Second Chance Brides (22 page)

“There’s already enough food to feed every Texas Ranger in the state. I don’t know how Mr. Howard will consume it all before it spoils.” Shannon stood looking at the food with her hands on her waist, shaking her head when Leah reentered the dining room.

“I suspect that’s why he invited us over. Let’s put the canned items on that shelf next to the stove.” Leah picked up two jars. “We’ll serve the fresh food now, and Dan will have these for later on.”

“Dan, is it? You sound right at home here.” Shannon flashed her a teasing grin.

“Well, I’m not. I just spent half of yesterday here, so I guess I’m more familiar with things than you are.” Leah’s cheeks heated. “Besides, being the oldest of eleven children, I’m used to bossing others around.”

“I would have liked having an older sister like you. All my siblings died before birth or passed shortly after.”

“I’m sorry. Siblings can sure try your patience, but there’s something nice about having a big family.”

Shannon leaned against the counter. “Do you miss them?”

Leah ran her finger around the top of a jar lid. “Yes, sometimes, especially the younger ones, but I don’t miss all the names they called me.” She placed the jar on the shelf. “The older ones resented it when I was in charge and had to tell them what to do.”

“Must have been difficult for you.”

“It was, but it was the only life I knew.”

“Will you go back someday?”

Leah opened the back door and stared out. “I don’t know. I’d like to see my family, but I can’t go back unless I’m married. Pa would give me to Mr. Abernathy faster than a magician could make a coin disappear.”

Shannon crossed the room and laid a hand on Leah’s shoulder. “I have no one, and you have no relatives here. Perhaps we can be family.”

Leah turned, her heart warming at Shannon’s offer. “I’d like that.” She gave her friend a hug and saw Rachel and Luke come in the door.

Things turned hectic as the women set out the food and the men gathered in the parlor, talking. Both Corbett brothers had come home with Dan. Leah set out plates and forks and filled a pitcher of water from the outside pump while Rachel sliced a small ham and Shannon mashed some boiled turnips a woman had dropped off at the house. Delicious scents filled the air and made Leah’s stomach rumble.

“The food’s ready,” Rachel called to the men a short while later.

Dan glanced at the door. “The reverend’s family was coming.”

“Why don’t you men go ahead and dish up and eat. We’ll need to wash some of the plates in order to have enough.” Rachel tapped her index finger against her mouth. “Or I could run home and get a few of my plates.”

Leah reached up onto a shelf and took down several bowls. “No need. We can make sandwiches for the pastor’s youngsters and send them out back and use these bowls for us womenfolk.”

Dan smiled and nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me. Let’s all gather around the table and pray over the food. Looks real good.”

Dan led the way into the kitchen, now crowded with people. He walked around the table and stopped next to Leah. She kept her gaze ahead, not wanting people to know the depth of her feelings for the man next to her.

“Let’s hold hands.” Dan’s deep voice rumbled next to her, and she felt his fingers searching for hers. He clutched her hand like a man grabbing the reins of a runaway wagon. “Dear Lord. Good friends and f–family. I ask that You receive my ma into Your arms and reunite her with my pa. They loved each other here on earth for a long while. Bless this food, and the friends gathered here today. Amen.”

He squeezed Leah’s hand before letting go. She stood back and allowed the men to dish up first; then she took a bowl and helped herself. If she let her mind go, she could pretend that she and Dan were married and living in this house. That they had invited their close friends over—well, all except the Corbett brothers.

She followed the other women outside to sit on the front porch. Dan’s gaze followed her movement as she walked through the parlor, past the other men. Maybe her pretending wasn’t that far off.

C
HAPTER
16

S
aturday evening arrived sunny with a north wind that brought slightly cooler temperatures. Shannon was ever so glad the stifling summer heat was gone, at least for the moment. But with this being Texas, heat was never gone for good, so she’d been told numerous times.

Lively music filled the air, and dancers promenaded, curtsied and bowed, and swung their partners in wide circles. The American square dance reminded her a bit of an Irish jig, though it seemed more organized.

She watched Mark, grinning wide, catch the hand of his pretty blond partner, and they danced forward and back, once, twice, three times. He looked happy. She sighed. He had no idea that her heart ached for him. Why couldn’t he smile at her like that? All he ever did was stare at her, probing with those amazing eyes.

She’d never planned to fall for a Corbett, not after their shenanigans, but something about Mark called to her. He seemed happy enough on the outside, but there was a longing in his heart, something he yearned for or that pained him, something that he’d never expressed to her—and she doubted he’d ever spoken of it to his brother. Trying to talk seriously with Garrett was a waste of time, if you asked her. The man was full of blarney and had been born in the wrong century. He should have been a court jester. She grinned, thinking how silly he’d look jumping around in one of those jester outfits she’d seen in a book. Garrett danced his partner around Mark and bumped his brother, almost knocking him down. Garrett laughed, but Mark scowled.

“Those Corbett brothers must be happy with so many people showing up this evening.” Leah wiped down the table that had held her baked goods. “It’s hard to believe everything sold in less than ten minutes when it took hours to bake it all.”

“You’ll have to be making more next time. I’d be happy to help you.”

“I might just take you up on that offer.” Leah shoved her fist to her back. “I did so much baking that I don’t think I can dance tonight.”

“Not even with Dan?” She shot her friend a playful look.

“No, not even him. But he won’t be here tonight. He’s mourning his mother.”

“Have you seen him since the funeral?”

Leah nodded, and her cheeks turned pink. “I walked over to the livery while you were at work yesterday morning and took him several of the muffins left over from our breakfast, but I haven’t seen him today. I wonder how he’s getting along.”

“’Twas nice how the Corbetts offered to cancel the social since the funeral was just two days past. But Mark said Dan told them to go ahead and hold it.”

Leah nodded. “It would have been nearly impossible to get word out that fast, and he didn’t want people coming all the way to town and finding out the social had been called off.”

Shannon stacked the dirty pie pans into a crate and then added the soiled plates on top. “Do you think you made enough money to bake more next time and also get some fabric like you’ve been wanting?”

“Maybe, but I’ll have to order the cloth, so I doubt if it would be here in time for the next social. I could have the Corbetts pick some up in Dallas, but the thought of having those two select fabric for me makes me cringe.”

Shannon smiled, stopping beside her friend to watch the dancers. “Have you heard the Fosters have decided not to rebuild the store?”

Leah spun to face her, surprise evident in her wide blue eyes. “But what will the town do without a mercantile? How can it survive?”

“Garrett told Mark that Mr. Foster’s niece is moving here with her two children, and she will take it over.”

“Is she not married?”

Shannon shrugged one shoulder. “He said something about her being a widow.”

“I’m sorry for her loss. Maybe we should warn her that the Corbetts will try to find her another husband if she comes here.”

Giggling, Shannon shoved Leah with her arm. “Nay, then she won’t come, and we need the store.”

“Too true.”

“There’s to be a store raisin’ next Saturday. Mr. Foster wants to supervise the building project, and then he and his wife will move to Dallas to live with his mother, who’s getting on in years.”

“I know folks around here will miss them.” Leah gathered the last of the silverware and set it in the crate, then wiped down the table. “I’ve heard they’ve been part of this town since its beginning.”

A group of five cowboys who’d just arrived sauntered toward them. The hair on the back of Shannon’s neck lifted. These fellows looked rough and right off the range. Most of the men who were looking for a wife had taken the time to bathe and, at the very least, put on clean clothes and slapped on some sweet-smelling stuff. These fellows looked like they were just out for a good time.

The tallest strode directly toward Shannon. He smelled of dust and cattle and had nearly a week’s growth of beard. His jeans and boots were filthy.

“I’m not dancing tonight. I was just helping serve the food.” She hiked up her chin to show him she meant business.

“Ah, a purdy little lady like her don’t want to dance with the likes of you, Dom.”

The tall man narrowed his eyes at the speaker. “Shut up, Chappy. She sure don’t want an old man. She’s young and pretty and needs a hearty man. Ain’t that what this shindig is all about?”

Shannon backed closer to Leah. She didn’t want to dance with any of these drovers. The tall man named Dom drew up near her and grabbed her wrist. “I rode two hours to get to this party, and I aim to dance.”

“Leave her alone, you bully.” Leah yanked at the man’s hand and tried to pull it off Shannon’s arm.

He elbowed her back and pulled Shannon toward the dance floor. Shannon dug in her heels, not making it easy.

A dark-haired man with an eye patch walked past her toward Leah. “C’mon, blondie. Guess you and me’ll take a spin.”

Shannon’s heart pounded, and her legs trembled. The man swung her around and pulled her up close. She turned her face away to avoid smelling his foul breath, but not before she caught a whiff of liquor.

Suddenly, she was wrenched backward, and Mark and Garrett stood between her and the cowboy.

“Hey, that’s my gal. Get out of my way.” Dom glared at the brothers, his fists raised.

“This is a civilized gathering. Troublemakers aren’t welcome,” Mark said.

“That’s right. You and your friends would be better served at the Wet Your Whistle.”

“So says you.” The man swung, but Garrett ducked.

Mark guided Shannon out of the way as the four other cowboys joined in to help their buddy. The dance stopped as most of the men set aside their ladies and came to Garrett’s rescue. Mark hurried toward the crowd.

“No, Mark, your cast,” Shannon yelled, but she doubted he heard through the roar.

Punches flew left and right. Upraised voices shouted from all directions. Men were knocked down, but most jumped right back up. Women screamed. Shannon lost sight of Mark. She wrung her hands and prayed, “Please, Father God, keep him safe.”

A man stumbled toward her backward, arms flailing. She jumped out of his way, and dodged another man who fell at her feet.

Suddenly, the blast of a gun rent the air. Everyone froze. Marshal Davis sat atop his horse with his gun pointed at the sky. The scent of gunpowder tinged the air. “That’s enough of that. Garrett! Mark! What’s goin’ on here?”

Garrett shoved a man off of himself and stood, wiping the dirt from his clothes. “We were just having a friendly time here until these cowboys”—he looked around the crowd and pointed at the five men—“started some trouble.”

The marshal waved his gun at the men. “All of you, get over here.”

They begrudgingly did as told, mumbling and slapping dirt and examining bruised fists.

“Now, you can leave town, go down to the saloon, or get hauled off to jail, but the dance is over for you.”

“Aww…we just wanted to take a spin with a purdy gal, Marshal.” The shortest man of the five lifted his bushy face toward Luke. Blood ran down the corner of his mouth.

“This dance is for the purpose of people meeting with a mind to marry. I don’t see how that applies to you cowpokes. These woman are ladies, not saloon girls, and as such, they deserve your respect and to be treated kindly. Get moving, and I don’t want to see you at this social again. Not tonight. Not in the future.”

Each of the men found their hats, which had been knocked off during the fight. They collected their horses, and the marshal escorted them down the street. A large man ran past them, and his steps slowed as he walked toward Leah. Shannon smiled. Had Dan heard the ruckus and been worried about Leah?

The music started up again, and Shannon looked for Mark. He stood next to the table, rummaging through the crate of dirty dishes. She hurried toward him. What could he be looking for?

“Can I help you find something?”

He turned, and she gasped. His lower lip had swollen, and blood ran down his chin. One eye was swelling shut, and the knuckles of his left hand were bleeding. He held his cast against his chest. Had he injured his arm again?