Chapter Six
Rachel did not appear at dinner.
Adam held the meal as long as he could, but Mason clamored for his food, and eventually Adam decided it wasn’t fair to keep everyone waiting. “All right,” he said. “Let’s eat, then.”
He sat at the head of the table, with Mason to his right and Ruth to his left.
Though most of the ranch hands ate in their lodge on the far side of the property, Ruth was like family to him, and she always dined with them at the house.
He had thought to extend the same treatment to Rachel, but maybe she wasn’t interested in that.
Well, that was fine. If she wanted to eat on her own, she had every right to do so.
“Who did you say this woman was?” Ruth asked, helping herself to a scoop of the casserole.
She was a robust woman, taller than most, and stocky.
She wore her coarse black hair in a thick braid that hung over one shoulder—Adam had never seen her without it—and even though she washed up well before meals, there was always a bit of dirt to be found somewhere on her face. Adam was deeply fond of her.
“Her name is Rachel Foster,” he explained. “She’s the stepdaughter of Nathan Foster. You know who he is.”
“By reputation,” Ruth said. She picked up her glass of water, swirled it, and knocked back a long swig. Mason watched her, then picked up his own glass and imitated what she’d done.
It didn’t bother Adam to see his young ward behaving like a cowboy, but he did wonder if Mason had any idea how to conduct himself in gentle company.
What would he do if he ever wanted to get married?
What if he wanted to impress a woman someday?
He needed someone like Rachel to show him the softer side of life.
Adam felt a renewed sense of satisfaction in his choice to bring her home.
Ruth put down her glass. “You don’t want to get tangled with the likes of Nathan Foster, Adam.”
Adam snorted. “Nathan Foster wishes I was afraid of him,” he said. “That man couldn’t frighten a nanny goat. He’s all bluster and no action. I’ll bet Chestnut that we never see a trace of him around here.”
“I don’t know,” Ruth said. “If you offended him by taking the girl…”
“And what makes you think I offended him?”
“Because I know you,” Ruth said simply. She smiled at him.
“I know what you’re like, Adam. You see someone in a bad way, and you can’t help but take them in.
That’s how the boy ended up with us, yes?
” She nodded to Mason, who was in the process of dismantling his casserole, moving each ingredient to a separate, segregated place on the plate.
“You saw that his father was treating him badly and you had to step in.”
“Are you saying I was wrong to do that?” Adam asked. “After all, we could say the same thing about you. If you hadn’t been on the run from an arranged marriage, you’d never have ended up here. And my father took you in, and when he died…”
“When he died, you made me the head of the ranch,” Ruth agreed. “I’m not saying you’re wrong for it at all, Adam. Of course I never could. I’m just saying there’s a pattern here. You see someone in need, and you reach out.”
“It’s what my father did,” Adam said gruffly, spearing a piece of meat harder than he needed to with his fork. The tines scraped against the plate. “It’s what he taught me. The best way to keep his legacy alive.”
“And it’s a wonderful legacy, and you’re right to be proud of it,” Ruth said.
“But what it tells me is that you must have seen that this woman was in a tough situation. I think maybe Nathan Foster was making her life hard, and if that’s true, he wouldn’t have welcomed your intervention in her life.
He’s probably annoyed with you for taking her away. Do I have any of that right?”
Adam glowered at his plate. “I don’t know why I keep you around. You see too much.”
“That is why you keep her around,” Mason spoke up, looking up from the food he had been dissecting. “You like that about her, Adam.”
“He’s right,” Ruth said. “I see right to the heart of things, and you know how valuable that is on a ranch. And it’s valuable with this woman too, whoever she is—whatever situation she’s coming out of.
But I wish you’d tell me what it is, so I’ll be better able to help her settle into things here.
What happened? What made you decide to take her in? ”
“All I did was offer her a job.” Adam took a long drink of his water, using the time to compose his thoughts, because in truth he knew that Ruth was on the right track with all this.
“I saw her at the Spring Fair,” he said at last. “There was something about her that caught my eye. She wasn’t really joining in on things.
She was lingering at the edge of the dance floor, watching everything happen around her. ”
“And then she spilled her lemonade,” Mason spoke up.
Adam shot a glance at the boy. “That’s not what happened,” he corrected him. “Someone else spilled lemonade on her.”
“Well, that isn’t funny, Mason,” Ruth said sternly, but the corners of her mouth twitched. “It sounds like the poor thing was embarrassed by a bully. I’m glad we won’t have to deal with her.”
“That’s just it, though,” Adam said. “I think I might have to. You see, I’ve offered her the job teaching at the school.”
Mason’s head jerked up. “That lemonade-dumping woman is going to be my teacher?”
Suddenly, he didn’t seem to think the incident was funny at all anymore. Adam suspected that he had realized all along how cruel it had been. He had simply had trouble putting himself in Rachel’s shoes. But he wasn’t having that problem now. He was half out of his chair in indignation.
Ruth sat back, frowning. She took the napkin out of her lap and tossed it on the table, indicating that she was done with her meal, but she made no move to get to her feet. “If this woman is a bully, why would you have offered her the job?” she asked.
Discomfort knotted Adam’s stomach. “We need a teacher,” he said.
“And we don’t have a lot of time to shop around.
I want someone in that classroom by next Monday.
She was willing to take the job. In my defense, I didn’t know it was her until I got to the Fosters’ house.
I had no idea I would be seeing the two women who had been involved in that incident. ”
“I see, so none of your conversation with these people happened at the fair?”
“No, I went to the Fosters’ house after the fair—after I had brought Mason back home.” Adam stood up and began to clear the table. “Eat that if you’re going to, Mason. We’re not going to sit at the table all night while you play with your food.”
“I’m not playing,” Mason said, not making a move to take another bite. “You haven’t explained why you hired a mean woman to be my teacher. Why didn’t you ask the other one to be the teacher? The nice one? The one you brought back here?”
“Because she isn’t a teacher,” Adam explained.
He worked the pump handle and began to load dishes into the sink.
“She can’t be the schoolteacher just because she’s nice.
Jennifer Foster has been to teachers’ college.
She knows how to do the job. And besides, we don’t really know what she’s like.
Perhaps she spilled the lemonade accidentally. ”
“But you don’t think so.” Ruth was watching him closely. “You saw what happened, and you think it was deliberate.”
“I do,” Adam admitted. He held out a hand for her plate and she gave it to him.
“Then you can’t allow her to be in charge of the children,” Ruth said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“No, it isn’t,” Adam countered. “What if what I saw was just the result of some rivalry with her sister? Animosity between the two of them doesn’t tell me anything about how she’s going to treat anyone else.”
“Of course it does,” Ruth said. She rose from her chair, moved past him, and began to scrub one of the plates.
“Ruth, don’t do that,” Adam objected. “This is my house. You don’t clean up here. You work all day on the ranch, but at dinner, you’re my guest. Sit down.”
Ruth shook her head. “Are we going to go on having the same argument every night, Adam?”
“Until you listen to me.” He held out a hand for the plate.
She didn’t give it to him. “You’ve been nothing but good to me all my life,” she said. “And so has your father. I owe your family everything. I’m not going to sit at your table and be waited on. I’m going to contribute while I’m here. You’ll allow me that dignity.”
He couldn’t argue. She won every time with lines like that.
“And,” she went on, “Mason could learn a thing or two about showing gratitude.” She glanced over her shoulder at the boy. “You need to stop arguing when you’re asked to pitch in around here, young man, and start helping out.”
Mason grumbled and began to shovel food into his mouth.
Ruth turned her attention back to Adam. “You know this teacher you’ve taken on is going to be a bully because if that’s the way she treats her sister when she’s angry at her, there’s no reason to suspect she would be any different with anyone else,” she explained.
“What happens if she gets angry at one of the students?”
“I had the same thought,” Adam admitted.
“But what can I do? We really do need a teacher, and I’ve already offered her the position.
Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, but she was there, and I needed someone to do it…
it seemed like the answer to all the problems I had.
And now I don’t know what to do. I’m not sure she’s going to be a good teacher after all, and I want the students to have the best. But what can I do? ”
“There’s a town meeting next week, isn’t there?” Ruth asked.
“Yes. At two o’clock on Tuesday.”
“Why don’t you share your concerns?” she suggested. “Let them know what you’re worried about, and let the other committee members make a decision.”
“I don’t know. This job was given to me,” he murmured. “How can I go back and say that I wasn’t able to complete it?”
“It’s all right to ask for help,” Ruth told him.
“You’ve never learned that. You can ask people to help you with things.
You’re in a bind with this. Let them know.
Maybe someone will be able to give you some good advice.
Maybe they’ll take the decision off your hands.
Either way, you have to admit that honesty is always the best policy. ”
That was another thing Adam loved about Ruth. Her commitment to honesty was something he found deeply refreshing. “You’re right, as usual,” he said. “I’ll bring it up at the meeting. Maybe everyone will tell me that I’m overreacting, and I can stop worrying about it.”
“I don’t think you’re overreacting.” Mason had finished his meal, and for a wonder, he was bringing his own plate to the sink without having been asked to do so. “I think you’re right. You should get rid of her. Don’t let her into the school.”
“And this has nothing to do with you wanting more time out of class while I hunt for a new teacher, I suppose?” Adam shook his head.
“We’re going to sort this out quickly, Mason, one way or another, so get used to that idea.
” He took the dishes from the boy. “No more chores tonight. Run off and play before bed, if you’d like. ”
Looking as though he couldn’t quite believe his good fortune, Mason took off toward the back of the house.
Adam turned back to Ruth. “I don’t know how long Rachel is going to be with us,” he said.
“She made it pretty clear that she didn’t think she would stay permanently.
I think she was reluctant to accept my help at all, truth be told.
But as long as she’s here, can I count on you to make her feel at home? ”
“Of course,” Ruth said. She finished washing Mason’s plate and handed it to Adam, and he began to dry. “You don’t even have to ask. I consider it a part of my responsibility as your ranch head. I look after every newcomer. And I imagine she’ll be sharing my quarters.”
“Yes. I left her in there a little while ago,” Adam said. “I got the sense she wanted to be alone. She could hardly look at me, really. But you’ll help her settle in tonight? Get her some things for her bed and show her the ropes?”
“Yes,” Ruth said. “In fact, I’ll get over there right now.
The poor thing must be completely at loose ends.
” She shook her head. “You really should have come and found me right away, you know, and not waited to tell me at dinner what was going on.” She gave Adam a fond but exasperated smile, picked up the portion of tonight’s dinner they had set aside for Rachel, then turned and left.
Adam stood at the kitchen window, watching her jog across the yard and toward the staff house where Rachel would be waiting for her.
I’m sure she’ll settle in soon enough. Mason had a difficult time when he first got here, too, but I know that he feels at home now. It will be the same way for Rachel. As soon as she adjusts to this place, she’ll let her guard down, and then things will be easier on all of us.
He let out a sigh and leaned against the counter, hoping it was true.