Chapter Three #2
“My brothers’ll be back soon,” he explained.
“They’ll want to meet you. Luke got the baby the milk, and then they had to go back out and finish the work I couldn’t do today because I found you.
I have a ranch hand, too—Hank Calloway. Older fella.
He may stop by the house later. He usually keeps to himself with the ranch work—unless it’s his turn to cook. So you may not see much of him.”
Josie tensed. More men. That was the last thing she wanted.
Mr. Montgomery must have caught her reaction because he added, “They won’t bother you about anything you don’t wanna share.”
She looked up at him, her eyes narrowing as she studied his face. Do I believe him? Or not?
She didn’t want to. But… there was something in the way he held himself, the way he spoke—steady, sure, not quite as forceful as she’d expected.
He was kind, giving her a bed, saving her from her fall, feeding Samuel and then her. But his demeanor wasn’t kind at all. It was standoffish. Distant.
She had no idea what to make of him, and that was perhaps the most unsettling thing about him.
***
Supper was loud.
Josie couldn’t believe it, but she was hungry again, even though it had only been a couple of hours after her late dinner.
Yet the moment she stepped out of the bedroom in search of food, it was like she had walked right into a tornado.
Three large men were in the kitchen, talking over each other loudly as they prepared the meal.
Cash was there, and two others she didn’t recognize.
It was the oddest sight she had ever seen. They were all over the place. Noisy. Clanking dishes. Yelling at one another.
It was too much. Overwhelming.
Josie stood against the door, clutching her chest, her eyes wide, when suddenly, Cash caught sight of her, and his mouth snapped shut. That got the others’ attention, and they all turned around to look at her. The room went silent.
Even though Cash Montgomery hadn’t introduced the other two men to her, she would have known at once that they were his brothers.
They all had the same strong features, same broad shoulders, same holes in their pants—which annoyed her.
Did these men not know how to darn their own pants?
Not even a woman around between the three of them to do it for them?
Cash Montgomery nodded at her once. “Supper is ready,” he said, gesturing for her to sit. Then he turned back around to grab plateware.
Josie hesitated for a moment.
“Any chair is fine,” he added without turning around. “Hank’s around the ranch, but he’s out tonight.”
Josie nodded, politely, still trying to process it all. The other two brought dishes of food to the table and took their seats, but they continued to stare at her, silence enveloping the entire room.
The first to speak was one of the boys. He looked a bit younger than Cash, with a touch of a baby-face and a mischievous gleam in his eye. “Well now,” he drawled, flashing a grin, “ain’t every day Cash brings home a lady.”
Josie stiffened, and she noticed that Cash did, too.
The other brother, clearly the eldest brother of the three, shot the younger one a look. “None a’ that,” he warned. His was also an unmistakable drawl.
But Cash Montgomery wasn’t talking. He turned around slowly, standing behind a chair at the head of the table. He caught her eyes and nodded to her again, gently pulling out the chair, sliding it across the floor with a quiet scrape.
He was pulling it out for her.
She smiled uncertainly, fighting the urge to run away.
“That’s Luke,” he said, pointing to the youngest of the three. “And that’s Beau.”
Josie nodded. “Pleasure.”
The younger boy, Luke, leaned forward. “So, Miss—”
Cash cut him off. “Let her eat.”
Josie tucked her dress beneath her as she sat, casting him a grateful glance over her shoulder. At least his actions seemed considerate, if not his attitude.
Was she safe? Was Samuel?
Maybe for now…
***
After supper, Cash Montgomery led her back to the small bedroom where she had first woken. The moment she stepped inside, she went straight to the drawer where Samuel still slept.
“You can stay a couple more days,” Mr. Montgomery said quietly. Samuel began to stir, soft cries leaving his lips as he squirmed in the too-small dresser drawer, and Mr. Mongomery went on in a distinct grumble. “I can get a wet nurse to come by and—”
“We’ll leave soon,” Josie interrupted, scooping Samuel into her arms and holding him close.
She didn’t know what else to say. She needed time. Time to figure out where to go. How to keep Samuel safe. For now, this would do. But she refused to be anyone’s burden.
And by the looks of Cash Montgomery’s face when Samuel had begun fussing, he sure seemed burdened.
She looked up at the man who had saved her life, and was caught momentarily in the striking blue of his eyes. “Thank you,” she murmured.
She almost meant it. Just like he almost seemed to be a kindhearted man.
He nodded. “Get some rest.”
“My name is Josie Tate,” she whispered despite herself.
That was enough information for now, for a man who had found her and helped her, at least this much.
He nodded, indifferently, before stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking out. She followed him to the door, flashing a polite half-smile that he wouldn’t see, before shutting the door behind him. She wasn’t sure what to make of him, but at least this place seemed alright.
She went to sit on the edge of the bed, pressing a soft kiss to Samuel’s curls, whispering the same promise she had made before. “I’ll keep you safe, little one. No matter what.”
And for the first time in weeks, she believed it.