Pearl (32 page)

‘‘What makes you say that?’’
Do you have something else going
on too, Charlie?

‘‘Just a feelin’ I have.’’

‘‘What about you? If we close the cardroom, a good part of your money goes too.’’

‘‘Naa, not enough to worry about. Look at me. What more do I need? Got a roof over my head, food in my belly, people I care about, money to jingle in my pocket if I want.’’

‘‘How about a wife, some children, a home of your own?’’

He shook his head. ‘‘I don’t think so. Too ugly and too late in life.’’

‘‘Ha! Daisy would marry you in a heartbeat.’’

‘‘Daisy? Really?’’ He stared at her over templed fingertips. ‘‘Hmm.’’

She watched the expression float like clouds across his face. A tiny smile, a headshake, a stroking of his mustache, another smile, this time along with a bit of a grunt. ‘‘Well, I’ll be.’’

‘‘I thought you cared for Cimarron.’’

‘‘Cimarron is a good friend, easy on the eyes, but too feisty for my blood.’’

Now to ask a question she knew was beyond propriety, and yet she needed to hear a man’s opinion on it.

‘‘Is it because of what happened to her?’’

‘‘Ruby Torvald, sometimes you make me wonder if you are only nai
ve or stupid too.’’ He used an expletive, something he only did when frustrated beyond measure. ‘‘No. Is that clear enough for you?’’

‘‘Yes, but the way the women in this town carry on, I was getting to the point of thinking everyone thought the way they do—that because of what she used to be, no decent man would ever want her. Cimarron thinks that too.’’ There, she got it all out.

‘‘Well, for me, it don’t matter. I can’t answer for other folks. But I know Jed Black knows of the former lives of the girls, and he don’t care none either.’’

‘‘He keeps looking at Cimarron.’’

Charlie wore a here-we-go-again pained look. ‘‘And she looks at him, and you look at Rand, and he looks at you, and—’’ ‘‘I think we need to go back to the subject of the cardroom.’’

‘‘I think we need to think on this a whole lot more before you make any decisions.’’

‘‘All right.’’ She stood. ‘‘Thank you, Charlie, but I have one more question.’’

‘‘Are either one of us going to be embarrassed by it?’’

Me, most likely
. She could already feel the flush starting up her neck. ‘‘Does Rand . . .Mr. Harrison really look at me like . . . like . . .’’

At his mighty guffaw she darted out of the room as if a prairie fire were licking at her heels. The way her face felt, she might well be facing a wall of fire.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

‘‘Can you hold off on shipping those beeves until the abattoir is ready?’’ The marquis sat across the table at Dove House from Rand one late-July night.

‘‘I’d like to oblige, but you see, I need money to run my ranch. We need to eat, hands need to be paid.’’
I’m not like you,
bankrolled by men backed by banks and old family money
.

‘‘I’ll be paying premium prices. That’s better than you’ll get after shipping them.’’

‘‘I understand that. I’ll have more to ship next year.’’

‘‘How many head?’’

‘‘Around seven hundred. Going to ship three-fifty to four hundred this fall.’’ Last year he’d sold a hundred head, including some of the feeders that he’d bought from a man in Kansas at the same time he’d bought his two hundred cows. Paid out every dime he could get his hands on back then. Good thing one could live real cheap out here, mostly off the land like the Indians did. Sometimes he wondered if they would be able to keep the wolf from the door. Although if a wolf came to the door, Beans would most likely stew it and tan the hide. Wolf pelt was known to be real warm in the winter.

He watched the man across the table. Something about him caught in his craw. He pushed back from the table. ‘‘Sorry we can’t do business this year. We’ll see about next. Good luck on Medora.’’

‘‘You ever need work, you go on over and talk with my superintendent. He’s looking for good men.’’

Rand nodded.
In a pig’s eye
. He wandered on out to inspect the new addition. Once it was finished and painted, it would look like it was built at the same time as the building. Carl Hegland was indeed a good carpenter.

Maybe someday he could hire him to help with a bigger house on the ranch. And a real barn. Not that the bull needed any more shelter, but who knew what would be happening, the way changes were already coming into the territory.

‘‘So what do you think?’’ Ruby stood at the railing on the porch behind him.

‘‘I think you’re one smart businesswoman, and I hope this really pays off for you.’’

‘‘Thank you.’’

He turned to face her, catching a look of surprise.
I think you
are beautiful, and I love to see you get all afire, the way you walk and
wear your clothes. I hear the sound of your voice on the wind, the hint of
a Norwegian accent tinged with New York
.

He watched her face turn pink at his silent stare.
Do you feel
the same way I do, whatever it is I feel?

‘‘I-I better get back to work.’’

‘‘I thought your work was done for the day.’’

‘‘There’s always more to do.’’

‘‘Do you ever sit out here and watch the rocks turn to fire, the dusk creep in, and the stars come out one by one, pinpricks against an azure sky?’’

‘‘Th-that was beautiful.’’

‘‘We live in magnificent country. Come riding with me one day. I’ll show you swathes of flowers coloring the plains, critters and birds you don’t see here in town, and we’ll listen to the eagle scree and the prairie wren warble.’’

Ruby locked her hands behind her back and leaned against a porch post. ‘‘How do you see so much?’’

‘‘Riding and knowing this land is part of the life of a rancher, just like knowing when the bread is risen enough is part of yours.’’

‘‘Do you ever wish for something different?’’

‘‘Not to live somewhere else. I’ve found my home here. But yes, some things I want different.’’
I want a wife and children, and I
want you to be that person
. ‘‘What about you?’’

She held his gaze, then glanced away.

‘‘See?’’ He came closer, pointing to the western horizon. ‘‘See how that silver rims the rocks from the setting sun behind it? You have to see it quick before it fades away. See how the sky color deepens as you look up and around to the east? How the evening star hangs in the west, so bright even against the lighter sky.’’

He could feel the heat of her, even without touching. It would take so little to move his hand, only an inch or less. To take her hand . . .

‘‘Ruby?’’ Opal called from the back door.

‘‘Out here.’’ While they hadn’t moved, the moment vanished like a wild thing spooked by the snap of a twig.

She turned slightly and looked up at him. ‘‘I would love to go riding with you.’’

Had her emphasis been on the
with you
?

‘‘Good.’’

‘‘Ruby, I—Oh, hi Mr. Harrison. I didn’t know you were still here.’’

‘‘Is Buck at the hitching rail?’’

‘‘Didn’t look.’’ She turned to Ruby. ‘‘Can we make taffy?’’

‘‘I don’t know. Can you?’’

Opal sighed, a deep sigh, a dramatic sigh, an ‘‘I’m being corrected again’’ sigh. ‘‘
May
we make taffy?’’

‘‘Who is we?’’

‘‘All of us. Mr. Harrison, you ever pulled taffy?’’

‘‘Not for a long time.’’ His stretching the word long, made her giggle.

‘‘You going to play cards?’’

‘‘Guess not. Sounds like I’ll be pulling taffy.’’

Ruby stared at him. Even through the dark he could feel it.

‘‘I’m thinking of closing the cardroom.’’ The comment lay like a snake between them.

‘‘So, why are you telling me?’’

‘‘I-I want your opinion.’’ She clasped her arms across her chest.

‘‘Does Belle know?’’

‘‘Not yet, and I’d appreciate your not telling her. I have to do that.’’

He nodded, realized she couldn’t see his head move and added, ‘‘That’s only fair.’’

‘‘What do you think she’ll do?’’

‘‘Yell and scream and threaten something or other.’’

‘‘I’m going to offer her a job here.’’

‘‘As a maid?’’

‘‘Ironing.’’

Rand snorted. ‘‘Belle don’t like work like that.’’

‘‘I know, but I don’t know what else to do. Wish some man would come and sweep her off her feet, take her west with him or something.’’

Rand chuckled. ‘‘Would make it easy all right. What does Charlie say?’’

‘‘He’s thinking on it too.’’

‘‘So you haven’t decided for sure yet?’’

‘‘Just not the how or when.’’

‘‘I see.’’

A burst of laughter came from the kitchen, both male and female.

‘‘Thank you for talking with me.’’

‘‘You are most welcome.’’
If you were by some miracle to marry
me, what about the hotel?

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

I start a new job tomorrow
. Carl walked on back to the new addition to make sure he had picked up all his tools. He found a screwdriver under some wood and stuck it in his back pocket.
How will they finish this without my tools?

He ran a calloused finger over the joints in the trim around the door. While the others could pound nails, they hadn’t the skill for trim. Surely there will be time in the evenings to do some of this. Could bring a lamp or two out here.

‘‘There you are.’’ Jed Black paused in the doorway. ‘‘You got the job?’’

‘‘Ja, start in the morning.’’

‘‘You think I could get work there?’’

‘‘Go ask. They will need many kinds of workers. He will be in the cardroom, I think.’’

‘‘De Mores?’’

‘‘Nei. Wainwright, the superintendent.’’

Carl watched as the big man ducked out the door. While the doorframe was a little higher than his head, that must be a reflex action.

Carl took one of the chairs on the back porch where he could hear laughing from the kitchen. It sounded like they were having a party in there.

He could go up to his room to read. Or sleep. He could go in and play cards, but since the marquis had come back, the stakes were too high for his blood. He could go for a walk. Restless as he felt, that might be the best idea.

He had started to rise when Opal burst through the back door.

‘‘Hi, Mr. Hegland, you want to come help us pull taffy?’’

‘‘I thought to go for a walk.’’

‘‘You could come help, then go for a walk. Daisy says the syrup is near to ready. Besides, Charlie and Mr. Harrison say men are better taffy pullers than women. What do you think?’’

‘‘I never pulled this taffy. What is it?’’

‘‘Candy. You pull it until it becomes hard. Tastes really good, but you need a lot of pullers.’’

Amazed that he found himself following her into the kitchen, he looked around at the laughing people. Immediately he caught Miss Hossfuss’s gaze.

With a slight nod, he went to stand in the corner. Surely upstairs reading a book would be better than this.

‘‘All right, everyone find a partner and butter your fingers. Pick up the hot candy and pull slowly and gently until it cools enough to need more. The finished candy will be cream-colored rather than this caramel look.’’ Cimarron glanced around to make sure everyone understood.