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She took longer than needed to bathe, just to avoid facing her father, but eventually dressed and braided her wet hair and sucked in a steadying breath before walking back into the kitchen. Her grandfather sitting at the table was the highlight of her week. “Hey, Grandpa.”
It took him a moment of looking at her to recognize who she was. He was getting on in age and his health was failing but he still knew her. He always did.
“Where’s that little girl I’ve been missing?” His voice sounded shaky and soft. His hair was still a wild mass of white strands about his head. The smile on his face widened when she sat down beside of him. “It’s been too quiet with you gone.”
Alex laughed. “With Holt and Landon running around? I find that hard to believe.”
He nodded and reached out for her hand. “They make their share of noise but it’s not the same as when you were growing up. I’ve missed you, girl.”
“I miss you too, grandpa.” They talked until he grew tired, then she helped him back to his room. Her father would come looking for her if she stalled too long and putting this little talk off didn’t make facing him any easier a task. Pulling her grandfather’s door shut, she sighed heavily and went in search of her pa.
She found him in the barn, working as if he didn’t have a ranch full of hired hands to do all the dirty work. He was mucking out stalls, sweat darkening the back of his shirt. He was still the same strong man she’d always known, even though his hair was starting to gray and small lines were appearing on his face.
Alex glanced around the barn, inhaling the scent of fresh hay and horseflesh. She’d missed this. Nothing she’d seen in Missoula gave her as much pleasure as this ranch did.
Holden spotted her and put the pitchfork aside, then removed his gloves. She sucked in a breath and waited for the yelling to start. He surprised her by smiling instead.
“You’re never going to mind me, are you?” He crossed the barn and grabbed her, pulled her into a hug so tight she found it hard to breathe. When he let her go, the smile was gone. “If I knew you wouldn’t fight me like a wild cat, I’d take you out behind the woodshed and blister your hide.”
She snorted a laugh. “I’m twenty-three. I’m a little old for spankings, don’t you think?”
“No. You’re my daughter. You’ll never be too old.” The corner of his mouth twitched and she could tell he was fighting hard not to smile. His amusement didn’t last long, though. He straightened to his full height and gave her that disapproving look she’d tried her entire life not to bring to his face. The last time she’d seen it was the night the school burned down.
“I just needed to get away for a spell, pa. That’s all.” She fidgeted. The speech she’d rehearsed was only a vague whisper in her mind now. What was it she’d wanted to say to him?
“You couldn’t do that with someone else going along?”
She met his gaze and tried to steel her nerves. “Yes, but I didn’t want company. Have you not ever just wanted to get away for a bit without having to worry about anyone but yourself?”
“Yes, but I have a family, so every decision I make includes them.”
Alex opened her mouth to bring up the real reason she’d gone to Missoula but the words stuck in her throat. The moment she spoke it aloud, everything would be different.
“You traveled half way across the territory alone, Alex. Anything could have happened to you.” The mishap with the stranger in Missoula came to mind. If it hadn’t been for the Derringer she kept tucked into her boot, it was hard telling what would have become of her. She didn’t mention it to her father and never would. It would only prove his point.
He sighed long and loud, then shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what I say, does it? You’re never going to mind me, are you?”
She grinned. “When I can.”
He laughed and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead. “Well, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Her gut clenched instantly. The reason she’d traveled to Missoula alone, and came to the ranch instead of going to her little room behind the school, had been such a good idea when she’d planned it, but now that she had to explain herself to her father, it seemed impossible.
Maybe now wasn’t the time. He was already upset she snuck off by herself. He’d probably tell her, no, just to teach her a lesson.
She smiled and shook her head. This discussion would be better left until another day. He needed time to forgive her for running off first. “What I wanted to talk to you about can wait. To be honest, I’m tired and after having to walk to town, hide from Edna, and my run-in with Jesse, all I want to do is go home and crawl into bed.”
“Walk to town?”
She shook her head and waved her hand, dismissing the concern suddenly in his eyes. “Stagecoach threw a wheel. Nothing serious but we had to walk the last mile or so back into town.”
“And the state of your dress when you got here?”
Alex rolled her eyes. “Jesse came barreling out of the saloon and knocked me off the sidewalk and into a pile of manure.”
His lips twitched.
“Don’t you dare laugh,” she said, her voice raising moments before he started doing just that. She grinned as he laughed and crossed her arms under her breasts. When he quieted down, she narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re not even going to be mad that he ruined a perfectly good dress that you paid for?”
