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Chapter One
Miriam Royal came in from her garden, waving a hand in front of her face, trying to cool off. She was getting too old to spend so much time outside in the summers. Her change of life was upon her, and she wasn’t getting any younger. It didn’t help that her time outside was spent gardening, which wasn’t easy work to start with.
Of course, now she had to cook supper during the hottest hours of the day. If only there was a way to keep the air in the house at an even sixty-eight degrees, she would be the happiest woman alive, but everyone knew that wasn’t happening.
Walking to the ice chest in the corner of the kitchen, she stuck her head right inside, praying it would cool her off at least a little before she turned and started the stew her son had requested for supper. He loved her beef stew, and they’d just butchered a steer a few days before, so it was a good time to make it.
Quickly cutting the meat into pieces, she put them in the bottom of her Dutch oven to brown while she peeled the potatoes and the carrots. She hated peeling and growing. She truly wasn’t a fan of living in the country if the truth were told, but it made her son so happy to live there. He’d grown up in the city, and she felt she owed it to him to allow him to live where he was happier now.
Cameron came in just as she was taking the biscuits out of the oven. He hated when there were no biscuits to go with her stew. “That smells delicious,” he said, walking straight to the basin and washing his hands. He knew his mother would thrash him if he didn’t, and she didn’t seem to care that he was in his thirties.
“You need to find a bride,” his mother said without preamble. “I can’t do everything I could when I was a young wife. It’s time you brought one in, and even if she can’t cook, I’ll train her to be the best wife a man could ask for.”
Cameron sighed dramatically. “You know I don’t have time to court a woman. Someone has to keep this ranch going, and that someone is me.” Cameron had twenty men who worked for him, but he was still in charge, and his finger was in every single piece of the pie that was the Royal River Ranch.
“So, if I find you a bride you don’t have to court, then you’ll marry her?” she asked.
Cameron shrugged. He knew very well that women were in short supply in Montana. “Sure, Ma. Whatever you say.”
Miriam narrowed her eyes at her son. Obviously, he wasn’t agreeing with her, but he had acquiesced and that was good enough for her. She’d contact the mail order bride agency that had sent out one of the young ladies she’d met when she’d visited the church in Cauldron Valley. She’d gotten the address and name of the owner from Bridget, and she was going to write her a letter. She needed the help, and this was the easiest way to find it.
And Cameron had agreed, though she was certain he hadn’t meant to. The man barely listened to her. It seemed to be the way of men to never listen to anything their womenfolk had to say. It didn’t matter to Miriam though. She now had permission to find herself some help and Cameron would have a bride—and that meant grandbabies!
*****
When Cassandra Arnold stepped out of the home where she worked as a nursemaid for the two sons of the wealthiest couple in town, she raised her face to the sky to drink in the sunlight. The Randalls didn’t like their children to be out of doors, and quite frankly, Cassandra didn’t feel alive unless she was outside.
When she’d been a girl, living outside of Beckham, Massachusetts, and going to a country school, she spent most of her time outside, playing in the snow or in the summers, growing her own kitchen garden. Her mother wasn’t fond of digging in the dirt, so Cassandra had done it for her, and it had been the best time of her life.
Having to stay inside all day to take care of the Randall children felt like it was more than just work—it was a punishment, and one that tortured her as well as just making her uncomfortable.
Thankfully, she had Sunday afternoons off after going to church services with the family, and she was going to make the most of it. Perhaps she’d walk out to see her family, but that didn’t appeal as much as it should have. What she really wanted to do was remove her socks and shoes and stand in the dirt. Anything less than that and she wouldn’t feel ready to work again.
As she walked along Rock Creek Road where the Randalls lived, she passed a woman who had been several grades ahead of her in the country school she’d attended out for a walk with her husband and baby. “Hello, Elizabeth!” she said with a smile. She’d always liked Elizabeth, even though her younger siblings had been hellions and had earned themselves the nickname “demon horde.”
Elizabeth Tandy grinned at her. “Cassandra. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve seen you. Aren’t you caring for the Randall children? I would expect to see you outside more!”
Cassandra sighed. “Yes, I am, but they don’t like the children to spend time outside. They think their time should be spent in more studious pursuits. Thankfully, I have the afternoon off, though all I really want to do is take off my socks and shoes and stand in the dirt.” It wasn’t something Cassandra would admit to a lot of people, but she knew Elizabeth would understand.
“I remember you were always getting in trouble at recess because you wouldn’t keep your feet dressed,” Elizabeth said, laughing. “We’re just about home. Come and stand barefoot in our back garden for a bit.”
“Back garden? Are there flowers?”
“Yes, there are flowers, and even a small vegetable garden.”
“I would love that. May I weed them for you? Or plant something new? I’m itching to just play in the dirt!”
Elizabeth laughed. “I’m sure there’s something to do out there.” She led the way into the house and to the parlor where she took the baby out of his pram. “I’ll show you the garden after I get my little one down for a nap.”
“I’ll wait here, if you don’t mind,” Cassandra said.
“That would be good. Give me a minute.” Elizabeth disappeared from the room, and Cassandra looked out the window at the back garden which awaited her. She truly couldn’t wait to dig her hands into the dirt.
When Elizabeth came back, she offered, “Would you like some lemonade? Or some cookies? I’m sure we have some in the kitchen.”
Cassandra shook her head. “No, I just want to dig.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Why aren’t you a western wife? You could dig in the dirt every day and cook with what you grow!”
