Linda Ford - The Cowboy's Unexpected Family

Cassie jumped to her feet. What were they doing? Had Billy done something to annoy Roper? Was Neil trying to protect his brother? Aiming to protect the kids, she picked up her skirts and ran toward them.

Roper caught Billy and lifted him into the air. “Gotcha.” He plopped the boy on the ground, knelt over him and tickled him.

Cassie slowed to a halt. It was only play!

Neil reached them, and threw himself on Roper’s back. Roper flipped to his stomach, Neil still clinging to him.

“You got me. Oh. Ow. Let me go.”

Both boys piled on him, tickling and play fighting. At least she hoped it was play and by all the laughing she guessed it was. She knew little about play. Seemed her whole life had been work and if not work, then soberness and trying to please. Fun did not fit into either category. Somehow she thought it was that way for all children. Apparently Roper didn’t agree.

Daisy joined her, Pansy again riding her hip. “Don’t worry. The boys won’t hurt him.”

“I was worried about the boys.”

They looked at each other and laughed. Pansy gave a shy smile from the shelter of Daisy’s neck.

Cassie gave the little gal some study, taking in her wondrously big blue eyes that, in a few years, would bring grown men to her beck and call, and her fine blond hair that could use a combing. Suddenly she realized all the children were travel soiled. They would need baths and food and clean clothes and—

The enormity of the task she had taken on hit her like a falling pine. How could she possibly manage?

She sucked in air to relieve her anxiousness. It was a business arrangement that would result in having her house built, she told herself. It would help her achieve her dream. It was temporary and two of the kids were big enough to lend a hand. She could do this. She pushed her shoulders back as if stepping into a harness, and like a horse leaning into a load, she turned toward the fire.

Daisy followed on her heels. “I intend to do my share around here.”

“Fine. Let’s get the dishes done then heat water for baths.”

“I guess we are pretty dirty. Mama would scold us for sure.” Her voice quivered.

Cassie faced her. “I expect she would be proud that you’ve managed so well.”

Daisy nodded. “Roper said Ma and Pa would be proud of us.”

“Indeed.”

She washed the few dishes, handing them to Daisy to dry. Pansy sat at Daisy’s side, content to watch. As soon as they’d washed and dried the last cup, Cassie dragged out the big tub.

Roper saw her intent and he and Neil hauled more water from the nearby river.

As the water heated, Roper finished the walls and somehow built a frame for the roof on which to drape the canvas he purchased from Macpherson. With Neil’s help he brought over the stove Cassie had ordered and set it up in the new shelter.

Cassie eyed it with joy. She’d be able to start baking bread for Macpherson and paying off her loan a lot sooner than she’d anticipated.

With the kids helping, Roper soon had Cassie’s bed roll in one corner of the shelter, furs and blankets arranged for the children next to her bed. The stove and a crude table he’d put together made an area where she could work and feed the kids.

They dragged the tub under the canvas and filled it with water.

“I’ll bathe Pansy,” Daisy insisted.

Cassie didn’t protest. She hadn’t ever bathed a baby. Nor a two-year-old. Her heart clenched as she recalled her hope for babies. Twice she’d thought she’d welcome an infant into her arms but twice it wasn’t to be. They had never drawn breath after their births.

She turned away, unable to catch her breath, and slipped outside before anyone noticed.

Roper found her there. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” She stared toward the sun dipping behind the mountains and breathed slowly, evenly.

He gently touched her shoulder. “Are you regretting your decision?”

“It was an act of God.”

His fingers tightened on her shoulder. “Are you talking about the children?”

She closed her eyes and pushed back a groan. Of course, he meant the children in the tent. “No, I don’t regret my decision. It will benefit me to get my house up as soon as possible.”

“You didn’t mean the kids, did you?”

His quiet question, the gentleness in his voice tugged at her soul, made her want to wail out her pain. But she’d learned to hide her hurt, bury her feelings. She didn’t know any other way of dealing with life. “I better go check on them.”

He blocked her retreat. “I think they can manage quite well without us. Let’s go for a walk.”

“I’m really too tired.”

“I want to show you where I’ll set up my camp in case you need me for anything.”

She stiffened her spine. “I think I can manage.”

He chuckled. “I’m sure you can but this is a business deal, remember? The kids are my responsibility.”

Somehow he had taken her elbow and herded her toward the river and a grove of trees.

“I’ll take the tent that collapsed on you and pitch it here.” He pointed. “If you need me, you have only to holler.”

“I won’t be hollering.”

“I expect not. But I feel better knowing anyone could and I’ll hear them.”

He meant the kids could call for him. “Why would they need you when I’ll be right there in the same tent or whatever you want to call it?”

“No reason. Just as there’s no reason to get all prickly about it.”

“Prickly?” She swallowed hard. “If I am it’s because you make me sound like I can’t manage on my own.”

He held up his hands in a sign of protest. “It never crossed my mind.”

“Well, then. So long as we understand each other.” She headed back to her site.

He chuckled softly, and followed her. “Oh, I get it.”

She ignored the note of triumph in his voice. How could he possibly comprehend? He had no idea of the events that had shaped her life and made her want nothing half as much as she wanted to be independent. Self-sufficient. “I don’t need anyone,” she muttered.

“Sounds mighty lonely to me.”

“You can be lonely with people around.” Thankfully they had reached camp and he didn’t get a chance to respond.

The sound of giggling stopped them, and they listened.

“That’s about the happiest sound in the world.” Roper seemed pleased, content even.

“How can they be happy? Their parents are dead. They’re orphans.” Their lives were full of uncertainty.

“A person can be as happy as they make up their mind to be.”

She’d heard the words before. “Linette said the same thing when we first arrived at the ranch.” She didn’t believe it was that simple any more now than she had then. People made demands of a person that made happiness impossible. It was why she intended to survive on her own.

“I figure you might as well choose to be happy as miserable.”

She heard the shrug in his voice. “Sometimes it isn’t up to you.”

“I suppose you’re right in the sense that our lives are in God’s hands and ultimately we have to trust Him. But knowing that makes it easy to enjoy life, don’t you think?”

Grateful for the dusk that hid her expression, Cassie murmured a sound that could be taken as agreement if he chose to interpret it as such. But inside, protests exploded. Didn’t God let man have a choice? Because of free will, not all men lived by God’s rules. Not all people were kind. Not all of life could be enjoyed.

She realized Roper was waiting for her answer. “Sometimes you have to work to get what you want from life. I trust God to help me achieve my goals.” Saying it out loud solidified it in her mind. God had given her the opportunity to own a plot of land and now, by caring for the children, she would get her house built much faster, and no doubt better, than she could have done it. God had given her what she needed. She would apply all her skill and strength to making it work. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to take care of my share of the responsibility.”