A Heart Renewed (37 page)

As he led her across the square, she asked, “How are things at the ranch?” 

“Will is irritating Hannah with his constant worrying.  Each day he tries to get her to let Rosa do more of the work and to rest.”  He chuckled.  “At dinner, she wags her finger at him and tells him she can handle things.  He leaves it alone until the next day.”

Julia giggled.  “He does have a way of being a bit overprotective.”

He paused, holding the door open.  She stepped in and was pleasantly surprised by the restaurant.  While nothing compared to some of the finer places to dine in Texas, it was quaint.  The tables were placed in an orderly fashion throughout the room, seating two to four people.  There were candles in the center of each table, casting a welcoming glow.  The delicious smell of some sort of beef cooking wafted through the air.  Julia wondered if it was Colter beef.

“Welcome,” a middle aged man greeted them warmly.  “I’m Mr. Osborn.  Will it be just the two of you this evening?”

At Adam’s nod, Mr. Osborn led them to a table near the back.  When Adam held her chair, she rewarded him with a soft smile, enjoying the special attention he lavished on her this evening.

Once he took his seat, Mr. Osborn outlined the food offerings.  Both Adam and Julia selected the beef steaks, fried potatoes, and carrots, with the promise to save room for Mrs. Osborn’s peach cobbler.

When Mr. Osborn left, Julia said, “Thank you again, Adam, for the lovely birthday gift.  I don’t feel quite as homesick when I look at it.”

“Do you miss being on the ranch, then?”

She sighed.  “Yes.  I miss the wide open space, the smell of horses, and the occasional unsanctioned ride.”  She laughed.

Adam chuckled.  “I’m sure your brother doesn’t miss that.”

“I’m sure you’re right.”

“Maybe I could come by next week or the week after with Annabel and we could explore the area?” Adam suggested.

Julia’s excitement rose.  How she would love to ride again.  “I would really enjoy that.  I usually have Wednesdays off.”

“Next Wednesday, then.”

Mr. Osborn brought the two plates of very delicious looking food.  Once placed in front of the two diners, Adam reached for Julia’s hand and said grace.  She barely heard the words, as she was so acutely aware of his touch.

“How is Percy coming along?” she asked.

“He is one smart horse.  Right now I’m leaning towards training him for ranching, although he is much too young for a final decision.  He reminds me of Will’s stallion Jackson, when he was two years.”

“So my brother picked a few good horses then?”

“More than just a few good ones.  I doubt I could have picked better myself—especially in such unsettled territory.”

Finishing the last of bite of her beef steak, she swallowed.  Referring to his job at the ranch, she asked, “Is this everything you dreamed it would be?”

He grew pensive.  “I’m finding my dreams have changed.”

His answer was not what she expected, nor was his intense gaze.

“You don’t want to train horses any longer?” she asked, confused.

“Oh, I could never see myself doing anything else.  I love training horses.  We have the makings of a quality operation out at the ranch.”

“Then what did you mean when you said your dreams were changing?”

Adam laid his fork down on the table and clasped her hand.  He rubbed his thumb lightly over her knuckles.  Julia’s heart picked up pace and she very nearly held her breath.  When he looked into her eyes, she saw deep emotion there.

His words were soft, like gentle rain, when he spoke, “Would you… Julia, I would like to court you, if the idea pleases you.”

She blinked.  Was she part of his changing dreams?  His hand now covered hers, but she sat motionless. 
He wants to court me.
  But courtship often leads to marriage.  If that was where this was going, she would have to tell him what really happened in Texas.  Could she do that?  Would she really have to tell him?  How would he react if he knew?

Her heart wanted to say yes to Adam, but her mind was warning her it would only end in pain for both of them. 
Does it have to?
Her heart cried.

When she saw Adam’s expression begin to change from hopeful to disappointment, she finally spoke.  “Yes, Adam, the idea pleases me.”

“Then I will speak with your brother tomorrow,” Adam said, beaming.

I hope you don’t regret this, Julia.  Please don’t let this end in more pain and brokenness.

Chapter 29

At first, when Julia did not respond to his question last night, Adam thought he misread her completely.  He thought perhaps she was not interested in him, or that she was still mired in the past.  When she finally said yes, he could have danced right there in that restaurant.  He hoped she would feel the same when he returned next week.

Again, he almost kissed her when he led her back to the hotel.  But, he wanted to get Will’s permission to court her first.  As much as his heart wanted to rush things, his head reminded him he still needed to tread carefully.

Buckling the saddle on his horse, Adam checked the straps a second time, an old habit.  He led the horse from the Lancaster’s small stable across the square to the mercantile to pick up a few things.

Mr. Young greeted him as he entered and then continued the conversation he was having with another patron.  “Farming, you say.  Well, there’s lots of good land still available in the area for homesteading.”

“I am looking for something with a good water supply, but not too far from town,” the farmer said.

“Well, this here might be someone you want to talk to,” Mr. Young said pointing to Adam.  “Adam Larson, this is Jacob Morgan.”

Adam shook his hand.  Remembering Will mentioned wanting to bring on a farmer for the horse feed, Adam said, “There is some good farmland near Colter Ranch, where I work.  Will Colter, my boss, is looking for someone who might be willing to discuss a deal to provide horse feed for our training business.  I’m not sure what terms he would negotiate, but if you are interested, come out to the ranch and speak with him.”

Jacob Morgan looked thoughtful, considering the idea.  “How far is the ranch from town?”

“Not more than five miles northeast of here,” Adam replied.

“Well, I think I might just head out there tomorrow and take a look.”

“You are welcome to travel with me today.  While we have not run into any trouble with the Apaches for a while, it is always better to travel in larger numbers.”

“My wife and daughters would need to come too.”

Adam and Jacob agreed to leave for the ranch in an hour, meeting near the town square.  Leaving Jacob in the store, Adam walked toward the hotel, hoping to get a few more minutes with Julia.  When he entered the building, she looked up from the front desk.

“Adam, good morning.”  Her smile made her blue eyes sparkle.

“Julia.”  Moving closer to the desk, he was grateful she was not busy.  “I thought I would stop by and say goodbye before heading back to the ranch.”

“I’m glad you did.  I was wondering if you would take this.”  She handed him an envelope.  “To Will and Hannah for me.”

“Of course.  You must have been up late writing.”  Taking her hand in his, he resigned himself to a quick brush of his lips on the back of her hand instead of the kiss he dreamed about.  “I’ll see you on Wednesday then.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

He released her hand then walked to the door.  Turning to glance back, she smiled and waved.  It warmed his heart to see her so happy.

Having not seen Owens or Whitten this morning, Adam went back to Lancaster’s to see if they were done sleeping off all the alcohol they consumed.  He was pleased to find them dressing, albeit sluggishly.  He told them they would have company on the trip back to the ranch.  Owens started to complain, but Adam just walked away, tired of the constant friction.  Hopefully, he would tame his tongue in front of the farmer and his family.

At the appointed time, the Morgan family arrived at the square in their beat up wagon.  Jacob looked to be close in age to Will and was equally as fit.  Lucy Morgan seemed rather outgoing and was a few years younger than her husband.  She introduced their two daughters to Adam.  Sarah was ten and Becky was eight. 

Once introductions were complete, Adam led the way back to Colter Ranch.  The Morgans followed him.  Owens and Whitten brought up the rear at a relatively lackadaisical pace.

When they topped the last hill before heading down to the ranch, he heard Lucy’s gasp, “Oh my.  If that isn’t the prettiest piece of land you ever saw, Jacob!”

Adam smiled at her comment.  When he first saw the valley below, he knew he would be content to live out his days here.  More and more, he didn’t want to do that alone.  Shaking away the thoughts of Julia, Adam saw movement in front of the ranch house.  Likely Will and Hannah heard the unexpected wagon approaching.

The Morgans parked the wagon in front of the ranch house.  Adam led his horse to the hitching post and dismounted.

“Will,” Adam said.  “This is Jacob and Lucy Morgan and their two daughters, Sarah and Becky.  Jacob is interested in homesteading somewhere not too far from town.  I thought you might like to speak with him.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Will said extending his hand.

After introductions were made, Adam offered to take care of the Morgans oxen.  As he started to unhitch them, he remembered the letter from Julia in his pocket.  Turning to catch Hannah before she turned into the ranch house, he handed her the letter.

“It’s from Julia.”

Hannah, while surprised at the unexpected guests, instantly warmed to Lucy, who was quite excited when she noticed Hannah’s bulging belly.  Rubbing her lower back, Hannah motioned for the Morgans to follow her and Will inside.

Retrieving a plate of cookies, with milk for the girls, and coffee for the adults, she placed the items on the table.

Will spoke first.  “Jacob, tell me what brings you to Colter Ranch?”

“Adam mentioned you might be interested in discussing an arrangement for a farmer to provide feed for your horses.  Is that true?”

“Yes, in fact I considered putting an advertisement in the mercantile, but had yet to do so.  Are you interested in homesteading your own farm, or were you looking to lease land?”

“I’d like to homestead my own farm, but I did have plans for the full one hundred and sixty acres, so I am not sure how it would work to section off an area for horse feed.  How many horses do you have?”

“Well over forty at this point.  I’m looking to increase that number as Adam and I build up the horse training and breeding business.”

“Oh,” Jacob said his concern showing.  “That is much larger than I expected.”

Hannah smiled to herself when she saw how Will tried to quickly assuage Jacob’s fears.  “I think we could work out some arrangement where I could provide the land necessary for growing the horse feed if you would farm it.”  Will smiled sheepishly.  “While I love working with livestock, I would be terrible at farming.”

Jacob and Lucy both chuckled at his comment.  “I think that sounds like an excellent arrangement.”

Seeing the coffee mugs were empty, Hannah rose to get more coffee.  As she refilled the cups, Will and Jacob discussed possible farm sites near the Colter property.  Over the last year, Will amassed a rather large track of land as was allowed for cattle ranchers.  He spoke of a section on the far eastern edge of the property, where he rarely took the cattle, as the ideal location for the farmland.  There were no other settlers nearby, so the Morgans would be able to homestead adjacent to the section.

“Shall we ride out and look at the land?” Will asked.

“Lucy, will you and the girls be fine for an hour or so?” Jacob asked his wife.

Lucy smiled at Hannah.  “I’m sure we will be in excellent care.”

As Will and Jacob left, Hannah turned to Lucy.  “So, what brought you all the way to the Arizona Territory?”

Lucy’s laugh had a light airy quality to it.  “I think it has more to do with Jacob’s sense of adventure than anything else.  He has dreamed for years of owning his own land.  Back in Indiana, his older brother will inherit the family farm.  Unfortunately, there was no land left near his family or mine.  So, we decided if we had to make a move, why not find some place where land was plentiful.  I don’t exactly recall how we found out about the Arizona Territory.  I just remember hearing about the milder weather and thinking how nice it must be here.  I have to tell you, I am not disappointed so far.”

Hannah laughed.  “Yes, while we do get snow in the winters, it is nothing like the bitter cold in Ohio.”

“Ohio?  I thought the lilt to your husband’s voice sounded more like Texas.”

“Oh, you are absolutely right, Will is from Texas and I am from Ohio.  We met here and married last September.”

“My, you certainly did not waste any time starting your family,” Lucy teased, endearing her more to Hannah.

“No.”  She chuckled.  “We certainly did not.”

“How is it that you ended up in Arizona?” Lucy asked.  “Because I would not believe it if you told me you came out here on your own.”