Yellowstone Romance Series - Bundle (# 2-5) (42 page)

“You’re welcome to make them yourself,” Kyle said coldly. “Besides, it’s still early. We got plenty of time until supper.”

“So I see,” Josh said. “I brought my stuff over.”

The heavy silence that hung in the air made Kate look up. She turned slowly, and glanced first at Josh standing in the center of the room, then at Kyle, who hadn’t left her side. The two men glared at each other, like two dogs sizing each other up before fighting for the dominant position in a pack.

Kate was never allowed in the presence of men when they held meetings, discussing matters of business. She sensed Kyle and Josh wanted to exchange words, but hesitated with her in attendance.

“I think I’ll go outside,” she said quickly, and meant to walk away. Kyle’s hand reached out to stay her. Her head turned in his direction.

“There’s no need,” he said, still staring at his cousin. “Josh was just leaving. I’ll tell you when supper’s ready, cousin.”

What was the trouble? Kate wondered. She had the distinct feeling this had to do with her. Josh broke eye contact with Kyle, and looked at her. She held her breath. Instead of an angry look, or one of animosity, one side of Josh’s lips curved in a lopsided smile.

“Behave yourself, cousin,” Josh said, still smiling at Kate, but obviously addressing Kyle. “Miss Kate might need a big brother to defend her honor, and I don’t think you qualify.” He tipped his head to her, and sauntered out the door, leaving her to ponder his meaning.

Chapter 10

“It appears you have a protector, Katelyn.” Kyle grinned at her after Josh walked out the door. She looked at him in stunned silence, then shook her head.

“I believed you to be my protector, Kyle,” she finally said. His heart soared at her words. “Why would Josh appoint himself my protector?” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Kyle wiped some flour off her nose. “He’s wanting to protect you from me, sweetheart.” His eyes searched hers, waiting for her reaction.

“I don’t understand. I trust you.”

Kyle ran his hands through his hair, and cleared his throat. She wasn’t ready to hear the reason. He wasn’t sure he was ready to put it into words yet himself.

“No, Katelyn. I’ll never give you a reason to be afraid of me,” he said simply. He glanced around at the mess they’d made as a diversion for his true thoughts. Flour covered the floor, the workbench, and their clothing. Josh was absolutely right that she needed protection from him, he conceded.

“Kate, maybe you should move to the other cabin,” he blurted out suddenly. He turned to the workbench, and pulled a towel off one of the shelves above him, and began wiping the counter.

“Why?” Her voice rose in near panic.

“Are you comfortable living under the same roof with me?” He faced her again. “You could have the other cabin to yourself. Josh will move in here until I take you to Virginia City.”

Her eyes couldn’t hide her growing fear. “If . . . that is your wish. I will do what you ask.”

Kyle inhaled deeply and clenched his jaw. She was doing it again, dammit! Didn’t she ever make decisions for herself? “Kate, I’m asking what you want.”

She looked at him as if he’d asked her something incomprehensible. “I would rather stay here with you.” Staring at the ground, her answer was barely audible.

“Then you’ll stay here,” he said with finality. Katelyn’s reputation and virtue were safe with him. It wasn’t as if they shared the same bedroom. There was plenty of distance between the two rooms at either ends of the house.  This wasn’t the city, where people would gossip. These remote mountains didn’t care whether a woman lived in the same house as he.

To hell with Josh and his Shoshone customs, where a man and woman that lived together were declared wed. Kyle wasn’t Shoshone. He had many friends amongst the various clans of mountain Shoshone that hadn’t yet been driven out of the area by whites. He respected their ways and beliefs, had grown up with them himself through his grandparents’ association with them, but he didn’t embrace their customs the way his cousin did.

The greater Yellowstone area was sacred land to the Tukudeka - the Sheepeater Shoshone - and remote enough that the encroachment of whites hadn’t affected their way of life. Yet.  More and more settlers moved into the Montana Territory every year, and the Tukudeka’s very existence was being threatened.

Kyle’s work with Henry Washburn’s recent expedition had given him hope that something could be done by the government to help protect this area from private development. If the lands and resources here could be protected, then the Indians could retain their lifestyle. The idea of a national park as proposed by Nathaniel Langford while sitting around a campfire practically outside Kyle’s front  door showed promise. California had done something similar with their creation of a state park to protect the great trees of the Yosemite Valley a few years earlier. Why not a park on a national level? He knew his grandparents would be pleased if this would become reality.

******

Kyle set a plate of steaming hot biscuits on the table, along with a pot of rabbit stew, a few hours later. Katelyn had wiped the counters while he swept the floor clean of flour, and he’d guided her through the dough-making process a second time. She’d rolled out the gooey mass and shaped the biscuits, while he took the rabbits outside to skin and gut them. She didn’t make a move unless he told her what to do, and it was starting to annoy the hell out of him. Stuffy Boston definitely had to go. If he accomplished anything during the time she was here, he swore he’d crack through her insecurity, and get her to start thinking for herself.

She’d gone to her room to change clothes before supper. Kyle wanted to point out to her that the day was nearly over, so why bother with a fresh set of clothes, but he held back. When it came to a woman’s reasoning, certain battles were not worth fighting. He’d learned that lesson with his sisters a long time ago. Josh walked through the front door, his eyes sweeping the table. His eyebrows raised in surprise.

“Somehow I figured I’d have to roast me a rabbit on the spit outside,” he said, and pulled a chair away from the table. “Where’s Miss Kate?” He reached for a biscuit and sat.

“Why don’t you wait til the lady joins us?” Kyle glowered.

Josh cocked an eyebrow, and held the biscuit in front of his mouth, ready to take a bite. “Since when are you so formal? Wait, you don’t have to answer that.”

“You could use a little more civilization, cousin,” 

“And you need a little less,” Josh retorted. He paused to stare at Kyle, then asked, “Did you talk to her? Is she moving to the other cabin after supper?” He returned the biscuit to the plate.

“She doesn’t want to move, so she stays here.” Kyle glared at Josh, daring him to argue the point.

Josh shook his head, and shrugged his shoulders. He matched Kyle’s glare, and opened his mouth to speak, when the bedroom door behind him opened. Kyle’s chest tightened at the sight of her. He shot his cousin a quick look, warning him to keep his mouth shut with whatever he had intended to say.

Kate had changed into a blue floral calico dress, the color of which matched her eyes. The V-shaped neckline was outlined with a white lace trim. She didn’t fill out this dress any more than she had the yellow one, and Kyle hoped Josh wouldn’t comment the way he himself had done earlier. Although she had curves in all the right places, whichever of his sisters had owned these dresses was apparently larger through the bust.  Kate had coiled the braided rope of her hair on top of her head, and pinned it in place. Several loose strands framed her pretty face. Although Kyle preferred to see her hair hanging free, she did look very attractive.

She hesitated when she stepped through the door into the main room. Her eyes darted to Josh, who’d thankfully gotten up from his seat, and turned to face her. The white man’s side of his upbringing wasn’t completely lost after all.

Josh flashed her one of his brilliant smiles that always seemed to gain him favor with the female members of his family. “Miss Kate, you look lovely,” he said, then moved to pull out a chair at the head of the table for her. Her large eyes darted to Kyle, who’d remained standing behind a chair he’d intended for her to sit in. He’d forgotten to move at the sight of her.
Damn you, Josh!
He ground his teeth, then nodded at her.

“You look very nice, Katelyn,” Kyle managed to say when she accepted the chair Josh offered. He pulled out his own chair, and sat, and Josh returned to his seat across from him.

Josh offered her the plate of biscuits, and she tentatively reached for one, placing it on the edge of her plate.  “That looks and smells mighty tasty, Miss Kate,” he commented.

Kate shook her head slightly. “No, I –”

“She did a great job fixing supper,” Kyle interrupted before she could say she didn’t cook the meal by herself. He smiled and winked at her, and her eyes grew large. Quickly, she averted her gaze and stared at her plate. If she sat any stiffer in that chair, with her hands folded in her lap, she’d grow a broomstick for a spine. It seemed the only person truly at ease at the table was Josh. He piled large chunks of meat on his plate, and drowned three biscuits in gravy. Kyle ladled out some stew onto Kate’s plate when she made no move to do so herself, or even asked for any.

“Eat,” he coaxed softly, knowing she would, now that he’d said it.  Sure enough, she picked up her biscuit and took a dainty bite. Kyle cursed under his breath.

“So, Kyle. What was in that letter I brought you?” Josh asked loudly. Kyle tore his eyes away from Kate, and looked across the table at his cousin.

“It was from Mr. Ferdinand Hayden in Washington,” Kyle replied. “The geologist who just finished an expedition through the area, and—”

“What’s a geologist?” Josh interrupted.

“It’s a scientist who looks at rocks and things in the earth, I think,” Kyle answered. Josh frowned. “He’s done a complete survey here, and is ready to present his findings to the government.”

“Hm,” Josh scuffed. “Why do men need to come here to survey things? Isn’t it enough to look upon the land and simply see it for it’s rare beauty?”

“Without a survey, the government won’t intervene to protect the area,” Kyle tried to explain. “It’s in the best interest of the Shoshone, or would you rather have white men come here and buy up the land, and tear it up? If the government can be persuaded to retain ownership, it will stay the way it’s been, and the sacred mountains will remain so.”

Kyle glanced at Kate. She hadn’t made a sound, her eyes focused on her plate. If this had been his family sitting around the table, the conversation would be rather loud by now, everyone vying for position to offer their own opinions.

“What do you think, Katelyn?” he asked. Her fork dropped to her plate, and she stared at him in disbelief. Josh shot her a questioning look.

“I . . . I don’t--”

“Yes you do,” Kyle said with more force than he’d intended. He’d be damned if he let her get away with saying she didn’t have an opinion. “You must have some thoughts about the things you saw while we rode here, and even before I met you.”

Kate sat stoically for a few moments, then she raised her chin. Kyle smiled inwardly.

“The land here is more beautiful than anything I’ve ever seen. The natural wonders of the water features, although frightening and dangerous, should remain as God has intended. If men like my . . . if people begin building roads and houses here, this place will be altered forever, and that would be a shame.”

Kyle grinned broadly. She did have a mind of her own. “Well said,” he whispered, leaning toward her, and Kate smiled at him.

“So why bring the railroad men here?” Josh asked, forking a large chunk of meat into his mouth. “You’re meeting up with some bigwig next month, aren’t you?”

“The railroad men have a lot of power in Washington,” Kyle said. “If they can be convinced that there’s money to be made building tracks that will enable people to come here and experience this place, rather than exploit it, they could have a lot of influence. It would only work to our advantage.”

Kate coughed, and reached for her cup of water.

“You okay?” Kyle asked. She nodded, but her eyes had gone large like they did when she was nervous about something. “What’s your opinion of the railroad, Kate? I’m sure you traveled part of the way to Montana Territory on a train.”

“I . . . I don’t have an opinion about the railroad,” she said, her voice clipped.

“But doesn’t it make sense that their backing can only help with getting Washington on board with the idea of preservation?” he prodded.

“I’ve not seen anything good come from anyone associated with the railroad,” she finally said. He raised his eyebrow at the icy tone in her voice.  

“I’ll agree with that,” Josh said cheerfully from across the table. He leaned toward Kate.  A piece of meat hung skewered on his fork, which he pointed at Kyle. “But my cousin here thinks that bringing some of those eastern dandies and their overstuffed wallets through here will be a good thing. What’s that man’s name who hired you, Kyle?”

“He’s part owner of the Northern Pacific Railroad, Hiram Devereaux.”

Kate’s tin cup fell to the floor with a loud clanking sound, spilling water over the wooden planks, and coming to a rolling stop a few feet away. Her hands trembled, and her face had lost all color. She abruptly rose from the table. “Ex . . . excuse me. I’m not feeling well,” she stammered, and dashed to her room.