Chapter Nine

 

But the horse rancher seemed to enjoy meeting Kate too. Frank Campbell. He invited them in to talk over the deal.

Frank spent most of his time looking at Kate while Wes tried to make a deal with him about the hay. Kate was still angry with Wes and wasn't paying any attention to the rancher.

Kate didn't want to flirt with the man, even though he was good looking with thick dark blonde hair, and a muscular build. He had light green eyes and a big smile when he looked at her.

Kate was friendly but not overly and after a while they settled on a price and he gave them some other names of ranchers in the area that could use the hay.

He offered them some coffee and they agreed.

"I'd offer tea, but I don't have any at the moment." He smiled at Kate.

"That's all right, I prefer coffee, keeps you awake." She smiled.

"So are you new to this area?" He asked Kate. "I mean, I haven't seen you in town."

"No, I've been here a year." She informed him as she accepted the coffee.

 

"Really, then why haven't I seen you around?" he asked.

His smile told her he was paying attention to everything she said. It reminded her of Jim, he used to be that way too.

Wes jumped into the conversation, "She and her husband bought the old Miller farm."

"Husband, oh, I’m sorry, I assumed you were unmarried. The Miller farm, huh?"

"My husband was killed by a cougar not long ago." Kate informed him.

"A cougar? Good God, did they get the cat?"

"No, not yet."

"Damn, that's bad news. Glad you told me. He could be anywhere about by now. I'll have to inform my hands. Maybe I'll go after him, myself."

"Wes wants to go after him too." Kate informed him.

"Well, he needs putting down if he's taken a human life, that's for sure. I'm terribly sorry about your husband."

"Thank you," Kate said demurely.

They spent an hour there and then drove back to the ranch.

"Well, I guess that went well, huh?" Wes asked.

"Better than I expected, yes." Kate agreed.

"He was mighty interested in you." Wes remarked.

"I thought he was just being friendly."

"Yeah, I almost didn't get the deal sowed up, he was so friendly." Wes said and glanced at her.

"Don't be silly, he was probably married." Kate laughed.

"I don't think so. A man doesn't look at a woman like that if he's married."

"Like what?" she frowned at him.

"Like he wants you."

His words stunned her. He was right, that was how Jim had looked at her too.

"Well, doesn't matter, I'm not interested in him."

"Oh, why not?"

She glanced at him as though he should know, "I'm supposed to be in mourning for my husband." When Wes looked at her rather strangely, she continued. "Just because I wasn't in love with Jim, doesn't mean I shouldn't act it. Jim hasn't been dead that long. He deserves my respect for the dead, don't you think?"

"I wouldn't wait too long, if you want that rancher."

"I don't. Besides I'm—"

"In mourning."

Her head jerked around to stare at him. "I beg your pardon."

"Sorry, I'm out of line. Anyway, glad to get the hay sold." Wes changed the subject.

"Yeah, me too." She nodded.

When they got back, she pondered over how Wes had acted. The way he talked, he sounded almost jealous. But that couldn't be. He wasn't interested in any permanent relationship. He'd practically told her so.

Still she remembered that kiss and it made her blush once more. How had she been so bold?

But was that Frank interested?

No, she wouldn't be getting into that kind of relationship again. If she ever married again, it would be for one reason, and one reason alone—love!

Frank was handsome enough and his place was nice, so she figured he made good money. But before she did any serious contemplating of men, she would study on them a long while. After all Jim hadn't been the man of her dreams and she'd thought him nice too.

Still, a husband might solve a lot of her problems. How did she go about finding a man that could love her?

If Wes wasn't such a drifter, maybe—

No, it was much too soon, and she needed to work things out herself. Relying on a man was the last thing she needed.

Yet, she knew she was relying on Wes, and it seemed every day they got a bit closer. She'd confided too much in him already.

She only wished he weren't such a drifter. There were a lot of things she liked about Wes. First, he was God fearing, one thing Jim was not. He was clean too as he'd take a bath in the pond in the back pasture every other day. And when he smiled at her, her insides fluttered. She'd never had bodily reactions to Jim. She was quickly learning that not all men were beasts either.

That had never happened before. She remembered how in the barn, Wes had held her close and his lips feather touched her forehead. And then how he'd turned away quickly. But that kiss on the wagon was embedded in her mind. It was warm, and soft and gentle and her heart was hammering so, when she pulled away.

No one had ever kissed her like that. Even though she had initiated the kiss, he had responded and that had shocked her a bit. She hadn't expected him to respond.

She couldn't fall in love with him, he wasn't the kind of man to stay in one place long. But she couldn't stop the fluttering of her heart when he looked directly at her, either. And sometimes, he really looked at her.

Jim had never bragged on her looks, or her ability to run a home either. But she knew the place looked better. She was not a beautiful woman, but she knew she wasn't completely ugly either, even though Jim had never said a word about how she looked, no matter how hard she tried to look nice.

The one thing she could do is learn all she could from Wes before he took off for parts unknown. After all, Wes was a drifter, he'd be gone before long and she'd likely never see him again. She'd confided in him as she thought him a friend but getting too close might not be wise. He knew too much about women, she was sure of it.

That thought brought a slow burning ache inside her. She knew instinctively how badly she'd miss him when he left. She couldn't dwell on it. And although she sought love, she didn't know much about how to find it, either.

Late one evening she wandered out to the riverbanks, to wait for the Mississippi Queen to roll by. The river had a calming effect on her, and she let herself relax.

As it passed, she smiled, waved at the people, and watched the boat leisurely drift down the river. She sighed.

"You really like to watch the boats go by?" Wes came up behind her suddenly.

She turned to find him right behind her. All her nerves came alive. Ever since they kissed, she couldn't get him off her mind. "Oh, yes, I do. The river is so peaceful, and the people look so happy." She said, her voice filled with an emotion she couldn't define. "I read a lot of books, good books with happy endings. Looking at those boats go by makes me think of them and that although fleeting, they do exist."

"Never thought about it, like that. Maybe you should take a ride on one of those boats sometime."

She moved to face him, "It costs money I don't have and it's just enjoyable to watch." She told him defensively. "All the ladies have beautiful dresses, which means they have money. I would be very out of place on the boat."

"Maybe someday," he murmured.

"Yeah, maybe someday." She smiled.

The crickets were loud, and the frogs seemed to join in their choir. The moonlight drifted through the thick trees that lined the banks.

When it got too quiet, she looked up at him, "Watching the boats is kind of my escape," she explained.

"Escape from what?"

"From everyday life, from struggling to make it. From worries. It's like a dream or something, a moment in time, is all." She blushed. "I guess you think I'm crazy."

"No, all of us have our way of escaping. And I reckon most of us have our dreams."

"Really, what's yours, if you don't mind me asking?"

He firmed his lips and leaned against a tall pine, "Looking at the stars at night is my escape." He smiled.

"And what are you escaping?" She asked softly.

"My way of life, I guess."

She turned her head in question. "What do you mean, you’re a drifter, you go where the wind blows you, don't you? I would think you have an ideal kind of life. No worries about mortgages. No fretting about sick kids. You go where the wind blows."

"Yeah, but you can get tired of it too, sometimes. You see a family, with children romping around and you sometimes wonder if that could be yours."

She stared a bit too long as his eyes seemed to sparkle into hers now. Although there was a tension between them, tonight, the tension seemed to melt.

Wes was opening up a little with her and she enjoyed the fact that she wasn't the only one doing it.

She leaned against another pine and studied him in the darkness. "There's nothing that says you have to keep drifting, is there?"

He came up to her now, staring into her eyes, he reached a hand to softly hold her cheek as his thumbs rubbed her cheeks there gently.

His touch made her quiver with some longing she didn't quite understand.

"I was wrong," his voice went husky, his eyes glittering into hers.

Everything suddenly stood still.

"About what?" she barely whispered.

"You're not just pretty," he came a bit closer.

She held her breath, was he going to kiss her?

"You're beautiful." He said, taking his hand away and turning to leave her agape.

"Wes, I…. "

"Goodnight." He smiled, tipped his hat, and left.

He was the kind of man who left tidbits of himself here and there and walked away before anyone could tell him it was alright to care about things.

Did he care?

And why had he touched her like that, so gently, his eyes glittering into hers. What did he really want to say to her? Or was she merely hoping?