Christmas in a Cowboy's Arms Read online

  No use letting those thoughts take root in his mind. He’d be gone in a few days. This place needed a man here day after day, a man who loved it as much as the man who built it had. Maybe Mary Wilson could find her a better husband this time. She sure was pretty enough. Dainty and feminine. She was the kind of woman to mess up a man’s thinking, start him to doing things he didn’t want to do.

  Like fixing a chicken yard.

  Joe went into the shed and started tossing out fence posts and corral rails until he got down to the floorboards. They came up easily. The ground looked as if it had never been disturbed, but he took a shovel to it anyway. Half an hour later, he knew Pete hadn’t buried the gold under the shed. He replaced the floorboards, but balked at dragging all those posts and rails back inside.

  “Hell! As long as I’ve got everything out, I may as well fix the corral. I’m going to need someplace to put that damned cow once I find her.”

  Joe picked up the poles and started for the first gap in the rails. He wasn’t able to get thoughts of Mary out of his mind. Nor of the farm he hadn’t seen in seventeen years. In his mind they just naturally seemed to go together.

  * * *

  Mary woke up feeling better than she had in days. She was strongly tempted to get up and have some more of the stew. But she resisted. She was going to tell him to leave. She couldn’t have a stranger of unknown character hanging about the place.

  “He’s coming!” Fear sounded in Sarah’s voice and showed in her eyes. She bolted from the window into the corner between the bed and the wall.

  Mary felt tension mount within her. It was a lot easier to plan to tell Joe to leave than actually do it. The sound of his footsteps on the porch made her flinch. The grating sound of the door frayed her nerves.

  He entered with a plucked chicken in his hand.

  “I figured the coyotes could do without this cockerel,” he said as he walked over to the table and laid the chicken down. He poured part of the water into a pot, the rest into a basin.

  “More water,” he said to Sarah, holding out the bucket.

  Sarah glanced at Mary. Mary nodded her head, and Sarah inched forward to take the bucket. However, she froze when she opened the door.

  “Your dog,” Mary said.

  “We’ve got to do something about that.”

  Joe sent his dog to keep his horse company. At least that was what he told him to do. Mary doubted the animal would actually obey.

  “Do you want this chicken cooked any special way?” Joe asked, going back to the table and beginning to prepare the chicken for cooking.

  “No.” She had meant to tell him to go at once, but he had taken the wind out of her sails. She was acutely aware of his overpowering male presence. Just watching him move about the cabin in those tight pants caused something inside her to warm and soften. The feeling unnerved her. She found Mr. Ryan very attractive. Stranger or not.

  “You never did tell me how you and Pete came to be partners, or why you decided to come here now.”

  She shouldn’t be asking questions. It would just postpone the inevitable. She decided to sit up. It was impossible to talk to this man lying down. She felt at such a disadvantage. Unlike her attempt earlier, Mary was able to sit up and position the pillows behind her.

  “It was more an accident than anything else.” Joe spoke without facing her as he worked over the chicken. “We had claims next to each other. A mining camp is a dangerous place. Men who find color sometimes disappear or turn up dead. I watched Pete’s back, and he watched mine. When our claims played out, it made sense to take what gold we’d found and hire on to guard a shipment of gold to Denver.”

  He started cutting up the chicken and dropping the pieces into the pot.

  “I don’t remember anything after the first mile.”

  Joe had paused before the last sentence. He went back to work, cutting through the joints with short, powerful thrusts of the knife.

  “I woke up in my bedroll with the sheriff standing over me and empty gold sacks on the ground next to me. I was convicted and sent to jail.”

  He finished cutting up the chicken, wiped his hands, and set the pot on stove. He looked straight at Mary. “Pete set me up. He stole that gold. When I found out he was dead and the gold never found, I broke out and came here. This must be where he hid it.”

  Mary was too stunned to speak. He couldn’t possibly expect her to believe that. She had never thought much of her husband’s honesty, but she couldn’t believe Pete had been a common thief.

  She started but discarded several responses. “That’s absurd,” she finally said. “Pete didn’t steal any gold. He didn’t hide anything here.”

  “He did both. I mean to find it and clear my name. Besides, part of that gold is mine. Some is yours.”

  Mary wondered how much gold was hers. She needed to hire someone to help with the ranch. There was so much she couldn’t do, especially with a baby. Of course, he might not be telling the truth. She wasn’t going to get excited about the money until she saw it.

  Joe started a fire under the chicken. When he was satisfied that it was well caught, he opened the window and tossed out the dirty water.

  Sarah entered with the fresh water. Joe placed the bucket on the table, and Sarah retreated to her place in the corner.

  “You don’t have to hide from me,” he said.

  Mary thought he sounded as if his feelings were hurt.

  “Why don’t you rummage around on those shelves and see if you can find some canned fruit or vegetables,” he told Sarah. He took out some coffee beans and put them in a pan to roast on the stove. Next he measured out rice and set it on the edge of the stove. Then he cleaned the table and set out plates.

  Mary didn’t know what to do. Her hands closed over the gun under the covers. She had to tell him to leave. It was out of the question to let him stay. He had to go now. It would soon be night.

  “I find it hard to believe Pete did what you said. But if he did, I’m truly sorry.” She didn’t know how to say there were times she had come close to hating her husband. “It was very kind of you to fix us something to eat, but you needn’t stay any longer.

  “I’m much stronger now. I’m sure you’ll want to make it to town in time to get a room in the hotel.”

  Joe looked at her. She felt a flush burn her cheeks. She would swear he was laughing at her. Inside, of course. His expression didn’t change.

  “If you’re trying to get rid of me, you’re wasting your time. As soon as I find the gold, I’ll head out for California, but not one day before. As for a hotel, I don’t dare go near town. Somebody might recognize me.”

  “There’s no gold here. Pete was home only one night after he came back from Colorado. He went off again the next day and got himself shot.”

  “Don’t worry, I don’t mean to stay any longer than I have to. And if you’re worried about your reputation, your condition is protection enough.” He directed a frankly amused look at her. “I wish you’d put that pistol back where it belongs. It’s not a good idea to sleep with a loaded gun.”

  Mary didn’t know why she brought the pistol out from under the covers. Maybe it was the fact that he seemed to be able to read her mind. Maybe she felt she ought to do something and nothing else had worked. Whatever the reason, she found herself pointing the pistol at Joe.

  “If you’re going to shoot me, get on your feet first. I’d hate to have it known I was killed by a woman so weak she couldn’t stand up.”

  “I can stand up,” Mary insisted. To prove her point, she threw back the covers and started to get to her feet. Immediately she felt faint.

  Joe caught her before she fell.

  “I never met such a foolish woman in my life. Stay in that bed, or I’ll tie you down. You can shoot me when you feel better. Meantime, you’d better give me this.” He took the pistol from
her slackened grasp. “Next thing you know, you’ll drop it and put a hole through the chicken pot. I’m not chasing down another rooster.”

  Mary started to laugh. The whole situation was too absurd. Nothing like this happened to ordinary people. She was ordinary, so it shouldn’t be happening to her.

  She certainly shouldn’t be experiencing this odd feeling. It almost felt as if she wanted to cry. But she didn’t feel at all sad. She felt bemused and bewildered. Her brain was numb. Here she was, completely helpless, and she had tried to shoot the only human who had come along to help her.

  She must be losing her mind. This man, this stranger, had taken the gun from her hands, put her to bed, then gone back to fixing her supper. And he planned to stay until he found the gold he insisted Pete had hidden here.

  He was always ahead of her. That was a new experience for Mary. She had never known a man to act intelligently. She wasn’t even sure she thought men could be intelligent, but Joe was. He was kind, too, despite his gruff manner.

  “The kid has found some peaches,” Joe announced. “I hope that’s all right with you.”

  “I like peaches,” Mary said. The aroma of roasting coffee beans permeated the cabin. The smell made her mouth water.

  “Supper will be ready in less than an hour. Time for a nap. You can dream of ways to spend your share of the gold when I find it.”

  Again he had read her mind. The first thing she intended to buy was a dress for Sarah.

  * * *

  “Dinner was delicious. You could make a living as a cook.”

  “Don’t much like cooking.”

  “But you’re so good at it.”

  “If I have to eat it, I want it to taste good. Just put those dishes in the sink, kid. If you cover them with water, most of the stuff will soak off by itself.”

  “Why won’t you call Sarah by her name?”

  “Why won’t she speak to me?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Neither do I.”

  “I thought a man like you would have an answer for everything.”

  “Hell, there’s more I don’t know than I’ll ever be able to figure out.”

  “That doesn’t bother you?”

  “I know what I need. The rest would just clutter up my head.”

  The clatter of plates caught his attention. “Well, I think I’ll see about fixing up a bed for myself.”

  Mary figured she must have looked startled.

  “Don’t worry about me crowding in here. Samson and I will bed down outside. I don’t like being closed in, in case somebody comes looking for me.”

  He stood and stretched. “I’ve had me a full day. I imagine I’ll sleep tight. Leave the chicken and coffee right where they are, kid. All they need is a little heat, and they’ll be just as good tomorrow. Don’t worry about locking the door. With Samson around, nothing’s going to come near the house.”

  Mary wondered how he knew she was planning to lock herself in.

  Joe backed into Sarah’s tree and knocked it over. Uttering a sharp oath, he bent to set it up. Sarah was there before him. She cast him a glance that was at once fearful and accusatory.

  “I asked you to watch your language,” Mary reminded him.

  “I did,” Joe said, looking aggrieved. “I could have said much worse.” He rubbed a spot on his leg. “That damned tree stuck me.”

  “I appreciate your restraint.”

  “No, you don’t. You’re like every other woman God ever made. You smile and mumble about restraint, but you keep after a man until you get exactly what you want. I had a grandmother just like you. Sorry about your tree, kid.”

  “She has a name.”

  “And I’ll use it when she talks to me. ’Night, ma’am.”

  When the door closed behind him, Mary felt the strength go out of her body just like water from a sink when the plug was pulled. The man energized everything around him. Now that he had gone, she felt exhausted. Being full of hot food didn’t help.

  “Leave the dishes in the water, Sarah. I ought to be able to get up tomorrow. We can do them then.”

  “I’ll do them now,” the child replied. “He wouldn’t leave them.”

  No, he wasn’t the kind of man to leave things undone. He seemed methodical, capable, dependable, yet he was drifting through life, able to do any job required of him, but never stopping to put down roots.

  Mary had decided not to marry again. Her father and Pete had taught her that a bad husband could destroy all the love and comfort around him. But if she ever changed her mind, she meant to find a man she could depend on to stay in one place year after year. That wasn’t Joe. Yet somehow she kept thinking about him.

  “Is he really going to sleep on the ground?” Sarah asked.

  “That’s what he said.”

  “Is he going to be here tomorrow?”

  “Why do you ask?”

  “I like him. He’s nice.”

  “Then why don’t you speak to him?”

  “Pa never liked it when I talked. He said girls ought to keep quiet because they have nothing to say.”

  “Your father didn’t think much of women. It seems to be quite the opposite with Mr. Ryan. I’ve never in my life seen a man pay so much attention to a woman’s comfort.”

  “Do you think he’ll stay?”

  “He said he would stay until I was stronger.”

  “I mean all the time.”

  A warm feeling flooded through Mary. “He means to go to California. He’s only staying out of politeness.”

  “I wish his dog would go to California.”

  “I’m sure he won’t hurt you.”

  “He’s so big.”

  “So is Mr. Ryan, but you’re not afraid of him, are you?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  Mary felt a silent chuckle inside. “I don’t think I am either. Now it’s time to go to sleep. I have a feeling Mr. Ryan will be up early in the morning.”

  * * *

  “That’s one beautiful woman,” Joe said to Samson. He took a last puff on his cigarette and rubbed it out. “A man like me ought not stay around here too long. I should head for California as soon as she can get out of bed without falling over.”

  The night had turned cold. Millions of stars glimmered in a cloudless sky. The saguaro cactus cast black shadows against the horizon. The spidery arms of an ocotillo contrasted with the broomlike arms of the paloverde and the more dense ironwood and mesquite. An owl hooted. Some field mouse wouldn’t be around to see the dawn.

  This place made him uneasy. It was like a home, the kind that folded itself around a man and made him want to stay put. It made him think of his mother and the time he saw her last. He was just sixteen when she threw him out for the man she was living with. Five months later she was dead.

  “There are two kinds of women,” Joe said to Samson as they walked across the ranch yard. “There’s the kind that’s hot to get married but doesn’t like men the way they are. They pretend they do, but as soon as the preacher says a few words over them, they set about changing their husbands into something they like better than what they got. Stay away from them. They’ll either drive you to drink or drive you out of the house.”

  Having changed his mind, Joe climbed into the loft and spread it over the straw. Samson looked up as if he were waiting for Joe to invite him in, but Joe didn’t.

  “Then there’s the other kind, the kind that use men and let men use them. They destroy themselves. Like Flora. Nothing was ever enough. She always had to have more. Until one day she just burned herself out.”

  Samson sat down on his haunches. Joe leaned back on the straw and smiled. It sure beat his rock-and-sand bed from last night.

  “Of course Mary is different from either one of them. She’s pretty enough to make a man forget his r
esponsibilities. She’s so delicate and fragile, you want to protect her. You saw me. I couldn’t wait to cook her dinner and fix up her chicken yard.

  “But she’s strong. She’s got staying power. Once she picks out a man, she won’t throw him out no matter how much work he needs. She’d even have made something of Pete if the fool had stayed.”

  Joe told himself he should have been looking for gold instead of mending fences and chasing chickens. This woman was going to get him into trouble yet. He turned over, didn’t like his position, turned back again.

  “Of course she tried to be brave, to pretend she wasn’t scared to death. She could hardly hold the gun. I doubt she’d have had the strength to pull the trigger if a wolf had been coming through the door. Makes you want to hold her close and tell her nothing’s ever going to hurt her again.”

  Joe sat up and glared at Samson.

  “And that’s how they get you,” he said. “You got to keep alert. Because if that’s not enough, they throw in babies and little girls. That Mary Wilson has got a quiver full of arrows. The first man who sets foot on this place won’t have a chance. He’ll be Mr. Wilson before the dust settles.”

  Joe flopped back down. He was the first man to set foot on this place.

  “That’s why I’m heading out to California the minute I find the gold.”

  Some time in the night Joe awoke to the sound of a crescendo of growls. Then he heard a yip cut off in midcry.

  “Samson, I sure wish you could smell gold as quick as you can coyotes,” he commented before he turned over and went back to sleep.

  Three

  Joe wondered if Mary and the kid always slept this soundly. Mary had locked the door, but it had been a simple matter to enter through the window. He’d searched almost every corner of the cabin, and neither of them had awakened. He would have liked to think this trusting slumber was due to his presence, but if it was, it would vanish the minute they found out what he had done.

  Joe didn’t like going through Mary’s things. It made him feel like a sneak, but he had to search every part of the cabin. It was stupid to let scruples stop him now. Still, he was uncomfortable when he opened a drawer to find it filled with undergarments. He almost closed it again. It hardly looked big enough to hide one bag of gold. He closed his eyes and ran his hands under the neat piles of garments to the bottom and back of the drawer.