AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Removing his hat, he carried the boy into the kitchen. “That smells absolutely delicious. I cannot wait to eat.”
“How’d it go today?” she asked. He definitely looked worse for the wear. He was dirty, and she saw blood on his hand. “How did you injure yourself?”
He shrugged, walking to the sink, and washing his hands for supper after setting Walt on the floor. “I think it went pretty well. If nothing else, the men respect me now.”
“What happened?” She turned toward him, her eyes narrowed.
“One of the men, Johnny something or other, said you’d always been a loose woman, and he was surprised you’d been able to dupe any man into marrying you. He didn’t say it to me, of course, but I heard it anyway.”
“And?”
“I kept my word. I fired him on the spot and knocked him to the ground. Repeatedly. No one is going to get away with talking about my wife that way.”
“You’re going to end up with no men working for you if you keep that up!” She was flattered he’d defended her, but they had to have men working for them to keep the ranch going.
“On the contrary, several of the men told me that Johnny had trouble keeping his tongue in check, and it would be all over town within hours that I won’t allow men to denigrate you.”
“I hope you’re right.” Charlotte dished up three bowls of the chicken and dumplings and placed them on the table. “I hope you enjoy chicken and dumplings. It’s been Walt’s favorite meal since he was big enough to eat real food, and I haven’t made them since Howard died. I don’t think he even remembers the meal, but I hope he’ll love it just as much as he always has.”
“Chicken and dumplings is one of the things I love but can’t make for myself. Now I have to stay married to you, so I’ll be able to have chicken and dumplings on a regular basis.”
She laughed softly. “I suppose you will.”
After the prayer, Charlotte and Earl watched as Walt ate a bite of his chicken and dumplings. His eyes widened and his mouth stretched into a smile as he began quickly shoveling the food into his mouth.
She smiled. “Slow down, Walt. You’re going to choke.”
Walt nodded, but she could tell it took him real effort to not eat so quickly.
Earl grinned at her. “You were right. He still loves it.” He took a bite himself. “What’s not to love? This is better than my ma’s, and that’s saying something.” He shook his head. “Where did you learn to cook?”
“The man who raised me taught me. He had a cookbook, and after he taught me the basics, he handed me the cookbook and told me to make something that tasted good.”
“Did he love you?”
“Old Jake? Yeah, as much as he could love, he loved me. He lost his wife and daughters back east and came west to forget about his troubles. And ended up finding a baby within a couple years of arriving here. He didn’t know who had left me or why, but he knew he was going to take care of me.”
“He was good to you?”
She shrugged. “As good as he could be. He definitely wasn’t a father to me, but he was a decent uncle sort. I wasn’t speaking when he found me, and he’s the only real role model I ever had. When I married Howard, his mother lived with us for a year, teaching me how to be a lady. But she loathed me. She told me all the time that Howard should have married a real lady from back east, and she couldn’t believe he’d saddled himself with someone like me. Only when we were alone, though. She never would have said it in front of Howard.”
“That’s terrible.” He covered her hand with his. “I bet she was even worse after he died.”
“She never responded to my letter informing her of his death. So, she wasn’t worse, she was just not there.” She took a deep breath. “From the instant Howard died, it was just Walt and me. But we did good, didn’t we, Walt?”
Walt’s little cheeks were bulged out with the amount of food he had in his mouth, but he nodded. He tried to smile, but his mouth was too full to do it.
She shook her head. “Walt, you’re going to choke. That won’t be any fun, will it?”
Walt shook his head, but he didn’t slow down in his eating at all.
Earl laughed. “You look like a chipmunk, Walt!” He felt funny speaking to someone who didn’t speak at all but after observing Charlotte with the boy, he was able to do it.
“What did you and the men accomplish today? Other than learning who’s boss?”
He leaned back and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “We started herding the calves toward the pasture up near the barn. You said that’s where we’d brand them.”
“Yes, it is. Perfect. How many were you able to move?”
