Love on the Range (Brothers in Arms #3)(13)

Molly had never eaten possum, nor did she want to. But she tried to keep the disgust off her face. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Win is a good cook, and Cheyenne, well, she works so hard outside it stands to reason she wouldn’t have developed cooking skills, but you won’t starve.”

“No,” Falcon said, grinning. “But we might want to.”

Ida Brownley snatched up her pretty white cloth napkin and used it to cover her face. She tried to make it sound like she was coughing, but Molly was sure the woman was laughing.

“She’s your wife.” The parson was rubbing his mouth rather vigorously. “You might want to be more positive in your—your—comments about her cooking.”

“She’s the best wife a man ever had.” For the first time that evening, Falcon seemed upset. “Whether she’s a cook or not ain’t nuthin’ that I’d ever judge her on.”

The parson nodded, and Kevin went on. “We know you got hired, because we asked around town while we were looking for you, and we also learned that school doesn’t start until next Monday.”

“Looked high and low. Figured you’d been taken away by some outlaw.” Wyatt sounded grim.

“So please, Molly, please . . .” Kevin drew the word out for several seconds, “come home with us. We’d like your company until you start school.”

“We honestly want you back to stay,” Falcon said. “Can you make that custard again tomorrow?”

Molly balled up her napkin but refrained from throwing it at him. Falcon smirked, almost like he knew exactly what she was thinking.

Wyatt added, “Your brother is asking nicely, but you are going home tonight.”

“I don’t like seeing you all pressuring her.” Mrs. Brownley lost all trace of humor.

Wyatt looked at Mrs. Brownley. “We all feel mighty bad that we weren’t kind enough to her so that now she wants to leave us. It’s me especially. I’ve been ailin’, and all the work doctoring me fell to her.”

He looked across the table at Molly. “Did I ever thank you?”

Molly heard the guilt in his voice. Saw the sincerity in his eyes. She felt herself weakening, blast it all.

“I’ve been so impatient to be well. I’m sure I snapped and snarled like a cur dog by way of letting you know you saved my life.”

Kevin rested one of his strong hands on her back.

Wyatt went on. “Your knowledge and care are a miracle straight from God. I feel like the worst kind of sinner to have done something to drive you away.”

To say he hadn’t driven her away would make Kevin blame himself. To say he had driven her away would make Wyatt feel awful. Falcon just kept chewing, eating fast as if he knew they’d have to leave soon and wanted to fill his belly.

He swallowed and said, “Don’t blame me. I didn’t do nothing wrong.”

Molly narrowed her eyes and uncharitably wished he’d choke on a turnip.

Instead of choking, he said, “Come back home with us, Miss Molly. Monday is near a full week away. Come home and spend the days before your job starts with your family. We may try and get you to want to stay, but in the end, it’s your life, and as a self-supporting, intelligent, adult woman, it’s a decision you get to make. But we’re sure enough gonna miss you at the RHR and no denyin’ it.”

Molly was beat. She could feel her will crumbling. Not from Kevin’s worry or Wyatt’s anger. Those only made her more determined to stay away. But Falcon, blast him. And his guiltless invitation. He was making it impossible to stay here.

It was going to take a lot of doing to escape her family. But she was up to the job of escaping more than she was up to the job of taking care of this thankless pack of almost-kin.

“I’ve got five days until school starts.” Molly slammed her napkin on the table and stood. Disgusted with herself. “During that time, I’m going to teach someone in that family to cook. If I do, none of you will ever notice I’m gone.”

Wyatt’s eyes flashed. Kevin’s brow furrowed.

Falcon grinned. “It ain’t gonna be me. Though, I could cook a possum over an open fire for us once a week.”

Molly flinched. She turned to Mrs. Brownley. “I’ll leave my things here, if it’s all right with you. I’ll be back next Sunday. I believe I’ll stay after church.”

“We’ll look forward to it.”

Molly got her coat and stuffed a satchel with her nightgown and a few things she’d need for a stay at the ranch. She wasn’t going to think of it as home ever again.





Seven




Molly wasn’t quite sure how she found herself cooking breakfast alone the next morning. It was odd really. Like yesterday, her escape, her job, her new future, had never happened.

Kevin had talked to her on the way home. It was a friendly talk, and she appreciated it. But it didn’t close the divide between them. In some ways it widened it because he was so clear about how much he loved her. And yet he’d started a new life without her. As was right and proper.

The talk had helped her accept the new way of things and see that nothing would or should change that.

The thumping around upstairs told her Wyatt was up. There were other sets of footfalls, so Cheyenne and Falcon were stirring, too.