Land of My Heart (32 page)

“Sorry,” they said in unison.

The big man turned to Cole. “Mister, I’m sorry my boys bloodied your lip. You’re welcome to have a free throw at each of them.”

Dianne wanted to laugh at the shocked expressions on the faces of the man’s sons. She watched as Cole frowned, then shook his head. “I’m not much for fighting. Just didn’t want to see the lady hurt.”

The big man nodded. “You’re an honorable sort.” He then turned and grabbed two of his sons by their ears. “When I get you three home, we’re going to have a discussion about the way we act in town. I swear, if your poor ma were alive to see such things she’d whip you within an inch of your life.”

He continued to harangue them all the way down the street. Dianne giggled, but as soon as she turned to Cole and saw his lip was swollen and bleeding, she stopped. “Come on with me. I’ll get you fixed up.”

“That isn’t necessary,” he said softly. Reaching up, he wiped at his mouth.

“I’d really feel better if you’d let me clean that up. Besides, you can further your gallantry and walk me safely home,” Dianne said, clutching her books.

Cole nodded. “I will walk you home, but …”

Dianne smiled. “I have some stew simmering. Maybe you’d like to stay and have a meal with me.” It seemed strange to be suggesting such a thing, but Dianne pushed aside any feelings of impropriety.

“You don’t need to go to any trouble,” Cole replied. “Here, let me carry your sack.” He waited while she handed over the bag.

Dianne could tell he really wanted to say yes, so she began walking toward her cabin. “Zane and Morgan are working and it’s hard to say when they’ll get back. In more cultured environments I’m sure it would never be appropriate for you to take a meal alone with me, but I really don’t care what folks think. Are you worried about it?”

“I don’t care what anyone thinks,” Cole replied, keeping pace with her quickening steps.

“Good. I haven’t had anyone to talk to in over two weeks. The freight company can never guarantee whether they’ll get through the passes and back to Virginia City. Sometimes the boys are away for what seems like forever.”

“One of them ought to be here with you.”

“I agree. And I’ve told them so.” As the snow deepened along her street, Dianne slowed her steps. Without questioning her for permission, Cole took hold of her elbow. “The money is good, though. Not only that, but I think Zane and Morgan would go stark raving mad if they had to be stuck in the cabin all day.”

“I can understand that. I’m not doing so well waiting for spring thaw myself.”

Dianne made her way up the little path to the cabin. “Any idea when the weather will warm up?”

“Nope. I was helping with the wagon train this time last year. At least, I was helping Daniel to get to St. Louis.”

Dianne stopped and looked at him for a moment. “You’re right. I hadn’t realized it’s been almost a year since we left Missouri and the war.”

“War’s about to be concluded,” Cole said as she turned to push open the door. “Maybe now we’ll be able to see a time of peace and prosperity in this country. Maybe then you’ll feel free to return to your home.”

Dianne held open the door and waited until Cole stepped inside to answer. “I don’t have a home—not really. My only family is here, with exception to my oldest brother, Trenton. I haven’t heard from him so I don’t even know if he’s alive.” She took off her coat and motioned Cole to do the same. The aroma of the stew was welcoming to Dianne. She had skipped breakfast that morning and now felt quite ravenous.

“I’ll take care of your face first, and then we can eat,” she told Cole. “That is, if you aren’t afraid of my cooking. I’ve improved a bit since my days on the trail.”

Cole smiled. “You were as green as they come. You had nowhere to go but up, as far as improving was concerned.”

Dianne smiled. He really wasn’t nearly the ill-tempered oaf she’d once thought him to be. Maybe the winter months in Montana had helped him mature. Or maybe she was the one who’d matured.

“I guess the frontier has a way of growing you up,” Dianne said rather thoughtfully.

“Yeah, I guess,” Cole said, growing sober again.

Dianne pulled out a chair. She didn’t want to give him time to change his mind. They might have had their differences, but she was glad for the company. “Sit here while I get some ice.”

She waited until he’d actually taken a seat before going outside. She hadn’t bothered with her coat and when the breeze picked up, she immediately regretted her decision. The cold was different here in the mountains. It was a drier cold than what she’d experienced back in Missouri; nevertheless, it had a way of cutting through the skin. Giving a shiver, Dianne picked up a small metal container and hurried back to the house.

Cole sat waiting for her. She smiled and held up the pot. “I keep this outside for just such occasions. Zane and Morgan are always hurting themselves and sometimes the ice comes in handy.” She picked up a chisel and hammer and began to chip away at the ice in the pot.

“Speaking of your brothers, how do they feel about Montana?”

Dianne considered the question for a moment. “I don’t know if it’s Montana in particular or just the big skies and rugged mountains. They both long for their independence and I just can’t encourage it—not yet. I still need them.”

Cole nodded. “That’s for sure. Do you often have trouble when you go to town?”

“Oh, not often. There are times when the rowdies get a bit out of control. They don’t mean any real harm—at least I don’t think they do.” She gathered up the ice chips and put them on a clean dishtowel and knotted the ends together. Next she took up a small bowl and poured in a little of the hot water from the stove reservoir. Taking up yet another clean towel, she came to the table.

“I hope this won’t hurt too much,” she said, dipping the dry cloth in the water. She touched it to his face gently. “Too hot?”

“No, it’s fine.”

She continued washing the area around his lips, then smiled with satisfaction. “That ought to do it.” She picked up the ice bag and handed it to him. “Put this on your lip while I get us lunch.”

“You really don’t have to do this. I can grab something to eat in town.”

“Nonsense. I have the food ready and I owe you.”

“No you don’t,” he said firmly. “I did what any decent man would do. You shouldn’t have to defend yourself.”

“Well, there are a whole lot of things I shouldn’t have to do,” Dianne said, taking down two bowls and a plate from the cupboard. “And a whole lot of things I wish I never had to do again.” She smiled to herself more than for his benefit. “But life is what it is.”

She dished up the stew and set the bowls on the table. Next, she opened the bread box and brought out a half loaf of bread. After putting this on the plate, she gathered up eating utensils and came to the table. “I have no butter or jam.”

“I wouldn’t need them anyway,” Cole replied, putting the ice aside. “I like to sop my bread in the stew.”

Dianne suddenly realized she hadn’t thought about something to drink. “I can make coffee, but it will take a little while.”

“Water is fine.”

She nodded. “Good. That way our stew won’t get cold.”

She brought the glasses of water and then took her seat. “Do you mind if I offer thanks?”

Cole shook his head and closed his eyes. Dianne murmured a short, respectful prayer of thanks. Her heart seemed suddenly full with gratitude for this reprieve from her otherwise boring day. She wanted to thank God aloud for sending Cole to visit, but instead she only considered her gratitude in silence.

After she’d concluded, Cole surprised her by taking up the knife to slice the bread. He handed her a piece and actually smiled. “Looks good.

Did you make it?”

Dianne nodded. “I told you I was improving.”

He took a bite of the bread and nodded. “I don’t think I’ve ever had better.”

They ate in companionable silence, and only after Dianne refilled Cole’s bowl two more times did they revisit conversation.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance you know my uncle, Bram Vandyke?”

Cole pushed his bowl back. “As a matter of fact, I do. He hired me on to help drive some cattle to his place last fall.”

Dianne felt a new surge of hope. Perhaps Cole could get word to her uncle. It was certain her brothers didn’t see the situation as serious enough to consider. “Could you get a message to him for me?”

Cole frowned. “I doubt it. I’m not sure I’d know exactly how to find my way back to his place.”

“I could pay you. In fact, I could pay you very well. We’ve managed to hang on to most of the money we made when we sold the store goods and extra animals.”

“It’s not a matter of pay,” Cole said somberly. “I honestly don’t know if I could find the place.”

“Would you at least consider it? I mean, I know it’s dangerous and I wouldn’t want you to even try if there were too great a risk,” Dianne began, “but I’m desperate. My brothers don’t understand, but I think it’s important Uncle Bram know about my mother dying. I think it’s also important that he know I’m here alone most of the time. Surely he wouldn’t allow that to go on if he knew.”

“Why don’t your brothers try to get word to him?”

“They think it’s a silly point. Uncle Bram can’t do a thing about Mama and he can’t very well come for a funeral that’s already taken place. They think that because he’ll be making his way here in May or June to pick up supplies and mail that we should just wait until then. But that’s two, maybe three more months.”

“I agree you shouldn’t be here alone, but by the time I get the message to him and he acts on it, it’ll probably be the same difference.”

“Please,” Dianne said, knowing she sounded like a child begging for her own way. “I’ll pay you any amount you ask.” She got up and went into her bedroom to retrieve their savings. Coming back, she opened up the small wooden box to reveal their money.

“You shouldn’t keep that kind of cash in the house,” Cole warned. “Especially being here alone. Why isn’t this in the bank?”

“I don’t plan to live here long enough to need a bank,” Dianne said. “Look, I just want you to see that I can afford to hire you. I’ll just keep asking folks until someone agrees to do it.”

Cole blew out a heavy breath. “I’ll take on the job, but only if I can get some better idea of how to get to your uncle’s place. I know a couple of the cowboys who were working for him on that same drive. They might be able to help me.”

Dianne knew then that God had heard her prayers. “Just let me know what you expect to be paid. I’ll write out a letter for my uncle and give you money for your expenses as well.”

Cole stared at the box of money. “Do you keep a gun in the house?”

“No,” Dianne admitted. “Zane and Morgan usually take theirs on the job.”

“You need one if you’re going to keep this kind of money around.”

Dianne shook her head. “I don’t know the first thing about them.”

“I could teach you. I could pick a gun out for you as well. It isn’t like you can’t afford one.”

She smiled. “Well, if you want to go to the trouble, I suppose it would be fine. Although I seriously doubt I could ever shoot someone— especially over money.”

“I wouldn’t want you to shoot them,” Cole admitted. “It’d be enough if you could scare them off. But if your life was being threatened and no one was around to come to your rescue, you should know how to use the thing and shoot to kill. It might mean saving your life.”

Dianne thought about the young men who’d accosted her earlier. She could never have shot any of them, no matter what they threatened her with. “I don’t think I could kill anyone, Cole. I’d rather die instead.”

Cole remembered the serious expression on Dianne Chadwick’s face long after he’d left her dinner table. Her declaration that she’d rather die than defend her life was startling to him. Had Carrie felt the same way? Was she happier having died trying to defend her father than to have never tried at all?

He kicked himself mentally for having allowed Dianne to worm her way into his heart. He didn’t want to care about her, but it seemed that every time he turned around she was in trouble of one sort or another. How could her brothers be so stupid as to leave her alone to fend for herself? Maybe he should have a talk with them.

“And now she wants to hire me to take a message to her uncle,” he muttered under his breath. “And I said I’d do it. I’m ten kinds of fool for that one.”

But her sweet smile and desperate pleading were his undoing, and no matter how much Cole thought of Carrie and how he’d sworn never to care about another woman, Cole Selby knew he was in deep trouble when it came to Dianne Chadwick.

CHAPTER 24

C
OLE STILL COULDN’T BELIEVE HE’D ALLOWED DIANNE TO TALK HIM
into taking a message to Bram Vandyke. The trails were fairly open, however, as warm breezes and a week of sun had melted most of the snow. The temperatures were still plenty cold, but Cole used that to his advantage as the land remained frozen instead of muddy and difficult to travel.

With directions from one of the cowboys he’d worked with on Bram’s cattle drive, Cole easily found his way to the Vandyke ranch. As he rode into the main yard, Bram waved from where he worked on a corral with another man.