LITMIR.BIZ

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few minutes, Clayton was riding the fences of the ranch. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for but felt the need to have a good look around.

      The ranch was flat in most places, and after riding about a mile he circled around and came upon the river. It gurgled along, and new green grass and shrubs lined its banks. He continued and was pleasantly surprised to come upon a wooded cove with the river running past and a pool of clear water that had washed out a peaceful inlet.

      Clayton dismounted and allowed Bones to drink his fill while he looked about. He inhaled the fresh air and closed his eyes to enjoy the sweet sound of running water behind him. His shoulders relaxed and his thoughts moved to visions of having a picnic with Maggie and the kids in this spot.

      His eyes snapped open. What was he thinking? This wasn’t his family. He had no business thinking about family picnics. Still, he liked Maggie and the kids. What would it hurt to have a picnic with them? Who said a man and a woman couldn’t share a meal together and enjoy this wonderful fresh air? As friends, of course. Just friends.

      Bones snorted a warning. Clayton turned and saw Gus riding in his direction. Clayton remounted Bones and waited for the ranch foreman to arrive.

      “I see you’ve found my favorite spot on the ranch,” Gus said as a greeting. “What are you doing so far away from the barn?”

      Clayton leaned on the saddle horn. “Getting fresh air.” He looked about at the new leaves and grass. “This is a nice spot.”

      Gus stared at him. He tilted his hat back. “Don’t you have the Pony Express to take care of?”

      What was Gus getting at? Clayton tightened his grip on Bones’s reins and answered. “Obviously, you don’t know how the Pony Express works.” He looked about to let the thinly veiled insult sink in.

      The other man shifted in the saddle. “Just like you don’t understand the workings of a ranch.”

      “It’s interesting that you should say that. I’ve been around a ranch or two, Gus, and I know enough to know that you are short on the amount of cattle that should be roaming these pastures and that your excuse to Mrs. Fillmore is weak.” He sat up straighter in the saddle. “I also know it’s branding season and you haven’t started.” Clayton had the satisfaction of seeing the shock on Gus’s face turn to anger. “Is there a reason you don’t want me out here riding the range?”

      Gus shifted in the saddle again and ignored the question. “You are free to roam around as much as you like, Young. Just don’t get in the way of my men and our jobs. As you have kindly pointed out, we have work to do.” He turned his horse to leave and then turned to look over his shoulder. “I suggest you focus on your job and let us do the same.” He spurred his horse and left at a gallop.

      Clayton had hit a nerve with the foreman. Gus hadn’t answered his question and had clenched his jaw. His shoulders had squared and he’d tightened his grip on the horse’s reins as if it took all that he had not to ball up his fists and swing a punch. Clayton’s ride had been relaxing until he’d met up with Gus. Man and horse picked up where they’d left off and continued their exploration of the ranch. The Fillmore Ranch was a decent-size spread, but Clayton hated that the oversize pastures were sparse in cattle. Baby James’s inheritance was being underused, meaning less money would be coming into the family.

      When Clayton arrived back at the ranch house, he noticed a horse tied to the hitching rail in front of the porch. Dinah played on the porch with a rag doll and some blocks. She looked up and saw him and came running.

      “Hi, Clayton!”

      He slid off Bones’s back. “Hello, half-pint. I see you have a visitor.”

      Dinah looked over her shoulder at the house. “Yep, a man from the bank.”

      “I see.” Clayton led Bones into the barn.

      Dinah followed, swinging her rag doll by its arm. “Sissy asked me to go outside to play while she talked to him.”

      Clayton took off the horse’s saddle. “Well, I’m glad she did. Now you can tell me your doll’s name.”

      “Oh, this is Charlotte. Sissy was going to name baby James Charlotte, if he was a girl.” She hugged the doll close.

      “That’s a pretty name.” He rubbed Bones’s black-and-white coat. Clayton wondered why Maggie hadn’t had a boy’s name picked out for the baby since she’d already had a girl’s name chosen.

      Dinah nodded. “Yeah, it’s Mama’s name.”

      He looked at the little girl over Bones’s back. Sadness filled her pixie-like face. Poor little mite.

      “Dinah! Clayton!” Maggie called from the house.

      “Sissy is calling us,” Dinah said.

      They left the barn together. Clayton watched as a well-dressed man rode away toward town. Maggie stood on the porch holding the baby.

      Dinah ran ahead. “I was in the barn with Clayton.”

      “I saw that.” Maggie rocked the baby. When Clayton got close enough, she asked, “Can you hitch a horse up to the wagon for me? I need to go into town.”

      The tremble in her voice tore at him. “Sure. Would you like for me to go with you?”

      “Can I go?” Dinah asked.

      “Of course you are going, Dinah.” Maggie frowned at the little girl. She then turned her attention to Clayton. Uncertainty filtered through her voice. “I don’t want to take you from your work.”

      “No more riders coming in today,” he said. “I wouldn’t mind going, and I can take Doc Anderson back one of his books.”

      “Thank you. We’ll be ready in just a few minutes.” Maggie turned to go back inside. “Come along, Dinah. We’ll change our dresses and fix your hair up pretty.”

      Clayton grinned as he went back to the barn. If he’d learned anything about Dinah, it was that she liked her hair fixed and her dresses kept clean. He chose a brown mare to pull the wagon. She was an older horse with white socks. He’d worked with her a few times in the corral, and she’d been very obedient. Clayton hitched the horse to the wagon and then pulled it up to the front of the house.

      As he waited for them to come out, Clayton wondered why someone from the bank had come to see Maggie. Why did she need to run off to town as soon as the banker had left? Did the trip have anything to do with the ranch or Gus? Whatever the reason, Maggie was shaken up by it. He had so many questions that only Maggie could answer.

       Chapter Five

      Maggie gently pushed the last comb into Dinah’s hair. The long strands hung about Dinah’s shoulders in soft waves. Then Maggie looked at herself in the mirror. She wore a soft cream-colored dress. It was probably the best she had short of the wedding dress that hung in her closet. Pulling her hair up and back, Maggie pinned it into place. She allowed strands to fall about her face. If she couldn’t talk Mr. Jones at the bank into extending her loan, she might just lose the ranch.

      Tears stung the backs of her eyes. According to Lucas Dillon, the man Mr. Jones had sent out, Gus hadn’t paid the bank loan in three months. Mr. Dillon had said that if she didn’t get to the bank and make a payment today, Mr. Jones would have no choice but to foreclose on the ranch. The thought sped her up. It was already early afternoon. They had to hurry to town before the bank closed.

      She bundled James up in a blue blanket and hurried Dinah out the front door. Clayton sat on the wagon, waiting. His horse, Bones, was tied to the back of the wagon. Maggie couldn’t help but notice that he was dressed in black pants and a white shirt and he’d traded out his brown work boots for shiny black ones.

      “You ladies look very nice,” he complimented, jumping from the wagon. He scooped Dinah up and set her in the bed of the

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