Safe in His Arms

FIVE





Dust motes danced in the shaft of sunlight from the open doors. Daniel tossed another pitchfork full of fresh hay for the horses in the barn. The scent of hay was strong inside the building. He’d been here just a few days but the place already felt too much like home. And he wasn’t staying that long.

Paddy hung the bridle on the wall and smiled. “You’re doing a fine job, Daniel. I know my daughter got a little het up about your arrival, but she’ll get used to you soon. She’s a little highstrung.” He took off the red handkerchief around his neck and wiped his brow.

Daniel leaned on his pitchfork and wiped his brow. “You’re lucky to have her. She’s done well here.”

“Oh, no doubt, no doubt.” Paddy studied Daniel’s face. “But things are going to change around here. Margaret won’t cotton to the changes much.”

“What kind of changes?”

“I’m leaving my ranch to Lewis.”

Daniel straightened. “You cut Margaret out of the will?” It was none of his business, but he wanted to object most mightily.

Paddy grabbed a pitchfork and threw hay to the horses. “I’ll settle a sum of money on her when she marries.”

Daniel went back to throwing hay as well. “I reckon that’s not the same thing. There’s no mistaking how much she loves this spread. Have you told Margaret the full details of what you plan?”

“I will. When the time comes.”

Daniel tossed a forkful of hay with more force than necessary. Margaret deserved better than this. “It’s not right, Paddy. She’s worked hard for you and this ranch. How do you think she’s going to feel when you toss her aside for her cousin?”

“She should be relieved that she won’t have the burden anymore.”

“You know better than that. This ranch is her life. She loves it with all of her being.”

Paddy’s jaw had a truculent thrust. “It ain’t right for a woman to be so focused on the ranch. She needs to be worrying about young’uns and her own home.”

It all made no sense to Daniel. “Did Lewis talk you into this?”

Paddy’s scowl darkened. “Of course not. Lewis tried to talk me into splitting the ranch into two.” He snorted. “Like I’d chop up the place I’ve worked my whole life to build.”

Exactly what Margaret had said. She knew Paddy would never piecemeal his ranch. But when she found out what her father was doing, the fireworks would light the entire county.




DANIEL WASN’T SURE what awakened him. He sat up and swung his feet to the floor. In his dream he thought Margaret had called for him. He was the last person she would ask for help. He went to the window and looked into the corral. Earlier today Paddy had penned up a pregnant cow. In the dim light of the moon, Daniel saw Paddy kneeling over the cow. It must be giving birth.

Should he go help? While he didn’t know much about birthing cows, he could fetch whatever Paddy might need. After yanking on his jeans, he stepped into the yard as Margaret exited the house. Her braid reached nearly to her waist, and her bare feet peeked from under the hem of her robe.

She stepped toward the gate. “I can help Pa, if that’s why you’re up.”

“Another pair of hands won’t hurt.”

He followed her to the corral. The cow lowed in distress, then a faint moan came. “Paddy?”

Margaret raced past him and yanked open the gate. “Pa!”

Lying on the ground, Paddy moaned again and tried to raise his head. “Somebody hit me.”

The cow’s legs thrashed near his head, and Daniel jumped forward to drag the older man out of harm’s way. “Take care of him and the cow. I’m going to look for an intruder.”

He stared at the shifting shadows around the barn and outbuildings. Was that someone under the oak tree? “Who’s there?”

Vegetation rustled, and he ran toward the spot. If only he’d grabbed his gun. When he reached the perimeter of the stockyard, he found nothing but mashed-down grass. The best thing to do would be to wake the men and have them help him search.

He ran for the bunkhouse and roused the men. One bunk was conspicuously empty—Calvin’s. The men lit lanterns and headed out to fan into the shadows and look for an intruder. Two men ran into the barn with their lanterns aloft. Daniel scoured the perimeter of the trees at the back of the yard. When he heard a shout, he turned.

One of the hands emerged from the barn yelling. “I tripped over a shovel and dropped my lantern. The barn’s on fire!”




THE SCENT OF fire lingered in the small bedroom as Margaret adjusted her father’s pillow. “You look terrible, Pa. There’s a huge lump on your forehead and it’s still bleeding.” She tried to mask her anxiety with a smile.

“I trust you are finished haranguing me?” He jerked his arm away. “If the intruder didn’t kill me, your fussing will.”

She’d rarely been in his bedroom. Inez took care of cleaning, and his door was usually kept shut. It was smaller than she’d thought, barely twelve feet square. The only furnishings were his bed atop a faded blue rag rug, a battered chest of drawers, and a wooden chair. The whitewashed walls were dingy and bare. Not a very appealing room, but then, her mother had died so many years ago that the house had never had a feminine touch. She dragged the chair to his bedside and settled on it.

Her father lifted a brow. “What do you think you’re doing? It’s nearly ten, Margaret. Go to bed. I’m fine.”

His gruffness made her eyes burn. “I’m going to stay with you tonight, Pa. Someone tried to kill you. What if he tries again?”

Her father’s eyes softened. “I suspect it was a thief. He probably just hit me in his haste to get away.”

“You nearly died. If he came into the yard, on our own property, he’d break into the house as well. I have to keep you safe.”

“You’re being melodramatic.” He rolled to his side, facing her. “Go to bed. Having you staring at me all night will keep me awake.”

She sighed and slumped against the back of the chair. “I’ll go in a little while. Once you’re asleep.”

His eyes were heavy, and he suddenly looked old to her with his grizzled chin and gray hair. How old was he? Sixty? Growing up, she’d thought him the most wonderful person alive, next to her older brother, Stephen, of course. Pa seemed as strong and powerful as the Red River in flood stage, forcing his will and way on all of them. She suspected it was the only way he knew to show love. For all his bluster, he was a softie.

She studied the picture of her mother on his dresser. Margaret’s life would have been so different if her mother had lived. She would have had a role model, a female to guide her. Lucy Stanton was her first real female friend.

She directed her attention back to her father. “The men are placing wagers on whether or not you’ll split the ranch between us.”

He snorted. “Ridiculous. You know better than that.”

She nodded. “You spent your life building this place.” She leaned forward. “I thought we could build Lewis a house of his own in the valley. For now, he might want to live in Grandpa’s old cabin, but we could make something nicer. We’d be close enough to see it but not so close that we would annoy any wife he chose to bring here. We could work the ranch together. I don’t think he’ll have an issue with taking orders from me.”

Her father’s brows drew together. “You’ve got it all figured out, do you?”

He seemed a little defensive to Margaret. She smiled reassuringly. “It makes sense to do that. He wouldn’t want to have a wife here in our house. She’d feel displaced. I’ll make sure she feels welcome. Lewis too. You don’t have to worry.”

Her father sat up and fluffed his pillow. “You’ll marry someday, Margaret. Your husband will provide a home for you. Then Lewis will have no qualms about bringing a wife here.”

She exhaled and shook her head. “I’m never getting married. I’m nearly twenty-six, a spinster by any measure. I’ve never had a single beau.”

“There was Nate.”

Margaret laughed. “Lucy’s man? Nate never courted me, Pa. We just assumed it would happen because it made sense to join our ranches. There was never anything between us.”

“You were in favor,” he reminded her.

“Because I didn’t know any better. When I see the way he looks at Lucy, I know the difference now. And who is going to look at me like that?”

Her father lay back against the pillow with a sly grin. “Daniel seems to like you fine.”

It was on the tip of her tongue to tell her father what she’d learned about his new foreman, but she bit back the words. No sense in riling Pa when he was recovering from such a shock. And she needed more information. She clamped her teeth together and shrugged.

“You’ve nothing to say about Daniel?”

“I don’t think he’ll be around long. And any interest he might be showing is not genuine. I suspect he sees the value of the ranch and covets it. Not me.”

Her father stared at her. “You’re not inheriting the ranch, Margaret.”

Something squeezed in her chest. “You’re not leaving me the ranch?” Her throat was almost too tight to force out the question.

He sat up and fussed with his pillow. “I’m leaving Lewis the ranch. I changed my will when I invited him to come.”

Margaret shook her head to clear it. “I don’t think I heard you right.”

“I was perfectly plain. Running a ranch isn’t a job for a woman. You’ve done well these past few years. But for the ranch to grow, it will need a man’s hand. I’ve decided that man is Lewis. He even reminds me a bit of Stephen.”

Margaret sprang to her feet. I will not cry. Tears were for the weak. “And what about me, Pa? I’m to stay on here as a poor relation?”

“Of course not. I’ll settle a handsome sum on the man you’ll marry.”

“I’m not getting married!” She rushed to the door and slammed it behind her, then stood in the hallway with her back pressed against the wall. Her chest heaved and she swallowed back the sobs welling in her throat.

Castoff. It seemed she wasn’t good enough no matter how hard she tried. But she would stop this. Somehow she would prove her worth.