Chapter 22
“A?re you still here?” Wade came into the house, and his mood dropped so low, he’d need to get a shovel and dig for it. And he’d been cheerful a second ago. The roundup was finally done.
“You said I could stay and get to know my sister.” Tom smiled, as contented and lazy as a housecat. The lug was sprawled in one of the kitchen chairs watching Abby and Gertie get supper.
“Did you get done, Wade?” Gertie tapped a heavy metal spoon against a pot bubbling on the massive black stove that took up an entire corner of the kitchen.
Shaking his head, Tom said, “I can’t believe you’re just now done?—”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, done with roundup, I know!” Wade jerked his gloves off and tossed them onto the floor.
Vermin could have moved into the house and been better company than Tom Linscott.
Wade hung up his hat and turned back to the room as Pa rolled his chair into the room.
The old grouch was getting around pretty well in the contraption.
“You about done with the roundup, Wade? I can’t believe you’re still?—”
“We’re done, Pa.” Wade cut him off and slid his eyes between his father and the king-sized rodent who had moved in. “I haven’t been nagged like this since you tried to teach me how to rope a maverick calf.”
“You were hard to teach roping?” Tom rolled his eyes heavenward. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“I was five years old at the time. And Pa’s idea of teaching was mainly yelling his head off and swinging the back of his hand. Roping lessons aren’t exactly my favorite childhood memory.”
Tom looked sideways at Pa with contempt. Wade’s mood further deteriorated. A stubborn, short-tempered grouch like Tom Linscott knew better how to raise a child than Wade’s pa. Didn’t that just beat all?
“Supper’s ready.” Abby brought a stack of plates to Gertie, who began scooping beef stew, thick with potatoes and carrots and onions.
Working all this time had left Wade thin and hungry and cranky. Right now, that stew smelled so good, it was all he could do not to dive headfirst into the boiling pot.
He washed up quickly at the kitchen sink, and his heart warmed when Abby brought his plate first. By rights, she should have served Pa first, then Tom because he was company.
Abby wasn’t too interested in polite ways, and anyway, it was fitting he got the first plate.
He was the only man at this table who’d worked a hard day.
“Abby and I are done with your pa’s ramp now,” Tom announced.
All right, so maybe they’d done a little something.
Abby put a plate in front of Pa next.
“And we got the old buckboard out and tore out the tailgate and the seat so Mort can roll right up and grab the reins.” Tom watched Abby with the affectionate eyes of a brother.
Maybe Tom had done more than just a little. Wade started eating to reassure his growling stomach that his throat hadn’t been cut.
“And with the ramp done, Mort can roll straight out the kitchen door onto the thing and drive easy as you please.”
Fine, they’d put in a good day, then. Big deal. How many thousand-pound longhorns had they wrangled?
Tom got his food and dug right in. “And Mort took the buckboard for a ride around the yard, didn’t you?”
“Sure did. Felt great.” Pa sounded happier with Tom than he ever had with anything that Wade had done since birth. “I might ride into town in a few days. Oughta build up some strength in my arms first, though. Hard to get back to working when a man’s been sitting around for weeks on end.”
Wade sat at the foot of the table, Pa at the head.
Tom was on Wade’s left with his back to the wall.
Gertie and Abby took up two seats on Wade’s right.
Abby next to Wade. He could have reached out and touched her, but Tom might have pulled his six-shooter and killed him.
It was obvious the man was watching their every move.
But it was nice to know she was within reach.
Now if Wade could only get a few minutes alone with her, just to talk.
He’d little more than exchanged greetings with her since Tom had as good as moved into the house.
And he’d thought Gertie was a tough chaperone.
He sighed and continued shoveling in the stew.
“So how soon until we can do the drive?” Pa was a mighty bossy man for someone who’d been outside for the first time all spring just today. “It’s almost time now.”
Wade had to quit wolfing down his food to answer. “We’ll leave the cattle on the closest pastures for the next week. We’ll move them around so the grass stays thick for them, try and get the yearling calves fattened up before we cut the herd and drive them to Helena.”
“They should have been on those pastures a month ago.” Pa glared at Wade.
“Yes, they should have, Pa. Why weren’t they?”
“Because you weren’t here.” Pa pounded the table with his fist, but the silverware didn’t jump. No doubt the man would build up to that if he kept talking.
“No, because you hired someone incompetent to be your foreman. What’d you ever sign Sid on for?” Sid was still living in the foreman’s cabin too. Wade and Chester both had been too busy to evict him. But that was no longer true. Wade could see to that right away.
“He looked good to me.” Pa picked up his fork and scooped up a savory helping of stew.
He clearly didn’t want to take any responsibility for the mess Wade had found, so having his mouth stuffed full of food seemed like a good way to stop talking.
“I was hurting. If my son had been here, if you hadn’t gone off in a pout?—”
“Do I eat my meal here, Pa, or should I go out to the bunkhouse? It’s not enough I’m working eighteen-hour days—I’ve got to come in and get whined at by all of you? I swear, sometimes I feel like I’ve got four nagging wives.”
Pa slammed his fist on the table.
“You’re comparing me to a wife?” Tom roared.
Gertie let her head fall back so she could stare at the ceiling.
Abby laughed.
Wade wished he could get rid of Tom something fierce.
But he loved having Abby here at his table.
She wasn’t exactly his dream woman, true.
Not one bit like Cassie Dawson, to be sure.
But her strength drew him as well as her reckless disregard for what anyone thought of her.
He needed to learn that. She could teach him.
She was sitting sideways to the table, faced toward him, with her legs crossed, and in her bare feet. Beautifully arched feet. He could see her ankles again too. She had one elbow on the table, and she plucked a chunk of meat out of her stew with her hands, sucked the gravy off it, and then ate it.
He could maybe teach her a few things too.
“Tomorrow’s Sunday. Red will be in town for church services. Anyone want to go with me?” Wade looked at Tom. He’d never heard a word about believing from Tom Linscott, and he’d never seen him in church. The man was a heathen, and that was a fact.
“Waste of time, church.” Pa hit the table again. How had the furniture stood up under the assault?
“I’ll take that to mean you’re not going.
” Wade expected it. In fact, he was looking forward to a day that included neither backbreaking work nor his pa’s endless complaining.
But as much as he wanted a day of peace, it always hurt to think how lost his father was.
“I’d think a man who’s had a brush with death like you oughta figure out where he wants to spend eternity.
If you ever decide to ride along, you’re welcome. I’d even let you drive us.”
Pa turned back to his plate with a scowl, eating with the grace of a wild dog.
“Have fun, Sawyer.” Tom’s refusal hurt too. “I want another day or two here with Abby before I head home.” As annoying as the other man’s company was, Wade had a burden on his heart for any unbeliever.
“I’ll go.” Abby reached for the biscuit plate and helped herself.
Tom frowned.
Pa muttered.
Wade smiled. “Good. Gertie, you in?”
Pa stiffened visibly, clearly worried Gertie would leave.
Gertie shook her head. “Your pa shouldn’t be here alone.”
No doubt about it—Gertie refused the offer of church to keep peace in the household.
But Wade wasn’t so sure of where her soul stood with God.
Not that it was his place to judge. Gertie spoke of God, and there was a Bible on a shelf in her room.
But he’d never seen her read it, and she’d steadfastly refused to attend church.
Now Wade had the whole ride to town and back alone with Abby. His mood lifted.
“I guess I’ll go too.” Tom as good as tossed a bucket of brackish pond water on Wade’s mood. “If Abby goes, I’ll go.”
Wade’s sogged-up mood fell straight back down with a splat. Tom wanted to attend church. Wade should be glad of that.
One look at Tom’s smirk told Wade that big brother threw in to keep an eye on his sister, not out of any desire to worship God. Well, fine. Maybe Red would say something that would drill its way into Tom’s hard head.
Wade quickly washed up and headed for bed. Thank You, Lord, for a day of rest.