Not the Marrying Kind, page 7
Her hands clenched into fists. Her muscles stiffened. Let Pa conspire against her all he wanted. It wouldn’t work. Somehow, she’d pull this off, by God! She looked at Lucille, noticed the puzzled expression on the girl’s face, and realized her friend had been talking. Lucille seemed to be waiting for an answer to some question.
“I’m sorry. What did you say?” She did her best to push aside her unsettling thoughts.
“Never mind.” Lucille waved her hand. “I was pointing out how ridiculous this whole idea is, but I know you’re not going to listen,” she said as she returned to the wardrobe and flung the doors open again. “You can’t possibly succeed, Kat. You might as well face that fact.”
There it was again. One more voice speaking out against her. “You can’t be sure.”
“Yes, I can. Here, put these on.” Lucille pulled out a blue gingham dress and an armload of fluffy white petticoats. She tossed them across the bedroom to Kat. “Do you have any hair ribbons? What about a hand fan?”
“A hand fan?” She caught the petticoats and dress with a groan. “Hell’s bells! If I have to learn to be a lady, can’t we just start with simple things, please? Like how to walk? How to sit down?”
Lucille’s delicately powdered cheeks turned scarlet. “Your language is shameful, Kat! That’s the first thing we’ll need to work on, I suppose. You have to learn to control your tongue. Why, if Reverend Kendrick ever heard you speak so crudely, I suspect he’d pick you right up, turn you over his knee, and give you a well-deserved whipping.”
The thought of Virgil Kendrick laying his hands on her sent Kat reeling through the room. “He wouldn’t dare! I swear, Lucille, I’d shoot the man if he ever tried to touch me.” She dropped the petticoats, grabbed her friend by the arms, and held on tight. “I’d shoot him dead, and then the law would come arrest me, and they’d lock me away in some stinking jail cell, and I’d just wither away there, and oh, don’t you see, Lucille? I can’t marry that awful man. I can’t!”
“There, there, calm down.” Somehow Lucille managed to disentangle herself. She led Kat toward the bench in front of the dressing table and pushed her to sit. “Have you prayed about this?” she asked, her expression earnest.
Kat remembered that moment on the mountain when she’d lifted her eyes to the hills. She’d asked God for His help…and He’d given her Joshua Barron. Maybe that, too, had been a sign.
Or more likely it was nothing but a fortunate coincidence.
Kat bowed her head. “I think this situation calls for more than prayers, Lucille.”
Chapter Five
Shortly after noon on Friday, Joshua and Kat stopped alongside the creek. They turned their horses loose to graze while they sat beneath a willow tree and enjoyed a bite to eat. In the few days they’d been working together, Joshua had already gained a healthy dose of respect for Katherine Phillips. He liked her drive, her determination, her willingness to work hard for what she wanted.
But she didn’t stand a chance, and he knew it.
“Kat, what happens if you don’t make good on that contract?” He’d read the anxious look upon her face. A pretty young gal shouldn’t have to worry about beef contracts, riding the range, and rounding up longhorns. He knew she meant to prove a point, but he wasn’t exactly sure what that point was—or why it was so important to her. Dirk Phillips had told Joshua only what he figured the man needed to know. Joshua wanted to know more.
“If I don’t fulfill that contract, trouble happens, that’s what.” Kat rose, walked a few feet to the creek, and refilled her canteen. “If the Indians don’t get the beef, they’re likely to go out and get it on their own. They’ll steal from the ranchers. And God help anybody who gets in their way.”
“Yeah, I understand that.” Joshua watched as she stooped down and dipped the canteen into the water. He liked what he saw. Nice legs. Nice ass. Cody would be right pleased with her for a wife. Joshua was sure of it. “What I mean,” he said, forcing himself to look away, “is what happens to you? What’s going to happen to the Rocking P when…” He bit his tongue. “I mean, if you fail?”
She whipped around. “I’m not going to fail, Mr. Barron.”
So, they were back to that, were they? Her formality made him slightly uncomfortable, but he chose not to force the issue. He’d give her a little more time, let her get to know him better.
“What would happen if your father sold the ranch? I get the feeling you wouldn’t be too happy about that.”
Kat slung the canteen strap over her shoulder and sauntered back toward him. “Are you some sort of mind reader?” she asked, as she sat down in the grass again. She drew her knees up and hugged them toward her chest.
“It doesn’t take a mind reader to see when a gal’s unhappy. I only hope that distressed look on your face isn’t because I’ve disappointed you in any way.”
“No, of course not.” She flashed a quick smile at him. “We seem to work good together, don’t you think?” Her voice had a breathlessness about it.
He nodded and returned her smile. “Yeah, I think we do.” He hesitated, then plunged on. “Is it the thought of losing the ranch that’s got you so knotted up inside?”
“Knotted up,” she repeated. “Yeah, that’s a good way of putting it. That’s exactly how I’ve been feeling. I don’t like it.”
Joshua stretched out his leg. It had begun to throb. “Now that we’re working together, Miss Kat, it might be helpful for me to know what’s going on. When your father hired me, I got a feeling something wasn’t quite right. I almost turned down the job, but—”
“Why didn’t you?” Kat interrupted, pulling a small, wrapped package from her knapsack. When she opened it, the aroma of cinnamon and apples filled the air. “Care for a slice of pie, Mr. Barron?” she asked, taking another package from the knapsack.
“Don’t mind if I do.” His hand touched hers as he took the proffered treat. At once he felt a spark, as though her vibrant energy had shot forth from the tips of her fingers into his, awakening all of his senses, and filling him with a newfound vigor.
He shouldn’t be feeling anything from her touch. Especially he shouldn’t be feeling anything akin to temptation, not from a woman he meant to turn over to another man, and not from a woman he’d be working with every day.
Quickly he drew his hand away, unwrapped the slice of pie, then popped it into his mouth. He closed his eyes, savoring the light, flaky crust, and the sweet, spicy fruit. It had to be the lightest, tastiest piece of apple pie this side of heaven. Damn, but it would be nice to have mouth-watering pie for dessert instead of the wretched bread pudding Cody made. His resolve to have her for Cody’s wife increased tenfold. He’d find a way to convince both her and his eccentric cousin that a marriage between them would be a damned fine idea. Plus he’d collect on that little bet he’d made.
“Actually,” Kat said, handing him a biscuit, “I was surprised my father offered you the job.”
“Because of my bad leg, right?”
“No, not entirely because of that, although that does puzzle me a bit, too. I was surprised because Pa and I talked the night before. He refused to even consider letting me try my hand at running the ranch. Then, when you showed up the next morning, he suddenly changed his mind.”
“That was a good thing, wasn’t it?” Unsure what to say and how to act, Joshua trod carefully through the conversation as though it were a minefield. In so many ways, it was.
“Yeah, a good thing.” Kat rubbed her forehead, and Joshua had the distinct impression she was treading carefully too.
“Did I detect a bit of tension in the air that morning? Between you and your father?”
“A lot of tension,” she corrected. “Don’t misunderstand. I love my father more than anything in the world. But I love the Rocking P, too. I don’t want to leave here. It would break my heart to see him sell this place.”
“But it’s too much for him to handle,” he gently reminded Kat. “He’s not well.”
“He doesn’t have to handle it! That’s my responsibility now.”
The resolve in Kat’s voice made Joshua sit up and take notice. She had no intention of failing, and what’s more, she expected him to make sure she succeeded. A tall order, to be sure, even under ideal circumstances. The circumstances surrounding him and his role as foreman were anything but ideal.
He pulled a bandana from his pocket and wiped his brow. The day had suddenly grown warm. Sunlight streamed through the trees, its golden rays reflected by the cool waters of the creek.
“There’s a little more to the story, and I might as well tell you everything.” An unmistakable sadness tinged Kat’s voice, prompting Joshua to turn away from the creek. “It’s not just about selling the ranch. Pa’s got it in his head that I should marry Reverend Kendrick.”
“Who?” Joshua frowned, not liking what he was hearing. He’d already hand-picked this little filly as Cody’s bride-to-be. Apparently her father had another idea in mind. But Dirk Phillips hadn’t mentioned anything about marrying off his daughter.
“Reverend Virgil Kendrick.” She spat out the name. “He’s the minister at the church in Sunset.”
“Oh, right. He came to the ranch for dinner last night.” When Kat had mentioned the minister the previous day, Joshua hadn’t given it a second thought. Now, he frowned. Virgil Kendrick could probably find himself a good wife without too much trouble. Cody, on the other hand, needed all the help he could get.
“Actually, he didn’t.” Kat’s voice brightened. “He took sick yesterday afternoon. I know it’s not right to take pleasure in another’s misfortune, but I was sure mighty pleased when he sent word to say he couldn’t make it.” She grinned.
“Maybe the good Lord was looking over you. Maybe He’s got other plans.”
A bold statement from a man who hadn’t exactly been on speaking terms with the Lord for several years. But Joshua had plans of his own. To his mind, the auburn-haired spitfire in front of him would make a perfect match for a slightly unconventional woodcarver. Being a bit on the unconventional side herself, she could handle Cody, put him in his place if need be, and she’d do a hell of a good job of keeping any man happy.
He licked his lips and fought to control his body’s natural response to his thoughts. Quickly, he turned his back to Kat, not wanting her to see how aroused he’d become.
“Heaven helps those who help themselves, you know,” she said, her features growing serious. “I have to do my part and make good on that contract. Otherwise wedding bells will be ringing.”
“Now, hold on a minute,” he said, fighting for composure. He cast a glance over his shoulder. She still sat on the hillside, her long legs drawn up to her chest. “Are you telling me that if we don’t get that herd of cattle delivered on time, you’ll have to marry some man against your will?”
“Yep. That’s the deal.”
“Why in tarnation would you make a damned deal like that?” He’d heard a lot of foolhardy things in his twenty-six years, but he’d never heard anything as stupid as what Kat Phillips had just told him. She must be as daft as Cody. He thought again of how well-suited she and his crazy cousin would be, but unless he figured out how to change the course of events, she’d be married off to some godly, Bible-toting fellow more likely to spout scripture than carry on a genuine conversation. Joshua glared at Kat, waiting for a reply. “Well?” he asked.
“It was the only way Pa would give me a chance. It was either agree to his terms, or start packing. Like I said, he’s got it in his head I should marry the reverend, and I’ve never disobeyed my father.”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“No, not for me, not really.” She leaned back, plucked a few blades of grass from the hillside and ran them slowly through her fingers. “The only way I can avoid marrying Reverend Kendrick is if I prove I can keep the Rocking P going. Needless to say, Pa’s expecting me to fail. I suspect he’s already picked out a wedding date and booked the church.”
“Yeah, reckon so.” Joshua grabbed his hat and headed toward his bay gelding. “Maybe we’d better get busy. Sounds like we’ve got our work cut out for us.”
For that matter, so did he. Yes, indeed, he definitely had his work cut out for him.
* * * *
“Interesting day. Interesting day, indeed.” Joshua unsaddled Bronco and carried the leather tack into the barn. He nodded to Cody who stood in the yard, knife in hand. Already running foul of Amanda’s strict orders, the geezer was not only up, out of bed, and on his feet again, but whittling away at a thick block of white pine. “You slice yourself up again, and I’ll let you die,” Joshua warned. “I’m tired, and I’m in no mood to go riding off to find somebody to stitch you up.”
“I’ll be careful. Guess you been working pretty hard, huh?” Cody carefully brushed pine shavings away from his work, lifted the piece up to inspect it, and nodded his approval. “Always good when a man has something he enjoys doing.”
Joshua laughed. “You know, that’s about the longest damned sentence I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth. Why, there’s hope for you yet, Cody.”
“Hope for what? What are you talking about?”
“About making you civilized. And finding you a wife.” He grinned.
“You still thinking about that?” Cody guffawed. “Figured you’d given up that crazy idea by now.”
“What’s crazy about it?”
“Ain’t no woman who’d want a man like me.”
“Sure there is.”
“And just why in hell would I want a wife anyway?”
“A good wife can make a man’s life a lot easier, that’s why.”
“I’m not so sure about that.” Cody carefully put down his knife and leaned against the sturdy rail of the cabin’s little porch. “To tell the truth, I don’t think I’d want a woman out here, Joshua. I mean, seriously, women like to clean things up, you know. They pick up, put things away, and hell, I’d never find what I was looking for.” He turned and gazed at the little shack he called home. “A good woman would move in here, tear through the place, and this cabin would be too damned clean for any man to live in.”
He had a point, Joshua had to admit. But in the first place, when everything finally got settled, Cody and Kat would be living at the ranch. He could keep his blasted cabin and use it for a workshop. In the second place, relationships involved what were called offsetting factors. You gave up one thing in return for something else. You put up with somebody’s faults in order to gain advantage of their strengths. How to explain such complicated logic to Cody?
“Sure enough, women do get carried away with all that cleaning up, I’ll agree. But there are benefits,” he pointed out. “First, you get home-cooked meals morning, noon, and night. And somebody to, well, talk to.”
“Don’t need anybody yapping in my ear, Joshua.”
“Yeah, well,” he said, lowering his voice, “what I mean is intimate talk.” A picture of Kat stretched out in bed formed inside his head. He smiled. But then when he envisioned Cody lying next to her the picture didn’t look quite so pretty. Mentally, he erased Cody from the scene. His smile returned.
Kat Phillips looked damned good in his imagination with that lean, flat-bellied body of hers, those long legs, her sun-bronzed skin gleaming warm and inviting, and—
“You got some sort of indigestion or something?” Cody asked, tapping Joshua’s shoulder. “You don’t look so good.”
“Just thinking.”
Cody nodded. “Yep, you’ve got it bad.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“How long has it been since you’ve had a woman? You must be horny as hell.”
Joshua lowered his gaze. “It’s been a long time. Too long.”
“Might be worth the two of us making a little trip to Denver.” Cody clapped his cousin on the back and grinned. “Got some fancy whorehouses and some nice girls there, but they’ll cost you. If you’re in a hurry, there’s also a couple of floozies hanging out around that mining camp north of here. They ain’t too pretty, but they’re cheap. Good enough to get a man off. Better than doing it yourself, you know.”
“Yeah, well, that’s my point, Cody. If you had a wife, you wouldn’t have to do it for yourself, and you wouldn’t have to go looking around for floozies to do it for you.”
His groin ached with raw need. Mining-camp floozies weren’t exactly what Joshua had in mind, but Denver was a mite far away. He already knew he’d end up doing the same thing he’d been doing for the last few years…taking matters into his own hands, so to speak.
“What about you?” Cody’s eyes narrowed. “Suppose I do find me a wife, you thinkin’ she could take care of us both?”
“Hell, no. I’m not sharing a woman with you.” With his thoughts still fixed on Kat, his cousin’s words jolted him, riled him, and aroused him all at the same time. He knew a lot of men liked sharing their bed partners, even liked watching their woman entertain other men. But Kat Phillips wasn’t that sort of woman, not the kind a man toyed with and passed around for his friends to enjoy. She’d been brought up right, believed all those commandments in the Bible, and once some fellow slipped a ring on her finger and exchanged vows with her, she’d be as true and faithful as they come. A real one-man woman.
Cody should be more appreciative. “Listen, you need a wife, and I think I’ve found a right nice little gal for you.”
“Are you serious?” Cody’s eyes gleamed with sudden excitement. “Can I give her a try? See how it goes?” A wide grin spread across his face. “Guess it would be convenient to have her right here, not have to leave home to get a little satisfaction. But she’s got to know what she’s doing, Joshua. I’m used to women with experience, you know. Why, them gals at the camp can do it in fifty different positions, and the last time I was down there, this one gal grabbed my balls and—”
