In the Rancher's Arms

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He nodded. “I picked up the boxes at the freight company last week when I went down to Eagle Fork to talk to the attorney about our agreement and make arrangements for your arrival.”

A couple of weeks ago, she had shipped most of her clothes and the few mementos the authorities allowed her to keep when her father’s mansion and possessions were auctioned off. It was disheartening to think that her entire life could be reduced to a few shipping crates and a couple of suitcases. But that was the sad truth of the matter.

“Thank you, Eli,” she said, admiring the ease with which he managed the heavy luggage holding the remainder of her clothes. Turning back to Buck, she asked, “Is there anything else I can do to help?”

The old man smiled as he nodded toward the table. “Just have a seat and I’ll dish you up some of the best beef stew you’ve ever had. I’m bettin’ you’re pretty tired and hungry from all that travelin’ you did to get here.”

“It smells wonderful, but I’ll wait for you and Eli to sit down with me,” she said, smiling back.

Buck stared at her for several long seconds. “You’re nothin’ like I pictured you to be,” he finally said, shaking his head.

She wasn’t quite sure how to respond. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” she asked cautiously.

“It had better be good,” Eli said, walking back into the room. There was a warning tone in his voice and the air suddenly seemed filled with tension as the two men glared at each other.

“Might as well sit down and eat before it gets cold,” Buck finally said, turning to remove some biscuits from the oven.

The hostility between the two men was undeniable, and Tori had a feeling she might be a big part of their problem. Buck probably hadn’t approved of Eli’s method of obtaining a wife.

“Do you want me to give you a few moments?” she asked uncertainly. “I can go upstairs and start unpacking.”

Eli shook his head. “That won’t be necessary.” He held a chair for her, then sat down at the head of the table. “Buck gets this way in the wintertime. He hates being cooped up in the house and figures that if he’s miserable, everyone else should be, too.”

“You don’t have to talk about me like I’m not here,” Buck snapped as he plunked down a plate of fluffy biscuits on the table, then brought the pot of stew over to start filling their plates. He scowled at Eli a moment before turning to smile at her. “We don’t eat real fancy, but I can guarantee it’s good and there’s plenty of it.”

“It smells wonderful, Buck.” She returned his smile. “I’m sure it’s delicious.”

She wasn’t certain why, but she liked Buck. He might be gruff and extremely blunt, but she could tell by the kindness in his eyes that he was a good person.

“How did things go around here today, Buck?” Eli asked as he passed Tori the plate of biscuits. “Anything I need to take care of?”

“Jack called earlier this afternoon and it looks like that pregnant mare you’ve been watchin’ is gonna foal sometime tonight.” Buck ladled stew onto her plate. “Most of the boys over at the bunkhouse are down with the flu and Jack didn’t sound all that healthy when I talked to him.”

Eli frowned. “Is he with the mare now?”

“Yup. He said he’d stay with her until you got back and could take over,” Buck said, ladling another heaping scoop of stew onto her plate.

Her eyes widened as she stared down at it. Although the stew looked and smelled delicious, she couldn’t possibly eat all of it.

“Excuse me, Buck,” she said, hoping he wouldn’t be offended. When both men stopped talking to turn their attention her way, she shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I won’t be able to eat all of this.”

“Aren’t you hungry?” Eli asked.

“I’m ravenous, but I never eat this much,” she explained.

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those women who doesn’t eat enough to keep a bird alive,” Buck said, his disapproval evident in the lines creasing his forehead.

She pointed to her plate. “I have a very good appetite, but honestly there’s enough here to feed a starving lumberjack.”

Eli laughed. “Eat what you want and leave the rest.”

“I can’t do that,” she said, shaking her head. “That would be wasteful.” She didn’t want to tell him, but in the four months since her father’s downfall and subsequent death, she had learned to be extremely conservative with her resources. Until then, she hadn’t given a second thought to how much food she wasted or how much it cost. Now, as far as she was concerned, throwing food in the garbage was the same as throwing money away.

Both men looked at her with amused expressions a moment before Eli reached for her plate, then handed his empty one to Buck. “I’ll eat this,” he said, grinning. “Just tell him how much you want.”

Tori wasn’t sure what Eli and Buck found so amusing. But it didn’t matter. It seemed to have lessened some of the tension between them and she was happy to have a more relaxed atmosphere while they ate.

As she dined on the most delicious stew she’d ever eaten, she listened to Eli tell Buck how he intended to handle the daily chores while the majority of his hired men were down with the flu. “I’ll take care of checking on the cattle out in the pastures. Do you think you’ll be able to feed the horses?”

Buck looked thoroughly disgusted. “I might be gettin’ older and have a touch of arthritis, but if I can’t handle feedin’ a bunch of hay burners you might as well bury me. Of course I can feed the damned horses.”

“Good. Tori, I’m going to let you take care of mixing up the milk replacer and feeding the bucket babies,” Eli said, turning to look at her.

Apprehension streaked up her spine. She didn’t even know what a “bucket baby” was. Before she could respond, the phone rang and Eli left the table to answer it.

“You don’t have the slightest notion what a ‘bucket baby’ is or what to do with one, do you, gal?” Buck asked, his voice little more than a whisper as he reached over to pat her hand.

She caught her lower lip between her teeth as she shook her head.

“Don’t worry—I’ll talk you through it,” Buck said, giving her a conspiratorial wink.

“Am I going to be taking care of calves?” she guessed.

He nodded. “I’ll show you how to mix the powdered calf’s milk and the best way to hold the bucket. The calves will do the rest.”

Relieved that she wasn’t going to have to admit that she was a complete fraud her first day on the ranch, she smiled. “I can’t thank you enough, Buck. Please don’t tell Eli that I didn’t know what he was talking about. It’s just that—”

“Your secret is safe with me,” he interrupted, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

“I’m going to have to cut supper short,” Eli said, returning to the table. “Jack is sicker than a dog and that mare is getting close to dropping her foal.” He walked over to open the door to the mudroom. “Tori, I’m going to need your help. Change into some work clothes and meet me down at the horse barn as soon as you can. Buck, you’ll need to take care of the calves after you get finished feeding the horses.”

Before she could ask which barn he was talking about, Eli put on his wide-brimmed black hat and walked into the mudroom to get his coat.

“Which barn does he want me to go to?” she asked, hoping Buck knew.

“Go upstairs and get changed, while I take care of puttin’ the rest of this stew in the refrigerator,” Buck said, getting up from the table. “I’ll walk you down there, then I’ll take care of the bucket babies and the horses.”

Hurrying upstairs, Tori wasn’t even sure which room to look in for her clothes, but opening doors along the long hallway at the top of the stairs, she finally found the room where Eli had put her things. Opening her designer luggage, she rummaged through her clothes until she found a pair of jeans. Quickly changing into them, she put on a T-shirt and a sweatshirt over it for warmth. She wasn’t entirely certain she would need the layers of clothing beneath her coat, but it was below freezing outside and she would rather be safe than sorry.

Looking around at her clothes scattered across the bed and the unopened crates, she regretted not being able to unpack and put her things away. But there wasn’t time for that now. Eli needed her to help him and she only hoped she didn’t make any major mistakes.

After she put her hair into a ponytail to keep it out of the way and pulled her boots back on, she ran down the stairs to find Buck waiting for her by the kitchen door. “Do you have a pair of gloves?” he asked.

“Yes.” When she pulled them from the pocket of her ski jacket, he shook his head.

“Those are too dressy and won’t protect your hands.” He handed her a pair of leather work gloves. “These are more suitable for chores.” He reached up to pull a sock cap on her head to cover her ears. “I’d ask if you have any experience helping a mare give birth, but I already know the answer.”

“No…no, I don’t.” She followed him out of the house into the frigid night air. “I should tell you—”

“Don’t worry about it tonight,” he said as they walked across the yard toward a row of buildings. “You can tell me all about yourself when we have more time.”

When Buck led her through a small door built into one of the much larger ones at the front of the horse barn, she looked around. Stalls lined both sides of the center aisle. The dim light in one of the enclosures at the far end was probably where Eli and the mare were.

“Thanks, Buck,” she said, turning to give him a quick hug.

He patted her shoulder. “Just do everything Eli tells you to do and you’ll do just fine, gal.”

When Tori reached the stall, she found Eli, kneeling beside a mare lying on her side in the straw. The poor animal appeared agitated and in pain.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked.

“Move slowly and keep your voice low and even,” he said, removing his coat to lay it aside. He knelt by the mare’s hindquarters and started wrapping the tail with a narrow roll of gauzy-looking fabric. “Sit down by her head and try to calm her while I take care of things at this end.”

“It’s all right, sweetheart,” she said, sitting beside the mare to rub her broad forehead. She wasn’t sure of what she was doing or if it was right, but she was determined to do all she could to help the poor animal.

“I don’t think this will take too long,” he said, sitting back on his heels. “She’s had a couple of foals before this one, but I want to make sure everything goes okay.”

“I can understand why. She’s beautiful.” Tori crooned as she continued to pet the horse. “This is a big moment in your life, isn’t it, girl?”

“I see the front hooves emerging,” he said quietly.

She noticed that he didn’t move to help the mare. “You don’t have to do anything for her?”

“No, she’s doing fine on her own and it’s best to let nature take its course,” he said, sounding distracted. “We’re just here in case she has a problem.”

It was probably something she would have known if she had as much experience at farming as she’d claimed. But thankfully, Eli was focused on making sure the mare wasn’t having problems during the birth and had answered automatically without paying much attention to her question.

Once the colt slid out onto the soft bed of straw and Eli cleared the membrane away from its tiny muzzle, he unwrapped the horse’s tail, then motioned for her to leave the mare to walk out into the barn aisle. “We’ll keep an eye on them from here,” he said quietly as he picked up his jacket and followed her. Closing the stall’s half door, he smiled. “You did a great job. Thanks.”

“I didn’t do all that much,” she said, smiling back at him.

She was relieved that she had passed her first trial of dealing with livestock and hadn’t embarrassed herself by showing how little she knew. But it was Eli’s unexpected praise that caused a pleasant warmth to spread through her.

A bit flustered by the feeling, Tori turned to peer over the top of the stall door. As she watched, the mare got up, then turned around to nudge her copper-colored colt with her muzzle.

“What’s she doing?” Tori asked, hoping the animal wasn’t trying to hurt her baby.

“She’s trying to get the foal to stand up,” Eli said, from just behind her.

The heat from his body and the intimate sound of his voice close to her ear sent a tingling sensation straight to the pit of her belly. How could she possibly feel such awareness this fast? Even if they were married, she hadn’t much more than just met him.

“Is the foal a boy or girl?” she asked in an attempt to regain her equilibrium.

“A little filly,” Eli said, draping his arm over her shoulders as they watched the tiny animal try several times to get up before it was successful. “Would you like to name her?”

“Really? You’ll let me do that?”

He nodded. “Do you have an idea of what you want to call her?”

“Can I think about it for a little while?” she asked, watching the filly wobble her way over to the mare to begin nursing. It was a sight she knew for certain she would never forget and helped take her mind off the churning feelings Eli had aroused within her.

“Take your time. There’s no hurry,” he said, giving her a smile that warmed her all the way to her toes.

As they continued to stare at each other, Tori wondered why a man like Eli would feel the need to advertise for a wife. With his rugged good looks and disarming presence, she’d have thought he would have women lined up across the state just waiting for a chance to get him to look their way. And what had compelled him to offer her the job of being his wife over the other applicants?