“General,” Emerson began.
“Don’t General me.” The man stood up, wavered a moment, grabbed the back of his chair to steady himself and found his cane. “I’ve had enough of this insubordination.” He hobbled out of the kitchen. “Bring me my lunch,” he hollered over his shoulder.
Emerson hurried to do just that, but as soon as he settled the General in his office with his sandwich, he returned to the kitchen table, interrupting the discussion that had broken out in his absence. “I didn’t ask for a share, and I would never take it if I felt I wasn’t wanted,” he announced to the room at large. He needed them to know this wasn’t his doing.
“Look, that’s not it,” Jack told him. “We’d be glad to have you.”
“We need to sort things out with the General, though,” Cass said. “And if Wyoming marries you, it has to be because she wants to, not because I want her to stay here.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, you know darn well if the General has sent her a husband, it’s pointless to fight against it,” Sadie joked, taking a bite of her sandwich.
“The lass is right,” Connor said in his overdone Irish accent. “Orders are orders.”
Logan chuckled. Alice smiled. Emerson relaxed a little, but he wished the General had discussed his plans with his daughters and their husbands rather than throwing it in their faces as a done deal. Didn’t he realize they’d resent that?
“When do you figure you’ll marry Wyoming?” Brian adopted a lighthearted manner, but Emerson didn’t think it represented his true state of mind.
“July Fourth. Or New Year’s Eve. That’s when the standing stone said we’d get hitched.” Emerson snagged a couple of pieces of bread from a platter in the middle of the table, bracing for the attack he knew would come. He reached for the mayonnaise and mustard next, and Sadie handed him another platter stacked with leftover turkey, even as she exchanged surprised looks with her sisters.
“The stone said you’d get married?” Cass asked slowly. “Wyoming never mentioned anything about that.”
“She was probably waiting to see if I changed my mind overnight.” He bit back a smile at Cass’s instant outrage. Brian caught his eye and shook his head, but a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He must not be too pissed off about sharing the ranch, then, if he could still summon a sense of humor, Emerson thought.
“If you changed your mind?” Cass asked. “Somehow I doubt that’s going to be the problem.”
“You’re right. I won’t change my mind, but we’ve still got plenty of other problems to solve. Wyoming and I do need a place to live when we marry. Like I said to the General, if we don’t live here, I’ll find another home, so you don’t need to worry about that. I’m not chasing her to get a piece of your ranch. That’s not who I am.” He would miss Two Willows if he had to leave it, though. Miss all of this, too—the constant bustle of a large family. The friendly kidding around and bickering.
“If you did stay, where would you settle?” Jo asked curiously. “I suppose you could build a house in the springtime, like Hunter and I are.” She and Hunter currently lived in a temporary tiny house they’d built together, but they planned to build a bigger one when the weather warmed up.
“I had an idea about that,” Emerson admitted. “All those trailers at the Park are sitting empty. I could renovate one of those. Be out of everyone’s way.”
Cass’s frown deepened. “Wyoming won’t want to live in a trailer.”
“Wyoming is pretty practical,” Lena pointed out. “She might not mind as much as you think. If they have to share the ranch with us, it would be a workable solution.”
“I would fix it up,” Emerson assured them. “I could switch out the siding, even. Make it look like a little cabin rather than a trailer. I don’t like seeing things go to waste. I could fix up the rest of them, too. Help rent them out, if no one objected. The rental income would be my contribution to the family income, although I’d do what I could to help out in other ways, too.”
No one told him to get lost, but no one hurried to assure him they’d like to share Two Willows with him and Wyoming—not even Cass.
Emerson sat down and ate his sandwich in silence.
It would be hell living here if the others didn’t want him.
When six o’clock passed and there was still no sign of Ward, Wyoming lost what little remained of her patience. He’d promised he’d be back by four thirty, and she’d told Cass she’d be home in time to help with dinner. It was driving her crazy the Reeds wouldn’t accept any rent money from her. She needed to pay her way with chores, at the very least, or she’d feel like she was abusing Cass’s friendship.
Worry about Mindy ate at her, too, although she didn’t want to admit it. At first, she’d assumed her sister-in-law had run off to have a little fun, but she still hadn’t returned, and Wye was afraid something had happened to her on the road yesterday. What if her car had broken down and she’d taken a ride from a stranger who turned out to be dangerous? What if she’d been in an accident? Wyoming kept telling herself someone would have called them if that was the case, but what other explanation was there for her prolonged absence?
When Ward called her this morning to ask her to babysit, she’d been happy to spend the day with Elise, but she didn’t understand why he hadn’t taken the day off to search for his wife—or at least the afternoon. He’d claimed he couldn’t afford it. “If she’s off gallivanting around, she can find her own way home,” was all he’d said before he left this morning, walking to work since Mindy still had the car.
Wyoming had spent the day putting her brother’s house in order. There had been a sink full of dirty dishes in the kitchen. Four or five loads of laundry to do and no clean rompers for the baby. While Elise was napping, she mopped the kitchen floor and swept all the hardwood floors. Mindy still didn’t come home.
With nothing in the cupboard to make for dinner, Wyoming bundled Elise in her car seat, drove to the grocery store and stocked up on all the basics that were lacking back at Ward’s house. Upon her return, she whipped up a stir-fry.
That was two hours ago. By the time Ward arrived home at half past six, Wyoming was furious.
She met him at the front door, Elise in her arms. “Your dinner is in the refrigerator. Just heat it up in the microwave. Elise is fed. I’ve got to go; I’m late.” She tried to hand him the baby, but Ward held up his hands to fend her off.
“Are you serious? I just got home. Can’t you give me one minute to relax before you shove that baby in my arms?”
Wyoming reared back. “You’ve got to be the one who’s kidding! I’ve been on my feet since I got here. I cleaned your whole house. I shopped, watched your daughter and made your dinner. And now I’m late for the dinner Cass made for me. By the way, you owe me $130 for groceries.”
“I don’t have that kind of cash on me. This week is going to be tight. I had to rent a car today.” Ward reluctantly took Elise when Wyoming held her out again and sighed. “Get here at seven thirty tomorrow morning, so I can be to work on time.”