Chapter Twenty
Having watched Reuben go back inside the bank after his lunch break, Walt walked into the saloon. He had the entire afternoon to have a little fun. Reaching the bar, he threw some coins down and told the barkeep to leave the bottle of whiskey after he filled his small glass. Walt turned around as he sipped his whiskey and glanced at the three women in the room. One gal was playing cards with four men, and Walt thought she was a real looker for a saloon dove. At the same time Walt was admiring her, she looked up at him and smiled. He was tempted to sit at the table and play poker, but he had to keep an eye on the bank.
He glanced at the other two gals in the room. They were hustling drinks to three cowboys who didn’t appear interested in anything other than getting drunk. Walt grabbed his bottle and walked to a table near the window. He’d keep an eye on the bank just in case Reuben decided to shake up his routine and do something unexpected. It didn’t take long before one of the women who had been hustling drinks strolled over to his table and asked if she could join him. He was disappointed it wasn’t the pretty one playing cards.
They had nearly finished off the first bottle of whiskey, and Walt gave the woman money to buy another bottle. He didn’t figure he’d wasted time because he’d questioned the woman about Reuben. She knew Reuben was a bank clerk, but she said he never frequented the saloon. When the woman returned to the table, she convinced Walt they would have more privacy upstairs. Walt didn’t object, and she reached for his hand and led the way upstairs to her room.
* * *
Waking up with a start, Walt looked around the room. It took a minute for his whiskey-soaked brain to clear. He realized he’d fallen asleep, and one glance at the woman lying next to him said she was passed out. He looked her over, from her made-up face down to her slippers. Having consumed a good portion of whiskey, she wasn’t nearly as handsome as he’d first thought. He fished out his pocket watch from his pants pocket and snapped open the cover. Dang. It was quitting time for Reuben. He didn’t feel like leaving the comfort of the soft feather mattress, but he had to go. He picked up the bottle on the side table and swallowed the last drop of whiskey. He had just enough time to go to the hotel and order a cup of coffee. If the waitress was right, Reuben would be dining in a few minutes.
Walt’s first cup of coffee was just beginning to work on his pounding head when Reuben walked through the door. The little man sat at the same table as the day before and ordered the same meal. By his third cup of coffee, Walt wanted nothing more than to go back to the shack and sleep until daylight. He saw no point in following Reuben home again tonight. This was not a man who did anything out of the ordinary. Walt couldn’t imagine leading a more boring existence. When the waitress came by to refill his cup, Walt decided he’d order some pie before he headed out to the cabin.
The waitress brought his pie, and then stopped at Reuben’s table to collect his money. Reuben stood and picked up his hat from the table, but instead of walking out of the restaurant, he approached Walt’s table and sat in the seat opposite him.
Walt stared at him. This was certainly an unexpected move from the little mouse of a man. Maybe Reuben did occasionally vary his routine.
Reuben removed his round glasses and started to clean the lenses with his handkerchief. “I’m thinking either Stevie or Frank Langtry sent you here for some reason. I would venture to guess it was Frank. I think you and I should have a talk.”
* * *
Morgan and Murph rode back to the ranch at lunchtime, mostly because Morgan was hungry. When they reined in at the stable, Morgan spotted Rose at the corral. He jumped off his horse and strode toward her. “Stay away from that horse!”
Rose turned at the sound of his angry voice. “But . . . I was just talking to him.”
“I said to stay away from him. As long as you are on my ranch, you’ll do as I say with my animals.”
His tone frightened her, and she stepped away from the corral. “But . . .” She hesitated. Morgan hadn’t even given her the courtesy of an explanation. He turned his back and stalked toward the stable. If he had given her the chance she would have told him why she was with the horse. She’d watched him in the corral alone for over an hour, and she felt sorry for him. She thought the poor thing looked as lonely as she felt, so she sliced an apple to take to him. At a distance he was a beautiful animal; a shiny black coat with four white stockings, and long, flowing black mane and tail. As she approached, she was shocked to see the large animal had large raised scars covering his body. She didn’t know what had happened to him, but he seemed quite tame and docile. When she held her hand out to him he came over and sniffed her. He took the apple from her hand gently, and allowed her to stroke his neck as he ate.
Confused, she stared at the stable door a minute before turning back to the horse. “Good-bye, I’ll come back again.” She wouldn’t touch him without Morgan’s approval, but she had every intention of asking him why she shouldn’t be around that horse.
As soon as she walked in the kitchen she started preparing a sandwich for Morgan. When he came through the door a few minutes later, he was silent. He walked to the stove and poured himself a cup of coffee.
“Would you like more than one sandwich?” Rose asked.
“I can fix my own sandwiches.” He was still angry over last night, and seeing her with his horse opened up old wounds. Wounds that he wore on the inside, not the outside like his horse.
Rose placed the plate on the table in front of him. “Why can’t I be around that horse? He’s gentle and tame. I’ve been around horses all my life.”
“Leave it alone, Rose.” Morgan realized he didn’t even know if Rose could ride a horse.
“Are you going to tell me why you are so angry with me?”
Morgan wasn’t willing to give an inch. “I think we said enough last night.”
She’d told herself she wasn’t going to ask, but she found herself asking anyway, “Where were you all night?”
“Didn’t you assume I would live up to your expectations?” he replied curtly.
Even though he was angry with her, Rose hadn’t expected that response. “Are you saying you were with a woman?”
So he wasn’t wrong last night. That was what she was thinking he would do. Morgan jumped up so fast his chair skidded on the wood floor. He grabbed two pieces of bread and slapped a hunk of meat in the center, then picked up the sandwich she’d made and stuffed two apples in his pocket. He walked out the door without saying another word.
It angered him each time she let him know how little she thought of his character. Well, she could just stand in that kitchen and talk to herself, because she wasn’t going to insult him again. What did the woman want from him? He helped her when she was injured, protected her from her brother, he’d seen her home safely, he’d offered her and Granny the security of his home, and promised to take care of them. What more did she want?
* * *
Rose watched Morgan from the kitchen window. He stopped at the corral as he ate his sandwiches, and it looked like he was talking to the black horse. After he ate, he pulled a knife from his pocket and started slicing an apple. He held the slices out to the horse. When the horse finished the first apple, he sliced the second one for him. Morgan braced both arms on the top rail, and the horse nudged his shoulder. He stood there for a long time stroking the animal’s neck. Rose could tell Morgan was indeed talking to the animal, and it looked as though the horse held his head close to Morgan’s and listened.
“Did you talk to him?” Granny asked over her shoulder.
Rose jumped a foot off the ground. “Granny, I didn’t hear you.”
“No, you were busy watching your man.”
“I don’t think he’s mine. He said he was with another woman last night.”
Granny could not believe Morgan would do such a thing. “Now, Rose, I’m sure you misunderstood.”
Rose repeated their conversation and Granny said, “He didn’t say he was with another woman. He said that was what you expected of him. Is that what you truly believe he would do?”
“I don’t know what to think. My emotions seem to be getting the best of me.”
“Rose, Morgan could have had another woman long ago if he wanted. You need to trust in God’s plan.”
Rose wasn’t sure she knew God’s plan, but she was willing to trust Him. “I’ll try.”
“Good. You’ll never be disappointed when you give your trust to Him. I’m confident He wouldn’t have brought Morgan to you if he wasn’t the one.”
Rose couldn’t seem to pull her eyes away from Morgan as he talked to that horse. “Morgan told me to stay away from that horse. Do you know why?”
Granny looked out the window. “I don’t know. Morgan used to ride that horse years ago. I remember thinking it was the most beautiful animal I’d ever seen.”
“You can’t see them from here, but he has a lot of scars over his body.”
“Maybe he had some sort of accident,” Granny said. “That’s a shame, he’s so beautiful.”
“He’s still beautiful, but it comes from the inside.”
Rose left her bedroom door ajar again so she would hear Morgan when he came home. He hadn’t come home for dinner, and they’d waited for him for two hours before they ate. Finally, she heard his footsteps on the staircase. She listened as he walked in his bedroom and quietly closed the door. She glanced at the clock on the mantel. It was almost midnight. He kept mighty late hours for a rancher.
Nothing changed over the next few days. Morgan left the house before dawn and didn’t come home for lunch or dinner. Occasionally, Rose would see some men ride in midday, but Morgan was never with them. Joseph was always around the ranch, caring for the animals or working on anything that needed repair. Rose was devastated, and she didn’t know how to repair their relationship if Morgan wouldn’t meet her halfway. They needed to talk if they were going to go through with their marriage. She thought perhaps he was trying to tell her he no longer wanted to marry her. If that was his aim, she needed to find out soon.
Rose and Granny were eating lunch, and Rose was tired of sitting around waiting on Morgan to get over his anger and talk to her. “Granny, Stevie’s horse is still here, so I’m going to take him to the farm to see if Stevie needs him. I’m worried about him.”
“I’m worried about him too. I’ll go with you.” Even though the farm was just a few minutes away through the pines, Granny didn’t want Rose to go alone. She felt sure it would upset Morgan even more. She’d hoped she would have a chance to speak with Morgan on Rose’s behalf, but since he wasn’t coming home, the opportunity hadn’t presented itself.
* * *
Rose led Stevie’s horse from the stable, and she and Granny walked through the pines. Stevie was not home, but they could tell he’d eaten there recently. They washed all of the dishes and straightened the house before they went outside to care for the garden.
“Rose, I need to start canning some of these vegetables,” Granny said.
“I was thinking the same thing. Do you think we should do it here, or take them to Morgan’s? I hate to do something without asking him. Since I haven’t seen him, I’m wondering if he’s trying to tell me he’d like to call off the marriage.”
“I’m sure if he felt that way, he would let you know.” Granny had faith in Morgan, but even she was disappointed that he was avoiding them.
They heard a horse behind them, and when they turned around, there was Morgan glaring at them. “I thought I told you two not to come here without me.”
“It’s difficult for us to tell you anything when you are never around,” Rose snapped before turning her attention back to weeding the garden.
Granny looked at Morgan and raised her gray eyebrows at him. “We haven’t seen much of you the last few days. We brought Stevie’s horse back, but he’s not here. We need to start some canning soon, and Rose and I were just discussing if we should do it here.”
“We’ll take what you need to the ranch,” Morgan said. His eyes were fixed on Rose’s backside as she was bending over, pulling weeds. She was ignoring him. He couldn’t blame her, he’d been acting like an idiot. And he was the one getting the worse end of the deal. Instead of kissing her good night and climbing into his nice soft bed, he was bedding down with his horse and sleeping on the hard ground. Every bone in his body was aching. “We can come back tomorrow with the buckboard.”
Morgan heard a sound at the side of the house and was about to draw his gun when Stevie came strolling around the corner.
“Stevie, we brought your horse back,” Granny said.
“Thanks.” Stevie remembered Frankie wanted him to pretend he was staying on the farm. “I was just out walking. I planned on coming to the ranch to ask what you wanted me to do with the vegetables.”
Granny was pleased that he was offering to help. “Rose and I are going to start canning, but you can gather the ripe vegetables and we’ll pick them up tomorrow.”
“Sure thing.” Stevie looked at Rose. “So when’s the big day?”
Rose glanced at Morgan. She had no idea what to say.
“In two weeks,” Morgan said. “You’re welcome to join us.”
“Thanks, I will.”
“If you ever want to join us for supper, you’re welcome anytime,” Morgan added. “I’m sure Granny and Rose would like the company.”
Morgan wasn’t fooled by Stevie’s sudden interest in the farm, or their marriage. Something was up, he just didn’t know what it was yet. He sure as heck wasn’t out for a walk. He started to tell Stevie about meeting Reuben in Denver, but he didn’t want to tip Stevie off if Jack was looking into the stagecoach robbery.
Rose felt a surge of relief at Morgan’s response, and that he was trying to be cordial to Stevie. After Stevie’s past behavior, Morgan was more forgiving than she expected.
Stevie wanted them to leave so he could take Frankie’s horse back to him. “Well, thanks for bringing the horse home, and I’ll get the vegetables together.”
“Do you want to come to dinner tonight, Stevie?” Rose asked. She thought he probably hadn’t had a good meal since they’d left. Granny was right, he needed to work if he was going to eat, but she couldn’t help feeling sorry for him.
“No thanks, I’d best get to work,” Stevie said.
“As I said, you’re welcome to work on the ranch,” Morgan said.
“I’ll think about it.”
“We’ll come back in the morning for the vegetables,” Granny told him.
Morgan dismounted and offered to let Rose and Granny ride his horse, but they said they preferred to walk. The three of them walked through the pines back toward the ranch.
When they reached the house, Morgan said he was going to take a bath in the bunkhouse and would be home for dinner.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Granny said, “You see, he is still planning on marrying. He told Stevie when the wedding would be.”
“Yes, he did. I still think we need to talk.” Rose would see what kind of mood he was in before she tried to have a discussion with him tonight. She didn’t want to ruin another evening and have him take off. Particularly since she didn’t know where he’d been spending his nights.
That night, after Granny retired, Morgan walked in the kitchen and told Rose he’d like to talk to her. Rose removed her apron and walked with him to the parlor. He sat on the settee and asked her to sit beside him.
“Rose, I’ve had a hard time understanding why you don’t trust me. What you said the other night about me having another woman didn’t make a bit of sense.”
Rose looked into his eyes. “I do trust you. I explained things badly the other night. It felt so good when we were kissing and then you just stopped.” Rose hesitated as she tried to put into words what she felt. She looked down at her hands folded in her lap. “I think I was afraid you didn’t want me as much as I wanted you. I’m not experienced, and I know you are, and I felt inadequate.” She couldn’t be much more honest. Plain and simple, she was worried she couldn’t please him.
Morgan couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d pointed a pistol at him. “You must be out of your mind to think you want me more than I want you.” He pulled her on his lap. “Honey, I’ve never wanted anyone as much as I want you.”
Rose rested her head on his chest. “I loved the way you made me feel.”
Morgan took her chin in his hand and kissed her. He kissed her so long and so thoroughly they were both breathing hard when they pulled apart. “I love the way you make me feel too.” He lowered his lips to hers and kissed her again. Like before, his lips moved to her ear and he whispered sweet words to her.
Rose wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered in his ear, “You are so beautiful without your shirt.”
Hearing those words from her excited him beyond belief. He held her to him and continued to kiss her. It was apparent that she didn’t want him to stop. But he had to stop. “Rose, we need to stop.”
Rose pulled back and looked at him. Her eyes were glazed over, just as they had been the other night. “Rose, I don’t want to stop, but we have to. Do you understand?” He wanted to explain this time so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea.
“I’m trying to understand.”
The way she was looking at him nearly made him forget his vow to wait until he married her. “Honey, there’s a point when a man has to stop, or he risks losing control.”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Rose said.
“I mean if we keep kissing like this, I’ll want to take you to my bed. I don’t want to lose control of the situation. It’s been a long time since . . .” He thought it might not be wise to finish that thought.
When he didn’t finish his sentence, she said, “It’s been a long time since what?”
He took a deep breath, hoping she would figure it out.
She did. “Oh.” His words meant the world to her, and she wanted to be equally honest with him. “Thank you for explaining. I’ve been jealous since that day in town when I saw how all those women flirted with you right in front of me. You are so handsome, and I was afraid you might want someone else if I didn’t live up to your expectations.”
“I don’t want another woman. I want you.”
Rose hesitated to ask a question about another matter that had troubled her, but she thought they needed to clear the air. “I have another question. Why did you get angry with me for touching that horse? You know I would never hurt him.”
“I know. It’s just, that horse can be skittish, and I don’t want you in danger if he acts up.”
“He seemed very gentle when I fed him the apple.”
“Some particular sounds make him nervous, and he might rear unexpectedly,” Morgan warned.
“What happened to him?” She remembered Granny told her Morgan rode that horse years before.
“It’s not important. Just be careful around him.”
She could tell he didn’t want to discuss it further. “Does he have a name?”
“Judge.”