Page 24 of Inventions of the Heart

CHAPTER

SEVEN

THEDAY FINALLY CAMEwhen Sally Jo and the Hogan sisters—who were no longer named Hogan—moved out, and the Steinmeyers moved into the newly vacated ramrod cabin.

Melinda announced at breakfast that she was getting married that very day, and she’d move into the second new cabin built near the ranch house this afternoon.

Michelle and Jilly moved into the housekeeper’s apartment, and each had her own bedroom. But giving them the housekeeper’s rooms wasn’t exactly right because they did very little housekeeping. They probably oughta change the name of the room.

The upstairs, with its five bedrooms, was now occupied by Zane’s family.

And Michelle hadn’t gotten back to her gold mine all week.

She was spending hours every day helping people move and settle in, chasing the three children. And not digging gold.

She was slowly dying from impatience, though she had smuggled the gold they’d brought home into the housekeeper’s apartment. With Jilly’s help, working quietly at night, they’d cleaned the gold of every crumbling speck of quartz, and Jilly estimated the gold was valued at ... exactly what she’d estimated when she’d seen it still veined through rock.

Today was Sunday, everyone was settled, and Michelle vowed that tomorrow she and Jilly would spend the day digging.

She had to find a way to tell Zane.

And get him to say yes.

Gretel headed to the house she now lived in, taking a portion of the meal she’d helped cook, to eat dinner with Rick and Willa. Gretel had agreed to take on the job of housekeeper for Zane. Rick was now permanently hired to do ranch chores.

Both the Steinmeyers were working hard, and all of it with baby Willa to handle ... which seemed to mostly be Michelle’s job.

Annie brought a platter to the table with roast beef on it, and Beth Ellen came with a bowl of carrots and another of potatoes. Michelle and Jilly added gravy, a platter of bread, dishes of butter, jelly, and a glass of milk for everyone.

The Hart family and the Stiles sisters sat down to dinner.

“It’s so quiet in here.” Zane looked around like he expected people to come storming in.

“I think it’s mainly the two babies being gone.” Michelle thought they were all enjoying the quiet. Even Caroline ate in contented silence.

When the meal was eaten, Annie rose to pull a baking dish of peach cobbler out of the oven and brought it to thetable, then added a pitcher of sweetened cream and a stack of smaller plates.

“I’m planning to become a better cook,” Michelle said, scooping up a serving of cobbler. “I’ve been chasing after the babies. But now with them in their own homes, I’ll try harder.”

“And I’ve been busy building.” Jilly looked at Zane. “Do you have anything else to build around here?”

Zane rolled his eyes. “As if four cabins in a matter of weeks isn’t enough. But with the Steinmeyers in the ramrod’s cabin, we could probably use one more cabin for a new ramrod.”

Jilly grinned.

“I’ve been wondering about running some irrigation lines to water your grass and adding windmills to fill ponds for the cattle to drink from. You need at least one per pasture.” Michelle munched on the sweet dessert.

Zane’s head whipped around. “Irrigation?”

“Yes, irrigation is when you—”

“I know what irrigation is.” Zane waved an impatient hand. “But I’ve never done such a thing. As a rule, the rain is dependable on my land.”

“Well, it’s a lot of work, but there’s nothing hard about it. We could get a paddle wheel in here and use the energy from the river to power an engine that would pump—”

“My cattle are thirsty, and my grass is drying up. When can we start?”

Michelle looked at Jilly.

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