A Rancher Of Convenience

She was hiding in the house the same way she’d done when her husband had first brought her home as a bride. He didn’t think that boded well for her acceptance of his proposal, but he wasn’t about to badger her over the matter. That surely wouldn’t make her any more amenable to the idea.

Given her retreat, he was surprised to find a note waiting for him in the barn when he, Upkins and Jenks returned from working the next day. The Windy Diamond had bunks for a small contingent of hands. More workers were generally hired during branding in the spring and roundup in the fall. The barn had a stall for a milk cow and a coop for chickens plus a wide room at the back with bunks, a long table and a cook stove, counter and storage.

Over the past year, Hank had grown accustomed to the room, which always smelled like beans, leather and saddle soap. Jenks never made his bunk, and the narrow bed was crowded with a wad of colorful blankets and bits of leather, horse hair and string the youth intended to make use of. Upkins was always complaining about how the sixteen-year-old made room for every barn cat that wanted a place to hunker down for the night.

The veteran was more fastidious—blankets tucked in at right angles and smoothed down flat, hat hung on a peg above his head and belongings stowed in a trunk that slid under the bed. Hank slept on the top bunk above him and tried to keep things neat, if only to prevent them from falling on Upkins below.

He didn’t much care about his belongings, except for the quilt. He’d won it in a raffle to raise money for the new church that was being built in Little Horn. In truth, he wasn’t even sure why he’d bought all the tickets to win the thing. It was pretty and warm and sweet. All the local ladies had stitched at it, and he knew some of the carefully placed threads had been put there by Nancy. She’d been so determined to help raise the money. What man could resist those big hazel eyes?

Still, the folded pink paper sitting on the table was at odds with the mostly masculine setting. Hank could only hope it wasn’t a note dismissing him from his post for his bold suggestion.

“What’s that you got there?” Upkins demanded as he came into the room.

“Looks like a love letter,” Jenks teased, flopping down on his bunk and setting the lariat he was braiding to sliding off the blankets.

Hank ignored them, reading the politely worded note before tucking it in his shirt pocket. “Mrs. Bennett wants to see me.”

Upkins scrunched up his lined face. “She wants a report, most like. You can tell her the herd is hale and hearty.”

Jenks nodded. “Good water, good grazing, no sign of trouble.”

Hank nodded too, though he thought trouble was likely waiting for him, at the ranch house.

He cleaned himself up before answering her summons, and if he tarried over the task neither Upkins nor Jenks berated him for it. It wasn’t often a respectable lady requested a cowboy’s company. His friends no doubt thought he was slicking down his hair, shaving off a day’s worth of stubble and changing into his best blue-and-gray plaid shirt and clean Levi’s to make himself more presentable. He knew he was just delaying the inevitable.

His steps sounded heavy without the chink of spurs as he climbed the steps to the porch. Shaking a drop of water off his hair, he rapped at the front door and heard her call for him to come in. With a swallow, he opened the door and stepped inside.

It was the second time he’d been invited into the ranch house, and he still thought it didn’t look like Nancy Bennett lived there. Oh, it was neat as a pin, the wood walls painted a prim white and the dark wood floor scrubbed clean. But the entryway had only a mirror and a brass hat hook to brighten it, and the parlor leading off it, with its dual chairs flanking a limestone fireplace, looked as if no one stayed long enough to muss it up. Surely a house that Nancy lived in would have more charm and warmth.

“Back here,” she called, and he followed the sound of her gentle voice down a hallway that led toward the rear door. Three closed doors lined the left wall, and, near the back of the house, a doorway opened onto a wide kitchen.

And Nancy Bennett glowed in her kingdom. He could see her reflection in the silver doors on the massive black cast-iron stove on the back wall, smell the savory results of her efforts from one of the two ovens. How she must take pride in her own hand pump so she didn’t have to go outside to fetch water, and the big pantry lined with shelves where preserves glittered in the lamplight.

But nowhere was her touch more evident than on the long oval table that stood in the center of the room. The expanse was covered with a lacy white tablecloth dotted with shiny brass trivets, a pair of rose porcelain candlesticks dripping crystal and a china vase full of daisies. The entire affair was surrounded by a dozen high, carved-back black walnut chairs. Lucas Bennett must have been expecting company or hoping for a passel of children, because he’d never invited his hands to sit at that table.

Nancy was standing at the head now, wearing a blue dress with green trim, reminding Hank of a clear summer sky and good grass.

“I thought you might join me for dinner,” she said, “so we could discuss your proposal.”

He had a feeling his nerves would make the delicious-smelling food taste like straw, but he nodded. “I’d be honored.”

She smiled, making his legs feel all the more unsteady. “Go on,” she urged, nodding to the foot of the table, where a place had been set with silver cutlery and a crystal glass of lemonade. “I’ll just set out the food.”

His mother had taught him never to sit in the presence of a lady unless the lady sat first. So he stood awkwardly while she carried a tureen of stew smelling of garlic, a basket of biscuits piping hot from the oven and a pot of apple-and-plum preserves to the table and laid them all out on the trivets. Then she gathered her skirts and sat, and Hank sank onto the chair and gazed at her through the steam.

“Shall I say the blessing or would you like to?” she asked.

He could barely swallow much less recite a prayer. “You go ahead.”

She closed her eyes and clasped her hands. “Be present at our table, Lord, be here and everywhere adored. These mercies bless and grant that we may live in fellowship with Thee. Amen.”

“Amen,” Hank managed.

She served him, filling a plate and then rising as if to bring it to him. He leaped to his feet and rushed around the table to take it from her. Her brows went up, but she didn’t speak again until he’d returned to his seat and taken a few bites.

All the while thinking it was a crying shame he couldn’t enjoy the food more, because it was good.

“I’ve been considering your proposal,” she finally said, fork mixing the stew about on her plate. “And I have one question.”

“Only one?” he asked, smile hitching up. “I must have been more persuasive than I thought. Not that I was trying to pressure you,” he hastened to add. Why was it he could never say the right thing with her?

“You have been very kind,” she assured him. “What I want to know is why.”

His mouth suddenly felt as if he’d eaten sand for the last week, and he reached for the glass of lemonade and gulped it down. He knew why his nerves were dancing. Here was his opportunity to tell her the truth. Yet if he told her, would she allow him to make amends? The need to right the wrong he’d done was like a burning mass in his gut.

“I suppose I feel guilty,” he allowed, setting down his glass. “By reporting on the business of the league, I aided Mr. Bennett with his thieving. Seems only right to help his widow and child.”

Her gaze dropped to her still-full plate. “Not everyone would think that way. Lucas always said you and Mr. Upkins and Billy would ride on when you tired of the place. You marry me, Hank, and you stay here. This would be our home.”

He realized his knee was bouncing and forced it to stop. Staying put might not be so bad. He’d been a tumbleweed for too long. He couldn’t have faced a future in Waco, not with all the bad memories of his father and Mary Ellen, but maybe Little Horn could be home.

“I can settle,” he told her.

She didn’t look as if she believed him, fork once more rearranging the food on her plate.

“I must ask one more thing of you,” she murmured, gaze following the movement of the silver. “If we marry, we would put this ranch in trust for the baby. You and I would have to agree to any changes in that trust.”

He nodded. “That’s as it should be. A man wants his children to inherit what he built.” If that man could believe in his children. His father never had.

She drew in a deep breath. “Very well, then, Hank. We can talk to the lawyer in town, set up the papers to be signed the day of our marriage.”

Hank stared at her, feeling as if the stew had multiplied in his stomach. “Our marriage?”

She nodded, laying down her fork at last. “Yes, Hank. I am agreeing to your proposal. I will marry you.”

Chapter Five

Hank wandered back to the barn after dinner, steps still decidedly wobbly. Nancy had agreed to marry him. He was going to be a husband and a father. He wasn’t sure what to do, what to think.

Upkins caught his shoulder as Hank stepped into the bunk room.

“Whoa there, son,” he said, frowning into Hank’s face. “What happened?”

Jenks shifted away from his belongings. “Did Widder Bennett toss you out?”

Hank shook his head, more to clear it than to answer their questions. “She’s going to marry me.”

Upkins released him so fast, Hank nearly fell.

“What!” the veteran demanded, stepping back.

Jenks scrambled off his bunk, sending a cat dashing out the door beside Hank. “Why’d you go and do something so low-down?”

“Low-down?” Hank frowned at him. “I offered her my name, my protection. You know she can’t run this place by herself.”

“We can.” Upkins widened his stance, though his six-guns were safely in their holsters by his bunk. “And I thought we were doing a good job of it too. No reason for you to push yourself forward.”

“Taking advantage of a lady in her time of need,” Jenks agreed, coming to join the older cowhand.

“It’s not like that,” Hank told them. “I’ll be her husband in name only.”

Jenks looked from him to Upkins. “What’s that mean?”

Upkins shrugged, clearly as puzzled.

“It means I’m bunking with you and riding out like always,” Hank explained. “But as far as the Empire Bank is concerned, Mrs. Bennett has a man running the ranch.”

Jenks scratched his ear as if he couldn’t have heard right. “So what’s she calling you? Mr. Bennett number two?”

Not while he lived. “She’ll be Mrs. Snowden now.”

Upkins shook his grizzled head. “Makes no sense. Wives rely on husbands for more than the change of name, as far as I can see.”

Jenks nodded. “Spiritual leadership and genteel companionship as the years go by.”

Hank started laughing. “Well, guess I won’t make much of a husband, then. Seriously, boys, nothing’s going to change.”

Upkins still didn’t look convinced. “You really going to settle for my cooking when you have the right to sit at her table?”

Dinner hadn’t been all that comfortable tonight, but the food had been far tastier than the cowboy’s. Hank could imagine sitting next to Nancy after a long day, sharing stories, planning for the future. She’d smile, and he’d know that all was right with the world. He wouldn’t have been surprised if he wasn’t smiling just thinking about it. He put on a somber face.

“We didn’t agree on specifics,” he admitted.

“Then I reckon you ought to,” Upkins told him. “Are you obliged to drive her to services every Sunday? Is she going to expect you to take on chores around the house? Who’s giving the orders to ride, you or her?”

Hank shook his head. “Maybe you should have offered to marry her. Seems you have it all figured out.”

“I’ve got the questions, son,” Upkins retorted. “That don’t mean I got the answers.”

“Neither do I,” Hank said. “But there’s something you should know. She’s carrying Bennett’s child.”

Jenks’s brows rose so high they disappeared under his thatch of red hair. Upkins let out a low whistle, then narrowed his eyes at Hank.

“You aim to be its pa?”

“Yes,” Hank said. “You have a problem with that, best you ride on now.”

For a moment, Upkins held his gaze, and Jenks seemed to be holding his breath. Then Upkins nodded.

“We’ll all help,” he declared with a look to Jenks, who nodded so fast Hank thought the boy’s head might rattle.

“You’ll make the babe a good pa,” Jenks agreed.

Hank didn’t know how Jenks could be so sure. He wasn’t. He didn’t even have a good example to follow, unless it was to do what his father hadn’t.

“I intend to try,” he told them both.

Once more Jenks glanced between Hank and Upkins. “So, we’re going to have a wedding.”

Hank laughed. “I reckon we are, and as soon as possible. I guess I better talk to Pastor Stillwater.”

* * *

As it turned out, the local minister wasn’t the only one Hank had to talk to about his and Nancy’s wedding. Hoping for a word with the pastor, Hank took Nancy into Little Horn that Sunday for services in the old revival tent the town used while the first church building and parsonage were being constructed nearby.

He hadn’t had a chance to attend services very often in the past. Cattle didn’t know much about keeping the Lord’s day, so Hank had generally been working. Besides, back in Waco only the fine folk went to services, and he was no longer part of that company.

Now, as he escorted Nancy into the shelter of the tent, he couldn’t deny the peace that flowed over him. He’d grown up worshipping among polished wood pews to the bellow of a massive pipe organ. The little tent with its packed dirt floor, rough wood benches and rickety piano felt more like home. After all, it hadn’t been in the fancy church he’d come to know his God but in the simple cathedral of a cowboy’s saddle.

Still, sitting with Nancy, holding the hymnal for her, his spirits rose. How could he not feel proud to have her beside him, pretty and sweet as she was?

Easy now, cowboy. Pride goeth before a fall. He’d felt the same way about Mary Ellen, and his feelings had been built on nothing more substantial than air. Nancy wasn’t here vowing undying devotion. She stood with him because she needed his help to save the Windy Diamond. And he was here to atone.

As the others listened to Pastor Stillwater’s message, Hank bowed his head.

I know You forgive easily, Lord. The Bible talks about a lost son being welcomed home and You eating with sinners. I know You won’t hold Lucas Bennett’s death against me. Help me help Nancy so I won’t hold it against myself.

Nancy shifted beside him, hand going to her back, and he stepped closer, offering his arm to lean on. Her smile was his reward.

After services, he left her with some of the other ladies and went to seek the pastor, who assured him of his support and willingness to perform the marriage ceremony. But Hank had no sooner stepped away from the minister than McKay and an older rancher in the area, Clyde Parker, closed in on him.

“We have everything under control,” Parker assured him, hitching up his gray trousers with self-importance. “The Lone Star Cowboy League is at your service.”

If the league came through with the money to save the ranch, Hank wouldn’t have to marry Nancy. For some reason, that made his spirits sink. “Then you found a way to pay the loan after all.”

“No,” McKay told him. “That’s not what he means.”

The dark clouds lifted. What was wrong with him? He ought to be disappointed they hadn’t been able to help Nancy.

Parker laughed, sounding a bit like the wheezy piano. “The story’s all over town, boy. You made the sacrifice to marry Nancy Bennett. Lula May says we should throw you a reception after the wedding. Think of it as a service to the community. We all need a reason to celebrate after the troubles this summer.”

Hank held up his hand. “Hold on. Marrying Mrs. Bennett is no sacrifice. I’m the one honored by her trust. And I’m not sure she’ll want a fuss.”

“Mrs. Bennett?” Parker teased with an elbow to Hank’s gut. “You should be calling her by her first name now.”

She’d given him leave to do so in private, but he found it difficult to use her first name in public. Funny how just being with Nancy made him remember the manners his mother had tried to instill in him. Ladies were to be treated with respect, helped into and out of any building or conveyance as if they were delicate flowers that might wither at a harsh word. Even with her quiet voice and shy smiles, he knew Nancy was made of stronger stuff. Look at the way she was trying to learn to run the ranch her husband had left her.

Excusing himself from the ranchers, he walked toward the piano, where Nancy was surrounded by the local ladies, looking a bit like spring wildflowers with their pretty dresses and bright-ribboned hats. Several of the group giggled behind their gloved hands as he approached. The only one who wasn’t watching him closely was John Carson’s girl, and Daisy had her head turned as if she was studying someone behind him.

“Ladies,” Hank said with a nod. “May I steal Mrs. Bennett away from you for a moment?”

“Only if you promise to bring her back as Mrs. Snowden,” the sheriff’s wife teased.

Nancy blushed and excused herself. Hank drew her toward a corner of the tent where the velvet bags that were passed for offering were stored. He could see Mrs. Hickey, the town gossip, craning her scrawny neck to get a view of the two of them, but he put his back to her to shelter Nancy.

“Seems like everyone knew before I ever told them,” he said, rubbing his chin.

“I know.” Nancy sighed. “I mentioned to Lula May at the quilting bee that you had proposed, and of course the other women encouraged me to accept.”

Of course? Who knew the ladies of the town thought that much of him? He couldn’t help grinning.

“They must have assumed I’d taken their advice,” Nancy continued. “I’m sorry, Hank.”

“No need to be sorry,” he assured her. “I didn’t call you away because of the rumors. Seems the league wants to throw a big reception for us after the wedding.”

She paled. “I can’t accept their kindness. We both know we wouldn’t be in this position if Lucas hadn’t broken the law.”

“True,” Hank said. “He caused heartache for a number of folks. But this reception may be a way to put all that behind us.”

She was chewing her lower lip again, a sure sign, he was coming to understand, of her concern. “Well, I suppose we could take them up on their offer. For Little Horn. Maybe Lula May can help me bake.”

Hank took her hand and gave it a squeeze. “Don’t fret. I’ll take care of everything.”

She raised her brows. “Everything?”

“Everything,” he insisted. After all, it was the least he could do.

* * *

Two weeks later, Nancy stood up with Hank and said her vows in front of a goodly portion of Little Horn’s finest. She couldn’t help contrasting her weddings. She and Lucas had been married in the big church in Burnet, because Lucas refused to be wed in a tent. He’d even had a blue satin dress made for her so she looked the part of an affluent rancher’s wife, and she’d felt a little awed to be standing up beside such a prosperous fellow, bouquet of white roses in her hands from the wife of the town mayor.

This time, she carried a bunch of yellow daisies Billy had picked from the ranch and handed her, red-faced, as he stammered his best wishes. Mr. Upkins, dressed in a black suit and bow tie she hadn’t known he possessed, had insisted on giving her away. Her green dress with the ruby roses embroidered down the front had been sewn by the ladies of the quilting bee and designed to be let out as the baby inside her grew. It was all quite lovely, and she felt like a complete fraud accepting the attentions.

But somehow, she managed the words, and when Preacher Stillwater held her and Hank’s hands together and declared them husband and wife, she even found a smile.

As they turned to face the applauding crowd, Hank tucked her hand in his elbow.

“Phew,” he murmured in her ear. “I thought he’d never stop talking. Let’s eat.”

That made her laugh, but then she was fairly sure that had been his intention.

The ladies of Little Horn had done themselves proud, Nancy saw as Hank led her to the two long tables in the field to the south of the tent. Besides the spice cake Lula May had baked for the wedding, its sides dripping icing, there were peach pies with golden crusts and cobblers plump with sweet biscuit topping, crisp ginger cookies and cinnamon rolls dotted with currants. The café owner Mercy Green had even provided gallons of vanilla ice cream. Hank filled Nancy’s plate with the delicacies and mounded one for himself before escorting her to the head table, where a spot waited for them.

“This isn’t so bad,” he mused after they’d eaten their fill. He leaned back so the narrow wooden chair tilted on two legs. “Fine vittles, pretty lady at my side, friends and family celebrating. What’s so hard about marriage?”

“We’ve been married all of a quarter hour,” Nancy reminded him. “You just wait and see how hard it can be.”

Immediately he sobered, the legs of his chair thudding down onto the dry ground. “Sorry, Nancy. I reckon you had it harder than many. I know Mr. Bennett had a temper at times. And I know he rode off when he should have stayed home.”

She didn’t want to remember how her first marriage had failed. “No more mention of Mr. Bennett. Not today.”

As if he agreed, he hopped to his feet. “Let’s not talk at all. Let’s dance.”

From the middle of the field, Nancy heard the scrape of a bow on strings. Glancing that way, she saw that Bo Stillwater was tightening the clamp on his guitar while several of the other local men tuned up fiddles and pipes. Around them, couples were forming, men leading ladies and ladies grabbing their sweetheart’s hand and tugging the fellow toward the music. Daisy Carson was twitching her skirts and glancing to where Calvin Barlow and his family and Edmund McKay were waiting.

But to stand up in front of them all with Hank? She wasn’t sure she was ready for that.

“Oh, I don’t think dancing is necessary,” she demurred.

Hank cocked his head, sapphire eyes catching the sunlight. “It may not be necessary, but it will likely be fun. You remember fun, don’t you, Nancy?”

Did she? She seemed to recall playing with other children in the schoolyard, but after her father’s death she’d spent most of her time with her mother. That had been rewarding, and she’d never regret growing so close, but she could not call it fun.

“I don’t believe we’ve been introduced,” she said, keeping her tone light.

He raised his dark brows. “Well, then, it would be my pleasure to acquaint the two of you.” He held out his hand.

She hesitated. She’d been surprised no one had seen fit to berate her for marrying again so soon, barely a month after Lucas’s death. Surely she shouldn’t be out there kicking up her heels. However badly Lucas had behaved, he’d still been her husband.

So was Hank.

The thought sent a tremor through her. For all they’d agreed on a marriage in name only, surely she owed him some duty.

She must have hesitated too long, for he lowered his hand. “Are you morally opposed to dancing, ma’am?” he asked with a frown.

A moment ago, he’d called her Nancy. She was building a wall between them when none was necessary. She raised her head to meet his gaze. “No, certainly not.”

“Then is it bad for the baby?” he pressed.

“No, it’s not that.” She bit her lip, trying to think of a way to explain to him when she’d been the one to ask him not to talk about Lucas.

He nodded, plopping himself down on the chair again. “Don’t fret. I understand. I probably wouldn’t want to dance with a cowboy if I was a fine lady either.”

Nancy surged to her feet. “Nonsense. Any lady would be pleased to dance with you, Hank.”

He stood, but she could see him eying her warily. “What are you saying?”

Nancy held out her hand. “I believe you asked your wife to dance, Mr. Snowden.”

His grin spread. “I believe I did, Mrs. Snowden.”

It seemed as if the pigeons that favored Hop Toad Springs had taken flight inside her as Hank cupped her hand and led her out onto the grass.

Harold Hickey, husband to the chatty Constance Hickey, was standing by the makeshift band, ready to call the dance, as Nancy took her spot across from Hank. The ladies stood in one long line, the men opposite, with lots of looks flashing from one side to the other—amusement, delight, excitement. At the last minute, Calvin Barlow dragged Daisy into the group, and they took their place at the bottom of the set.

“Let’s start with something fast,” Harold said with a nod to the band, who launched into a lilting hornpipe. The wiry fellow began tapping his toe in time, gray head bobbing.

“Greet your partner,” he called, and the couples took two mincing steps forward. Hank bowed, and Nancy curtsied, her skirts belling out around her. She thought the ladies of the quilting bee hadn’t gathered up all that material to watch it flow in the dance, but then again, maybe they had!

“Swing your partner,” Harold called, and they linked elbows. Hank spun her around in a circle, first one way, and then the other. A smile broadened her lips.

“And a do-si-do,” Harold called. Nancy lifted her skirts and skipped around Hank.

“Mighty graceful, Mrs. Snowden,” he said as she passed.

And she felt graceful: light, buoyant, free. Why had she protested?

“First couple, take a jaunt,” the caller demanded.

Next to them, Edmund McKay took Lula May’s hands and danced her down the center. Nancy clapped in time with the other couples as their friends came back up to their spot.

“Reel her on down, Edmund,” Harold ordered, and the pair linked elbows, first with each other and then with the opposite dancer. Edmund nearly lifted Nancy off her feet as he turned her. Then Nancy was clapping again as Edmund and Lula May progressed down and skipped back up.

“And let’s peel away,” Harold said over the music, and Nancy followed Lula May around the line. She couldn’t help noticing the spring in her friend’s step. Nancy was fairly sure hers matched it.

“Make a bridge,” he called, and Edmund and Lula May took hands and held them high, Lula May on her tiptoes to more closely match Edmund’s reach.

Hank took Nancy’s hands and led her up to the top. And then it was their turn to swing around the couples. As she steepled her arms with Hank at the foot, she felt laughter bubbling up.

“See,” Hank said as they lowered their hands after the last couple had danced through. “I knew you were acquainted with fun. You just forgot. I think we should have him around more often.”

She couldn’t argue with that.

They finished the dance to applause for the band and caller. Harold nodded his thanks. “Now, how about something a little slower for us old-timers? Let’s have a waltz.”

Unmarried couples exited the square, and married couples gathered closer. Hank smiled at Nancy and turned to leave.

“And let’s have our newlyweds lead the pack,” Harold called out.

Hank stopped, glanced back at Nancy. For a moment, she thought she saw panic in his bright eyes. Didn’t he know how to waltz? Her mother had taught her, though Nancy had never partnered a gentleman. Lucas hadn’t liked dancing, at least with her.

She stepped up to Hank and took his hand. “It’s not hard,” she murmured. “I could lead if you like.”

“It’s not that,” he murmured back, gaze searching hers. “My mother always said waltzes were for married couples.”

Nancy smiled at him. “You’re married, cowboy. Or have you forgotten your vows already?”

His grin lit up the field. “No, ma’am. Let’s waltz.” He swept Nancy into his arm and turned her around the circle.

She was flying, soaring, safe in his embrace. The joy welled up from inside her, until she thought she might burst. How had she forgotten how much she loved to dance?

The other couples seemed to fade, the music to quiet, until it was only she and Hank, moving together, skimming the grass. That blue gaze drew her closer, like cool water in the summer heat. She couldn’t look away.

Until he stopped and bowed, and she realized everyone was clapping again, for them. His smile was all for her, his hand cradling hers gently.

And for the first time, she wondered exactly what she’d done when she’d agreed to be Hank Snowden’s wife.