Darcie Desires a Drover: A Historical Western Romance (Brides with Grit Book 7) Read online

  Mattie refused to give Gabe his letter from the lawyer, too, even though it was addressed from Mr. Ringwald directly to Gabe. Reuben had the driver stop at the lawyer’s office to ask about the contents of the letter. But the man was away for a period of time, so Reuben left a note explaining the situation, and asked the lawyer to contact Reuben in Kansas when the lawyer returned to his office.

  Reuben sighed and rubbed a hand over his forehead now, wishing he could rub away the tension headache that had been plaguing him since he left Rochester.

  He and his son were complete strangers, neither of them was comfortable being with the other, so conversation was still stilted between them.

  “Why aren’t there any houses out here, except a few now and then?” Gabe asked as he rested his head against the window glass, staring at the endless prairie.

  Considering Gabe hadn’t talked much so far, Reuben thought he’d better try to get a conversation going. So far the boy’s talk had been about being hungry, then griping about the sandwiches they’d been buying at the little towns along the way. Reuben had only so much money along for this trip, and hadn’t planned for it to cover the cost of a second train ticket and food for two people.

  “Before the war, there wasn’t anything but herds of buffalo and tribes of roaming Indians living out here on the open prairie. Then the government started giving away free land in Kansas and the railroad was built across the state. Only then did people travel out here to homestead the land and build houses and towns.”

  “Why would anybody want to live out here? It’s so dirty and hot,” Gabe scrunched up his nose as a gust of hot air blew in the top half of the open car window behind them.

  “Yes, summers are hotter here than New York, but you get used to it. Weather varies all over the United States. When I was in Georgia…” Reuben stopped, not wanting to mention that time.

  “When were you in Georgia?” Gabe showed some interest, but Reuben hated he had brought it up now.

  “The last year of the war,” was all Reuben could say.

  “Were you in Andersonville? We read about it in school and…I’ve seen some pictures of the soldiers there.”

  Reuben nodded, not wanting to think about those horrible conditions.

  “Is that why you didn’t come home…to us?” Gabe gruffly asked.

  Reuben stared at his son and couldn’t fathom what was going on in the boy’s head since all the lies of the past years erupted in Mattie’s parlor over a week ago.

  “I did come back to you, but your mother had remarried, said I had no claim on you, my home…” Reuben tried to keep the bitterness out of his voice, but by the look on Gabe’s face, he wasn’t succeeding.

  But now his son was with him, and Reuben had to rebuild their relationship after being years apart. The trouble was: his son’s life had been turned upside down with his step-father’s death and leaving his home, and Reuben didn’t know how to be a parent to his sad and sullen teenage son.

  Reuben put his elbows on his knees and rubbed his hands over his face. Maybe he should have stayed dead instead of trying connect with his son again. Would Gabe have been better off if he hadn’t gone to New York?

  Chapter 2

  “Take off your boots by the door and walk easy. I don’t want the angel food cake to deflate,” Darcie called back to whoever was stomping into the bunkhouse. The ranch hands had been so good lately about helping her keep the bunkhouse clean, and now someone was tromping in dirt on the clean floor.

  “Reubie!” Darcie’s two-year-old son Tate squealed in delight and charged across the room to the door of the bunkhouse.

  Darcie drew in a deep breath before she turned around, knowing Reuben was standing in the doorway. Reuben had traveled to New York last month to visit family, and now he was back.

  She glanced back to see Tate charging toward the door where Reuben Shepard stood with a carpet bag in hand. Reuben looked tired in rumpled travel clothes, but he gave his attention to Darcie’s son as he always did. Then Reuben looked around the room and locked eyes with her, causing Darcie’s breath to catch in her lungs.

  Darcie had mixed feelings about seeing Reuben now. For one thing, she’d be losing her current job, now that Reuben was back to take over the care of the ranch hands and bunkhouse. Luckily, Cora had asked Darcie to stay and help in the main house, because Cora was with child and having a terrible time with morning sickness. Darcie didn’t know how long Cora would need her to stay, but Darcie hoped it would be a long time. She liked the ranch and the people who lived and worked on the Bar E.

  And second, Darcie was attracted to the man, although she and Reuben seemed to ruffle each other’s feathers now and then, so to speak. Her ex-husband dealt out pain through physical violence and words causing her to mistrust men. But she always felt safe with Reuben, and all the men in the extended family which had pulled her little family into theirs.

  “Hello Reuben, welcome…” Darcie stopped mid-sentence as she realized not only was Reuben staring at her, but also a young man with similar features.

  Tate interrupted the adults by plowing into Reuben’s knees. Reuben set his carpet bag on the floor and picked up her son. “Hey, Tater Man, how’s my favorite little cowboy?” Tate patted Reuben’s cheeks before wrapping his chubby arms around Reuben’s neck. He laid his head on Reuben’s shoulder for a second before pulling back and looking Reuben in the eyes. “Missed you,” Tate said while cocking his head to one side.

  “Who that?” Tate went on to say, pointing to the unhappy-looking teenager standing next to Reuben.

  Reuben paused a second, then cleared his throat. “Darcie, and Tate, I’d like you to meet my son, Gabriel.” Reuben awkwardly gestured for the young man to move up beside him. The boy was the spitting image of Reuben.

  “I go by Gabe, not Gabriel,” Reuben’s son said in an unhappy voice.

  The scowl on the boy’s face deepened as he stared back at Reuben, then around the room before settling back on Tate. Reuben inhaled a breath but it didn’t sound strong enough to give him any strength. “He’s fourteen, and he’s going to be staying with me for a while. His stepfather died recently and his mother decided it would be best if he spent some time with me.”

  “No, she kicked me out when you showed up,” Gabriel grumbled before glancing at Darcie then back at Tate.

  Darcie was caught off guard. Reuben had never mentioned he had a son, and this old? Why hadn’t he ever said anything about the boy to her?

  She wiped her hands on her apron and walked forward to shake Gabe’s hand. “Welcome to Kansas, Gabe,” but the boy ignored her outreached hand until Reuben roughly nudged him in his side.

  “Remember your manners,” Reuben said with a low growl. Apparently the two had been getting on each other’s nerves during their trip here.

  Darcie rubbed her hand down the side of her apron when Gabe didn’t take her hand. “That’s all right, Reuben, I…”

  “No, it is not. He has to learn to respect others, especially his elders,” Reuben shot a glance at his son again.

  “Sorry,” Gabe mumbled, but he didn’t sound very sorry about it.

  “Well, please take off your boots and put your things in your room. I’ll have coffee and some cookies ready for you in a little bit. I’m sure you’re hungry,” Darcie tried to defuse the tension between the two.

  “Why would I take off my boots?” Reuben’s eyes narrowed at Darcie.

  “Put there,” Tate pointed to the row of boots against the side of the wall.

  The bunkhouse door opened before Darcie had time to answer Reuben’s question.

  “Welcome back, Reuben,” Eli Fisher, the ranch foreman, happily said while toeing off his boots and setting the pair against the wall. “If we’d known you were coming into town today, we could have picked you up,” Eli reached out to shake Reuben’s hand, then offered it to Gabe. “This must be your son, Gabriel. Welcome, young man.”

  Eli knew about Reuben’s son, but she didn’t? “Sit do
wn, Eli, I was just ready to get the afternoon coffee on the table.”

  Reuben stared around the room, finally looking at the things she’d changed in the bunkhouse after he’d left.

  “What in the…horse apples have you done to my bunkhouse?!” Reuben’s face tightened up as he met her eyes.

  “Isn’t it great?” Eli said as he looked around the room, too. “The men really like the new look of their home. We haven’t had one cowboy quit since Darcie spiffed up the place. I want her to decorate my foreman’s cabin next,” Eli went on, not noticing Reuben was drilling a hole in Eli’s head with his stare, as the foreman smiled at Darcie.

  “After I washed the windows, inside and out, I noticed it could use…a woman’s touch to make the men feel at home here.”

  “It’s a bunkhouse, not a parlor with a grand piano in it. And what’s with the ‘take off the shoes’ comment?”

  “You take off your boots at the door, then there isn’t dirt, mud and manure to clean off the floor. So I suggest you do it, before you go into your room, Reuben and Gabe,” Darcie pointedly said, while Tate pointed at the floor again, too. Even her little boy had learned the rule and took off his boots when he came in the door, most of the time.

  Darcie and her children stayed in the cook’s quarters in the main house, but spent most of their time in the bunkhouse. Dagmar furnished the bunkhouse with two high chairs and a crib which she used when the children needed to eat or nap during the day. It had been a perfect set up for the three of them. How would their arrangement change now that Reuben was back, with a son in tow to boot?

  “You whitewashed the walls, and added red-checked curtains?!” Reuben’s hands were on his hips, looking at the combination room of living area and kitchen. Reuben lived in the separate living quarters on the end of the house.

  “Did you do anything to my room?” Reuben’s eyebrow was cocked and his eyes were ready to fire darts at Darcie.

  “Yes, it was my top priority,” Darcie said smugly, “I shoveled out the dirt before I added pink curtains to the two windows.”

  For some reason, she never felt like cowering when Reuben talked to her, compared to her husband anyway. But then she had learned to stand up for herself and get had regained some of her self-esteem since her days with Curtis, too.

  “I tell you, the hands have turned civilized, if that’s possible with a bunch of young bucks,” Eli continued. “They take their dishes over to the dry sink after meals, say please and thanks, and take turns reading to the children in the evenings before Darcie takes them back over to the house.”

  “Were they all heathens before Darcie took over?” Reuben wanted to know.

  “No, but they just act better because there is a woman and children in here with them during the meals. Toby and Del are too far away from home to visit their folks, so it’s helped with their homesickness and their work.”

  “So am I out of a job since it’s been taken over by Darcie, who does everything so well?” Reuben stared at Eli awaiting his answer.

  “Reuben, you’re being rude in front of…” Darcie started to talk before the door opened again.

  “Hey, Reuben! Glad you’re home!” Dagmar Hamner’s booming voice startled Gabe as the ranch owner entered, having to duck his head to enter the bunkhouse. Although the Bar E Ranch deed listed his wife’s name, Cora made it clear to everyone she and Dagmar were partners, so he was considered an owner, too, by the hands.

  “Thanks, Swede. I’d like you to meet my son, Gabe,” Reuben nodded his head to Gabe while shaking Dagmar’s hand.

  “Nice to meet you, Gabe. I’m Dagmar Hamner. Ready to ride the range for the brand?” Gabe was hesitant; he did shake Dagmar’s hand, but cringed like his hand had been squeezed too hard. Being a half foot over six feet tall, with long, disheveled blond hair, Dagmar was intimidating to people until they got to know him. And his thick Swedish accent was a little hard to understand at times.

  “Not sure I still had a job here when I walked in to find Darcie had taken over the bunkhouse.” Reuben’s eyes slid from Dagmar’s to Darcie’s and back to their boss.

  “I figured you’d work your way back to Kansas after your visit north, so Darcie was just filling in for you,” Dagmar stated to Reuben before gesturing to Darcie. “Actually, Darcie is going to stay and cook and clean for us in the big house, now that my wife can’t stand the smell of cooking bacon and eggs.”

  “Why, she sick?” Reuben asked in concern.

  “Nope, happy as a brooding hen, but morning sickness has knocked her off her horse for a while,” Dagmar smiled broadly, waiting for Reuben to figure out his hints.

  “Congratulations, Dagmar,” Reuben responded. “There’s nothing more exciting and frightening than holding your firstborn in your arms the first time...”

  Reuben took a quick glance over at Gabe, but didn’t say more. Reuben had to have been in his son’s life at first, so what happened to cause their separation?

  “But before you take over the bunkhouse again, you’ll be a drover. Next week we’ll drive a herd of mixed cattle to a ranch east of Fort Hays.”

  “How many head?”

  “About four hundred, a mixture of cattle from us and the Cross C. Isaac and Cate are going along, so Cate had planned to drive the chuck wagon and fix our meals. Then, instead of coming back with us, they’re boarding the train to visit Cate’s sister in California—as sort of a late honeymoon,” Dagmar answered.

  “They finally got married? Well, I’ll be…”

  “Oh you missed a lot of drama while you’ve been gone. Sarah Wilerson left Ethan Paulson at the altar and took off after Marcus Brenner on Nutcracker, Hilda’s race horse, before he left to go back to Fort Wallace. Turns out they never left the Cross C Ranch because Widow Sullivan delivered triplets, with Sarah’s help.

  “So did Sarah and Marcus marry while I was gone, too?”

  “Married and adopted the widow’s six children because she passed in childbirth. Plus Marcus went back to Fort Wallace to identify two children who had been living with the Cherokees, and brought them home to add to the family.”

  “Cookies,” Tate tapped Reuben’s shoulder since Reuben was still holding the tot. Tate was anxious for his afternoon treat.

  “Why don’t you men sit down to drink your coffee while you visit? Tate is getting anxious for his cookie, then it’s nap time for him.”

  The three men sat down around the big room’s table, immersed in their conversation, ignoring Gabe who still stood by the doorway. Darcie walked toward him, motioning to Reuben’s carpet bag still sitting on the floor. “If you’ll take the bags, I’ll show you to your room, then you can come back out for milk and cookies.” Darcie counted to six before the boy did as she asked. “Follow me, please,” and she turned to lead the way, assuming he’d eventually follow.

  It wasn’t very many steps to get to the other side of the room, but the boy took his time. Reuben’s room was partitioned off the end of the bunkhouse by a wall for some privacy. It had the luxury of a door and a small pot-bellied stove to keep the room warm during the winter months.

  “Why am I staying here?” Gabe asked with disgust.

  “Well, I figured you’d stay with your father. He can pull in a cot for you or you can sleep in one of the hands’ beds when they’re out overnight watching the herd.”

  “Why stay here with the help, when the house is available?”

  Darcie stopped to wonder what Reuben had told his son about the Bar E. “The ranch owners, Dagmar and Cora Hamner live in the house. I, and my children also live there, in the help’s quarters off the kitchen.”

  “I’m not staying in this crude room.”

  “Well, you’ll have to bring that up with your father. I’m not in charge of the living arrangements.” Darcie turned and walked out of the room. She knew Tate would be a handful during his teenage years, but hopefully he wouldn’t be as rude and ungrateful as this young man.

  Reuben rose from his chair when he heard Darcie
walk back into the room. “I’m sorry, I keep forgetting he’s with me. I should have shown him to my room.”

  “He wasn’t happy to see it, but he did flop down on your bed when I was closing the door.”

  “Gabe’s tired, upset…and his step-father recently died,” Reuben said, after sitting back down and running his hand back and forth across his forehead.

  “Oh, dear. No wonder he’s acting out of sorts,” Darcie said, thinking of the poor boy’s actions now.

  Reuben looked up at Darcie, before looking down at his cup of coffee. “I’ve never said anything about my past life to you, because I didn’t think it was anything I could change.” Everyone stayed quiet, waiting for Reuben to talk again if he wanted to say more.

  “I went home after the war ended, found out I had been declared dead, and my wife had remarried. So I left and never went back.”

  Darcie couldn’t imagine the heartache that must have caused Reuben.

  “But then being around Tate reminded me of my son, who was Tate’s age when I enlisted. After all these years of pushing back the bitter hurt, I felt drawn to finally go back home to see what happened to him and my family.”

  Now she understood the man a little better. All this time Reuben was suffering from his loss, and now he’d faced it, finding more problems apparently.

  “Is Gabe’s mother still living?” Eli asked. Darcie hadn’t thought about the fact that Gabe could be an orphan now.

  “Yes. Mattie, and her twelve-year-old daughter, Mary, still live in the same house we lived in when she and I married. Mattie had a second daughter, Eleanor, but she died before she was two years old. I saw the toddler when I was there in ’65, but Gabe says he doesn’t remember much about her.