Wildblossom (23 page)

It helped to realize that Geoff probably didn't understand any more than she did. Just because he had a lot more experience, that didn't mean he knew about...
love.

Maybe he hurt, too.

* * *

As the weeks passed, Shelby's thoughts continued to circle on the prickly topic of love, and she searched for distractions. Ben seemed to sniff out a bit of what was in the air, and helped by bringing Shelby a gift. It was a beautiful .32 caliber Remington rifle with a walnut fore end and stock. Prodded by her uncle, she began trying some tricks—chiefly aiming at rocks that Ben would throw into the air. Someday, he told her, he'd get some glass balls, like the kind Annie Oakley blasted to smithereens.

By late June, Shelby had worked her way up to hitting every third rock. Ben was coaching her, tossing rocks and whooping with excitement one sunny afternoon, when Geoff passed on his way to the barn.

"I see you're making progress," he remarked, pausing to chat.

"Shel's got talent, no doubt about that," Ben bragged. "I'm gonna get us a mirror and start her practicing that trick Annie Oakley's famous for—the one where she's looking into a mirror and shootin' over her shoulder at a far-off target!"

When Geoff looked to Shelby for a reaction to her uncle's plans, she shrugged and smiled. "It's something to do to pass the time. We can't work unceasingly, after all. And... this is fun." Her eyes said that it could be a lot more fun if Geoff were involved rather than Uncle Ben. How they'd laughed the day they'd practiced rope tricks and shooting together!

"That's a beautiful rifle." Geoff's tone was affable.

"Well, I had to do something to prod Shel into showing some enthusiasm around here," Ben said. "She was starting to act like my sister, all domestic and dreamy-eyed. I even caught her lookin' at all those fancy dresses in
Harper's Bazaar
one afternoon! I'm just relieved she hasn't gone completely soft yet." He gave her a teasing poke in the ribs, but Shelby was blushing.

"Mama sent that fashion book to me. How could I not look at it?"

"For Pete's sake, I was just having some fun with you! Since when are you so sensitive? Don't worry, Shel, I don't really think you're going to put on airs 'cause you've been a flat-out hellion since the day you were born. Remember what Gran Annie used to call you?
Incorrigible
." He laughed at that, but Shelby seemed to be fuming and embarrassed under the brim of her Stetson.

"I really appreciate the compliments and praise, Uncle Ben."

Geoff watched them with a faint crease in his brow, waiting for a chance to speak. "If I leave you two, will you promise to make up and be nice to one another? Good enough. I'm off to Cody for the remainder of the afternoon."

"You gonna pick up the disk harrow Jakie's got in?" Ben asked. "I think there's room for it in the new barn now. It's got that seeder attachment we sure use."

Geoff nodded. "I thought I would, yes. And Cookie's given me a list of supplies." He paused a moment before adding, "Since the last newborn calf was branded this morning, Cookie was wondering how much longer we'll need him and the other extra hands. I said that I thought the other boys would go when the barn is finished this week, but I didn't know if Shelby was interested in returning to the kitchen or not...."

When Ben started to answer for her, Shelby threw him a warning glance. "I would like to think it over. I admit that I do love being outdoors, unrestricted, all day long. If I took over Cookie's duties again, Uncle Ben, I wouldn't have much time for shooting practice."

"You got a point there—but can we afford to keep Cookie?"

Geoff gazed into Shelby's eyes for a moment and gave her a tender smile. "We can afford anything that makes your niece happy." He drew on his gloves then and went off to hitch up the wagon.

Ben Avery looked puzzled. "What's he talkin' about, Shel? I keep having the feeling that there's something I don't know. Are you two sweet on each other? Titus mentioned it to me, but I told him he was crazy, 'cause you wanted to run Geoff off the ranch!"

Her heart ached so much that she couldn't answer. Instead she just shook her head and set about reloading the rifle, all the while avoiding her uncle's eyes.

* * *

The new little town of Cody wore summer well. The trains were running nearly on schedule, the telephone lines were working, the new Methodist-Episcopal church was finished, and the Irma Hotel was scheduled to open in the fall.

Dr. Louis Howe's recently arrived trio of lovely daughters were the most popular subject for discussion in Purcell's Saloon. The married men, however, were more inclined to wonder if the road to Yellowstone Park would be open in July, as planned. Geoff kept his ears open as he slowly drank a beer at the bar, and heard many a conversation turn to rustling. Cattle had been stolen from the Allison ranch, but the identity of the thief hadn't been determined. Meanwhile, James Doyle, another supposed rustler, had been arrested and skipped the country after forfeiting his bond.

"People won't put up with it anymore," muttered one North Fork rancher. "I'm thinkin' of running an ad in the
Enterprise,
with a promise to kill any man I catch on my land. Maybe if we keep the heat on Marshal Burns, and he keeps on arrestin' the criminals, they'll quit completely."

"What's happened to Deputy Ted?" Geoff asked casually.

The man snorted and paused in the midst of licking a cigarette paper. "People started sayin' things about him, and he left town. I heard he went to Sheridan. Good riddance, I say. Now if his sour-faced cousin'd leave, too, we'd all be better off."

Ironically, Geoff saw Bart Croll when he emerged from the saloon. He and Vivian were loading boxes onto the back of their rickety buckboard, and Bart abruptly shouted something at his wife in a voice so shrill that it carried down the block to Geoff. The Cody Trading Company had been his destination anyway, so he quickened his pace, arriving just in time to see Croll grab Vivian by the arm and twist her around to face him.

"You silly
idiot!
What were you thinkin', setting that box down on my finger? Do you think you can get away with it just because we're in public?" His eyes blazed like hot coals.

"Croll, unhand the lady." Geoff had come up behind him, quietly, and spoke in a cold, vaguely menacing voice. "You're hurting her—and frightening her—and I won't have it."

"Oh, you
won't,
won't you?" Oozing sarcasm, the older man dropped Vivian's arm only because he'd shifted his attention to Geoff. "And how come you got this sudden interest in my wife, Limey?"

"I'm interested in helping anyone who is being mistreated." He noticed then that the gray puppy adopted by Vivian was sitting on the buckboard seat, staring worriedly at Bart. Geoff reached out to pet him even as he continued the confrontation with Croll. "Your wife is a fine lady, and I won't stand by and watch you browbeat her."

"A
lady?
Geez-us, have you got that wrong!" The old man sneered. "Nothin' you kin do about it, anyway. She's my wife."

Viv took that opportunity to clamber into the buck-board and take Willy onto her lap, her hands trembling all the while.

"People don't own one another," Geoff said coolly. "Furthermore, I think, in view of your cousin's departure from the marshal's office, there are numerous actions I could take against you. If you're wise, you won't force me to make that decision." With those ominous parting words, Geoff took in Viv's grateful look, turned away and went into the Cody Trading Company. Not until he was well inside and shielded by a display case did he venture to look around a corner at his nemesis and watch as Bart Croll climb up beside his wife. Whatever words he spoke were rewarded by a tentative smile from the beleaguered woman.

"Somebody ought to put that vermin out of his misery," a voice said at Geoff's shoulder.

He glanced around to find Jakie Schwoob watching the couple in the buckboard and shaking his head. "If it were just Croll, I might be able to tolerate him, but my heart goes out to his wife," Geoff replied. "She's a lovely woman."

"I know." Jakie sighed heavily, then turned away to watch another customer. "It's a sad business. Oh, by the way, I have something to show you."

Geoff gathered the supplies on Cookie's list, had them boxed to load beside the disk harrow, then sought out Schwoob. "All right, you've piqued my curiosity. What's the surprise?"

Schwoob left the other customer to choose among several packages of buttons, and led Geoff to the back of the big store. "First, I have a new record for you. I hear it's all the rage in the East—called 'In the Good Old Summertime'! Shelby will love it."

Smiling in spite of the pang he felt, remembering, Geoff accepted the record, then inclined his head. "And secondly?"

Jakie threw open the door to his storeroom, illuminating five new bicycles lined along one wall. He gestured with a flourish. "Aren't they handsome? The finest models in production today; they're called the Napoleon and Josephine bicycles!" He was beaming from ear to ear.

Geoff listened to the sales speech about the bicycles' nickel-jointed construction, the double-tube pneumatic tires with piano wire spokes, and the latest 1902 design frame, forks, and sprocket. The Napoleon model was painted black, and the Josephine had a maroon finish. Finally, when he couldn't bear another word, Geoff interrupted. "Save your breath, Jakie. I'll take them both."

"You will? Shelby'll love them! They're only sixteen dollars a piece."

They started back into the store, and Geoff began to list some other items he wanted Schwoob to order for the ranch. Cookie was longing for a fancy butter churn, and Geoff had decided to purchase an assortment of other ranch equipment... and a piano. "I noticed Shelby looking at the pianos in the Sears Wishbook," he explained. "I wrote down the one I'd like, based on those."

"Seems like you're pretty smitten with that girl. Takes a good man to look past her rambunctious ways and see the lady underneath...."

"Not at all. I liked her immediately, precisely because she is
not
like all the other ladies."

Standing at the counter and adding up Geoff's purchases, Schwoob glanced up. "Really! Do you think your kin in England would feel the same way?"

"We'll never know, I'm afraid. Shelby is adamant about her freedom, and staying on the Sunshine Ranch, and who can blame her? I, on the other hand, was born to a more restrictive life. Beyond one brief escape like this year in Wyoming, I'm not able to choose my fate the way Shelby can." He arched an eyebrow and smiled. "Life is not always fair."

This was a situation Jakie Schwoob didn't understand, so he fell silent, totaling the day's purchases and writing up an order for the upright parlor grand piano. Meanwhile, a pretty young female customer sidled up next to Geoff and gave him a smile that could only be categorized as suggestive.

"How do you do, sir?" she murmured, allowing her breast to brush his arm. "Will you think me terribly bold if I confess that I overheard a few of your remarks about your ill-fated romance?"

Amusement played over Geoff's mouth. "Have we met, miss?"

"My name is Etta Feeley." Her smile widened knowingly, and she almost seemed to wink while looking him over with highly appreciative eyes. "My friends and I have been
dying
to ask you to visit us, your lordship."

"I'm just Geoffrey Weston," he corrected her, and accepted her outstretched, perfumed hand for only a moment. "I must tell you in all candor that I cannot accept your invitation, but it's kind of you to ask."

Jakie Schwoob gave his friend a wild look to remind him that Etta Feeley was the town's principal madame. Then he said to her, "Miss Feeley, I can't have you making those invitations in my store. When you come in here, you have to be... discreet."

Abashed, Etta colored and replied, "Why, I thought I
was
being discreet!"

Geoff couldn't help laughing at that, and Jakie soon joined in, in spite of himself. Etta Feeley was a good sport and didn't take offense.

* * *

At six-thirty the sun was still hot overhead, and the ranch hands went back outside to work when supper was finished. Now that the roundup was officially over, everyone was concentrating on the new barn and their fledgling crops.

Shelby went to her bedroom for a bath, glad for Cookie's help in the kitchen and her own freedom from domesticity. Even Manypenny seemed to be enjoying his new life on the ranch now that he was fully recovered from his illness. He had made no attempt whatever to take up his old servile routine again, and Geoff never complained. Manypenny now spent most of his waking hours rocking on the veranda, reading, dozing, and admiring the dramatic landscape.

Shelby pumped water for her bath at the kitchen sink and was carrying in the last bucketful when she encountered Manypenny in the hallway. He was coming out of his bedroom with a copy of
The Red Badge of Courage,
tieless and very nearly relaxed. "It's a perfect summer evening, don't you think?" she murmured with a smile.

"Indeed it is. I never expected to become so fond of Wyoming... or this ranch," he confessed.

In her big bedroom, Shelby put her new folding bathtub to good use. It featured a built-in heater for the water, and she had spent many a contented hour soaking away the dust and exhaustion of the day's work.