Chapter 4

4

Dakota saw her, a vivid, redheaded, freckle-faced beauty. A woman too innocent and too fine to want any part of Dakota's attention.

He tore his eyes away from that pretty woman and saw Jake.

"Dakota!" Fiona waved a hand high. "Welcome! You're just in time for coffee."

Fiona O'Toole, welcoming him. The sweetest sound he knew.

Dakota's throat ached. Fiona reminded him of his own ma. His ma wasn't Irish, of course, and she'd had hair as dark as his, her eyes blue like his. But Fiona had a way about her. A loving, gentle, and sometimes fierce way that sure enough reminded Dakota of his ma.

Fiona always welcomed him with the utmost kindness. She'd fill just a little bit of that lonely cavern in his soul. He gave her a wide wave back and smiled. Then his eyes settled again on Maeve, and he saw something that shrunk his smile. He wasn't sure how exactly he thought he could tell, but something was wrong. Maeve needed his help.

What had happened?

Dakota swung off his horse in a patch of tall grass, with the string of well-trained mustangs stopping as his own mount did. The horses all went to cropping grass without any fuss. And it was all Dakota could do not to run to Maeve's side. Ask her if she was hurt, sad, sick. Ask her if he could chase away a mouse or smash a spider, slay a dragon if need be.

Much as he wanted to, he didn't walk straight toward her.

Jake, Beth, and Ginny were reaching the O'Tooles just as Dakota did. Oscar was busy getting the horses settled in the same grass Dakota had picked out. Bruce helped him with the horses.

Donal shouted a greeting from the field right across the little stream that divided Donal's property from his ma and sister's place.

Dakota had his own horse all leathered up, while the rest had halters only, so switching things so his critters could graze took seconds.

Jake reached out a hand to Dakota, who shook it firmly and with a lot of sincere pleasure to see his friend. And that was when he noticed a baby peeking over Jake's shoulder. Dakota saw the little blue-eyed tyke with curly brown hair like her mama's and laughed. "I saw the two little ones. I didn't see you'd strapped one on your back like a papoose."

"We've been toting the baby around like this all the time, even when at home. She seems content back there. So you're bringing horses out to sell?"

"Yep, this is my third batch this year. Usually I can get ten trained at a time, then get to work selling them. Of course, I don't have to wait until September to get off my ranch."

Dakota gave Jake a clap on the shoulder. "It looks like you're headed east for a fight. I'll keep on moving and get my horses sold, then meet you in town. If I don't get them all sold, I'll load them on the train and sell them wherever we happen to stop."

As the womenfolk traded babies and began gabbing, Maeve approached Dakota with purpose in her gaze. "We need two horses."

"You're finally ready to get horses for your little brother and sister?"

Maeve nodded. "Bridget and Conor are too old to ride double with an adult. We had a couple of nice colts last spring and two more this spring. We're gentling them and should be able to ride the older two soon, but not soon enough. Maybe we'll have horses to sell before long."

For some reason, though her words were light, there was a weight to Maeve's expression.

"They've really sprouted," Jake said as the younger O'Toole children followed their ma inside. "Conor is near your Donal's height, and Bridget looks nearly your twin." Every one of the children was a redhead. A matched set with their ma and pa.

"She's thirteen. And don't think such a thing." Maeve gave Jake a good-natured backhand to the belly, no force behind it and an amused look of scolding on her face.

"Conor's near Pa's height, just as Donal is. Bridget will be as tall as Ma soon and will pass me up at the rate she's going. So yes, they need horses. Donal is set to marry soon—I wonder if we need a third horse for Suzie."

Mentioning the youngsters growing up reminded Dakota that they'd be doing it without a father. Thinking of their pa hurt, so he turned his thoughts to Maeve and whatever was bothering her.

Dakota watched her closely, wondering if she'd speak of what had upset her. But he didn't push. "I know Suzie's family, and her pa will send a horse along with her when they get married. She's got a favorite, and her pa sees it as her own. So you'll only need two horses, and I'll give you the pick of the herd since I'm talking to you first. The black mare is a favorite of mine."

Dakota pointed her out. The horse was young and took well to being gentled. "If you want breeding stock, take the red stallion. He's not a mustang, but he was unbranded and running with the herd, wild as the deer. I'd guess he's been running wild a long time, probably most of his life. I thought about keeping him, but I don't want to build a herd of horses, that's not my goal. Instead, I aim to catch the wild ones and gentle them to sell. I've seen a passel of them, so I can keep busy for years. I've seen your OT brand. I'll tell Bruce and Donal to brand the red with your own iron."

"Sounds fine." Maeve reached out a hand, and, after an awkward moment, Dakota shook it. A slender hand, with skin like silk. There were freckles on the back of her hand just like across her nose.

The deal was done on a handshake. Hard feelings or not, the two trusted each other. Such things as written contracts and bills of sale weren't necessary.

"I'll leave 'em behind then. They're well trained, but a stallion is always gonna be a handful."

"I think Donal will take him and give his bay mare to Conor. The boyo learned to ride on her and has a fondness for her. Bridget can take the black mare."

Bruce, Oscar, Jake, and Donal headed for the house, talking earnestly. Maeve watched the men a bit too closely.

Dakota found himself alone with Maeve. "What's the matter?"

She turned from watching the men, and her eyes met Dakota's. She studied his face for a moment, right where that bullet had grazed him. The wound had healed, but he knew the mark was still there. He had an excuse all ready, but she didn't ask. Instead, there was a stretch of silence that lasted too long. Then her eyes slid to Bruce, and her lips curved into a frown. Quietly, she said, "Bruce is courting my ma."

Fiona was inside. Dakota watched the men go in. "Really? You sound as if it came as a surprise. Couldn't you tell they were interested in each other?"

"No!" Maeve shouted the word, then slapped a hand over her mouth. Lowering her hand, she took two deep breaths. "No, I couldn't tell," she said much more quietly. "It came out of the blue. I'm a bit shocked, I am. Pure gobsmacked. Ma talks of Da a lot."

She crossed her arms tight and took a few seconds as if to regain control of herself before continuing.

"She loves to share memories of him and talks about how they met as children. Talks of their wedding day and their first home and how they lived on fresh air and love for a while because they were so poor. She's full of funny stories of Da. I..." Maeve's eyes swung back to Dakota. "I'm so sad about this. I know it's not fair of me, but I can't seem to be happy for them." Maeve's jaw tightened until Dakota thought she might crack her teeth.

Dakota said, "My ma died when I was about ten. I had four little brothers, so there was five of us in all."

"No sisters?" Maeve sounded horrified, and that almost made Dakota smile.

"Nary a one. She died birthing the fifth son. Pa had no idea what to do with a little baby. My pa's folks lived nearby, and Grandma came over and helped at first. She even found a neighbor lady who'd recently had a baby and arranged for the baby to be fed by her. But before long, my little brother was old enough to be weaned, and right about then my grandma died, and it all landed on me."

"Landed on you? Really? You were handed the raising of four little brothers when you were ten?"

"I was near twelve when Grandma died, so I took over then. I managed them as best I could, and Pa had no more notion of how to handle them than I did. I did the cooking, washed their clothes, gave them baths when I could wrangle them into a tub. My little brothers were a big help, though. We mostly worked together, except for the two-year-old, Mikey. I spent a lot of my time trying to keep him from casting himself into the fire."

Dakota shook his head as he remembered that rambunctious little brother of his. He'd helped a lot while Grandma was alive because she was ailing more all the time, her joints hurting.

"My pa never remarried, and I was glad of it. 'Course, I grew up in Dakota Territory, and we didn't have what you'd call an overly large supply of womenfolk." Dakota shrugged. "Maybe it's just that your ma and Bruce are here together and want to be with someone. Maybe you shouldn't look at it like she doesn't love your pa. Maybe Bruce is just close to hand."

Maeve slapped him across the face.

Stunned, Dakota stepped back out of reach in case she took another swing at him. He locked eyes with her. Her face was red as a robin's belly. Fire flashed in her eyes. What had he said? She'd knocked it out of his mind, but it must've been a knuckleheaded thing to say.

She clapped both hands over her mouth. Then, speaking between her fingers, she said, "I'm sorry."

That fire still flashed at him, though, and he didn't come closer.

"Idaho is filling up a bit, but it's got mostly the same problem North Dakota had—very few women, and most of them youngsters or married. So Bruce is just marrying my ma because she's close to hand?"

"Now, Maeve, I didn't mean it that way. I'm sure they care for each other."

Her eyes seemed to almost catch fire. She was sure burning him with them.

"If he cares for her and she for him, that's even worse." Maeve threw her arms wide. It wasn't like she was intending to slap him, but he was glad he'd stayed well back. "You can see that I'm in no way happy about this."

"You're of an age to get married. You should rustle up a husband and get out of here."

"I have to live here one more full year to prove up on my land. I can't just go haring off."

Dakota knew the rules about homesteading. "You have to live here six months of the year. You should go get yourself snowed in at Hidden Canyon for the winter. You could do that and still manage your six months, since you've already got them in for this year."

"So now I'm getting kicked out of my own home?"

Dakota clamped his mouth shut. Everything he said only seemed to make things worse.

She spun around and stomped toward the house.

Dakota lingered, then turned to settling the horses the O'Tooles were buying into the corral with the other horses and making sure everyone in there was going to get along. He was giving himself time so he wouldn't go inside with a red handprint on his face.