The early morning hazy fog still lingered as I stood outside and with one final wave watched Bryce and Beth ride away in the buckboard. He was taking her to the Westcliffe Depot to catch the seven o'clock train.
Beth had spent the past couple days prepping me for her absence. I knew she was nervous to leave me with all the guys, especially with the way Merrick and Bryce couldn't get along. I tried to reassure her I would be fine.
Sitting on the porch the night before, Thaddeus filled me in on Cassie, who was like a sister to Beth.
Cassie had come to Westcliffe a number of years ago, from no-one-knew-where. She and Beth instantly bonded. Rumor was she had a past, but the details were sketchy since Cassie never talked about her life before Westcliffe. Due to financial problems, she moved to a small boarding house in Leadville six months ago.
Even more than Denver, Leadville was the center of the universe in Colorado. When I asked why she didn't move in with Beth, Thaddeus told me Cassie was strong willed, insistent on making it on her own. She wasn't the kind to take any charity, and that's how she had viewed Beth's invitation. The way his eye lit up when he talked about her, it was obvious he would have liked to know more. Maybe Beth wasn't the only one who had been sad to see her go.
Bryce had been home for several days now, and Merrick hadn't verbally lashed out at him again. Still, underlying tension filled the air around them; everyone felt it. Hopefully, they would be able to mend whatever damage was done to their friendship. I still had no idea what caused the riff between them.
Amos was sitting on the porch swing watching the morning's pink light begin to dissipate. I sat with him quietly for a minute, then asked, "Can I get you anything?"
He was a leathery old cowboy whose body didn't cooperate like it used to, but his mind was sharp as a razor, and he was one of the kindest people I'd ever met. He had lots of stories to tell, especially about the Civil War, and I soaked them in. He was like a walking history book. It blew my mind to think I was hearing first-hand accounts. Too bad I couldn't get extra credit in my US History class for all the stuff I was learning.
"Lemonade would hit the spot, Miss Allie."
I had told him numerous times to call me Allie-to no avail. "All righty then, lemonade it is."
Before I went inside, I noticed Amos smelled the book in his hand before reading it. I'd seen him do that a couple times, and I smiled to myself.
The eggs were sitting on the counter. I smiled and moved them aside. Up on tiptoes, I struggled to get a hold of a clean glass that sat back in the cupboard, just out of reach.
"Let me," Merrick offered, coming up to stand behind me. He didn't even have to stretch; the glass was easily within his grasp. His body lightly pressed against my back, his warm breath on my neck. He smelled like leather this morning. I could breathe him in all day.
When I turned and took the glass from him, he shuffled back, giving me space. Goosebumps rippled down my arm, and I felt my face get warm. His eyes were so inviting, I wanted to dive into them. "Amos is thirsty." I couldn't summon a clear thought. I was envisioning him leaning in a little further and pressing his lips against mine. They looked so soft, so full. Stop!
Unconsciously, I gripped the glass tighter. The rational part of my brain fought to stay in control. I could do this; I could avoid any emotional complications.
"You want some, too?" I asked.
"No, thank you."
Grabbing the lemonade pitcher, I filled Amos's glass. At the beginning, I thought closing myself off to Merrick would be easy. I had tried so hard, but it wasn't working.
"I wanted to ask you something." He ran his hand through his hair to get it out of his face before he put his hat back on. Ugh, as much as I didn't want to, I loved when he did that.
"Okay."
"I'm riding fence today, thought maybe you'd like to come along. You know, do something different. See more of the ranch."
"Riding the fence..." Of course I'd like to go, even though I didn't know what that meant.
"Coop found a couple spots a ways out where the fence was damaged, but he didn't have enough wire with him, so I told him I'd take care of it today. Hoping you'd..." He let the last part dangle in the air.
"I could pack us a lunch..." Realizing I sounded a little too eager, I slowed it down. "We probably won't even be gone that—."
"Lunch would be great. And who knows, it could take all day." He smiled in a way that said he'd make it take all day. I swore the bones in my legs were melting. "I'll meet you outside in fifteen minutes?"
"I need to make sure there's enough food for the cowhands for the day. That'll take time. How about an hour?"
"Okay." I wanted to jump up and down. But that's probably something Charlotte would do so I refrained.
The guys were pretty helpless in the kitchen, almost as much as I'd been when I first arrived. "Hey, Coop!" He was just leaving the barn when I caught him.
"I'm going out with Merrick." I liked the sound of that. "Let me show you where lunch and dinner is."
"Sure, okay."
When I looked at him I wondered about his past, his orphan past. And how Merrick had found him. I wondered how he dealt with his parent's murder. Even though Coop was a strong kid, his eyes wore a constant sadness, and he rarely smiled.
"There are leftovers from dinner, so guys can have cold turkey sandwiches, apples, some pine nuts, and cornbread. There's shepherds pie on the stove. Could you pull it out in thirty minutes? Oh and there's some spice cake left. Sound good?"
"Yes, thank you," he muttered, void of emotion as usual. His eyes were downcast as if making eye contact was painful.
I tilted my head a bit. "Coop, are you okay?"
He shoved his hands in his pocket and nodded. "I'm all right." He was lying. But I knew if I pressed him further, he would only keep repeating that same mantra.