Pete (The Cowboys) (19 page)

“It’s not a request,” Mrs. Dean said.

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” Anne said. “No one will see those letters.” She turned on Mrs. Dean. “I don’t know what you expect to gain by this, but you have certainly lost my friendship.”

“My dear, I’m only trying—”

“You’re trying to stir up trouble,” Anne said, interrupting, “just like Belser. Nobody at the ranch would listen to his ridiculous accusations, so he followed us into town hoping to find someone who would. I knew Peter better than either of you. I, and I alone, should be the one to determine his identity. I tell you here and now, this man is Peter Warren, Uncle Carl’s nephew, my husband. He’s just given me a ring to prove it. Isn’t it beautiful?”

She held the ring out for all to see.

“That doesn’t prove anything,” Belser exploded. “Besides, he bought it with ranch money.”

“You’re fired.”

The words came out so quickly, so unexpectedly, that everyone stared.

“Who are you to question my husband’s identity?” Anne demanded. “You aren’t a relative. You aren’t a friend. As of this moment, you aren’t even a hired hand. As soon as you return to the ranch, collect your things and leave.”

“You can’t do that,” Belser exploded. “I’m Uncle Carl’s nephew. I’m the one he wanted to have the ranch. I’m—”

“That’s a lie,” Anne said. “He didn’t think Peter could handle the job, but he always meant to leave the ranch to a blood relative. You’re not a relative. You’re his wife’s great-nephew. He disliked your whole family.”

“You can’t fire me,” Belser said. “You—”

“Of course she can,” Pete said quietly. “As my wife, she’s just as much owner of the ranch as I am.”

“Not if you’re dead,” Belser growled.

“In that event, she would own it all,” Pete said. “I made out a will yesterday. I left everything to Anne in case of my death. I’m sorry I can’t help you,” he said, turning to the sheriff, “but the papers will be arriving soon. As for the letters, I can’t hand them over. I don’t have them.”

“If you don’t have mem, then—”

“They’re at the ranch. Now, if you’ll excuse us, you’ve delayed us long enough already.”

Pete took Anne by the arm, and they walked from The Emporium. He was certain the entire conversation would be all over Big Bend by evening. The two women who’d waited on them had listened to every word with rampant curiosity.

Pete felt Anne go limp the moment the door of The Emporium closed behind them.

“Don’t relax now,” he said. “Keep your head high and your back straight. We’ve got them on the run.”

Anne straightened her posture, but when she turned to him, he could see the uncertainty in her eyes. “Do you really think so?”

“You were magnificent. Your infantry blunted their offensive, your reserves caught them on their blind side, and then you brought up the cavalry when they thought we had our backs against the wall.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Anne said with a weak laugh.

“I mean you left them nothing to say.”

“Does that mean you think I was right to speak up?”

He couldn’t remember when he’d seen anyone more anxious for praise. He put his arm around her waist and hugged her to him.

“I couldn’t have done half as well myself. I listened in awe as you masterfully destroyed Mrs. Dean and Belser.”

Anne blushed with happiness, and he felt an odd sensation of pleasure shoot through him. She looked like an angel when she smiled. He couldn’t understand why men wanting to court her weren’t lined up at her front door.

“I probably shouldn’t have spoken to Mrs. Dean like that, but she made me so angry I couldn’t help myself. I couldn’t believe she’d ask the sheriff to arrest you.”

“Forget about her. By the way, if you’re not serious about firing Belser, I am.”

“I don’t know if I really should,” she said, uncertain again. “He is related to Uncle Carl, even if only by marriage.”

“Okay, we’ll let him stay one more night. Now I insist you forget about everything except how to fit all your new clothes into the buckboard. I’d offer to leave the supplies, but I doubt the men would appreciate it when the food started to run out.”

She laughed again, and he swore he’d make sure she laughed every day for as long as it took him to find his money.

“You should have seen her,” Pete said to Dolores and Eddie after he’d finished telling them of the confrontation with Mrs. Dean and the sheriff. “You wouldn’t have recognized her. She stood up to them like a she-wolf defending her cub.”

“I didn’t,” Anne protested. Heat suffused her cheeks. “I was so scared I could hardly talk.”

“Nobody would have guessed from the way you tore into Belser. She’s got very sharp teeth and claws,” he said to Dolores with a wink. “You’d better watch out.”

“Please, ma’am,” Dolores said, pretending absolute terror, “don’t beat me. I promise I won’t burn the bread ever again.”

“Stop it, all of you,” Anne said amid the laughter. “If you keep teasing me like this, you’ll deserve to be beaten.”

“Aha!” Pete said. “A taste of power, and she becomes a tyrant.”

Pete didn’t stop, and they laughed all the way through dessert. Anne couldn’t remember an evening when she’d had so much fun. Belser hadn’t returned from Big Bend, leaving just the four of them for supper. It had been the best evening of her life.

For the first time, she felt included. More than that, she felt at the center of things. Important. Everyone’s attention had been focused on her almost from the moment they reached the ranch. First on her clothes, then on the other purchases she’d made. Pete had spent all evening telling them how pretty she looked, how people stared when she passed—she didn’t remember anybody staring, but then, she couldn’t see everything—how she’d stood up to Mrs. Dean.

After years of expecting not to be seen, rarely heard, and never attended to, Anne found it a little disconcerting to be the center of so much attention. But she liked it. If this was what things were going to be like, she would positively enjoy being the adored and beloved wife of the owner of a big ranch.

Did Pete adore her?

His treatment made her feel protected, valued. After the trip to Big Bend, she felt important, cherished.

But did he love her?

She fingered the engagement and wedding rings.

She’d never expected the clothes and other things. But as nice as they were, they weren’t a patch on what it meant to have Pete slip those rings on her finger. At that moment, she had felt really married. He hadn’t understood the tears, but the women in The Emporium had.

She was married. Safe. Protected. Cared for. But did Pete love her? That question had become of paramount importance because she was in love with him. She knew she was because this feeling was unlike anything she’d felt as a child. She looked at Pete at the head of the table. He seemed to belong there, naturally. There was no uneasiness, no uncertainty. He had complete confidence in himself and in what he meant to do.

He’d taken her with him. To the bank. To the lawyer, everywhere. He discussed nothing behind closed doors. He didn’t say anything was too complicated or difficult for her to understand. He didn’t even say it wasn’t a woman’s business. He’d even asked her opinion. Almost as much of a surprise, she’d had one to offer. And he’d listened.

He made her feel real, valued, important. She would have fallen in love with him for that alone.

“It’s time for Eddie and me to start making plans for the roundup,” Pete said, pushing his chair back from the table.

“I have to start cleaning up,” Dolores said, “or I won’t get out of the kitchen before midnight.”

“I’ll help,” Anne said. “You’re late because you held supper for us.”

“Could we have some coffee in about half an hour?” Pete asked.

“You sure it won’t keep you awake?” Dolores asked.

“After two days spent in that buckboard and battling Mrs. Dean, nothing could keep me awake. I imagine you must be worn out,” he said, turning to Anne. “I’ll probably be up half the night. Don’t wait up for me.”

“I am rather tired,” Anne admitted.

He walked around the table to her chair, his hands outstretched. She took them, and he pulled her to her feet.

“Sleep tight,” he said and kissed her lightly on the lips. “You don’t have to leave a light on. Now,” he said, turning to Eddie, “where do we start? I want to move these cows as little as possible. I don’t want to walk off any more flesh than necessary.”

Pete and Eddie walked off to the office already deep in their discussion.

Anne stood rooted to the spot. Pete had never kissed her before. It was hardly more than a brushing of the lips, but it was a kiss. He must love her. Surely he wouldn’t kiss her if he didn’t.

“It sounds like you had quite a trip,” Dolores said as she began gathering up empty plates.

“It was very nice,” Anne replied, coming out of her trance.

“Your husband buys you a ring with a diamond the size of a pea, and all you can say is
very nice
!”

Anne picked up a platter of beef and a dish of potatoes. “Okay, it was wonderful.”

Dolores backed her way through the kitchen door. “I’d say splendid, magnificent, and spectacular were closer to the truth. If anything like that had happened to me, I’d still be floating ten feet above the earth. Actually, I’d be certain my husband had at least three mistresses scattered about the county and was trying to make sure that if I found out I’d be too happy to care.”

“Pete wouldn’t do anything like that.” They set everything down on the big table in the center of the kitchen and went back for a second load. “He’s too kind.”

“Not to mention generous.”

“I guess he is, but he’s a rich man now.”

“He still spent a lot of money on you.”

“He said he was trying to make up for Uncle Carl not spending anything.”

“In that case, he’s got a long way to go.”

They deposited the second load of dishes and went back again.

“Maybe he’s in the habit of spending too much. Maybe that’s why his hardware store failed.”

“I don’t know about that,” Dolores said, picking up a tray loaded with glasses and cups and handing it to Anne while she wiped the table clean. “If you ask me, it must have been something else. Eddie says he’s impressed with Pete’s decision to sell now rather than risk a bad winter. It takes a man with a lot of confidence in himself to make a decision like that. Your husband is nothing like what everybody led me to expect. And that includes you.”

“He is quite different,” Anne said, passing into the kitchen while Dolores held the door. “It’s taken me a while to get used to him.”

“I don’t know what his brother was like, but he must have been a doozie for everybody to prefer him to Pete.”

“He liked the ranch and was always joking.”

“Just like Pete. I thought if he made me laugh another time, I’d split my sides. Why didn’t you tell me he could be so funny?”

“I didn’t know,” Anne said. “He was always so serious.”

“Probably depressed from hearing his brother praised all the time,” Dolores said as she started putting the dirty dishes into hot, soapy water. “It would have put me into a prolonged sulk.”

“Me, too.”

But Anne wasn’t listening. She was remembering Pete telling about Mrs. Dean and making it sound so funny even she laughed. That was definitely unlike the Peter she remembered. She was glad he’d changed, grown more confident, more knowledgeable. She’d have to ask him about the miraculous transformation. Maybe she could learn something that would make her more confident Pete said she’d faced Mrs. Dean with courage, but that wasn’t the truth. She and the sheriff were attacking Pete only moments after he’d put a wedding ring on her finger. They were trying to take from her the only person who’d ever really made her feel happy.

She couldn’t let that happen. She’d struck back. She still found it amazing, but she’d do it again. There wasn’t anything she wouldn’t do for him.

“I think I’ll give the house a good cleaning while the men are gone,” Dolores said.

Anne came out of her daze. “That sounds like a good idea.”

“You’ll use your time better getting rid of all your old clothes. You can also start making up some of that material he bought. Where are you ever going to wear all those clothes?”

“Pete says he wants me to look nice all the time.”

“You sure there aren’t any more like him in Illinois? Dangle a man like that in front of me, and I’ll grab him so fast it’ll make his head spin.”

“I thought you didn’t want to get married, that you couldn’t trust a man enough to love him.”

“I sure could learn to love a man who wanted to spoil me like Pete wants to spoil you. I’m half in love with him myself. You must be delirious.”

“I am,” Anne said, looking at her rings for the thousandth time since Pete had put them on her finger. “I never dreamed I could be so happy.”

“With you two making sheep’s eyes at each other, I expect this place will fill up with children in no time. You’d better find somebody to help with the work. I can’t do it all, especially not with you pregnant and unable to get out of your chair.”