When Love Comes (10 page)

“He can have nothing to tell us,” her mother insisted.

“He must have. Otherwise why would he be here?”

“I don’t want him—” Her mother broke off when Broc entered the room.

“Good eve ning.”

Amanda thought he looked as uncomfortable as she felt.

“If you’ve come to ask for money, you’re wasting your time,” her mother said. “We don’t owe anybody any money, and I wouldn’t give it to you if we did.”

“That’s not why I’m here,” Broc said.

“Has the bull gotten out again?” Eddie asked.

“I don’t know. I didn’t check.”

“Why
are
you here?” Amanda asked.

“I’ve come to offer to work for you,” he said. “To be your foreman.”

Amanda could hardly have been more surprised if he’d—well, she didn’t know what would have surprised her more.

“How did you know Andy was threatening to quit?” Leo asked.

“I didn’t.”

“I can appreciate your feeling responsible for causing Gary to leave his home,” her mother said, “but it’s unnecessary for you to feel you need to take his place until he returns.”

“I don’t feel the least responsible for Gary,” Broc said. “He’s spoiled, self-centered, and impressed with glitter over substance.”

“How dare you speak of my son in that manner.” Her mother was so incensed, she half rose from her chair.

“It’s easy to speak the truth. It’s lies that take work.”

“I want you to leave this house at once.”

Amanda ignored her mother’s outburst. “Why do you want to work for us?”

“He’s probably going to try to steal our bull to pay off this ridiculous debt.” Aware no one was listening, her mother settled back in her chair.

“If he wanted to do that, why did he bring it back, twice?” Eddie asked.

The answer was too obvious to deserve a response.

“I’m embarrassed to have to explain,” Broc said, “but I let my temper run away with me. Carruthers offered me a job, but I turned him down. When he thought I intended to ask you for a job, he told me he wouldn’t allow me to work for you.”

“He’s done that before,” Amanda said.

“I told him I had already taken a job as your foreman. Now I’m here to ask you to help me out of this lie. I don’t
know what’s wrong with me that I can’t control my temper lately.”

Amanda put a stop to her imagining—even hoping—that he’d come back because of her.

“I’m sorry you find yourself in this situation, but I don’t see how you can expect us to help you out of it,” her mother said.

“You need another cowhand,” Leo reminded her.

“Gary will be back soon,” her mother said. “He will take care of everything.”

“He never did,” Leo responded, “so I don’t see any reason why he would start now.”

“What do you mean?” her mother asked.

“He was always sending me in one direction and himself in another. Half the time he didn’t do what he said. The other half he left for the saloon early. That’s all he ever thought about. Hell, Andy did more work than he did, and Andy’s the laziest man I’ve ever been around.”

“I’m sure you mean well,” her mother said in a voice that contradicted her words, “but you don’t have sufficient experience to judge my son.” She kept glancing nervously at Leo and Broc’s boots, apparently afraid they were getting dirt on her prized Aubusson carpet.

Leo didn’t back down. “It don’t take experience to know when someone’s slacking off. Even a kid like Eddie can see it.”

“Gary’s work isn’t the issue here,” Amanda said, in an attempt to end an argument that was causing her mother to become increasingly agitated. “Mr. Kincaid has offered to ride for us, and we’re in need of a cowhand. I can’t pay you much,” Amanda said to Broc, “probably only a little more than we were paying Andy.”

“I’m not worried about the pay,” Broc said. “I just want the job.”

Probably he’d stay just long enough to save face, then go.
Unless she could find a reason to make him stay. What was wrong with her? She was acting like a schoolgirl over a man she barely knew. She’d never known herself to behave so irresponsibly. Maybe the best thing would be for her to hire Broc and work with him as much as she could. After a few days, she was bound to realize he was just an ordinary man, not some demigod who was going to solve all her problems and make love to her until she was weak in the knees.

Just thinking about her latest dream caused heat to flame to her cheeks. She hoped no one could see her embarrassment in the dim light coming from the single lamp.

“It’s not really a matter of money,” her mother said. “I wouldn’t feel comfortable with you working for us.”

“Why?” Eddie asked. “I like him. I like him better than Gary.”

“Edward, you will not speak of your brother in that manner.”

“It don’t matter if I say it or not,” Eddie argued. “I do like him better than Gary, and you can’t make me feel different.”

“Why would you feel uncomfortable with him working here?” Amanda asked her mother. She was certain she knew one reason, but she wanted to see what her mother would say.

“It was kind of him to return the bull,” her mother said, “but his insistence that we owe that woman money has forced me to question his honesty. I could never be certain he wouldn’t do something that…might be involved in something that could cause…I don’t know,” her mother finished lamely as she averted her face. “I don’t know what a dishonest person might do.”

“I don’t think you can accuse him of being dishonest,” Amanda said. “He returned the bull twice and never even asked for thanks.”

“I know, but—”

“If you don’t hire him, I’m quitting.”

Leo’s declaration fell into the pool of their conversation like a large rock. The splash hit everyone in the room.

“I can’t do everything by myself,” Leo explained. “There’d be too much even if Gary came back. Besides,” he added, appearing a little uncomfortable, “I ain’t looking forward to facing Carruthers’s men by myself.”

“Do you think you could stand up to those men?” Amanda asked Broc.

“I’m sure I can stand up to them,” Broc said with what she suspected was a trace of a smile, “but I can’t guarantee the outcome.”

“I bet you could shoot their whiskers off,” Eddie said.

“I won’t have any shooting,” their mother said.

No one paid that statement any attention.

“I can’t say that I can do all of Andy and Gary’s work,” Broc said to Amanda, “but I can give it a try.”

“I’ll help,” Eddie offered eagerly. “I got three horses.”

Amanda made a snap decision. Avoiding her mother’s gaze, she turned to Broc. “From now on Mother will do the cooking. I’ll be in the saddle with you all day.”

When the door closed behind Broc and Leo, Amanda braced herself. From time to time her mother had had to do things she didn’t want to do, but no one had ever made the decision for her.

“Does she have to do all the cooking?” Eddie asked. “I’ll starve.”

“No, you won’t. Mother is a good cook.”

“Thank you for that compliment,” her mother said, her lips folded in an expression Amanda recognized as one which meant she was prepared to dig in her heels, “but I doubt you believe it.”

“I remember when you did all the cooking,” Amanda said. “Papa always said he liked your pot roast.”

“I like pot roast,” Eddie said. “Why don’t we ever have any?”

“That’s not the issue,” their mother said.

“It ought to be,” Eddie insisted. “If I got to eat your cooking, I ought to like it.”

“I will not be cooking. It’s more than my nerves can stand now to keep this house clean. My mother’s house was never like this when I was a girl.”

Something snapped in Amanda. She wasn’t sure whether it was the
when I was a girl
phrase which always preceded a complaint, or whether it was her mother’s refusal to realize that the world had changed and she had to change, too, if she wanted the family to survive.

“Nothing is like it was when you were a girl,” Amanda told her mother, “and it never will be again. If you don’t change, if
all
of us don’t change, we’ll go under.”

“I will not compromise my standards,” her mother declared.

“I’m not asking you to compromise anything,” Amanda said. “I’m just asking you to realize that what it’s going to take for us to survive has changed. We live in Texas, not Mississippi.”

“No one is more aware of that than I,” her mother stated. “I never forgave your father for bringing us to this awful place.”

“Papa made a good living for us.”

“By running a saloon and a diner.” Her mother held her scented handkerchief to her nose as though to eradicate a bad smell. “My mother would have turned over in her grave if she had any idea what I’ve been reduced to.”

Amanda had a very different memory of the woman who’d been her grandmother. According to her grandfather, she had been instrumental in building the success that had allowed their daughter to grow up with privilege.

“I don’t think Grandmother was made of such weak stuff,” Amanda said. “I remember her as a forceful woman who knew what she wanted and didn’t let anything stand in the way of her getting it.”

Her mother looked uncomfortable. “My mother had to do some things that shouldn’t have been required of a lady.”

“When did the definition of a lady come to mean a woman who was incapable of doing anything, whose purpose was merely decoration?”

“I’m not a mere decoration,” her mother declared, “and I’m capable of many things.”

“I know that, and now is the time to put those capabilities to use. I’m capable of riding a horse for much of the day, of working with cows. It’s not what I thought I would be doing,
but it’s work that needs to be done. I might even learn to like it.”

“When I asked your father to buy this ranch, I never envisioned having my own daughter act as a ranch hand or sing in a saloon. I wanted more for my children.”

“The only way I’m going to be able to stop working in the saloon is to make this ranch a success. That means we can’t keep losing cows. It means we have to find the ones we have lost. It means we have to keep the bull from getting out. It also means I have to keep working in the saloon. The only way I can do all of that is for you to do all the cooking.”

Her mother opened her mouth to object.

“It’s either that, or we lose the ranch,” Amanda told her. “Then you’ll have to do a lot more than cook.” Amanda looked around at a room decorated with furnishings her mother had brought from Mississippi at great cost and trouble. “Are you willing to see Carruthers living in this house? I’m sure his wife would enjoy the way you’ve decorated it. She hasn’t stopped badgering her husband to refurbish her entire house since the day you invited her to lunch.”

“It would kill me to sell a single thing in this house,” her mother declared. “It all belonged to my mother.”

“If we lose the ranch, we’ll have to start selling things so we can eat.”

“I don’t care what you sell,” Eddie said, “but I got to eat.” He looked at a tray table that was one of her mother’s most prized possessions. It was an heirloom that had come from England. “What good is that old table? All you need is a box to set a lamp on.”

If the discussion hadn’t been so serious, Amanda would have laughed at Eddie’s impatience while her mother detailed the origin and history of the table. And that included the ordeal of transporting it and other valuable possessions from Mississippi to Texas. When she nearly cried over a
scratch that had occurred sometime during the journey, Amanda lost patience.

“You have to decide how much you’re willing to do to keep the things that are important to you. I’m willing to spend my day in the saddle and my evening working in the saloon.”

“I’ll be in the saddle, too,” Eddie said.

“That leaves the chickens and the milking to you,” Amanda said to her mother.

“I don’t know how to milk a cow,” her mother stated.

“It’s easy,” Eddie said. “I’ll teach you.”

“You can’t say you don’t know how to feed chickens or pick up eggs,” Amanda said.

“Or slop the pigs,” Eddie added.

With a sigh of surrender, her mother said, “I’m not stupid.”

“We need your help, Mama, if we’re going to pull out of this mess.”

“Are you depending on me, or that man out there?” She gestured in the general direction of the bunkhouse.

“I’ll take any help I can get,” Amanda said. “I don’t expect Broc to stay long, but he knows more about cows than I do. I hope he’ll teach me as much as he can.”

“If he brings up that debt again, I won’t have him in the house,” her mother said. “I will not feed a man who’s trying to steal from me.”

Amanda kept forgetting about the debt. She didn’t know if it was real, but she had to find out. If it was valid, they would have to sell something. “I think he’s washed his hands of the debt.”

“I’d like to wash my hands of him,” her mother said. “I don’t like him, and I don’t trust him.”

“I like him,” Eddie said.

Amanda liked
and
trusted him, but she thought it would be better not to say that to her mother.

“You sure you want to work here?” Leo asked as he and Broc walked toward the bunkhouse. “Carruthers is gonna set his men on you first chance he gets.”

“I can take care of myself.” Carruthers was arrogant and bullheaded, but he had to know harassment could only go so far before he ran afoul of the law. Broc didn’t have a high opinion of the sheriff, but he didn’t think Mercer would stand for that.

“I’m not sticking my head in a noose just because you got Carruthers mad at you. It’s for dang sure Andy won’t do it.”

It quickly became apparent Andy wasn’t going to do anything to help Broc.

The bunkhouse was no exception. It had been built to house six men, with the bunks evenly spaced around the room and a table and chair provided for each. A trunk at the foot of the bed and shelves above each bunk provided each cowhand with more than enough space for his personal belongings. A stove with a pipe going through the roof stood in the middle of the bunkhouse. A lantern suspended from the ceiling provided the light. When they walked in, Andy was lounging on his bed, flipping through a catalog, smoking a small Mexican cigar. When he saw Broc, he gathered up some pictures lying on the bed and slid them under his pillow.

“What’s he doing here?” he demanded.

“Amanda just hired him to be foreman,” Leo explained.

“I ain’t working for him,” Andy said.

“You’ll be working for the Liscomb family,” Broc said. “They pay your wages.”

“You know what I mean,” Andy barked. “I ain’t taking orders from you.”

Broc decided it would be best to calm Andy down. The boy hadn’t yet decided to quit, and they needed his help. “Amanda will be riding with us. She’ll be giving the orders, not me.”

Andy’s disbelief was obvious. “She’s never ridden with us before.”

“Things have changed now that Gary has moved out.”

“He never did much,” Andy complained. “I don’t imagine she’s gonna be any better.”

“Maybe Eddie will make up the difference.”

Andy sat bolt upright. “I ain’t riding with a kid.”

Broc had never had a high opinion of Andy, and it wasn’t getting any higher. “For a man who’s being paid to do very little, you’ve got a lot of requirements.”

Andy turned sullen. “She makes me get in the saddle every day even though I got a bum shoulder.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your eyes.”

Andy’s feelings weren’t assuaged, but Broc had enough brothers to know Andy was at a difficult age.

“You ain’t getting those cows back,” Andy said. “Carruthers or Sandoval got them. They’re probably halfway to Kansas by now.”

Broc knew no sensible rancher would attempt to trail calves more than a thousand miles. “For the family’s sake, I hope not. Now does anybody care where I drop my stuff?”

“I don’t,” Leo said.

Andy didn’t say anything.

“Good. I’ll take the bunk by the door.”

“You’ll get a draft every time Andy or I open that door.”

“I don’t mind. Maybe it’ll blow away some of Andy’s smoke. If he sets the bunkhouse on fire, I’ll be the first one out.”

Andy snuffed his cigar out. “At least I don’t chew tobacco or use snuff.”

Broc would have preferred either to smoking, but he didn’t say so. “Glad to hear it. Now I’m going to bed.”

“I’m not ready to blow out the light,” Andy said.

“I can sleep in broad daylight with people talking, playing cards, even singing. You won’t bother me.”

Broc hadn’t brought the majority of his belongings, because he wasn’t sure Amanda would hire him. Since he didn’t know how long he would be here, it might be better to leave them at the hotel.

“I’m going to check on the bull,” he said.

“Want me to come with you?” Leo asked.

“Only if you want.”

Leo grinned. “I’ll stay. No point in working if I don’t have to.”

That attitude would keep Leo working for someone else for the rest of his life.

The sky was blotted with dark clouds that blocked the moonlight and filled the landscape with dancing shadows and eerily dark corners. It would have been easy to stumble over anything lying in his path.

The horses in the corral were like ink blots against an even darker background. Those with white splashes in their coats looked like puzzles with pieces missing. All stood quietly, their heads hanging down, sleeping standing up. A sorrel looked up when Broc passed, then dropped his head once more.

It took Broc several minutes before he found where the bull had lain down in the shadow of the shed provided to shelter him from the worst weather. The cows, being wild creatures, were as far away from the house as they could get.

Broc stood watching the bull for several minutes. It seemed odd that the future of a family should rest on the genes of an animal that would run away the first chance it got. The bull couldn’t understand that it received food, protection, and an endless procession of wives in exchange. The animal didn’t know it wouldn’t last long in a fight with one of the range bulls. It just responded to its instincts to bolt to freedom when it got the chance.

Ironic that Broc was doing his best to ignore his instincts
to stay as far away from Amanda as possible. Losing his temper had twice given him a reason to stay close to her. It would have been impossible to predict the consequences of the first outburst, but he wondered if the second loss of temper might have been a subconscious attempt to find a reason to go back to the Lazy T ranch. He didn’t trust himself where Amanda was concerned. He’d lost control of his thoughts. It was going to be difficult to be around her all day and not betray his feelings.

She’d shown no sign that she liked him, but what if she was holding back? What if she was interested in him but didn’t feel she could express such an interest in a man she probably thought was trying to extort money from her?

Even if she didn’t think Broc was a crook, she had to have doubts about his honesty. Her giving him a job as her foreman wouldn’t change that. She had probably decided to work with him because she didn’t feel she could trust him. Her mother didn’t like or trust him, either. Andy had already made his feelings plain. Having Eddie and Leo on his side would only help so much. If he had any sense, he’d leave the Liscombs to solve their problems by themselves and go back to Crystal Springs to get his time in jail behind him.

With a muttered curse, he pushed away from the fence. He might as well accept that he wasn’t going anywhere. He didn’t know what would happen in the next several days, but he had to be a part of it. If Amanda didn’t like him, he would have to live with that, too. It wasn’t the end of the world.

“But it will feel like it,” he said to the bull, which ignored him. “It will feel exactly like that.”

Amanda was relieved when breakfast came to an end. She was anxious to get to work, but she was even more anxious to get out of the house. Her mother had been in a rotten mood all morning, not answering Amanda at least half the times
Amanda had spoken to her. Amanda hated that kind of tense atmosphere, but she was determined to stand by her decision.

“That was a fine breakfast,” Broc said to her mother. “I’m already looking forward to supper.”

“It wasn’t anything much,” her mother replied in a voice that didn’t reflect her usual rigid civility. “It’s not hard to cook breakfast.”

To hear the way her mother had talked while she was fixing it, you would have thought it was one of the labors of Hercules, a mythical figure her mother always mentioned when faced with anything she thought was beyond human capabilities. Amanda was glad she wasn’t going to be around when her mother tackled preparations for supper. She felt sorry for poor Eddie. She was tempted to let him ride with them, but she wanted to wait until she learned enough about the work to know if it would be safe. It was clear Eddie wouldn’t be satisfied going with Leo or Andy. Even her. He wanted to be with Broc.