Chapter Fifteen
“Cooper!”
Travis looked up. Mrs. Mason was walking toward him, holding a letter up in the air. He vaulted down from the pile of hay bales he’d been stacking, almost falling over as he tried to get his balance. The cook laughed.
“You’re like a baby deer getting its legs for the first time.”
“You try clambering over hay bales several feet up in the air.”
“No, thank you. I prefer being on firmer ground.” Mrs. Mason held out the letter. “This just came for you. I thought you might want it.”
“For me?”
“What’s going on down there?” Connor shouted from the top of the pile, sticking his head over the side. “I thought you were meant to be working, Travis. I can’t do this on my own.”
“I’ll be right up again,” Travis called back. “One moment.”
The foreman disappeared from sight. Mrs. Mason placed the letter in Travis’s hand.
“You’d better read it. You don’t want to keep the lady waiting.”
“What?” Travis started. “What do you mean by that? Lady?”
“You can tell by the handwriting. It’s obvious that you have a woman writing to you.” The cook raised her eyebrows. “Seems like she’s pretty close if she’s writing to you.”
He looked at the envelope and recognized Peggy’s handwriting.
Now, Mrs. Mason believed there was something going on.
Did that mean Anna was aware of it? She’d been rather short with him over the last few days, backing away from the truce they’d built between them, and Travis didn’t know what to think anymore.
Had she looked through his letters with Peggy and assumed something else?
It was the reason Travis had started locking the desk after discovering the secret compartment and its key.
He didn’t want Anna to snoop and think that something was happening when it wasn’t.
Maybe that made him more suspicious, but Travis didn’t care. His letters to his cousin, as far as he was concerned, were private unless he chose to share them.
“It’s a relative of mine,” he said, doing his best to keep it vague. “The only blood relative that I know of.”
“I see.” From the look on her face, Mrs. Mason didn’t quite believe him. “Well, whoever it is, I hope it’s not going to jeopardize your marriage.”
“What? No, of course not!”
“Because if Anna gets hurt, it won’t be her anger you’ll have to deal with.” Mrs. Mason turned away. “You’re becoming a part of us, Travis, but we all care about Anna. She’ll always be put first.”
Travis wondered if that was a warning or a threat. But he could see why; Mrs. Mason was very fond of Anna, almost like she was her daughter. She felt the need to protect her. Travis could understand that.
As Mrs. Mason walked away, Travis ripped open the letter and quickly scanned it.
Peggy was relieved that he’d managed to settle in and things were beginning to improve, but she was also very worried about him.
She was concerned that he would get into serious trouble.
Despite Travis saying he was feeling better about himself since arriving, his cousin was still fretting.
He could imagine her pacing back and forth in her home, wringing her hands and trying to calm her nerves.
There was also a poignant paragraph at the bottom, right before she sighed.
She planned to come and visit him. Travis’s heart began to beat faster.
Was Peggy planning to come and stay with here?
How was he going to explain that to Anna?
Having family members come to visit wasn’t uncommon, but how would Anna feel about it?
She seemed intent on snapping at him rather than listening.
If only she would talk to him, but she just wouldn’t unless it was to snap at him and give orders. Even Connor was starting to feel sorry for him.
“Come on, Cooper!” Connor shouted. “How long does it take to read a letter?”
“Sorry!” Travis stuffed the letter back into the envelope and then into the back pocket of his trousers. “Coming back up!”
He carefully clambered up the bales to join the foreman at the top. Connor raised his eyebrows.
“A letter from your lady friend?”
“What?” Travis shook his head.
“I heard what you said to Mrs. Mason.”
Travis sighed.
“Why is it whenever someone has a female relative, it’s automatically assumed that it’s a cover-up for a lady friend? That’s not the case!”
“If you say so.”
“I do,” Travis snapped. He swallowed back his annoyance; nothing was going to get done if he started arguing with Connor.
“Peggy’s the daughter of my mother’s sister.
My aunt and uncle moved to California five years ago after Peggy refused a match of their choosing, and they cut contact.
Peggy’s the only one I have in my family now. ”
“I see.” Connor started to tie another bale of hay together. “And you’re close, I take it?”
“Yes. She wants to come and visit me, just to make sure I’m safe and doing well.” Travis couldn’t help but smile. “She’s two years younger than me, but she behaves like she’s the mother hen.”
Connor frowned.
“That sounds about right with women. They like to mother people.”
“Including Anna?”
“Not so much her. She’s never given me that impression.” Connor frowned. “But do you think she’s going to be all right with you having your cousin in the house? She’s been in a bad mood lately, so her answer could go either way depending on which mood you catch her in.”
Travis sighed.
“I have to try. There’s not much else I can do. Unless Peggy stays in town somewhere, but even then…”
“You think Anna might object?”
“I have no reason to lie to her, Connor. I’ve been honest with what I’ve told her.”
“With what you’ve told her,” Connor repeated. “Which means that you haven’t told her everything.”
Travis stared at him. How had he come to that conclusion? Before he could respond, the familiar voice of Edwin floated up to them.
“Connor, what are you doing? Where are you?”
Connor cleared his throat and shifted onto his knees.
“Great,” he muttered. “Now I have to deal with him.” Raising his voice, he shouted, “What do you want, Edwin? I’m busy.”
“Things are going very slowly around here. Is it because of the heat, or is nobody doing their job?”
Connor rolled his eyes. Travis felt the same sentiment.
He’d been on the ranch long enough to see Edwin try to throw his weight around to show that he was related to Anna.
Maybe he thought he could get people to listen to him more, even though his inheritance had been taken away?
Travis wasn’t sure, but the man was just irritating.
“Things are fine. Everyone’s doing what they need to do.” Connor shuffled to the edge of the bales and began to climb down. “I don’t see why you feel the need to come over and make sure we’re doing it. We can work perfectly fine without your input.”
Edwin scowled and folded his arms. “I’m just trying to make sure no mistakes are made. And that can happen in hot weather, cold weather…”
“Any sort of weather,” Connor finished. He straightened up, showing his great height as he almost towered over Edwin. “As long as you’re a hard worker, the weather doesn’t matter. It’s just ridiculous to assume that we’re going to be slacking until you come along to crack your whip.”
“That…”
“You’re not our boss, Edwin. You’re one of my workers, which means you work for me. Don’t try to order me around; otherwise, you’re going to find yourself mucking out the pigs and horses for the next month, maybe longer, depending on how much you push it.”
Edwin’s eyes widened. Travis had to fight back a laugh at the sight. It was amusing to see Edwin being dressed down. Then Edwin’s eyes narrowed.
“Why do you think you can tell me what to do?” he demanded. “You’re just the foreman, not a member of the family. What would Anna say if she knew you were speaking to me like this?”
“She would probably tell you to get back to work.”
“While you’re balancing on top of a pile of hay, messing around? I’m sure that’s going to go down well when she finds out which one of us isn’t doing their job?”
Travis wondered if Edwin had been drinking again. He sounded coherent, but that could mean anything. Travis started to climb down.
“Things are in order here, Edwin,” Travis said easily, dropping down beside Connor. “You don’t have to worry about anything. Connor’s got it under control.”
Edwin sniffed. “Connor having everything under control? That’s a novelty.”
“He’s definitely better than others I’ve worked under. And I’m sure Anna is more than happy with him, or he wouldn’t be the foreman.” Travis tilted his head to one side. “If you have a problem with Connor, you’d better speak to Anna.”
Blotches were coming up on Edwin’s cheeks. He sneered at the two of them before he turned and stalked away. Connor sighed.
“I don’t know why he keeps doing this. It’s like he’s completely ignored the fact he’s not taking over.” He wiped a hand over his sweaty face. “Thank goodness he isn’t. I wouldn’t want someone like him to be in charge.”
“Neither would I.” Travis frowned. “Do you think he’s going to try and undermine you further?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s up to something, I know that much. I just wish I knew what it was.”
“I’m sure he’ll get bored and leave us be. He’ll likely see he’s not getting anywhere and move on.”
“You’ve got more faith in that than I do,” Connor grunted. Then he turned away. “You go and get the horses to have some exercise in the paddock. I’ll finish off here.”
“Are you sure?”
“We’re practically done, and the horses need to go out to stretch their legs. One needed to be tamed as well, and I want to see how you get on with that.”
Travis blinked.
“What? You want me to tame a horse?”
Connor grinned.
“You want to learn to be a cowboy? You’ve got to do what we do. Even if it cracks your skull open.”
Travis wasn’t sure if that was a joke or not, but he wasn’t about to ask. The fact that Connor had been a little lighter and more good-humored with him lately meant the foreman was slowly beginning to trust him. He wasn’t about to break that.
Although it still didn’t solve the current problem he had regarding Peggy. How was Anna going to take it when she was in her current bad mood? And how could he get Peggy to understand that she didn’t need to be so worried about him?