Jacob let out a breath. Kate absently tapped her knee with a gloved hand. His eyes followed the motion. Sweet sugar, those were some nice legs, all long and alluringly defined in her faded denim pants. A button at her collar had worked its way free, and his gaze lingered on the smooth skin of her throat peeking out from behind her blue paisley kerchief. She cleared her throat, and he snapped his eyes back up to her freckled face. The corner of her mouth tilted up. His ears went hot. Since when did he blush? He looked away, rubbing a hand over his beard. “So, ah, where did you learn to do that?”
“Do what?” she asked, raising a dark eyebrow.
“Oh, you know”—he took off his hat and gestured vaguely with it—“the ropin’ and ridin’ and whatnot.”
“I’ve got brothers,” she responded with a modest shrug of the shoulders.
“Well, plenty of girls have brothers, but I ain’t heard of any one of them doin’ what you’re doin’, never mind seen it with my own eyes. I mean, Miss McGrath, you ride like a cowboy.” He swallowed. “I meant that as a compliment, truly, Miss McGrath, I really did.” He needed some water.
She laughed brightly, her deep brown eyes creasing at the corners. “Don’t worry, Mr. Munroe. That’s about the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
He eyed her. The sweetest thing? Gosh, she sure was strange. But in a fascinating, delightful kind of way. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, and his gaze wandered down to her long legs again. He couldn’t help himself. The way the saddle hugged her curves was entirely too appealing.
The steer gave a sullen kick, breaking him out of those potent thoughts. He pictured Aaron McGrath catching him staring at his daughter’s legs and hastily cleared his throat. He brushed the dust off his hat and settled it back on his head. “Ah, why don’t we let this guy up and—”
The pounding of hooves interrupted him, and Jacob turned to find Andrew Thompson approaching. Jacob’s eyes narrowed. He’d come back here to the herd to get away from the taciturn Southerner. How long is it to Oregon? He gritted his teeth. There was a lady present, best be polite. He nodded stiffly. “Mornin’, Thomp—”
“What on God’s green earth were you thinkin’?” Andrew nearly shouted as he rode up. Gosh, not so taciturn after all.
“And a good day to you too, Thompson,” Jacob said curtly. “We were thinkin’ of returnin’ this steer—”
“No offense, Munroe, but I wasn’t talkin’ to you.” Jacob narrowed his eyes. So much for famed Georgian manners. Andrew asked again, “MissKate, what were you thinkin’ ridin’ after a steer like that? You could’ve been hurt!” His scowl matched the angry bite in his tone.
Jacob looked over at Kate. Her smile had vanished, replaced by a stony mask, her face as inscrutable as a crystal ball. “I was just doin’ my job, Mr. Thompson,” she replied tightly.
“This shouldn’t be your job at all, wearin’ trousers and cow herdin’. This is not your place, Miss Kate.”
Jacob saw her stiffen in the saddle, and her tone turned icy. “I am good at this job, Mr. Thompson, and if I can lend a hand where it’s sorely needed, then I will, no matter how strange it might be to some people’s delicate constitutions.”
Andrew bristled. “And you justhadto chase after this steer?” Jacob’s anger rose as Andrew continued to batter her with his words, but he felt powerless, not knowing what to say or if he even had the right to interfere. Andrew repeated, “You coulda been hurt, Miss Kate. Leave the dangerous work to the menfolk.”
“He bolted right in front of me!” Kate responded incredulously, throwing her hands up. “What was I supposed to do, let him run? I’d never live with myself if I lost someone’s livelihood because it was a little dangerous!”
“And what do you think your ma will think about this?” Andrew said coldly.
Kate seemed to wilt under the weight of those words. A long pause filled the space between them. Then she heaved a heavy sigh and looked away, out at the hills, like a prisoner hungering for the sky, longing for freedom. Andrew rode up to her. He knew he’d won. “I’m just thinkin’ of what’s best for you, Miss Kate. Let’s get you back,” he said, his voice all smooth and conciliatory now. Andrew swung out of the saddle and unwound her rope from the steer’s leg. She coiled it absently, her face blank, her shoulders slumped. When he mounted again, she turned her horse without a word and followed.
Jacob felt like he had just witnessed a cowboy cruelly breaking a young horse. His anger boiled.I’ll tear a strip into that brooding Southerner,Jacob thought.Let him see what dangerous really means. He didn’t know what it was about Andrew that rubbed him the wrong way, but Jacob wanted to break his Georgian nose. But what would that accomplish? What right did he have to interfere? Hadn’t she and Andrew grown up together? Surely they knew each other well. Maybe Andrew had earned the right to speak with such authority in her life. And who was he? Just a stranger sticking his nose in where it didn’t belong. Jacob sat fuming in his uselessness. What could he do? He barely knew her, and yet he needed to do something, anything. Without thinking, he blurted out, “You done good today, Miss McGrath.”
She looked up at him and gave him a wan smile. “Thank you, Mr. Munroe. Couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Any time,” he replied, tipping his hat.
Jacob sat on his horse, watching her go. How could a young woman who had enough confidence to buck society’s mold and become adept at cow herding, of all things, be so easily affected by the expectations of the people close to her? She seemed so full of contradictions. Free-spirited, yet acquiescent; confident, yet unsure. So strong, yet so vulnerable. He had glimpsed something compelling and intangible in her, something that drew him in like a moth spinning around the mesmerizing flame of a candle.
A distant crack of a whip brought him back into the present. The train was nearly out of sight. He checked that the rope was still secure on his pommel and set off, the steer trailing wearily behind him.
Chapter 10
Thesunsanktothe western horizon in a blaze of orange and rosy pink, the edges of the tattered clouds lined in gold and periwinkle like a string of jewels scattered across the velvet of the sky. They had just crossed the Big Blue. They had been piled up on the eastern bank for two days waiting behind five other train companies attempting the arduous crossing. Here on the other side, the cook fires of all those wagons dotted the hills like the lights of a city.
Kate stood amongst the twilight colors, away from the muted conversations of their campfire, away from the supper dishes that needed cleaning, away from everything. Out in the blanket of silence, her heart could sink into the soil and reach toward the distant hills without fear of coming up against the walls of expectations and responsibilities. Unbidden, the memory of Andrew’s critical gaze after subduing that steer made her anger boil to the surface again. Oh, how it chafed to be told what to do from every side! She forcibly tamped down her tempestuous feelings. She had come out here to just enjoy the beauty of this peaceful evening, not waste it on someone’s unwanted opinions.
She took a deep breath, centering herself once again. She reminded herself that out here in God’s glorious creation, she could justbe. Not think, not try, not work. Just exist as part of the beautiful simplicity of the masterpiece painted on the landscape. She breathed deep again. The air wafted softly around her, warmed from a day in the sun, pungent with crushed bluestem and sage, spiced with the promise of a crisp nightstill clinging to the last vestiges of spring. Kate smiled as a song rose up in her heart.Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation.She hummed, her heart resonating in time with the truth of the words.O my soul, praise Him, for He is thy health and salvation!
“Katie!”
Her brother’s soft call floated out to her on the breeze. She breathed a thank you heavenward and turned back to the wagons, filled with peace. “I’m just here, Danny.”
