Asa wanted to know what had caused the fire, so morning light brought a thorough investigation. Bo, Chuck, and Tom looked through what was left of the stable. Unfortunately, there was no sign of foul play...no sign of anything that could have caused the fire. Nothing left but ashes and splintered wood. All of the ranch hands were questioned, but all of them said they hadn’t been back to the stables in the evening because of the barbecue. There seemed to be no viable answers.
However, Asa Buchanan was not a man to waste time crying over his losses. He gave orders to the men to get the mess cleaned up. Pronto! Then he sent Chuck to town to buy loads of lumber and supplies.
By the following Saturday, just one week after the fire, Asa had a crew of his ranch hands and men from neighboring ranches gathered to raise a new stable on the property...bigger and finer than the one they had before. This time, it would have electric lighting...no more risks with lanterns. Within five days it was done. By the end of that week, it was ready for the horses to make their home there once again.
Bo was busy hanging hardware in the stable...hooks for holding harnesses, ropes, bits, bridles, tack...when Nora and Lilli brought him a lunch. He was going to eat as he worked, but Nora insisted he take a break.
She let him see the contents of the lunch, then held it away from him. “Oh no, Mister! No lunch for you until you sit down! You’ve been working since the crack of dawn.”
Lilli piped in, “Come on, Daddy! Let’s sit on da hay!” She tugged him by the hand to the haymow where she liked to jump, roll, and play.
While she did just that, Bo ate his lunch. They tried to converse over the chaos around them. Men were finishing the last of the lighting, strawing the stalls, rounding up the horses from the pasture and bringing them in, one at a time, to their new home.
Nora, observing all of the activity around her, asked if there was anything she could do.
“You serious?” Bo asked her.
“Sure! Lilli is happy playing out here. I can do something,” she said.
“Well, I actually have a job you might like. See those boxes stacked over there? They are full of new supplies...saddle blankets and such. You could open the boxes for me and organize the contents so that I can get things put away.”
“I can do that...for a kiss maybe…” she added quietly, leaning against him.
He obliged her with a kiss then whispered, “That was a partial payment. I’ll give you full payment later, and...if you do a really good job...I tip well,” he finished with a wink.
He slid off the hay and tipped his hat to her, “Thanks for the lunch, Little Lady,” he quipped as John Wayne.
“Thanks for the incentive, Marshall,” she quipped back.
* * * * * * *
Nora enjoyed unpacking and organizing the supplies for Bo. It felt good to be of help. She sometimes missed the busy days at the library and restaurant and the busy nights in the Aragon Dance Hall. Not that Lilli didn’t keep her busy, but her life was definitely slower-paced in Texas.
As she unpacked the boxes, Nora split and flattened them then tucked the ends into the hay to create a cardboard slide for Lilli who was having the time of her life climbing the haystack and sliding back down. As she reached the bottom, the puppies greeted her with yips and kisses. It entertained the child for quite some time and allowed Nora to work in peace.
Mid-afternoon, Nora looked up to see Bo standing there.
“I have to run back to the hardware store. Do you want to ride along?” he asked.
“No, I’m on a roll here….don’t want to break my momentum,” she answered stacking some more blankets.
“I wanna go, Daddy! Can I go?” Lilli asked jumping up and down beside him.
“Sure...you can be Daddy’s helper,” he said picking her up.
“You may be getting more help than you’ve bargained for,” Nora said as he made his way to his truck.
A laugh was his only response.
* * * * * * *
The next box Nora opened contained a saddle...a very nice saddle, bigger than any she’d ever seen. She struggled to remove it from the box. About that time, Chet rode over on a horse he was bringing in.
“Whoa…” he called to the horse. Leaping from the saddle, he said, “Let me get that for you, Ma’am.”
Chet took the saddle from the box and put it where she indicated.
“Thank you, Chet. That saddle seemed bigger than the others.”
“It is, Ma’am. It’s a double saddle...larger and can seat two.”
“Really? I have been wondering about that...if they made bigger saddles, I mean. I think it would make a nice Christmas gift for my husband. He likes to ride together occasionally, but the seat isn’t all that roomy for two.”
“Well the doubles are much roomier. In fact, this is a double on Dakota here,” he said indicating the horse. “Why don’t you try it out?”
“Oh...no, that’s alright,” Nora declined.
Chet insisted, “Really, go ahead and try it. You want to be sure before you purchase one. Go on. Here, let me help you…”
“No. I can do it myself,” she said quickly as she mounted the horse.
“There you go. Now, look behind you,” Chet said. “Notice how much more seat room there is...plenty for two people.” Before she knew what was happening, he mounted the horse behind her. “See?” he asked mouth near her ear.
Nora was caught off guard by this action. She could feel his breath against her ear and his body close behind her.
“I need to get down,” she uttered awkwardly. “Please...you need to get off first so I can dismount this horse…”
Chet acted as if he didn’t hear her. “As you can see, there are stirrups for both riders and…”
“Please…” Nora said again.
At that moment, they heard a voice behind them.
“Chet?”
They turned to see a puzzled and frustrated expression on Tate’s face.
Chet dismounted immediately with Nora quickly doing the same. She headed toward the stable door deciding she would finish her work later.
“Did you have any other questions about the double saddle, Ma’am?” Chet called after her.
“No...I can’t think of any...if I do, I’ll ask my father-in-law…” She left the stable and rounded the corner before she heard an argument ensue between the brothers.
“What were you thinking?” she heard Tate ask.
“Oh...don’t start on me. I wasn’t doing anything wrong,” she heard Chet begin. “I was just showing her the saddle. She was asking about it.”
“And what if I had been Bo Buchanan, huh? What would you have done then...all snuggled up at her back side?! Get it together, man!”
Nora heard no more before heading toward the house. I guess Bo is right...I need to be more cautious around Chet, she thought. And I need to calm down before Bo gets home. If he finds out his suspicions are true… Nora didn’t like the thought of what Bo might do.
From then on, Nora made it a point not to find herself alone with Chet Palmer. He could tell she was avoiding him, and he didn’t like it. He regretted losing her trust. And he didn’t like how Tate reminded him that keeping his distance was for the best.
To be continued...
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