Caring for the Cowboy Page 7

  “No.” Maja snuck one last peek at Mr. Hicks and hurried back to the kitchen. If she wasn’t careful, she’d give herself away completely.

  Baxter watched the young woman retreat to the kitchen like a scared rabbit. “Who is she?”

  “She already told us, Bax,” Cooper said. “Maya van Something.”

  “Van Dyne,” Hattie corrected.

  “Yes, but … who is she?”

  “She’s a pretty young lady who brought us scones.” Cooper picked up one and began buttering it. “Right, partner?”

  Gavin glanced between the two men. “I didn’t really look.”

  Cooper laughed. “A diplomatic answer. But Bax, since you’re the only bachelor at the table, you can say yes.”

  “I thought she was lovely,” said Adelle. “If a little thin. I’m sure Regina and Ariadne will fatten her up if she stays around.”

  Baxter frowned. “Yeah, but what did she think I looked like?” He pointed to his face.

  Hattie giggled. “You have looked better.”

  “Maybe it’s a stroke of luck, Bax, you being here today of all days,” Cooper said. “You should make double sure she’s single before you start courting her.”

  “What?! Ow …” He gingerly touched his forehead, noting that raising his voice made it hurt.

  “He’s right,” Hattie agreed. “You were on your way to see about an advertisement for mail-order brides. Maybe you won’t have to.”

  Baxter looked at the kitchen door. Regina and her sister Ariadne were in there with their new help. How long had she been in town? She wasn’t a stunning beauty like Hattie or aristocratic-looking like Adelle Knight, but she could hold her own and had lovely eyes. Her hair looked like she’d cut it herself with rusty scissors, but hair grew out …

  “Bax?” Cooper waved a hand in front of his face.

  “Stop,” he said flatly.

  Everyone laughed, even Gavin, who tended to be the quiet one.

  Baxter munched his scone and tried not to think about the ideas Cooper and the others were trying to put into his head. He supposed it wouldn’t hurt to ask around. Regina or her sister would tell him where she came from and how long she’d been working there if he asked. He didn’t come into the shop until Hattie and Cooper started coming a few months back. Hattie, being a big-city heiress, loved Creede’s little tea shop. “Have you noticed her before, Hattie?”

  “No, today is the first day.” She leaned toward him, eyebrows raised in bemusement. “That’s why I asked.”

  “Right. Sorry, my head …” He rolled his eyes and took another bite of scone. After the last couple of days’ fare, it tasted like the divine ambrosia.

  “Oh, come on, Bax,” Cooper said. “What could it hurt to get to know her a little?”

  “Before or after my forehead heals?”

  More laughter. “I’m sure she won’t mind getting to know you in the meantime,” Adelle said.

  “And all you have to do is come have tea,” Gavin added.

  “Tea?” He looked at the kitchen door and saw Miss Van Dyne peeking at him. He smiled back – and she ducked inside. For some reason he found that adorable. “Well … I suppose I could get used to tea on a more regular basis.”

  “That’s the spirit,” Cooper said. “And you never know, the two of you might discover you have a lot in common.”

  Now it was Baxter’s turn to laugh. That hurt too. “Like what? We both had our horses stolen, along with our money, our guns, our boots …”

  “She doesn’t look the worse for wear if she did,” Cooper teased.

  Baxter wanted to toss his scone at him, but this was a public place. He looked at the kitchen door again. Hmmm, if she worked here, did that mean she could cook? He straightened in his chair – and immediately felt woozy.

  “Are you starting to feel ill again, Baxter?” Hattie asked. “Maybe we ought to head over to Doc Thomas’s now.”

  “I’m fine,” he said with a dismissive wave. “Enjoy your tea.”

  Hattie shrugged and nibbled her scone as Cooper took another healthy bite. The couple had been married after an encounter with Hattie’s so-called betrothed at the time. The beast had chased her to Creede and almost got away with killing Cooper. Thankfully the man he’d hired to track Hattie down refused to murder anyone, but it was a near-run thing

  Baxter didn’t want any such adventure, he just wanted a wife. But maybe getting robbed of all his possessions was a message he wasn’t as ready for one as he thought. One more reason he should take Cooper up on his offer to work for him.

  He glanced at Gavin and his wife. He’d wait until he had Cooper alone to tell him. After his misadventure, he didn’t want to look even more pathetic in front of Coop’s new business partner. It was bad enough dealing with the jealousy he felt every time he saw Cooper with him. If he worked for Coop, would it ever go away, or be something he had to deal with daily?

  Better not think about it. Baxter put some cream on his scone, sipped his tea and instead tried to think of an excuse to have Miss Van Dyne come back to their table.

  Chapter 8

  “You could do a lot worse, you know,” Regina said behind her.

  Maja turned around. “I beg your pardon?”

  Regina grinned knowingly. “I saw you peeking out the kitchen door. The only one worth peeking at is Baxter Hicks – every other man out there is married – and you’ve hardly taken your eyes off him since he came in.”

  “Who’s Maja looking at?” Ariadne asked.

  “Baxter Hicks.”

  “Oh yes – nothing like a handsome cowboy.” Ariadne winked at Maja.

  “Will the two of you stop?” Maja did her best to sound annoyed, but their teasing was fun and made her feel giddy, even as her cheeks grew hotter.

  “He is an honest, hard-working chap,” Ariadne commented as she peeked through the kitchen door.

  “Don’t look at him!” Maja yelped.

  Ariadne turned around, a big smile on her face. “I thought so.”

  “I thought it before you did, sister dear.” Regina put some scones on a plate. “Maja, would you like to take these out there or shall I?”

  Maja stared at the plate in her hand. “Which table?”

  The sisters looked at each other and grinned.

  “Stop!” she laughed.

  “It’s the table next to Mr. Hicks and his party,” Regina said. “Three ladies.”

  Still blushing, Maja took the plate and left the kitchen. She wanted to get one more look at him before she made sure she disappeared from sight. It wouldn’t do to have him recognize her.

  She set the plate of scones on the women’s table, smiled and turned to the group next to it. They were chatting companionably but didn’t noticed her. “Um … would you … like anything else?”

  Mr. White looked around the table. “Anyone?” His friends shook their heads, including Mr. Hicks.

  Then Mr. Hicks looked at her and smiled. “Been in Creede long?”

  A tingle raced up her spine. This was a bad idea. But there was no way to get out of this without answering. “Um, no.”

  “It’s a nice town. I hope you like it here.” He smiled again.

  Unable to help herself, she returned his smile. “Thank you.”

  Baxter glanced at his friends and back. “I suppose this means we’ll be seeing a lot of you.”

  She froze. “Um … maybe.”

  His smile broadened. “Good.”

  “Thank you,” Mr. White said. “May we have our check, please?”

  With an effort she nodded at Mr. White. “Yes … I’ll go get it.” She spun and fled back to the kitchen.

  As soon as she entered Ariadne giggled. “You’re as pink as a baby’s cheeks.”

  Maja touched her face. “I am?”

  “You are,” Regina commented, then looked out the door. “I must say, he’s much the same.”

  “What?”

  “He seems taken with you,” Ariadne observed.

 
“No,” Maja said. “Why would he be?”

  Regina’s eyebrows rose. “What? Maja, you’re a lovely young woman. What man wouldn’t be taken with you?”

  She backed against the door. “I’m sorry. It’s just …”

  “Oh, never mind.” Regina took her hand and gave it a pat. “We’ll talk later. I want to hear everything. For now, can you do the dishes?”

  Maja nodded nervously. She knew the woman meant well, but she really didn’t want to tell anyone everything. “Of course.” She went to the stove, where a huge kettle sat. It hadn’t been there before, so she assumed the water was being heated for the task.

  She kept busy the rest of the afternoon cleaning, baking and learning more about her two angels of mercy. By the time they closed up the shop for the day, she was exhausted – and she wasn’t alone. “I dare say, I can’t remember being so busy,” Regina commented. She turned to Maja. “I never asked, where are you staying?”

  Maja blanched. “Oh, um … just outside town.”

  “I see. Well, if you meet me in the morning, we could visit Tobias Redfern and see what he knows about those coins of yours. That way when you take them to the bank, you won’t be cheated.”

  “Thanks. You and your sister have been so kind.”

  “Think nothing of it,” Ariadne said. “People were just as kind to us when we first came to Creede. I don’t know what we would have done if they hadn’t helped us.”

  Maja tucked her hands behind her and stared at the floor. “Thank you.”

  Ariadne pulled her close and hugged her. “I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I hope we’ve made things better.” She stepped away. “And don’t worry about the clothes – keep them.”

  “What?” Maja said in surprise. Truth was, she hadn’t thought about the borrowed clothing until now. “But …”

  “I insist. I know you haven’t anything decent to wear. Just be sure to buy yourself some things when you sell a coin or two.”

  “Yes, I will. And I’ll pay you for these too –”

  Ariadne shook her head. “No! No, won’t hear of it – they’re a gift. Now can you get home all right?”

  Maja nodded. “Yes. But … could I have my old clothes?”

  “Those dirty old things?” Regina said as they left the shop and headed down the boardwalk. “Why would you want them back?”

  “I could … use them for work clothes.” Maja hoped it was a good enough excuse.

  “All right, but I think they’re beyond repair,” Regina said.

  “They’re still useful,” she insisted. Besides, she might need her old disguise again one day. She wasn’t lying when she said she had someplace to go, but the little cabin on the hill wasn’t much to speak of. And if Baxter dragged the local sheriff or marshal up there to investigate, how was she going to explain her presence? Oh, I just happened to find the place the day I started at the tea shop …? If Baxter saw her there, he might put two and two together. But if she was wearing her old clothes and was discovered, she’d just be the grubby boy again …

  “Oh no,” she whispered to herself. A grubby boy with a clean girl’s face?!

  “Are you all right?” Regina asked as they reached the livery stable.

  Maja had been so busy worrying about what might happen with the cabin and Baxter Hicks, she didn’t realize where they were. “Why are we here?”

  “I ride to town,” Regina explained. “So I keep my horse here while I’m at work.”

  “Oh.” Of course the woman wouldn’t walk. “I’d … better go.” Poor Bo was still tied to the hitching post near the tea shop – she’d checked on him a few times, but she’d have to take him to the livery if she’d be in town most of the day again. Only she didn’t have money for the livery until she sold a coin – if they were as valuable as Regina thought. Oh, her life had gotten complicated! Far better than before, but complicated.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow,” Regina said happily.

  “Oh, yes.” Maja shivered. It was growing colder.

  “Do you need anything?” Ariadne asked.

  “No. Nothing.” Maja nodded at the street. “Except my clothes?”

  “Yes, come with me. I’ll see you tomorrow, Regina!” Ariadne waved to her sister.

  Regina waved back and ducked into the livery.

  Maja followed Ariadne back to her home, gathered her things and left. She had to get home before dark and get a fire going. She still didn’t have candles or a blanket, and didn’t want to say any more to her sisterly angels for fear they’d find her out. So many questions could get her in trouble. Unlike Pa, if Regina or Ariadne found out they would want to help her … but she wasn’t sure she should let them help anymore than they had. If she had to run, it would only make leaving Creede all the harder.

  Baxter sat by the fire in Cooper’s parlor, watching Hattie knit and Cooper do his best to read. It was very difficult for Coop, but if he went slowly enough, he said the letters didn’t jumble up so much. His reading had improved a lot since he married Hattie. She was so good for him – Baxter had never seen his friend so happy.

  He sighed and looked at his own book, but his mind wasn’t on reading this evening. It was on the woman from the tea shop, Miss Van Dyne. It was a nice enough name, and she was a nice enough woman. Or was she? One meeting didn’t tell him anything, certainly not while she was working. She was serving them, so of course she was supposed to be nice. And he didn’t get to really talk to her.

  But he’d noticed a few things. She was taller than average, sturdy-looking with wiry arms, not delicate like Hattie or Adelle Knight. Clearly she was used to hard work. She talked nervously, though, as if social settings made her uncomfortable. He felt that way sometimes too, so he could understand. Maybe Coop was right and they did have things in common …

  He set his book down and frowned. Having things in common wouldn’t help much, since he was penniless again. What did he have to offer Miss Van Dyne, or any other woman? How could he court her without money? Just go for long walks? Meet at one of Tobias’ poetry meetings? Hmmm … now that was an idea. Did she like poetry? Perhaps he could stop by the tea shop tomorrow and ask her. He hadn’t been to a meeting since Cooper and Hattie got married. Going alone wasn’t as fun. Besides, he’d needed to make money, which left no time for frivolities.

  Unfortunately, the fruits of his labors were now in the hands of some drifter. He hoped he was taking good care of Jake, and his gun, and his boots …

  “Bax?”

  He looked up and smiled at Cooper. “What?”

  “You okay?”

  Baxter sighed. “Would you be okay if you had to replace everything you owned?”

  Cooper set down his book. “I can loan you a horse until you get another. No shame in it.”

  “I know, I’m just so … angry.”

  “Perfectly understandable,” Hattie said. “But things are looking up.”

  “What?” both men asked.

  She smiled. “The lovely girl at the tea shop.”

  “We don’t know her,” Baxter pointed out. “She might be married. She might be uninterested. Heck, she might be an outlaw for all we know.”

  “She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring,” Hattie said.

  “That takes care of one worry,” Cooper agreed. “And she acted kind of interested. So unless she robbed a stagecoach recently …” He and Hattie laughed.

  Baxter laughed too. “In a hurry to marry me off?”

  “We want to see you happy,” Cooper said. “Speaking of which, I have a list of supplies I was going to fetch tomorrow. Why don’t you go for me? You could let Doc Thomas take another look at your head.” The doctor had decided it was only a mild concussion, but did take the time to clean out and stitch up the wound.

  “As you’ll recall, he said to stop by in a few days if I don’t feel any better,” Baxter said. “And I’m already feeling better.”

  “Well then, my supplies will have to do,” Cooper concluded.

  B
axter shook his head. “You’re no matchmaker.”

  “No, but it doesn’t mean I can’t try.”

  Baxter smiled back. He wouldn’t mind getting another gander at Miss Van Dyne and have the chance to ask her to Tobias’s poetry meeting. Church-mouse poor or not, what could it hurt?

  “Take Bailey – he’ll do until you get yourself another horse.” Bailey was a strawberry roan gelding and gentle as a newborn’s crib.

  Baxter sighed. “Thanks, Coop.”

  “No problem. You’d do the same for me.”

  “Sure would.” If he had an extra horse, a ranch, money, something to give. But the cold fact was, he had nothing. He stared at the fire in the hearth, then re-opened his book and pretended to read, all the while wondering how to track down the scoundrel that robbed him and get his horse and everything else back. But it was probably a lost cause. That man was long gone by now and he had no way he could find out who he was.

  With a sigh Baxter went back to staring at the fire. Why had God put him in such a position again, just when things had been going so well? Hattie was wrong – new serving girl at the tea shop notwithstanding, things were not looking up.

  Maja got up early, fed Bo, then heated some water to have something warm to drink and to wash her face and hands. She was so cold. If this weather kept up, she’d be forced to tell Regina and Ariadne the truth of her situation. If only she wasn’t so ashamed of it in the first place – her mother dead, her wastrel father abandoning her (and robbing one of their customers not three days before), her stuck in this dirty hovel. No, she couldn’t face that confession, not yet.

  Bo nickered outside. She got up to look, saw nothing and finished preparing to go to town. She ate what was left of the dried apple slices, then got dressed in her gifted outfit. She didn’t know how to style her hair the way Ariadne had yesterday, so she just pinned it up the way she’d always done and left it at that. A few uneven locks stuck out but it couldn’t be helped. Finally she saddled Bo and headed for Creede.

  When she got to town she found Regina and Ariadne already hard at work baking for their customers. “Good morning,” Maja said when she entered the kitchen/work area.