His gaze moved to the fifteen-year-old boy who took care of the Johnson horses. Upon his arrival, the young man had shown him where everything was and even his room off to the side of the barn. Jacob called to him now. “Caleb?”
“Yeah.”
“How many men work this ranch?” Jacob continued working as if the question were of no importance.
“Well, let’s see. There’s Sam, he’s the foreman. Then there is Cook, Edward, Asher, Lewis and myself. We’re the regular hands. During the cattle drive, Sam hires others. Usually drifters.” Caleb sat with a saddle in front of him. As he talked he rubbed oil into the leather.
“So six,” Jacob muttered.
“Yep, six.” Caleb shook his head. His black bangs fell into his eyes as he picked up a bridle and began to work oil into the thick leather. “How do you like the tack room?”
Jacob stopped and wiped sweat from his brow. “It’s not as nice as the one we have at home but it’s livable.”
Caleb laughed. “Yep, that’s what ol’ Ike used to say.” He deepened his voice. “It’s livable.”
Jacob thought about the tack room. It was a spacious room and the front part nearest the stalls was used for saddles, bridles and all other manner of things needed to work the farm. His portion of the room had a small woodstove, a bed, an end table and a tall chest of drawers with a cracked mirror and washbasin resting on top. Jacob decided that the next trip to town he’d buy a couple of blankets, some rope and maybe a pillow.
Going through the chest of drawers he noted that the previous stock tender had used the top two drawers for sugar, coffee, salt and several other cooking items. He didn’t look forward to cooking his own meals, especially in a room with little air flow. He felt his stomach protest not having eaten since the night before.
“Cook said to tell you, if you’d like to have meals over at the bunkhouse, he’ll set a plate for you,” Caleb said as if reading his mind, or possibly because his stomach rumbled.
Jacob grinned. “That’s right nice of him.”
Caleb nodded. “Cook is nice enough. Just don’t be getting into his sweet cakes. He doesn’t share those.”
A soft laugh sounded from the doorway. “No, he doesn’t share those,” Lilly said as she entered.
Daisy danced into the room behind her. She wore a light blue dress with what looked like cowboy boots meant for a boy. From the looks of the footwear, she’d not had them long. “Look, Caleb. Lilly let me wear my boots today. We’re going riding,” she said, holding her foot up for Caleb to see.
“That’s wonderful, little Miss Daisy,” Caleb answered. He stood and walked toward the tack room. “I’ll get your saddle for you, Miss Lilly.”
“Thank you, Caleb,” Lilly called after the boy. She pulled her saddle blanket from the wall and walked to her horse’s stall.
Daisy looked shyly at Jacob. “I get to ride with Lilly today.”
Jacob leaned on his pitchfork and smiled at the little girl. Her hair was done in pigtails. “I heard. That’s exciting.”
“It is. We are going to check the fences. That’s important work. Huh, Lilly?”
“Yes, it is,” Lilly answered. She rubbed the horse’s nose.
“Want to come?” Daisy asked Jacob.
He looked to Lilly and she shrugged.
“That would be fun. Are you sure you don’t mind if I tag along?” The thought of getting out of the stuffy barn appealed to Jacob.
Both Lilly and Daisy shook their heads.
Jacob quickly went to saddle up his own horse.
Daisy followed. “I wish I had my own horse.”
“You don’t?” Jacob asked.
“No. Lilly said that I might get one for my birthday.”
“When is your birthday?” Jacob asked, pulling the cinch under the horse’s belly.
The little girl sat down on a bale of hay. “In two months.”
Jacob nodded. “And how old will you be?”
“I will be five years old,” Daisy said, pulling straw from the bale.
She spoke very well for a four-year-old going on five. Jacob thought about his adoptive sister, Joy. She wasn’t a big talker, unlike Daisy, who was even now telling him that Lilly said this year she might have a birthday party and everything.
Jacob listened to her continued chatter as he finished up. He looked over the stall toward Lilly. The woman actually stood there smiling from ear to ear. Had she been watching to see how he’d respond to Daisy? And if so, why?
The thought that she might see him as a future husband stopped his hand as he started to lead the horse from the stall. The last thing he needed was a woman pining away for him. No matter how pretty she was or how blue her eyes, he had no intention of becoming romantically involved with her. Women couldn’t be trusted. He’d learned that when his own birth mother deserted him. Jacob shook his head—he realized he was letting his imagination get the best of him. He didn’t know Lilly, how could he think she’d see him as a future husband? Come to think of it, no one had said she didn’t already have a man.
Caleb had named off six men that worked the ranch but hadn’t mentioned a husband for Lilly. He watched as Lilly smiled at Daisy. Without having to ask, he knew Lilly was still unwed and wondered why. She was pretty enough and in most folks’ eyes should have been married a few years ago. So why wasn’t she?
“Come along, Daisy,” Lilly called to her little sister.
Daisy skipped off to join Lilly. She took Lilly’s hand and glanced over her shoulder to make sure Jacob followed. Her little pigtails bounced as she left the barn.
“She is a cute little thing, isn’t she?” Caleb said from the tack doorway.
Jacob nodded. His mind worked with questions. He pushed away the ones regarding Lilly’s marital status and focused on Daisy. Could Caleb have been the one to take the girl from her bedroom? If so, why would he do such a thing? His gut usually told him what type of person a man was when they first met. For instance, he hadn’t cared much for Sam Hawkins on sight. But he’d not had that gut reaction with regard to Caleb.
Caleb pushed away from the door and returned to his oil and leathers. “I have a sister a little older than her. I miss her a lot. Daisy is like a little sister to me and I’ll hunt down any man that is out to hurt her.” Anger filled the young man’s voice and the warning was clear. Hurt Daisy and I’ll hurt you.
No, Caleb hadn’t been the one to take the little girl from her bed. Still, Jacob would keep an eye on the boy. He stepped out of the barn just as Lilly swung up into the saddle behind Daisy.
She was still in her trousers and looking as pretty as a hummingbird on a bright sunny morning. Jacob looked away. Maybe going out on a ride with them wasn’t such a good idea. Still, his protective nature overrode any caution he might have felt at spending time with a pretty girl and her little sister.
Just don’t let your heart get in the way of your head, he mentally scolded himself as he swung up into the saddle and followed the sisters out of the yard and across the pasture.
* * *
Lilly didn’t know who she could trust. The man riding beside her and Daisy was new on the ranch and they weren’t friends, at least not yet. She’d never considered becoming friends with any of the men before, except Sam. But now, with Daisy being threatened and Jacob being the only new person on the ranch...could she trust him? Tell him what she suspected? Or should she tell Sam? After all he was her ranch manager.