A Cheyenne Thanksgiving by Caroline Lee

Author:Caroline Lee [Lee, Caroline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-09-14T05:00:00+00:00

After the afternoon that she agreed to double-check the ranch’s ledgers out of pity, Cam spent almost every evening with Tess in his study. Sometimes Da joined them, but only when he had something he wanted to discuss. The older man preferred the privacy of his room, and that was fine with Cam, who wanted Tess all to himself. He’d hunch over the books at his desk while Tess put Jacob to sleep upstairs, and not really relax until she slipped into the study and took up her mending beside the grand leather chair by the cold hearth. He’d often quit his ponderous calculations then, and prop his boots up on the desk, and ask her about her day.

They’d talk about all sorts of things. He enjoyed hearing about her childhood; it didn’t seem especially happy, but it was interesting to hear about her father’s life and stories. In return, he told her all about his younger years, growing up as part of a huge extended family, surrounded by resilient Highlanders. She seemed just as interested in his stories as he was in hers, and finally realized that she had no experience with a big family, and wanted to know all about it. Other times, he’d explain problems he was having on the ranch, or with the men, and she’d give him advice and opinions. Sometimes she was dead wrong in her approach—especially when it came to cowboy work—but she knew how to handle a business better than he did, and he would listen to her advice with an open mind. More often than not, he’d end up doing what she suggested.

One evening, he was struggling with numbers from his recent sale. Kelley and Sanderson had driven the contracted beef to Fort Laramie, and Colonel Gibbon had paid as arranged. The quartermaster up there knew that Open Skye beef was good meat, and jumped at the chance for more of it. Cam had written a letter to Gibbon with updates about his marriage, and hadn’t been too surprised when Tess had penned three pages to Mrs. Gibbon and her children.

So Sanderson had returned with long letters and a wad of cash, which Cam couldn’t balance out for the life of him. He found himself straining to hear Tess’s light footsteps on the stairs as she returned, knowing everything would be right when she joined him. But when she did, he didn’t let himself be distracted by the soft wave of femininity that followed her into the room. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and tried to figure out why he alternately had fifty-seven less dollars than he’d expected, or four extra head of cattle.

Finally, he dropped the pencil and growled in frustration. Tess put down her mending, or whatever it was she was bent over so industriously. It looked like one of Da’s shirts. “What’s wrong?”

Cam rubbed a hand over his eyes, and then stretched, groaning to feel the way sore muscles pulled across his shoulders. Sighing, he dropped his arms again.

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