Free Rebellion in the Valley by Robyn Leatherman Page B

he came in for an old rag to clean his rifle with.
    Richard finished the chuckling and nodded his
head toward the window. “Those two,” he indicated with a tug of his
thumb. “They’re at it again.”
    Hailee raced around the laundry-drying line,
threatening to toss her handmade wicker basket at Tobias, who was
threatening in equal measure to yank her wet dress off the
line.
    Of course, he never would have done such a
thing to Hailee, and she knew that. Once she allowed him to catch
her, she let out a squeal for his reward.
    “C’mon,” Tobias told her over the top of her
thick blonde curls. “I’ll help you finish this up.”
    Bruce watched the pair work together, tugging
on Hailee’s dress as they straightened all the ruffles and gathers
so it would dry tight. She did like her ruffles tight, he grinned
before the words that Gus told him came full circle back into his
mind.
    Could Tobias really be sweet on his
Hailee?
    Before wrapping his mind around that question
much more, the dust trail of hooves caught his sight just over the
other side of the hill and diverted Bruce’s attention; it was
Duffy, he finally figured out.
    Bruce motioned for Richard to come closer.
“Get some oil lamps out, just in case we hit a snag on fixing your
water pump. I want it done by the time anyone hits the pillow
tonight,” Bruce assured his old friend with a hearty pat on the
back.
    Disguising the way he felt about how long
Duffy had been gone, Bruce made his way outside, waved at the man
on horseback and smiled.
     

Chapter 8
     
    H er
father’s favorite wing back chair cradled her lower back and eased
the tension she felt at the base of her neck. Even after a bath in
the creek, the general disgruntled atmosphere around the ranch
caused everyone to be on higher than usual alert. What was wrong
with Duffy these days, anyhow?
    With eyes fixed straight ahead into the
fireplace, Hailee’s intention had been to focus on the new book she
bought in Canon City, but found no concentration for anything
except the man who stood outside. The man she found herself staring
at through the window. The man leaning up against the loaded down
wagon and discussing the best route to take in the morning.
    The man who found himself glancing back
inside the window at the pretty blonde sitting in front of the
fireplace…the girl with the glow of soft flames against her
face…the girl he would rather be talking with right now, than a
bunch of foul-smelling men who best be bathing tonight before they
all head out together in the early morning hours.
    Hailee slid a lavender-scented bookmark into
the book, flipped the cover and set it down on the round table on
top of the snow-white doily her grandmother had tatted a lifetime
ago, then lifted herself from the chair and made her way to large
picture window overlooking the majority of the ranch.
    Her eyes fell right into focus on the group
of men as they ironed out the last details for their departure, and
she wondered what Tobias found so comical as he flashed his teeth a
couple of times in response to what she assumed was men-talk; he
held out a hand and motioned toward Puma Canyon before the crowd of
ranch hands shook hands and dispersed, each one moving toward his
respective bunk house.
    The girl allowed her eyes to narrow as she
watched Tobias linger at the wagon and tend to tightening down one
of the ropes. As the last man fell into shadows, Hailee saw Tobias
shove a hand into his leather coat pocket and pull out a piece of
paper that he unfolded, read, and placed inside an envelope.
Glancing over his shoulder, Tobias made his way to the front porch
and her pulse quickened; would he come inside the house so late at
night?
    When he paused at the porch railing and
slipped the envelope under a flower pot before turning and
whistling all the way back to his bunk house, she tilted her head
out of curiosity. He was grinning ear to ear.
    She had only been inside his bunkhouse one
time. Her father explained