She laughed. “No, there’s too much fog and coal smoke!”
There were other beautiful things in London, but she didn’t mention them, because nothing could really compare to this view and how happy she felt sitting here sharing it with him.
She went to sleep that night with her very own puppy curled in the crook of her arm and memories of that lovely little interlude on the porch.
Chapter Forty-Five
THE NEXT MORNING ON her way downstairs to take the puppy outside, she heard Zachary demanding, “Then where the hell did Morgan go?”
As she reached the bottom of the stairs, she could see most of the parlor and the couple in it. Zachary hadn’t been talking to her, but both of Morgan’s parents looked at her when she came into view, so she shrugged. “I haven’t seen him today.”
“He didn’t mention his plans to you when you sneaked off with him last night?” Zachary asked.
Violet objected to what he was implying, but she didn’t blush. Instead she raised Tiny, the name she’d given her precious gift, and said, “He took me to the barn to let me pick out one of the puppies for myself.”
“At least it’s not a pig,” Zachary grumbled, and headed out the front door.
Mary chuckled when she saw Violet’s confused look and explained, “Tiffany kept a pet pig in the house while she lived with us. Go ahead and take your pet outside to start its training. Use the side yard. Her ma favors that area, so the pup will recognize the smell and know what to do. And don’t let it sleep in your bed yet, or you could wake up to wet sheets.”
Violet’s eyes flared. The puppy had woken her, licking her cheek. She hadn’t even thought to check the sheets.
Mary grinned. “I’ll see if I can find some old newspapers and a box for you to put the pup in at night. And the coffee’s hot. There’s fixings to eat in the kitchen. We’re not formal about breakfast, so get a plate and sit wherever you like. I’ll take you out for a tour of the range later, if you like. Find me when you’re ready.”
Violet smiled. “Thank you. I’ll take a plate up to my father, too.”
A little later Mary took her out to the range to see where the cattle were grazing. There were no fences out there, so cows that wandered had to be brought back to the herd; and because the herd was so big, it needed to be moved to new grazing pastures often. But she hadn’t expected the sheer size of that herd, more than a thousand cows. No wonder it took the whole family plus a lot of cowboys to manage it.
Then in the afternoon Tiffany came by to take her for a tour of her house, a short ride away. Violet laughed when she saw how many servants worked there, which caused Tiffany to whisper, “They’re all from New York and they may be hard to keep. I’ve already heard complaints about how isolated they feel here. They miss the bustle and excitement of crowded city streets. But they haven’t been here long, so I hope they’ll fall in love with Montana as I did.”
Violet was impressed by the home. It was built with lumber, but the inside was furnished and decorated as finely as any home in Philadelphia, or London, for that matter. Tiffany explained, “Hunter and I took our wedding trip back east to pick out all the furniture. The house was finished long before the furnishings got here, but it was worth the wait.”
Violet could have told her that waits like that would soon be a thing of the past, but again she said nothing about the emporium Morgan planned to open. She hoped he would break the news to his family soon. She was beginning to feel uneasy about their reaction.
After they settled in the parlor with coffee and pastries, Tiffany asked bluntly, “You and Morgan, is there something we should know about?”
“No,” Violet replied a little too quickly. “He helped my father when he most needed it, so I’m grateful to him.”
“It’s probably something he does naturally,” Tiffany guessed. “I heard he has the most friends of all the Callahan brothers. Hunter draws women like bees to honey—or he did—while Morgan draws lasting friendships. The way Hunter tells it, Morgan can make each of his buddies feel like his best friend. I guess he’s charismatic that way.”
“So is my father. That would explain why they became friends so fast.”
Tiffany nodded. “Morgan hasn’t been home since I got here, so I was really looking forward to meeting him. But I sense some sort of tension and, well, I assumed it was because of you.”
“No, but the tension should ease up in a few days—or get worse! I’m sorry, I really can’t say more about it.”
Tiffany laughed. “So mysterious. I love it!”
When Violet returned to the ranch, she found her father sitting on the porch. She laughed at him. “You just aren’t going to stay in bed, are you?”
“I’m not supposed to. Rest was defined as doing nothing strenuous other than eating more than I can stomach. I’m also supposed to slowly work in some exercise. Walking about a house got full approval.”
“I hadn’t realized Dr. Cantry was so specific in his recommendations. We should probably visit the local doctor this week, too, or find out if he’ll ride out here.”
“I can make the trip to town if we borrow Mary’s buckboard. But sit down.” He waited for her to do so, then took her hand in his. “It’s time we talk about your future. I confess I’ve been dodging the issue, because I love having you back and don’t want to see you go. I think it may have been a mistake to let you stay in England for as long as you did, because you appear to view it as your home now, where you want to marry and have a family. But you need to remember that you have a home with me and your brothers, too, Vi. However, whatever you decide, I will honor your wishes because I love you and want you to be happy.”
“I know you do, Papa.”
“No matter where you are, soon you will be an heiress again with a dowry that will rival that of a duke’s daughter. Just keep in mind that you can have your pick of husbands in this country, too. You needn’t choose only from the men available in England.”
“I thought I knew what I wanted, but now I’m not so sure,” she admitted.
“There’s no rush! Take your time and think about what you really want. Just know that I’m on your side no matter what.”
She grinned. “Well, if you are up to walking, what I want to do right now is introduce you to my new puppy.”
Chapter Forty-Six
VIOLET WAS STILL ON the porch with Tiny asleep in her lap when Morgan returned to the ranch. Her father had already gone in to take a nap before dinner, so no one was there to see how brazenly she stared at Morgan from the moment he came into view. He had dressed up a bit fancy today, wearing an eastern-style coat and a string tie, even polished boots, though the gun belt ruined the effect. Had he visited his friends? Or a woman?
The last thought irked her a little, so she wasn’t exactly smiling when he sat down next to her. But he was. Whatever he’d done today had apparently made him happy.
But his first question was about her. “How are you getting on here? Comfortable enough?”
“Yes, your family is very friendly—well, aside from your father. He seems a bit cantankerous.”
“He only gets that way when he has a bone to pick and he can’t get to it. They’re all still on the range?”
“I believe so,” she replied. “Your mother took me out there for a tour. I was amazed to see so many cows in one place.”
“Cattle,” he corrected as he reached into his pocket and handed her a strip of rawhide. She would have dropped the ugly thing if he hadn’t nodded at the puppy. “Give her this and maybe she’ll leave your shoes alone.”
She laughed. “Puppies eat shoes?”
“Dogs will gnaw on them at any age. I laughed like hell when I saw Bo trotting off with one of my boots one day. We always had a dog or two around here when I was young, just never in the house where they could get near the boots.”