He blinked. How long had he been holding this same forkful of hay? “Sorry.”
Robert stepped past him with his own loaded pitchfork. “Thinking about our houseguest?”
He tightened his jaw. “Thinking about winter. Same as you should be.”
“Rose seems to be settling in well.” Thomas shucked the hay from his tines and strode back for another load. “Mrs. Wang was beside herself this morning. Haven’t seen her that happy in months.”
“Good.” James tried to keep his voice casual, but something in the way Robert glanced at him suggested he wasn’t fooling anyone.
They finished unloading the wagon, then pulled out the food sack Mrs. Wang had packed.
James sat on a fallen log, unwrapping a thick sandwich. The bread was soft enough she must have baked it that morning, then filled it with sliced ham and her pickled vegetables. But his appetite had deserted him somewhere between Rose’s careful politeness at breakfast and Robert’s knowing looks.
“She remembers more than I expected,” Thomas said between bites. “About the ranch, I mean.”
“Of course she remembers.” The words came out sharper than he’d intended. “She lived here for years.”
Enoch studied him with those penetrating blue eyes. “Something troubling you about Rose being here?”
Everything. The way she looked through him as though he were a stranger. The careful distance in her voice when she spoke to him. The way she’d brightened when Robert talked to her.
“Nope,” he said instead. “Just concerned about the hay.”
“The hay.” The dip in Enoch’s tone suggested he wasn’t convinced.
James met his brother’s skeptical gaze. “We need to hire men from town. Extra hands to help bring in the rest of this area and the last two fields before the first snow hits.” He eyed the gloomy sky. “A storm could come this week, and we can’t lose all that hay.”
“Can’t spare anyone to ride to town.” Enoch took another bite of his sandwich. “Better we buckle down and get it done.”
“And the expense—” Robert piped up. “Especially with Rose’s wages now added to the books.”
“The expense of losing cattle to starvation will be a sight worse than paying a few men for a week’s work.” James pushed to his feet, brushing crumbs from his hands. The restless energy that had plagued him all morning demanded movement.
He couldn’t help a glare at Robert. “Besides, I would’ve thought you’d be glad for Rose to be here, what with the way you two were mooning at each other this morning.”
Robert’s sandwich paused halfway to his mouth, and Thomas’s brows shot up. Even Enoch turned to stare at him with those piercing blue eyes that saw straight through to a man’s soul.
“James.” Enoch’s tone carried a warning.
But the damage was done. Robert set down his sandwich, his expression thoughtful rather than defensive. “Rose was being polite, nothing more. She’s finding her footing here.”
“Right.” James kicked at a clump of grass, hating himself for the childish display. “Of course she was.”
But Robert didn’t leave it alone. “She’s wary, James. Can’t you see that? Whatever happened to her in Virginia City, it’s left her gun-shy.”
Thomas cleared his throat. “Maybe we should?—”
“Enough.” Enoch pushed to his feet, brushing off his hands. “James, if you think we need extra hands, ride to town and hire them. Work with them on the two smaller pastures—we should finish this one by the time you’re done with those.”
James nodded. This would give him something solid to focus on besides his own foolishness. “I’ll leave now.”
“Good.” Enoch’s gaze lingered on him with something that might have been sympathy. “Enjoy the ride to town. Clear your head.”
As his brothers grabbed their tools for another load, James strode to his horse. It only took a minute to strap on his saddle and bridle, then mount up.
Leaving his brothers behind and setting out on his own felt strange, especially when there was work to be done. But he’d be in charge of the ranch when Enoch and Mandie left for England next year—best he start getting used to making decisions and handling responsibilities on his own.
The gelding’s hooves found their rhythm on the familiar trail. He may as well stop at the house and check on the women before riding on to town.
