Colorado Bride (6 page)

“And just what are you thinking is her proper place?” demanded Katie, who had stopped serving to listen to the exchange.

“In the home, of course, with her children.”

“Unless I’m mistook someway, the place for men like you is in the barn with the rest of the animals,” Katie told him, brandishing a large spoon in the air for emphasis.

“I think you’d better change your tune if you expect to eat at this table again,” Carrie said with a twinkle. “If Katie doesn’t brain you with a pot, I’ll fill the seat of your pants with buckshot. Because you see, Mr. Finlay, I can not only cook and clean and have babies, I can shoot and ride and outthink any man I know. Maybe I’ll give you a demonstration the next time you come through. Now you have a pleasant journey” Carrie said as she ushered the astonished little man out the door.

Carrie accepted the compliments of the other passengers, all of them cowed into near silence by her exchange with Finlay, and watched as they hurried out to board the stage.

“Everything was mighty good, Mrs. Simpson,” Harry Keller said as he left, his dark mood somewhat lightened by the food warming his belly, “but I’ll be mighty glad to see Mr. Simpson get here. Finlay’s right, you know, no matter how much you don’t want to hear it. Running a station like this is no job for a woman. Not even for two women,” he added, when Katie glowered at him.

“I’m sorry your team wasn’t ready, but it won’t happen again, whether my husband is here or not,” Carrie assured him, her pride stiffening. “Having just arrived and being shorthanded, some things are bound to be forgotten.”

“I suppose so, but a man wouldn’t have forgotten the horses,” Harry said, refusing to budge.

“Perhaps you’re right, but in the future I won’t forget them either.” Fortunately for Carrie’s temper, which was beginning to unravel under the sting of the double load of criticism, Harry decided to leave without saying anything else.

“If it was me, I’d have sent him to eat his dinner with his precious horses,” Katie said angrily. “Maybe then he wouldn’t be so persnickety.”

“I was sorely tempted,” Carrie said, her smile returning, “but he had me over a barrel. I
did
forget he needed a fresh team, so I couldn’t come down too hard on him, but I’m going to make sure I never forget anything again.”

“Could be Mr. Barrow will take on the handling of the horses for ye.”

“I intend to ask him when he comes for supper, but I have a feeling he doesn’t think any more of having a woman for a boss than the rest of the men around here. But I mean to show them different.”

“I wouldn’t be letting that get me upset,” Katie said beginning to stack the dirty dishes. “Your husband will be arriving any time now, and no matter what ye do, he’ll be the one getting the credit.”

“I suppose you’re right,” Carrie said, a sinking feeling in her stomach. What was Katie going to say when she learned Carrie didn’t have a husband? More important, what was Lucas Barrow going to do?

“Could I give you some more potatoes, Mr. Barrow?” Carrie asked. “There’re plenty more.”

“No ma’am, you can’t give me another thing, not if I’m to get out of this chair before morning. I haven’t eaten this much at one sitting in ten years.”

“After that Cody’s cooking, I’m not surprised,” Katie said.

“Mine’s no better,” Lucas said with the first grin Carrie had seen. It made him look younger and so much more appealing Carrie wished he would do it again. “You’re making it mighty hard to go back to my own cooking.”

“You don’t have to. There’s no reason why you can’t take your meals with us.”

“I can’t be sponging off the Overland, ma’am. That wouldn’t be right.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Carrie replied, a stern look in her eye. “I don’t intend to allow anyone to take advantage of the company, but I was planning to offer you the job of stock tender. I need someone for the position and you seemed to know it already. Since you work with horses …”

Thank you, ma’am, but I don’t think that’s the job for me. I guess you’re going to have to go to Fort Malone to find you somebody.”

What an obstinate man. He seemed to be willing to do anything he could for her as long as
he
thou ght of it, but just let
her
mention it first and it just wasn’t possible. She had traveled two thousand miles to get away from men like that, so why didn’t she just throw him out instead of foolishly wishing he would smile again. “But why won’t you take it?”

Because I don’t know if I can control myself if I’m around you every day, Lucas said to himself. Seeing you making up to your husband would be more than I could stand, but to Carrie he said, “It would tie me down too much. I’ve almost finished breaking the horses I have in the corral, and sometimes it takes me a week to round up a new herd. I couldn’t leave the station if I were stock tender.”

Carrie was stymied. She had hoped Lucas would take the job and that one of her problems would be out of the way. Now, in addition to still having to find a stock tender, she discovered Lucas would be going away soon, and for reasons she didn’t fully understand, that made her feel uncomfortable. How could she have come to depend on a man she hardly knew in one day?

“Could you take the job until I get someone else?”

“I couldn’t promise to be around all the time. Who knows how long it will take you to find a suitable man who will come out here.”

“You mean a man who will work for a woman, don’t you?”

“Why would I mean that? You’ve got a husband coming, don’t you?”

Carrie wondered how much longer it would be before she would betray herself. Time and time again she was busy trying to figure out how she was going to run the station by herself, and everyone else was thinking she’d have a husband to help her in a day or two. Naturally that would cause them to reach different conclusions rather frequently, and before long she was bound to say something that would expose her deception. She had to get the station running smoothly, and she’d better do it in a hurry. It wasn’t going to be possible to keep up the pretense for more than a few days, two weeks at most, and when she did finally admit the truth, the news would probably find its way to the company office with the speed of lightning. If she hadn’t firmly established herself as a capable manager by that time, they would replace her with the first man they found, probably Baca Riggins himself if need be.

“There is one thing you can do for me,” Carrie said, trying to hide her irritation but hoping he would see her disappoinment.

“Anything I can, ma’am.”

If he didn’t stop calling her ma’am all the time, as if she were some forty-year-old dowager, she was going to brain him with his empty plate. “What are the most important things that have to be done at this station, until my husband gets here, that is?” she added.

“There’s really only two things you have to do at any time. Fix meals for the passengers, and have the teams ready when the stage comes in. There’s a schedule on the wall over there so you’ll know when they’re supposed to get here.”

“I’ve seen it,” she replied a little more tartly then she intended, and Lucas’s eyes opened wider. “It doesn’t seem like a very difficult job to me.”

That part is easy. It’s the rest that’ll cause you trouble.”

“And what’s that?”

“Staying here.”

“Staying here?” Carrie repeated, completely bewildered. “What do you mean by that?.”

There’s all kinds of people who might not want you here, To start with, there’s Baca Riggins. He’s been put out and that’s something his pride won’t stand.”

“I think I can handle Mr. Riggins.”

Then there’s Indians.”

“Indians?”

They’ll run off your horses. If they’re hungry, they’ll eat them. Indians love horse meat.”

“Is
there
anyone else I have to worry about?” Carrie asked with a shudder. She couldn’t believe that even an Indian would eat a horse.

“Sure. There’s outlaws, renegades, and gunslingers, not to mention drunks, malcontents, and a few men who just don’t like to see women anywhere but in the kitchen.”

“I’ve seen several of those already. And if I’m not mistaken, you’re one of them as well.”

“You’ve seen the ones who don’t care for it but will accept it. I’m talking about the ones who will take it upon themselves to do something about it.”

“Are there many?”

“You never can tell. With that kind you almost never know until it’s too late.”

“I think you’re trying to frighten me, Mr. Barrow, and I don’t appreciate that.”

“No, ma’am, I’m not trying to scare you. I’m trying to tell you it’s mighty dangerous for a lone female in this country. Fort Malone doesn’t have soldiers anymore. There’s only a sheriff who’s not paid well enough to give any attention to things that happen this far away. You’re on your own here, ma’am.”

“Nevertheless, I have every intention of remaining at this station and doing the best job I possibly can. And stop calling me ma’am,” Carrie added with a trace of impatience in her voice. “My name is Carrie Simpson.”

“All right, Mrs. Simpson, I was just trying to explain why your husband should never have let you come out here alone. I’m sure he didn’t know anything about Baca Riggins, but if it hadn’t been Baca, it would have been somebody else. My advice to you is to get on the overnight which comes through in a couple of hours and not stop until you get back to Denver. No woman has any business out here alone. She’s not equipped for it.”

“Thank you for your advice, Mr. Barrow,” Carrie said freezingly as she rose to her feet, “but I have every intention of remaining here and of proving to you and everyone else in the Overland Stage Company that I can manage this station just as effectively, no,
more
effectively than any man. If you will agree to help with the horses, I will provide your meals. If not, I’ll have to charge you each time you eat with us.”

Lucas rose to his feet, undecided as to whether he wanted to curse her stubborn refusal to listen to his warning or admire her spunk. It led to a dead end for him either way, and he’d best get back to his horses. Suddenly he felt safer chasing a dozen men who fought with guns than one small woman armed with nothing but her adorable self. He had lost every encounter so far, and he couldn’t see his average improving in the future.

“That seems fair enough, ma’am, and I’ll be happy to lend a hand if I’m around.”

“Thank you, but don’t change your plans to suit me. I’m sure we can manage.” The twinkle in Lucas’s eyes was unmistakable, and Carrie had the distinct, irritating impression he was laughing at her.

“Sleep well, ma’am, and don’t forget to lock up tight. There are bears in these hills that would do a lot for some of that ham you just served me.”

“I’ll be staying at the cabin, at least for the time being, until I can get this place cleaned out.”

“You can’t clean anything Baca used. Burn it.”

“That’s what Katie told me.”

“Then you listen to her. She’s a sensible girl.”

“And I’m not?” Carrie asked, her inflection rising with her eyebrows.

“I didn’t say that, ma’am. I would never be so rude.” Carrie wished she could bite her tongue. Now how was she going to get out of this gracefully.

“Excuse me. I guess I’m a little sensitive. Everyone I’ve met today has made a point of telling me I had no business being here by myself, and you keep
ma’aming
me until I feel positively decrepit.”

“Sorry, ma—Mrs. Simpson. I didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“Is there anything wrong with calling me Carrie?”

“You’re a married woman.”

“I’m still a woman. Women have names, just like men, and they like to be called by them. My name is Carrie. Say it.”

“Yes, ma’am, Carrie, ma’am.” He was smiling broadly now, and it made her want to forget her irritation.

“Go on, get out of here before I run you off like Baca Riggins.”

“Now ma’am, you’ll hurt my feelings comparing me to Baca. I might get the impression you don’t like me.”

“You have no such impression, and you know it. Now stop trying to bait me. Katie and I have to clean up before we can go to bed, and tomorrow comes early.”

“Thanks again for the food. It was mighty good. Good night … Carrie.” Carrie spun around, but the door had already closed behind him.

“I can’t think how can you sit and talk with him like that,” Katie said. “He makes me uneasy all over. Those eyes seem to look right through you.”

“There’s nothing about him to worry you.”

“Seems like he never spoke to me before, just stared at me like I wasn’t there. He seems different around you.”

“He’s like all the rest of the men out here, cocksure and positive there’s nothing a woman can do they can’t do better.”

“You’re not afraid to stay here?”

“Why should I be? You weren’t, and you’ve been here a week already.”

“But I don’t look like you, ma’am, and there be no need for ye say nice things to spare me feelings. I know what I am. I’m big and healthy, and I’ll make some man a good wife, but I’m not the kind of woman men dream about nor pine over. Most of them would look right past me if they happened to see a good horse.”