He led his friend over to where Vienna stood, the handle of her valise clutched between her hands. “Vienna, I’d like you to meet my good friend and the Eatons’ right-hand man, Alec Russell. Alec, this is Vienna Howe.”
“How do you do?” Vienna said politely.
Alec lifted his cowboy hat, revealing his dark blond hair underneath. “Ma’am.” He threw West a puzzled look. “What about your business partner...”
“Vienna is my prospective business partner.” He’d left off telling them he was bringing a woman to the ranch, not wanting anyone to read more into his and Vienna’s relationship than was actually there. “She and I are thinking of starting up a dude ranch together.” He hurried to add, “Vienna was recently widowed and is looking for a way to revive her ranch back in Wyoming.”
His friend’s blue-gray eyes still widened with obvious shock. “Well, there you go. A potential business partner and a pretty one at that. Not to mention rather brave if she’s willing to work with you.” Alec chuckled at his own joke.
Vienna blushed, but unlike with the train porter that morning, she didn’t look uncomfortable at the flirtation. A tiny smile appeared on her pink lips as she ducked her chin. West felt a jolt of irritation shoot through him, though he wasn’t sure why. It wasn’t as if she was interested in his friend...was she?
“Where’s the wagon?” West asked, eager to end the unsettling moment.
Alec pointed a thumb over his shoulder toward the opposite end of the train station. “Parked it out front. May I help you with your bag, ma’am?”
“Yes, thank you.” Vienna relinquished her valise to Alec’s care, then trailed them across the depot to the waiting wagon.
West quickly stowed his bag in the back so he could be the one to help Vienna this time. Offering her a hand, he assisted her onto the middle seat of the buckboard. When Alec took up the reins, West joined him on the front seat. As they drove away from the station and out of town, he couldn’t help staring at all the farms that had cropped up in his absence.
“It looks so different from the last time I was here.”
Alec nodded. “There’s a lot more homesteaders now.”
“When was the ranch built?” Vienna asked as she leaned forward.
Turning slightly toward her, Alec answered, “Howard started here in 1879. And he’s built up a fine reputation for the place. Even Vice President Teddy Roosevelt counts the Eatons as his friends.”
“Really?” Her tone suggested a touch of awe. “Does the ranch’s clientele usually consist of famous people?”
Alec pushed up his hat. “Typically, the ranch’s guests are from wealthy families back east. Like mine, for instance, or even Wes—”
“I’ve got a story to tell you about Roosevelt, Vienna,” he interjected, cutting Alec off. He managed to maintain his usual unaffected air and easy smile, but that didn’t stop the sweat from collecting beneath his collar and hat.
No one in Wyoming, including Vienna, knew where—or more accurately, what sort of life—he’d come from before leaving Pittsburgh for good. His family was every bit as prestigious and wealthy as Alec’s, but unlike his best friend, West had been cut off from his family and his inheritance after he’d decided to become a cowboy against his father’s wishes.
Some of the old envy he’d once felt for Alec returned. It was partly the reason West had sought to find a job elsewhere, rather than staying on indefinitely with the Eatons. He had found it increasingly difficult to keep working alongside his best friend, witnessing constant reminders that Alec’s family had not only accepted their son and his choice of employment but had encouraged him, too. They had even paid for Alec to attend college to become a veterinarian doctor, and now West’s friend saw to the health of all the livestock on the Custer Trail Ranch.
Back home in Pittsburgh, West had seen how people reacted when they learned he was the only son of one of the richest men in the city. And he’d hated it. He wanted to be known for his own character and successes—not forever wondering if someone wanted to get to know him or hire him based solely on where he’d come from or how they could wield him for their own purposes.
That was why, when he’d left North Dakota for Wyoming, he’d chosen to keep his wealthy background to himself. He was no longer the heir to Lawrence McCall’s great fortune, nor did West want or need it, so he wanted to be known simply for who he was—West McCall, a poor but hardworking cowboy and horse trainer.
“What’s the story?”
Vienna’s question broke through West’s troubled thoughts about the past. “Right, the story.” Alec threw him a curious look. Ignoring it, West turned to half face Vienna. “The story goes that one time while Roosevelt was staying in a hotel, he shared a room with several cowboys. In the middle of the night, he was woken up by some men holding a lantern and a gun aimed directly at him.”
“How scary,” Vienna murmured.
“He probably was scared until he heard the men say that he wasn’t the one they were looking for.” West smiled, warming to his story. “Then they turned to his bedfellow and told the cowboy to come quietly. Which the man did.”
Vienna shook her head. “What did they want with him?”
“I believe he’d robbed a train.”
Her mouth tilted up at the corners again. “A future vice president and a train robber sharing a room? I only hope we’re as fortuitous to have such interesting guests if we have our dude ranch, West.”
Our dude ranch. Why did those three words and the rare glimpse at Vienna’s lighthearted side have the power to command his heart to speed up with anticipation?
“I guess time will tell,” he drawled before facing forward again.
And wasn’t that the truth? Time would tell if anyone found out about his true origins or if he and Vienna went forward with creating a dude ranch and the venture proved successful. But in spite of the risks, on all accounts, West was ready and willing to move forward with their plans.
* * *
After a late supper that was as delicious as one she and Mrs. Harvey might have made back at the Running W, Vienna was more than ready to go to sleep. She bid West good-night. But when he started to rise from the dining table where he’d been catching up with his friends, she waved him back into his seat. It was obvious how much he was enjoying talking with Alec and the Eatons, and she was glad for it.
When she’d once asked about his family, shortly after they had first met, West had told her that for all intents and purposes he was an orphan same as her. And while Vienna had been close to her cousin Lavina, who now lived in Buffalo, Wyoming, she’d found a new family with the Kents at the Running W, just as West had. Still, she was pleased to see that he had others in his life here in North Dakota who, like Edward and Maggy, could also be called family.
“I’ll see you at breakfast,” she said to West.
He nodded. “Good night, Vienna.”
“Good night.”
She was led to a nice room on the second floor of the big house. After hearing the story of Roosevelt and the train robber, she was more than relieved to discover she was the room’s only occupant.
Thanking her hostess, Vienna shut the door and readied for bed. It felt strange that she only had herself to care for tonight, rather than getting Hattie ready for bed, too. A wave of missing her daughter brought a lump to her throat as she knelt beside the bed to pray. She thanked the Lord for her and West’s safe arrival, for the kind welcome and hospitality of the Eatons, for West’s friendship and for the help of the Kents, who in caring for Hattie had made this trip possible for Vienna. She asked that her daughter would be watched over and that