“Mm-hmm. He showed it to me. She’s a lovely young woman, is your sister.”
Fiona wondered how she did not know about the photograph. And if she did not know that, how much more was there that she didn’t know. Rather than being comforted by the knowledge that her husband could easily identify Phoebe, the realization disturbed her.
She stood, took the pot off the stove, and added coffee to her cup. She offered the same to Ellie, who shook her head. Shrugging, Fiona returned to her seat.
“I still can’t imagine why Phoebe agreed to come. There’s nothing for her here.”
Ellie’s eyebrows rose in mild surprise, not disapproval. “You’re here.”
Fiona was a long time answering. “I am, aren’t I?” Her gaze fell on her reflection in the coffee. “Yes, I certainly am.”
Chapter Eleven
“Where’s Fiona?” asked Thaddeus when Ellie stepped out to greet them on the long front porch.
“Shh. Lower your voice. She’s sleeping. Finally. Was up most of the night waiting for you. Drank more coffee than any ten cowpokes sitting around a campfire, and I just tucked her in, thank you very much.”
Remington dismounted, took the three steps to the porch in a single leap, and enveloped Ellie Madison in a fierce hug. “Seems like someone else drank their fair share of coffee. You’ve got the jitters.” He looked over his shoulder at Ellie’s son. Ben was still sitting beside Phoebe in the buggy they’d used to bring her to Twin Star. “Your ma’s got the jitters, Ben!”
“I don’t think those are the jitters,” Ben said mildly. “Better put her down. I’m not sure she can breathe.”
Remington set Ellie on her feet. She promptly slugged him in the shoulder with the heel of her hand. “Idiot child. My Ben was always smarter than you.”
“No denying it.” He swooped, kissed her cheek, and stepped aside so she could stop ducking and weaving in order to look around him.
Ellie extended her arms in a welcoming gesture. “Come here, young lady, and let us get you inside. Ben, help her down from the buggy. Oh, but what a journey you must have had. Remington, you and Mr. Frost take her bags. Do you have a trunk, dear? Yes? Remington will get that in a moment.”
Phoebe took the hand Ben held out, grateful for the supportwhen her legs wobbled once her feet were on the ground. After Thaddeus formally introduced her to the housekeeper, she was hustled inside while Ellie directed the men around with the authority of a stage manager. Phoebe felt completely at home.
“We’ve spruced up Ben’s room for you,” said Ellie. “You’re not putting him out. He likes the bunkhouse fine, and come warmer nights, he’ll be just as content to sleep out of doors.”
“I won’t,” said Ben in an aside to Phoebe. “But she’s right about the bunkhouse.”
Ellie cuffed her son on the side of his head. “I heard that. Go on with you; show her to the room. And quietly. Mrs. Frost is sensibly asleep as all of you should be.” She herded Phoebe and her escorts down the hall then shooed the men out of the room after they dropped the bags and the trunk.
Phoebe stood beside the bed, hands folded in front of her, waiting for Ellie to shut the door. When she did, the housekeeper was on what Phoebe considered to be the wrong side of it. “You don’t have to stay,” Phoebe said. “I can manage.”
“Of course you can, but that doesn’t mean you should. Go on. Sit down before you drop. I’m going to unpack a few things for you, find your nightgown and slippers. Do you have a robe?”
Phoebe nodded dumbly.
“Good. I’ll set that out for you as well. There’s fresh water in the pitcher. The washstand’s in the corner. Soap is beside the basin. Towels and washcloths in the cupboard underneath. Up to you if want to clean up before you crawl under the covers. Piss pot’s under the bed. First thing, though, is to get you out of Remington’s coat. You must have been chilled to the bone if he gave you that.”
There was no resisting her, Phoebe realized, and there was no shame in surrendering to a superior force. In every way it was exactly what she needed to do, and in short order her bags were unpacked with every item disappearing into the wardrobe or the chest of drawers. When directed, she closed her eyes and raised her face for a gentle washing, andwith no protest at all, she stripped down to her shift and then allowed a perfect stranger to exchange it for her nightgown.
She was asleep before her head touched the pillow or she would have known Ellie tucked her in.
• • •
“Snug as a bug,” Ellie said when she entered the kitchen. Thaddeus was slathering sweet cream butter on bread she had baked that morning while Remington was using a knife to get the last bit of strawberry preserves out of a jar. She laid Remington’s long coat over the back of his chair. “A spoon would serve you better, Remington. Where’s Ben?”
Remington did not stop his excavation work. “Took the horses and the buggy to the barn, then he was going to turn in.”
Ellie pulled out a chair and sat. “It wouldn’t hurt you to do the same.” She looked pointedly at Thaddeus. “You, too, Mr. Frost. I don’t know that I’ve seen you so tired after a week of riding the property and sleeping on the ground. What happened? Because surely this late arrival cannot be because Miss Apple missed a connection somewhere. I cast that line to Mrs. Frost but she wasn’t having any of it.”
Thaddeus looked up. “No, she wouldn’t.” He took a bite of bread and washed it down with a gulp of coffee. “I don’t think I’m the one that ought to explain. Remington can do it. I have to tell Fiona.”
Ellie and Remington exchanged surreptitious glances but neither of them spoke.
