“Twenty-one.” Arlen sounded bored now, as if he were disappointed he didn’t get to take a shot at Mr. Snyder.
“You folks have a fine day,” Mr. Snyder said in a strained voice as he turned his horse around and headed for the gate. He paused and said something to the man waiting outside the fence, and then, thankfully, he was on his way.
Belle let go of Lara’s hand as their cousin and her husband lowered their shotguns. With a deep, exhausted sigh, Josie leaned against the wall of the house. Belle scurried over to take the shotgun from her.
“Why don’t you sit down inside?” Arlen said, his face a map of worries as he watched his wife. “I’ll see what this other fellow wants.”
“Probably work,” Josie said as she brushed away Belle’s proffered arm. “Lara, will you round up the girls to come help with supper?”
Lara nodded. Josie and Arlen’s two daughters were off playing with a litter of new kittens in the barn. The door shut behind Belle and Josie, but the dogs kept their watchful place on the porch beside Arlen. Lara took one step toward the stairs, but stopped as the man who was now inside the gate dismounted his horse.
Fetching the girls could wait a moment, she decided, as the man moved with casual ease toward the porch. Lara’s curiosity often got the better of her, but whowouldn’twant to know who this stranger was?
“Good afternoon, sir,” the man said. “Miss.” He tipped his hat to Lara, and she caught a glimpse of eyes as dark as his hair.
“I assume you don’t work for the Lincoln Bank?” Arlen said, that shotgun at his side like an unspoken threat.
The man’s eyes found the shotgun before he looked back to Arlen. “No, sir, I do not. I only just rode up as the other fellow was getting on his horse. My name’s Mitchell King, and I’m looking for work.” He spoke in a low, careful voice, as if he thought through his words before giving them life.
“Well, you’ve come to the wrong part of Nebraska, Mr. King,” Arlen replied. “There’s not a soul around these parts that could pay you right now.”
If Mr. King was surprised by those words, he didn’t show it. Lara thought it too bad they couldn’t afford to hire him on. He looked as though he knew his way around a ranch, with that easy way he carried himself. It seemed as if there wasn’t a situation that could possibly unnerve him. Not to mention those broad shoulders and that strong jaw—
Lara swallowed hard as she clasped the papers to her side. What was she doing, thinking of this stranger in that way? One might think she’d never seen a man before, and here she was mooning over him as her thirteen-year-old cousin might have done.
He glanced at her again, and the blood rushed to her ears as she offered him what she hoped was a friendly smile. When he finally looked back at Arlen, the breath rushed out of her body. It was a good thing they didn’t have work at the ranch for him, otherwise Lara might never feel at ease again.
Mr. King shifted his stance as he looked from Arlen off to the west pastures and then back at Arlen again. “Well, you’re in luck, then. Looks like you need someone and I don’t require pay.”
Chapter Two
The words were outof Mitchell’s mouth before he could take them back.
No pay.
Was that really what he’d just offered?
