Page 5
From under the tarp, he pulled out a cradle.
A beautiful, handcrafted cradle. His arms wrapped around the wood in a careful gesture, then he began the walk to the door.
Rebekah followed his movements with renewed interest. She had a hundred questions, starting with, What was Ed McGraw doing with a cradle?
* * *
Ed didn’t dare glance back, even if every hair on his neck prickled from Rebekah’s certain scrutiny. He’d never give her the satisfaction of knowing she flustered him.
Careful not to scuff the wood finish against the door, Ed settled the cradle at his feet, then rapped on the door.
At least Rebekah appeared to be staying put in the wagon.
All he needed right now was her nosy reporter questions interrupting his delivery.
He’d handle her questions on the rest of the drive home.
The door opened a little at first, then swung wide.
“Ed, you finished it!” Jeb Nelson, a young man not much older than Ed himself, squatted beside the piece, rubbing his hand along the wood.
His fingers followed the intricate carving before he turned his face up to offer an approving smile.
“It’s beautiful. Far more ornate than I imagined.
My wife will love it. What do I owe you? ”
“Same price we agreed on before.” Ed shifted a little. Jeb was a friend. Ed had known him since they’d played tag in the churchyard. And besides, everyone in town knew Jeb hadn’t worked in a week.
“But you added all that fancy work.” His friend lifted his eyes from the cradle, rising from his squat as he did.
Jeb’s wife, Clarissa, joined them at the door. “Ed! Oh, it’s beautiful.”
Pride straightened his shoulders as he directed his words to his old friend. “I quoted you a price. I’m sticking to it.”
“Ed, you don’t have to do that.”
“I stand by the price I quoted you. That’s all.”
“If you insist.” Jeb patted Ed’s shoulder, his gratitude shining on his face. “I know another family that would love to have so fine a piece. I’d be happy to send them your way.”
Ed reached out to offer the man his hand. He wanted this. His work had value. But promising to care for Rebekah along with the list of chores waiting for him back home made it near impossible. “Many thanks. Things are busy at the ranch right now, but I’ll let you know.”
“Would you like to stay for coffee? Feel free to invite your friend.” Clarissa nodded to the wagon, then squinted. “Is that Rebekah?”
“Rebekah Edwards?” Jeb released Ed from his handclasp to stare at the wagon, then back at him.
Ed’s palms began to sweat as he threw a glance over his shoulder at the wagon. Did everyone in town know about their dislike for each other? Rebekah perched on the edge of her seat, surely listening. “I promised her uncle I’d take her home while he’s away.”
Jeb shared a side glance with Clarissa. “I thought the two of you didn’t get along. Remember, she named everyone that sang at the last young people’s social in that newspaper article. Everyone but you.”
“It’s fine.” But it wasn’t fine. And the sooner he got her home, the better. “Guess I need to get going. Chores are waiting.”
Clarissa rubbed the dress that flowed over her protruding stomach as she arched her brows in a sympathetic sort of look. “Give Rebekah our best.”
Ed nodded, shaking Jeb’s hand again. Their continued praise for his work amongst themselves, even as he walked away, warmed a place inside him that he hadn’t thought of for years. His work with the wood was all his own to give. Not a chore or a piece of the McGraw homestead. A piece of himself.
He settled back on the seat with a terse nod to Rebekah before he clicked the reins.
“Beautiful cradle. You really made it?” Her voice held a note of incredulousness, and he bristled. Didn’t she think he had the talent?
“I did.”
“How are the Nelsons?” Rebekah smoothed her skirt.
“Clarissa sends her best,” he said grudgingly.
The wagon jolted as they left the town behind and angled onto the road leading home.
“That was kind of you not to charge them for the extras.”
He shouldn’t be annoyed that she’d listened, but he felt hot under the collar. That was his business.
He caught the sideways glance Rebekah sent him as if she’d expected a response. “How do you ever find time to work on furniture?”
“I make time.” Ed worked the reins, keeping his gaze on the road as an awkward silence filled the space between them.
Rebekah cleared her throat. “How did you get started?”
“Am I being interviewed for the paper?”
She let out a soft snort before turning up her little nose, all speckled with freckles.
Rebekah let it go, and he maintained the silence as they rolled along the trail.
If only he had a way to speed this trip along. Dealing with Rebekah and her questions left the skin under his shirt with a burning itch like he had a bad case of poison ivy, all blistered and festering.
She’d been a thorn in his side since she’d come to live with her aunt while in school.
Tattling to his ma that he’d made all the other boys laugh at her.
He’d gotten a fine lickin’ over that one.
Now she sat trying to scribble away on a piece of paper, shielding it from his view when the wagon swayed him toward her.
As if he cared what Rebekah wrote, then or now.
He let himself drift into his thoughts as they traveled the familiar path home.
At the last turn on the road home, his shoulders lost some of the tension he’d worn for too long that day.
He directed the horses past the trees by the road into the well-worn path to the porch of the Boutwells’ one-story house, only to have all the tension return the instant he spied Heath Quade sitting atop his steed.
The sight of Quade waiting sent all of Ed’s plans for a fast exit packing. What did that dirty snake want? Ed would never leave Rebekah alone with Quade, especially not after his promise to Vess.
“You expectin’ company?” Prickles inched up Ed’s neck, and he kept his voice low as the wagon approached the house. He scanned the area for any of Quade’s hired men. His foot shifted to rest against the rifle on the floorboard.
“No.” Rebekah stuffed papers in her satchel but glanced up.
“Fine day, isn’t it?” Quade called out, aiming his remark at Rebekah as he shot a look between them, his eyes narrowed.
“What are you doing here?” Ed pulled up on the reins.
Quade tipped his hat. “I was in the area and wanted to check on Rebekah.”
“As you can see, I’m quite well.” Rebekah put her hand on the buckboard as if to exit from the wagon, but if she did, Quade might beg an invitation inside.
What excuse would Ed have to stay then? He eased off the brake just enough for the wagon’s slight roll to halt her quick exit without being too obvious.
She wobbled and gripped the back of the seat, sending a searing glance at Ed.
“No need to worry about Rebekah. I’ll be around helping with the chores.” He settled a hard look on Quade. “Vess asked me to look after things.”
Rebekah huffed.
Quade kept his focus on her. “Vess never did give me a final answer about selling the place. Rather left things open-ended. You could sign the papers for him.”
“My uncle will return soon.”
The stiffening of her shoulders released a bit of protectiveness inside Ed.
“This can be a hard country for a little lady all alone at night.” Quade shifted in his saddle, eyeing the fields behind the barn. “When the wolves howl.”
Quade’s veiled threat had Ed thinking about Kaitlyn’s face, pale and frightened, when they’d found her tussling with her brother Michael, who’d had a gun. Michael had kidnapped her in the moments that Quade’s cowhands had caused a scuffle—the perfect distraction.
Some instinct in Ed had his mouth moving before he’d thought the words through. “Rebekah isn’t alone. She’s got a whole pack of McGraws watching over her day and night.”
Quade’s eyes left Rebekah’s face to glare at Ed. “That so?”
Ed heard Rebekah’s intake of air, felt her bristle at his words. He put out a hand, hoping to keep her quiet.
“That’s so,” Ed said. He held Quade’s stare for a moment that stretched long.
But the tension was broken when Quade reined his horse forward. He looked right at Rebekah, ignoring Ed completely. “Mind you be careful out here all on your own.”
Rebekah opened her mouth as if to retort, but Quade spurred his horse and was gone before she could respond.
She turned on Ed with fire in her eyes. “Why did you do that?”
She was spitting mad, and her show of temper sparked his own. Couldn’t she be grateful for once? “Why’d I stand up for you against a dangerous criminal?”
“He’s not a dangerous criminal. He’s a rancher.”
If Kaitlyn hadn’t asked the McGraws not to spread word of what Michael had done, Ed would have more than enough to tell of Heath Quade’s entanglement in it all. The details perched on his lips, about to spill. But he couldn’t. Not even to put Rebekah in her place.
She turned in a huff, gripped the side of the bench, and lowered herself to the ground.
Ed jumped from his side of the wagon, hurrying to help her, but she spun around as she landed, nearly losing her footing.
Her eyes flashed before she twisted back around to grab up the work she’d brought home.
Her hands trembled. From finding Quade here?
Or from her frustration with him? Maybe both.
“I can handle Mr. Quade without your help.” With a sidestep, she dodged around him in her flurry to get to the house.
One of the horses whinnied, stomping its hoof with impatience.
Ed lifted her satchel from the back of the wagon. “I made a promise to your uncle, and I intend to keep it.”
“You may have promised to help with the livestock and take me to and from town, but no one asked you to speak for me. Even with Mr. Heath Quade.” Rebekah snatched her satchel from his hand. One fiery curl snapped from its pin to float down her back as she ascended the stairs to the porch.
“You know what he did to Drew.”
She spun to face him.
“What does Drew say he did?” The blaze in her blue eyes took him back to the schoolroom. Everything he wasn’t supposed to say stuck in his throat.
“Don’t you have the good sense to let me help you deal with Quade?” He flung the words out there, half expecting another retort.
Rebekah’s face went red, then drained of color. She stomped across the porch to let herself in. The door slammed behind her.
Ed worked his jaw as he averted his gaze from the closed door. He was here. Why not let off steam by tending to the confounded animals? Not to mention checking to be sure Quade hadn’t left a man here. Or conveniently unlatched a gate. He stopped to grab the rifle from the wagon.
Once in the barn, he hurried to complete the barest necessities while he poked around for any trace of Quade’s meddling. Ed would be back to finish things in the morning. For now, he needed to toss in some feed, check all the latches and outbuildings for intruders, then get home.
Finished in the barn, he made one last circle of the outbuildings, then rounded the house. The front door creaked.
“What are you doing?”
Why did every word from her sound like a demand?
He spoke through gritted teeth. “Checking everything before I go.”
“Go home.” She cocked her head in an I said so attitude.
He cocked his head right back at her as he stepped up onto the porch. “I’ll leave as soon as I finish making sure you’re safe. I made a promise, remember?”
“Drew. My uncle. They think Quade’s a danger, so you’re out here peeking around every corner.” She made a motion with her hands to encompass the ranch. “It’s all about what they tell you to do.” She took one step closer. “Do you even have an original thought in your head?”
Anger stirred inside him. Nose to nose with her, he tried to grasp for a witty reply, but nothing came. He turned. In three long strides, he reached the wagon. No original thought in his head? He climbed back on his wagon perch and flicked the reins. Only doing what others told him?
Almost to the drive for Drew’s place, he had it. The perfect reply to little Miss Rebekah Edwards’s words. He had half a mind to turn the wagon around so he could face her with them. But a nagging voice inside him wondered if she’d been right.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5 (Reading here)
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39