Twisting, balancing her weight with a splayed hand in the grass, she spotted Gideon’s wagon slowly approaching. There, trailing behind it, was a Guernsey cow much like the one they’d left at Reid’s. That wasn’t Mirabelle, however.
Taking Walt’s hand, she stood and watched as the aloof cowboy eased his team to a stop in front of the stable. After setting the brake, he climbed down and, striding to the cow, untethered her and led her across the field in their direction. What in the world?
The brim of his black Stetson cast his eyes in shadow; his stubble-covered jaw and chin were set in grim lines. As if she exuded a foul stench, he stopped a ways out, his mouth unsmiling. Gloved hands gripping the lines, he extended them to her.
“This is Petra.”
“That’s a Russian name.”
A sigh lifted his vest-clad chest. “Bought her from a Russian family.”
“There are Russians here?” During their stay in Boomer Town, the tent city that had sprung up along the border of Unassigned Lands in the weeks preceding the land rush, she’d encountered Poles and Czechs but no Russians. “My mother came to America when she was a little girl. She taught me the language. What are their names?”
“Kozlov.”
“Where is their claim? Can you take me?” Excitement shimmered through her. Her brothers hadn’t cared to learn the language. She’d enjoy conversing with native speakers again.
He gave her a long measuring look. “I reckon I could do that.”
“Forget I asked.” What’s gotten into you, Evelyn? To willingly accompany this man anywhere would be unthinkable. “I’ll locate them on my own.”
Jerking a thumb over his shoulder, he said, “I’ve got supplies to unload. Can you take her now?” Again he lifted the leads.
“What do you expect me to do with her?”
“Take care of her. She’s your milk cow, after all.”
“Mine?” Her gaze volleyed between the cowboy and the russet-hued beast. “I don’t understand. Did my brothers—”
“They have nothing to do with this.” He shoved up his brim, revealing those piercing wolf’s eyes, a turbulent, stormy gray. “Your son needs milk.”
As if that were enough justification for a gesture such as this. “You can’t mean to tell me that you purchased Petra for us?”
Gideon’s gaze flickered to Walt, and his face altered. Pain-ravaged was the best word to describe him. Tormented. Jaw working, he dragged his attention back to her.
“For Walt.”
Dazed by what she’d seen, Evelyn took halting steps forward. He veered back, maintaining distance as he transferred the leads to her. Then he left.
Evelyn stared after him. A thousand bewildered questions skated through her mind with no clear-cut answers.
Petra shifted, straining to reach the grass. A milk cow. Gideon Thornton had brought them a milk cow. He’d become aware of their need and met it, no questions asked, no payment demanded.
Something was very wrong here.
* * *
“Can’t you see what he’s doing?” Reid paced a trail in the grass, his gestures stiff and jerky, while she scrubbed her single black dress in the wash basin. “He’s obviously trying to make you think he’s one of the good guys, someone to be trusted.”
Evelyn paused, soap bar resting against the ridged washboard, and gazed at Petra grazing contently in the field, then at Gideon heaving another log into place. Even from this distance, the man’s impressive strength was on display. His biceps had to be as large as small tree trunks! “Why would he care what I think?”
Her brother shot her a dubious look. “Please tell me you’re not really that naive. What do you have that he wants?”
The name on the stake. “Rightful ownership of this claim.”
“Exactly.” He snapped his fingers.
“Let me get this straight. You think he bought the cow not as an act of kindness but as a bribe. He’s going to try and convince me not to contest the claim.”
“That’s right.”
Resuming her task, she mopped her forehead with her sleeve. “Doesn’t sound like something he’d do.”
“Oh, what, now that you’ve spent a whole day in his company you know what kind of person he is?”
“No, of course not. It just doesn’t seem like he’d put forth that kind of energy on a plan that isn’t foolproof. He’s rather busy, if you can’t tell.”
Glancing toward the stable, Reid smirked. “Yeah, well, his single-mindedness will only benefit us. When all is said and done, that will be your stable, sis. Yours and Walt’s. It’ll save us from having to build it later.”
Her gaze once again drawn to the taciturn middle Thornton brother, she experienced a pinprick of disquiet. How would she feel if she’d worked that hard on something only to have to leave it behind?
“Oh, no, you don’t.” Her twin was suddenly squatting in front of her, his coffee-colored eyes boring into hers. His ivory felt hat sat at a rakish angle on his head. “Don’t feel sorry for the guy. He doesn’t deserve your compassion, Evelyn. Remember, he’s trying to steal Walt’s inheritance. He’s taking advantage of a widow and her fatherless child.”
She disliked it when Reid read her mind like that. Some things a girl preferred to keep private. Lifting her chin, she met him stare for stare. “I could never forget that.”
Studying her with narrowed eyes, he finally nodded, then frowned again at her navy blue skirt and white scoop-necked blouse. No doubt he disapproved of her not wearing proper mourning clothes.
“Before you say it, I own only one appropriate outfit.” She lifted the long-sleeved, too-elegant-for-everyday-use black blouse out of the sudsy water. Aware of Evelyn’s scant wardrobe, her mother-in-law had made her several outfits to wear to church services. Not a fan of black, she’d rarely worn this particular one. “I have to wash it sometime. Besides, it shouldn’t matter what I wear out here when there’s no one around to see.”
Again, a long, slow perusal. “Evelyn, I—” Frowning, he stared at the ground beneath his dusty boots. “I’ve wanted to ask you about Drake ever since...” Cautious eyes met hers. “Look, the accident shocked us all. I know you have a huge burden to shoulder. Walt’s silence adds to that, I’m sure, but I’m worried about you. We all are.”
Laying the soap aside, she rinsed the material and wrung out the excess water. “There’s no need to worry. I assure you I’m fine.”
For her brothers’ sakes, she’d tried her best to hide her unhappy marital state. After all, Theo had introduced her to Drake Montgomery, and all three brothers had encouraged her to accept his proposal. If they’d discovered the true state of affairs between her and her husband, they would’ve blamed themselves. And perhaps intervened, which could have ended in violence. So she’d playacted.
Reid followed her to the rope she’d strung up between two oaks. “That’s the problem. A woman who’s just lost her husband should not be fine.”
“Everyone grieves differently.” Hooking the clothespins in place, she checked to see that Walt was still cavorting with Lion and Shadow along the stream bank. “Besides, I’ve a lot to keep me busy these days. There isn’t time to dwell on our loss.”
“You were inconsolable after Ma and Pa died,” he pointed out, following her back to the pile of laundry awaiting her attention.
“That was different.”