Mitch's Win (Montana Collection, Book 1) Read online

  Gerty smiled and pulled the thread through the shirt she was mending. “They feel good. I think it’s that tea you made.”

  “I’m glad it works. My mother swore by it.”

  “Smart woman.”

  Heather turned her attention to Leroy and Hannah who were fighting over a toy train. “Can I take them outside? It’s a lovely day, and they might enjoy getting a chance to run around for a while.”

  “My dear, you can do whatever you want. You’re their aunt.”

  Heather thought to ask about their mother. Surely, the children would know about their mother when they grew older, wouldn’t they? She understood why they wouldn’t at such a young age, but when they were older, they would ask questions and she’d like to be able to answer them.

  Leroy ran over to her. “Can we go outside?”

  Hannah looked expectantly at her, the same hopeful expression on her face.

  “Sure.” Heather stood up. “Gerty, would you like to come?”

  Gerty shook her head. “No. I don’t walk as well as I used to. It’s good you’re here. I have trouble keeping up with them outside, so I stay in here and they get restless.”

  Heather grabbed a bonnet from the hook by the door. “Then you should rest and enjoy the silence.” Considering the children had a tendency to fight when bored, it was good that Gerty got a break from it. “Come on, Leroy and Hannah.”

  After she helped them with their shoes, she led them out the front door and down the porch steps. The mid-morning sun warmed up the air nicely. She took a deep breath of fresh air. Granted, she could smell the cattle on the land, but it didn’t bother her. She didn’t care because this was Mitch’s home and she was now a part of it.

  Turning to the children, she asked, “Would you like to walk around and see what we can find?”

  “Uncle!” Leroy motioned to Mitch who was leaving the barn.

  Heather’s heartbeat picked up at the sight of him. “Let’s go over there.”

  Leroy was already running toward him, so her words were lost to him. Hannah, however, held out her hand to Heather who took it and led her over to him.

  When they reached him, Mitch said, “Do you want to go into town today? We can stop by the mercantile and pick up supplies you need. You know, for your dresses and whatnot.”

  “Are you sure?” Heather asked. “I don’t want to inconvenience you.”

  “Clark’s here today to help with the ranch.”

  “I’d like to get some materials to make more clothes.”

  “We’ll get to it then.” Looking at the children, he added, “I suppose while we’re at the mercantile, we could pick up some candy if you behave.”

  “We’ll be good!” Leroy promised and bolted for the barn.

  “Leroy!” Mitch called out.

  The boy stopped and spun around.

  “Stay out here and I’ll get the wagon.” He glanced at Heather. “We’ll pick up things for you and Ma to cook while we’re at it. It’s going to be a long day.”

  “I don’t mind,” she assured him.

  “Alright. Well, I’ll be back.”

  She nodded as Mitch motioned for Leroy to return to her side. Leroy hurried back to her and waited as Mitch disappeared in the barn. “You enjoy going to town?” she asked the children.

  “We sure do,” Leroy spoke up. “He gives us candy.”

  “Well, that’s awfully nice of him.”

  “Do you love him?”

  Heather’s cheeks grew warm despite the cool breeze that ruffled her dress. “I haven’t known him for long,” she hesitantly began. Good grief, but how was she supposed to answer such a complicated question to a three year old? “I’m…well…I’m very fond of him.”

  “Fond?”

  “I like him,” she clarified. “He’s a good man, the kind of man who can be depended on to do the right thing. In time, I have no doubt that my feelings will run deeper.”

  “To love?” he asked.

  She nodded. “To love.”

  Some neighing brought her attention to the barn. Mitch guided two horses and the wagon in their direction. Glad she didn’t have to answer any more questions from a strangely perceptive young boy, she kept the children beside her until Mitch stopped the wagon. He hopped out and helped the three of them into it, and since Leroy and Hannah wanted to sit in the back, she got to sit in the seat with him. She looked over her shoulder and saw the children peer out over the edge of the wagon as Mitch urged the horses forward.

  “Please sit down,” she called out to them over their giggles.

  “Oh, they’re fine,” Mitch assured her. “They know they can’t stand up. They just get on their knees and look at the land.”

  She turned to face him. “They do that often?”

  “Every time I take them to town.”

  “Have you been taking them yourself?”

  “The ride to town is too hard for Ma,” he replied. “Most of the time, they stay with her, but from time to time, I like to give them a chance to see more than the ranch. Mrs. Higgins usually watches them while I gather supplies.”

  She glanced at them, assured that they were still in the wagon. Leroy pointed to a rabbit and called out to it. For a moment, she thought he was going to try to hop off the wagon and chase it because he stood up. But he settled back on his knees, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

  Chuckling, Mitch wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “They’ll be fine.”

  With a roll of her eyes, she giggled. “Maybe, but I can’t help but worry they’ll do something foolish. They’re just children, after all.” She bit her lower lip, wondering if that was somehow out of line for her to say. She had no experience with children and he did. Heather decided she wouldn’t bother Mitch about her fears anymore. Even if the way Hannah rocked back and forth on her heels made her inwardly cringe since the girl was too close to the edge of the wagon, she kept her mouth shut.

  As it turned out, the children were fine. Each time Heather thought for sure they’d end up falling off the wagon, they settled back down to where they were supposed to be. She was very relieved when the children were still safely in it by the time Mitch stopped it in front of the mercantile.

  “Do you want me to take them to the preacher’s house?” Mitch asked her as he set the brake.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. What do you think is best?”

  “Well, we have a lot to do while we’re here.” He turned his attention to them and called out, “You want to see Mrs. Higgins?”

  Leroy’s eyes lit up. “Mrs. Heggems!” Next to him, Hannah jumped up and down.

  Grinning, Mitch directed his gaze back to her. “I believe they decided that one for us. Though,” he glanced at Leroy, “it’s Mrs. Higgins, not Mrs. Heggems.”

  The boy sighed. “I can’t say it.” He turned his wide eyes to Heather. “I’m three. Not four.”

  “Right. When you’re four, you’ll be able to say her name perfectly.” Mitch looked at Heather and winked at her.

  She chuckled as he got out of the wagon. Leaning toward the children, she said, “Your uncle didn’t pronounce everything right when he was little, so you don’t mind him.”

  Mitch came around to her side of the wagon and arched an eyebrow. “What mischief are you up to?” he asked, glancing from her to Leroy.

  With an innocent smile, she sweetly replied, “We’re just patiently waiting for you to help us down.”

  “You say words wrong,” Leroy told him.

  “I did?” Mitch asked.

  “Yes. When you were little,” he clarified.

  She shook her head. “Snitch,” she told Leroy.

  Mitch held his hands out to her. “The first thing you should learn about children is that they repeat everything they hear.”

  “Oh sure. Now you tell me.” Though she rolled her eyes, her smile betrayed her humor. After Mitch helped her down, she noted the slight squeeze he gave her waist and blushed. Noticing that Leroy and H
annah were holding their arms out to him, she cleared her throat and motioned to them. “I think they’re ready for you.”

  The boy jumped into his arms and the girl followed suit. It was nice to know her initial impression of Mitch had been so accurate. He was a wonderful man, and seeing how he’d taken to the children, as if they were his own, warmed her heart even more.

  Together, they walked to the preacher’s house, and as they did, Heather couldn’t help but think of how complete they seemed as a family. Undoubtedly, there’d be other children. She hoped the children she and Mitch would have would be close in age to Leroy and Hannah. Growing up, she mostly played alone. Back then, she’d wished that she’d been born when her brother was younger. Having gotten to know him enough to find out the type of man he turned out to be, she decided she was better off alone. But Leroy and Hannah were sweet children, and she thought as she and Mitch had children, it would be a happy family.

  When they reached Preacher Higgins’ house, his wife was sitting on a rocking chair on the front porch. She glanced up from her sewing and smiled. “Why, Mitch and Heather, it sure is nice to see you again. I take it Leroy and Hannah are here for my gingerbread cookies?”

  Leroy let go of Mitch’s hand and raced up the porch steps. Hannah followed him, but toddled more than ran up the steps. Heather thought it was cute. The little girl tried so hard to keep up with her brother, but he was much faster.

  “Yes! Cookies!” Leroy told Mrs. Higgins as he hugged her.

  Mitch climbed up the steps with Heather. “Leroy, I don’t think you’re excited enough about those cookies,” he joked.

  Mrs. Higgins chuckled and embraced the boy and girl. “Let me guess. You two asked for my famous cookies, so your poor parents had to take you to town. Am I right?” With a twinkle in her eye, she glanced up at Heather. “Children often come here for my cookies.”

  “For good reason, too,” Mitch added, turning his gaze in Heather’s direction. “Mrs. Higgins keeps winning the bake-offs. Her cookies are the talk of the town.”

  “I wouldn’t say town, exactly,” she argued.

  “Oh, sorry. I meant county.”

  She shook her head, her lips turned up in pleasure at his compliment, and let go of the children so she could straighten up. Looking at the children, she said, “Your uncle knows what to say to make sure he gets an extra cookie or two tucked away in the tin can I’ll give him, doesn’t he? Well, why don’t you go in the parlor? I have a couple of toys you can play with.”

  Without hesitation, the children bolted into the house.

  Mrs. Higgins went over to Heather and hugged her. “How are things going with Leroy and Hannah, my dear?”

  “They’re fine,” Heather said, surprised the woman asked the question.

  “You know, when I married the preacher, he had three children. His wife had passed on to be with the Lord, and though I agreed to come out as a mail-order bride to be a mother to them, I’d never been so scared in my life.”

  Oh, now Heather understood. “It helps that Mitch’s ma is teaching me what to do.”

  She patted Heather’s hand and nodded. “Gerty is a good soul, bless her heart. When I first came here, she made me feel welcome. I remember when Mitch and Boaz were still clinging to her skirts.” She sighed and clasped her hands together at her waist. “How the years flew by.” Inside the house, the children giggled, so she opened the storm door. “I better make sure they aren’t getting into something they shouldn’t. When children sound that happy, they might be up to mischief. I remember one time when Mitch and Boaz were laughing, and it turned out they had brought a snake into their ma’s house and the thing was slithering through her clean laundry.”

  “Oh no!” Heather cringed, wondering if Leroy and Hannah would ever think to do something like that to her.

  “I’m afraid so, Heather,” Mitch commented with a wry grin. “I suppose your perfect image of me is now ruined.”

  Mrs. Higgins chuckled as she slipped into the house.

  Mitch took Heather by the arm and led her back down the porch. “She’s good with all children. Believe it or not, Leroy and Hannah will be crying when we take them home because they won’t want to leave.”

  “I believe it,” she told him as they walked down the steps. Once they reached the boardwalk leading to the businesses in town, she asked, “So you and your brother came to see Mrs. Higgins when you were children?”

  “Yes, and we enjoyed visiting her as much as Leroy and Hannah do. Mrs. Higgins was always good with children, and as a child, I often felt like she was the only adult who took the time to listen to me. Usually, adults are busy, but she’d sit with me and Boaz and let us tell her everything that was on our minds.”

  “Were you and Boaz close while growing up?” she ventured, wishing to know more about his brother.

  “Yes, we were.”

  She glanced his way in an effort to gauge his feelings about his brother. He didn’t look at her but kept his gaze forward, focused on the road they were traveling. She debated the wisdom of pressing him further, but he cleared his throat and continued to speak.

  “Boaz was there at the saloon. The one who was betting his horse,” he clarified. “You remember him?”

  She nodded.

  “And I told you his wife died while giving birth to Hannah.”

  “Yes, I remember that, too.”

  His steps slowed, so she slowed down to match his pace. With a sigh, he proceeded, “Her name was Hannah. He named the little girl after her because he wanted to honor her memory. Anyway, he and I were close until she came along. You see, we both wanted to marry her, and well…” He shrugged. “You know she chose him.”

  She studied his expression, trying to detect any lingering feelings he might have for Hannah, but she didn’t pick up on anything. Relieved, since she didn’t like the idea of him harboring feelings for another woman, she encouraged him to continue.

  “There’s not much else to say except that we weren’t close after that. We didn’t fight or anything, but it was awkward to be around them for a while, so I kept to myself unless we had to be at the same place at the same time. It didn’t happen often, and when it did, we kept it polite. Then after Leroy was born, I saw how happy Boaz and Hannah were and realized she was better off with him. He didn’t care much for ranching. He got a job helping Zack with his horses, and he decided to live in town. Hannah preferred that kind of life. She wouldn’t have liked living on the ranch.”

  After a moment of silence, she asked, “Was it hard to take Leroy and Hannah in after she died?”

  “It was only hard because Boaz had given up on his children. When Hannah died, a part of him went with her. He couldn’t seem to do much of anything except drink moonshine.”

  “That’s horrible,” she softly replied. Even if the situation was tragic, she was awed by Boaz’s love for his wife.

  “It was. Still is. But a man can’t keep living in the past. There comes a time when he has to accept life as it is and make the best of it.”

  “Like you did with Hannah when she married Boaz?”

  He stopped walking and turned to her. Curious, she halted her steps and looked at him.

  “My life is better off with things as they are,” Mitch spoke in a voice so low she had to strain to hear him. “Marrying you has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. What’s ironic is that it happened when I gave up on thinking I’d ever get married.”

  Pleased, she smiled at him. “I’m glad you were there that night at the saloon. Not that I enjoyed being there, but if I had to do it again to meet you, I would in a heartbeat.”

  He returned her smile. “I would, too.”

  Content, they turned back to their walk, each lost in their own thoughts.

  Chapter Nine

  “What do you think of this color, Mitch?” Heather asked after she walked over to Mitch. She lifted the green fabric so he could see it.

  He glanced up from a pair of work gloves he was ho
lding and grinned. “I like it.”

  Pleased, she brought it up to her face and examined her reflection in the window. Now that she had someone to impress, she wanted to do her best to look attractive, and the light green color seemed to go well with her complexion. “You really like it?” She turned back to him. “You think it goes alright with my face and hair?”

  He lowered her hand so that the cloth was at her neck. “Silly, girl. You won’t be wearing it on your face. You’ll be wearing it on your body. You need to see how the green color looks down here.”

  She giggled and nudged him in the arm. “I already know that. I just like to see how the material will look with my face, that’s all.”

  “I don’t understand why it makes a difference.”

  “Some colors look better on me than others.”

  “No kidding?”

  “No kidding. I’ve found that some colors make me look pale and others bring out the color in my cheeks. I think this one will do just fine.”

  Though he didn’t seem to understand what she was talking about, his smile widened and he patted the small of her back. “I like the color. You should get it.”

  She nodded and turned back to the shelf while he went to another section in the mercantile. After she determined how much material she needed to make a dress, she sorted through a variety of buttons and ribbons.

  Mitch returned to her.

  “I won’t be long now that I picked the cloth,” she told him.

  “No, it’s not that,” he replied. “There’s someone who wants to talk to me about my sheep. Do you mind if I go talk to him for a few minutes? I’ll be back soon.”

  She glanced around the mercantile and saw the man he motioned to who was standing by the door. The man tipped his hat in a silent greeting, and she nodded in return. “I don’t mind, Mitch. Take as long as you need.”

  “I won’t be more than five minutes. If you find everything you need before I return, this ought to cover the expenses.” He dug into his pocket and pulled out some coins.

  She’d never handled actual money before, so she stared at the coins in her hand after he gave them to her. They felt warm to the touch, undoubtedly because they’d been in his pocket.