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Lorna forgot all about scolding him as she set the iron back on the stove and
walked quickly to the door. Webb wasn't mistaken. Mary and Ely both were both
approaching the cabin.
"Webb said you were outside," Lorna declared in surprise. "Why didn't you let
me know you were coming? I could have baked a pie." the congratulations died
down a second time, Lorna suggested they all come into the cabin for coffee.
While the men were busy discussing ranch business, Mary leaned over to whisper
to Lorna, "Is it true that Bob Vernon is getting married?"
"I hadn't heard anything about it."
"Ely hinted that he might be, and I thought Benteen might have said something
to you," Mary explained her reason for asking. "It's because of a girl that
he's been going to Miles City once a month."
"I knew he went there a lot," Lorna admitted. "But a lot of the men do. I
hadn't realized he was seeing a girl."
"Not just any girl," Mary whispered. "She's a harlot, but I understand they
are madly in love with each other."
Lorna searched herself but couldn't find any shock or moral indignation. Her
view of life had changed a great deal. If Bob Vernon wanted to marry the
woman, knowing her past, and she wanted to marry him, then it was enough.
"I think I'll suggest to Benteen that we let Bob have this cabin when we move
into the house." She voiced the thought as it occurred to her.
Mary started to speak, but she was interrupted by Webb, who came tearing into
the cabin again. He flung himself at Lorna with his usual abandon. "Mommy!
That man is here only he didn't bring the c'raige."
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The last word escaped her. When she glanced to the door Webb had left standing
open, Benteen was walking to the opening. There was something about him that
reminded her of a dog bristling at the sight of an intruder. It made her move
just a little more quickly to see who it was.
When she reached the threshold, Benteen had stopped a foot outside the door,
blocking the way. Over his shoulder she could see Bull Giles swinging off his
horse, and she realized Webb had been trying to say the word "carriage."
Arthur was trotting out to greet him, then stopping shyly at the last minute
and sticking a finger in his mouth.
Bull paused to smile down at him and rumple his hair. "How ya doin', Artie?"
Arthur turned on his stubby legs and ran to Benteen, but he was smiling, not
at all afraid of the big man following him. Lorna glanced at Benteen. His
rigid jaw was thrust forward, showing aggression.
"What brings you here, Giles?" Benteen challenged, not bothering with a
greeting.
Bull's gaze flicked past him to Lorna, and she was conscious of a nerve
twitching in Benteen's cheek. "I have a message for your wife from Lady
Crawford."
Her lips parted in warm surprise and delight, but Benteen spoke before she had
a chance. "Who's Lady Crawford?"
"You remember me telling you about her," she rushed to explain, moving to his
side and touching his arm. An eagerness was in her eyes when she tipped her
face up to him. "I met her in Dodge City and she gave me that jar of lotion."
There was a flicker of recognition in his face; then his eyes narrowed.
"What's she doing here?"
"She's with a party of English gentry that are touring the area. Mr. Giles is
acting as guide for them," Lorna explained. It seemed to silence Benteen, and
she turned her glance to Bull. "You said she gave you a message for me? She
remembered me?"
"Yes, she remembered meeting you," Bull said, answering the last question
first. "She'd like to call on you, and asked if it would be inconvenient if
she came tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow?" Unconsciously her hand tightened on the sleeve of Benteen's arm.
"Tell her it's not inconvenient at all. She's more than welcome."
"Around two o'clock," Bull suggested.
"Yes, that will be fine," Lorna assured him, still finding it hard to believe
that the woman wanted to call on her.
It would be her first opportunity to socially entertain someone other than
Mary and Ely. She felt the excitement and anticipation growing and struggled
to quell it. Just because she hadn't had any real social contact for several
years, she wasn't going to become pathetically eager the way the woman in
Kansas had been.
"I'll tell her that you'll expect her tomorrow, then." He nodded and turned to
leave.
"Won't you come in for coffee?" Lorna invited, despite Benteen's unwelcoming
attitude.
But it was Benteen who drew Bull's glance before he shook his head to refuse.
"No. Thank you, Mrs. Calder." He walked to his horse and stepped into the
stirrup, hefting his broad torso into the saddle.
As he trotted the horse away from the cabin, Webb tugged on her skirts. "How
come he didn't bring the c'raige?"
"Probably because it was faster to ride his horse," Lorna reasoned, but she
was conscious of the look Benteen sliced her.
"When did the boys meet him?" The question was fired low and quick.
"Yesterday," she admitted evenly, "when we went to Mr. Fitzsimmons' store. Mr.
Giles was at the blacksmith shop getting a carriage repaired that belongs to
the English party."
"You didn't mention it last night."
"It must have slipped my mind." There was a sweetness to her voice that said
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she was paying him back for all the things he hadn't bothered to tell her.
Actually she had failed to tell him because she had been bothered by the last
comment Bull had made.
"What else has slipped your mind?" He wasn't amused. In fact, he was close to
furious.
It wasn't her intention to make him jealous, and Lorna sighed tiredly.
"Nothing, Benteen. Nothing else." Then she pulled herself together and smiled
at him. "Will you be here tomorrow when she comes? I'd like you to meet her."
His gaze studied her, then swung to the rider leaving the ranch. "I'll be
here when she arrives tomorrow."
It suddenly dawned on Lorna that Bull Giles would probably escort Lady
Crawford to the ranch. He was the reason Benteen was going to be here. He
wasn't interested in meeting Lady Crawford, and he hadn't agreed just to
please her.
"You think Mr. Giles is coming tomorrow," Lorna murmured to let him know she
was aware of his reason.
The look he turned on her was cool. "Don't you?"
"I am married to you, Benteen," she declared with quiet force.
"Then I want to make sure he doesn't forget it," he replied without any change
in his hard expression.
CHAPTER 23
A tall wooden structure towered above the unbroken tedium of rolling plains.
Elaine sat up straighter in the carriage seat and leaned forward slightly to
study it. Its proportions were grand, but anything less would have been
dwarfed by the vastness of this empty land. The house was claiming dominion
over the sprawling reaches of this wild country.
"Is that where we're going?" she called to Bull tiles to confirm the certainty
that already burned in her heart.
"Yes, ma'am. That's the Triple C up ahead." He turned slightly in the driver's
seat to answer.
"Did you say Triple C?" Elaine questioned sharply. "Yes, ma'am. That's the
brand Calder uses. The Triple C."
Settling back against the seat, Elaine kept a hand on the carriage side for
balance as it rolled along the rough and rutted track leading to the ranch.
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