“I'll get you settled, then I can take care of the horses.”
Hmmm, still being sweet. “No, I'll help you. I'm awake.” To prove her point, she hopped down out of the cart without assistance. To not prove her point, her knees buckled and she had to grab the cart to keep from falling on her face.
“You can barely stand,” he said with noticeable exasperation.
“I've been sitting for a while. I just need to walk around a bit. Please. I really do want to help.” Ginny meant every word. She didn't like being a burden, and Colby had to be as tired as she was. The least she could do was repay his recent kindness.
“Alright, I have a few crates to unload for the house. The rest will go in the barn.” He went to the back of the cart and started grabbing crates. Ginny grabbed one as well, and gingerly placed it on the porch. Going back to the cart, Ginny grabbed her bag and placed it on the porch next to the crate. Colby stared at her as she returned to the cart.
Not as spoiled as I thought
.
“Let's get back in the wagon and head to the barn.” His voice sounded funny. Colby was rarely surprised.
“If you don't mind, I'll walk behind it. I really need to stretch my legs.”
“Fine.” Colby climbed back into the cart and drove the horses toward the barn. He arrived a minute before Ginny did and took the time to watch her silhouette as she approached. She was neither tall, nor short. She walked as if she hadn't a care in the world. He could see her head turn this way and that, looking around as if she could see in the dark. He remembered how pretty she was and knew he needed to shield his feelings. This woman could very well be the end of him.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I was making sure I didn't trip over anything. What can I do to help?”
Again, Colby got that uncomfortable feeling like he'd been too much of an ass over the last couple of days. “How about you start unloading the crates and put them against the wall over there.” Colby pointed to the spot he wanted his supplies. “I'll unhitch the horses and get them settled.”
“Okay.” Ginny went about her duty as quickly as possible. Some of the crates were heavy, but nothing she couldn't manage. When complete, she walked to Colby who was brushing one of the horses.
“Would you like me to do that?”
“Nah. I'm done. Let's head back to the house and call it a night.”
Colby smiled and Ginny's heart skipped a beat. Oh yeah, lust could play a major part of this relationship. His two day old beard and his handsome features were playing heavily with her. Maybe she wouldn't have to wait too long for this romance thing to blossom. But if that were the case, it wouldn't be Ginny playing this part. Her experience told her that she was boned.
Walking side by side, Colby remained silent. He didn't know where this newfound acceptance had come from, and it scared the hell out of him. Hadn't he been thinking about all the trouble she would cause?
As they approached the house, Ginny tripped over some invisible obstacle. Colby grabbed her arm and pulled her against him before she could face plant. Before he could think better of it, he turned her towards him and stared at her eyes. There was little light, but he could see her expression. She looked embarrassed and of wanting to be anywhere else at that moment.
“I'm sorry. I'm not usually that clumsy.” Ginny was shocked at how quickly Colby had caught her. His face looked amused, which only made her madder.
Yeah, like you never tripped before, asshole
.
Seeing her expression change from embarrassment to anger, Colby figured he should get her to bed quickly before they were arguing in his front yard. The last thing he wanted was to wake up his family and introduce his wife this late.
Clearing his throat, he spoke quickly, “I think we should get to bed. It's late and we're both pretty tired. Let me show you your room.” With that, he let go of her arm and walked toward the steps to his home.
The Miller family home had changed drastically over the years. When his parents had first settled in this valley, there were only a handful of families. Most of the settlers were ranchers, like the Millers, but some had tried their hand at farming too. Colby's earliest memories were of a small, two room log cabin that his father made when he wasn't caring for their stock.
As his parents became more successful, and after a few years of good beef prices, his father decided to add on to their home. Now, the house had two stories, five small bedrooms, a parlor, a dining room, a kitchen and a bathroom. They even had an inside toilet, since walking across the yard with a few feet of snow on the ground had become very tiresome, especially with small children.
Colby loved the house but had no qualms about leaving it. He still would, if he could.
He walked Ginny up the stairs and opened a door at the top of the stairs. Walking inside, he lit a candle and turned to watch her expression. He expected to see disappointment, but was surprised.
Once Ginny saw the small bed, her eyes lit up with excitement.
Praise the gods
, she thought merrily as she dropped her bag that she'd left with the crates for the house. Smiling at Colby, she said, “Thank you. I can't wait to get some rest. Good night.” Ginny knew she wasn't being very subtle but didn't care. She had a date with a bed!
“Well then, good night.” Colby felt put off by her attitude. It seemed that no matter what she gave him, he wanted something different. He expected her to be disappointed, and when she wasn't, he was bothered by it.
I used to be able to read people so well
, he thought as he left the room and closed the door behind him.
Ginny changed into her nightgown, but since there wasn't any water in her room to wash up, she just went to bed. She could wash up tomorrow, she figured as she climbed between the sheets. The linens smelled a little stale, as if they'd been waiting for someone to use them for a long time. The bed wasn't her pillow top at home, but it was not sleeping on the ground either. Moving this way and that, Ginny finally found a comfortable position and fell fast asleep. Any worries she had would wait for morning, where she could confront them in the light of day.
The next morning, Ginny awoke to screams of joy.
Apparently
, she thought to herself,
the boys get up pretty early.
Her one window showed that the sun had barely risen in the east. Fighting the urge to roll back over, Ginny pulled herself from the bed and went about getting dressed. Lamenting her lack of water, Ginny did the best she could with her body and hair. She put on her same traveling clothes that had seen better days, even before her traveling.
Ginny walked down the same steps she came up the night before, following the sounds of laughter coming from another part of the house. Entering a small doorway, Ginny peered into a kitchen, where a boy and a girl sat around an old wooden table eating breakfast. The smell of eggs and ham made Ginny's stomach gurgle so loudly that they turned suddenly and stared at her.
No one said a word for a full minute. The girl finally found her voice and said, “Oh, my. Please come, sit down and join us.”
Afterwards, the little boy couldn't contain himself. As Ginny sat at the table, he began his inquiry. “Who are you? Did my brother find you and bring you home? Are you my new teacher?”
The girl, suddenly remembering her manners, put a hand on the boy's arm to stop him from asking any more questions. Smiling at Ginny, she apologized. “We weren't expecting guests. Colby didn't mention he'd brought anyone home with him. My name is Georgia, and this is my youngest brother, Nate.”
Returning the smile, Ginny replied, “It's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Ginny.” Ginny wondered how Colby wanted to play this. They agreed not to be married, but she didn't know how he would handle any questions from his siblings. She decided to wait until he was around to answer too many personal inquiries.
“Where is your brother now? Is he going to have breakfast with us?”
“Nah, Colby already left to check the stock. He won't be around until this afternoon.” Nate continued to shovel food into his mouth during his explanation.
Georgia, who had stood up to retrieve a plate for Ginny, began to dish out from a platter of eggs and ham. Handing her the plate, she offered, “Colby's been gone for a few days and needs to make sure everything went well in his absence.”
Something about the way Georgia spoke reminded Ginny of all the ladies from her Regency England novel. Perhaps it was Eloise's influence, but it seemed that Georgia was striving to be extremely ladylike.
“Oh, and he didn't mention me at all, huh?” Ginny couldn't say she was surprised, just annoyed.
“No, he didn't. May I ask why you've come to visit us?” Georgia looked pained to ask, as though she was stomping on some piece of etiquette she'd practiced so hard to perfect.
“I'm... uh...” Ginny didn't want to say the wrong thing. After a
moment, she decided to be as honest as she could. “I'm your new
governess. I'm to teach the boys, and I suppose be a chaperone for you.”
Ginny addressed Georgia, since Nate had obviously grown bored with her when compared to his breakfast.
Georgia's eyes lit up with excitement. “That's wonderful. Since Eloise married, the boys schooling has been lacking.”
“There's another brother, right? Frank?”
“Yeah, Frank left with my brother to check on the cattle. He thinks he's bigger than he is.” With that, Nate shoveled one last bite in and left the table in such a hurry that he nearly knocked his chair over.
Looking embarrassed, Georgia said, “Don't mind, Nate. He's a little jealous because Colby started showing Frank how things are done around here. In a few years, he'll do the same with Nate.”
“Of course,” Ginny didn't know what else to say. All her siblings in her real life were much older. She had to live through a lot of “why does he get to do that and I can't” conversations with her mother.
“After breakfast, I can show you around.” Georgia smiled again. She had a beautiful smile, with perfect white teeth. She was also stunning. Her hair was golden blond and wavy, coming out of a loose ponytail in the back of her head. Her eyes were sky blue, and she had a very flattering figure. Not that it mattered, but in this part of the world, a pretty and available girl were very sought after.
“That would be great. Should we collect Nate as well. From what I hear from Tim, he can get himself into trouble very quickly.”
With a laugh that sounded almost musical, Georgia said, “Tim would know. He's always caught in the middle of one of their schemes.”
Ginny was impressed with how mature Georgia seemed. At eighteen, she should be silly and frivolous. It was probably difficult to be either when living in the frontier.
“So, do you have any boyfriends?” Might as well cut to the chase.
Looking down into her lap, Georgia took on a bright, embarrassed hue. “No. I suspect that Colby would like to marry me off as soon as possible, though. No one has captured my heart as of yet.”
Ewwww
, she thought. Sounded like too much romantic drivel. I
t was probably one of the things I'm supposed to do here anyway.
“Well, you're still pretty young. There's plenty of time for marriage and babies.” Ginny finished her breakfast and asked if there was anywhere to wash up.
“The bathroom is right behind that door,” Georgia said while pointing to a door in the back of the kitchen. Walking her over, she opened the door to reveal a wash basin, toilet and tub. “The water is connected to the stove and should be very warm now. We usually wait until evenings to use the tub, since the hot water is more plentiful, but there you could fill the sink and clean yourself up if you wish.”
Ginny stared at the toilet. It had been a long time since she'd seen one and wondered if it flushed. She couldn't imagine it did, since there was no sewer system around here.
“There are clean towels in the cupboard,” Georgia stated as she pointed to a cabinet in the corner. “Why don't you clean up, and I'll go collect Nate for our tour. Will ten minutes be sufficient?”
Staring at the bathroom as if it were plated in gold, Ginny murmured her affirmation. She entered the bathroom and closed the door. There was no lock, so she would just have to take her chances. Opening the lid to the box like toilet, she saw that she was right. It was essentially a deep hole. Ginny wondered if there was something that was emptied occasionally or if they had made an extremely large hole. She didn't care, since it was clean and she didn't have to use the woods.
After using the lukewarm water from the water pump, Ginny left the
bathroom feeling much better than she did before hand. She found
Georgia and Nate in the parlor, waiting for her. Georgia smiled and
Nate looked somewhere between pissed and annoyed.
“I don't see why I have to go and all. It's not like I don't know where everything is myself.” Nate's statement confirmed Ginny's impression of his mood.
Before Georgia could say something, Ginny replied, “It's because you are so knowledgeable of the ranch that I need you to show me around. You undoubtedly know where all the most interesting sights are.” Ginny smiled and batted her eyelashes at the boy.
Nate took the bait. “Oh, yeah. I can show you the special fishing spot at the stream, and where Frank and I like to hide our treasure, and where Nicki and Joey hide when there's thunder...”
“That sounds great,” Ginny responded before he could continue. At that rate, their tour would take all day just waiting for Nate to finish his commentary.
The group set out, and Nate narrated the entire tour. He offered little tidbits of information that, at times, Ginny didn't even think Georgia knew about. Although she grew up on the same land, she grew up a girl, with different priorities and imaginings. The water hole to her was a moat around a fairy tale castle. Where to Nate and Frank, it was a vast sea where pirates ruled.
Ginny met their horses, their dogs and even their barn cat, Reggie. After seeing everything there was to see of the ranch, Nate offered to take her out on horseback to see the rest of the land.
“Maybe another day, Nate. I just got here and I believe Eloise is coming by soon to visit.”
“You met Eloise?” he asked. The look on his face spoke of pure, unadulterated, puppy love.
Smiling, thinking about her early crushes, she answered, “Yes. I met
her last night when we dropped off Tim at home. I only got to speak to
her for a few minutes before we left to come here.”
Slightly dazed looking, Nate said, “She is so pretty, isn't she?”
“Yes, she is. She wanted to discuss where she left off with your lessons. I hope that I can teach you as well as she did.”
Georgia snorted at this, and Nate shot her a dirty look. Ginny decided that she didn't want to get caught up in whatever scandal was brewing, so instead suggested they get some water.
“Nizhoni probably made some lemonade. If Colby went through Cheyenne, he would have picked us up some lemons.” And with that, Nate ran towards the house.
Ginny and Georgia turned to walk toward the house. Georgia wanted to say something, but looked as though she struggled on how to put it. Ginny, taking pity on her, just asked her what was on her mind.
“Eloise didn't really control the boys very well. They can really be a handful, Ginny. Eloise expected them to behave. When they didn't, she just... well, she just gave up. I hope you won't. Colby isn't around enough to discipline them, and Nizhoni has too many other things to do.”
“I'll do my best. I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty. I'll figure out how to get through to them, you'll see.” Ginny smiled to reassure Georgia, who in turn smiled back.
They entered the kitchen to find Nate already sucking down a glass of lemonade. By the stove, stirring a large pot of something that smelled like heaven, was a short, older woman. She had long, black hair, styled in one braid down her back. Her face was heavily lined showing both her age and life experience. Her coloring and features were Native American. She was the Navajo that Tim spoke of. From what Tim told her, Nizhoni refused to speak English, although she could understand it just fine. She mumbled something to Georgia, who retrieved two glasses from the cupboard. Nizhoni filled the glasses with lemonade and turned back to her pot. Georgia handed one of the glasses to Ginny, who walked over to the woman and said, “Thank you, Nizhoni. My name is Ginny and it is a great pleasure to meet you.” She smiled as the old woman stared up at her face.
Grabbing Ginny's face with both hands, she mumbled something unintelligible, but kept eye contact with Ginny. Georgia translated.
“She says she welcomes you to her family, Ginny.” Georgia's smile beamed.
“I know you don't like to speak English. I'm sorry that I don't know any Navajo.” From what Ginny understood, during World War II, the Americans used the Navajo language as the only code that the Japanese were not able to break. If it was that difficult, she couldn't see how she could learn it proficiently.
“Too bad you don't speak Spanish, Ginny. She seems to like that language better than English.”
Did Nate say Spanish?
Ginny thought. You couldn't be a health professional in the Southwest without being able to speak some Spanish. After a few years in a busy downtown ER, Ginny was more
than proficient.
“Hablo español.” Ginny saw the woman's face light up. She had to wonder why she would speak Spanish over English, so she decided to ask her. The woman went into a long story about her dead husband being Mexican, so they taught their only son both languages. It was the Miller family that taught him English as well.
Georgia expounded on Nizhoni's son. “His name is Antonio Vasquez. He's traveling at the moment, but he said he would be back soon to help with the ranching.” There was something in her voice which Ginny assumed was admiration. Perhaps Georgia considered Nizhoni's son like a brother, to be loved like the rest of the family.
Ginny spoke to the old woman, asking in Spanish what she was cooking. The woman responded in kind, describing the stew, and the homemade bread cooking in the oven. The two women continued their chatter when Nate heard a knock at the door and went to answer it.
A few moments later, Eloise entered the kitchen carrying a few books in her arms. As soon as Nizhoni saw her, she turned back to her stew and ignored Tim's wife like she wasn't there. Ginny was momentarily stunned, not realizing the dynamic. Turning toward Eloise, she said hello.
“How are you doing, Mrs. Miller?” Eloise asked, her back ramrod straight and her expression neutral.
At the mention of “Mrs. Miller,” Georgia, Nate and Nizhoni all turned and stared at her.
Crap
, she thought, realizing what a precarious position the former governess had just put her in. Thinking on her feet was a specialty, so this was not the disaster it could have been.
“Eloise, please call me Ginny. I'm not really Colby's wife.” Ginny knew she had to fix this before Colby got home. She didn't need him being mad at her for yet another thing.
“Tim mentioned that you two were married. He bought you from a wife dealer.” Eloise may be prim and proper, but she had no clue.
“Yes, he did. He saved me from what could have been a much harder life. But Colby and I agreed that I would be an employee only, not a wife. I would work for him to pay off the debt of buying me, then I would decide if I wanted to stay on with the children.”