Eden Read online

  She nodded quickly. “I did most of the cooking at the Schrader house. I learned a long time ago how to bake and churn butter and make biscuits. I can tend a garden and can the vegetables and cut up the meat when it’s been butchered.”

  She was not yet eighteen years old and already had done the work of a woman full grown. John shook his head, unable to believe that she had been so used, that the family who should have cared for her as a child had instead made a servant of her.

  “Well, just cooking for me won’t be too big a load for you then,” he said cheerfully, not willing to let her see his shock at her former circumstances. “Can you keep my clothes clean for me? Do you know how to wash and iron?”

  She laughed. Joyously and without restraint, as if she had been given permission to express her happiness. “If you have sad irons, I can use them. If you don’t, you’ll have to buy a pair of them and a handle. I can iron on a kitchen table if need be. I’ll keep your house clean and when spring comes I’ll plant a garden.”

  “Looks like you’ve got things all lined up, John,” Molly said with a laugh. “This little gal will make your life a whole lot easier, I’d say. You mind my words.”

  “I have to agree with you, Molly.” He met the woman’s look with a nod of approval. “I’m happy with my decision. Katie will be safe at Bill Stanley’s place.”

  “I never thought such a thing would happen to me,” Katie said softly, her hands in her lap, her eyes wide as she considered the future ahead. “I’d thought to spend my whole life out there on that farm, just working and trying to please the Schraders. And there wasn’t any pleasing them, let me tell you. They’re a pair of nasty folk, they are.”

  “You won’t have to worry about them anymore,” John said forcefully. “I’ll be sure you’re taken care of from now on.” Molly’s coat hung on a hook by the back door of the saloon’s kitchen and in moments it was wrapped around Katie’s slender form, covering her from neck to toe in warmth.

  THE GENERAL STORE WAS LIKE a wonderland to the girl who walked in the door beside John Roper fifteen minutes later. She stood behind him as he approached the long counter and only his long arm reaching for her brought her in sight of the proprietor, Shandy Peterson. That gentleman cast her a long glance, then looked back at John.

  “You got yourself a girl, John?” he asked quietly.

  “I’ve got myself a housekeeper and cook here, Shandy. Katie’s gonna keep house for me. Just as soon as she picks out some things to wear. She needs a new dress or two and whatever else you think is appropriate. Molly said she needs a warm coat, too.”

  “Molly? The woman over at the saloon? What’s she got to do with this?” He looked over his glasses at Katie and his brow furrowed. “I don’t believe I know the young lady. You from around these parts, honey?”

  “Yes sir,” she said politely.

  Apparently she had decided not to elaborate on her background, and John spoke for her. “Katie needs a place to live and Bill Stanley gave me a good-sized cabin to live in when he made me his new foreman. I figured there was room for her in it with me. I’m needing a housekeeper and she looks to be qualified for the job. We’ll head out there as soon as we find some things for Katie to wear.”

  “Well, John, looks to me like you’ve made up your mind. Hope it all goes well for you.” And if Shandy Peterson wondered at the woman John had chosen to move into his home, and had any questions as to her background, he kept them to himself. It didn’t pay to be too inquisitive, was the general consensus in this part of the country.

  Katie looked over the counter at the glass bins of clothing that lined the wall, her eyes widening as she considered the varicolored bits and pieces therein. Her eyes opened even wider as Shandy brought two bins to rest in front of her.

  “These are dresses, miss. Let’s see what we have in your size.”

  John lifted Molly’s coat from Katie’s shoulders, readying her for the shopping ahead, then waited for Shandy to show them his wares. With a long look at the girl before him, Shandy picked up several of the dresses from the glass bin, held them up and then refolded them and placed them aside as being the wrong choices, whether by size or by John’s discerning eye, Katie couldn’t tell.

  And then, with a flourish, the shopkeeper lifted a blue flowered dress from the bin before him and shook it out, holding it up for her approval.

  “That’s a pretty one, Katie,” John said softly. “Do you like it? It looks like it would about fit you, doesn’t it?”

  She nodded, reaching to touch the fine percale fabric. “It’s lovely, John. Prettier than anything I’ve ever had. And with the sash to tie in back, it ought to fit me.”

  “If it does we’ll take that one, Shandy, and Katie can go into your stockroom if she needs to, to make sure it fits,” John decided. “Now find something else for her. She’ll need another dress and she can choose what she needs to wear under them.”

  “I don’t know…” Katie looked up at the man beside her, confusion at the thought of decision making causing her stomach to churn. “I’ve never picked out anything for myself before, just wore whatever they gave me. I won’t know what to get.”

  Shandy Peterson looked stunned by her words, but recovered quickly. “My girl, Jessica, is right here in the back room. Let’s have her come out and help this little gal choose what she needs. All right, miss?”

  “Yes, of course.” Katie was willing to do whatever she was bid, and waited as the storekeeper called his daughter to come and lend a hand. The girl was pretty, slim and dark-haired, and had definite ideas about what Katie needed for undergarments. Quickly, she pulled bins down and sorted through the contents, piling an assortment of petticoats and drawers, along with two filmy chemises on the counter. Then several pairs of stockings were added to the chosen items, and Jessica Peterson nodded in approval of her choices.

  “That ought to do it, Papa. Except for a coat that fits, and maybe she’ll need new shoes, but I don’t know. I can’t see them from here.”

  “She needs shoes,” John said firmly. “Pick out something for her, Jessica.”

  With a quick grin, the girl walked across the store to where boxes of shoes were on display, choosing several pairs and bringing them back. “Come sit down and try these on. One of them should fit you,” she said coaxingly. “If not, I’ll pick out some more.”

  Katie was overwhelmed. Never had she been offered such choices, and the shoes that Jessica held ready for her approval were light and made of soft leather. Unlike the heavy boots she was used to wearing, they felt like feathers on her feet. Between them, the two girls decided on the pair she held now, her fingers touching the black leather as if she could not imagine owning such footwear.

  While Katie was still swimming in a sea of uncertainty at the clothing that was to be hers, John approached her, holding a black cloak in his hands.

  “Let’s see how this looks, Katie,” he said and draped it over her shoulders, then lifted the attached hood and settled it on her hair. He took out his leather wallet and led her back to the counter.

  Katie was sent to the storeroom in the back of the store, Jessica carrying the clothing she would try on, and the rest of their choices were bundled up, a nightgown being added to the pile at the last minute.

  His purchases were wrapped in brown paper tied firmly with a length of cord. John reeled off a list of foodstuffs that he wanted and Shandy Peterson sought and found all he’d listed in a matter of minutes. Jessica appeared then, leading Katie back to the man who watched her closely.

  Shandy’s daughter spoke softly to John, then added a few things he hadn’t thought of to the pile on the counter; tins of peaches and pears from the shelf, a round of yellow cheese from the big wheel on the counter and several other items that Katie peered at with wide eyes.

  Overwhelmed by the bounty before her, Katie was silent, almost aghast at the amount of money John was spending, most of it on her behalf. Surely she was not worth so much to him, that he should lay ou
t the contents of his wallet on the counter without hesitation, only smiling at her when she tugged at his sleeve and whispered her words of doubt.

  “It’s too much, John. I don’t need all of that. I won’t know how to act with all these things to wear. And that cloak must cost a fortune.”

  He grinned widely and his hand touched her shoulder lightly. “You’ll get used to it, Katie girl. I want you to have enough clothing to wear.”

  His method of thinking was beyond her, but she only smiled and stood beside him, relishing the warmth of his hands as he spread her new cloak across her shoulders, feeling as though Heaven had opened, showering her with more blessings than she could contain.

  In but a few minutes, John had arranged with Shandy for a wagon to be used to transport his purchases back to the ranch.

  “I’ll get all this stuff loaded up for you, John,” Shandy said easily, obviously pleased at the size of the order John had paid for. “You can tie your gelding on the rear of the wagon. Bring it back when you come into town next. I don’t use it much anyway, and I don’t mind lending it to you for a few days.”

  With his assurances ringing in their ears, John and Katie left the store and walked to where Shandy’s wagon stood in the open area behind the store.

  Jessica came out the back door and watched as John lifted Katie to the wagon seat. “Come back to see me again,” she said brightly. “Maybe I can drive out to the Stanley ranch and visit some day.”

  “I’d like that,” Katie told her, hoping she might have made a friend today.

  With a hasty farewell, they left, John’s hand firm on the reins. After a quick stop to return Molly’s coat to her, he guided the team of horses to the main road leading out of town. Beside him, Katie wrapped her new cloak about herself, her hand brushing the fabric carefully.

  “Are you ready to go home?” he asked with a grin. He thought she looked frightened and he would not have it. His hand touched hers briefly, and then he took up the reins and snapped them briskly over the team’s backs, and the wagon rolled down the road. They went past the bank and post office, the wheels turning more rapidly as they neared the hotel and the barbershop. Then finally the team broke into a trot as they traveled past the boardinghouses that edged the town on the west.

  “We’re on our way home, Katie,” he said, looking down at the girl who was rigid on the seat beside him. “Are you all right? You look kinda peaked, like you’re not feeling up to snuff.” And little wonder, he thought, what with the enormous changes in her life over the past hours.

  “I’m just feeling like I’m in the midst of a dream,” she told him, and he thought her words were almost like poetry, so softly did they fall on his ear. “The air is so clear, the sun is so bright and the birds are singing. It’s a beautiful day, and I’m beginning a new life, John. I don’t know what to say to you. You’ve changed everything for me, and I haven’t been able to figure out why you should care what happens to me. I don’t even know you, and you’ve made my best dreams come true.”

  “If this is all it takes to make you happy, I’m a lucky man, Katie girl. I’m getting a cook and a washer lady and a housekeeper all in one, and all it cost me was a couple of dollars for your clothes. What more could I ask?” His laughter rang out and Katie responded with a soft giggle that pleased him.

  He’d not heard her laugh, and this bit of girlish glee touched him as nothing else could have. For the first time, she had responded as a young girl might and he was pleased. At eighteen, she was far too young for him to consider in any other way than as a younger sister, perhaps. For at thirty, a man who had known love and found it to be wanting, he was not in the market for anything other than exactly what he had promised Katie.

  If there were looks of doubt from the men on the ranch, if they cast aspersions on her virtue, he would defend the girl. Somehow, some way, he would make up for the cruel life she had fled. He would provide her with a home, and perhaps offer to her the opportunity for a new beginning.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  THE CABIN LOOKED LIKE a dream come true as the horses pulled the wagon up in front of it. Katie knew her eyes were wide and her mouth couldn’t seem to close properly as she climbed down hastily from the seat to walk to the narrow porch. She ran a hand over the railing and jolted when John admonished her.

  “Be careful, Katie. That thing isn’t too sturdy. I haven’t had much of a chance to work on things yet, and I need to nail it in place a bit better. This cabin needs a lot of fixing to make it fit for you to live in, I’m afraid.”

  “It’s wonderful, just as it is,” she said determinedly. “It’s beautiful, John. I can’t believe you’re apologizing for it. Not to me, anyway. If you could see where I come from you’d know what I’m talking about.”

  “I’ve heard that those folks weren’t anything to brag about, Katie. I didn’t know about you living there, but they don’t have much of a reputation for good. Least-ways not that I’ve heard. I think you’re well rid of them.”

  She nodded, agreeing with his words, then turned and opened the door. Stepping inside the room, she halted, hugging herself as she looked around the four walls. A fireplace built of stone filled the back wall, with a wide hearth that invited her to come nearer. She stepped across the room, her hand touching the back of a chair beside the hearth, as if she could feel the warmth of John’s head there. For surely he must have sat in that very place of an evening, watching the fire.

  She paused, then stooped beside the open fire pit, reaching to place several logs inside from the pile he’d left on the edge of the hearth, and looked back at him.

  “Can we have a fire here tonight? Will it be cool enough outdoors to warrant wasting the wood?”

  He grinned at her, delighted that she approved of the home he had offered. “We can do anything you want, Katie. If a fire will make you happy, I’ll be sure there’s enough wood to build a dandy blaze.”

  She rose and her cheeks turned rosy, as if she were embarrassed, and he stepped closer. “What is it, Katie? Is something wrong?”

  She shook her head. “No. I’m just having a hard time believing that this is all real. That I’m truly here, and I’m going to work for you, John. I don’t deserve this and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for being so good to me.”

  He walked across the room toward her and thought she shrank from him as he neared. He halted a few feet from her and softened his voice as he spoke words of comfort and assurance. “Don’t ever be afraid of me, Katie. I don’t ever want you to worry that I’ll hurt you in any way. I’m not angry with you, not now, not ever. Don’t forget that. Don’t ever feel that you have anything to fear from me.”

  She nodded, her eyes wide, her stance uneasy as he took her hand in his. “You’re a woman, almost full grown, Katie. You have my respect and my consideration in all things. Can you understand that?”

  She nodded slowly. “I think so, John. It’s just so hard to know what to expect. When you turned so quick like and came toward me, it made me think you had cause to be angry with me. I didn’t know if I’d done something to make you upset with me. Sometimes it didn’t take much for those folks I lived with to get mad and sail into me.”

  Sensing she needed reassurance, he spoke quietly, his heart aching as he felt the pain of her fear of him. “I won’t hurt you, Katie. I promise not to cause you harm in any way. If we have differences and if you get angry with me, you can speak your mind and I’ll do the same, but we won’t ever be mean or hurt each other. Is that agreed? I want us to be friends, not just a boss and his housekeeper. I may be bigger than you, and yes, stronger, but I’ll not use my strength against you, Katie.”

  She sat quietly, then looked up to where he stood, and he recognized the trembling of her body as something instilled by her experiences in the past. He knew that she feared him.

  He crouched down before her. “Your heart is pounding so hard, it’s a wonder it doesn’t thump right out of your chest,” he said quietly. “I can’t stand i
t for you to be afraid of me.”

  She looked past him, at the wall behind him, and he recognized that she was unable to meet his gaze. He stood then, stepping back, unwilling to make her feel trapped by his greater build, by the size and shape of him, and his mind sought for a way to bring peace to dwell between them.

  “Do you suppose we can sort out the foodstuffs we bought now? Maybe put together a meal of some sort?” His words were calm and slow, his intent being to steady her and make her more comfortable with him.

  And in that he succeeded, for she rose from the chair with haste, turning to open the packages they’d brought in, sorting through the boxes of groceries and finding places to put all the supplies he’d ordered. Her hands were quick as she stacked the canned goods in the pantry and made order from the assortment of dry goods he’d purchased.

  “I’m going out to tend to the wagon and put the horses in the barn,” he told her, watching as she worked.

  She nodded, turning to watch him leave the cabin, then went on with the work that was familiar to her. The small pantry just next to the cookstove held most everything, with shelves on either side of the door. It was about six feet deep, and had four shelves on either wall, enough room to hold canned goods and anything they might need from town with which to prepare meals.

  The lower shelf held an odd assortment of kettles, with iron skillets stacked neatly. Katie stooped before the clutter of pots and pans and pulled forth a medium sized kettle, then the smallest of the iron skillets. “These will work for dinner,” she murmured to herself, carrying them out to the kitchen and across to the sink, where she pumped water into a dishpan there.

  The reservoir yielded hot water from the stove and she added soap to the pan from a bottle beneath the sink, then set about washing the kettle in preparation for cooking his meal. As she was wiping out the skillet with a piece of brown paper, John came back in the cabin and hung up his outdoor clothing, taking off his boots by the door.