The Wrangler's Mail Order Bride (14 page)

H
ank laughed
a few days later when Clara handed him the list of people who wanted to sign up for Hank to train their horses.

“Are you sure?” he asked Clara, his eyebrows raised in surprise.

“I’m positive. They all saw the ad or heard about it from a friend.”

“This is more than I could do in a couple of months,” he said as he scanned the list in his hand.

“Precisely how long you would have been on the trail.” Clara smiled as she took Hank’s hand and pulled him to sit beside her on the porch swing.

“And if you look at the price we put in the ad and plan it out, is that about what it’d cost to hire a wrangler for the trail for two months?”

Clara handed him the ad and watched his eyebrows rise even further, his face reddening.

He let out a slow whistle. “You put in this much? And that many people still signed up? This would pay for ten wranglers, not just one.”

Clara laughed and leaned back on the swing. “Yes. Isn’t it wonderful?”

“What’s wonderful?” Mr. Archer said as he clomped up the stairs, wiping sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief.

Hank stood quickly at the sound of his father’s voice, leaving the swing to fall back with Clara in it. He turned and handed Clara both the newspaper and client list, and as he did, she nodded to him.

“You got a minute, Pa?” He cleared his throat and motioned for his father to sit down.

Mr. Archer narrowed his eyes at his son and slowly sat in the chair Hank had indicated. “What’s this all about?” he asked, looking from Hank to Clara.

Hank shoved his hands in his pockets and began to pace as his father sat back in his chair, his arms folded over his chest.

Clara took a deep breath, hoping that this would go well. Before they put the ad in the paper, they’d written out what it would take in earnings to make this work, and the numbers had come back sound. It was a good business proposition. She just hoped Mr. Archer would see it that way.

“Pa, remember when we talked a bit ago about me not going on the trail and you said it wasn’t an option? We needed me to wrangle on it as the price for a head of cattle is dropping and things are changing?”

“I did. Things definitely are changing in the industry. It’s been good to us for many years, but things are lean now, and I am certain that you understand what needs to be done.”

“That’s one of the things I wanted to talk to you about. We’ve known for a while that with all of the cattle coming out of Texas through Arizona into California, where all the people are going, there’s not as much demand for ours.

Clara’s hand went to her chest as she caught her breath. She and Hank had been so busy—but that subject hadn’t come up. She’d had no idea that things were lean on Archer Ranch.

Hank nodded apologetically to Clara. “I know I didn’t share that with you, Clara. Didn’t want you to worry.”

Mr. Archer glared at Clara. “This really is a family issue anyway, young lady. If you’ll excuse us—”

“Stop right there, Pa. Clara is my wife, and agreed to marry me to help gain the property Grandpa left. And we need that.”

“Yes, we do, but—”

“So, she’s made sacrifices for our benefit. Surely, she’s earned the right to discuss family business.”

Mr. Archer’s ears reddened and he looked away, toward the stable.

“Get to the point, then. We need to talk about getting ready for the trail.”

“That’s just it, Pa. I’m not going, and I’d really like you to approve of that decision.” Hank stopped pacing and turned squarely to his father.

“Son, we’ve discussed this. If that’s all you wanted to talk about, I’ll talk with you later about the other,” Mr. Archer said as he stood.

Clara jumped up, taking the two steps to Mr. Archer, who was eye to eye with Hank.

“Mr. Archer, Hank and I believe we’ve found a good solution for the moment. Would you just hear Hank out?”

Mr. Archer eyed his son briefly and sat back down.

“So, what is this idea of yours?”

Hank winked at Clara as he reached for the client list and held it out to his father.

“We ran an ad in the newspaper for my new business, Hank’s Happy Horses. These are all the people who signed up for training services in the past two days.”

Mr. Archer glanced at the list and tossed it onto the table next to him.

“That’s great, son, but you helping that many people for free won’t hire us another wrangler. I need that to be you.”

“Mr. Archer, take a look at this.” She handed the newspaper to him and watched as his eyes lit up, his eyebrows rising as he read the ad.

He let out a slow whistle, and said, “People are willing to pay this much to have you work their horses?”

Hank smiled proudly and crossed his arms over his chest, rocking forward and back on his cowboy boots.

Mr. Archer stood and walked to the far end of the porch, his hands clasped behind him.

As they waited, Hank sat down beside Clara on the porch swing, leaning back and giving her hand a quick squeeze.

His father paced a couple more times then sat back in his chair, steepling his fingers and eyeing both Hank and Clara.

Clara thought her heart would beat right out of her chest as she waited to see what he would say. She couldn’t stop her knee from bouncing as she crossed her hands in her lap and waited.

“I have to say I have noticed you’re the best wrangler I’ve ever seen. Have a way with horses I’ve never witnessed in any other man.”

Hank blushed at the compliment and looked down at his feet, elbows on his knees as he leaned forward.

“Thanks, Pa.”

“I haven’t been out on the trail with you in years, but I got a good look at it the other day when the horses got out—er, were let out, I hear.”

He smiled and pushed his hat back on his head.

“Oh,” Clara exclaimed. “The girls really didn’t mean to—”

Mr. Archer held up his hands to stop her, his lips curving up a bit with just a hint of a smile.

“Don’t worry. I understand that, but Hank sure made quick work of getting those horses calmed down or that could have been a really bad situation.”

Clara sat back hard, a big whoosh of relief coming out.

“So, you’re thinking that you can make as much or more than what it would cost to hire a wrangler to replace you?”

Hank sat up and looked his father in the eye.

“Yes, sir. I believe so. New folks are coming into town all the time, work horses are retired every day and people want to make sure they have safe horses that they can trust.”

“And you can deliver that?”

Hank and Clara exchanged glances, and he reached for her hand. Turning back to his father, he said, “We know we can.”

“We, is it?” Mr. Archer said, smiling as he looked from Clara to Hank.

“How about this? I’ll give you a week. Postpone the drive for a few days and if in a week it’s happened the way you say it will, we’ll make a different plan for a wrangler on the drive. How’s that?”

Hank and Clara both jumped up, Hank giving his father’s hand a firm shake.

“Thank you, Pa. You know I want the ranch to be a great success, but I think this is a good idea. For me
and
the ranch.”

His father tipped his hat at Clara and turned to head into the house.

“Could be, son. Could be.”

As his father closed the door behind him, Hank threw his hat in the air, grabbed Clara around the waist and spun her around.

“We did it!” Clara cried as her red braid flew behind her.

Hank set her down, his broad smile warming her heart.

“Not quite yet, but it’s a good start,” he said as he looked down at her.

She looked up into his piercing, blue eyes, his dark hair falling on his forehead as he bent down toward her. Her heart suddenly sped up and her toes tingled as he lifted her chin up toward him.

“Would you mind if I kissed you, Mrs. Archer?” he said softly, his lips so close to hers she could feel his breath.

“I think I’d like that, Mr. Archer.”

He leaned toward her and she felt his soft lips pressed to hers. As she sunk into his embrace, she knew her butterflies had found her again and even brought all their friends.

T
he following week’s
flurry of activity had Clara keeping records of appointments, so that Hank knew where he needed to be and when. She spent most of her time sitting with people, watching him work their horses and gracefully accepting payment.

Horse after horse came through the stable, Hank tirelessly working with each and every one of them.

Today was the last day of the week they’d been given, and Clara’s nerves jangled a bit, even though she knew that they’d made the money they had anticipated. She even knew exactly where it was—in a cookie jar on the vanity in her bedroom.

Just the thought of maybe Hank leaving for months at a time jarred her, and they’d spent every night getting to know each other as they sat out after supper, talking about anything and everything.

Now, on this last day, Clara sat under the big oak tree with their last clients.

“I’m just so happy that things worked out this way, Mrs. Archer. Abigail is still thrilled to have her horse, and things get easier for her every day, with Hank’s training.”

“Oh, Mrs. Beckett, I’m glad,” Clara said as she watched Hank walk the arena with Abigail.

“We were already bemoaning Hank’s imminent departure, and when we saw the ad in the paper, we were overjoyed. I do remember telling you when we first met that this is what he was born to do.”

Clara sighed. She flashed back to her ride down from the train station in the stagecoach and the man she’d seen on the hill just before they’d gotten into Tombstone. She remembered that his horse had come to him on its own, and her heart swelled as she now realized it had been Hank that day.

Her heart swelled at the notion that she’d seen who he was—who he truly was—before she’d even met him.

“How are things going, Mrs. Beckett?” Mr. Archer said as he came up behind them, startling Clara.

“Oh, Mr. Archer. How lovely to see you,” she said, extending her hand. “I was just telling Mrs. Archer here that we are so pleased that her husband will be offering these services. They are sorely needed here in town.”

Clara turned to her father-in-law as Mrs. Beckett referred to her as Mrs. Archer, but she saw only a smile on his face as he nodded to the lady, and then to her.

“Yes, so I’ve been told,” he said softly.

Hank led the horse and Abigail into the stables, and Clara and Mrs. Beckett turned to follow.

Mr. Archer headed to the house. “Clara, would you and Hank come see me, please, up at the house when you’ve finished?”

“Of course. Shouldn’t be too long.”

Mrs. Beckett said, “He seems to be in better humor today than the last time we spoke.”

Now that she thought of it, Clara hadn’t seen Mr. Archer but at supper the entire week they’d been running Hank’s new business. They’d been so busy she hadn’t even known where he’d been.

Hank and Clara waved goodbye to Mrs. Beckett and Abigail as they pulled through the gates of Archer Ranch.

“Well, did we do it?” Hank asked as he wrapped his arm around Clara’s shoulder and squeezed.

She reached up to grab his hand on her shoulder and held up the money Mrs. Beckett had just given her, her grin ear to ear.

“With this, we’ve made enough to pay for the wrangler for the whole time. Anything we make from now on out is extra.”

Hank breathed a sigh of relief but was silent as they walked up the drive to the big house, arm in arm.

As they drew closer to the house, he said, “I just hope that he was serious, and won’t change his mind. I love what I’m doing now, but more importantly, I couldn’t bear to leave you now, Clara.”

He stopped at the bottom of the porch steps and turned her to him.

“Hank, I—“

“Shhh,” he said, putting his finger to her lips. “I need to finish what I was going to say.”

Heat flooded her cheeks and she looked down, straightening her skirts.

He reached for her, and as he held her in his arms, he said, “I want you to know that whatever happens tonight with Pa, I will find a way to make this right. You’re my wife, and I want to stay with you.”

“Oh, Hank. You don’t need to say that. I understand it was all for the property.”

“Clara Archer,” Hank said, pulling her in closer. “It may have started out that way, but I have come to realize that it was the luckiest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

“You have?” she said, her eyes twinkling as she looked up at him.

“Yes. And I also have realized that I love you.”

Clara gasped, unable to speak as her heart had leapt in her throat. She took a deep breath and calmed down enough to say, “And I love you.”

Hank leaned in to kiss her, his eyes searching her face.

“Oh, yuck,” Pepper said as the front door opened and all the girls came out, followed by their father.

“Now, girls, that’s what people in love do. Later. When they’re grown up. And married,” Mr. Archer said, smiling but wringing his hands as he surveyed his six daughters who would all eventually be of marrying age. And actually, some already were.

Hank laughed, pulling away from Clara but holding her hand in his. “I think you’re going to have a run for your money, Pa, but I’ll help all I can.”

His father sighed as he walked down the porch stairs.

“I think I’m going to need all the help I can get,” he said, stopping in front of Hank and Clara, the girls watching from the porch.

“I’ll help too, Mr. Archer.” Clara smiled, looking at the beautiful young ladies lined up on the porch and wondering how that would all go.

“Well, Pa, I’m sure you’re wondering about—”

“Actually, I’m not wondering at all. It’s pretty plain that this week has been a great success. Hank’s Happy Horses is off to a rousing good start.”

“Oh, Pa,” Hank said as he smiled and extended his hand to his father.

“I’m very proud of you, son.” Mr. Archer took Hank’s hand but pulled him into a hug, clapping him loudly on his back.

Clara tried to hide her smile behind her hand as all six of the girls burst into applause from the porch, their laughter and smiles infectious.

“You girls stop that. Let’s go show Hank and Clara what we’ve done for them.”

Shrieks of laughter led Hank and Clara to follow Mr. Archer and Hank’s sisters down the lane. The girls ran ahead and stopped in front of the gate to the little white house Clara had admired since she’d arrived at Archer Ranch.

The girls stepped aside as their father approached and opened the gate, gesturing for Hank and Clara to go inside.

Hank stopped when he got to the front door.

“What is it, Pa? Is everything all right?”

“Hank and Clara, this place has been closed up and silent for way too long. We all miss Mama, but we have to live life, and it is my hope that you are as happy as Mama and I were.”

“Thank you, Mr. Archer,” Clara said, resting her hand on Hank’s arm.

Mr. Archer smiled and nodded at Clara.

“So, the girls and I thought you two might be desiring a little privacy, so we’ve spent the week while you’ve been working on a project.”

Titters spread amongst the girls, and Meg said, “Go on, Clara, open the door.”

Clara looked at the girls behind her and then to Mr. Archer, who nodded to her and gestured toward the door.

With one last look at Hank as he shrugged, she entered the small white house.

Clara stopped short as she stepped over the threshold, stock still until she felt Hank’s hand on her back, gently inching her forward.

She walked slowly around the room. The shining wood floor reflected warm sunlight from the sparkling windows. She held her hand up to touch beautiful curtains spotted with prints of colorful flowers. She peeked through a doorway into a bedroom and blushed when she saw a large bed, overlaid with a lovely quilt.

The small kitchen was charming, and she finally stopped by a small dining table with a vase of daisies set in the middle.

She looked up toward Saffron, who turned crimson, her long eyelashes cast downward.

“Are these daisies from you?” Clara said to Saffron.

“Yes, they are. I want you to be happy here. I want you to stay.”

“We all do,” Mr. Archer said. “We’ve spent a lot of time here this week, remembering Mama and cleaning it up for you two. There was a fair amount of dust.”

He cleared his throat as he looked at his eldest daughter, Meg, as she laughed.

“That’s an understatement. It hadn’t been opened in years.”

“But it was fun,” Sage said. “We got to pack up Mama’s things and kind of say goodbye. And we want you to have a place of your own to start off your family,” she said as she walked over to Clara and hugged her.

Hank looked from his father to his sisters. He strode to the girls, hugging each one of them as he said, “I just don’t know how to thank you all. This is wonderful.”

As he got to his father, he stopped and looked his father in the eyes for a long moment.

Mr. Archer looked down at his boots and said, “I want you and Clara to be happy, son. Like me and your mama. And we were very happy.”

Hank pulled his father into a hug as Clara’s eyes misted.

Maria poked her head in the door and said, “Supper is ready, everybody. Come on up when you’re finished.” She winked at Clara and headed back up to the house.

The girls ran behind Maria and Mr. Archer said, “I never thought all this would turn out so…”

“Wonderful?” Hank said, his eyes on Clara.

Mr. Archer laughed. “Yes, I guess that is the word. Wonderful. I’ll see you two up for supper.”

Clara sighed as she and Hank walked out into the front garden and Hank closed the door behind him.

“It really is wonderful, Hank. All of it.”

“It is. And so I suppose that tonight will be our real wedding night.”

He laughed and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the gate as she blushed.

Before she passed through, she turned and looked at the garden they’d cleaned out when she first got there. It didn’t look anything like it had in the beginning, and she grinned with pride that the flowers and herbs were coming back to life. Slowly, but they were all definitely sprouting, ready to bloom again. Just like her new family.