Chapter 4
Chapter Four
Dianne stood in the middle of a roomy farm kitchen. Birds flitted past the window. A gray cat rubbed at her legs, purring loudly. The sound grew in intensity. Dianne jerked and blinked. It had been a dream. Eddie rubbed her elbow, whispering, “Mama, wake up.”
“I’m awake.” She blinked several more times and yawned twice. “I’m awake.”
“I gotta go potty.”
“Very well.” With a grunt, she pulled herself from the chair. The fire had burned down, and the room held a chill that rattled her teeth. “Let’s go.”
“Mama, we can’t.” Eddie tugged at her hand.
“Why not?” A glimpse at the door answered her question. Jace sat on the wooden floor, his head against his drawn-up knees. Asleep? She hadn’t expected that. But then, she hadn’t expected to fall asleep either. Should she waken him? But what if—
“Mama, I gots to go.”
Recognizing her son’s urgency, she cleared her throat loudly.
Jace startled. His head came up. His eyes remained unfocused for a heartbeat. Then he was on his feet. “I fell asleep.”
“I noticed.”
“Yeah.” He scrubbed his hand over his head until his hair looked windblown.
“You’ll have to excuse us.” With Eddie’s hand gripped in hers, she eased past the man and out into the cool dawn.
Not until they reached the outhouse and Eddie went in did she pause to look around.
And to realize she hadn’t given the visiting moose a thought.
But no breaking branches or loud snorts signaled his presence.
Tension slipped from her shoulders, and she took in the pink dusting of sunrise topping the mountains.
She tipped her face to breathe in the cool, pine-scented air.
I will enjoy living in the mountains. She need only persuade Jace.
Eddie emerged.
“Stay here.” She did her business. When she stepped out, Eddie was gone. “Not again.” She was sorely tempted to put a leash on the boy. A glance revealed him at the fence talking to the horse, and she hurried to him. “Eddie, you must obey me. I told you to wait.”
“But, Mama, the horsey called me.”
“Horses can’t talk.”
“He did. Like this.” He wagged his head and made a whinnying sound.
The horse whinnied back, and Eddie laughed, reaching through the rails to pat the animal’s neck.
“He likes me.”
She squatted to Eddie’s level. “He seems like a good horse, but what have I told you about running up to an animal you don’t know?”
Eddie slowly brought his attention to her. “I’s not to do it.”
“That’s correct. Why?”
“’Cause some aren’ts friendly.” He shook his head. “He is.”
Thank goodness. But there’d been no one to rescue him if the horse decided to take a bite out of him. “You must obey Mama.”
“Yes, Mama.”
“Now, let’s go back to the cabin and make plans.”
He held back, but she pulled him onward.
“Mama, we gonna stay here?”
“No, son. We’re going to a ranch, just like I said.”
He drooped from his head to his knees.
“Besides, you saw. There isn’t anything here to eat except beans, and they won’t last forever.”
Still, the boy dragged his feet.
Dianne lifted her head and swept her gaze full circle.
She could understand his attraction to this place.
Quiet woods surrounded them. Brisk air filled her lungs.
Pink blared across the sky. It was enough to make her pause and whisper, “Glory to Your name, Lord.” The promises she clung to flooded her thoughts.
Her favorite was found in Psalm 32:8: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” She’d clung to those words as the train trundled across the rocks and prairies and as she bounced onward in the stagecoach. “In God, I trust,” she murmured.
They stepped into the cabin, where Jace stirred a pot.
Beans, of course, seeing as there was nothing else in the place to eat.
As soon as they got to the ranch, she’d be sure they got better fare.
Of course, that meant the pantry was adequately supplied.
But it would be. From the things her father had said about Chet, she knew the man to be a good provider.
“I’ll be leaving as soon as I’m ready,” she informed Jace.
There was nothing to do but fold the blanket she’d slept under and straighten the one on the bed.
“Might as well eat first.” He held up the big spoon as if offering her a serving.
While she hesitated, Eddie hurried to Jace’s side. “I’s hungry.”
“He’s always hungry.” Not that she meant to criticize her son, but he liked to eat.
“He’s a boy.” Jace flashed Eddie a smile. As if being a male explained everything. “We’ll eat first. Then I’ll escort you to the way station.”
His offer was the last thing she expected. “Thanks.” Her voice wobbled. By rights, she should tell him it wasn’t necessary, but could she find her way back? Even if she could, there was that moose and even Crazy Jane.
“Least I can do.”
What did his tone indicate? Perhaps weariness, as if he didn’t think he had any choice.
But, of course, he did. He could refuse to help them even as he refused to take over the ranch unless she could persuade him otherwise.
No doubt he’d admired Chet. Didn’t that bring a certain responsibility to carry out the man’s wishes?
They took their places at the table, Eddie perched on her knee. Again, Jace murmured a quick prayer. The exact words he said the day before. Not that she thought that meant anything. She taught Eddie a similar prayer to make it easy for him to learn the habit of saying grace.
Eddie peppered Jace with questions. What was his horse’s name? How long had Jace had him? Did he run fast? Could Eddie have a ride on him?
Dianne answered that one. “He’s too big for you.”
Jace cleared his throat. “You might consider letting him ride while we return to the way station. It’s a long walk for little legs. There’d be no danger as I would lead the horse, and Sam is an agreeable animal.”
“Mama, I cans ride?”
How was she to refuse his eagerness? After all, if things went as planned, he’d be living on a ranch. Besides, she’d stay right at his side each step of the way.
“I guess you could ride a short distance.”
Eddie laughed. “I’s gonna be a cowboy.”
Dianne shook her head. “What have I started?”
Her eyes met Jace’s, and her smile flattened at the way his pupils narrowed. He held her gaze, and she couldn’t pull away, not wanting to show any weakness in the face of his intense study.
Then Eddie nudged her, freeing her from the stare. “I done. We goes now?”
“Let me finish first.” Her beans had been forgotten. Both she and Jace scraped up the food. She gathered up the dishes, but when he stood before the washbasin, she slipped them into the water and stepped back, locating the drying cloth.
He cleared his throat. “You’ll need a foreman to run the ranch for you.”
The spoons she dried clattered to the floor. She scooped them up and handed them back to wash again. A pulse throbbed behind her eyes. “I can’t run a ranch. Nor can I hire a foreman. I’d be as likely to hire a rustler as anything else.”
While he wiped the table, squeezed the rag dry, and tossed the water out the door, she shook her skirts, though it did little to remove the wrinkles. She was ready to depart.
“I’ll get Sam.” Jace trotted away.
“I go, too.”
But Dianne caught the little boy and stopped him. “We’ll wait here.”
“Mama,” Eddie wailed. “How’s I gonna learn to be a cowboy if I doesn’t help?”
“You’ll learn when the time comes.” She gripped his hand as they made their slow way toward the pen where Jace saddled his horse. They stood by the fence until he finished and led the animal through the gate.
“I ride now?” Eddie bounced foot to foot, his impatience bursting through.
Jace picked up Eddie and set him in the saddle. “How’s that, young man?”
“I’s high.”
“Do you want down?” Dianne would be only too happy to take him off that big animal.
“No. I ride.”
“He’s safe,” Jace murmured. “I’ll be right here.”
“And I’ll be right here too.” She stayed on the opposite side, her hand clamped to Eddie’s leg.
“Then let’s be on our way. The sooner—” He didn’t finish. He didn’t need to. The sooner he got them back to the way station, the sooner he could return to his cabin and hide from whatever it was he was avoiding.
A narrow path led through the trees. “This isn’t the direction I came.”
“It’s shorter and less rocky.”
The trail, although wide enough for a horse, forced her to drop back. Jace stayed at Eddie’s side. The branches hung low. One slapped Eddie in the chest. He cried out and slipped to the side.
“Eddie,” she yelled and tried to push past the horse, but trees prevented it.
If something happened to her son—
Jace knew the trees bent low over the trail at this spot, but he’d forgotten. Otherwise, he’d have instructed Eddie to bend low. Were Jace riding, he would’ve simply brushed branches aside. But there was enough force in them to sweep the little fellow out of the saddle…straight into Jace’s arms.
Eddie laughed. “That fun.”
They grinned at each other. Then Jace turned his attention to dealing with the anxious cries of Eddie’s mother. He pushed on Sam’s hindquarters to signal him to move over.
Dianne rushed forward, but when she tried to take Eddie, the child shook off her hands. “You are done riding. It’s too dangerous.”
“Mama, no. I wants to ride. I’s not hurt. See.” He held up his arms.
“You got knocked off the horse.” Her voice quivered. She chewed her bottom lip as she rubbed her hands over her son, then lifted her gaze to Jace. She blinked several times. “He will walk beside me.”
Jace set the boy on the ground, took Sam’s reins, and led him down the trail with Dianne and Eddie in his wake.
For a time, they walked in silence apart from the clomp of Sam’s hooves, the rustle of leaves, and the song of birds.
Deceptively peaceful. They crested a rise, and he paused to take in his surroundings.
One thing Chet had taught him thoroughly was the importance of being aware of any dangers, such as wild animals.