The Texas Ranger's Secret (9 page)

He shook his head. “Let’s head this way.”

They moved uphill against the tide of visitors flooding the area. “That patch looks healthy,” he said, bending down to pick a cluster and adding it to the bouquet. Ants immediately crawled up his fingers and he shook them off, not wanting her to notice. They’d been stirred up by last night’s rainstorm and were on the march. He hoped the ladies were keeping close watch on the food tables or they would have a few more diners than they expected.

“Let’s go over there,” he suggested.

She hurried to match his stride and Gage appreciated that she was long legged enough to keep up with him. Still, he slowed down a little so she wouldn’t become winded.

Gage offered his arm and she linked hers through it. After a few steps, they settled into a comfortable pace together.

“I heard Mr. Parker recently bought a large remuda of horses.” He mentioned the interesting fact he’d learned since arriving for the ceremony.

“Bass plans to build a barrel factory when he returns from their honeymoon,” Willow informed him. “Daisy says wood will have to be hauled here to build and supply the factory and that means he’ll need lots of horses to pull wagons. He got a good deal on them at a fort near Mobeetie and even hired a wrangler there to watch them while he and Daisy are away. I met the man last night. Shepard Hutton’s his name. My sisters seem to like him well enough.”

Shepard Hutton? Stanton Hodge? Just coincidence the two men shared the same initials? Gage took note. Lots of horses meant opportunities for thieves. He wanted to talk with this Hutton fellow up close. If he wasn’t the man Gage tracked, then he needed to be warned about the thief being in the area. Nothing more appealing to a rustler than an absentee owner. Like dangling a bone in front of a starving dog and daring him to bite.

Gage bent and picked another cluster of verbena, adding it to the group. She bent with him. No ants this direction. “What do you think? Enough?”

Willow shook her head. “One more ought to do it. From here or somewhere else?”

“Anywhere this direction seems good.” He straightened and moved on. “Would you mind pointing out the hired man when we get back? I’d like to let him know if you or your family needs my help while Parker’s gone, he can call on me.”

“He chose not to come to the wedding,” Willow said. “Even though Bass hired a few extra wranglers to relieve him for a couple of hours, Shepard said it was his job to make sure all the teams and buggies were taken care of. I’m glad he’s so dedicated to his job. He’s keeping the horses in the back pasture so the manure will be downwind of the guests.”

She laughed and Gage liked this more relaxed view of Willow. When she smiled, he thought he even noticed a few freckles sprinkled across her nose. Blinking away the sunlight for a moment to refocus, he stared intently and was pleased to see he hadn’t been wrong. Freckles. They fit her well.

His eyes locked with her Palomino-colored gaze and he thought he’d just witnessed the most frightening sight he’d ever seen. A glimmer of a future that might have been but would never be his.

Gage glanced behind them and noticed Myrtle stood near the tables and lifted a triangle of iron in her hands. “We better choose the last cluster and get back. I think we’re out of time.”

He bent and chose one more bunch and handed them all to Willow.

“Please, you tie them together,” she insisted.

As he took the lace ribbon from his pocket and completed the task, Gage kept his thoughts away from her beautiful eyes.
Focus on why you came here today
, he reminded himself.

Shepard Hutton sounded like a man who would do his best to protect the women, children and property put in his charge. That fact appealed to Gage and reassured him that he could bide time until after the newlyweds were on their way before warning the wrangler of Hodge’s presence in the community.

Maybe there would still be time to have one final word with Bass and suggest that he keep the extra hired men after the wedding as a safety precaution. That way, the men could ride for the brand and Hutton wouldn’t be out here on his own.

Every instinct inside Gage warned this was just the kind of situation the thief thrived in taking advantage of. Gage would count himself no kind of lawman if he didn’t warn everyone that their choices had put them in jeopardy.

Parker might be rich enough to take a loss as most couldn’t, but Gage didn’t want him to be so in love at the moment that he unknowingly put his children and sisters-in-law at risk.

Snow and the skillet-wielding cook probably had a few tricks under their bonnets to fend off trespassers. And he wouldn’t put it past the children to give Hodge a good deal of frustration. But from what he’d learned of Willow so far, she might be an easy hostage.

The sound of iron clanging the triangle signaled all that it was time to mosey on in and commence to eating.

But it sounded more like a bell of warning.

Willow hadn’t proven herself capable of evading any kind of trouble yet.

Chapter Six

P
ride filled Willow as she watched Daisy stand in the two-seated buggy decorated with white lace ribbons and a Just Married banner strung along its back. As her sister turned to toss the bouquet into the air, Willow considered her mission finally accomplished. She’d managed to deliver the flowers safely into the bride’s hands without any further trouble.

The sweet verbena sailed high above the group of eligible women vying to catch the prospect of being next in line to wed.

Suddenly, Willow realized the bouquet was headed straight for her. Marriage was the last thing she had on her mind. She dodged as other women nearly knocked her down to reach for it. She stumbled, attempting to remain upright.

“Pardon me,” she said but only managed to collide the crinoline hoops beneath her dress against theirs, making them all look as if they were human bells set into sway. The bouquet bounced off Willow’s right shoulder and shattered apart, showering the contenders with pink petals. The lace she and Gage had tied to bind the flowers together had not held.

Disappointment echoed among the would-be brides and Willow received a few glares that assured her some of them blamed her for not getting out of the way fast enough.

A strong hand grabbed her arm and laced it through his more muscular one, stopping her from swaying and pulling her closer.

“Wave to your sister, Willow,” Gage’s voice instructed. “She’ll never really know what happened until she gets back, and only if you decide to tell her. Right now let her be happy to be on her way.”

The crowd cheered and shouted their blessings as the buggy pulled away and the newlyweds headed to whereabouts known only to them for the next two months.

Willow leaned into Gage slightly, appreciating his calm logic. Most likely, her sister thought the bouquet had burst apart simply because of where it had bounced from, not for any other reason. But Willow knew she had only dodged blame this time.

Now she had to find a way to make it up to the women who’d lost out on catching the bouquet. Add that to her ever-growing list of must-dos.

“Why don’t we see how I can help get you done here with your guests? I’d like to catch the Trumbo brothers and maybe talk to your horse wrangler after he’s done seeing that everybody’s got their teams.”

“I was told to make sure my niece and nephew don’t get underfoot while our cook and my sister take care of the cleanup. Snow said she and the townswomen will wash dishes near the lake and those of the men who care to help can tote everything back to the house. Myrtle will make sure the men stack everything back exactly where it belongs.”

Gage laughed. “She sounds like she could command an army.”

“I don’t know her well enough yet to say, but those children seem to respect her,” Willow admitted.

“So, how can I help?” Gage offered again. “You want me to tote?”

“How about you and I prepare a basket of food for Shepard and his helpers? They should be ready to eat after all the teams are gone. Myrtle really didn’t have time to cook breakfast for the men this morning, with all of this to do. I’m sure the children will want to go along with us. Ollie especially. She won’t want Snow to put her to work doing dishes.”

Willow slipped her arm away from Gage’s and headed toward the food tables, calling her niece and nephew to join her there. They approached warily, as if they suspected chores would now commence. She grinned, hoping to reassure them that she had something more fun in mind to occupy them.

When Willow told the pair what she and Gage had planned, their eyes lit up and they started loading two empty baskets.

“You think Shepard will like cinnamon rolls?” Ollie asked. She took a bite, then put the remainder into her basket. “Or maybe this one. It’s got some kind of berries in it. I forget what they’re called.”

She took a bite and spat it out, tucking it next to the last partial. “Yuck, not me. Maybe he’ll eat the rest. Mama says don’t be wasteful.”

“He likes meat.” Thad forked pieces of ham and beefsteak into a cloth napkin and wrapped them up. “Told me once the only thing he don’t eat is horseflesh.”

“Put enough in for four men, not just Shepard,” Willow reminded, adding several biscuits and boiled eggs to each child’s basket. “They’ll be hungry.”

Gage moved close to Thaddeus. “Mind if I help?”

Thaddeus’s chin lifted as the boy stared up at Willow’s tall guest. “Okay. Just get four of everything and put it in thisaway.”

The child was apparently precise about how he did things. Willow was a bit envious. Thad was fortunate to master that skill at such a young age.

She noticed Gage squinting as he studied the inside of the basket before placing the food he’d gathered there. Was he placating her nephew or had the sun made it hard for him to spot the boy’s pattern? He seemed pretty patient with Thaddeus. Kind to children. He rose a notch in her estimation of him.

Gage glanced up and his eyes met hers.

Not wanting him to think she’d been watching, she averted her gaze and focused on helping Ollie finish their basket.

“We’re done,” Ollie announced. “We beat y’all.”

“Nuh-uh,” Thad challenged. “We was already done. I just didn’t say it.”

They argued back and forth a minute until Gage finally spoke up. “It was a tie.”

Both children instantly clammed up. Willow marveled that a simple tone of voice had an effect as powerful as if he’d aimed a gun at them or given an order. Yet he hadn’t. Gage had only made a statement that dared anyone to challenge what he said.

Ooh, she could definitely use that in her notes for future reference. A Ranger would know how to use his voice in such a bold manner. So would an outlaw, for that matter.

She, too, needed a chance to talk with Shepard Hutton.

Maybe he knew more about Gage Newcomb and what the man did for a living.

Surely it wouldn’t hurt asking him about it.

* * *

As he, Willow and the children approached Daisy Parker’s homestead, Gage blinked hard and peered at one man holding a team of horses still while his coworker helped visitors claim and board the appropriate wagon or buggy. When one wagon departed the dusty path that separated the main house from the corral and barn, the second pair of workers prepared the same for the next group ready to leave. Shepard and his helpers worked with precision.

The top hand knew his job well.

Gage had spotted the boss among them purely by how the other three waited on a nod of approval from Shepard before moving from one position to hurry on to the next. He’d almost missed that nod, the sun so bright and high in the sky, but Gage kept staring long enough. Hard enough. He finally caught it.

The top hand wasn’t the biggest built or the tallest among the men, but the rowels on his spurs chinked the loudest when he walked. Gage found himself listening harder lately, realizing that sound was a friend he relied on now.

The four workmen wore bandannas across their noses, looking like bandits sizing up the teams. Gage figured the kerchiefs helped relieve the men from sucking in dirt stirred up beneath the horse’s hooves as they jolted into action.

It must have been a long morning for each man, riding herd on so many horses and keeping the smell away from the festivities. Their efforts had served the wedding well. The sweet scent of verbena and mounds of delicious food had enhanced the serene atmosphere.

No telling when Shepard and his men would be finished and able to eat, since people were still helping with the cleanup. Gage didn’t envy them, but he admired a man who stayed the course when doing a job. It showed a code of honor and grit. He approved of the chosen hired hand the more he noticed about him.

“Want me to call Shepard over?” Willow asked as they finally reached the house and stopped to rest from their long walk.

“I’ll get him for you,” Ollie offered, setting her basket down to get a head start on her brother.

“I will, too.” Thaddeus thrust his basket into Gage’s hand.

“Both of you stay here,” Willow demanded. “I don’t want either of you underfoot. There’s too many horses. As fast as the wagons are getting under way, you’ll get hurt. Stay with Mr. Newcomb for a minute. I’ll ask him to come.”

Before either could protest or Gage could discourage her, Willow headed toward Hutton. The man looked up as she awkwardly danced and dodged around the horses to reach him.

Gage got a better glimpse of the wrangler’s features. Black hair, average nose, eyes a color he couldn’t define well in this sunlight. It was hard to tell if the man wore a mustache or beard since a bandanna covered that part of his face.

Something in Hutton’s features changed the more Willow talked to him. He stared once at Gage, then back at her and shook his head. Gage couldn’t help but wonder what she had said to him. Maybe the man was upset with having to stop his job and come greet a stranger. Not that Gage could blame him. He didn’t like to be disturbed either when he was taking care of business.

Finally, Hutton shrugged, Willow turned, and both headed toward Gage. Gage decided he’d make this talk short. No need to irritate him further.