Читать книгу Montana Cowboy Daddy - Linda Ford - Страница 10
ОглавлениеBella Creek, Montana, 1890
Weary from the long journey and tired of the cramped quarters, Isabelle Redfield was the first to step from the stagecoach to the dirt street of Bella Creek, Montana. A group of people stood about as if waiting for the arrival of the travelers.
Isabelle glanced around at the fledgling Western town where she hoped to start a new life—one of purpose and acceptance. Before her was a wooden-structured hotel, to her left, a wide street with bare-limbed trees and a welcoming bench. Past the hotel to her right, a café, Miss Daisy’s Eatery. Her gaze went farther. Her heart slammed into her ribs at what she saw.
“No.” She couldn’t tell if the word left her mouth or stayed trapped in her mind as she watched a little girl, blond hair flying about her head, dash across the street. Did no one notice her? Or see the freight wagon bearing down on her, the horses’ huge hooves ready to trample the child? Were they all too interested in looking over those who had traveled to their town?
She lifted her skirts, intending to run toward the child. Instead, her petticoats caught and she stumbled. Righting herself, she reached toward the child but she was too far away. Could she do nothing to prevent the disaster she saw coming? Must she watch helplessly...uselessly?
In a clatter of racing hooves, a horseman galloped into the scene. The rider reached down and snatched up the little girl and thundered out of the way.
Isabelle breathed a prayer of thanks for the rescue of the child.
The wagon driver shouted, “Whoa.” The horses reared and pawed the air and the wagon careened to a stop farther down the street.
Isabelle stared at the big man who had rescued the girl and was clutching her to his chest, his expression fierce.
She couldn’t hear his words as he spoke to the child, couldn’t see his face, hidden as it was beneath the brim of his hat, but from the defensive look on the little one’s face, she guessed he scolded her.
“Yes, Papa. I’m sorry.”
What kind of place had she arrived in where children played untended in the street? Then were scolded for the neglect of the adults? It should not be.
Indignation burned through her veins as she continued on her way, closing the distance between herself and the pair seated upon the horse. She didn’t slow until she reached their side. The warmth and smell of horseflesh greeted her as she reached up and ran her hands along the girl’s arms. “Are you hurt?”
The child shook her head, still looking frightened.
“You’re safe so long as you don’t play in the street.” Her smile seemed to encourage the girl. But how safe could she be if no one watched her?
She lifted her head to face the man. “You’re this child’s father?” Having heard the child call him Papa, she knew he was. She only meant to remind the man of his responsibility.
His gaze hit her with such force she pressed her hand to her throat as if she could calm the rapid beating of her heart...caused, she reminded herself, from marching across the street. Certainly not from the power of piercing blue eyes in a tanned face.
She didn’t wait for his reply. Nor did she heed a sense of warning that this was not a man accustomed to having someone suggest he was wrong. “I advise you to take better care of her before she is injured.”
His blue eyes grew glacial. His lips pressed into a frown. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you nor you of meeting me. I would think that makes you quite incapable of having a knowledgeable opinion of what I should or shouldn’t be doing.” His gaze bored straight through her.
She lifted her chin another inch. She was Isabelle Redfield and her opinion was generally considered worth taking note of. With a little sigh, she released her anger. He didn’t know who she was nor did she want him to. “I would be remiss not to point out the child was in grave danger. Surely you could see that.”
“I saw her.” His clipped words warned her to drop the subject.
She lowered her gaze to the child and, not wanting to upset her, chose to let it go.
Her traveling companions had left the stagecoach and watched the proceedings from the hotel veranda. She climbed the three wooden steps to join them. Isabelle’s friend and fellow traveler, Kate, rushed to her side. “That was too close for comfort. Quite an introduction to Bella Creek.” Kate’s father, Dr. Baker, joined his daughter. Sadie Young, the new teacher for the community, stood nearby.
A white-haired old man leaning on two canes stood in the forefront of the gathered townsfolk, as if the official greeter. Each of those who had traveled with her introduced themselves and spoke of their plans. Dr. Baker and his daughter to help the ill and injured, Sadie Young to teach the children. And Isabelle to—
Well, she wasn’t sure what she could do, but she’d find something that mattered.
Praying no one in this group would recognize her name, Isabelle brushed her skirts, smoothing them as best she could before she introduced herself. “Miss Isabelle Redfield.” She adjusted her gloves. “I’m here to help, as well.” Please don’t ask me what I plan to do. The breeze tugged at her silk scarf, whipping the ends about.
Kate pulled her to her side. “Isabelle is my friend. She’s with us.”
When Kate said she would go with her father to the mining town, Isabelle had asked if she could accompany them. She’d grown weary of life in St. Louis, where for the past eleven and a half years, since her parents died when she was twelve, she’d shared the home of her second cousin by marriage, Augusta. Not that her home life was unacceptable, but everyone knew Isabelle was the sole beneficiary of both the Redfield and Castellano fortunes. It seemed most people sought her out, pretended friendship, even asked for her hand in marriage, simply because of her inheritance. Kate was the rare exception.
Perhaps she could start over here without that knowledge classifying her. As they’d approached their destination, she’d asked Kate not to tell anyone she was an heiress, which had brought a smile to Kate’s lips as her gaze skimmed Isabelle’s dress. “You should have taken that into consideration when choosing your gowns. Even your traveling outfit shouts money.”
Isabelle had glanced dismissively at her sapphire-blue suit and long protective matching coat lined with warm wool. Her bonnet matched, as well, but the long silk scarf holding her bonnet in place was bright and cheerful with pink poppies all over. Clothes meant far less to her than they did to Cousin Augusta, who saw every occasion as an excuse to bring in a seamstress or two and discuss the latest styles.
“This is all I have, though I suppose I could have ordered different things.” The gowns in her trunk were mostly new—suitable for a trip, according to Cousin Augusta. It had never crossed Isabelle’s mind to suggest otherwise. She smiled as she thought of the fine silk and crisp satin of her gowns. It had been rather exciting to help select the fabrics and then watch them be transformed into beautiful outfits. She loved beauty wherever she saw it.
It was too late to prepare simpler clothes. Hopefully she would not be judged by what she wore.
“Good to see you all,” the white-haired man said. “We need all the help we can get. I’m Allan Marshall, the one who sent for you. Welcome to Bella Creek.” He shifted to lean on one cane in order to shake hands with the doctor and bend over each of the ladies’ hands.
Many in the small crowd called out their greetings.
“Most people call me Grandfather Marshall, seeing as there are so many Marshalls around. Like my grandson here. Dawson, get down and say hello to these folks.”
The man Isabelle had recently scolded lowered the girl to the ground, swung off his horse and joined the older man. Tall and broad, so upright and strong looking...a marked contrast to his stooped grandfather.
“This is Dawson Marshall.” The elder Marshall man chuckled softly. “You’ll have to forgive him his manners. Sometimes he forgets he’s not out with a bunch of rough cowboys.”
Isabelle raised her head to meet the gaze of the man before her. She stilled herself to reveal none of her trepidation. Only a few minutes in town and already she’d managed to step on the toes of what appeared to be the biggest family in Bella Creek. Not that knowing would have stopped her from speaking her mind.
Grandfather Marshall continued. “Dawson’s a widower in need of a woman to settle him down.”
“Grandfather, I am not in need of a woman.” The protesting words rumbled from the man’s lips.
Isabelle managed not to show any sign of her alarm at the way the older man eyed her, then slowly—almost reluctantly—let his gaze slip toward the other two women. She dared not look at them to see their reaction. Would either of them be interested in the prospect?
From behind Dawson peeked out the little blonde girl, her blue-green eyes wide.
“Papa, she’s beautiful,” the child whispered, as she stared at Isabelle.
Amusement tickled Isabelle’s insides but she decided it was wise to disguise it in view of the frown on Mr. Marshall’s face.
“Welcome to Bella Creek.” Dawson greeted each of them. His expression cooled considerably when he met Isabelle’s gaze. “Thank you for coming in answer to our appeal for help.”
His latent displeasure didn’t bother her except to refuel her indignation that a child had been in danger.
The various trunks and crates had been unloaded from the stage and with a “Hey, there” from the driver, the horses pulled away, leaving a clear view to the sight on the other side of the street.
Isabelle stared. The whole of the block had been burned to the ground. Blackened timbers and a brick chimney stood like mute, angry survivors. One section had been scraped bare except for remnants of spring snow clinging to the corners. And in the midst of it stood a new building, so fresh and out of place amid the rubble on each side that it looked naked. Shock chilled Isabelle’s veins at the sight. She pulled her scarf closer around her neck.
Dawson Marshall strode over to stand nearby as they both studied the scene. “This winter a fire destroyed the dry-goods store, the lawyer’s office, the barbershop, the doctor’s office and residence, and the school. We’re grateful it didn’t jump the street and burn the church.”
She’d read the news of the fire. Knew it to be the reason they needed a doctor and a schoolteacher, but to see the stark evidence gave it a whole different meaning. “Was anyone hurt?” She shuddered at the thought.
Kate and Sadie joined Isabelle at the edge of the veranda, crowding her closer to Dawson and his daughter.
He answered her question though he addressed the entire group. “Doc burned his hands trying to save his equipment. It will be some time before he can resume his duties, if he ever does. He said it was time to retire. He and his wife moved to California. The teacher wept profusely at the loss of her precious books and left town on the next stage, saying she would never return.”
“Hence your need for replacements.” Her scarf was tugged. She reached to contain it but stilled her hand when she saw the little girl behind Dawson fingering it.
She bent and smiled at the child. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Mattie. I’m six.”
“Pleased to meet you, Mattie.”
Mattie’s face lit with a smile.
Dawson moved away to speak to the doctor, Mattie firmly in hand.
Isabelle watched him. A big man with a strong face. Raising a child on his own. How did he manage?
Not that it concerned her.
Shifting her attention away, she met Grandfather Marshall’s eyes. He grinned at her, his gaze darting to Dawson and back.
Goodness. Did he think she had an interest in his grandson? If only he knew she had no interest in men at all. No, she’d learned her lesson. They never saw beyond her inheritance. She’d allowed herself to believe Jamieson Grieve cared for her. After all, he had no need of her money. His father owned a successful bank. But then had come talk of how he’d invest Isabelle’s inheritance in establishing more banks. Once started on the topic of Isabelle’s money, it seemed he could talk of nothing else. She’d broken off with him, wanting to be seen as more than the source of a large bank account.
It had taken one more failure in the shape of Andy Anderson for the lesson to be embedded. A humble store clerk who daily espoused the evils of money as the root of all vices, he’d said a man ought to work for what he had and take pride in doing so. Believing he loved her for herself, she’d agreed to a betrothal. That was when she felt she must tell him about her inheritance.
Turned out he’d always known—why should she have believed otherwise? The man would have to be blind and deaf not to know. After their betrothal, he had wanted her to contact her lawyer and, as her future husband, have himself named as trustee of her estate. He said he knew how to put the money to good use.
That was when she’d said goodbye, a sadder but much wiser woman. From now on, she would not trust that a man’s affections were not influenced by her inheritance. Perhaps by hiding the truth about herself, she could learn the real meaning of a person’s interest in her.
“Doctor.” Dawson’s voice brought her back to the present situation. “You have patients waiting. Three men were injured by falling machinery. Which of these are yours?” He indicated the stack of crates and trunks.
“I’ll need those and those right away,” the doctor answered, pointing to several crates.
Dawson waved at the nearby men. “Let’s get these over to the doctor’s office.” He turned to Sadie. “Miss Young, I’m afraid I don’t have time to see you settled right now. Nor do we have your quarters ready. You’ll be staying in the hotel until we do. If you don’t mind going in and introducing yourself...”
“I’ll manage just fine,” Sadie said and made her way to the hotel entrance.
“I’ll take you to your new office and your patients.” Dawson nodded to the doctor, scooped Mattie into his arms and strode across the street.
Isabelle followed Kate and Dr. Baker. She didn’t mean to miss this opportunity to prove she was an ordinary, everyday, useful sort of woman. Would she ever truly know acceptance as such rather than as a rich woman? Yes, she’d been blessed with it and unfettered love when her parents lived. Her mother, especially, lavished it on her. Isabelle didn’t doubt Cousin Augusta’s affection was genuine. But apart from Kate, every other friendship had been tainted by the color of her money.
They crossed the rutted street and Isabelle had to concentrate on where she put her feet. It helped her avoid thinking of the fact that she meant to step into a doctor’s office...something she’d managed to avoid since her parents’ deaths. They entered a narrow room with benches on either side. A couple of dusty men sat clutching their hats and sprang to their feet as Dawson entered.
“He’s here? The new doc?” one asked.
Dr. Baker stepped forward. “I’m the doctor. Where are the injured men?”
Two heads tipped in the direction of another door. Dr. Baker and Kate crossed toward it.
Isabelle followed. The wood of the place being new, there were no sickroom odors. Nothing to remind her of when her parents were ill.
She crossed the threshold into the other room, and after a fleeting glance at a mangled hand on one man and the blood-soaked rag around the head of a second, she averted her eyes from the third man stretched out on the examining table. Every muscle in her body tensed, just as they had back then. Perhaps if she concentrated on the supplies, she could manage to forget the sights and smells and fears she recalled from watching her parents die.
She went to Kate’s side as her friend pried open one crate and quickly arranged an array of bottles and instruments on the shelves as Dr. Baker bent over the man on the examining table.
Isabelle didn’t hear what the doctor said to Kate or if Kate knew what he needed without words. Kate uncorked a bottle and poured some liquid on a cloth and handed it to her father.
The odor assailed Isabelle with revolting familiarity. The smell of sickness and death.
The room tilted. Her stomach churned. Clasping a hand to her mouth, she fled back to the waiting room and sank to the nearest empty spot on a bench. She sucked in a deep breath to calm her stomach and slowly righted her head to meet the challenging look of Dawson Marshall. He’d removed his hat to reveal thick blond hair. A fine-looking man but one who—if she was to guess from the way his pale eyebrows knotted together—wondered at her sudden exit from the examining room.
Unable to explain herself, she lowered her gaze to Mattie, who offered her wide-eyed wonder and then a shy smile.
Isabelle armed herself with that sliver of a welcome.
There must be something useful she could do in this town that didn’t require her presence in the doctor’s office. Something to prove to herself and everyone else that she was more than a rich heiress.
A moan came from the doctor’s office and she bolted out the door.
* * *
Dawson stared after the woman. Had she taken such a dislike to him she couldn’t bear to be in the same room? He leaned his head back against the wall, ignoring the two miners who watched him, their eyes wide with curiosity. She had no right to scold him about Mattie’s safety. He’d seen the wagon bearing down and would have died before he let his daughter be hurt. He’d gently admonished her to look both ways before she dashed across the street...exactly what a good parent should do.
Isabelle’s criticism of him reminded him sharply of Violet. She, too, had picked holes in everything he did. His now-deceased wife, a city woman who thought to find adventure and satisfaction on the Marshall Five Ranch, had instead found boredom and disappointment. A fact she never ceased to bemoan, saying she should have remained in the city. He totally agreed.
Isabelle’s clothes and manners screamed the fact she, too, was a city woman. Her words had accused him of being a blundering father. Violet had called him a bumbling cowboy. He guessed one was pretty much the same as the other.
“Papa, she sure is pretty but why is she afraid?”
He ground down on his molars. The last thing this town or Dawson Marshall or his daughter needed was another woman like Violet—a fancy city woman who couldn’t or wouldn’t accept the demands of life in the West. He should never have married Violet. But he’d been a dewy-eyed nineteen-year-old. When she learned life on a ranch was hard work, she’d sought excitement elsewhere and ended up dying in a reckless horse race against some cowboys from Wolf Hollow, the nearby mining town, leaving him with a three-year-old daughter to raise.
Now a wiser twenty-six-year-old, he knew enough not to be blinded by a woman’s beauty. Nor her gentle manner. Not even her concern for his daughter’s safety.
Such a woman was not equipped to live out here.
“Come on, Papa.” Mattie tugged on his arm.
“Where are we going?”
“After her.”
“I expect she is about her own business.” He could only hope and pray that business, whatever it was, would not attract any more of Mattie’s interest.
Mattie got up and tugged at Dawson.
He didn’t budge as Mattie did her best to pull him to his feet. She tugged. She jerked. She turned her back to him and leaned into his outstretched arm like a stubborn mule, grunting under the strain.
He laughed at the accurate comparison. If Mattie set her mind to an idea, she would not easily give it up. His smile flattened. Reason enough to divert her attraction from the beautiful newcomer.
He curled his arm about his daughter’s waist and drew her to his chest. “You know you will never be strong enough to move me.” He bussed a kiss on her neck.
She giggled. “There’s more than one way to get you to move.”
“Really? Who told you that?”
“Aunt Annie.”
Yup, his sister would feel free to tell Mattie her opinion. His little sister was only nineteen but had been taking care of Mattie for three years now. And the rest of the family even longer. She’d developed some very strong notions about things.
Mattie gave a decisive nod. “And Grandfather. He knows everything.”
She, like everyone else, called the eldest Marshall Grandfather. Dawson’s father was known to her as Grandpa Bud.
“Grandfather might not know everything. After all, he’s just a man.” The words almost stuck to his tongue. No one, least of all Grandfather, would look kindly on such a statement. After all, Bella Creek had been built by the Marshall patriarch to provide a safe and pleasant alternative to the ramshackle collection of buildings in the wild mining town known as Wolf Hollow. Many of the businesses had been created by him. Before that, he’d started the ranch. It was Grandfather who’d insisted the Marshalls were responsible for rebuilding the section of town the fire had destroyed and seeing to the replacement of the doctor and teacher.
“I’d do it myself if I could.” Grandfather had slapped at his legs as if to remind them all he could barely walk, let alone ride or do carpentry work. A wreck with a horse had left him badly crippled. But it wasn’t beneath him to use his regrettable condition to guilt them all into complying with his wishes.
For the most part, Dawson didn’t object to helping rebuild the destroyed buildings. He hadn’t known it would mean so many hours in town dealing with construction, finding materials and personnel. And why it had fallen to him to write out the advertisements for a new doctor and teacher and then sort through the applications, he could not say.
He smiled mockingly. Not that there’d been a lot of applicants. Not too many people cared to locate to the far northwest corner of Montana at the tail end of winter.
Mattie squirmed free of his grasp and grabbed both his hands. “Papa, she’ll disappear if you don’t stop her.”
“No one disappears.” Though he recalled the futility of trying to make a three-year-old believe that when her mother had ridden out of their lives and soon after died. As far as Mattie understood, her mother had disappeared. Thankfully, she was now old enough to understand a little better, though Dawson wondered if he would ever find words to adequately explain Violet’s restless behavior.
“But what if she does?” Her voice dripped with concern. “I could tell she was really afraid.”
Likely already realizing this rural life was more than she’d anticipated.
Ignoring the curious miners listening to every word, he planted his hands on Mattie’s shoulders to still her movements. “Listen to me, Mattie. She’s not the sort of woman you should be getting too friendly with.” The moment Miss Isabelle Redfield had stepped from the coach in her fancy clothes, fine shoes and flimsy scarf, he’d recognized her as a city woman through and through. He knew enough to be cautious around city women. But Mattie didn’t, and she’d eyed Miss Isabelle with far too much interest. “I doubt she’ll be staying here long.”
The excitement in Mattie’s eyes died, replaced with hurt. He wished he could change that but far better to be warned now than burned later.
One of the dusty miners shuffled his feet. “Begging your pardon, Mr. Marshall, but she looked to me to be exactly the sort of gal a man would do well to be friendly with. It’s been a long time since I seen anyone half so classy looking.”
Mattie nodded vigorously. “That’s what I thought, too.”
Dawson chewed his lips. The precise reason he knew she wouldn’t stay. Life here was rough and challenging. Not what well-heeled city ladies cared for. Like the miner said, there weren’t many like that around here.
Mattie’s voice grew dreamy. “She’s a real lady. Her scarf is as smooth as a kitten’s fur.” She rubbed her thumb and fingertip together as if still feeling the fabric. “Just like her voice and smile.” Mattie rubbed her arm. Dawson knew it was where Isabelle had touched her. “She was so kind.”
If only the woman would leave before his innocent little daughter grew any more interested in the fine lady and her silky scarf. “We need to get back to the ranch.” Hand in hand they left the doctor’s house.
“Dawson, over here.” Grandfather beckoned from in front of the hotel.
Dawson and Mattie crossed the street to join the older man.
“I’ll get the wagon and take you home,” Dawson said.
“No need. Annie’s coming.” Indeed, his sister drove the wagon toward them.
“When did you get to town?” he asked when she drew up beside them.
“Thought I’d have a look at the newcomers but I’ve missed them. Grandfather has fixed that by inviting them to the ranch for supper.”
“I haven’t had a chance to extend the invitation. Dawson, you can look after it,” Grandfather said.
“Me? I thought I was done here and could go find my cows.” He’d purchased his own herd last fall. They’d barely been moved to Marshall Five Ranch before snow fell. He’d checked on them periodically, hoping they wouldn’t wander off to more familiar pastures. Several times he’d had to herd them back from the boundaries of the ranch.
“The others can take care of it.” Pa and Dawson’s brothers had gone out to check on the cattle. But they meant to go north to where they expected to find the main bunch and Dawson’s cows always headed south.
Dawson opened his mouth to protest but Grandfather shook a cane at him. “Annie is going to make a meal for Doc and the ladies. You will bring them out.”
Dawson shut his mouth. There was no arguing with his grandfather when he was in one of these moods. Not for the first time, and likely not for the last, Dawson wished he had not been the one selected to greet the newcomers and get them settled. But his grandfather had insisted he was the eldest of the three brothers and so should be on the welcoming committee, and then he’d insisted he would ride along. And now it had come to this...inviting them out for supper. Doc, his daughter and the schoolteacher, he didn’t mind. But the fancy city gal? He wanted to keep Mattie as far from her as possible.
“That Miss Isabelle is a fine-looking woman.” Seemed Grandfather wasn’t about to let Dawson forget his opinion.
It was useless to dispute the matter. Besides, she was more than fine looking. She was beautiful. He’d noted so the first glance he had of her. Black hair tucked beneath a bonnet that matched her sapphire-blue coat, ebony eyes that gave a sweeping glance to those gathered to welcome the newcomers and ivory skin that would likely melt beneath the Montana sun.
“Puts me in mind of my own Annabelle. Even their names are alike.” Grandfather’s eyes grew watery.
Dawson figured it best to ignore the comparison. Probably the only way Isabelle was like his grandmother was the similarity in names. Nothing more.
Grandfather cleared his throat and brought his piercing gaze to Dawson. “A man would be fortunate to win the heart of such a gal.”
Dawson snorted softly, not wishing to offend the old man. “Don’t you think I’ve learned my lesson about city women?” A woman such as that would be forever restless on the ranch.
“Mattie needs a mother.” Both Dawson and Grandfather glanced over their shoulders to where Mattie kicked a hardened clump of dirt, oblivious to the conversation between the two men.
“I’ve no interest in marrying again.”
“It’s high time you got over Violet. Besides, it’s not fair to judge every woman by Violet’s actions.”
Dawson thought it was completely fair. And not just because of Violet. He could name half a dozen other instances where a family or community had been upset by the discontent of a city woman. One especially came to mind. Violet’s friend had come to town, turning upside down the life of one of Dawson’s good friends, Johnny, and then she’d moved on. Leaving his friend flat broke and emotionally shattered. In fact, he could think of no city woman who had adjusted to life on a ranch. But he kept his opinion to himself. No point in wasting words when he knew Grandfather wouldn’t listen.
Grandfather patted Dawson on the arm with his knotted fingers. “Give her a chance. You might be surprised to discover inner beauty to match her outer beauty.”
Dawson shook his head. “You’ve seen her, what? Fifteen minutes? Half an hour? And spoken less than a dozen words to her. How can you make any sort of judgment about her?”
“I might ask you the same thing. Now help me to the wagon. Annie needs to get home and prepare a meal.”
Dawson assisted the man to the seat beside Annie. As much as possible Dawson, his brothers or their father gave Grandfather what help he needed, but Annie managed when she was alone with him.
The pair drove off and Dawson called Mattie to him.
“Why did we stay here?” she asked.
“We are going to take the doctor and the ladies out to the ranch for supper.”
“Oh, goodie.” She did a happy skip and jump. “Miss Isabelle, too? Right?”
Grandfather would accept no excuse if Dawson showed up without her. “Somebody will have to feed them. There’s no food in the house yet.” He’d meant to have the pantry stocked by now but had fallen behind in that task. He’d left a notice at the store for people to contribute if they cared to. In the meantime, he would have to give in to Grandfather’s plans despite his better judgment. At least, the part of the old man’s plan where Dawson invited the newcomers to the ranch. Not the part where he tried to win the heart of one of them. And, for some reason, Grandfather had chosen Isabelle as the one Dawson should pursue. Dawson simply wasn’t interested. “Let’s invite them for the meal.”
They looked to the right and the left but he saw no sign of the fancy city lady.
“You said she wouldn’t disappear.” Mattie’s words accused him of being responsible for the lady’s absence. “Now I’ll never get to feel her soft scarf again.” She tsked. “Hardly think losing someone is going to meet with Grandfather’s approval.”
Mattie had been surrounded by adults all her life, except for the few months she’d spent in school before it burned to the ground. It had turned her into a small adult. But she was correct about Grandfather’s opinion. Dawson had unfinished business to attend to.
“Let’s go find the schoolteacher.” After that they’d look for Isabelle. She couldn’t have gone far. Probably in Uncle George’s general store being dismayed at the array of farm tools and the smell of turpentine.
Mattie marched along at his side as they stepped into the hotel lobby.
“She’s here,” Mattie whispered and hid behind him.
Indeed, Isabelle stood before a window as if studying the scene. He could tell her that what she saw was as exciting as life got around here. “I thought you couldn’t wait to find her.”
“I couldn’t.”
He had to bend to catch her whisper. “So why are you hiding?”
“’Cause she’s so pretty.”
He caught Mattie’s chin and tipped her face upward, waiting for her eyes to meet his. “You are pretty, too. Don’t ever forget it.”
She brushed her gray pinafore, giving it a mighty frown, and kicked out one scuffed black boot. “I’m not pretty. Look at this old dress.”
Dawson’s heart rent at yet another pain his daughter endured. She’d known far too many for one so young. But as to her clothes...well, she ran about freely at the ranch and wore clothes that allowed her to do so. The last thing Annie needed was more laundry and fancy dresses to take care of.
He squatted to Mattie’s eye level and caught her by the shoulders. “Honey, never let anyone judge you by the clothes you wear, how much money you have or what you do. Those are outward things. Remember the verse Grandpa Bud says so often. ‘Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.’ It isn’t the outside that matters. It’s who you are on the inside.” He tapped her chest.
Mattie’s eyes widened as she looked at him. “Who am I?”
He stroked her cheek. “A sweet, kind, cheerful little girl who likes to make others happy.” When she smiled, he would have hugged her right then and there, but she’d warned him she was too big to be hugged in public.
He straightened. “Now let’s take care of those invites.” He held out his hand to her and she took it, squeezing it as hard as her little fingers allowed.
They crossed to where Miss Isabelle stood looking out a window.
“Miss.”
She turned.
He swallowed hard. The miner was right. They didn’t often see such beautiful ladies. Nor one with such patient eyes. They revealed no sign of restlessness. That would come later. “You and the others are invited to join us at the ranch this evening for supper.”
She tipped her head in acknowledgment. “Thank you but I cannot accept or decline until I consult with Dr. Baker and Kate as to a method of conveyance.”
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll take you all there.”
She nodded. “Then if it suits the others, I accept. Thank you.” She stood before him, her hands folded, that silly scarf caught between her palms. Smooth as a kitten’s fur. Though he wasn’t sure if he meant the scarf. Or her manners. Or something else entirely.
He slid his gaze past her shoulder. “Where might I find Miss Young?”
The schoolteacher descended the stairs. “Are you seeking me?”
He extended the same invitation to her then hurried outside, where he filled his lungs with cool mountain air.
“Are you okay, Papa?” Mattie asked.
He settled his mind. Of course he was fine. Never again would a beautiful unsuitable woman be allowed to upset his world. He would ignore Grandfather’s matchmaking plans because he didn’t need or want a wife, and despite Mattie’s fascination with Isabelle, he knew she would be most unsuitable.
