Chapter Six
It was well into the late afternoon when the newlyweds finally made it home and Jed was completely exhausted, nearly stumbling off the wagon proper.
Travel and whirlwind wedding aside, he’d gotten used to a life of mostly solitude, only occasionally speaking to his fellow ranch hands if they needed advice or assistance.
Of course, he and Thomas used to put aside time to catch up during meals and events, but as their cattle business grew, Thomas had spent more and more time mingling with clients and other business folk.
Today was the first time in quite some time that he’d properly socialized with folks outside his work. He could count the number of people present on one hand certainly, but they had been lively enough to fill a tavern’s worth of celebration.
Sadie had been, by far, the center of it all, keeping both food and drink flowing in a constant stream while chatting away about any old topic.
Jed had never seen a woman spin such a long yarn about anything before; she had about talked his ear off during lunch about the intricacies of wildflower species.
Samuel seemed a bit more approachable, though he’d remained seemingly glued to Sadie’s hip. So any attempt to speak to him one-on-one ended in yet another long ramble from the fair-haired woman.
Joshua, perhaps because he was the oldest, had seemed safer for Jed to approach. Instead, Jed had found himself stuck in nearly an hour’s worth of interrogation, something he probably should have expected from the sheriff of Bighorn Basin.
And then…there was Maeve.
Jed rounded the wagon and offered a hand to his new wife.
She had been completely silent during the trip, absentmindedly bouncing Lila on her leg while she watched the Wyoming countryside roll past them.
Now, she barely gave him a second glance before passing the dozing toddler into his arms and hopping down off the wagon with the grace of a born-and-bred country woman.
With her hands now freed, she immediately began to take down the intricate updo from their wedding. “I wanna walk you around the property before we head in fer the night.”
Jed nodded, shifting Lila against his hip as the little girl blinked sleepily. Her hands clutched at his vest, tugging impatiently with a stream of incoherent babbles.
“Try and keep her peaceful while I explain things,” Maeve added, her fingers quickly working to braid her hair in a loose fishtail.
Another nod, and Jed bent over to pluck a long strand of needle-and-thread grass. He briefly tickled Lila’s nose with it, and the toddler squealed, excitedly grabbing the plant and whipping it around in the air.
Briefly, Jed caught Maeve’s expression softening, lingering a moment longer on him than she perhaps meant for it to.
She then immediately turned on her heel, making short of work of freeing his stallion from the wagon before guiding the horse toward the barn by the reins.
“I appreciate you letting me use yer horse. Mine ain’t what she used to be, an’ I ain’t had the time to get a new one yet.”
Jed followed after, finding his neck already beginning to grow sore from nodding so much. He had never been very good with his words–that was Thomas’ specialty, after all–but it was quickly becoming apparent that remaining silent wasn’t going to work for this relationship in the long-term.
Once the stallion had been let into the pasture, Maeve walked the perimeter of the pasture’s fence with Jed, occasionally stopping to point out loose stakes or fraying wire.
“Sam’s been helping keep an eye on the worst of it, but we’re gonna need to replace the wires this year.
I ain’t going to keep on relying on his help all season, so it’ll be yer job to keep track of it. ”
Maeve’s gaze suddenly swiveled, and Jed followed it across the pasture, where a trio of bulls were getting a bit too rowdy for the late evening.
She stuck her fingers between her lips and whistled sharp enough to cause even Jed to flinch.
Lila let out a startled cry, dropping her grass stem to the ground.
Maeve’s eyes widened and she immediately moved to pick up and return the makeshift toy to Lila. “S-Sorry. I–I ain’t used to worrying about other folks being nearby.”
The two stared at each other for an awkward beat. Was he supposed to say something?
Whatever vulnerability Maeve had allowed quickly vanished as she started back down the hill.
“Property ends at that there row of pines and, fer the most part, the cattle know to stay in their pen. The boys’ll test yer patience, but a good whistle’ll straighten them out.
” Maeve paused, adding afterward, “That, or Mossy’ll do the trick. ”
“Mossy?”
Maeve gestured a hand back toward the bulls, who were currently being chased about by a much older-looking dairy cow.
Jed watched the ridiculous display, and Lila clapped her hands with an excitable giggle.
Thomas never let anyone name the cattle, so hearing one given such an affectionate nickname was a bit of a surprise.
“Some of the heifers tend to be awful picky ‘bout their spots,” Maeve continued, “so you gotta make sure they’re on opposite ends of the pasture. Oh, an’ the calves have a habit of findin’ plants they ain’t supposed to eat, so we gotta walk the fields every day an’ pull out the poisonous stuff.
I ain’t gotten the chance to put a supply list together, an’ I only got as far as weedin’ half the vegetable garden ‘round the back of the cabin. Seeds’ll still be up in the loft, ‘long wit’ the tools, though that hoe’s head keeps popping off. ”
There were so many details; Jed couldn’t help but stare at his new wife.
“Wh-what?”
She clearly didn’t like that.
“No, I just…” Jed shifted Lila against his hip, trying to find the right words to say. “That’s a lot fer one person to keep track of.”
She gave him a curious look, as if deciding if she’d just been insulted or admired. Jed had hoped he’d made it clear that it was meant to be the latter.
“Used to be two of us to keep track of things. Plus there were other ranch hands to help keep things going.”
Ranch hands. Right. Jed hadn’t seen any sign of other workers on the property. She’d mentioned earlier that Samuel came to help, but he obviously couldn’t work the long hours Maeve clearly needed.
“But after a while, there weren’t enough money to keep ‘em around. And the ones I could hire weren’t worth the spit in my mouth. Not much I could do about it, since all our money went toward Pa’s...”Maeve’s sentence trailed off, the blue in her eyes shifting to cold ice.
Jed shifted his weight as he stood, trying not to stare again. Thankfully, Lila broke the tension with another squeal, disrupting the frigid expression on Maeve’s face.
“Suppose we should head indoors,” she began.
“Li'l one’ll probably need a good washing before she can sleep.” Maeve paused, then added, “I’ll get you and her a bed squared away.
Ain’t right to keep you on the couch, what with you being my…
husband.” She spoke the word with such uncertainty, her expression scrunching as if tasting an unusual flavor.
“I didn’t mind the couch too much,” Jed started to say.
“No. You and Lila should have a bed to yourselves.”
Ah. There was the catch. Maeve seemed uninterested in sharing her bed with anyone, Lila included.
Jed quietly followed after his wife, Lila still waving her grass about with delight.
It was a strange feeling, stepping inside the cabin once more.
Only yesterday the place had belonged to a complete stranger.
Now he not only had a stake in its ownership, but that stranger carried his surname.
The two worked silently, Maeve producing a wash bucket for Jed to clean Lila up with.
Her ‘basket’ had come with a handful of dresses, though it was obvious she’d need more made sooner rather than later.
After rinsing her dark hair thoroughly, Jed carefully wrapped and dried the toddler, who had all but refused to release her hold on the grass.
“Got yerself a green thumb, huh?” Jed teased.
Lila replied with a smile and a gentle bat of the grass against Jed’s nose.
Now with Lila washed and dressed, Maeve led the pair toward the back of the cabin, where a narrow hallway held two doors on opposite sides. Maeve stood before the one on the left for an uncomfortable period of time, simply staring at its knob before finally twisting it open.
The interior was…pristine. Not that the cabin itself was messy, but it looked as if someone had meticulously kept up with sweeping and dusting this bedroom.
A few hunter’s trophies hung along the wall, mostly made up of mounted antlers, and shelf space was dedicated to a mixture of delicate-looking books and carved wooden knick-knacks.
Jed found himself lingering on what looked like a crudely carved cow’s skull, just big enough to fit in the palm of his hand.
“There’s the bed,” Maeve pointed out.
Jed followed where she was pointing, noting how it looked freshly made. Lila’s lilac knitted blanket had been folded neatly at the foot of the bed. It immediately caught the toddler’s attention, and she nearly fell out of Jed’s arms while attempting to grab at it.
“Reckon her Ma knitted it fer her?” Jed asked.
Maeve didn’t seem to be intent on sharing her thoughts.
Laying Lila on the blanket, Jed turned to fully face Maeve. “So…I’ll see you fer breakfast in the morning?”
Maeve nodded curtly. “Don’t think I’m letting you sleep in any. Work don’t stop fer weddings, or little ones.”
Finally, Jed felt as if the two of them could agree on something. “G’night, Maeve.”
She nodded again, albeit a bit more gently than before.
Though she remained standing in place, watching Lila cuddle her blanket with a curiously nostalgic look on her face.
Then, as if remembering what she was doing, Maeve nodded once again and turned to leave, closing the bedroom door without another word.