The Rancher (10 page)

Just as Abby was about to run down thechurch steps and away from so manyinquisitive eyes, the dark-haired strangersmiled awkwardly, once again challengingher to state her purpose.  A small crowdhad gathered around her and she spotted atleast seven marriageable age men.  Sheswallowed the lump in her throat andsmiled as demurely as she could.

“Now that I’ve got all yer attention, Iguess I should tell you why I’m here.” Shefelt nervous for the first time in a longtime and didn’t like the feeling one bit.

“All of you,” she paused, glancing atthe town’s newest visitor, then corrected,

“Well,
 
most
 
all of you know me, and you know my ranch.”

“McCallister’s sellin’ their ranch,” a young cowboy yelled out to his friends over near the saloon.

“Marcus Dingle,” Abby chastised, “we are doing no such thing.”

Her words were barely audible above the murmur of the quickly growing crowd and the hoots and hollering from the tussle happening next door. “If you’ll just listen for a moment.”

“What ya doin’, Abby?” a voice called out from somewhere in the crowd.

“Why, it’s not proper to have a young lady act like—“

“What young lady?” Someone else yelled out before the woman could finish.

“Why ya wearin’ that getup, Abby?

Ain’t never seen ya in a dress before.”

Abby blushed.

Laughter exploded through the crowdand the sudden roar of conversation made

it nearly impossible for Abby to continue.

She couldn’t tell which comment came from where and she realized she wouldn’t

accomplish her task if she didn’t focus crowd’s attention.   She pulled out the small pistol she’d hidden in the folds of her dress and aimed it directly above her. When she fired, the crowd fell silent.

“Now, that’s better.”  Abby tucked the gun back into her skirt.  She tried to think of how Lily would act in this situation.  She looked around for her friend, but she’d disappeared.   Abby placed her hands together in front of her and pushed her shoulders forward, tilting her head

slightly to one side as she’d seen Lily do

before.

“Gentlemen,” Abby began again, “well, except for those two of course,” smiling sheepishly, she pointed to the two Spencer boys now being held at their necks by a different newcomer.  The crowd laughed as the boys kicked and squirmed in the man’s grasp.  Silver Falls didn’t get many strangers and she guessed these two had come together.

“The SilverHawk is a large spread with plenty of work to be done.  Some of the finest horses in the territory have been bred out of our ranch and many more will come.”  She dared a glance at the stranger standing just a few heads back, and took heart at the intrigue dancing about his features.   Her throat, suddenly dry,

struggled with the words she must force

out.

“I need a good Christian man who will take a more...,” she paused glancing over the men in the crowd trying to anticipate their reaction, “...active role on my ranch.”

A low, long whistle came from the

crowd.

“What exactly are ya talking about, Miss Abby?” an older man wearing a faded   plaid   shirt   under   dull   red suspenders called up to her.  She smiled at him with what she hoped was an endearing curve of her lips.

“I’m gettin’ to that Matthew,” she stopped, took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly.  Returning a smile to her face, she pulled her shoulders back and straightened

her spine, focusing on the few she thought acceptable choices. “I need a man with some experience breeding horses and running a ranch.” She swallowed.

“I thought
 
you
 
was the one that did all them things at SilverHawk,” Benjamin Spencer called out, still in the clutches of the second stranger.   Laughter erupted from the group and he plastered a satisfied grin across his face.

Abby gulped back her nervous giggle when the second stranger kneed Ben in his hind end.   His face scrunched up with mock indignation.

“What I mean to say, is that I am offering to share my stakes in the SilverHawk ranch with the man who’ll be...my husband,” she breathed out the last with resignation of her dignity.

“When did you get yerself hitched, Abby?”

Abby grunted in frustration.  “It’s the husband part that I still need, Marcus. Today.”  She was sure her racing heart indicated she was dying.

A loud guffaw came from the front

row.   Abby blinked when she saw Jeremiah Carson actually laughing at her.  “You just couldn’t leave well enough alone could ya, Abby? No man’s gonna marry a girl like you.  Not until you decide to be what a wife should.”

“And just what is that, Mr. Carson?”

“A woman.  Hell, Abby, you can’t even wear a dress without coverin’ it up with a man’s coat. If you want to get yourself a husband,   you   need   to   be   Miss McCallister,” Jeremiah squawked at her.

“Show a feminine interest once in a while. A man wants a woman he’d be proud to have on his arm. He doesn’t want to have to compete with her newest stud horse.”

Abashed by his mocking she looked for the stranger who had unknowingly given her the courage to speak it aloud. When her eyes found his, she smiled uneasily in his direction.   His expression had

changed, however.  It was no longer full of lighthearted interest, but had altered into something closer to anger, leaving her confused and frustrated.  His brows were

creased into a solitary line and the smile was gone from his face.

She watched with disappointment and embarrassment as he turned on his heel and strode away.  He was a stranger to her.   She didn’t know him.   So, why

should his opinion matter to her?  Taking a deep breath, she regained her composure.  She stood up straighter before attempting to respond to Jeremiah’s cruel banter. Her mind, however, would not release the image of the stranger’s dark brooding eyes and she forced her gaze away from his retreating back.

Earl took a step forward and opened his mouth to speak.  Abby closed her eyes.  Of all the Spencer’s, Benjamin would certainly be the best, but…

“Where I come from, that is no way to treat a lady.” The second stranger appeared suddenly to defend her honor.  He had relinquished his hold on the Spencer boys and stood in open challenge to Jeremiah.

Abby’s gaze moved from Ben, to the

stranger, and then to Jeremiah.

“Here   neither,   friend,”   Jeremiah

replied.  “So, when you find one, I’ll treat her all respectable like.”

One moment Jeremiah stood there, his head thrown back and laughing, and the next he lay flat on the ground, one arm thrown above his head and the corner of his mouth bleeding.

”I am not your friend.”

Abby looked at the man standing in front of her.   She warmed to him immediately,   however,   her   gaze inadvertently   followed   searched   the crowd for the first.  There was something about him that drew her attention.

“You all right, ma’am?” The stranger

asked.

Abby couldn’t think what to say, so she

nodded. The stranger mirrored her action.  The two Spencer boys he’d held stood hovering over their friend.   The man resumed his grip on their necks and carted them back toward the Sheriff’s office.

“Ain’t too smart are ya, boys?”

Cole felt as if he’d been kicked in thegut when her words triggered the sicklyrealization of her identity.  The name, thehair,   the   town--not   only  was   she McCallister’s daughter, she was Alaric’s Abby and she stood there proposingmarriage to anyone who’d take her.  Hedidn’t know if he was more angry at herfor putting herself in such a compromisingposition or the men who mocked her.

Apprehension, anger, and relief all

danced with one another inside of him.  He swallowed the knot that had begun to form in his throat.  Turning abruptly he stalked back to the horses in front of the

sheriff’s office.

She’ll be there...waiting for me
 
, heheard the same plea in his mind that hadhaunted him for months.
 
Please go to her,tell her I didn’t forget.  Tell her...I lovedher.
 
Alaric’s last words were pricklingheavily at Cole’s conscience.  Alaric hadbelieved this Abby from his youth wouldalways wait for him--no matter how longit took to return. He hadn’t been to Silver

Falls in five years or more and yet he’dstill believed she’d wait.   He wished

Alaric were standing in front of himbecause for the first time since he’d died, Cole wanted to punch him for being so

blind.

Raine was behind Cole in an instant, both the fighting boys still within his clutch. “They were stupid enough to stick around even after I hit the insolent pup back there.”

“Lucky for you,” Cole stated with facetious disdain toward the two youth.

“Where’s the sheriff?  Raine called to

the barber who had just stepped out onto the lifted porch.

“Ain’t none.”

Cursing under his breath, Raine looked from one boy to the other and with a few short words whispered sharply in their ears, he let them go with a push.  Both of them ran down the street, not once looking back, and disappeared into the fields surrounding the town.

Grumbling to himself, Cole fidgetedaround in his saddle bag to find the smalltoken representing Alaric’s affection forthe girl.  He looked up when he heard ahearty chuckle.   The same balding manstood like a pompous old bear watchingthe scene playing out before him.

“Not gonna change your mind now areyou, son?  She may not be feminine andall, and she’s real tough around the edges,but you have to give it to her.  She has alot of spunk and plenty of curves to keep aman satisfied.”

With a low growl in his throat Colestared at the man menacingly with onebrow raised.  The smile on the man’s face

faded almost instantly and any further hint at humor restrained itself from sounding.

Things   had   just   become   very

complicated.   Cole had never imagined Alaric’s Abby would turn out to be McCallister’s only daughter.  He would have to resort to more drastic measures

than he had originally intended to discover the truth and fulfill his promise to his friend. Cole finished fastening the latch on his bag and turned back toward the crowd. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly. Time to be charming.

Cole could feel Raine’s eyes on him, but he said nothing.  He took a step toward the church.

She’ll be there waiting for me,
 
heechoed his friends empty promise in hismind.  “Well,” he said aloud as he pickedup his pace, “she wasn’t waiting for you,friend.”

“You can’t be serious about this, Abby,” her blond heckler said, pulling himself up from the ground.

“Jeremiah,” she started.   Her face flushed at using such informality in public.  She smoothed an invisible crease from the coat covering her dress.   Her voice lowered. “Mr. Carson, I believe you had your chance yesterday when I spoke to you at your ranch.  If I’m not what you want in a wife, then fine, move aside and let me find someone who thinks my ranch, or at least my latest stud, is worth the price.”   The crowd laughed.  Heat rose in her cheeks.   They burned even hotter when she recalled her earlier