The Cheyenne Mail Order Bride Romanced by the Ranch by Iris Kelly

Author:Iris Kelly [Kelly, Iris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-01-14T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER ELEVEN

The next couple of weeks were crammed with fruitful activity for Lydia. Barbed wire was purchased for her little farm area, and then the fence needed to go up. There was little enthusiasm or support for the project among her workers. Lydia was adding heavily to their duties for something that no other rancher was fool enough to insist on. To quell the rumblings, Lydia decided to hire four extra pairs of hands for the project—at least right through the first planting. Now that the spring round-up and branding were out of the way, there were quite a few men in town looking for work. Lydia enlisted Mr. Cooper’s assistance to supply three temporary workers who he often used seasonally. The fourth she could take care of by herself.

*****

Even though Lydia was now fully installed in her new home, she still had occasion to go into town almost every day, which almost always prompted a quick visit over to Miss Mabel’s. This time, Lydia went there to pay Ajax a call.

“Have you found a job yet?” Lydia asked

“No, ma’am, I have not.”

“Well, I have a very temporary situation to offer you, one that will only last a few weeks, but at least it will give you a bit of cash for that time. You can stay in our bunkhouse; three other men are also being hired short-term.”

Miss Mabel had been listening at the parlor entrance. “So I can finally rent your room out to some payin’ customer.”

“Aunt Mabel. You ain’t gonna give away my room is ya?”

“Hmmph. ’Bout time. Keep him as long as you like, Mrs. Maxwell.” She left for the kitchen.

“And Ajax. I’m wondering if you could do a little favor for me. Don’t let the men know that you have any special acquaintance of me. I’m pretty sure no one was close enough to take notice of you earlier when you dropped me off. And then could you let me know . . . now I’m not asking you to be a spy or anything, but could you let me know what the men are saying about me? It would help me, I think, to become a better boss.”

“Oh, now the job just got real interestin’. Spy is my middle name. You just leave it to me. I’ve been keepin’ an ear to the ground and pullin’ information out of fellas for a long time. Don’t you worry. I’ll show up tomorrow and say how I heard there was some hirin’ goin’ on. And we’ll only talk together back here, real sneaky like. Hooo! This gonna be fun!”

Lydia could only laugh. She had never anticipated such enthusiasm. And it was going to be nice to have a friendly face among the workers, even if she could only see it from a distance.

*****

Willie brought little Susie over to Giles’s for her first piano lesson. Lydia treated them all to a little concert, which at Giles’s insistence, included Beethoven’s Fifth. She hoped to inspire the little girl with music glorious enough to endure the drudgery of practicing scales and learning notes.

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