The Mavericks (32 page)

“It must have cost a lot of money to buy so much land.”

“Everybody in the area was much more interested in mining than ranching. Besides, the last few years have been dry, and some ranchers had to sell up. Cows are hard on the range. The owner of this place was glad to get his hands on some cash.”

Josie wasn't looking for a lecture on ranching. She was just trying to make conversation. Anything to keep her mind off the fact that she'd been riding next to Zeke for more than twelve hours. She was so tense she thought she'd jump out of her skin. She hadn't been able to think of anything except being held in his
arms. It horrified her. It terrified her, and she couldn't wait for it to happen again.

She'd already decided she was insane. What other possible explanation could there be for her attraction to a man who would clearly expect his wife to live in this remote corner of the desert and like hard work as much as he did? There would be no bright lights, no admiring men or extra money. Instead, she'd be expected to cook and clean and like it. She'd be expected to submit to his physical demands and like it. And that didn't take into consideration the children.

Okay, so she wouldn't mind a couple of children. She could grow quite fond of a couple of little boys who looked like Zeke. She didn't mind cooking all that much, but she wasn't too keen on cleaning. With a couple of children and a man around, nothing would stay clean long.

Then there was the part about her husband's physical needs.

Josie admitted she had a problem with the idea of being physically close to a man. How was she supposed to think of sex as an expression of love when nothing in her past had led her to associate it with anything except fear or disgust? She knew what her father had been thinking about her body even though he'd never articulated it. Nobody had to tell her what was in the minds of the men who came to watch her sing and dance. Just in case she hadn't known, the women who did go upstairs with those men had told her far more than she wanted to know.

Why was she thinking this way? She didn't want to get married. She didn't want to live on a ranch. It was
too much like a farm, and a farm required hard work from morning to night.

“Doesn't it take a lot of money to start a ranch?” she asked Zeke.

“Hawk and I have been working for twenty years. We haven't had much reason to spend a lot, so we had a bit laid by.”

If Gardner was to be believed, it took more than
a bit
to purchase those mares. And that didn't count the horses Zeke and Hawk already had, or the land. Either they had a lot of money or they were virtually broke. From the way they dressed and lived, she'd guess it was broke.

“Who takes care of this place?”

“We do.”

“You cook and clean?”

“If it has to be done, we do it.”

She'd assumed they'd hired some woman. Wasn't that what every man did? “You've been gone for weeks.”

“We hired a couple of men to look after the place while we were gone.”

Hawk and Suzette continued on past the ranch house. “Where are they going?” Josie asked.

“To put the mares in one of the corrals until they get accustomed to the range. Come on. I'll show you around.”

As they approached the house, Josie noticed it had a derelict look about it, as if no one lived in it. She hesitated.

“What's wrong?” Zeke asked.

Unable to restrain herself, Josie exclaimed, “This place is a wreck. It looks like squatters live here.”

Zeke looked around him. “Hawk and I aren't used to living in a house. It's easier to sleep in the brush.”

“Where do you cook?”

Zeke shrugged. “Wherever we sleep.”

It was worse than she thought. These men not only didn't know how to take care of a house, they didn't know how to live in one. “Do you have beds inside?”

“I guess so. I mean, yeah. I remember seeing some.”

“Do you have a stove?”

“Yes. I definitely remember seeing that.”

“Have you ever actually slept in that house?”

Zeke grinned. “No.”

She exhaled a noisy breath to show her frustration. “Why not?”

“Because we'd have to clean it up.” Zeke looked and sounded like a little boy caught in mischief and forced to explain himself against his will. “Isabelle taught us how to take care of a house, but Hawk and I didn't take too much to housework. Besides, Isabelle did all the cooking, so we didn't learn about stoves.”

If two men ever needed taking care of, it was these two. And nobody could convince her there hadn't been quite a few women more than willing to accept the challenge. The West was full of men, but men like Zeke and Hawk were hard to come by anywhere. A woman looking for a husband would be a fool to reject them even if one was black and the other a half-breed. Giving in to the inevitable, Josie threw her leg over the saddle and slid to the ground. “Show me what you've got.”

They started with the garden. “You've got to fence it in,” she said, “or rabbits will strip the peas and beans, and the deer will eat what's left.”

“We don't—”

“And you've got to plant something else besides peas, beans, and potatoes. What kind of diet is that?” She looked at the soil, which was black and loamy despite being rocky. “You ought to order fruit trees. All this water and sunlight would be perfect for peaches, plums, and cherries.”

“I don't—”

Josie turned on her heel and walked rapidly to where several hens were scratching in the dirt with their broods in attendance. “You need a fenced-in yard
for the chickens, too. That way you can control how many sit their eggs. I'm surprised you haven't lost them all to coyotes.”

“We didn't because—”

“Do you have a milk cow?”

“Yes, but—”

“I don't suppose you know how to churn butter or make cheese.”

“No, but—”

“I don't know how you expect to survive. Now let's look at the house.”

“You sure you're up to it?” Zeke asked, his temper rising. “The shock might be too much for you.”

“Is the roof still good?”

“Yes.”

“Then I can stand it.”

When she walked inside, she wondered if she'd spoken too soon. The floor in what was the parlor or sitting room was covered by at least an inch of dust. “Do you ever come in here?”

“Why would we?”

“Maybe to get out of the rain.”

“We were in Texas during the rainy season. After that we went north to buy the mares.”

Unable to believe her ears, Josie picked up her skirts and headed to the kitchen. One look told her it would be unusable without a thorough cleaning. With a sinking feeling, she said, “What about the bedrooms?”

There were two at the back of the house. Much to her surprise, they had been swept and were reasonably organized. The beds had mattresses, sheets, and blankets, and appeared to have been slept in.

“This stuff belongs to Adam and Jordy,” Zeke said.

“Who are they?”

“Hen Randolph's boys. He's the man who sold us our stud horse.”

“Where are they?”

“With the horses.”

“I suppose they cook outside, too.”

“Looks like it.”

Josie didn't understand it. Zeke and Hawk had been meticulous in their care of the mares. Hawk had known what medicine would help Laurie. They kept their equipment in perfect order and cleaned up after every meal. How could they put up with a house in this condition?

The sound of two horses arriving at a canter drew them to the porch. Two young men brought their horses to a stop in front of the house. The shorter man with a stocky build dismounted and walked up to Zeke with a broad smile.

“You sly dog.” He gave Zeke a playful punch on the shoulder. “You said you were going to buy some mares. You never said anything about some damned fine-looking women.”

“Jordy has no manners,” Zeke said to Josie. “Hen found him sleeping in a stable. Apparently, adopting him couldn't take the stable out of him.”

Jordy laughed good-naturedly. “I'm Jordy Randolph,” he said to Josie. “That young scamp who's too shy to get off his horse is Adam Randolph, Hen's other effort to redeem an orphan.”

Adam dismounted and walked up to Josie. “I wasn't an orphan. Hen married my ma.”

Josie thought Jordy was a nice-looking young man, but Adam was going to be a heartbreaker in a few
more years. She wouldn't have been surprised to learn his father had gotten him a job on this remote ranch to protect him from all the women who'd be after him.

“Hawk told us to get our stuff out of the house so you ladies could move in,” Adam said.

Josie turned to Zeke. “They don't have to—”

“Do you want to sleep out in the brush?”

Josie swallowed. Sleeping in a wagon in the desert was one thing. Sleeping in the open in the desert would be something very different, she was sure.

“Suzette and I can share a room.”

Jordy looked at Adam and grinned. “I'm not sharing a bed with him. He might think I like him too much.”

Adam blushed but managed to get in a hit over Jordy's guard. “He's just jealous because I'm taller than he is.”

Josie decided the two boys were true friends, but she wouldn't have been surprised if Jordy was a little jealous of Adam's looks.

“Where's that wagon Hawk said we are supposed to get?” Jordy asked Zeke.

While Zeke gave Jordy directions, Josie followed Adam inside. “Have you boys worked here long?” she asked as Adam started gathering his stuff and putting it in his saddlebags.

“Just a couple of months,” he replied. “I'm only sixteen. This is the first time Hen has let me take a job away from the ranch.”

“Has your father known Zeke and Hawk very long?”

“Forever. The man who adopted them was in the war with Hen's oldest brother. Hen said if I grew up to
be half as good as them, he'd stop being sorry he adopted me.” He grinned suddenly. “He said nothing could keep him from being sorry he adopted Jordy.” He paused in his packing. “You ladies going to stay here?”

Josie didn't know why the question should upset her so much. It had never entered her mind. If it had, seeing the condition of the ranch would have tossed the notion right back out again. “We'll leave as soon as we get our wagon. We're going to try to find jobs in Tombstone or Bisbee.”

Some of the brightness went out of Adam's eyes. “Too bad. I've never seen Hawk look at a woman like he looks at Suzette. Or Zeke like he looks at you.”

She tried to deny the question the moment it formed in her brain, but the words came out anyway. “How does Zeke look at me?”

“Like there's nobody else around. Ma says that's the way Jordy looks at Hope. He's saving his money so he can ask her to marry him. Do you think Zeke wants to marry you?”

She'd met this innocent-looking sixteen-year-old barely five minutes ago, and already he'd laid bare the question she'd refused to allow even in the back of her mind. She wouldn't deal with it now. She
couldn't.
She wanted to run away, to pretend Adam had never asked that question, but he was waiting for an answer, his gaze wide and innocent. He was far too young to realize the devastating effect his question had had on her.

“I doubt Zeke is the marrying kind,” she managed to say.

“Hen said he wasn't the marrying kind until he met Ma.” He grinned. “Now he's got four of his own kids
in addition to Jordy and me. He keeps telling Ma he needs one more to bring him up to the family standards, but Ma says he's nothing but a big kid so that gives her seven already.”

Josie couldn't imagine how a man who thought he was a confirmed bachelor could end up married with six kids and still want more. She wondered if Zeke or Hawk wanted kids. They'd never said anything about it. But then, they hadn't said anything about wanting to get married, either.

She was allowing this boy's appealing picture of his family to cause her imagination to run away with her. She didn't want to get married. She didn't want to live on a ranch. And she certainly didn't want six children. She had a successful career which would soon allow her to retire before she was thirty and open her boardinghouse. That had been her goal ever since she ran away from her uncle. She couldn't start questioning it now.

“How long do you think it will take to get the wagon?” she asked.

“Are you in a real hurry to leave?” Adam had finished packing his saddlebags and turned to his bedroll.

“Zeke and Hawk have a ranch to run. We've already taken up too much of their time.”

“They didn't look like they minded.”

She had to get away from this boy. Every word out of his mouth created another breach in her defenses. She had to remember Adam was asking these questions, not Zeke. He was saying what he
thought
Zeke might be feeling.

“They've been extremely kind, but we can't impose on them any longer.”

Adam stood and hefted his saddlebags over his shoulder. “There ain't a man in the world who minds being imposed on by a beautiful woman.” He grinned shyly. “You got any sisters?”

“No, but Suzette has one just your age.”

When he flushed crimson, Josie figured the thought of finding himself face to face with a younger version of Suzette had probably unnerved him as much as it had excited him.

“I'd better get going. Hen says I can talk the ear off a donkey.”

“You pack my gear?” Jordy asked when they came out of the house.

“Do I look like your ma?” Adam retorted as he jumped off the porch and walked over to his horse.

Jordy looked disgusted. “You don't want me to tell you what you look like.” He headed inside the house.

“I see you boys are getting along as well as always,” Zeke said with a grin.