An Agent For Lydia (Pinkerton Matchmaker 56) by Caroline Clemmons

Author:Caroline Clemmons [Caroline Clemmons]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-07T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

When they returned to their camp, Lydia helped Jake hobble the animals so they could graze before he put them in their makeshift stall. Glancing at the darkening sky, she made sure all their paraphernalia was inside the tent. While he took the horses to their shelter, she checked the log behind and trench around three sides of their quarters.

She was spitting mad when he came up to her. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say someone had kicked in our nice trench.

“Dadgum, if that doesn’t beat all. I’m going to gather rocks to help channel the water around us.”

“I see our neighbor lady is watching so I’ll just go introduce myself before coming back to help you.”

She sashayed the twenty yards to the next campsite. “Hello, I’m Lily LaBelle”

The woman stood with a hand at her back. She wore a shapeless tan dress. “I’m Nell. Peavey’s my man so I knew who you were.”

“Nice to meet you, Nell. I was wondering if you’ve been here long enough to guess whether we’ll get rain tonight.”

Nell pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear. “I reckon we will. Good thing your man’s making a trench ’cause water washes down that fold in the bluff behind your tent.”

“That’s what he said would happen. We thought there’d be a rainstorm last night but we were wrong. Good thing because something caved in the trench my darlin’ Jack had dug.”

The other woman stared at Jake. “He sure is a nice-looking man.”

Recalling Peavey’s scrawny appearance, Lydia sympathized. “He is, isn’t he? And he is so good to me—never hits me. His name is Gentleman Jack Jackson and he acts like a gentleman to go with his nickname. Soon as he gets the cash he’s planning on, he’s taking me to San Francisco.”

“I reckon we’re stuck here for a while. Peavey goes off some but I stay here when he does. Gets lonesome.”

“You have young ’uns?” Lydia gazed around hoping to see into the small tent.

Nell laid a hand on her abdomen. “Not yet but I’ve got one in the oven that’ll get here in early fall.”

Lydia realized the baggy dress concealed a baby bump. She pitied any poor woman giving birth in this place but she smiled as brightly as she could muster. “Congratulations, Nell. That is wonderful news. You won’t be lonesome then.”

The other woman offered a slight smile. “Well, sometimes it’s good to talk to another woman. Rachel can’t never get away from home and Reagan don’t like me coming there to see her. There’re three other women here but they haven’t been here long enough for me to get acquainted.”

“You’re shy, aren’t you? I swan I’m such a chatterbox that my darlin’ Jack says I talk too much. Any time you want to visit and you see I’m there, just come on over and sit a spell.”

Nell’s face lit with a genuine smile. “If you mean it, I will.”

“Of course I mean it. What are neighbors for anyway?” Thunder rumbled overhead and raindrops splattered her.

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