The Wedding Promise (Harlequin Historical) Read online

  The stew was an apparent success, devoured with much lip smacking and accompanied by praise from the hungry men. They laughed and joked and ate at a rapid pace, as if racing to a finish line.

  Indeed, Rachel had barely begun eating when chairs were shoved back and the crew took their leave. Cord watched her assessingly from the other end of the table, his own meal half-consumed.

  “It seems you’ve got a job, Miss Rachel,” he said with satisfaction. “Old Sam said he hadn’t had such good food in a month of Sundays.”

  Rachel’s spoon halted midway to her mouth. “I don’t know how you could hear him, with all the noise. Did he take your brother any coffee? I think he went on out with the rest of the men.”

  Cord grinned, leaning back in his chair. “Why don’t you trot on down the hallway, and find out for yourself. Jake’s in the library, last room on the right. Makes it handy, with the wheelchair.”

  “I don’t think so,” Rachel said quickly. “My last encounter with your brother Jake didn’t give me a taste for a second helping.”

  Cord’s smile faded and he allowed his chair to settle on all four legs. “He’s a handful to deal with, Rachel. We all know that In fact, it’s almost too much for Sam these days.”

  “And you want me to stick my nose into that room and get it cut off?”

  “He’s probably cooled down by now. The piano playing was what set him off.”

  Rachel’s brow furrowed. “He doesn’t like music?”

  “That would be a mercy. Music was his life, before the war. He’d trained in New York City to be a concert pianist, and then when the war broke out, he felt compelled to join the army.”

  He laughed, a mirthless sound. “We were all so worried about his hands. Instead, he lost his legs. One above the knee, the other below.”

  Rachel nodded, shaking her head as she acknowledged the loss. “He can’t play because he can’t use the pedals.”

  “Exactly.” Cord rose from his chair and walked to the door, looking through the screen to where Henry and Jay hung over the corral fence. “He wanted to have the piano burned at first. Then, when he’d thought better of it, he decided to give it to the church.”

  “Why didn’t you?” Rachel asked.

  “It wouldn’t go in the door. We measured every which way and it wouldn’t make it.”

  “And so it sits and gathers dust. What a loss.”

  Cord turned to face her. “I hear from Sam that you play well.”

  She shrugged. “Well enough, I suppose. I certainly worked hard enough at it. We had to sell my piano when my folks decided to come West”

  “It must have broken your heart.”

  Rachel shook her head. “No, it broke my heart when I buried my mother and father two months ago. Selling the piano was small potatoes compared to that”

  “They died two months ago? On the trail?”

  She nodded. “Pa collapsed one day after we crossed a river. The horses were in trouble and Pa was done in when he finally got them up the bank. His chest began hurting and then he collapsed. We buried him there. The doctor in the next town said it was probably his heart.”

  “What about your mother?” Cord asked.

  Rachel’s voice was thick with the unshed tears she hoarded within herself as she whispered the tragic words she still found hard to believe as the truth. “Mama wandered off the next night while we were sleeping in the wagon and got bitten by a rattler. The scout found her the next morning.”

  “My God, Rachel. How did you bear up under it?” Cord asked in a strained voice. He shook his head, as if he groped for words.

  “I can see where the loss of your piano wasn’t nearly so important anymore,” he said finally.

  “I wish I had it now,” Rachel whispered. “Music soothes the soul.”

  “Maybe…” Cord hesitated, then gestured at the coffeepot. “Give it another try, Rachel. I’d be willing to bet Jake enjoyed his dinner. Pour a cup and take it in to him.” His lips curved as he tried on a grin for her benefit.

  “If he throws something at you, duck. Chances are he’ll just grouse for a few seconds. Jake enjoys nothing in this world more than a cup of coffee.”

  Her chin jutted as Rachel listened unbelievingly to his instructions. She glared at him, her mind torn from the sorrow she’d been reminded of for a few moments. “You owe me, Cord McPherson. I didn’t bargain for catering to an invalid, but I’ve a notion that’s exactly where I’ll be heading, once Sam Bostwick sees me waiting on Jake.”

  Cord lifted his shoulders in a helpless shrug. “Maybe you can deal with him, Rachel. God knows no one else gets anywhere.”

  “I’m not taking him on, Cord.” Her mouth set in a determined line as she plunged both hands into her apron pockets. “I’m your cook, and I’ll wash your duds, but ducking every time I open your brother’s door is out.”

  “Not even once, Rachel? Just one cup of coffee?” The teasing grin was gone.

  The vision of the unkempt man who’d so rudely interrupted her few moments of joy burst inside Rachel’s mind, and she shook her head. “I doubt he’d welcome me, even with a cup of coffee in hand.”

  Cord’s mouth twisted in a wry grin. “Can’t blame me for trying, Rachel.” He reached for a heavy cup from the cupboard and filled it from the blue-speckled pot “I’ll deliver it myself. Send in the troops if I don’t come back in five minutes.”

  Breakfast was barely devoured the next morning when Cord stepped back into the kitchen, hat in hand. “Rachel, I’m going to town to the emporium. Anything we need for the house?”

  She turned from the dishpan, wiping her hands on a towel. “Do you think I could go along? The boys need some boots if they’re going to be working in the barn, and I thought I could get them each a pair.”

  “I can pay you for your first week here, if you need the money,” Cord said.

  She shook her head. “No, I have enough, so long as I know I’ll be earning some right along. Shamus wants me to do up his laundry every week, and Buck and Jamie asked if I’d iron them each a shirt on Saturdays.”

  He laughed. “That’s so they’ll look pretty when they go into town Saturday nights.” He shook his head. “You won’t make much cold hard cash ironing two shirts, Rachel. Better charge them a pretty penny.” He turned back to the door. “Come on ahead, then, if you’re riding along.”

  She untied her apron and hung it on the hook in the pantry, running back to the stove quickly to check the black kettle where a stewing hen was simmering. With a practiced eye she gauged the bubbling liquid and slid the pot toward the back burner, clutching the handle with a heavy flannel pad.

  “I’m ready,” she announced, her hands quickly smoothing back her hair. “I just have to run up and get my money.”

  “Five minutes,” Cord said, heading out the door.

  Jay and Henry were kicking their heels on the back of the wagon when Rachel crossed the porch, her bonnet strings trailing from her fingers.

  “Mr. Cord said we could go along,” Jay piped up.

  “He said you were gettin’ us some new boots.” Henry’s voice rose at the end of his sentence, as if he questioned the validity of such an idea.

  Rachel nodded, her heart lifting as her brothers poked at each other with delight. She could even spare them each a couple of pennies for candy again, she thought, imagining their delight.

  “Can we get high tops, Rae?” Henry asked wistfully.

  “We’ll see,” she answered doubtfully, unsure of the cost of such a luxury.

  “Looks like you need to get them some britches to go along with the boots,” Cord said, lifting himself to the wagon seat.

  “Theirs have a lot of wear left in them,” she put in quickly. “Maybe next week we can look at new overalls.”

  Cord reached down a hand to her as she peered up at him. “Let me give you a hoist up,” he offered.

  Accepting his broad hand, she placed her foot on the wagon hub, and he lifted her to sit beside him. “They’
ll be happy with boots,” she told him, settling her skirts around her.

  He bent to her, watching as she tied her bonnet in place. Then, following an urge he’d resisted more than once in the past few days, he brushed at a stray wisp of hair that clung to her face.

  She flushed at the gesture and turned her head, her fingers rising to spread across the rosy surface of her cheek. His touch had been gentle and unexpected, his fingertips a bit rough from the calluses he bore.

  “Rachel?” He reached for her again, this time to cradle her chin within his grasp, turning her to face him.

  “We need to be on our way,” she mumbled, unwilling to meet his gaze, flustered by his attention. “I can’t be gone all day with dinner cooking on the stove.”

  “Look at me.” It was a command, delivered in a low, yet forceful voice, and she obeyed.

  “You have no reason to fear me, Rachel,” he said firmly. “I’m old enough to know my place and decent enough to remain there.”

  “I’m not afraid of you,” she whispered, her voice catching in her throat

  It was a lie. There was about him something she feared, some unknown threat he offered that caused a trembling in her belly.

  The level look he sent in her direction across the kitchen sometimes was enough to set her heart scampering, and his kindness to her brothers gave her a warmth deep inside, and made him tall in her sight.

  “Aren’t you?” His eyebrow quirked as if he doubted her brave words, and then he flicked the reins against the backs of his team and they set off for Green Rapids.

  There was no doubt about it. Mr. Conrad Carson was more than taken with Miss Rachel Sinclair. Cord watched from his post next to the cracker barrel as his cook chose boots for her brothers. And all the while, Conrad smiled and joked as he offered one pair, then another for her approval.

  Kneeling before the boys, he took their measure, then tried on the boots Rachel pointed out. With only a moment’s hesitation, he assured her that her limited resources would be sufficient to cover the cost of two pair, and then his gaze rose, his eyes meeting Cord’s with a trace of warning in their depths.

  “I’ll handle the difference, if she runs out of funds,” Cord said, his mouth twisting in a parody of a polite smile.

  Conrad flushed a bit. “Miss Rachel can choose what she pleases, Mr. McPherson. I’m sure we can work something out.”

  Rachel’s eyes widened as she looked first at one man, then the other. “I thought—”

  “You have enough money for the boots,” Carson cut in smoothly. He grinned at the two boys, who were stomping their feet and marching up and down the aisle, admiring their new footwear. “Probably even enough for a couple of licorice whips for each,” he added, counting Rachel’s meager funds into his cash drawer.

  Jay’s head turned quickly at the mention of candy. “Can we, Rae?” he asked hopefully.

  “We got boots, Jay,” Henry reminded him quickly, as if he would relieve Rachel of the burden of refusal.

  Cord cleared his throat. “I expect my two new hands have enough wages coming to them to buy a bag of candy, Conrad. See what they want, will you?”

  Rachel’s gaze met his and she bit at her lip. “I don’t want you putting any more money out than is right, Cord.”

  She was more than a temptation, he thought. And too much woman for Conrad Carson.

  Cord took two long strides to where she waited by the counter, one hand rising to rest on her shoulder.

  “They’ve been a help, Rachel. I’m sure at least a nickel’s worth each.” He raised his voice, catching the attention of the trio who were intent on the contents of the candy jars. “Give them each a bag and let them choose five cents worth, Conrad.”

  The younger man looked up, nodding, and then halted, his eyes narrowing as his gaze swept over Cord to Rachel, fastening on Cord’s possessive gesture. He’d gotten the message, Cord decided with satisfaction. Rachel was not up for grabs. His fingers tightened for just a moment, squeezing the narrow bones beneath her supple flesh, and she looked up at him in surprise.

  “We need to be getting back as soon as I help Conrad load my supplies on the wagon,” he told her.

  She nodded. “All right. I’ll have the boys change back to their old shoes and we’ll be right out”

  “Let them wear the new ones, Rachel. They can save the others for mucking out the chicken coop and cleaning stalls.” His mind traveled back quickly to childhood memories.

  “There’s nothing like a new pair of boots to set a boy’s heart to thumpin’ real good,” he said with a grin.

  He’d carried out nails and a roll of wire, come back in for the can of kerosene and met Conrad at the door, his arms wrapped around a wooden crate of fresh vegetables.

  “You don’t have a garden growing, Cord,” Rachel put in quickly. “Conrad gave me a good price on the peas and carrots. He’ll have fresh beans in by next week, he said.” Her explanation was hurried, as if she worried over his reaction, and Cord shook his head, watching as Conrad settled the crate on the back of the wagon.

  “You buy whatever you want, Rachel. The men are sick of canned stuff. Maybe it isn’t too late to put in a kitchen garden. I’ll ask Conrad for seeds.”

  “I’ve already told Miss Rachel I’d make up an assortment for her to plant,” Conrad said from the doorway. “I’ll bring them out to you tomorrow afternoon, if that’s all right,” he added, his gaze hopeful as he stepped into the store, watching the young woman for a sign of her acceptance.

  “I’d appreciate that,” she answered, a tentative smile touching her lips. “I’ll save you a piece of pie.” Her look at Cord was tinged with defiance as she turned to leave the store, and he grunted his own goodbyes.

  “Put everything on my bill, Conrad. I’ll pay up at month end,” he instructed harshly, casting one last look at the jaunty smile the storekeeper wore.

  Cord made a production of helping Rachel into the wagon, lifting her to the seat before he circled to the other side to take his place beside her.

  “I could have gotten up alone,” she said quietly, turning to him with a puzzled look.

  He lifted the reins, cracking them briskly over the backs of his team as they moved out at a smart pace. “Conrad’s wanting to court you, Rachel.” He hadn’t planned on being so blunt, but the words had come unbidden. “If you’re not thinking along those same lines, you shouldn’t encourage him.”

  “Encourage him?” Her voice rose sharply on the words. “I was polite, no more. If the gentleman wants to be accommodating and is willing to make a trip to bring out the garden seeds, I can surely offer him a piece of pie. That’s only being courteous, Mr. McPherson.”

  Beneath lifted brows, her cheeks bore rosy flags and her mouth was firmly drawn. Rachel was upset with him.

  He hid a smile as he took inventory of her. Stiff and unbending, she rode beside him, her fingers retying the strings of her bonnet, her mouth primly closed. The deep breaths she took as she fanned the flames of her anger lifted her bosom in an enticing fashion and he allowed the smile to widen as his gaze rested there for a moment.

  She could fuss all she wanted. Rachel Sinclair would be his, perhaps not as quickly as he’d like, but sure as the summer brought longer days and shorter nights, Rachel would belong to him.

  In all of his years of considering the females he’d come in contact with, he’d not found one so pleasing to the eye as the young woman sitting beside him.

  Others might have been more beautiful, more voluptuous, clothed with silks and satin, but the fresh innocence of Rachel Sinclair, garbed in a faded cotton dress, spoke to him in a way he found he could not resist Despite his words of assurance, he was not certain he could keep his place without more effort than he was willing to expend to that end.

  With her gentle curves and creamy skin, her blue eyes, her dark vibrant hair that tempted his fingers to its depths, she was exactly what he had been waiting for.

  Now he only needed to persuade her in that directi
on.

  Chapter Five

  Baking pies was a tremendous waste of time, Rachel decided, as Cord’s crew of hands devoured two pies between them in less than three minutes. Jay and Henry watched, their eyes wide in awe as the men scooped the golden crust and juicy berries onto their forks in rapid succession. The boys’ modest pieces were eaten more slowly, perhaps due to the forbidding frown on Rachel’s face.

  The rest of the third pie was hidden on the pantry shelf, covered by a clean dish towel, each piece already apportioned. One to Jake, should he want dessert, one to Conrad Carson, should he show up with her seeds this afternoon, one for herself, and the last set aside, in case Cord came in late, looking for something to tide him over until breakfast.

  “Wonderful pie, Miss Rachel,” Buck Austin said respectfully, licking the tines of his fork.

  “Best raspberry pie I ever ate,” added Moses, the eldest of Cord’s men.

  Rachel nodded her appreciation of their words, watching as their chairs emptied like the outgoing tide, men flowing past the doorway in a rush as they returned to work.

  “You’re a good cook, sure enough,” Cord said, lifting his coffee cup to drain the contents. He watched her over the edge and she shivered under the heat of his gaze.

  Ever since they’d come back from town yesterday, he’d given her the same sort of look, as if he were peering beneath her skin, investigating the very thoughts that ran rampant in her mind. Their eyes met and he lowered his cup, the trace of a smile curving his lips.

  “I’ve been thinking maybe you need someone to give you a hand here,” he said. “You’re about workin’ yourself to a frazzle, cooking and cleaning, let alone trying to keep up with the washing.”

  “I thought I’d tackle that again this afternoon,” Rachel told him. “I’ve heated two buckets full of water on the stove already. I just need help lifting them down. I can dip and carry from the reservoir myself.”

  He nodded. “I noticed. That’s why I was wondering if we hadn’t ought to find somebody to help out.”