The Rancher Takes a Cook (25 page)

Anna’s face heated from the teasing, but if
she were honest with herself, she couldn’t deny a little bit of
pleasure from the attention. After a moment, she was able to turn
the conversation toward the new things Ginny’s little ones were
into. The young mother’s face lit up even more, if that were
possible, as she went into detail about how Lilly was developing
and what a great big sister Katie was. Ginny’s bubbly personality
had a way of brightening their home in a way that was infectious,
and her two little girls were delightful. Anna spent much of the
time playing with baby Lilly, and she couldn’t help but yearn for
her own little bundle of joy to love.

By the time Mr. O’Brien drove the wagon out
of the yard with both Aunt Lola and Anna on the seat beside him,
Anna’s spirits were so high she couldn’t keep from humming a tune
under her breath.

“From the sound of things, you ladies must
have enjoyed yourselves.” Mr. O’Brien chuckled.

Anna’s cheeks warmed, but Aunt Lola spoke up
in her thick Irish brogue. “That Ginny is such a sweet, happy
thing. You can just see the love of God bubbling out of her. And
those young’uns are precious.”

“They are that.” Mr. O’Brien glanced at
Anna, his cheeks twitching. “It’ll be nice to have our own little
ones running around the house soon.”

Anna wanted to melt into the wooden
seat.

“Oh hush, Marty. You’re embarrassing the
girl.” Aunt Lola patted Anna’s knee.

But Mr. O’Brien didn’t appear to pay
attention. He reined in the horses and pointed to a brown spec in
the distance. A cow? No, it seemed to be too short and stocky to be
one of the longhorns. A buffalo? They didn’t usually wander this
far east.

“What is it?”

Silence answered her for a long moment as
they all stared at the creature clomping toward them. The horses
fidgeted. Aunt Lola gasped, and Mr. O’Brien reached under the seat
and pulled out a long rifle. What in the world? She turned back
toward the animal in the distance. And then her blood ran cold. A
large brown bear lumbered toward them, and it had picked up speed,
now in a full-out, ground-covering run.

The horses were more than fidgety by this
point, but Mr. O’Brien thrust the reins into Anna’s hands. “Hold
these,” he barked. One of the horses surged into its harness, but
Anna kept a steady tension on the heavy leather straps.

“Easy there, boys. Easy now,” she crooned,
despite the knot that churned in her gut. Anna’s head swiveled
between the bear, the horses, and Mr. O’Brien as he cocked the
rifle and took aim. She tensed, preparing for the loud boom and the
reaction of the horses. Horses that were used to pulling the wagon
probably weren’t accustomed to gunfire over their heads.

After what seemed like a very long time, the
deafening retort of the Sharps carbine rang out. The horses danced
in their harness, jerking at the reins. She continued crooning to
the animals, focusing all her attention on keeping them from
bolting. Runaway horses could be just as deadly as a grizzly
bear.

For a split second, Anna looked up to make
sure the bear lay dead in the distance. Her heart jumped into her
throat. The bear was not lying dead or even injured. It still
charged straight toward the wagon. Without slowing or missing a
stride, it let out a tremendous roar that sent chills all the way
down to Anna’s toes. One of the horses released a frantic whinny,
and she fought to keep them still.

A clicking sound beside her signaled Mr.
O’Brien reloading his rifle. He again took aim, and Anna’s
attention was drawn back to the bear. It was only fifty feet or so
away from them now and moving faster. The thunderous crack of the
rifle boomed again, and the huge body of the brown bear dropped in
mid-stride. One moment it was charging, massive paws in the air,
and the next it was lying on the ground in a great brown heap.

Anna sucked in a deep breath and let it out.
Only then did her heart beat again, picking up speed until it
thumped like a stampede in her chest.

“Thanks be to God.” The quiet brogue
whispered beside her. The older woman’s wrinkled hand moved in the
shape of a cross over her chest.

The horses were still now, though whether
they were just being obedient or if they could sense the danger was
over, Anna wasn’t sure.

Mr. O’Brien reloaded his rifle more slowly
this time, but his hands shook a little. “You did good with the
horses, Anna.”

She nodded her thanks then turned back to
the brown lump in the field not twenty-five feet away from
them.

Mr. O’Brien climbed down from the wagon and
crept toward the form on the ground, the butt of his rifle tucked
into his shoulder in case he should need to aim quickly. After an
inspection of the body, he turned back toward the wagon. “He’s a
big one. Gonna take a couple of men to get him loaded. I’ll come
back out here with some of the cow hands to bring him in. It’ll be
nice to have a bear hide to keep warm this winter.”

Anna shivered despite the hot Texas sun.

Very little was said during the rest of the
ride home. When they arrived, Anna headed straight for the kitchen
and began preparing supper. It would have been easiest to make some
kind of stew for tonight, especially since she’d been gone all
afternoon. But Aunt Lola’s specialty was stew, and she imagined the
boys would have their fill of it while Anna and Jacob were gone on
their wedding trip. A tickle of nervous excitement skittered down
her spine.

Tonight’s fare would be beef burritos, using
meat from the steer they’d butchered this week. Spicy cornbread
would be the side and peach pies for dessert. She’d made the pies
that morning, so all she needed to do now was mix the cornbread
batter, brown the meat with seasonings, mash and re-fry the beans,
and melt cheese to pour on top of the wraps. That was a special
trick Juan had taught her, and it added the perfect creamy flavor
to soften the spices inside.

Anna folded the flour tortillas around the
stuffing when a pair of large hands gripped her waist. She squealed
and spun around to find Jacob with a wide grin across his face. His
blue eyes danced as she let out a breath, one hand on her chest to
contain her racing heart.

“Jacob O’Brien, you almost scared me to
death.” Her tone was scolding, but she couldn’t hold back the smile
that begged to join his.

“The smells coming from in here were too
good to resist. I had to stop in and get a taste before dinner.”
His eyes drifted down to her lips and he pulled her close to his
body. “Just couldn’t wait to see you.” As his lips found hers, Anna
was again lost in the wonder of this man. He would soon be her
husband. His kiss was sweet and gentle, yet full of longing. “I
missed you today.” His husky voice and warm breath in her ear sent
a shiver all the way to the core of her being.

“Oh, Jacob.” It was all she could manage.
His lips reclaimed hers with an intensity that matched the fire
burning inside her. But after a few more moments, he slowed, ending
with a final caress of his lips. As he rested his forehead on hers,
they both struggled to rein in their breathing and the emotions
coursing through them. Anna ran her fingers over his strong jaw and
whispered. “You have no idea how much I love you.” Jacob pulled her
tight against his chest, arms gripping her as if he would never let
go. Anna breathed deeply of his scent, a mixture of man and nature
and that something indefinable.

Too soon, his grip loosened and he ran his
hands down the length of her arms, catching her hands in his. “I’d
better let you finish supper or the boys’ll be upset. Just about
all they could talk about today was what you were going to cook
tonight.”

With a gasp, Anna spun around and flew into
motion. “Oh, my goodness, I have to get dinner on the table.”

Jacob stepped back to clear the way for her
sudden flurry of activity. “Anything I can do to help?”

She kept her hands busy wrapping tortillas
but glanced over at the stove. “Could you check the oven to see if
the cornbread’s ready? Use a towel so you don’t burn yourself.”

He picked up the rag from the worktable and
opened the oven door. “How do you know if it’s ready?”

Anna smiled at the picture Jacob made, his
tall frame bent over to peer into the oven, a puzzled expression on
his face. She leaned over for a quick glance inside. “It should be
golden on top. Looks like it’s just about right. Would you mind
taking both pans into the dining room? Just make sure you set them
on the leather pads so the heat doesn’t burn the wood.”

* * *

“You were attacked by a what?” Anna cringed
as Jacob spat the words from his chair at the end of the long table
in the dining hall. His eyes shot flaming arrows at her. Was she
the cause of his ire? Good thing his father had control of this
conversation. At the moment.

“Don’t get your dander up.” Mr. O’Brien
drawled as if he were calming a spooked horse. “I shot him before
he reached us and not one of us has a scratch. No one ’cept the
bear, that is.”

“How close did he get?” Jacob’s voice was
terse.

“He was about seventy feet away when I got
off the first shot.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

Mr. O’Brien released a sigh. “Never got
closer than twenty-five feet.”

Jacob sucked in his breath. “What kind?”

“Brown bear. And like I said before, we’re
all fine.” He turned toward the foreman. “Monty, do you think you
could spare three or four men to go with me to fetch him
tonight?”

From the finality in his voice and the
change of topic, Mr. O’Brien was finished with his son’s
question-answer session. But Jacob continued to stew over his peach
pie. His blue eyes were glaring a hole in his plate, but his mind
appeared to be far away.

The men finished dessert and made plans for
the hauling, skinning, and curing of the bear, then all rose and
headed out to put the plan into action. Jacob rose, too, but
remained standing behind his chair. He ran a hand through his thick
hair and let out a sigh.

Anna gathered dirty dishes to take into the
kitchen. She wasn’t sure what to say. Wasn’t exactly sure what was
wrong, but it had something to do with them being in danger.
Although, what could they have done differently to keep them from
the peril? They hadn’t
planned
to run into a bear. And each
of them had reacted just as quickly and correctly as they should
have. Like Mr. O’Brien had said, the end result was they were all
fine
. Except the bear.

She let the dishes slip into the clean water
in the kitchen with a gentle
thunk
and headed back into the
dining hall for another load. She froze in the doorway. Jacob was
still rooted in the same spot, his hands on the back of his chair.
He was just standing there, staring. His face held such an odd
expression, she couldn’t make it out. It wasn’t anger anymore.
Sadness maybe, or fear?

Anna’s heart went out to him and she stepped
in his direction. Ducking under his arm, she slipped herself
between each stiff elbow and wrapped her own arms around his middle
in a tight hug. He allowed his hands to rest on her shoulders at
first, a bit stiffer than she was used to. Then they eased down her
back and rubbed circles around her shoulder blades. She stayed in
that spot, arms around his body, until his heartbeat reached a
steady rhythm under her cheek and his shoulders relaxed.

At last, Anna loosened her grip and leaned
back to study Jacob’s face. His sky-blue eyes were clouded by a
sheen of moisture, and he kept them focused on a point above her
head. His jaw worked once, twice. She kept her gaze on his face and
he finally lowered his eyes to meet hers.

“Doggone it, Anna. I don’t know what I’d do
if I lost you.”

She stroked his jaw. “It’s okay, Jacob. I’m
safe. We’re all safe.” She snuggled back into his chest. “It used
to kill me for Edward to do anything dangerous. After Mama and Papa
died. Then we lost everything in the fire. It scared me silly to
think I might lose him. It wasn’t until those cattle thieves tied
me to the tree that I realized I truly have no control. Not an
ounce of it. God expects us to make good decisions, but then it’s
all up to Him. And He’s got a pretty good plan when you look at the
big picture. After all, if our house hadn’t burned down in
Columbia, we never would have moved to Seguin.” She leaned back and
offered a sweet smile. “And if we hadn’t had so much trouble with
the Union soldiers, I never would have agreed for us to hire on to
your father’s ranch.”

“What trouble with the soldiers?” Jacob’s
brow creased as his eyes studied her face.

Oops. She wasn’t sure she’d ever told him
about that little bit of difficulty. “A few of the soldiers in town
roughed up Edward, but I went to talk to their commanding officer
and he put a stop to it.”

His body tensed again. “
You
went to
the Army camp? With your uncle?”

Anna shook her head, not looking him in the
eye. “I went by myself, but the Major was nice enough. I can’t say
the same for some of his soldiers, but the officers seemed to be
decent men.”

“What do you mean you can’t say the same for
the soldiers? Did one of them touch you?” Jacob’s gaze pierced as
he ground out the last words.

“Just one.” Anna scrambled to find a way out
of this conversation. She hadn’t planned to upset him again. “But
the other soldiers came when I screamed and stopped him. He was
punished then shipped off to another battalion in Virginia. Nothing
to worry about now.”

She kept talking to change the subject. “I
remember the first time I saw this ranch. It’s hard to believe it
was less than a year ago. I was fiery mad about Monty hiring my
brother and came riding all the way out here to tell your father
what was what. Before I could talk him into firing Edward on the
spot, though, he offered me a job.” She smiled at the memory. “I
decided it was the only choice we had at the time. Isn’t it funny
how something can look so bad when it’s happening, but when we look
back, it’s apparent how God’s hand was at work?”