The Badger City Gang [Bride Train 7] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (16 page)

“Walt,” said Gideon, “this is Miss Katherine Mason. Kate, Walter Chamberlain is our silent partner, though he’s noisy whenever he wants to be. He’s the ‘W’ of the Running W ranch. He likes to tell us what to do, as if we were greenhorns.”

“You whippersnappers think you know everything, but I’ll not have you make mistakes that’ll cost me my ranch.” He looked her over from under his hat. With the sun at his back, she couldn’t see him very well, but he did look old.

Gideon set a hundred-pound bag of what she hoped was flour on his shoulder and carried it into the cabin. Walt’s silvery-white hair was as long as his beard, which fanned out from his face a good three inches. The ends, both hair and beard, looked trimmed, as if he’d tidied himself up recently. She couldn’t see his eyes, but she got the impression of a kind man. She expected he was in his sixties, perhaps someone’s grandfather.

“Mighty pleased ta meetcha, Katie. You plannin’ on marryin’ this fella?” Gideon, back for another load, choked at Walt’s question. He snickered in return. “From the way you was kissin’ Katie, and she was kissin’ back, I figgered I might be interruptin’ a honeymoon.”

Kate fought the heat that rushed up her face. Did he suspect she’d done more than kiss his partners? The proud look on Gideon’s face, like a rooster eager to crow, didn’t help.

“I won’t be marrying until I’m ready, Mr. Chamberlain,” she said.

Walt frowned. “I got here in eighteen-fifty, and everyone’s called me Walt since.” He puffed out his wide chest. “And are you sayin’ my pardners ain’t good ’nuff fer ye?”

She’d insulted him, the man who could force Zach, Rusty, and Gideon off the ranch they loved so much. And if Walt had been here for the last twenty-some years, he might know of her father. She had to be polite to the old man. She bowed her head as she’d learned to do in front of Mr. Mason when he was angry with her. Gideon had disappeared into the cabin with another load.

“It’s not that, sir. But I have a few things to do before I make any decisions.” She walked closer and lowered her voice. “Have you heard of a man named Wilbur who came west about twenty-one years ago?”

“Wilbur who?” He frowned.

“I don’t know his last name. A…friend knew him, and wished me to pass on her greetings.” She didn’t know what else she could say without giving her secret away. “I was told he might live west of Virginia City.”

“This friend still alive?”

A wave of grief flowed over Kate and threatened to drown her. She pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m afraid not.” She blinked to hold back tears. “She died the day before I left on the train.”

Walt looked away, also blinking. He sniffed and cleared his throat. “Well, I ain’t never met no Wilbur. ’Course, he could be usin’ another name. What’s he look like? Short, like you?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I believe he was at least five foot six.”

Walt’s face tightened, as if in anger. “What’re yer parents doin’, sending you all this way alone?”

“Father was never pleased with me because I refused to follow his orders.” Walt snorted, then waved for her to continue. “I’m nothing like the rest of the family. I was always wild, and ignored the punishments to come when I had an idea for adventure.”

Walt’s eyes grew large. He stared at her, face clenched. “He beat you, or your mother?”

Kate shook her head, surprised he would ask. Many men beat their children as well as their wives.

“He believed only the lower class raised their hand or voice to discipline those beneath him. But one look, one word, and my mother would tremble. I realized when I was just a little girl that he enjoyed seeing people cower.” She set her shoulders back. “I refused to cower. I think that’s what infuriated him most about me. I would obey his orders, but my mind and heart were my own. He could lock me away from the rest of the world, but my mind roamed wherever I wanted.”

“Kate surprised the heck out of Zach and Rusty when she changed into pants and rode astride her horse,” said Gideon, breaking in on their conversation.

“You ride like a man?”

“She rode so hard it only took them overnight to get home from that train,” added Gideon proudly. “And she helped us keep the cattle safe during that hailstorm the other week. She’s game, all right.”

“Guess you got gumption, girl.” Walt frowned and sniffed. “Somethin’ burnin’?”

“My pies!”

* * * *

Walt watched Millie’s daughter pick up her skirts and run to the cabin. His sniffer was still in good shape and he’d barely caught a whiff of well-done rather than burned pastry, so all should be well. She was his daughter. No doubt about it with that attitude. He’d have to hide his eyes so no one would notice they were the same color.

“Kin she cook good?”

Gideon’s grin answered his question without words.

“What about the rest of it?”

Pink flooded the boy’s face. His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. Since Gideon was the youngest and shyest, his Katie must be sharing her bed with all three. He didn’t like the thought of his little girl being touched before marriage, but he couldn’t say anything after what he and Millie did. He hoped she rested in peace.

His daughter wasn’t the running-away type. If Mason was at all like Walt figured, Katie was far better off in Tanner’s Ford than in the stuffy East. Out here a man could achieve anything he set out to do, and damn it all, so could a woman!

“She know how things are in the valley?” asked Walt.

Gideon hung his head and jammed his fists in his pant pockets like a kid waiting to be bawled out. Walt had to tread carefully, acting like a stubborn, persnickety old man and not Katie’s long-lost father. He’d offered to marry Beth Elliott, and then Victoria Adam, to protect them. No one should think anything different if he protected this gal.

“Kate’s not our woman,” said Gideon quietly. He lifted his head and met Walt’s eyes. “She belongs to herself.”

Gideon’s answer pleased Walt, but he kept the frown.

“And no,” continued Gideon, “we haven’t even told her where the ranch is. Zach said it was best if she didn’t know.” He toed the rock beside his foot. “Kate said God gave her a body that enjoyed touch for a reason. She wants to try anything and everything that makes her feel good.”

“You sayin’ this Eastern woman, fresh from the Bride Train, let three strangers into her bed?”

Gideon shrugged. “Zach said when he kissed her, she went wild. She opened her shirt and told them to kiss—” Gideon turned his back and kicked another rock. This one shot across the yard.

His ears turned so red Walt thought they might be on fire. He chuckled quietly.
Oh, Millie, she’s your daughter all right.

How many years since he thought of those nights? He’d tried to be honorable when she first came to him, but she cried so hard, and said it didn’t matter anymore. She had to marry the brute who’d attacked her, but he could give her loving memories to carry in her heart. Then she opened her blouse and showed him heaven.

He was proud of Katie for taking what she wanted. Millie wouldn’t stand against her parents. She said her fiancé was rich and powerful, and her father needed his patronage for his business to survive. Her sisters couldn’t find good husbands without the money they would receive when Millie married. He was furious, but she insisted. So he packed up and headed west, refusing to look back.

He was still looking forward. He’d found a trio of good boys to replace the sons he never had. But now he knew he had a daughter. It was a miracle that she ended up with the McInnes boys. No matter what, he’d give up his own happiness to provide for hers. His ranch, his relationship with Emma Johnston, even his life—he’d trade it all for Katie’s happiness. It took him a few minutes before he could speak. He cleared his throat.

“You want to keep the girl here, with no one the wiser, so you can marry her?”

“Only if she wants,” replied Gideon quietly. “And she’ll have to prove she means it before any preacher comes near. We’ll not be fooled into thinking she cares for us when it’s a lie.”

Walt winced. Damn that Peyton McInnes and his Badger City Gang! Dougal McInnes was an honest, hard-working man who happened to have a wastrel of a brother. He’d heard about Peyton sniffing after Dougal’s wife’s skirts. Not much a man could do about it other than take his family and move away. Peyton followed them to Texas where he was finally caught, and justice served.

“Zach said he heard you got a sweet tooth,” said Gideon. “I saw Kate pulling out some preserves before we headed out. Her pie’s pretty good.”

“If that’s an invitation, boy, I’m takin’ you up on it.”

Walt slapped the younger, and far taller, man on the back. He chortled, rubbed his hands eagerly, and hobbled toward the cabin like the old man he pretended to be. He’d put a case of canned peaches in the supplies. Maybe next visit there’d be peach pie.

“Pa used to love those peppermint sticks,” said Gideon, pointing at the stick candy in the glass jar. Walt’s supplies were rather diminished after a week of Kate’s cooking, so he and Rusty finally made it to Tanner’s Ford. Their first stop was the mercantile, which had darn near everything a man, woman, or child could want. Looking at the candy made his mouth water, but every penny was needed to pay off their debt to Walt. Having Kate come into the picture only made them more eager to own the Running W.

“They’re two for a penny,” said the girl behind the polished wooden counter. She had long blonde hair all braided up around her head and covered with a kerchief. She looked pretty, though far too young for him.

“Thanks, but that’s a penny more than I’m willing to spend,” replied Gideon with a smile.

“The boss said we could buy whatever we wanted.” Rusty stepped forward and lifted his hat to the girl. He added his usual wink, but the girl didn’t seem to see it.

“Mr. Chamberlain said we could buy whatever we
needed
,” said Gideon. He stepped closer to the counter so he could swat Rusty’s shoulder. He was fed up with his cousin getting what he wanted from women with a smile. On top of that, Rusty had no business flirting when they had Kate at home. “We don’t need candy.”

The girl laughed at Rusty’s pout. She looked young, but there was a wariness in her eyes that suggested she’d seen things no female should.

“Are you the men who brought Mr. Chamberlain’s cattle from Texas?”

Rusty elbowed him while winking at the girl. “See, Gideon, our fame has already spread to Montana Territory.”

Someone cleared their throat behind them. “Would that be fame for working hard and riding for the brand, or for whooping it up?”

A much older woman came out from behind a bunch of coats hanging from the ceiling. She had to be Patsy Tanner, one of the owners. Since the only other place to buy food was in Bannack City, Zach had told them to be extra polite. Gideon pulled his hat off and swatted Rusty so he’d do the same.

“Afternoon, ma’am,” he said. “Did Walt tell you about us buying grub on the Running W’s account?”

The shopkeeper looked carefully at them as she swept past. She smelled faintly of violets. Her aroma, accusing voice, and I-know-what-you’re-after look reminded Gideon of his mother. She used to check to see if they were cleaned up enough to go to town without shaming her. That was before she had shamed them all.

“Walt mentioned he’d hired some men from Texas, but you don’t sound Texan.” Mrs. Tanner took Gideon’s measure, from scuffed boots to hair trimmed with a straight razor. “You must be another McInnes. You look like Zach.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m his brother, Gideon. Rusty here is our cousin. He’s like another brother, only worse.”

Rusty grinned and gave her a saucy wink. Mrs. Tanner’s lip twitched, but she kept her frown.

“I hear Zach didn’t make it to the Bride Train in Virginia City,” she said. “Cole Taylor of the Sweetwater ranch was all ready to fight him over a woman.”

“Yes, ma’am,” said Gideon. “Did Cole find himself a wife?”

“No, he said they were too flighty for him.” Her lip twitched and her eyes seemed to bore into Gideon’s. “It seems a masked bandit convinced one of the brides to jump off the train with him. Cole figured she might have been just what he was looking for.” She gave them a look that said she was expecting an answer.

“Someone robbed the Bride Train? What is the world coming to?” asked Rusty with an exaggerated sigh.

When neither of them said anything more, Mrs. Tanner sniffed like a schoolmarm and turned away. She gestured to the girl behind the counter.

“Don’t get any ideas about Molly, here. She’s too young for the likes of you. Nora Dawes is looking for a husband, though she’s a mite older. The only other single females are Meggie and Bridie Redmond, but those Elliotts wouldn’t let you two within a dozen miles of their girls.”

“We’re not looking for a wife right now, ma’am,” said Gideon. He could feel his ears burn at the thought of the local mercantile owner setting him up. If Kate didn’t work out, they’d find another bride without help of an old woman.

“Just as well, since you’re just hired workers,” said Mrs. Tanner, dismissing them with a wave.

“We’re not hired workers.” Rusty straightened up as if he was staring down an irate gambler who’d just lost his last nickel. “The three of us are buying out Walt Chamberlain. With our cattle we already own half the Running W. In five years, we’ll own it all.”

She raised an eyebrow and took another look at them. “That may be, but don’t you so much as smile at those Redmond girls without Trace Elliott’s permission. If he catches you flirting, the best you might end up in is a horse trough. And I wouldn’t want to be in your boots if Ross MacDougal got the idea you might harm them.”

“We protect women and children, not hurt them,” said Gideon before Rusty could make a comment that might get them thrown in jail. Zach had told them about the Elliotts and MacDougals, and how they were not to be messed with. “Zach’s countin’ on us to fill this list of supplies before he gets back.”

He held out the carefully composed list. They couldn’t let anyone know they already had a woman living with them. Mrs. Tanner ran her finger down the list as she silently read. They’d gone over it at least six times before they finally decided Kate could have the gingham she wanted for curtains. Any woman would want that, and Zach was supposedly searching for a wife. They also got a cone of sugar to encourage Kate to do more baking. She said the food she cooked would depend on their behavior. They wanted to treat her real good.