Chapter Four
There hadn’t been much in the way of rain in their particular corner of Colorado for weeks on end.
This meant that the pale dirt road would announce anyone coming down the road with a cloud of dust that hung in the air, lingering in the early summer heat.
It was nigh on impossible to approach the Walker ranch without being noticed.
It was on account of this simple fact that Cody was at first mildly interested, and then concerned, when a wagon, trailing a mighty cloud, came down the road from town.
As it approached the ranch, the driver began to pull the pair of horses up, calling to them as they approached the winding drive leading to the ranch house.
Cody was a firm believer in the Sabbath being a day of rest, and he took it seriously.
He was sitting on the old, worn chair on the porch, his boots propped up comfortably on a wooden crate, and his hands folded on his belly.
He had been contemplating the merits of a brief siesta on the porch before dinner, his hat pulled low over his eyes, when he’d caught a glimpse of the cloud that announced a traveler.
“Don’t turn in, don’t turn in,” he muttered.
When the wagon made the turn into the drive, Cody groaned and let his feet drop to the ground one at a time.
He didn’t imagine it would be trouble, as he recognized the blue and yellow paint on the wagon beneath the coating of dust. It was Tom Leery with the freight wagon from the train depot, though Cody couldn’t begin to understand what he was doing out here on a Sunday.
“Ruby,” Cody called into the house through the screen door. “Company comin’!”
Ruby appeared a moment later, nudging the screen door open with one elbow.
Cody glanced up at her briefly, then immediately looked again.
She’d swapped her blue and white checked day dress for the dress she wore on the occasions they went into town or made an appearance at the church.
It was a pink cotton with little blue flowers printed on it.
Her hair was tamed into two tight plaits tied with blue ribbons.
“What are you all dressed up for?” Cody inquired, immediately on edge.
Ruby ignored him, instead turning to yell into the house for her brother. “Logan! They’re here!”
Logan’s answer was feet stampeding down the stairs and out onto the porch, brushing past Ruby to lean against the porch railing eagerly.
“Who’s here?” Cody demanded and was promptly ignored.
“Now, hold still,” Ruby said, emerging out onto the porch and attempting to smooth Logan’s brown hair back from his forehead. She made a great show of straightening up the boy’s brown canvas jacket and checking his shirt collar. “We want to make sure we put our best foot forward.”
The wagon had by this point trundled down the drive and pulled up a few yards from the house.
From this perspective, Cody could now see that it wasn’t just Tom Leery in the driver’s box, but a passenger as well.
Not just any passenger, either—a woman. She wore a sensible traveling suit in dark brown and a small hat perched on her head.
“Ruby,” Cody said, his voice low, “who on Earth is that?”
“She’s going to live with us and be our new Ma,” Ruby announced matter-of-factly.
“She—what?” Cody asked, incredulity dawning on his face. “How—why?” was all that he managed.
“You did say that we could choose,” Ruby reminded him. “I suppose you’ll have to do,” she said to Logan, who was busy fidgeting. “Just stand up straight and remember your manners. We can’t have you scaring her off on her first day here.”
Cody rocked back on his heels, feeling like the world was spinning on by with him standing still.
Everything was converging on him at once: the unexpected arrival, Ruby’s announcement, the vulnerable eagerness on Logan’s face.
Ruby, too, had a look of nervous expectation.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen his children like that, their faces open and hopeful.
His immediate reaction was to bristle defensively. He reached out and caught Ruby by the elbow. “You can’t do this,” he hissed to her.
“I already did,” she answered back. “She’s here now.”
“She can leave,” Cody said, shooting a look at the wagon. Tom had climbed down and had offered a hand to the woman passenger, who was gingerly stepping down off the wagon.
“Just talk to her, Pa,” Logan said quietly. “She might be nice.”
Cody looked down at his son, who was looking back up at him cautiously, like a puppy that had gotten told off for loitering at the kitchen door.
There was a great deal of unspoken feelings on Logan’s face, which showed when he sent sparing glances up to Cody, his brown hair falling forward into his eyes again.
He’s never had the chance of a mother, Cody realized suddenly. What he viewed as an unwanted intrusion, his children viewed as an opportunity.
Cody shifted his attention back to Ruby, who was staring at him expectantly.
Out on the lawn, the stranger was standing safely on the grass, looking about with a hand to her forehead.
Tom was busy unloading a trunk, which he set on the grass at the woman’s feet.
Tom looked up at the porch, clearly uncomfortable from the fact that no one had come out to greet them yet.
The weight of expectations settled on Cody, pecking at him like a flock of hungry chickens. “Fine,” Cody said, throwing his hands up in exasperation. “I’ll meet her. But that’s all.”
Ruby inclined her head and, taking Logan’s hand, went down the porch steps. She greeted the woman, who answered her quietly. There was an exchange of head-bobs, half-aborted curtseys, and finally a clasping of fingers between them as they settled on a genteel handshake.
Warily, Cody followed after his children, eyeing the stranger the whole time. He wasn’t close enough to discern her features just yet; all he got was an impression of height. He was a tall man himself, and her head would have just scarcely fit under his chin.
He shook his head hard, trying to dislodge that thought. He reached the group by the wagon, shifting around and trying to get an understanding of how much she had brought with her. To his surprise, it seemed as if she had the lone trunk.
Well, that’s a point in her favor, he grudgingly allowed.
“I’m just so glad you’re here,” Ruby was saying, her hands clasped tightly together at her waist. “I—we—have been awaiting your arrival every so eagerly.”
“Have you?” the woman said. Cody’s head immediately snapped up at her voice. It was dark and husky, like velvet whisky. “I wasn’t entirely sure.” She turned and leveled a pointed gaze at Cody, who looked at her fully in the face for the first time.
Her face was finely sculpted, with every angle and curve exact.
Her hazel eyes were large and round and would have given her an innocent, doll-like look if there hadn’t been such watchful skepticism in them.
He couldn’t decide whether she was a beauty or not and furrowed his brow when he couldn’t make up his mind.
Why in tarnation would that matter? he demanded of himself angrily.
“Oh, don’t mind Pa,” Ruby said hurriedly. “He’s just… shy.”
“Shy,” the woman repeated. She turned an assessing gaze on Cody, sizing him up as much as he had done to her.
He resisted the urge to scowl, looking him over from head to toe.
“Well. I confess I had hoped for a warmer reception given the tenor of your letters, but I suppose that doesn’t matter in the end.
I’m here now. I’m pleased to finally meet you, Mr. Walker.
” She stuck her hand out like a man, her arm straight and her eyes staring right into his.
Cody stared back for a moment. He wasn’t used to a woman being so direct, though they were generally less concerned with airs and graces than those who came from back east. He automatically reached his hand out and took her hand, his fingers closing around her hand.
Automatically, he tried to moderate her grip to not be too firm, but she responded by grasping his hand firmly and shaking it twice before releasing him.
She arched one brow slightly, clearly expecting some sort of response. Cody cleared his throat and touched the brim of his hat. “Ma’am—miss,” he said. “Miss… ah…?”
Her expression turned quizzical then. “Miss Stone, if you recall, Mr. Walker. From the letters?”
“Letters.” Now it was his turn to repeat the single word, his mind racing. He turned a stony look onto his children, who were busy looking everywhere else but at him. “Logan. Ruby. What have you done?” he said, enunciating each word like the crack of a whip.