Rhonda Gibson - Taming the Texas Rancher

Daniel felt his face burst into flames. Hannah answered by shaking her head. Her eyes searched his face and he could hear the unasked question. Why hadn’t he married John Paul’s sister?

“I need to go get the rest of the frame for your bed.” He hurried away from her accusing eyes.

Opal’s embarrassed voice filled their ears. “Daisy Dean! Go play on the swing and take your sister with you! Don’t get dirty!” She shooed both girls out the door.

Just as they passed him on the stairs, Daniel heard Opal say to Hannah, “I’m sorry. This hasn’t been a good day for you, has it, dear?”

It hadn’t been a good day for him, either. He stomped down the stairs and yanked another piece of the iron bed from the wagon as he recalled his day.

The west fence had been cut and had to be mended, so he’d had to rush to get to the stagecoach on time to meet his bride. She’d refused to marry him, and his brother had tried to steal her from him. His mother refused to believe he was going to wed Hannah and had forced him to find a new home for her, and now had sent the heaviest bed in the house for him to haul inside and assemble for the woman who wouldn’t marry him.

Daniel tugged the heavy section of bed frame into the schoolroom and dumped it next to the one he’d brought in earlier. Opal stood hugging Hannah around the shoulders and talking softly to her. He headed back outside.

The sun was steadily sinking and he still had a bed to assemble and chores to do before he could eat and turn in himself. He jerked at the next piece of metal framing. This was not the way he’d thought his wedding day would go.

A movement to his right caught his eye. Cole Winters, Daniel’s right-hand man on the ranch, stepped out of the shadow of the building. The serious look on his rugged face caused Daniel to pause. Cole normally greeted everyone with a lazy smile. As he came closer, Daniel could see he was covered in mud and a fresh, bloody cut marked his face.

“Boss, we’ve got trouble.”

Daniel wanted to groan. Trouble seemed to be in abundance today. Lord, I should have stayed in bed.

“What kind of trouble?”

Cole grabbed the other end of the bed and helped him pull it from the wagon. “Jack Tanner kind of trouble.”

Jack had been a thorn in Daniel’s side ever since the day he’d hired him. The man drank too much and always brought some sort of bad attitude with him wherever he landed.

Cole walked toward the steps with his end of the frame. “The kind that started with us both in the horse trough and ended with him sprawled out in the mud beside it.”

That explained the scratch down Cole’s face. “So you were fighting.” Daniel heaved his end of the bed up and followed him inside.

“’Fraid so.” Cole laid his end down beside the other pieces.

“What started it?” Daniel asked, standing. He didn’t see Hannah or Opal in the schoolroom, then detected the soft sound of their voices coming from the supply room.

Cole removed his hat and swept his chestnut hair off his forehead. “He came back from town drunk and as mean as an ole polecat.”

Daniel shook his head. “Well, help me get this bed set up for Miss Young and we’ll escort him back to town.”

“So you’re gonna fire him this time?” Cole asked, stooping over to pick up the bed again.

“Yep, no choice. He was warned. It’s a shame, too. He’s a good hand when he’s sober.” Daniel and Cole carried the bed frame into the storage room. He really did wish there was another way to deal with Jack. Letting men go wasn’t his favorite part of running a ranch.

“I’m going to fill this shelf with the books I brought from Cottonwood Springs,” he heard Hannah say as she dusted off one of the many shelves.

“Miss Young, where do you want the bed set up?” Daniel asked.

She turned and gave him a gentle smile. “Really, Daniel, just call me Hannah. After all, we will be married, so we might as well start using each other’s first names.”

So she was planning on marrying him. Daniel felt as if she’d lifted a hundred-pound bale of hay from his shoulders. He nodded in her direction. “Hannah, where would you like the bed?”

“Under the window would be nice.”

Cole didn’t move to where she’d indicated, but continued to stand there, staring at Hannah.

Daniel gave Cole a shove to wake the hired hand from his apparent awe of Hannah. “Cole, this frame isn’t getting any lighter.”

Hannah’s cheeks became a pretty shade of pink before she turned her back on them. Her hands worked at dusting the shelves.

“Oh, sorry, boss. I, uh, had something in my eye.” Cole ducked his head and began moving toward the window.

Opal grinned at Daniel. “You two bring in the rest of the pieces and we’ll put it together.”

Daniel didn’t know what to make of his friend’s behavior. “Thank you, Opal.” They set the section down, then headed back to the wagon.

Cole didn’t look at him, but walked ahead. “Sorry about that, boss.”

Daniel nodded. “I’ll get this piece while you grab the other two.” He bent over and picked up the rail.

“I’ll be right back.” Cole hurried from the schoolhouse as if his boots were on fire.

Did Hannah really have that effect on men? Daniel answered his own silent question with another one. Hadn’t he stopped to stare when he’d first seen her, too? He hoped she wouldn’t have that effect on all the hands on the ranch or they might never get any work done.

Chapter Six

Hannah waved goodbye to Opal and the girls just as the sun slipped over the horizon. She shut the door and bolted the lock. The schoolhouse felt silent and peaceful. After the day she’d had, silent and peaceful seemed wonderful.

She walked back to the bedroom and dropped onto the soft mattress. Her gaze moved to her suitcases. This day had not turned out the way she’d thought it would. Daniel Westland wasn’t the man she’d expected.

She’d assumed he would be open, talkative and thrilled that she wanted to get to know him and fall in love before they got married. Daniel was far from those things. He seemed angry all the time, except when he was with the little girls. The man hadn’t said fifty words to her since they’d met, not that she’d been seriously counting, and he wanted a quick marriage and children so he could have the family ranch.

But he was handsome, and when he’d talked to Daisy and Mary she’d seen a soft side of Daniel that touched her heart and took away her anger at him for not telling her she was expected to teach the schoolchildren on the ranch. She’d also seen the sadness in his eyes that told her he was a wounded soul.

And what about Bonnie Westland? Hannah hadn’t given his mother any thought when she was writing him letters and had agreed to come to Granite to be his mail-order bride. Now that she’d met the woman, Hannah wasn’t sure what to think of her.

What kind of mother pitched her sons against each other? And of all things, over a plot of dirt? Why did she demand that they marry and have children if she wasn’t going to be happy with the women they chose?

Hannah turned the wick up on the kerosene lamp that Opal had lit earlier, and then walked to her suitcases. She opened the first one and began unpacking her books. The Holy Bible was on top, and she caressed the cover before taking it to the small table beside her bed.

After that she arranged The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There and the remaining books on the shelf closest to the headboard. She ran her hand over the spines of her favorite stories.

Hannah took out her shoes and lined them up at the foot of the bed. Her gaze moved to the other suitcase and she wondered where she should put her clothes.