Safe in His Arms

FIFTEEN





The aroma of fried fish mingled with that of apple dumplings. Margaret smoothed the fabric of her new skirt, a black walking skirt in soft cotton. Her blouse felt a little stiff and starchy at the collar, but it would do. Pa didn’t know about her job yet. He had gone to Dallas for a few days. Her first week of work would be under her belt before she told him.

She carried two heaping plates of fish and coleslaw into the dining room. She placed them in front of two men she didn’t recognize. “Here you go. I’ll bring your dessert when you’re finished.”

One man grabbed her wrist as she turned to go. “Don’t be so quick to leave us, miss. Pull up a chair. There’s no one else in here right now. We could stand some conversation.” He winked at the other man.

She jerked away, then paused. This job was all about meeting eligible men. He probably meant no harm. While his looks didn’t appeal, there were more important things than looks. He appeared to be in his early thirties with dark hair peppered with a few strands of white at the temples. He had the handlebar mustache she despised, but with the right persuasion that might be gone. His eyes were gray and his nose was straight.

“Where are you fellows from?” she asked.

“Abilene,” the man said. “Came to town looking for work. Know of any ranchers looking for help driving cattle to market?”

A cowboy, not a rancher. Still, that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Pa would settle enough money on her to give her and any husband a start on a ranch of their own.

He grabbed her arm and yanked her onto his lap. His arm snaked around her and he puckered his lips. “How about a kiss?”

Without thinking, her hand flew out and smacked him upside the face. His head reeled back and his grip loosened. She leaped away, then stopped at a safe distance. “Keep your hands to yourself, cowboy. I’m a waitress, not a fancy woman.”

The bell jingled over the door and Daniel stepped into the room. He glanced at her, then back at the man whose cheek bore a red mark the shape of a hand. “What’s going on here?”

The man ducked his head and picked up his fork. “Nothing.”

Daniel’s lips tightened. “These men bothering you?”

“It was nothing I couldn’t handle.” She picked up a pot of coffee from the table and refilled the cups, then carried it back to the kitchen.

Daniel followed her. “What’s going on, Margaret? I’ve been looking all over for you.” He glanced around. “You can’t be working here.”

She plunked down the coffeepot and whirled around to face him. “And why can’t I? I’m not competent enough, or is there some other reason you think I can’t handle a job?”

He held his hands in front of him. “I meant you have more important work to do than waiting tables.” He glanced at Emma, who was listening with rapt attention at the stove. “No offense, Emma.”

Her lips flattened. “Margaret is doing a fine job, Mr. Cutler.”

“I’m sure she is, but the ranch needs her.” He drilled Margaret with a dark glance. “Does your father know about this?”

“Not yet. I’ll tell him when he returns in a few days. I hadn’t planned to start yet, but my clothing was ready and Emma needed the help, so I decided to work a few hours today.”

“And how will you get the work done at the ranch?”

She tipped up her chin. “The ranch has you, Daniel, and my cousin. There is no shortage of hands as well.”

“That’s not the same and you know it. I expect your father will have something to say about this.”

“He’s said everything that matters—he’s leaving the ranch to Lewis. Which means I must look out for myself.”

He took a step nearer. “Don’t do this, Margaret. You’re operating on emotion now, not logic. Lewis is always going to need your help. It takes more than one person to run a ranch that large.”

Heat flooded her cheeks. Emotion, indeed! “I’ve thought this through, and it’s the only proper course of action. Women can make their own way in the world, you know. We don’t have to be dependent on a man for our livelihood.”

“I didn’t say you did. But waiting tables isn’t where your heart lies. It’s with the ranch. You’ll be miserable inside all day.”

“I told her the same, but she’s determined,” Emma said.

“I can see that,” he said, holding Margaret’s gaze.

She picked up the pot again when the bell tinkled. “I have customers to see to. You can go out the back if you like.”

“I’d like some food.” He followed her. “And coffee.”

She was likely to spill it all over him if he sat and watched her. But she would show him she was competent to do anything she set her mind to.




BY THE TIME Margaret’s first week was over, her feet were sore, and she’d found out how hard waiting tables was. Today was her first day off in a week, and Pa would have to be told what she’d done. The rain drizzled down as she cut calves out of the herd, but she didn’t mind. To her, it was a day as fine as cream gravy. She was in her element.

The poncho did little to stop the cold rain from trickling down her neck and back as she rode back to the ranch house. The rain stopped about a mile from home. A rainbow emerged from the clouds. It almost looked like the rainbow’s end was at the Triple T. Such fanciful notions. It was probably because she was still so distraught at the thought of leaving it. Dusk was approaching and she wanted to be inside before dark.

Archie seemed to sense her longing to be home and broke into a trot. She leaned back in the saddle and let him go.

“Eager to get home?” Daniel asked as his horse fell into step with hers.

“I want a hot bath.”

“You need some plaster on that cut too.”

Did he have to remind her that Archie had thrown her? She barely felt the sting of the cut on her face, but every muscle hurt from her fall into the rocks. She could count the times she’d been thrown on one hand, and it had been humiliating that Daniel had seen this one. She shivered in her saddle, cold clear to the bone. But more than anything, she wanted to get out of Daniel’s company. He made her feel things she didn’t understand. It had been so much simpler before he arrived. He was such an enigma, and she didn’t like puzzles. She liked black to be black and white to be white. Shades of gray were too difficult to comprehend.

“Your pa is due back today. You gonna tell him about your job tonight or wait until you go in tomorrow?”

She shot him a warning glance. “I’ll tell him after dinner. Just make sure you don’t say anything.”

He grinned. “I’ll try to stay out of the fracas.”

As they neared the house, she noticed men running back and forth to the barn. “Is that the sheriff’s horse?” Not that Daniel would know. He was too new. She glanced at him. “Is he here to arrest you?”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”

She held his gaze. “No. No, I wouldn’t.”

He looked away and stared at the ranch. “There’s something wrong. Isn’t that the doctor on the porch?”

Her fingers tightened on the reins. “Yes, you’re right.” She urged her horse into a run and reached the yard, where she slid to the ground and threw the reins around a post. She splashed through mud puddles to the porch. “Where’s Pa?” she asked Calvin.

The ranch hand’s grizzled face was white. “In his room with the doctor, Miss Margaret.”

She bolted for the door, not waiting to ask what had happened. Lewis was pacing in the hall outside her father’s room. He blocked her path when she started for the door.

“Let me pass,” she demanded.

“Doc said everyone had to stay out here.” He put his hand on her arm. “Calm down, Margaret.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He arrived about noon. Calvin found him in the back field this afternoon at one. He’d been hit on the head.”

She gasped. “Someone hit him again?”

“It appears that way.”

She collapsed onto his chest. “He’s going to be all right, isn’t he? Is he awake?”

“No, he’s been unconscious since we found him, so I sent for the doctor. He’s been with him only a few minutes.”

Her throat burned, and she buried her face in his shirt. “Why didn’t you send for me?” She lifted her head and shook him. “You had no right not to come get me!”

Lewis hugged her. “I thought you’d be here shortly.”

She clutched her cousin’s solid form. “He can’t die, Lewis.”

“He’s a tough old bird. I’m sure the doctor will fix him right up.”

Daniel joined them outside the door. “I heard what happened. Was the assailant caught?”

“We have no idea who did this.”

Lewis’s tone was aggressive, and Margaret glanced up at him. Did he think Daniel had something to do with it, or was it his knowledge about the foreman’s “other” activities? Daniel had been with her, so he couldn’t have had anything to do with this.

“I don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Pa.” She stepped away from her cousin.

Lewis folded his arms across his chest and stared at Daniel. “You have to wonder if some other crime is going on around here and Uncle Paddy observed it.”

Margaret gulped. Even if Daniel had nothing to do with this, one of his gang members could have. Pa might have seen the man in the barn and challenged him. It made sense. She hugged herself and leaned against the wall. “What’s taking so long?”

Before Lewis could answer her, the door opened. His expression grave, the doctor stepped out. He blocked the doorway when she tried to move past him. “I need to talk to you, Margaret.”

She plucked at his sleeve. “He’s all right, isn’t he?”

“I’m afraid you’re going to have to be strong.” He nodded at Daniel. “Get some whiskey.”

Her limbs turned to lead. “Whiskey? I don’t drink. Tell me what’s wrong.”

The doctor took her arm and moved her down the hall toward her room. “I want you to sit down first.”

She stumbled as she realized how serious it was. Was Pa paralyzed? In a stupor she let the doctor lead her to her bed, where she sank onto the side. “Tell me.” Lewis was looking more anxious too. The doctor knelt beside her. Daniel entered with a glass of amber liquid, which she refused.

The doctor glanced at Lewis, then back at her. “I’m afraid we’ve lost him, Margaret.”

“Lost him?” The words meant nothing to her at first. Pa was in his bedroom. She’d caught a glimpse of him when the doctor opened the door. When Lewis’s face crumpled, she understood the doctor was saying her dad was dead.

She sprang to her feet. “You’re wrong!”

The doctor made a grab for her and missed as she ran for the door. She would go to him and her pa would open his eyes. They would see. Daniel blocked her passage. She stared at the compassion in his eyes and faced the truth before crumpling into his embrace.