Free Linda Ford by The Cowboy's Convenient Proposal Page B

open it all the way.” Seeing Belle couldn’t bring herself to face what lay outside the four walls, Red crossed to her side. She planted a log on the ground, holding the door open enough to let in the air but not enough for them to see across the road.
    As she straightened, sunlight smacked into the mountains. She stared. Dark folds contrasted with shadowy blue. A thousand unfettered thoughts swirled inside her head. Verses her mama had quoted often. We will not fear though the mountains shake. Emotions she didn’t want to own bubbled to the surface. Hope, joy, longing for things she would not acknowledge.
    She was Red. She had danced half-naked before men. She’d been touched in ways that made her cringe. Guilt and loathing quenched all other feelings.
    “I like the mountains,” Belle said with utmost conviction. “What did he say they made him think about? God is like the mountains?”
    “Something like that.” She would not repeat the exact phrase: As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people.
    “I thought you were hungry.”
    “I am.”
    “Then let’s get the griddle cakes made.”
    An hour later they had washed up the dishes and cleaned the little cabin. Belle avoided the window, but sat cross-legged on the floor where she could see out the ajar door.
    Red glanced out the window once, saw cowboys streaming from the cookhouse and jerked out of sight. But the open air beckoned. “Let’s go out back.” No one could see them behind the cabin.
    Belle jerked to her feet and hurried to the table. “There’s too many people out there.”
    Too many men, she likely meant. “I’ll make sure it’s safe.” She edged toward the window and studied the surroundings. Not a man in sight. “Nobody out there. Let’s go.”
    They dashed outside and around the cabin. The shovel stood against the corner and Red took it with them. She hadn’t forgotten her promise to use it on any man who threatened them.
    They sat on the benches around the cold fire pit, listening to the sound of birds and squirrels noisily going about their morning activities. Red lifted her face to the sun. “It’s very peaceful.”
    Suddenly birds erupted from the trees in a great burst of noise. Sounds of horse hooves thundered through the air.
    Belle bolted for the cabin. “Men coming,” she wailed.
    Red’s initial alarm gave way to reason. “Belle, it’s only the cowboys riding out to work.” This was a ranch, after all. She followed on Belle’s heels into the cabin. “They aren’t interested in us.” But she spoke to an empty room. “Belle?”
    * * *
    He slowed his horse and waved goodbye to Roper and the others. He’d already spoken to Eddie. “I’m asking for light duties around the ranch for a few days until they’re settled.”
    Eddie had readily agreed.
    Ward saw Red and Belle race to the cabin. What had frightened them? The door slammed behind Red. Ward studied the area around the cabin. Tipped his head and listened intently. He heard nothing to alarm him. Saw no wild animals prowling nearby. Yet something had sent them fleeing for safety.
    Then it hit him. They’d heard him approach and run from him. “Horse, I’m not the enemy here.” Yet over and over, he felt like it. If he had a lick of sense he would turn around and head out to the hills with the rest of the cowboys.
    But he flicked the reins and continued toward the big house.
    He asked Linette for some things the pair could wear.
    “Goodness, what an ordeal they’ve endured. They must be frightened.” She waved him inside and instructed him to wait while she found suitable clothing. “I have the things the Arnesons can no longer use.” A couple had come to the ranch in the spring, ill and too weak to care for themselves. Linette had nursed them as they grew steadily weaker. When they passed away, Eddie had buried them in a nearby plot. They had earlier lost a child and still had her clothes. She quickly found items for