The Homesteader's Sweetheart (7 page)

“Before I forget, here’s what I promised you yesterday.” She extended the bills to him.

He hesitated, eyes lingering a little too long on the cash before looking ahead. “I brought you as a favor to Walt.”

His hesitation made her think he probably needed the money, but was his pride standing in his way?

She pushed the money into his palm, then tucked her hand back in the folds of her dress. “I insist.”

Penny hadn’t noticed earlier when riding double with Sam, but Jonas’s property must be in a slight valley, because they seemed to be ascending a hill. Jonas touched her elbow when she stumbled over a dip she hadn’t seen.

“Thank you,” she panted. Certainly the walks she took in town when visiting her friends hadn’t prepared her for this much exertion. She was perspiring in a very unladylike manner.

“I’m sorry if Edgar was unpleasant to you,” Jonas said suddenly. “Especially if it was his fault you got all wet. I hope your dress isn’t ruined.”

A glance down at her damp, soot-stained gown was less than reassuring. Likely it
was
ruined, but it had been so before the breakfast dishes had even been started. She chose not to comment, only asked, “How did you know?”

“He tends to…he doesn’t always take well to new people.”

“Hmm.” The boy’s actions and almost belligerent attitude seemed to support that. And also reminded her of her brother, who seemed to have a bad attitude about everything these days.

“I noticed both of you got a little nervous at my tears. What do you do when Breanna cries?”

He looked at her askance. “She doesn’t. Well, hardly ever.”

“Whatever did you do when she was an infant?”

He kept trudging along beside her, even though she could see the top of her grandfather’s house now above the tree line.

“She rarely cried when she was a babe. Mostly just when she was hungry.”

Penny’s teasing attitude flowed away as she imagined the sleepless nights and feeding after feeding the man beside her had endured…

She knew Breanna was his responsibility; after he’d compromised Millie what choice did he have but to accept his duty? But he must’ve been so unsure, not knowing how to care for an infant.

“I’m curious,” she said because she
had
to know. “How did you…that is…where did you come by the boys? I know they can’t be your biological children. Their looks are too disparate for that to be true.”

He was slow to answer and when she looked at him, his jaw was set.

“They are my sons. We belong together.”

“Yes, but—”

“They are
mine,
” he said fiercely, and the closed expression on his face told Penny the subject was finished. He pointed ahead. “Walt’s place is right over that rise. I’ve got to get back.”

Chapter Seven

P
enny’s day did not improve. She hauled buckets of water until her shoulders ached, scoured the soot and burn marks in her grandfather’s kitchen until her hands blistered. At one point she scrubbed so hard she pushed through part of the wall that had burned away.

Even after all her work, her grandfather came in as the sun was setting and declared that the kitchen was unusable until it received some repairs.

Penny dropped the worn rag into the bucket of water at her feet and plopped onto the floor. After all, she couldn’t get any dirtier than she already was. “How will we cook meals?”

“We’ll take meals over at the Whites’. Jonas won’t mind. I’ll turn over our eggs ’n milk to him to make up for what it’ll cost to feed us.”

“Do we have to?” Sam asked gruffly, leaning against the door with arms crossed. His face was pink from being out in the sun. He hadn’t been his usual self since they’d left Calvin with Jonas and Breanna, and it worried Penny. If he caused trouble for her grandfather, she’d be very disappointed in him.

“Unless you want to try cooking over an open fire. Might be fun.”

Sam grumbled something unintelligible and slammed out of the house.

Penny started to apologize for her brother’s behavior, but Walt waved off her words. “He’ll come around. You ain’t been out to see my horses yet, girl. Used to be your Gran and I couldn’t get you out of the barn.”

She hauled herself off the hard plank floor and hooked her arm through his, turning them both toward the door. “Then we’d better go see what kind of stock you’ve got now.”

They passed Sam, sitting on the ground just around the corner of the house. Probably pouting.

Penny had always thought her grandfather’s horses the finest around, and a visit to the barn revealed that even though his house might be in disrepair, his animals had been well taken care of. Two mares nearly ready to drop foals were in the last two stalls they visited.

“Saved the best for last,” Walt said, pushing through the barn door and gesturing her to join him at the corral.

Penny leaned against the railing and admired a stallion that cantered around the ring, obviously wanting to be out in the open fields. “He’s magnificent.”

“Bought this fella last year off a drifter who didn’t know what he was worth.”

The animal’s shiny black coat attested to a recent grooming; his muscles rippled as he moved in an easy gait. It was obvious he was a well-built, powerful animal.

“The two foals are his. Just waiting to see if they’ll turn out as fine as he is.”

“If the foals are anything like him, you’ll make a fortune…um, hiring him out.”

“Mmm. Well, money ain’t everything, Penny-girl.” He raised his eyes to the horizon. “Look at that sunset. You ever seen anything so beautiful?”

Penny placed one hand against her aching back. What she really wanted to do was go inside and rest awhile, but she obediently took a moment to study the pinking sky over the mountains in the distance. The colors were lovely, reminding her of a gown she’d admired in the dressmaker’s window recently. She couldn’t wear that particular color of pink, not with her complexion and hair, but she admired it just the same.

“Sometimes it’s the moments of beauty in yer life that are worth the most…” Walt’s voice trailed off, and Penny determined he must not require a response. She stood and watched the sunset with him.

“You want to tell me what’s really bothering you, Penny-girl? Other than your ornery brother, that is?”

“Hmm?” Could he have guessed that her frustration today wasn’t simply about her disastrous morning?

“I might not be as perceptive as your Gran was, but I can tell you’ve got somethin’ on your heart.”

She stared at the sky, now turning a deep red. “My father wants me to marry a man I can’t abide.”

Walt grunted.

“If it was someone I could possibly see myself with, I would give things a chance, but this man…he is…” She couldn’t explain the feeling Mr. Abbott inspired in her, but she shivered just thinking about the disturbing way he looked at her and the words she’d overheard before she’d left town.

“You know, I didn’t think your pa was worth much when your mama first brought him home.”

Penny had heard the story before, how her father had seen the most beautiful girl during a visit to Bear Creek and followed her home.

“It’s more than that,” Penny said, shaking her head. “There’s something…unsettling about this man.”

Walt was silent; Penny knew he was still thinking. Her grandfather certainly wasn’t a man to speak quickly. Sort of like Jonas White.

“What should I do? I know I’m supposed to honor my father, but I won’t marry Mr. Abbott.”

“Penny-girl, if I know one thing, it’s that your father loves you and wants the best for you. Maybe this Mr. Abbott of yours has some redeeming qualities you don’t know about.”

Well, sure he did. He was one of her father’s associates and would solidify her father’s business connections. That seemed to be enough for him, but it wasn’t enough for her.

“But…”

Walt turned to her and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. “Maybe it was God’s will for you to come out here and visit me. Get away for a little bit and think things through. Remember what really matters.”

She pondered his words as the sky turned purple. What really mattered…yes, finding a husband was important, but what about love? Just being around her grandfather today reminded her of the deep love he’d had for her grandmother.

That’s what she wanted, that kind of unending love. And she was certain she wouldn’t find it with Mr. Abbott. But how to make her father understand?

Penny’s muddled thoughts were interrupted by hoofbeats announcing a rider’s arrival. She and Walt turned to see Oscar White rein in close to the cabin, carrying a large hamper.

“Pa sent a cold supper and asked me to see how things were going over here. If y’all need to, you’re welcome to come for breakfast tomorrow.”

Well, at least they wouldn’t starve.

* * *

Sunset nearing, Jonas finished rubbing down the mare he’d ridden to the south pasture earlier and tucked her into her stall for the night. Her neighbor, a mule with a graying muzzle, stuck its head over the partition and lipped at Jonas’s shirt.

“Hello, old friend.” Jonas paused a moment to pat Bailey’s nose and forehead. Five years ago, the mule had traveled with Jonas, Oscar and Breanna from Denver, after they’d disembarked from the train that had carried them from Boston and bought a buckboard to bring them the rest of the way to Wyoming. The animal had heard many a confession from Jonas’s lips, including the truth about Breanna’s parentage.

Jonas hadn’t had anyone else to tell about the scandal with the Broadhursts, Millie’s accusations, or his rage when they’d refused to care for Breanna. His determination that the innocent baby girl wouldn’t know the loneliness he’d known for what seemed his whole life…

Jonas still didn’t know how anyone could’ve held the tiny baby—even looked at her!—and not fallen in love with her.

After he’d joined Jonas and Breanna as they left Boston, Oscar had still been wary, unsure that Jonas really intended to treat him as a son. Jonas had spoken with the mule often about the mistrust… It was an emotion Jonas could understand, especially after the events that had caused him to leave Boston.

And when they’d added Seb to their unusual family in Denver thanks to the help of a kindly judge, Bailey had heard all about the trials of taming a small boy who was too curious for his own good.

Then when Jonas had fought through those first days and months of homesteading, the mule had gotten an earful about just how hard it was to make a home for them on the Wyoming prairie. At the time, Jonas had felt so inadequate for the task set before him. With a toddler, a teen boy and Breanna to care for…and not knowing much about living off the land, he’d been drowning in his own failures until Walt and Peg had got ahold of him. Not only had they taught him what he needed to know about farming, but they’d taught him about God’s grace and Jonas’s worth in God’s eyes. They’d changed Jonas’s life, and in turn, the children’s lives, too.

Until today, Jonas had thought those old feelings of inadequacy were gone for good. What was it about Penny Castlerock that brought thoughts of not being good enough back?

“I couldn’t face her tonight,” Jonas told the donkey, speaking of Penny. “I brushed her off this morning, afraid…”
Of what she thought of my makeshift family.

Although some of the people in nearby Bear Creek accepted his family, most were wary. He’d heard whispers of
rag-tag, misfits, orphans,
although no one had dared to say anything to his face, at the general store, outside church and other places.

The same names he’d heard throughout his childhood, directed at Jonas himself. Words that had stung each time.
Worthless. Trash.
Words that infuriated him when directed at his children.

They might not be his by blood, but the boys had chosen him, chosen each other. Chosen to be a family. That made them Jonas’s by
right.
And he protected his own. Even from the pretty, highborn neighbor, and her curiosity.

She had completely discomfited him. He felt like he was eighteen again, catching glimpses of her through the windows in the fine house as he laid bricks…the feelings of insecurity when she and her friends had giggled behind their gloved hands, not knowing if they were laughing at him.

He’d secretly daydreamed of speaking to her. Not courting her. Just talking to her.

Not that he would have known what to say. He’d never conversed with a pretty young woman before. The girls that hawked papers and worked in the factories, ones he knew from the streets didn’t count. And he likely would have been too tongue-tied to say anything at all.

She’d been the inspiration behind his most secret wish. One that he’d never shared with anyone before. A dream of having a true family of his own: a wife, children.

He loved the boys and Breanna more than anything. They’d become a family. He was happy.

But seeing Penny again, sitting next to her in the wagon all day yesterday had resurrected Jonas’s secret dreams. And her presence had brought back his insecurities, as well. He felt awkward and unsure.

He didn’t have time to worry about his neighbor’s pretty granddaughter; he needed to focus on his family. With the days he’d taken to visit the banks, he’d lost time getting the cattle ready to drive down to Cheyenne. Haying was about to start, and he had yet to find a way to pay for Breanna’s treatment. Selling off some of the cattle would help, and he prayed for a good price since it wasn’t really the right time of year to be selling, but it wouldn’t account for the entire amount.

“Need to forget about her, old boy,” he told the donkey with a final pat, exiting the barn. If only it was that easy to push Penny from his mind.

“Pa!” Davy jogged toward him from the house. “Mr. Sumner’s here. Wants to talk to you.”

Sumner was another neighbor, a bit farther out than Walt’s place. A handshake was enough of a greeting. It was late for a social call.

“I won’t stay long,” the man said, sitting at the table across from Jonas. “My wife’s ma is in a bad way, down in Colorado. And my wife’s in…ahem…the family way.” The man’s neck reddened under his tan. “So I cain’t send her off on her own. I’m goin’ along. What I need is someone to bring in my hay.”

Jonas started to speak but the other man held up his hand and kept on talking. “I know you’ve got your own place to look after, but my wife and I won’t make it through the winter without our crop. You’ve got enough boys to help you and I can pay you…”

He named a sum.

Enough to make Jonas sit back in his chair, reeling. The extra money could help pay for Breanna’s treatment. But he was already in enough of a bind with Breanna. With her condition she needed someone to watch her at all times. If she suffered a seizure and fell, she could injure herself badly. And with Mrs. Clark’s departure, he had no one to rely on.

On the other hand, how could he pass up this opportunity? The money would nearly pay for Breanna’s treatment… How could he say no?

* * *

After they’d consumed the cold supper, Penny wilted in front of the fire in what used to be her grandmother’s rocking chair. Her head lolled to the left and took in her brother who was lying on the floor with his head on the rag rug.

“You as exhausted as I am?”

“Mmm,” he grunted, eyes closed. “Ready to go home.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to chide him for his earlier behavior, but something held her back. If she made Sam angry, he might cause more trouble. And with the barn in disrepair and now the kitchen needing to be fixed thanks to her ineptitude, she needed Sam on his best behavior to help with the work to be done. All right, to
do
the work.

Walt bustled into the room, carrying a large tin tub and huffing with exertion. “Here ya go, missy.” He set the tub full of water in front of the crackling fire.

“What?” Penny wasn’t sure what to make of it.

Disappearing into his bedroom, he soon returned with a worn towel and a bar of rough soap. “Since the stove’s out of commission, it’ll have to be a cool bath. Sam and I’ll sneak down to the stream and wash off there.”