Bertie (Pendleton Petticoats Book 6) Page 6

  “Oh, I wouldn’t want to be any trouble, I mean, it would, um… I don’t think…” Bertie stammered, disturbed by this turn of events. The last thing she’d do is climb in a wagon with a strange man. She wasn’t even comfortable getting into one with a man she knew and liked.

  “It’s no trouble. I need to drop some things off at the boarding house for Mr. Tooley. That’s why I brought the wagon. I planned to head into town after supper, anyway.” Riley decided his mouth had definitely staged a revolt and somehow separated from his brain. Even if he was heading into town, he did not intend to give the cute little blonde a ride to Pendleton.

  “That sounds like a perfect plan to me.” Garrett slapped Riley on the shoulder while Aundy nodded at Bertie encouragingly.

  With no other means to get home, short of walking, Bertie resigned herself to riding with Mr. Walsh.

  No one knew a thing about him. What if he didn’t take her home as promised? What if he dragged her into a dark alley and…

  Forcibly shutting down the direction of her thoughts, Bertie swallowed back a sigh and raised her gaze to Riley’s. “Thank you for your kind offer. If you don’t mind waiting just a moment, I’ll gather my things and be ready to go.”

  Riley nodded and tried not to notice the way her skirts swished across her backside as she turned away and hurried across the yard. Aundy accompanied her into the house. In their absence, he turned his wagon around and waited out front of the house, talking to Garrett about what time he’d need help with his cattle on Friday.

  “Do you know anyone hiring help this summer, Garrett?” Riley asked as he waited for Bertie to reappear. “I’d like to make a little extra money while I can. I should be able to take care of the cattle and repairs at my place in the early morning and evenings, and still work during the day.”

  Quiet as he considered Riley’s words, Garrett finally nodded his head. “I’d be willing to hire you, if you think you might be able to put up with working here. We’d include two meals a day with your wage.”

  The sum Garrett offered stunned Riley. When he regained the ability to speak, he held out his hand and shook Garrett’s. “You’ve got a deal. What time should I show up tomorrow?”

  “Why don’t you start on Monday? That will give you time to get your cattle settled, finish some of the repair work, and maybe even enjoy a day of rest. You’re more than welcome to join us for church on Sunday.” Garrett started to give him directions to Pastor Whitting’s church but Aundy and Bertie strolled toward them. Aundy looked pleased about something although Bertie appeared even more withdrawn and slightly apprehensive.

  “If I don’t see you before, I’ll see you Friday at the train depot. Thanks for taking Bertie home. It saves me a trip into town.” Garrett turned his attention from Riley to Bertie. “Thank you for joining us this evening, Bertie. Might I assume we’ll see you here Monday morning?”

  Bertie glanced at Aundy then Garrett. “Yes, you assume correctly. Bobby will bring me out.”

  “That’s great,” Garrett said, pleased with her decision.

  Before he could help her up onto the wagon, Riley held out his hand. “May I offer you some assistance?”

  Bertie didn’t say a word as she placed her hand in his and climbed onto the tall seat. Riley stared down at his palm, curious what she’d had on her delicate gloved hand that made his skin tingle while heat licked from the tips of his fingers all the way up to his head.

  The lingering warmth from her touch left him thoroughly disconcerted.

  Abruptly rubbing his hand on his trousers, he swung up to the seat and touched the brim of his hat in Aundy and Garrett’s direction.

  “Thank you for dinner and the opportunity to meet a few folks. I appreciate it, along with your help, Garrett.”

  “Anytime.” Garrett waved as Riley drove the wagon down the lane.

  Bertie hovered on the edge of the seat, as far away from him as she could possibly get. If he hit a big bump in the road, he worried she might fall off, but refrained from giving voice to his thoughts.

  If he allowed his thoughts to turn into spoken words, the woman would think he was some sort of deranged lunatic.

  It wouldn’t do, not at all, to speak the ideas on his mind — to tell her she looked like a dewy summer blossom and smelled even better. To elaborate on the creamy perfection of her complexion or the way the ringlets dancing around her face enchanted him. She’d certainly not want to hear how much he wanted to kiss her pink lips.

  For the first time in a long time, he yearned to be close to another human and that person was Bertie Hawkins.

  No his feelings and thoughts were completely inappropriate, especially since she was a married woman.

  As he guided the horse onto the main road and headed toward town, Riley cleared his throat. “So your husband is a plumber. Has he done it long?”

  Bertie’s head snapped up and she stared at him. “My husband?” she asked, confused. “If you’re referring to Bobby, he’s my brother. He’s been a plumber for four years. I’m not married, Mr. Walsh.”

  Riley’s heart skipped a beat at her clarification. A profound and wholly unreasonable sense of relief flooded through him at her explanation.

  “I’m sorry I misunderstood. You live with your brother?”

  Bertie set down the tin she’d clutched like a weapon on the seat beside her and fussed with her gloves, smoothing down each finger. “Yes. He became my guardian after our parents died when I was fourteen.”

  Riley started to reach out a comforting hand to her then thought better of it. He clasped the reins more tightly in his hands. “I’m sorry. I know how hard it is to lose a parent.”

  “You do?” Bertie looked at him with shimmering blue eyes that conveyed compassion and sympathy.

  “I do. My mother died during childbirth the year I was three. Dad lost both her and the baby that day. I don’t remember much of anything about her, other than the scent of lavender. For some reason, it always makes me think of her, wondering what she would have been like.” Riley sighed from a place deep inside his heart before he spoke again. “My father died when I was fourteen. He never remarried. It was just the two of us on the farm. Dad taught me everything he knew about farming and I tried to do him proud.”

  “I’m sure he was proud of you,” Bertie said softly. Open curiosity replaced her fear as she gazed at him. “Where did you grow up?”

  “A little town in Kansas.” Riley stared at the rolling fields of wheat and pastures filled with fat cattle they passed.

  Bertie followed Riley’s gaze and watched a group of red and white calves chase each other in a nearby pasture. She glanced back at Riley. “What made you decide to sell your farm and move to Pendleton?”

  “It was time to move on,” Riley answered cryptically then changed the subject. “Did you make those chocolate square things?” He tapped the tin on the seat between them. “They were very good.”

  “I’m glad you liked them. Is chocolate your favorite dessert?”

  “As a matter of fact, it is, but I don’t eat sweets very often.”

  Bertie shrugged. “Bobby and I both have a bit of a sweet tooth, so I try to keep cookies or something around. He works too hard and deserves a few treats.”

  Admiration for the tenderhearted girl at his side grew in Riley, so he quickly squashed it. His preference was to ride the rest of the way into town in silence, but he didn’t want to be rude. Instead, he tried to recall what he’d heard about Bertie. “You work at the telephone office?”

  “I do.”

  “Do you enjoy it?” Riley had seen a switchboard once and thought it looked like a tangled mess of cables. The noise of the incoming calls gave him a headache in short order.

  “I do. The telephone is a wonderful invention, don’t you think?” Bertie’s eyes met Riley’s as she turned to look at him again.

  He swallowed hard, trying to recall the question when the evening sun created a golden aura around Bertie. She was more beautiful tha
n words could describe and he lost the ability to think, let alone speak.

  “Mr. Walsh? Do you like telephones?” Bertie asked, concerned at how quiet he’d grown and the fact he intently studied her. It left her unsettled and more than a little disquieted. Fearful he plotted some dastardly scheme, she tensed and drew back over to the edge of the seat.

  Riley realized he stared at her and averted his gaze to his team. “I think they’re a fascinating invention, but I’ve never used one. Mr. Tooley had one installed at the house, although I haven’t figured out how to make the thing work.”

  Bertie relaxed again and smiled. “That’s simple enough to remedy, Mr. Walsh. When you wish to place a call, turn the crank and press the button. That alerts an operator you wish to speak to someone, then we connect you. Of course, it helps if you know the number you want to call. There should be a list of numbers near the phone.”

  “There’s a list tacked on the wall by the phone but I couldn’t decipher what it meant. Now it makes more sense.” Riley bestowed a rare, genuine smile upon her. “I suppose I don’t have any excuse not to give it a try, do I?”

  “No, sir, you do not.”

  Bertie pointed to a street at the end of the block on which they traveled. “You can let me out there and I’ll walk home.”

  “No, Miss Hawkins. I think it best if I see you all the way home. Just give me directions.” Riley didn’t feel right leaving her unaccompanied in the middle of town, especially with the number of saloons and bawdy houses running a booming business in Pendleton. Not that he planned to frequent either type of establishment, but they were hard to miss.

  Bertie gave him directions and he drove right up to the walk in front of her home. It wasn’t all that far from the boarding house. He set the brake and jumped down then jogged around the wagon to help her down. She accepted his hand and climbed down. He started to follow her up the walk, but she turned and pinned him in his place with a frown.

  “I thank you for the ride, but I can make it the rest of the way from here. Have a pleasant evening, Mr. Walsh.”

  Riley touched the brim of his hat with his thumb and forefinger and backed away from her. “My pleasure, Miss Hawkins. Entirely my pleasure.”

  Chapter Five

  Spectators may have mistakenly assumed a parade rolled through town for the number of people lining the street to watch Riley and his volunteer help move his cattle off the train.

  If he didn’t know better, Riley would have assumed they’d never seen cattle driven right down one of the main streets of Pendleton.

  Children whooped and hollered while men leaned against storefronts and slapped each other on the back.

  However, everyone stayed out of the way of the bawling melee of hot, tired cattle. Relieved he’d only lost one calf on the long train trip, Riley popped the end of his reins in the air with a loud crack as he rode behind the cattle.

  Garrett, Lars, and Tony arrived at the depot accompanied by Kade Rawlings, Dent, J.B., and half a dozen of Garrett’s ranch hands shortly before the train chugged into the station. Grateful for their help, Riley nervously kept watch over his herd, eager to get them out of town and to his pasture at home.

  Home.

  The Tooley place already felt like home. The significance of that was not lost on Riley. Without the time or inclination to examine the reasons behind it, he returned his attention to the cattle.

  One determined cow ran up on the sidewalk and charged among the bystanders. Riley watched as a handful of boys chased after it. A woman walking out of a store stepped right into the cow’s path. Immediately, her hand fluttered to her throat as she screamed and hastened back inside the store out of harm’s way. At the end of the block, Riley spurred ahead and cut off the cow, forcing her to rejoin the herd.

  Other than that incident, they made it through town without any further problems. The ride out to his place was uneventful for the most part. Garrett convinced him to cut across open ground that would bring him near the back of his place rather than drive the cattle along the road and take the long way around to his farm.

  Sooner than Riley expected, the last cow and calf had been chased into the pasture and the fence closed. The cattle headed for the creek where they took long drinks of the cool water and churned the bank into a muddy mess.

  “I can’t thank you all enough for your help. If there is ever anything I can do for you, please let me know.” Riley glanced around at the men as they studied his cattle.

  “We’ll do that, Riley. Glad we could help.” Kade shook his hand then turned his horse back toward town. Lars and Tony joined him.

  “Would you like to come over to our place for lunch, Riley? You’d be more than welcome.” Garrett lifted his hat and wiped the sweat from his brow before settling it back on his head.

  Riley tugged off his gloves and took a handkerchief from his pocket, mopping the sweat that trickled down his neck. “I appreciate the offer, Garrett, but I want to keep an eye on things here until the cattle settle down.”

  “Can’t say as I blame you son,” J.B. said, as they rode up behind the barn. Riley dismounted and opened the gate. After everyone was on the other side of the fence, he led Mud through then shut the gate.

  Dent whistled and slapped his hat on his leg as he looked at the repaired buildings. “You’ve been working hard, Riley. Before long, you’ll have this ol’ place whipped into shape.”

  “You’ve accomplished a lot in a short time.” Garrett admired the newly constructed porch railing Riley had finished the previous afternoon.

  When the weather was bad, he could work inside the house. While the weather cooperated, he wanted to make as many repairs outside as possible. He’d finished repairs on the barn yesterday morning and spent the rest of the day working on the porch. His next project was to replace the outhouse then rebuild a shed that currently housed a rat’s nest and broken tools. A trap caught the rat, and he carried the tools into the barn to see what he might salvage later.

  “My Dad always said ‘a little effort each day goes a long way.’ I reckon I find that to be true.” Riley lifted his boot-covered foot and rested it on a stump used for chopping firewood. “I figure if I keep at it, before long I’ll get everything done.”

  “That you will,” J.B. said with a grin. “I don’t know about you boys, but I’m ready to head home for a rest and some lunch. I’ll see you later, Riley. That’s a fine lookin’ bunch of cattle.”

  “Thanks, J.B. And thanks again for your help.”

  The men waved at him as they rode down the short driveway to the road and headed home.

  Riley walked Mud into the shade of the barn and unsaddled him then brushed him down before giving him a measure of feed and filling his water bucket.

  Steve walked down the barn aisle and nudged Riley’s shoulder with his muzzle. Riley rubbed the mule’s head. “You’re up to your old tricks, aren’t you, boy?”

  The mule bobbed his head, seeming to agree with Riley’s statement. Over the years, Riley had yet to find a fence that could hold Steve if he decided he wanted out. He never ran off, but he didn’t like to be contained. Riley had long ago given up on making the stubborn mule stay put and let him wander. If he decided he wanted into a pasture, he would put himself there.

  Riley scratched the animal along his neck. “You up to a little work today, Steve?”

  The mule bumped against Riley again, so he took that as a sign of agreement. “As soon as I get a drink of water and something to eat, you and I are going to ride every speck of the fence line to make sure the cattle are secure.”

  Steve followed Riley as far as the porch. The mule dropped his head and nibbled at the weeds growing in what used to be flowerbeds.

  Quickly slapping a thick piece of ham between two slices of bread, Riley pumped a glass full of water and took his simple meal outside. With a tired groan, he sat down on the porch step.

  The mule eyed him as he ate. As soon as Riley finished, Steve wandered back to the barn and waited
for Riley to saddle him.

  From what he knew, the mule had to be nearing his thirtieth year. He wondered how long he’d have the odd animal in his keeping. One thing was for certain — he wouldn’t trade the crazy beast for anything.

  Bertie awoke and looked around the strange room. For a moment, she had no idea where she was then she remembered she’d moved into her room at Garrett and Aundy’s house the previous evening.

  After church, she spent the afternoon with Bobby. Neither one of them spoke about her leaving as they recalled fun memories from their childhood. They ate the dinner she prepared then Bobby carried Bertie’s trunk out to the wagon and helped her up to the seat.

  He took her out to Nash’s Folly and left after giving her a tight, nearly suffocating hug. The sheen of emotion in his eyes was unmistakable as he turned away and climbed on the wagon seat.

  Now, as she rolled over in bed and looked around the room, it all came back to Bertie. Pristine white curtains billowed in a gentle breeze from the window facing the front porch. A cushioned chair and table stood beneath the window. A small table next to the bed held a lamp and a stack of books. Bertie’s trunk occupied a corner. She’d hung most of her clothes in the closet and put a few things into the empty dresser drawers, settling into the welcoming space.

  Lazily stretching, she pointed her toes and raised her arms above her head, bumping into the headboard.

  Voices outside her window made her snatch the sheet up to her chin and listen to see if someone was up to no good.

  The rumble of Garrett’s voice carried inside, but she couldn’t discern what he said or to whom he spoke. The screen door squeaked when he opened it and the jingle of his spurs echoed through the house as he walked past her door and down the hall to the kitchen.

  Bertie sprang out of bed and dressed in a calico skirt and shirtwaist. She gathered her hair into something resembling a bun and shoved in enough hairpins to keep it contained. Hastily, she tugged on a pair of sturdy shoes before opening her bedroom door and hurrying down the hall to the bathroom. After splashing her face and rinsing her mouth, she ventured to the kitchen where Aundy stood in front of the stove frying bacon.