Dusty Britches (10 page)

Though I
’
m nothin
’
but a cowboy…a
-
ridin
’
for the brand
?

Are you pretendin
’
I
’
m a gentleman…a
-
askin
’
for your hand?

Well, I
’
ll kiss you tonight, little darlin
’
.

And I
’
ll hold you real tight in my arms.

And if you
’
re thinkin
’
that my kisses
…
aren
’
t really who I am
,

I
’
m not pretendin
’
, little girl
,

A dream unendin
’
, little girl
,

No more pretendin
’
, little girl…

I
’
m your man.

Oh, how she’d adored the
song as a child! How she
’
d awakened every morning long before the sun
just to
l
ie awake
in
her
bed or sit by her open window and listen to Ryder
’
s deep, masculine voice
as he sang during
morning chores. His voice
owned
a richness it lacked all those years b
ack—its intonation all the more dreamy!
As she saw him come out of the barn, she stepped back so he could not see her watching him from the window. He set
down
two buckets of milk and closed the barn doors behind him, whistling the tune instead of singing it this time
and heading
for the back porch. There he
’
d set the milk buckets down
outside the back door and cover
them with the old dishcloth Becca had left
out
the night before.

For a moment, it was
as if
nothing had changed.
Yet
making busy to dispel any
further
sentimental reminiscing, Dusty dressed and went to the kitchen to start breakfast. By the time Becca came rushing into the kitchen, Dusty had all but finished the flapjacks and bacon.

“I’m so sorry, Dust. I-
I really thought I was gettin
’
up early enough,
”
the girl apologized sincerely.

“
It
’
s fine, Becca,
”
Dusty
assured her with a kind smile—
an apologetic smile.
“
I was up earlier than usual and thought I
’
d just get it done.
”

“I’m—
I
’
m sorry for last night, Dust. I was so cruel to you,
”
Becca told her.

“
It was me, Becca, not you. How well you must know that by now.
”
Dusty hugged her sister tightly. It had been so long, far too long
,
since she
’
d hugged her little sister.
“
I did want to ask y
a
about something you said though,
”
Dusty ventured.
“
About me not bein
’
the only one who
—”

“
Good mornin
’
, my sugar lumps!
”
Hank greeted as he entered the kitchen, stretching his suspenders up over his shoulders.

“
Oh, Daddy!
”
Becca whined delightedly.
“
Sugar lumps?
”

“
Yes, Daddy! Please! I certainly hope we
’
re not lumpy yet
,” Dusty teased. She returned
her father
’
s morning kiss as he paused in passing her.

“
Them hands up yet?
”
he asked as he sat down at the table.

“
Well, I saw Ryder millin
’
around out there while I was gettin
’
dressed,
”
Becca offered.

“
Yep! That boy
’
s still got a mighty fine voice in his gullet, don
’
t he?
”
Hank yawned and stretched again.
“
But Feller oughta have them other boys up by now.
”

“It was a long day, Daddy.
I
’
m sure they
’
re wrung out,
”
Dusty defended. The silence was deafening
,
so she turned to see both her daddy and Becca staring at her with raised eyebrows.
“
What?
”
she asked.

“
Well, if you
’
ll pardon my sayin
’
it, Dust,
”
Becca ventured,
“
you
’
re nearly harder on
’
em about gettin
’
up early than Daddy is.
”

Dusty
’
s initial reaction was to get angry with her sister. Of course she was hard on them all! She
wa
s the one
who
had to prepare their meals most of the time
,
and it was a lot of work
.
Why shouldn
’
t she expect them to be prompt? But her musings of the night before gave her reason to pause. She was mean, and she was trying to change that now.
“
I am, aren
’
t I,
”
she stated rather than asked. Her daddy, obviously not wanting to say anything unkind, simply rubbed at his whiskery chin and looked away.

“
Mornin
’
, all,
”
Ryder said as he entered the kitchen through the open back door. For a moment
,
his eyes met Dusty
’
s
,
and he grinned. She smiled slightly at him but looked away quickly. How was she going to live through this? How could
she endure having him so close—so wonderful—
so
untouchable?

Feller was right at his heels and said,
“
Mornin
’
.
”

“
Mornin
’
, boys! And ain
’
t it a beauty?
”
Hank greeted.

“
It is that, sir,
”
Ryder agreed, taking a seat at the table.

“
What
’
s on the list today,
b
oss?
”
Feller asked, taking a seat next to Ryder.

“
Mornin
’
,
”
Ruff mumbled as he entered, followed by several others.

Hank nodded at each man as he entered,
answering
Feller
’
s question at the same time.
“
Figure after everyone who
’
s leavin
’
has rode out
, we
’
ll get to brandin
’
. Might as well get
it
out of the way.
”

Dusty dropped the spoon she was using
,
and it clattered to the floor. Her breath had stopped
,
and there was a terrible constricting pain in her chest. She hadn
’
t thought of it before now. What if Ryder w
ere
drifting? What if he hadn
’
t planned to stay on? What if he
’
d only joined the drive out of loyalty to her father and now planned to leave with the others
who
were moving on?

“
You all right?
”
Becca asked, her expression that of true concern.

“
What
’
s the racket, Dusty?
”
her father exclaimed.
“’
Bout to give a man a heart attack.
”

“
Sorry, Daddy,
”
Dusty mumbled.

“
Anyhow,
”
Hank continued,
“
we need to get them cattle branded today and look
’
em all over good so we can get on with the regular work tomorrow.
”

“
Yes, sir,
”
Feller agreed.

The talk turned to low, mumbling
,
man kind of things
.
Dusty and Becca sat down together to eat their breakfast at the small drop
leaf in one corner
of the kitchen
.

“
You
’
re as white as snow, Dusty,
”
Becca whispered.
“
What
’
s the matter? You feelin
’
all right?
”

“
I
’
m fine,
”
Dusty told her, trying not to
speak in
her usual short, irritated
manner
.

“
Well, all I know is you and I are gonna find ourselves doin
’
more chores
’
round here, since Ryder
’
s the only one of the drive cowboys
who’s stayin’ on. The rest are leavin’.
That leaves only Daddy, Feller, Guthrie, Titch, Ruff
,
and Ryder to run the cattle and everythin
’
else!
”

“
Who told y
a
that? That Ryder was the only one stayin
’
on?
”
Trying to cover her obvious interest, Dusty added,
“
At least four stayed on after the last drive
,
and Daddy didn
’
t bring all that many cattle home
last
time.
”

“
Ryder told me last night. Said the others didn
’
t want to stay…that he was the only one stayin
’
on,
”
Becca said as she concentrated on eating her eggs.

A wave of a
nxious relief washed over Dusty,
and although it was merely first thing
in the morning, she felt tired—
drained already as if she
’
d worked all day.

“
I saw this dress in Miss Raynetta
’
s dress shop window, Dusty!
”
Becca began, lowering her voice excitedly.
“
It
’
s all yellows and greens! Do you think I might talk Daddy into letting me have it for the Fourth of July picnic in town?
”

Dusty smiled. Becca
’
s eyes were lit up like train lanterns.
“
I
’
m sure y
a
can, Becca,
”
Dusty answered.
“
He never says no to you, now does he?
”

“
He never says no to you either, Dusty,
”
Becca reminded with a smile.

“
That
’
s
’
cause we
’
re good girls.
We never
ask for more than
we
should.
”