Montana Groom Of Convenience

“Aye and it would not have happened if some fool had not blasted his gun beside the horses.” He eased himself to a more comfortable position, then leaned forward. “Now let’s have a look at the wee lassie.”

Sawyer peeled Jill off the back of his legs and pulled her forward. “Say hello to Mr. Morrison.”

She didn’t respond. Her jaw jutted out and he knew she wouldn’t.

He couldn’t force her to. Instead of trying, he glanced about the house. A big kitchen with the table in the middle of the room, the stove and cupboards to one side. A wide doorway opened to the living room. From where he stood, he saw a couple of comfortable looking armchairs, one with a table beside it and a scattering of newspapers and books. A footstool to one side of the chair. He wondered if that’s where Mr. Morrison spent some of his day.

Across the kitchen was a closed door. To one end of the kitchen, another closed door. No doubt the bedrooms. He eased slightly to his left and saw another door off the kitchen. The house was small, as Carly said, but more than adequate. He’d shared crowded quarters with a dozen men and slept in the open under the stars. This would do fine for a home for himself and Jill.

No doubt he would soon learn where he and Jill were to sleep and which rooms were used by Carly and her father.

Mr. Morrison took the initiative with Jill. “Hello, little Jill. So yer going to be living with us now.” Mr. Morrison eyed the child without saying another word. The silence grew heavy and uncomfortable.

Jill lifted her head and looked at the older man.

Mr. Morrison smiled. “That’s better.” He nodded. “You have beautiful eyes. You should let people see them more often. ’Tis my guess you have a beautiful smile, too. I can’t wait to see it.”

Sawyer could have warned the man it might be a long time before he did.

Mr. Morrison sat back and Jill shuffled to Sawyer’s side. She didn’t touch him. She wouldn’t. Sawyer understood. But perhaps living here and being settled would help her remember a time when it was okay to feel something besides caution.

“Well, if you’re satisfied,” Carly said. “I need to get some beds ready for these people.”

Mr. Morrison chuckled. A pleasing sound that spread a little honey to Sawyer’s insides. “You mean your husband and his little sister?”

“Uh-huh. I’m going to clean out the little storeroom.”

“Aye. It will be a nice bedroom for the wee lassie.”

“Or for the big brother.”

Mr. Morrison sat upright so suddenly he groaned with pain. He quickly recovered. “Are you telling me your husband is going to sleep there? What kind of nonsense is this?” His voice rose.

Carly dipped water from the bucket on the cupboard and had a long drink. “You said I needed a husband to keep the ranch. I got one. The ranch is safe. But I have no need of a man for any other reason.” She refilled the dipper and offered it to Sawyer.

He drank, more to distance himself from this situation than because of thirst. “Thanks.” He returned the dipper to her and she again refilled it and offered it to Jill, who likewise drank rather desperately. She might try to distance herself from people but she couldn’t help but feel the tension in the room.

“Are ye telling me this marriage is a mockery?”

Carly seemed unaffected by the man’s loud voice. “Nope. Just a contract between two adults.”

Mr. Morrison’s eyes came to Sawyer. Hard, challenging.

Sawyer met the gaze without flinching.

“Yer agreeable to this?”

Sawyer nodded. He was getting tired of explaining it. “We need a family. She needed a man.”

“That so? Seems to me a married man would be wanting to share his wife’s bed.” “Father! Enough. We agreed the marriage was for mutual benefit and that wasn’t one of them. We know what we’re doing.”

Her father sat back. “Aye. So you say.” He grinned and stroked his beard, as content as a cat full of warm milk. “This will be interesting.” He rolled the r.

Carly stared at her father, turned to look at Sawyer and he saw something that made his nerves twitch. A look of surprise, a flicker of fear and then she shrugged.

“I expect it will.”

A little tremor twisted Sawyer’s neck muscles. Had he bitten off more than he could chew?

Chapter Five (#u492ee97d-4ea8-58dc-936e-65ebc7395a9e)

Carly refused to let Father’s amusement trouble her. She knew what she was doing. She wasn’t being naive. There would be adjustments to make, things she might be surprised to learn. But she’d faced tough challenges before and always overcome them. She felt duty-bound to point out the fact to her father.

“Remember the time I brought home that wild horse?” She turned to Sawyer. “The gelding wasn’t really a wild horse, just a horse that had been mishandled and turned bad and then the owners turned him loose rather than bother with him or feed him. But he was a beauty. He’s a golden palomino. His coat glistens like sunshine. Or at least it did once he regained his health.” She shifted her gaze back to Father, reminding him of how that had turned out. “I made up my mind to gentle him and turn him into the best horse one could ask for. And now he is.”

She’d named him Sunny and rode him everywhere. Did Father see that marrying Sawyer was much the same? Not that she thought she had to tame the man but she had worked out the problem of dealing with Sunny. She would do the same with Sawyer.

Father continued to stroke his beard, his gaze shifting from Carly to Sawyer to Jill and then back to Carly. “Aye? Is that what ye have in mind for Sawyer? Taming him to be a pet?”

Jill snorted behind her hand, a sound of amusement and derision combined.

“Of course that’s not what I mean.” She didn’t dare look at Sawyer to gauge his reaction. “Father, you’re impossible.” She ground around so her back was to the men, which had her facing the door of the storeroom and a reminder of the need to get Sawyer and Jill settled. “I have to get beds ready.” She hurried to the small room, more than half tempted to pull the door shut behind her and slip the hook in place to secure the door. Except the hook was on the other side of the door. So she settled for squaring her shoulders and looking about the room.

Sawyer’s boots thudded on the floor as he followed her.

She pushed back her annoyance. Of course, she wouldn’t have the same degree of privacy and the ability to be alone as she’d had prior to their arrangement. She could live with that. And if she couldn’t, Sunny and a ride in the open were but a few steps away.

Sawyer stopped at the doorway.

Jill ducked past him and looked about the room. Her eyes lit as she saw the trunk in the corner. “What’s in there?”

“My mother’s things.” And baby things Mother had saved, always hoping for a baby boy who survived. But Carly was the only baby to live past a few weeks and grow to adulthood. She was aware of four baby boys who did not live that long. Their little graves were on the hillside and her mother lay next to them.

“Where’s your ma?”

“She died when I was fourteen.”

“Oh.” Jill pushed her way through the boxes and other items until she reached the trunk. She examined the latches and tried to release them.

“Jill,” Sawyer spoke with a hefty degree of warning. “You don’t have permission to touch that.”

“Can’t I look?” Jill asked.

Carly had crossed the room and pressed on the latches to stop the curious child. “I prefer you didn’t.”

“Fine.” Jill stomped away, crushing an old hat of Father’s beneath her feet.

Sawyer grabbed it and punched it back to shape as best he could. “I apologize.”