Authors: Marla Monroe
“Their female is Ronnie. She’s inside. Come on and you can meet her while we talk about the wolves.”
Leigh nodded and climbed out of the truck with Jonathan’s help when he opened the door for her. He led her toward the house and introduced her to the two men standing just inside the doorway as Brice and Garrett. Garrett was the larger one. She steered well clear of him as Jonathan held her hand when they were escorted farther into the living room.
“Ronnie!” Garrett called out.
A woman walked into the living room with a tentative smile on her face. Her hazel eyes were friendly but cautious. She had light brown hair and was about five feet five inches. She caught sight of Leigh and grinned wider.
“Leigh, this is Ronnie, our wife. Ronnie, this is Leigh and these are Joel and Jonathan. They live a couple of miles west of us.” Garrett made the introductions.
“Pleased to meet you, Leigh. Come on in here and we can talk while they talk. I overheard wolves, so I know they are going to be a while. We’re having a terrible time with them right now.”
Leigh followed Ronnie into a spacious kitchen with all the amenities. In fact, the entire house looked huge and state-of-the-art. Next to theirs, she felt as if she were standing in a mansion.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked.
“Thanks, that would be great. I’ll help you serve the men if you like.” Leigh wasn’t sure what sort of relationship this woman had with her men. She knew it could be a forced one. She hoped not.
“How long have you been living over there?” Ronnie asked.
“Only about a month or so. How long have you been here?”
“I’ve lived here nearly four years now. The men have only been with me for a little over a year now.” Ronnie handed her two cups of coffee.
Leigh followed Ronnie back into the living room to offer the men coffee. Joel and Jonathan each took their cups from her. She hurried back to the kitchen behind Ronnie.
“How did you meet your men?” Ronnie asked her.
“Um, they bartered for me.” She looked out the window to avoid seeing the sympathy she was sure she would see in Ronnie’s eyes.
“They bought you?” The other woman was outraged.
“Well, I’m not complaining,” Leigh hurried to reassure the other woman. “They saved me from being sold to a brothel. I’m much better off.”
“Still. That’s barbaric.”
“How did you meet your men?” Leigh asked.
“I hit a deer and had a wreck. They rescued me.”
“That’s actually romantic,” Leigh said.
“Are they treating you well?” Ronnie asked her.
“Yes. They’ve been very good to me. But it’s really great to get to talk to another woman for a change.”
“Maybe, now that we know about each other, we can meet and visit sometimes.” Ronnie got up and pulled something out of the oven.
She took two of whatever it was and handed one to Leigh.
“Go on and taste. It’s an apple turnover. I made them this morning for breakfast.”
Leigh bit into the pastry and smiled at the explosion of taste.
“This is good,” she finally managed to get out.
“Thanks. Brice brought home some apples from Barter Town the other day. How are you doing food-wise over there? Do you have enough for the winter?” Ronnie looked genuinely concerned.
“I think we’ll be fine. They had a small garden and put up a few things, but we have plenty of meat and canned vegetables. I’ll have a nice-size garden next year. I was raised in the south and can handle gardens and canning.” Leigh was proud to be able to say she could take care of her men.
“Well, the winters here are really harsh. If you need help, don’t be too proud to ask. We might need meat. We could trade some if we need to,” Ronnie suggested.
“That would be great. I’m sure the men will be glad to work out a trade if you need meat. If they can figure out what to do about the wolves, that is. They are getting brave. Some came up to the back door and dug at the door the other night.” Leigh shivered at the memory.
“Oh, my God! Do you have a gun you can use?”
“Yes, they gave me a handgun to keep with me. They have been going out at night to protect the cattle. I worry about them. The wolves have actually attacked Joel on horseback,” Leigh told the other woman.
“What do you think they are going to decide to do?” Ronnie asked, looking toward the living room where the men were talking.
“I think they want to form a big hunt to thin them out some. If there are enough men, they’ll be safe and the wolves will get scared of men again and stay away from us.”
Leigh could tell the other woman was worried about this. She didn’t blame her. It worried Leigh, too.
“If they decide to do this, they should try and gather up a few more of the families around here. I know there are more of us. Someone not too far south of us has a dog. I’ve heard them out hunting with it.”
“Really? A dog? That would be really great to have dogs to help the men with keeping up with the cows. They have some that keep wandering off.”
“Maybe all the women can get together when they go hunting and keep each other company. We’d be safer that way, too,” Ronnie suggested.
“I’ll certainly suggest it to my men. I would feel better with someone else around. That’s for sure.”
Leigh and Ronnie talked for another thirty minutes about ranching and farming while the men finished up their plans. When Jonathan came and got her, she took his hand and followed them back to the truck.
“So, what did you think about our neighbors?” Joel asked her as they headed back home.
“I like Ronnie. She’s really nice and she knows a lot about the land around here. I could learn a lot from her.” She hoped she wasn’t being too obvious with her hinting.
“I think getting to be friends with our neighbors is going to be a necessary thing if we’re going to survive out here,” Jonathan said.
“We have to be careful about who we make friends with, though,” Joel cautioned. “I don’t trust some of the men out here. Anyone who’ll go and buy a woman…”
“Can’t rightly say that now, can we, big brother?” Jonathan said with a frown.
“It’s okay. You saved me from being sold into a brothel. It’s not the same thing,” Leigh was quick to point out.
“Still, it’s not right.” Joel frowned, and nothing more was said the rest of the drive home.
Leigh worried that Joel was regretting his rash decision to barter for her. Surely he didn’t wish he’d never met her.
“Don’t frown so big, Leigh.” Jonathan helped her out of the truck. “What’s wrong? I thought you had a good time.”
“I did. I really like Ronnie. Are you planning to go hunting with her men?”
“Looks like it. They’re having as much trouble with the wolves as we are, so it’s not just our cows they’re interested in.”
Joel walked around and unlocked the house. “We need to get some rest. Garrett said it will probably snow again tomorrow.”
“That means more staying out at night, doesn’t it,” Leigh said.
“Probably. But not for long. We’re going to meet up with Brice and Garrett after the snow and go hunting,” Joel told her. He headed straight for the stairs. “I’m going to get in bed. You two coming?”
“I’m right behind you,” Jonathan said. “Leigh?”
“You two go on up. I’ll be there in a few minutes. I need to check the kitchen and be sure I put everything up.” Leigh shooed them on and watched them climb the stairs.
Leigh walked into the kitchen and sat down at the table. She needed to think. What if Joel was regretting having bought her? Did it really matter? It was done and over with. They were making it as a family now, right?
Only now that the seed of doubt had been planted, it was already growing in her mind. Ronnie had been appalled that they had traded for her. Would Brice and Garrett treat her men differently because of it? Maybe she shouldn’t have said that they had bought her. Maybe she should have made up a story, but Leigh wasn’t one to lie. Maybe one of the men had said something to her men that upset Joel.
“Hurry up, Leigh. The bed’s cold without you,” Jonathan called from upstairs.
Leigh smiled and stood up. She quickly checked the stove and the sink to be sure she really had put everything up, then hurried upstairs to climb into bed with her men. She longed to feel their arms around her. She needed to know that they didn’t regret their choice to buy her. She needed Joel to love her.
Chapter Eleven
Sure enough, it began to snow sometime during the night. The men went out to guard the herd during the night. Leigh was miserable alone. Not just because she was cold without them, but because she was scared. She was scared something would happen to one of them, scared something would happen to her, and scared they would stop wanting her.
Leigh paced off and on the entire night. She alternated dozing on the couch with dozing in one of the recliners. She liked sleeping in them because she felt closer to them when she did. She prayed they were able to stop them with a hunt, because she didn’t think she could handle this for the rest of her life. Not knowing if they were okay or not was really eating away at her stomach.
Finally, just after dawn, they came riding up in the blowing snow. She hadn’t heard them, but chanced to be looking out the window when they rode up. The snow muffled sound so that she felt as if she were in a giant cotton ball. She watched as they climbed off the horses and led them inside the barn.
Leigh quickly measured out coffee and started breakfast for them. They would be cold, tired, and hungry. She had just put a log on the fire, so it would be fine for when they came in. The knock at the door startled her. She frowned and went to look out the window.
“Let us in, Leigh. Our hands are too cold to take our gloves off,” Joel yelled through the door.
Leigh unlocked the door and opened it only to have the wind catch it and blow it and her back against the wall. She hit it with a
thunk
that rattled her teeth.
“Hell, Leigh. Are you okay?” Joel grabbed her before she fell forward.
Jonathan slammed the door closed and locked it.
“What happened?” he asked as he hovered over her.
“Damn door flew back and knocked her into the wall. I didn’t realize the wind would catch it like that.” Joel hugged her then let go of her. She stumbled, but stood upright.
“I’m okay. Just knocked the wind out of me, is all.” Leigh swallowed back a moan when she reached back and rubbed her head.
“Did you hit your head?” Jonathan asked.
“Yeah, but I’ve got a hard head. Are you two okay? Did you have any trouble with the wolves last night?”
“No, they didn’t show up. Did they come here?” Joel asked. “With the new snow, we couldn’t tell if there had been any around the house or not.”
“No, they didn’t come here. I would have known. I couldn’t sleep without you here.”
“Let us get our coats and stuff off. Then we can eat and get to bed. I’m tired,” Joel said.
“Brice and Garrett are going to want to hunt tonight, I’m sure,” Jonathan added.
“Can I go over there with Ronnie while you’re gone?” Leigh finally got up the nerve to ask. She didn’t want to wait alone again.
The two men looked at each other as they removed their outerwear. They seemed to be communicating without talking. They did that a lot when they were trying to figure out what to say to her. Leigh was almost sure they were going to say no. She was prepared to beg if she had to.