Page 4 of The Drifter's Bride
Lukas glanced over the field once more and watched the dark clouds gather. Something was shifting in the weather. The cattle were coming together, but he wasn’t too concerned. It was his weekend off, and Weston Chapman had a strong crew.
That was something else that had changed.
Lukas couldn’t say for sure, but the deal Peter had made with Weston to share the fields and work with their herds together had brought the two families closer together.
“Hey, Arkin!”
Lukas spotted Ranger Hardin, one of the Chapman hands, riding towards him at a quick pace. Turning his horse in the rider’s direction, Lukas gave one last glance at the cattle over his shoulder.
“What’s up, Ranger?”
“Mrs. Chapman is looking for you, and she’s a might excited. Mr. Chapman sent me to relieve you.”
“I appreciate that,” Lukas gave a two-finger wave. He supposed that explained the change in the wind he was feeling. “Did she say what she wanted?”
The younger man laughed. “Could be nothing. Could be anything. But you better git.”
“Right. Shouldn’t keep the boss’s missus waiting.”
A click of the tongue set the horse moving and his thoughts to what woman Marmee may have found. When he had seen the Chapmans at church on Sunday, she’d given him a nod and a smile, but hadn’t attempted to approach him. He couldn’t help but hope that this was going to be good news.
Slowing his horse in front of the porch, he dismounted and was tying the animal to a hitching post when Marmee appeared from the barn.
“Mr. Arkin, I would appreciate your help in the garden.” Marmee handed her riding gloves to one of the stable boys and walked towards the side of the large house. The grin she gave him did nothing to dissuade his tingling nerves.
Large bushes hid the garden, but once you rounded the side of the house, it opened into a large box with pathways winding between elegant bushes and flowers.
Had she found him a wife?
He knew not to rush her. Women hated that. At least Elizabet did. She often told him that hurrying a woman to speak could cause her to lose her thoughts or become cross and the conversation would be lost. Perhaps he should create small talk, compliment her on something. What would Elizabet want him to do? He looked around, admiring the work that went into creating Marmee’s hideaway.
“You have a beautiful garden, Mrs. Chapman,” he said.
“Thank you. Weston brought most of these plants back from Boston and when he went to California.” She walked further into the garden, her split skirt swishing as she walked. Lukas had met no one like Ingrid Chapman. Fiercely loyal to her husband, she gave him five sons and three daughters. Now the Chapman family had expanded, and she was a doting grandmother. She knew how to shoot, ride, wrangle a calf; and he had never seen a woman wearing pants until he met her.
If his new bride was half the woman Mrs. Chapman was, he would be blessed indeed.
“But you didn’t come to talk about my garden, Mr. Arkin. I have some news.”
Lukas wanted to rub his hands together, but he shoved them in his pockets instead. “Yes, ma’am?”
“Lukas, I believe I’ve found your match. Her name is Helena Jefferies. She’ll be arriving this June on the stage. She comes from an excellent family in Chicago and has several letters of recommendation.”
Lukas nodded solemnly. Chicago was not Texas and though he didn’t understand how Marmee made her matches, the ones he’d seen were successful. He flexed his fingers in his pockets.
“What do you need from me?”
“Nothing now. However, I have a question for you I had not previously considered.”
He couldn’t imagine what she’d forgotten.
“What are your thoughts about little girls?” It was as if Mrs. Chapman had been reading his thoughts.
“Ma’am?”
“There is another woman. A young widow named Mrs. McGuthry. She is the cousin of our minster here in town. She has a two-year-old daughter who will travel with her. I am not fully sure of her situation yet.”
“I do not have a problem with children. I guess. I don’t have a lot of experience with them, but I could learn.”
