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He smiled and took a sip from the mug he was holding before setting it in the sink and turning back to face her. “You being better at wrangling has nothing to do with it.”
“Is it because I’m a girl?”
His smile widened. “Yes, but not for the reason you’re thinking.” He walked to the table and pulled out a chair and sat. “Sit down, Alex, before your fingernails leave permanent marks in that chair.”
Alex sat as instructed. She blew out a frustrated breath and shook her head. “Give me one good reason, pa, and don’t use the whole ‘you’re a girl’ excuse. You know as well as I do that has nothing to do with my ability to herd cattle. I’ve been doing that with horses my whole life.”
Holden leaned forward and propped his elbows on the table. “First, you being a girl has everything to do with it.” When she went to speak, he raised an eyebrow, the look in his eyes telling her not to say a word. “I just mean that I don’t want you around a bunch of cowboys I barely know. Half the men who signed up for this are complete strangers, Alex. I don’t know them and I don’t trust them around my only daughter. Especially one who happens to be the prettiest girl in all of Willow Creek.”
She brushed the praise aside and leaned closer. “Pa, I can handle myself with some dumb cowpoke, you know that.”
“Yes and for the men’s safety, I’m not letting you go.” He laughed, the humor of his jest shining in his eyes, although deep down she knew he meant it. She could handle herself in any situation. She always had.
“Pa—“
“Have you forgotten about school? It starts in less than a month. It’ll take longer than that for us to even get to Kansas and another month to get back. You can’t just up and leave your job. We worked too hard to get it for you.”
The school house in town flashed in her mind’s eye the instant he mentioned it. The building was twice the size it had been when she attended. It doubled as a church when the occasion called for it and the men in town made sure everything looked as if it had just been placed there. The desks had been sanded and stained again not long ago, along with the teacher’s desk—her desk. It still shined, the wood pristine without a blemish anywhere.
Her shoulders slumped. Guilt chased away what little joy she felt at the prospect of joining the cattle drive. Her father was right. He’d worked hard to get her the job as school teacher even though she was sure to Edna, it was penance since she was the one who burned the old school down.
She sighed and looked her father in the eye. “I know you and Laurel wanted me to teach, pa, but it’s not what I want. Not really. I only went along with it because of what I did.”
“I know that but you accepted the job, Alex, and you need to do the best at it that you can.”
“And I have been but surely I’ve paid that debt off by now.”
“Probably but it takes a long time to convince someone to move way out here to teach. You’ve saved them a lot of headache by keeping that job.” He stood, placed a kiss on the top of her head and straightened. “I love you, Alex, I always will. I’ve spoiled you every day of your life and you’re as willful as anyone I know but I’m not going to budge on this. You can’t go and that’s final.”
He left without another word. Alex slumped back in her chair, his words running on repeat through her head. She hated the fact he was right about most of what he said. She did have a responsibility to the people of Willow Creek. She took the teaching job to atone for what she’d done. She just hadn’t thought she’d hate doing it so much.
It wasn’t even the job really. It was the fact it took her away from what she really loved and that was ranching. She didn’t want to pretend to be someone she wasn’t. Someone who wore dresses in public to keep the townsfolk from looking down their noses at her. Someone who smiled and pretended to enjoy what she did for a living because it was expected of her. Someone who did what others thought she should just to keep from having to argue about it. She was twenty-three years old and stuck in a life she didn’t want.
She scrubbed at her face in frustration and stood. She needed time to think. Time to figure out a way to convince him to let her have the life she wanted.
Heading back to the barn, she saddled her horse and climbed into the saddle. The split riding skirt she crafted over the past two nights caught on the pommel. She untangled the material, adjusted the fabric so her legs weren’t showing and took off across the prairie. If she wanted to take her life back and live it the way she saw fit, then her plan needed a solution her father would have a hard time refusing.
Jesse stoodon the sidewalk outside the mercantile and looked at the variety of businesses that had popped up in his absence. The livery stable was still there although it had grown in size. Not only did Percy rent out horses, but he now had an assortment of carriages and buggies.
The telegraph office was busy as usual, a new dress shop had opened and a blacksmith’s hammer beat out a steady drum that echoed through the streets.
Scratching at the stubble on his chin he hadn’t bothered to shave off that morning, he contemplated his options. Although he knew Rafe and Grace would never throw him out he couldn’t live there and not contribute something. The cattle had been sold to the Avery’s so there wasn’t a lot to do other than work the vegetable garden.
The most obvious choice was to talk to Holden and see if he needed another ranch hand but Alex’s reaction to seeing him again didn’t make that option the first choice. She’d need time to warm up to him and being at her family’s home every day wasn’t the way to do that so he needed some other means of support. He’d go to Holden as a last resort.
A talk with Mrs. Jenkins in the mercantile proved pointless so he worked his way around town, passing by the dress shop. He knew nothing about ladies fashions and couldn’t imagine any sort of job they’d have for him anyway.
When Percy gave him an apologetic shake of his head, Jesse thanked him and headed back to the sidewalk. The blacksmith’s shop and the saloon were the last on his list. He didn’t know who the blacksmith was and working in the saloon would have Grace in fits but he was left with little options.
He stepped into the covered shelter of the blacksmith’s shop just as Aaron grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back out into the sun.
“Are you avoiding us?”
Ben grinned at him from where he leaned against the side of the building. “I think he is. You scared of those ladies Vern has in the saloon?”
Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Calling them ladies is a stretch, don’t ya think?”
“Depends on how long its been since you’ve been without one.”
