Mitch's Win (Montana Collection, Book 1) Page 9

  Heather breathed a sigh of relief as Eve left to go to her family. “Patty, you shouldn’t pay her any mind. The only person you can be is yourself, and from what I’ve seen, you’d be a great wife.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not.” Patty shrugged. “I try to make sure I wear pretty things when I know he’ll be around, but it doesn’t seem to matter. He never looks in my direction.”

  “Well, maybe he doesn’t want the kind of woman Eve thinks he does. You can’t be someone you’re not.”

  “You’re lucky, Heather. Your husband just happened to come along and rescue you, and it’s obvious that he loves you. Any woman would be thrilled to be adored the way you are.”

  “You will be adored, too.” Inspired, Heather clasped her hands. “I know! Why don’t I have Mitch invite Greg over for supper this week? And you can come over, too?”

  She bit her lower lip. “I don’t know.”

  “Oh, why not? What have you got to lose?”

  After a moment, Patty nodded. “You’re right. What I’ve been doing so far hasn’t worked. Might as well try something new.”

  “That’s the spirit! Now, stay right here, and I’ll see when he can come over.”

  Patty grabbed her arm before she could leave. “You’re not going to ask right now. Not when I’m here.”

  “I don’t know when Mitch will see Greg again.”

  “But…but…I’ll be standing here all by myself.”

  “So? I’m not going to tell him you’ll be there. We’ll just say you stopped by. That way he won’t know we set him up.”

  Patty bit her lower lip and glanced over at Mitch and Greg. “I don’t know. What if he figures it out because we’re talking?”

  She groaned. “You give men far too much credit, Patty. They won’t think we’re talking about them. Come over on Wednesday. We’ll have a great time.”

  Preacher Higgins called out for everyone to start eating. Heather and Patty hurried over to the two tables to gather their food, and for the time being, Greg Wilson was forgotten.

  ***

  “Why didn’t you tell me you invited Patty for supper tonight?” Mitch whispered as Patty’s buggy approached the ranch three days later.

  Heather looked up from where she was helping Hannah mend her doll’s ripped dress. Not too far from her on the porch, Leroy was organizing rocks according to size. She turned her attention back to Mitch who had a bewildered expression on his face. “Does it matter?” she asked.

  “Since Greg’s coming here tonight, yes, it does,” he replied.

  “Why?”

  “Because he wouldn’t have agreed to come out here if he’d known she was coming.”

  At the time, it seemed like a harmless omission, but as she realized how upset Mitch was, she knew she made a huge mistake. Her face warmed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think it was important.” After a moment’s pause, she asked, “Why is it important?”

  Mitch let out a low sigh. “Because he’s going to think I was a part of this. Greg’s made it clear that he has no intention of marrying anyone.”

  “So? All we have to do is say that Patty’s here because she’s my friend. It’s the truth. I like her. Why can’t I have her over if I want?”

  “But that wasn’t your intention, which is why you have her coming over here the same evening we’re expecting Greg.”

  “That’s some coincidence, huh?” she asked, but the joke fell on deaf ears.

  Mitch wasn’t amused. She frowned. She knew she and Mitch would have their arguments when she married him. Every couple had them. But she’d hoped their first one wouldn’t be so soon. She quickly finished stitching the rest of the doll’s dress so Hannah could have it back. Hannah had a strong attachment to it and would cry if she had to go without it. Heather would have to redo her stitching to make sure the dress wouldn’t fall apart again, but that could wait. She handed the doll to a happy Hannah before she stood up so she could face Mitch.

  Relieved Patty was still out of earshot, she asked, “Why doesn’t Greg want to get married?”

  “I don’t know, and it’s none of my business. All I know is that he likes things the way they are.”

  “But it’s just him and the ranch hands on his property.”

  “Exactly.”

  She stared at him to see if he was serious, and sure enough, he was. “What man is going to be happy stuck out on a ranch without a woman to liven things up?”

  “Not every man is like me, Heather. I wanted to get married and I’m better off for it, but Greg doesn’t want the same thing I do. It’s his right to make that decision.”

  “I know, but has he even considered marriage?”

  He shook his head. “Heather, I know you mean well, but what he does or doesn’t do isn’t our concern.”

  “I owe it to Patty to try. You can’t begrudge a woman the right to try.”

  He sighed and glanced at Patty as she pulled the buggy up to the porch. “I don’t have a choice, do I?” Turning away from her, he went down the porch steps and approached the buggy. “Afternoon, Patty.”

  Patty set the brake and smiled at Mitch as he took the reins. “Thanks, Mitch!”

  Undeterred by his uncertainty about the upcoming supper, Heather waved to Patty as she hurried up the steps. She was sure everything would go fine once everyone was sitting and eating the meal.

  “Thanks for having me over,” Patty said as Mitch took her buggy to the barn. “Where’s Gerty?”

  “She’s not feeling well today, so I took the children outside. She needed some quiet.”

  “Oh, then maybe we should have everyone over for another day.”

  “No. I think we’re alright. Gerty said she just needed to rest for a couple hours. I’m making supper, so she can sleep.”

  “Do you need any help with it?”

  “Not right now. I’ll need more help with washing all the dishes, if you don’t mind?”

  “I don’t mind. I planned to help you with the meal. You have a lot on your hands.” She turned to Leroy and Hannah. “How are you two?”

  “Good,” Leroy replied and Hannah held up her doll.

  “That’s a beautiful doll, Hannah,” Patty told the girl whose face lit up with pleasure at the compliment.

  “I’ll be right back,” Heather told Patty. “I want to check the pot roast and soup.”

  “Aunt Heter made pie,” Hannah added.

  “Actually, I made two,” Heather replied, thinking it cute that Hannah had trouble saying her name properly. “But I made those yesterday so I wouldn’t have to go through all the trouble of making them today.”

  “And Mitch didn’t try to eat them?” Patty asked.

  “I told him it was for today when Greg came out. I’ll be right back,” Heather said.

  Patty nodded and Heather went to the kitchen. Once she checked on the pot roast and soup, she went to her room to pick up the cameo Mitch bought for her. It was a lovely ivory piece trimmed with gold. She thought it might go well with Patty’s blue dress with gold trim.

  On her way outside, she saw that Gerty had left her bedroom. “How are you feeling?” she asked, quick to help Gerty to the chair in the kitchen.

  “Much better. Thanks for watching Leroy and Hannah so I could take a nap. They don’t nap nearly as long as they used to.”

  Heather smiled and poured Gerty a cup of coffee. “I’m happy to help whenever I can.” She handed Gerty the cup. “I’m sorry you’re in pain.”

  Gerty returned her smile. “It can’t be helped. A person can’t stay young forever.”

  “Well, you seem to stay young at heart. My ma and pa weren’t as lively as you. On the inside, I mean. You have a young heart.”

  Gerty chuckled and sipped her coffee. “I don’t feel old. Oh, sure my body is, but I don’t feel it up here.” She tapped her forehead. “I feel like a twenty-year-old. If my body wasn’t old, I’d be jumping all through here, cleaning and cooking like nobody’s business.”

  “
I don’t doubt it.”

  “What you got cooking? It smells good.”

  “Potato soup and pot roast. I have cherry pies waiting for dessert.”

  “I sure am glad my stomach isn’t one of the places on me that hurts because I’d hate to miss any of that. Your ma must have been a good cook.”

  Heather nodded. “She was.”

  “You miss her. And your pa, too, I bet.”

  “I do. Sometimes I think if they had your youthful spirit, they wouldn’t have passed on as early as they did, but after my pa went, my ma had a hard time living without him.”

  Gerty sighed. “Sounds like Boaz. He never did get over losing his wife. Mitch has a tendency to lose patience with him, and I can’t fault Mitch for it since he’s bailed Boaz out of trouble so much. But Boaz has always been more sensitive to things than Mitch is. With Mitch, if it needs to be done, he finds a way to do it, no matter what’s going on. But with Boaz, he stays in the moment of loss and can’t seem to go forward with his life. Had it been Mitch who lost Hannah, he would have picked himself up and kept going.”

  “Boaz won’t stay stuck in the past, will he?”

  Gerty shrugged and took another sip of coffee. “I hope not. I keep thinking if he could be around his children, he’d find a reason to keep going, but he can’t seem to bring himself to come out here.”

  “I’m sorry, Gerty. That’s got to be rough on everyone.”

  “I haven’t given up hope. Someday, he might find a reason to live. No matter what happens to her children, a mother can’t help but hope for the best.”

  Blinking back her tears, Heather nodded.

  “I won’t keep you anymore. You have a lot to do to get supper ready for everyone. I’ll go outside and watch the children for you.”

  “Are you feeling up to it?”

  “Yes.” She rose from her chair and carried the cup with her as she headed for the front door. “I feel much better, thanks to you.”

  “Just don’t push yourself too hard,” Heather said as she followed her.

  “I won’t.”

  As Gerty opened the front door, she looked back at Heather. “I thought Greg was coming over tonight.”

  “He is.”

  “Did you mention that Patty was coming?”

  Uneasy, she shook her head. “I didn’t think it mattered if one more person came.”

  Heather bit her lower lip, not willing to add that she was afraid if Mitch had told Greg that Patty would be coming, Greg would have stayed home. In a way, she realized it was lying, but at the time, she hadn’t thought it mattered all that much. Apparently, she was wrong. She hoped the evening would go smoothly despite her blunder. Forcing aside her unease, she went over to Patty and took her into the kitchen while Gerty stayed outside to watch the children.

  Chapter Eleven

  No matter how often Mitch tried to look away from the cameo around Patty’s neck, he couldn’t do it. He bought it for Heather, and here Patty was wearing it. He told himself that he shouldn’t care about something as small as a cameo. It was just a thing, after all. But it was a gift he’d given Heather. As much as he told himself it was an inanimate object, the truth was, it represented his feelings for her. And by letting someone else wear it, Heather had demonstrated how little she thought of him.

  He forced his attention to his food. He didn’t have an appetite, so he kept poking the roast with a fork. Next to him, Heather sat and talked to everyone as if nothing was wrong. How could she ignore the tension in the room? Greg was polite and sat next to Patty, but one look at him showed Mitch how much he didn’t want to be there. Just as he suspected, Greg picked up on Heather’s attempt at matchmaking and wasn’t pleased about it. Mitch sighed and rubbed his eyes. The evening was unbelievably long.

  “Patty was telling me her recipe for chicken dumplings,” Heather rambled as she ate her food with gusto. “I bet you’d like it, Greg.”

  Mitch dared a look at Greg who offered a stiff nod. “Maybe,” Greg mumbled before he shoved a fork full of pot roast into his mouth.

  “While they say the way to a man’s heart is his stomach,” Gerty began, “Mitch and Boaz’s pa was partial to a book. You’d buy that man a book, and you’d swear you sent him to heaven.”

  “What kind of book?” Leroy asked, ripping a roll apart.

  “Any kind. He wasn’t picky. Said every one was a new adventure,” she replied before she sipped her coffee.

  “Not love books?” Leroy asked, grimacing.

  “Those, too, believe it or not.”

  “I don’t believe it.”

  She chuckled. “When you grow up, you won’t mind having a love story of your very own.”

  He rolled his eyes, and across from where Mitch sat, Greg mimicked the action. Mitch ventured that he was the only one who realized that Greg was itching to get out of there.

  Someone knocked on the front door. Relieved, Mitch hopped up and hurried to answer it. Right now, any distraction was welcomed. When he opened the door, he stepped back in surprise. “Boaz?” While he had invited his brother to come out, he hadn’t heard anything about it since, so he figured his brother decided not to come.

  Taking his hat off, Boaz wiped his feet on the mat. “May I come in?”

  He stepped aside. “Sure. You’re welcome to some pot roast and potato soup if you want.”

  Boaz entered the house, and Mitch retrieved a chair from the parlor.

  “I’m glad you came,” Mitch said. “Have you stayed sober?”

  Boaz hung his hat by the front door and nodded. “It hasn’t been easy, but I’ve been doing it.”

  “And the job?”

  “Been going well.”

  “Good.” He studied Boaz who looked as if he hadn’t slept well and was a bit disheveled, but at least he was here and willing to see their mother and his children. He smiled. “I know it’s a big step…you being here and all.”

  “I want to see Leroy and Hannah.” He cleared his throat. “It’s just hard.”

  He patted Boaz on the back. “No one said it would be easy. I’m just happy you’re making the effort.”

  Boaz wiped his eyes.

  Mitch waited for a moment then asked, “You ready?”

  Taking a deep breath, Boaz nodded.

  He led his brother to the kitchen where Patty was telling Greg about the latest quilt she was making. When Gerty looked up from Patty and saw Boaz, she let out a surprised cry and rushed over to him. Mitch moved back so she could hug him. The others grew silent and watched as she sobbed, holding tightly to Boaz who hugged her in return. Mitch placed the chair between Greg and Patty. Greg, who seemed relieved, moved his plate further down the table. Heather shot Mitch a questioning look, but he ignored her. It was her idea to play matchmaker, not his, and Greg obviously wasn’t interested.

  “I don’t believe it,” his ma cried, pulling away from Boaz. She cupped his face in her hands and took a good look at him. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

  “It’s been a long time, Ma,” Boaz whispered.

  She nodded and finally let go of him. Turning to the children, she said, “Leroy, Hannah, your pa has come over for supper.”

  Mitch motioned to the chair. “You can sit here.”

  Boaz glanced at Leroy and Hannah who seemed as uncertain as he did about this meeting.

  That didn’t surprise Mitch. It’d been a long time since he last saw his children. They didn’t remember him, and he probably didn’t recognize them since they’d changed so much in the past year. He gestured to the empty chair. “Sit down and eat before supper gets cold.”

  With a hesitant nod, Boaz obeyed and sat between Greg and Patty. Gerty hastened to put the pot roast on a new plate while Heather poured soup into a new bowl. Once he had everything in front of him, Mitch returned to his seat.

  Everyone resumed eating their meal, and for a while, no one said anything. Leroy and Hannah stared at their pa. Patty and Heather exchanged looks that Mitch couldn’t interpret.
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br />   Finally, Gerty spoke up. “Boaz, do you know Patty Dixon?”

  Boaz’s gaze left the plate in front of him and went to Patty. “I think I do.”

  “You used to do business with my pa,” Patty replied. “For his horses.”

  “Oh, yes. Matthew Dixon. That’s his name, isn’t it?”

  “It is. He’ll be sorry he didn’t get a chance to talk to you.”

  Boaz nodded but directed his gaze back to his children.

  Mitch could only guess what was going through his mind. “Your pa got a job,” he told Leroy and Hannah. “A good one.”

  “He did?” Gerty asked, looking relieved.

  Boaz shifted in his chair and faced his mother. “At the livery stable.”

  “That is a good job.” She smiled and stood up. “This calls for pie.”

  “But we’re not even done with the main course,” Heather argued.

  Gerty waved her hand. “It don’t matter to men if they have pie before the meal’s done. Good news is good news. There’s only one thing that is better than good news, and that’s pie. Isn’t that right, men?”

  “Yes, Ma,” Boaz replied.

  Greg mumbled a reply and Mitch wasn’t in the mood for one of Heather’s pies at the moment. He knew he shouldn’t let something as small as a cameo upset him, but it did. As Heather followed his mother to the kitchen, Mitch glanced at everyone at the table. There was no doubt that Heather’s matchmaking scheme was a dismal failure. He could only hope Patty would give up. Greg had no intention of getting married, and there was nothing she could do to change that.

  Boaz picked up his cup of coffee with a trembling hand and took a long swallow before he set it on the table and crossed his arms, probably in an effort to control his trembling. He turned his attention to his children. “How are you both doing?”

  Leroy glanced at Mitch, and Mitch nodded for him to answer him. Returning his gaze to Boaz, he said, “Fine. Hannah’s fine, too.”

  At the mention of Hannah’s name, Boaz gave a slight wince but said, “You look just like your ma, Hannah.”