Chapter 4
He shouldn’t have mentioned Anthony to Gieselle last night. There was something about her that compelled him to share his soul. Understanding. Caring. Empathy. He saw it in her eyes. Those beautiful blue eyes that a man found it hard to look away from. It made him feel she could be trusted. He could take her into his confidence.
She was a woman easy on the eyes and easy on the mind, but he couldn’t develop feelings for her. Something made him believe she could be a heartbreaker, too.
Besides, Liddy had told him Gieselle was spoken for, hadn’t she? She had a fiancé waiting for her back in Louisiana. He had to keep that in mind. Once he’d stepped over the edge and let her under his skin, she could break his heart into a million pieces.
Not that she was like some beautiful women. There was an innocence about her that convinced him she’d never deliberately break a heart. Hooking the harness over the pegs in the tack room, he dusted his pants, and shook his head. He had to clear his mind of thoughts about Gieselle.
He couldn’t let a woman divert him from his mission.
A horse’s hoofbeats grabbed his attention, and he took long strides to reach the outside of the barn. Wally stood by the corral gazing at the horseman, Jerico Jones, the lawyer.
“You’d better come with me and listen in to this meeting,” Aaron told Wally. “Miss Liddy is going to need you to hire new cowhands under this new arrangement,”
As they walked toward the house, Wally said, “Just to let you know, Aaron, if you try to swindle Miss Liddy, I’ll make you pay for it.”
Aaron didn’t doubt he meant it. “I have no intentions of swindling anyone.” The foreman’s presence wasn’t really needed, but Aaron knew he was a burr under Wally’s saddle. He’d come in as a ranch worker himself under Wally’s orders. Now he was becoming a partner, he’d be Wally’s employer. He tried to reassure the man, ten years his senior, every chance he got that he wasn’t trying to muscle in on his authority.
“If you think say so,” Wally growled.
When they got to the house, Gieselle had already taken care of introducing herself to Mr. Jones. The lawyer sat on the sofa adjacent to Liddy’s bed. She was propped up in a sitting position.
The men shook hands, and Gieselle retreated to the kitchen, returning almost immediately, carrying a tray with the coffee pot, cups, and a stack of cookies. The men rose to their feet as she came in. “Please, sit, gentlemen. I made some sugar cookies this morning.” She set the tray on the coffee table.
Her glance fell on Aaron. He was gut-punched again by her beauty. Those eyes. That smile. She poured the coffee. “I’ll let everyone serve yourselves the cookies. Aunt Liddy and I have already sampled them, so these are all yours. And Wally, I’ll get up in time to cook breakfast in the morning. You men have enough chores to do outside. My parents are firm believers in the division of labor between men and women—outside chores for males, inside chores for the females.”
“She hasn’t been here long enough to know, we all have to pitch in on the ranch,” Liddy said. “We ladies have to milk the cows, feed the chickens, collect the eggs, even slop the hogs. All that’s outside.”
“Not to mention nailing on new shingles,” Wally said with a wink at Liddy.
Liddy laughed. “Well, we won’t talk about that. I’m sure everyone in Rattlesnake Ridge knows how foolish I’ve been.”
“Not foolish at all,” Mr. Jones said. “It just shames us to think we didn’t see to your needs before you had to call on your niece to come all the way from New Orleans.”
Gieselle sat on the side of Liddy’s bed and Aaron couldn’t keep his gaze from sliding to her. “You should’ve gotten me or Wally to light the stove, Gieselle.”
“It was already hot from breakfast. I just had to add wood and there was plenty of that in the box.”
“If I know my sister, Gieselle didn’t grow up pampered.” Liddy patted her niece’s shoulder. “She learned to cook and run a household, and Gieselle always loved cooking.” She shifted positions. “Do you remember that toy stove you had as a little thing, with the doll-sized pots and pans?”
“Oh, I loved cooking on that little stove. But I think it was when you got married and moved away, I demanded to help Maydell cook on the big stove.”
Gieselle turned to Mr. Jones and drew him into the conversation. She easily moved from childhood memories to favorite dishes. She would sure make some man a wonderful wife with her domestic skills. Not to mention, she’d be a good hostess.
He had to stop thinking about how talented Gieselle was—what a good wife she’d be. She belonged to someone else.
Besides, he couldn’t let a woman muddle his mind. Miss Liddy’s ranch depended on it. “Do you have all the documents in order, Jericho?” Aaron asked as Gieselle gathered their empty cups.
Jericho nodded, reaching for his briefcase. He handed Aaron two sheets of paper. “Nothing is required except the contract, which will become binding upon yours and Mrs. Ames’s signatures.” He thumbed through the remaining paper in the case and brought out a map, a sheet of inventory, and several other details defining the ranch in its current state.
Aaron passed the contract over to Liddy, who donned her spectacles and used a large book to provide a firm surface for her to sign the papers. She perused the contract for a few seconds before peering over her spectacles at Jericho. “My head is in a muddle, Mr. Jones, but I trust you. If this is like Aaron told me—a sixty-forty partnership split; that he’ll put the money up front to bring in two thousand head of Angus steers and hire five new men, investing up to two thousand dollars—I’m satisfied. Hand me the ink pot, Gieselle.”
Gieselle hiked her chin and gaped at Aaron with suspicious eyes before peering at Liddy. “Aunt Liddy, you can’t sign anything without reading it all.” She took the papers and perused the contract for a long minute. He very much doubted she knew much about business or what the legalese she was reading meant. For that matter, what did Liddy know? He knew the older woman had enough confidence in Jericho to sign the document. On the other hand, Gieselle had no such confidence. He would win her over later.
In the corner, propped against the wall, Wally watched with guarded eyes.
Finally, Gieselle looked up with a sharp blue gaze at Aaron. “Mister….Aaron…”
Ha, she’d forgotten his surname. “Yes, Miss Dubois?”
She shot daggers at him. “Are you sure you’re agreeable to these terms? If I’m not mistaken, as this contract is written, as soon as you bring in the two thousand head of cattle and invest another two thousand dollars to repair the ranch and hire men, Aunt Liddy could sell out and all you’d get would be forty percent of your investment.”
Nothing would get past her. She was smart. “You have it right. Anytime one invests in anything risky, it’s a given one could lose money. But I believe Miss Liddy and I have come to a meeting of the minds and we both have the same goals, namely, that the Circle A will become one of the biggest ranches in the west.”
That disarming smile she wore so easily spread across her pretty mouth. She placed the paper on Liddy’s book and handed her the ink pot. As soon as Liddy signed all three copies of the contract, which Aaron had already signed, he stepped forward with hand outstretched to shake her hand, calloused from the physical labor she’d endured before her accident. A hand he hoped would now grow soft again as others took up the heavy lifting for her.
Jericho got to his feet and retrieved his copies of the signed contract. “Congratulations to both of you and may you have a long and prosperous partnership.” He stuffed the papers in his briefcase. “I’d better head back to town now.”
“Won’t you stay for supper, Mr. Jones?” Liddy asked.
Gieselle got up and smoothed her skirt. “If I can persuade Wally to kill and clean a chicken, I’ll make my mother’s recipe for chicken and dumplings.”
“I appreciate the invitation, but if I’m not home by supper, I’ll hear about it.” Jericho laughed. “For days.”
“I’ll see you out,” Aaron said, hoping that Wally would bring Gieselle a chicken, cleaned and dressed, regardless of whether the lawyer stayed or not. He’d love to have Louisiana style chicken and dumplings, especially if Gieselle prepared it.
As the two men crossed the room, Jericho stopped and turned. “Oh, I almost forgot, Mrs. Ames. Dr. Wright asked me to tell you she found a wheelchair and will bring it when she comes to change your cast on Thursday.”
Liddy clasped her hands to her heart. “Praise the Lord. I’ve been praying so hard she’d find a chair. Please pass on my thanks to her. Oh, to get out of this bed will be heaven, and now my sweet niece can roll me around. To the kitchen. To the washroom. Maybe even outside.”
Gieselle leaned over to kiss her aunt on the head. “I guarantee it.”
Aaron caught the sparkle of tears in both ladies’ eyes. He wished he’d thought to get Liddy a wheelchair before now, but he could still help some. “I’ll be bringing the wagon to town tomorrow. Tell Dr. Wright I can bring the wheelchair back with me. That way, if she wants to ride horseback, she can.” The doctor had ridden on her horse the last time she came to see Liddy.
He followed Jericho to his horse, and spied Wally making his way to the barn. After the lawyer rode off, he decided to have a talk with Wally. Now he was a part owner of the Circle A, plans could be set in motion to restore the ranch.
“Hey, Wally, do you have time to talk?”
Standing at the first stall, the foreman turned on his heel. “My time is your time.” His tone was as sour as a fresh picked lemon.
“Wally, I need…Miss Liddy needs your help to make this ranch what it should be. I know I haven’t been forthcoming with you, but I couldn’t until now.” Truth was he couldn’t be totally forthcoming now, not until he knew he could trust Wally.
Wally pushed his hat back on his graying head and dipped his chin.
“I’m going to pick up the lumber and supplies to repair the bunkhouse tomorrow. How long do you suppose it’ll take us to get that job done?”
“A week at most if we work on it steady.”
“Good. I want to get it ready as soon as we can. Tomorrow while I’m gone, I’d like for you to go over to the Wright ranch and talk to Mr. Wright about hiring a couple of his seasoned cowhands. I mentioned it to him at church last Sunday and he said he could spare that many. The Angus herd is coming in two weeks’ time and we’ll have to have help getting the pasture fences repaired.”
“Going to need more than two to run two thousand head,” Wally said.
“Just five hundred are coming in the first shipment, well, five hundred cows and two bulls. I want a lot of those heifers bred so they drop the calves next spring, if possible.” Aaron shoved his hands in his pockets and chose his words carefully. “I admit I don’t know much about breeding cattle, so I’ll need to rely on you a lot. In fact, I’d like you to take over most of the ranch management and leave me to the business end of things.”
Wally rubbed the back of his neck. “All right. There are some men still in town who used to work here on the Circle A. I might be able to hire them back on.” Aaron could detect a crack in the wall Wally had build up between them, which was good since he had to take the man into his confidence.
“I know the ones you’re thinking of—the Coley cousins. I don’t want them back on the ranch. Other than the men from the Wright ranch, I’d rather go outside this area to find new men.” Aaron hung his head and stared at a line of ants crawling on the ground. “Look, Wally, I specifically don’t want to hire the Coley cousins. I know they’re the ones who used to work for the Circle A, but they were also the ones driving Miss Liddy’s cattle to market and lost the whole herd.”
“Wasn’t their fault. There was a stampede and a landslide. A freakish thing, I’ll admit, but I went to check on that landslide and it was huge, big enough to bury seven hundred and fifty beeves, as impossible as that might sound if you didn’t see it.”
“I have seen it and I don’t believe their story. I didn’t find hide or hair of any cattle. When we get the new men hired, I want to go down there and investigate. If I don’t find cattle carcasses, I’m charging them with rustling.”
Wally squinted into the sun. “The sheriff in town investigated and said their story checked out, but if you find out something different, he’ll listen.” He pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes. “You think you might be able to find those cows after all this time?”
“Probably not. They’ve probably been long since sold to buyers who don’t look too carefully into ownership. But if they’re guilty of stealing from a widow, they should pay, don’t you think?”
“I surely do. Miss Liddy trusted me to run this ranch and if I hired on crooks…” He shook his head.
Aaron slapped Wally on the back. “You couldn’t have known. Don’t blame yourself.” He turned on his heel and strode back to the house. He’d withheld from Wally the real reason he had come to Rattlesnake Ridge, the real reason he didn’t want any of the Coley cousins working on the Circle A ranch.
One of them had murdered his brother, and he was determined to find out which one.