Mary stared up at her with big brown eyes, looking almost like a miniature image of her grandmother. She pulled her finger out of her mouth and asked, “Are you our new teacher?”
Daniel set part of the bed down and answered before Hannah could. He must have seen the look of dismay cross her features at the little girl’s question. “She sure is. I told you I found a teacher to start teaching you those ABCs, didn’t I?”
* * *
Daniel snuck a peek at Hannah. Confusion marred her lovely features. His gaze returned to the kids, who were laughing and jumping about. These two little girls were a big part of why he’d chosen Hannah’s letter from the stacks of others he’d received in answer to his newspaper ad. She’d been the only schoolteacher to respond.
His announcement was rewarded with a smile from Mary and a frown from Hannah. To avoid a confrontation with Hannah, he turned his attention to the younger female.
Mary’s front tooth had fallen out sometime between yesterday and this evening, he noted, as the redheaded urchin nodded.
Daisy clapped her hands. Her pigtails bounced against her shoulders as she jumped up and down. “Oh, I’m so glad! We’ve been waiting forever for you to get here. I can’t wait to tell John Paul. He hates school.”
He realized he couldn’t ignore her forever, and walked to her side. “I thought you understood that part of the reason I chose you was because you are a schoolteacher.” He tried to keep his voice from carrying to Opal, who was squawking at the girls to settle down.
“How would I have known that?” she whispered back.
He ran a hand through his hair and tried to remember if he’d mentioned the new schoolhouse, or his expectations that she’d agree to teach the children on the ranch. With a sinking feeling, he realized he hadn’t.
“Did you and Mr. Daniel get married?” Mary asked Hannah, and then poked the tip of her finger back inside her mouth.
Daniel coughed to cover up his embarrassment. Surely Opal had already heard from his mother that they weren’t married yet.
A nervous laugh exited the older woman. “Girls, girls. Let Miss Young get settled before you start asking her personal questions.”
“John Paul says Mr. Daniel isn’t the marrying kind. John Paul’s sister has been trying to get him to marry her for years, and he keeps saying no. You didn’t marry him, either, did you, Miss Young?” Daisy asked, moving out of range of her grandmother.
Daniel felt his face burst into flames. Hannah answered by shaking her head. Her eyes searched his face and he could hear the unasked question. Why hadn’t he married John Paul’s sister?
“I need to go get the rest of the frame for your bed.” He hurried away from her accusing eyes.
Opal’s embarrassed voice filled their ears. “Daisy Dean! Go play on the swing and take your sister with you! Don’t get dirty!” She shooed both girls out the door.
Just as they passed him on the stairs, Daniel heard Opal say to Hannah, “I’m sorry. This hasn’t been a good day for you, has it, dear?”
It hadn’t been a good day for him, either. He stomped down the stairs and yanked another piece of the iron bed from the wagon as he recalled his day.
The west fence had been cut and had to be mended, so he’d had to rush to get to the stagecoach on time to meet his bride. She’d refused to marry him, and his brother had tried to steal her from him. His mother refused to believe he was going to wed Hannah and had forced him to find a new home for her, and now had sent the heaviest bed in the house for him to haul inside and assemble for the woman who wouldn’t marry him.
Daniel tugged the heavy section of bed frame into the schoolroom and dumped it next to the one he’d brought in earlier. Opal stood hugging Hannah around the shoulders and talking softly to her. He headed back outside.
The sun was steadily sinking and he still had a bed to assemble and chores to do before he could eat and turn in himself. He jerked at the next piece of metal framing. This was not the way he’d thought his wedding day would go.
A movement to his right caught his eye. Cole Winters, Daniel’s right-hand man on the ranch, stepped out of the shadow of the building. The serious look on his rugged face caused Daniel to pause. Cole normally greeted everyone with a lazy smile. As he came closer, Daniel could see he was covered in mud and a fresh, bloody cut marked his face.
“Boss, we’ve got trouble.”
Daniel wanted to groan. Trouble seemed to be in abundance today. Lord, I should have stayed in bed.
“What kind of trouble?”
Cole grabbed the other end of the bed and helped him pull it from the wagon. “Jack Tanner kind of trouble.”
Jack had been a thorn in Daniel’s side ever since the day he’d hired him. The man drank too much and always brought some sort of bad attitude with him wherever he landed.
Cole walked toward the steps with his end of the frame. “The kind that started with us both in the horse trough and ended with him sprawled out in the mud beside it.”
That explained the scratch down Cole’s face. “So you were fighting.” Daniel heaved his end of the bed up and followed him inside.
“’Fraid so.” Cole laid his end down beside the other pieces.
“What started it?” Daniel asked, standing. He didn’t see Hannah or Opal in the schoolroom, then detected the soft sound of their voices coming from the supply room.
Cole removed his hat and swept his chestnut hair off his forehead. “He came back from town drunk and as mean as an ole polecat.”
Daniel shook his head. “Well, help me get this bed set up for Miss Young and we’ll escort him back to town.”
“So you’re gonna fire him this time?” Cole asked, stooping over to pick up the bed again.
“Yep, no choice. He was warned. It’s a shame, too. He’s a good hand when he’s sober.” Daniel and Cole carried the bed frame into the storage room. He really did wish there was another way to deal with Jack. Letting men go wasn’t his favorite part of running a ranch.
“I’m going to fill this shelf with the books I brought from Cottonwood Springs,” he heard Hannah say as she dusted off one of the many shelves.
“Miss Young, where do you want the bed set up?” Daniel asked.
She turned and gave him a gentle smile. “Really, Daniel, just call me Hannah. After all, we will be married, so we might as well start using each other’s first names.”
So she was planning on marrying him. Daniel felt as if she’d lifted a hundred-pound bale of hay from his shoulders. He nodded in her direction. “Hannah, where would you like the bed?”
“Under the window would be nice.”
Cole didn’t move to where she’d indicated, but continued to stand there, staring at Hannah.
Daniel gave Cole a shove to wake the hired hand from his apparent awe of Hannah. “Cole, this frame isn’t getting any lighter.”
Hannah’s cheeks became a pretty shade of pink before she turned her back on them. Her hands worked at dusting the shelves.
“Oh, sorry, boss. I, uh, had something in my eye.” Cole ducked his head and began moving toward the window.
Opal grinned at Daniel. “You two bring in the rest of the pieces and we’ll put it together.”
Daniel didn’t know what to make of his friend’s behavior. “Thank you, Opal.” They set the section down, then headed back to the wagon.
Cole didn’t look at him, but walked ahead. “Sorry about that, boss.”
Daniel