Page 5 of Wellspring
After setting Heller’s new garments and boots on the counter, they spent the next hour picking out a bedroll, saddle bags, a Western saddle and bridle to replace the English ones Heller’s horse came with, a mess kit, and a hat.
They also added more tins of beans and a packet of beef jerky.
Cade had brought enough food for himself, but not for both of them.
“You’ll want to pick out a gun as well,” Cade said as Heller stacked his purchases on the counter. “You never know what kind of varmints you’ll meet out on the range.”
“Varmints?” Heller repeated.
“Bad things,” Cade said, not really sure how to explain the word.
“Rattlesnakes, coyotes, horse thieves. You need to be able to defend yourself. Plus, when we’re out on the trail for weeks at a time, being able to hunt for fresh meat is useful as well.
” Cade hunted with a bow and arrow rather than a rifle, but he didn’t figure Heller would want to learn that particular skill.
And he carried a rifle too, because he never knew when having one would be useful.
“I can hunt,” Heller said. “I hunted on my family’s land in Prussia, although I did not bring my rifle with me.”
“Have you ever used a pistol?” Cade patted the Colt on his hip.
Heller shook his head. “Do I need one?”
Cade shrugged. “It has certain advantages over a rifle. Most of the other cowboys on the ranch carry one, but I don’t think it would be a deal-breaker if you didn’t. I can teach you how to use it if you want.”
“You will be much teaching me,” Heller observed with a wry smile.
“I don’t mind if you don’t,” Cade replied with a wink. So maybe it was a risk, flirting with Heller so openly, but he’d done it anyway. He needed to know if there was any hope of his interest being returned.
Heller’s smile changed so slowly and so subtly that Cade was still not entirely sure of what he was seeing. “I do not think I will mind at all.” He set a rifle and a pistol on the counter. “What else do I need?”
Cade looked over the pile of goods, trying to see what they might have forgotten. “A holster and ammo, but I think that’s everything. Settle up here and we’ll get some grub. It’s too late to head out tonight, but this way we can get an early start in the morning.”
Heller nodded and waited for the storekeeper to tally his purchases. Cade blanched at the total, although given everything Heller had purchased, it wasn’t an unreasonable price.
“I have only Prussian money,” Heller said apologetically.
The shopkeeper shrugged. “As many ships as we get in and out from there, I can use it to pay off my next shipment of goods. The bank on Commerce Street could exchange the rest for you.”
Cade shook his head at one more proof of the life of privilege Heller had obviously left behind to come to Texas.
He couldn’t help but wonder why. It was a question that would have to wait, though, because the other man had already proven uninterested in talking about his past. Cade tipped his hat to the shopkeeper as they left.
They loaded Heller’s gear on the wagon along with the furniture, then drove back to the boarding house, where Heller took only a few things to secure in his saddle bags. “The innkeeper has offered to donate the trunk and suits to his church. I will have no need of them any further.”
Cade had left a life behind to start over twice, but he had never cut himself off as completely from the old one as Heller seemed desperate to do. It made Cade all the more determined to help him find his feet in the new one.
Letting none of his thoughts show on his face, he flashed Heller a grin. “Let’s go exchange your money and then find one more good meal before we hit the road and have to live on hardtack and jerky.”
THEY MET the next morning, after Cade picked up his laundry, at the stables where Heller had boarded his horse. The owner glared at Heller, saying something in German that Cade could not understand. Heller replied, clearly apologetic, and fetched the horse from inside.
Cade climbed down from the wagon to hold the horse’s head while Heller put the new saddle and bridle on the recalcitrant animal. “If you aren’t planning on breeding the monster, you could geld him once we get to the ranch,” Cade suggested. “It might make him a little easier to get along with.”
“We will see how the trip goes,” Heller replied. “If he cannot learn to behave, we will take other measures, but we will give him the chance first.”
Cade couldn’t stop his smile at the repeated use of “we.” Whatever was going on in Heller’s head, he clearly planned to include Cade in his near future. “A good run’s the first thing he needs,” Cade said. “Once we’re out of town, you can let him wear himself out a bit.”
“ Ja ,” Heller said. “Yes. That will be good for him. And for me. It has been many months since I have ridden hard and fast.”
Cade knew what Heller meant, but the words conjured another image entirely in his lust-addled brain. Heller could ride him hard and fast any time.