“Well, if you do, you tell us. And when we go tonight, I’ll leave a couple of those ironstone mugs we brought for the luncheon. We have way more than we need.”
Jane could hardly imagine that, with so many people living under one roof at El Regalo, the huge house at the 7 Heart ranch. How could one have too many dishes for so many people? And the boys who had married were building their own homes, too, and would need dishes. But then, with the fortune GW Hart had amassed, they could probably afford whatever they wanted.
She gazed over to the site of the new house, where the framing for the walls was rising. Crockett and his brother Bowie, the long-haired, wild-looking one, were hefting a six-by-six beam from a wagon. Why would a man like Crockett care about a dirt-poor girl like her? When this project was finished, he would probably go back to being the rarely seen neighbor from the big spread that dwarfed the Haymaker ranch.
Crockett worked side by side with Ben most of the morning. The young man wasn’t too sure of how they should commence building or where the doors and windows ought to go. After a few rounds of advice from the more opinionated neighbors, they set to work on the outer walls of the building. When they stopped for a break, the framework of the four walls was standing, as well as interior walls to separate the kitchen, the sitting room, and two bedrooms. Ben had insisted he would sleep in the loft over his father’s bedroom. Even so, the house would be larger than what they had lived in before.
Caro brought them each a drink of lemonade, and they sat down on the end of the Harts’ wagon. Crockett took a long swallow and savored the tart flavor.
“So, Ben,” he said. “Jane tells me you might go work on the Bar L.”
“Thinkin’ about it.” Ben sipped his lemonade.
“How would Jane and your pa get on if you did that?”
Ben lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. “I know Pa’s no help anymore. But if Janie could hold things together here and I could earn some money…”
“So you want to keep this ranch going for the long haul?” Crockett asked. “Not just cut loose and forget about it?”
“I wouldn’t do that to Jane.”
“Good.” Crockett drained his cup and then looked at the young man. “If it was just you, though? What would you do if you didn’t have to think about Jane and your pa?”
Ben gave a short laugh. “That won’t happen.”
“Seriously.”
Ben met his gaze and sobered. “I’d sell this place and go to college.”
“College?”
“Yeah. And medical school, if they’d take me.”
Crockett gave a low whistle. He should have suspected the boy had thwarted ambitions. Probably Jane did, too, but they were stuck here on this run-down spread.
He jumped off the wagon. “Come on, let’s help the crew get the roof framed.”
He didn’t get a chance to talk much to Jane—at least, not without half-a-dozen other people close by—until evening. If possible, the food for supper was even more diverse than lunch had been. The Hart women had been cooking for several days in preparation for the event, and it seemed a lot of the other women of Hartville had, too. The men took over the barn, where a couple of them had cleaned out the main floor that afternoon, as a place to wash up and don clean shirts before the meal.
Jane met up with Crockett as he left the barn.
“Been waiting for you,” she said. “I don’t know how to thank you, but I wanted to try.” Her eyes gleamed in the rays of the setting sun as she looked toward the new house, all framed and covered with board siding.
“It’s what folks do when a neighbor needs a hand,” Crockett said.
Jane shook her head. “Not for us. Not usually. I think most of them came because you asked them to—the Harts asked them to.”
That made Crockett feel a little uncomfortable. His own family could have done a lot more for the Haymakers over the years, but he knew his father had avoided Boyd like the plague. That attitude had rubbed off on him and his brothers to a certain extent, though they always thought the kids were all right.
“Well, I don’t know about that,” he muttered. Jane’s green eyes looked strained and almost fearful. Was she afraid they would all abandon her family once the dancing was over?
“Look, Bowie and Houston and I are set to come back Monday and help Ben get the shingling done.”
“You don’t need to.”
“We know we don’t, but you’ve got to have a tight roof before the next rain. The three of us will be here, and maybe a few others if we can hound them into it.”
She was silent for a moment then said, “I can see that’s settled, so I won’t argue. I’ll just say thank you again.”
“You’re welcome.” Crockett paused and looked down into her face. Jane was so serious, and perhaps fearful. He needed a bride. Could she be the one? And what would his father think if he proposed to Boyd’s daughter? His mouth went dry. “Would you—would you save me a dance, Jane?”
Her smile blossomed, and suddenly he knew it could work. Boyd and his lazy ways didn’t matter. Jane would gladly labor to make her ranch and her family succeed.