Cutty (Prairie Grooms Book 8) (6 page)

“Good. You can come home with me one day after we’ve finished our work here. Just pick one.”

“How will Imogene get out there?”

“I’m sure one of the Cooke men won’t mind bringing her to town. Nettie and I can fetch her.” He turned to look at Cutty. “Nettie misses you.”

Cutty’s chest tightened. “She does?”

“Yes. You’re kind of a father figure to her. She says she misses your teasing her all the time.”

Cutty’s eyes stung. “She said that?”

“Oh yes. You’ve really grown on her. So will you come?”

Cutty swallowed hard and almost choked. “Yeah,” he said, his voice cracking. “I’ll come.”

“Good – I’ll go tell her.” He turned to leave.

“Amon?”

“What?”

“Why … didn’t she ask herself?”

Amon shrugged. “Maybe she was afraid you’d say no.” He left to find Nettie.

Cutty stood in shock. She was afraid
he’d
say no? He shut his eyes against unshed tears and fought the urge to run to his daughter and hold her, tell her how much he loved her. But his feet wouldn’t move. Besides, this was neither the time nor the place to tell her, not with all these people around. The last thing he wanted was to let the Cookes find out who he was right now. They might string him up from the nearest tree.

He rubbed his eyes, took one last look at the group of men now laughing with Ryder about something, and went to find Imogene. He needed her comforting presence and level head. With the way he felt, he might do something stupid like tell Nettie tonight rather than wait. And then he’d be a dead man for sure.

Six

Nettie watched Cutty with Imogene and smiled. She could tell they liked each other very much. She wondered if she should ask Cutty if he was serious about asking Imogene to marry him. Gossip in the ladies’ sewing circle was one thing; Cutty actually doing it quite another.

A tingle of excitement ran up her spine at the thought. Wouldn’t it be a fun turn of events if she could chaperone them just as Cutty had chaperoned she and Amon? She giggled at the thought.

“What’s so funny?” Amon asked.

She smiled at him and took him by the hand. “I was just thinking about Cutty and Imogene over there,” she said, indicating them with a nod. “Do you think they’ll ever marry?”

Amon followed her gaze. Cutty stood next to a punchbowl Sadie had set up on a stack of old crates. “Why don’t you ask them? The talk around town is they will. Maybe all they need is a little nudge.”

“From me?”

“Why not? They both like you. You could offer to help with the wedding or something.”

“I couldn’t be so forward as that. It would be like shoving them together against their will.”

“No one can shove anyone together against their will,” Amon said.

“Obviously you’ve not read any of the penny dreadfuls the two of them read. All sorts of ‘shoving’ goes on in those stories.”

Amon studied Cutty and the way he gazed into Imogene’s eyes. Yes, there was no denying he was a man in love. So why didn’t they marry? “Hmm … well, why don’t you give it a try then?”

“Shove them together?”

“No, but nudge them. Get them to spend more time together. Imogene hasn’t been to town for a while and this is the first outing they’ve had in a long time. When they come to dinner, invite her to help you and the other women sew curtains for Constance. I didn’t see her with you when you were discussing it with the women.”

“But we’ll probably do that in town, not out here,” she reminded him.

“Who says Cutty has to be with her for you to give her a push in the right direction?”

“Why, Amon Cotter, you’re asking me to meddle.”

“No, not asking – simply … suggesting. Besides, you’re the one that brought it up.”

She smiled. “I’m teasing you.” She gazed at the couple again. “I’ll invite her. I’d like to ask her a few things.”

“What things?” he asked.

She looked away. “You’ll think me silly.”

Amon put a hand to her cheek and brought her face around. He looked into her eyes. “Never.”

“Well,” she said and swallowed hard. “It’s about Newton, actually.” She scanned the barn, caught no sight of her brother, and continued. “He’s spending an awful lot of time out on the prairie and woods with Seth and Ryder. Sometimes he rides out and is gone all day.”

“So? I’ve done the same thing.”

“Yes, but Newton … he seems restless. It’s almost as if …”

Amon put his hands on her upper arms and moved closer. “As if what?”

“I know this is going to sound silly, but it’s almost as if he’s looking for something out there.”

Amon studied her as he thought on what she said. “I know that feeling.”

“You … you do?” she asked as her eyes widened. “How?”

“Because that’s how I felt right before I met you. It was if my heart was reaching out, looking for something … no.” He tightened his hold on her arms. “Someone. You.”

She smiled. “Amon, what a nice thing to say.”

He shook his head. “It’s more than a compliment. I’m telling you that’s how I felt. It’s hard to explain. Try to imagine the feeling you get when you have a sudden burst of energy and it has to go somewhere.”

She cocked her head to one side. “You mean, like … running through a field?”

“Something like that. And if you don’t use it, you feel like you’re going to … come apart. Like you can’t hold it inside you anymore.”

“Amon,” she whispered. “Is that how you really felt?”

He drew closer. “Yes.”

Nettie stared up at him, her mouth half-opened in amazement. “What happened when you found me?”

“Found you?”

“I mean, met me.”

He gave a tiny shake of his head. “You …” He swallowed hard. “You took it away, eased it. I didn’t feel like I was going to explode.”

She sucked in a breath. “Explode?”

“I can’t describe it any other way, Nettie.” He glanced around. “I know it makes me sound plumb loco …”

“No, it doesn’t.” She straightened, then searched the area for Cutty and Imogene again. They were leaving the barn. “I’d best go ask Imogene if she’ll help with the curtains.”

Amon took her by the arm before she could get away, bent down and tenderly kissed her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re mine.”

A chill ran up Nettie’s spine. “So am I.” He released her and she headed for the barn doors.

Once outside she caught up to Cutty and Imogene. Cutty caught sight of her and winced. Now what was that about? “Imogene,” she said. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes, child, what is it?”

“Could you help us make the curtains for the new house? Some of us are getting together to work on them in a few days.”

Imogene glanced at Cutty. “I don’t see why not, but where are you meeting?”

“I’m not sure yet – either in Clear Creek or perhaps my house.”

“I’d love to. It will give me an excuse to get out and come to town. I’ve missed my usual excursions.”

Cutty snorted. “And whose fault is that?”

“Yours, of course,” she said mildly.

“What! Consarnit, woman – don’t blame that on me!”

“Why not? You’d blame it on me.”

“Ohhhh!” Cutty groaned. “Yer impossible!”

“Yes, I know.”

“Dagnabit!”

“Will you two stop?” Nettie said with a laugh. “Goodness! How on earth do the two of you ever have a conversation?”

“Tea,” Imogene said. “The civil ones are always over tea and cookies.”

Cutty rolled his eyes. “She’ll be wherever it is ya need her. Me, I’m gonna be helpin’ Ryder.”

“Then Imogene and I shall have to join you when Amon comes to help,” Nettie said. “Besides, I’d love to see you men put a house together.”

“Build, ya mean,” Cutty corrected.

“Build, put together, raise, however you do it. I rather enjoyed watching my own house go up.”

Cutty smiled at her. “Yer a silly duck, Nettie Cotter.”

She smiled back and wrapped an arm through his. “And you’re a wonderful friend,” she said and kissed him on the cheek.

Cutty’s ears turned pink and he swallowed hard. “I … try.”

Nettie looked into his eyes and noticed they’d misted. “Cutty?”

He wiped at them. “Sure is smoky out here, ain’t it?”

Nettie glanced at the few lanterns placed here and there to light the barnyard for Constance and Ryder’s guests. “Yes,” she agreed, even though she noted no lantern smoke where they stood, just a light breeze. “Are you quite all right?”

“’Course I’m all right, why wouldn’t I be?” he grumbled.

She shrugged. “No reason – I just thought I’d ask. Let’s get something to eat.”

“A lovely idea, my dear,” Imogene said and wrapped her arm through Cutty’s free one.

He beamed ear to ear, his two favorite women on each arm, and cleared his throat. “Very well, ladies. Shall we?”

Nettie giggled at his mock English accent. “You’re not bad,” she commented.

He sobered. “Ya have no idea …”

* * *

Newton crouched, his heart pounding and took aim. “That’s it,” Ryder whispered next to him. “Just give that trigger a li’l ol’ squeeze …”

The rifle fired.

Ryder stood. “Ya got him!”

Newton jumped up. “Where is he?”

“He’s down! C’mon!”

Newton had felled the deer in the tall prairie grasses near the tree line. They’d set out before dawn, but now the autumn sun had risen enough for them to see where the grasses split from the weight of the fallen buck.

“Woo-ee! He’s a nice one!” Ryder exclaimed. “Let’s take care of him and get him back to my place.”

“Have you brought a kill this size home to your wife before?” Newton asked as he tried to picture Constance butchering the animal.

“Yeah, but I take care of everythin’,” he said with a laugh. “You shoulda seen the time I made her skin a snake! C’mon, let’s get to work.”

The thought of
that
made Newton laugh as well. They field-dressed the deer, then got it up onto Newton’s horse to transport it back to Ryder’s. Once there, they finished what needed to be done with it before the men began to arrive to help with the construction of the new house. “Ready for the real work to begin?” Ryder asked Newton as they left the barn.

Newton headed straight for the water pump near the house to wash his hands. “Yes, though I must admit I’d rather go back out and hunt. When do you think we can visit the Red Indians you told me about?”

“Seth was gonna ride out and speak with them, so he won’t be here long today.”

“Will he return this evening?”

“No idea. I guess it depends if he got someone to cover for him at the hotel.”

“I hope they’re cooperative and let me visit their camp.”

“I don’t see a problem, but then ya never know. That’s why it’s best we ask first. It’s the polite thing to do, after all, and these folks like it when ya got manners.”

“Indeed? How fascinating.”

“They ain’t the savages folks make ‘em out to be. Well, some are, just like with us so-called civilized folks.”

“Yes,” Newton said with a frown. “I can think of a few of those.”

“So can I,” Ryder said with a shudder. “Terrible things have happened right here on my property.”

“What? You mean when you were bitten by a rattlesnake? That’s the worst I heard.”

“Who’d ya hear that from?” Ryder asked.

“Doc Waller, but he didn’t go into details. It was when Amon suddenly got so sick. He mentioned medicine they used on you.”

“Yeah, good thing too, or I wouldn’t be here. What he left out was the part about the outlaws that came here to kill me, or maybe Cutty, or … Constance.”

“What? Good Lord, man, what happened?”

“They tied me up and left me to die from the snake bite, then tied Constance up in the barn so she couldn’t help me. They dragged poor Cutty off with them and I cain’t even begin to tell ya what they did to him.”

“I had no idea,” Newton whispered. “How awful!”

“Yeah, it was.”

Newton glanced around the barnyard. “You’ve built up a nice place for yourself, Ryder. I’m glad Constance found the man she needed in her life.”

“I guess ya could say that about all yer relatives, here, huh?”

“Distant though they are, they’re still family. More family than I ever hoped to have.”

“Family’s important in these parts. Ya wanna hang onto ‘em.”

Newton smiled. “I shall.”

Ryder slapped him on the back, then went to greet those that had come to help. Newton watched him go, then glanced at his tiny home. Here was a man who’d started with nothing but a good horse, and look at him now. Ryder was already building a larger house for he and his wife, and his family to come.

Newton drew in a breath and blew it out slowly. Why couldn’t he do the same? Well, he didn’t have a wife to care for and protect – one more reason he needed to explore while he still could, get it out of his system. Most of the women he knew didn’t like to travel like he did. Nor did they have the same adventurous spirit as, say, Imogene Sayer. No, best get as much traveling in as he could before he decided to settle down … whenever that was.

“Well, lookie who showed up,” Cutty said with a smile. “Come to swing a hammer?”

“As well as I can,” Newton said as he watched him approach. “Maybe I’ll build my own house, and this,” he added with a sweep of his hand, “will provide me with enough practice.”

“You wanna build a house?” Cutty asked.

“Not yet. But one day.”

“Man has to settle down some time. Clear Creek is a fine place to do it. Besides, this is where yer family is now, ain’t it?”

Newton nodded. “Yes, I have to agree with you there. Ryder and I were just talking about it.”

“Were ya, now?”

“Family will be something nice to come home to after my travels.”

“Ya still aim to go explorin’?”

“The sooner the better,” Newton said. “Now, I’d best go see how I can be of service.” Without another word, he headed in Ryder’s direction. Ryder and Amon had just carried a huge crate full of tools out of the barn, and the men gathered around to pick what they’d need for the day. Two more wagons approached, one belonging to the Triple-C, the other to the Turner family.

Apparently more men had shown up to help than Ryder expected. “I’d best tell Constance there’s gonna be a few extra mouths to feed come lunch time,” he said as he brushed past Newton.