{Chapter 22}
Katie stopped the chuck wagon with a squeal. Grayson City was displayed out in front of her like a toy train display at Christmastime. It was bigger than she had thought of at first, but she decided that she didn’t mind. She grinned at the thought that the journey had finally come to an end. She was states away from her home, and yet she felt the most overwhelming peace settle over her at the sight of their destination. So much so that it brought tears to her eyes. It was strange seeing so much civilization after weeks of nothing but dusty old cowboys and vast expanses of land. She smiled over at Mark, for the first time in the years that she had known him, she willingly smiled at him.
His turned his horse around. “I’m going back there to tell them that we’ve arrived. You go on into town and book four hotel rooms for you, Toni and her bunch, Wade, and me. The rest can decide if they want a hotel room or not. We’ll be down there in a little while. Alert the law of our arrival so he can clear the streets before our herd comes through. Got it?”
Katie nodded.
Mark rode off, and Katie looked back at Justin.
“You ready for some decent living, Justin Cade?” she asked.
Justin focused his big blue eyes on her and grinned a toothless grin. She giggled and took up the reins, anxious to get into town.
The looks she received from the other people revealed her dire need for a bath and a change of clothes. She had been wearing the same split skirt for nearly a week, and it was showing. She climbed out of the chuck wagon, lifted Justin into her arms, and strode into the hotel.
The bookkeeper gave her an amused look. “Can I help you, miss?”
“I need to book four rooms for about three days,” Katie told him.
“Will you be paying before or after your stay?” The bookkeeper asked.
“After. We’ve got a herd of cattle to be sold,” Katie explained.
The bookkeeper stared at her, wide-eyed. “A herd of cattle? Are you and the baby with the outfit?”
Katie nodded. She didn’t need to explain the baby’s presence to him.
“We haven’t had a drive through here in a while. There aren’t many these days,” the bookkeeper said.
“There will be. Give it a few years. My cousin is sure that the cattle business will boom soon.” Katie signed in for all of them and took the four keys the bookkeeper offered her.
“Maybe it will. You never know, what with the election coming up and all. The economy might get real bad if a war goes on.” The bookkeeper seemed in a talkative mood.
Katie rolled her eyes. She had heard just about all the politics she could stand back at the ranch. Toni had developed a strong dislike for Mr. Lincoln, and didn’t believe him when he said he wouldn’t initiate a war.
“Where are you guys from?” the bookkeeper asked.
“Texas.”
The man’s expression grew cloudy, and Katie felt like huffing. The tension between the states was ever growing.
“Thank you for the rooms.” Katie turned around and exited the hotel.
The wind assaulted her as soon as she stepped out of the doors. Sighing, she walked down the boardwalk until she came to the Marshall’s office. She entered, seeing a man with a badge pinned to his shirt sitting behind a desk. Something about seeing an officer of the law made her think fondly of Adam.
“Are you the Marshall?” she asked.
The man looked up. He had a pleasant-looking face. Kind green eyes and lips curved into a smile made him all the more enjoyable to look at. For a nickel she would send Jane Peters up to Grayson City to meet this man…
But she would have to learn his character first.
“Can I help you?” the Marshall asked.
“Yes, I’m with a cattle drive outfit and was sent ahead to alert you of our coming,” Katie told him.
“A cattle drive? My, my. We haven’t had a drive through here in quite a spell.” The man stood from his seated positioned and walked around the desk.
“So I heard.”
“Thank you for alerting me. I’ll be sure to clear the streets,” the Marshall smiled.
Katie nodded. “Good deal.”
She turned to leave. The Marshall hurried to open the door for her. Katie smiled her thanks and shifted Justin on in her arms.
“Thank you,” she said.
The Marshall nodded and she walked out, catching his name on the shingle by the door.
U.S. Marshall Brandon Stevens.
She would tuck that name away incase he ever got a hankering to go down to Texas.
**********
Aubrey sighed as Sandy squealed and ran past her and out of the door. It was two o’clock in the afternoon and it felt like midnight. She was so tired it was funny. She smiled at the children’s squeals and Sadie’s playful bark and scrubbed at the kitchen table where some coffee had spilled and left a stain. The days were growing longer and longer, but she took deep breaths and prayed that God would give her strength. So far He had sustained her until the end of the day when she could collapse onto her bed and dream away her soreness, only to be awakened by it in the morning with the children jumping on the bed.
Today marked a month that Wade had been gone. They should be at least reaching Grayson City by now, if not on their way home. Her heart beat in anticipation at seeing her husband again. How she ached for him. Just to hear his voice would be a comfort, yet she didn’t even have that.
Lord, I know that You know where Wade is. Give him a good day today and let him know that I’m thinking about him, please? I’d really appreciate it, God.
Wade smiled at the news of reaching Grayson City. The hard part was over. He shook his head as Tiny came riding by, chasing his hat as it tumbled across the ground from where the wind had blown it off his head.
In a matter of two weeks at the most, he would be back home and have his wife back in his arms. He sighed with relief and smiled. He had done these drives a dozen times before, yet he had never been so excited to get home as he was right now. The past weeks of loneliness were beginning to pay off. He would be happy to see his son again, too. Jay had grown on him over the past months, and they had developed a mutual respect for each other, which was more than Wade had ever asked for.
Soon… Very soon he would be back home where he belonged.
**********
Toni smiled and dropped a small bag full of coins into Wade’s hand.
“There’s your pay, Dylan,” she said.
Wade stared at the money, wide eyed. “This is too much, Boss.”
Toni shook her head. “You gave up a lot to come along on this trip. You gave up valuable time with your wife, and that means a lot to me. Just don’t let it get around, okay?”
Wade nodded. “Thanks, Boss.”
“Don’t make a big deal about it.” Toni waved him off with her hand.
The drive through the middle of Grayson City pulled off without a hitch. Toni was relieved about that. The Marshall had cleared the streets and they drove the herd straight through and out to where the buyer’s men were waiting to take charge. Toni had gladly handed over the herd and relieved her cowboys before going to retrieve her money. Since she wasn’t comfortable with carrying around all that money, she left most of the money at the bank to be held until they left. She paid all of her cowboys their share and then sought out Katie with Justin.
She found them in the hotel lobby.
“There’s my little guy,” Toni held out her arms and took the baby from Katie.
Katie sighed and gave Toni her hotel key. “This is yours. Where’s Wade and Mark?”
Toni told her their whereabouts and went up to room 56 on the second story of the fine hotel. She took in her surroundings in awe. The wallpaper was a cream color with gold swirls on it, and the carpet was some fancy design she couldn’t describe with deep maroon and dark green hues in it. The fine staircase was nearly too clean for her dirty boots to walk on. She passed a fine dressed lady on her way up and nodded with a smile. The woman looked her once over and turned her nose up in the air. Toni smiled.
It’s starting to feel like home in this town.
Word spread quickly around Grayson City of the Texas outfit that had rode in. Even Erik heard about it as he passed a couple of old men talking on the porch in the general store as he was walking to the hotel, hoping that was where his wife had ran off to.
That woman was harder to keep up with than a gnat in a sandstorm. She was one place one second, and another the next, never bothering to make sure he followed.
Erik smiled. He wouldn’t have her any other way, either. She would always insist on being independent like that.
He walked up to the bookkeeper and asked which room Toni McBride would be in. The man told him the information and he walked up the stairs. It felt good to be in and out of the weather for once in a month. The wind was beginning to get to him. He opened the door to their room and smiled at the sight it opened to. Toni and Justin were lying side by side longways on the bed, sound asleep. Shutting the door as silently as possible, Erik walked across the carpeted floors to stand at the foot of the wide bed. He smoothed a few strands of hair out of Toni’s face and sighed. She tried to be strong the whole trip long, and had succeeded as usual, but it had taken it’s toll on her this time. She wasn’t as strong as she let on, but Erik wasn’t about to mention that. He loved the way she thought about herself. It would probably scare most men away, but he appreciated her strength, and had done so constantly in their four years of marriage.
Looking down to little Justin in her arms, he saw the male image of her in the making. Even at two months of age, he was beginning to look a lot like her. The main difference was that their eyes were a different color, but Toni was confident that Justin’s eye color would change.
They had expressed their mutual concern about the Justin and his silent nature. The baby hardly cried. On the rare occasion that Toni forgot about one of his feedings, he made sure to show off his fine pair of lungs. Other than that, he was mostly silent.
Yawning, Erik realized how tired he was. It had been a long time since he had slept peacefully through the night, what with worrying about the remuda and if they horses were getting enough rest per animal.
Stretching our beside his wife and son, his last thought before drifting off to sleep was of how he missed his little daughter and wishing that she was right beside him.
**********
Katie wondered aimlessly down the streets of Grayson City, keeping her face to the wind so her hair wouldn’t blow in front of her eyes. She wondered at the strange looks of people walking past her. They were about more than just the layers of dust on her. The tension between the states was exasperating at times. Politics was just plain annoying at times.
Looking down at her dress, she noticed just how dirty she really was. Suddenly self-conscious, she rushed back toward the hotel. She just wanted a long, hot bath to wash away all the grit and grime from the weeks on the trail, and in clean water. That one wash in the river and the occasional splash from fording a creek wasn’t enough to credit a bath.
“Oh, there you are, “She heard a voice say.
She turned to where Adam approached her from behind.
“Hey, Adam,” she smiled.
“Hi…” He shoved his hands in his pockets.
“Need something?”
Adam took one hand out of his pocket and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, I was wondering if you’d let me… take you out to supper tonight?”
Katie felt her heart skip a beat. His nervousness was the sweetest thing ever.
“I’d love to. Just give me some time to get a bath and get cleaned up,” she replied to him.
Adam let out a breath. “Sounds good. I’ll meet you in the lobby around six-thirty?”
Katie nodded.
Adam smiled. “See you then.”
Katie waved shortly and went on inside the hotel lobby with renewed energy. Excitement ran through her veins and she bounded up the stairs to her room.
For the first time in a long while, the future seemed full of hope.
**********
“Okay, Curtis. We’re in Grayson City. Mind telling us what the plan is now?” Blake Alexander approached Mark in the otherwise deserted stables of Grayson City.
“Meet me in my room in the hotel at about eight o’clock tonight. I’ll tell you everything then.” Mark worked on unsaddling his horse.
“You better. Me and the boys are getting impatient.”
“Get used to it. You know I work on my time and mine alone.”
Brant huffed. “Whatever you say.”
“Its room number 53. Make sure no one sees you,” Mark cautioned. “We’ve come too far to be found out now.”
I know, right? Two chapters in one day! Used to it was a common occurrence, but now it's a rare occasion. Maybe I need to read more so my ideas will flow quicker. I've been slacking off with reading. Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading this! Even the silent readers have been sticking by me and it makes me feel so blessed. As I told a reader earlier, I don't know how I finished a book before Wattpad and all you guys! :) God Bless!!