Ma glanced at her. “He’s very responsible.”
“Quite,” Kate responded.
“And ambitious. Your father was telling me he wants to start a ranch of his own.”
“He knows what he wants, that's for sure.”
“And he’s always at Sunday services. What an upstanding young man.”
Kate eyed her mother. “I feel like you’ve been hired for his political campaign.”
“Oh?” her mother queried innocently.
Kate rolled her eyes. “What are you tryin’ to say, Ma?”
“I’m just discussing what a nice young man he is. And he seems to enjoy your company. Maybe it's time you thought about calming down your wild ways and looking for a husband.”
“And there it is!”
“You are well into marrying age, Katherine,” Ma said, exasperation coloring her voice. “You should be having babies by now, not driving mule teams.”
“So you just want to sell me off to the closest eligible young man?”
“It’s not like that and you know it. Andrew is a good, Christian man. He’d make a fine husband. I just want what’s best for you, Katherine. Don’t you want to get married?”
“Of course I want to get married! I just haven’t found the right person yet. ’Sides, I haven’t exactly had a line of suitors to choose from.”
Ma pursed her lips, eyeing Kate’s broad-brimmed hat with distaste. “Maybe if you wore a bonnet and acted like a proper young lady should, the suitors would actually recognize you as one.”
Kate rolled her eyes. “If a man can’t handle me bein’ better at ridin’ and ropin’ than he is, then he doesn’t deserve my attention.”
Ma threw up her hands. “You are impossible! You can’t just ignore what society expects of you then act all mulish when you don’t get what you want! You cannot have it both ways, Katherine. You have to either choose to act properly or resign yourself to a life of loneliness.”
Kate clenched her jaw to keep from saying something she’d regret. They’d had this argument countless times, and it always ended the same. Kate just couldn’t be the person her mother wanted her to be. Wouldshe ever be accepted for who she was? Couldn’t she live a little outside the lines of what society thought was “proper” and have someone love her for it? She wanted to find a man to spend the rest of her life with, but she wanted a man who would see every part of her and love her for it, wildness and all.
Kate stared straight ahead as Ma studied her. “I just want what’s best for you, Katherine.”
Kate’s jaw unclenched at the soft concern in her mother’s voice. “I know, Ma,” she said quietly.
Jacob Munroe came riding down the train, pausing at each wagon. Maybe he’d take Ma’s mind off trying to reform her wild child of a daughter. He certainly made Kate’s mind wander from her mother’s chastisements. His clean blue shirt stretched across his broad shoulders and matched his eyes in a way that was rather distracting.
“Howdy, Mrs. McGrath. Miss McGrath,” he said as he turned his buckskin to match pace with their team. “Just informin’ everyone that we should make Fort Kearney by sundown, or close to it at least.”
“Thank you kindly, Mr. Munroe,” Ma said with a broad smile. She practically oozed ladylike manners. Kate resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Ma continued in a melodious voice. “You’ve been to Fort Kearney before, haven’t you? Could you tell us what to expect when we get there?”
“Well, it’s mighty nice to get to a spot of civilization out here in Indian territory. But don’t expect it to look like anythin’ back home,” Jacob said, all charm and smiles, his blue eyes luminous beneath the shade of his hat.
“Oh? Is it that rough?” Ma asked.
“There’s no stockade walls, and it’s mostly adobe. But they’ve planted a couple rows of cottonwoods now, and there’s even a bakery, last I heard.”
“That sounds lovely! Doesn’t it, Katherine?”
“Mmhmm,” Kate agreed absently. She cocked her head.Was that thunder?
Ma kept peppering Jacob with questions, which he patiently answered. Kate was sure she was trying to show her wayward daughter the finer points of utilizing one’s womanly charms to make sparkling conversation. Kate didn’t pay attention. Her gaze kept flicking between the tossing heads of her mules and the open prairie to the southeast. Joe kept pulling to the right in his traces, throwing Max and Delilah off balance. She craned her neck, searching the skyline for the telltale thunderheads that would signal an imminent storm. But there was nothing but blue as far as she could see.What was that sound?
Kate couldn’t take it any longer. “Ma, shhh. I think I hear somethin’.” She pulled the team to a stop. They stamped their hooves and brayed nervously.
