll watch.”

“You’re going to
make a great farmer someday, Scotty.” She smiled over at the freckle-faced boy
who watched her every move.  “You like dirt under your fingernails.”

 He blushed
as he looked at his dirty hands.  “Mom would have a fit if she could see
these,” his voice trailed off as he looked out the window.

“Know what? I bet
she wouldn’t mind those hands at all.  There is a difference between just
plain dirty, and dirty from hard labor.” She gave him a small hug and then
moaned at the sight of the dirty handprints she had left on his shirt.

“Grandpa said if I
got my work done today, I could go check cattle with them tomorrow.”

“Well, we’re all
finished here for now.” She looked around and began picking up the messy papers
and empty seed packages.  “Wash up for dinner and set the table, then
while I peel the potatoes, you can finish your math. Okay?”

Scotty crossed his
eyes.  “Do I have to?”

“Do you want to go
riding with Jack tomorrow?” she asked, as she headed for the kitchen.

“Sure do!” He
picked up the box of garbage and went to the back porch.

“Then you have
to.” She grinned at his pout.

“You’re mean
sometimes.” Scotty was trying hard to feel put upon, but it wasn’t working.

“That’s what they
pay me the big bucks for, Red.” She knew immediately she had struck a chord. 
He bristled like a porcupine.  “Ouch, sorry, I didn’t know you didn’t like
that name.”

“The kids used to
tease me about my red hair.  I hated it.  They were really mean to
me.” He looked up at her and realized how bad she felt. “I guess it’s okay if
you call me Red.  You don’t do it mean like.”

He gave her a
quick hug and started for the bathroom to wash his hands.  He heard her
moan and turned to see her attempting to brush his dirty handprints off. 
“Now we’re even.” He whistled down the hall.

***

The aroma of fresh
cinnamon rolls and coffee greeted Jack as he opened the back door. 
‘Nice
way to start the day!  I hope the rest of the day follows suit.
This
would be an important day any year, but this year . . . this year, it better go
right.’ 
He had not slept well last night, running and rerunning the
figures in his mind.  Randy Mueller, cattle buyer for Western Pacific,
would be here by lunchtime.  By tonight he’d know if there would be the
money he needed to pay some of the hospital bills and still run the ranch for
the coming year.

“Morning
 Addy, smells great in here.”  Jack hung his hat on the hook by the
door, shrugged off his coat and laid it across the back of his chair. 
Looking down at the newly waxed floor, he removed his boots and grabbed a cup
of coffee.

“Ham and eggs will
be ready in a few minutes.  When will the others be in?” Addy studied
Jack’s face as he looked out the window surveying the meadows below.  He
looked drawn, tired and something else.
‘Worried?’
  He felt her
watching him and flashed back a tired smile.

“They’re on their
way.  By the way, Addy, don’t forget we’re having a guest for lunch, Randy
Mueller from Western Pacific.  They buy yearlings from us every
spring.”  Addy suspected this meeting might be why Jack was so uptight.

“Do you want me to fix anything
special?”        

Jack watched Addy
easing around the big kitchen.  She looked so at home, like she’d been
here forever.  “Anything you fix will be special.”  Addy felt a smile
creep across her face.

Scotty, Will, and
Andy filed in the back door, hurrying to drop their coats and hats, looking
forward to eating the food they had smelled on the way in from the barn.

“Take off those
boots.” Jack ordered.  They all grinned sheepishly at Addy and did as they
were told.

 After eating
their fill they headed out to count cattle, but Andy stepped back in the house
just before they left.  “Watch that Mueller fellow if he comes before we
get back.  Slime ball, that one.”

Addy went about
her morning.  The pot roast was in the oven and the pie was done. 
She tried, but couldn’t shake Andy’s parting words.  She hoped Jack would
be back before the buyer arrived.  If not, she had handled one or two
creeps before. She’d just give him lots of space and not give him a chance to
corner her.

***

The counting was
going well and Jack announced he would head back to the house a little
early.  All morning long he’d had a nagging feeling about Addy facing
Mueller alone.  Randy Mueller was a good judge of cattle and a fair buyer. 
Jack had never had an ounce of trouble with the man, but then he’d never had a
woman in the house.  Especially a woman like Addy . . . his thoughts
roamed to her smile, her green eyes, and her long blonde hair.  Jerking
himself back to matters at hand, he remembered again the complaints of
‘improper advances’ by Mueller from some of the ranch wives.  ‘Pure
nonsense,” Mueller had said.   Jack hoped so, as he turned Archer
towards the barn.

***

Addy had just
finished preparations for lunch and was setting the table when Randy Mueller
arrived.  He stood in the yard looking over all the changes since last
he’d visited Kilbourne Ranch. 
‘Frilly curtains on the windows and the
yard is neat and trim; a woman’s touch has been added.’

Addy met him at
the door.  “You must be Mr. Mueller. I’m Adrianna Banks, Mr. Kilbourne’s
housekeeper.”