The days flew by. Sam continued to work with Doc Martin several times a week. Adam hired seven ranch hands, and work began on the large corral a mile away to hold the mustangs captured during the Spring round-up. Only one time did Rob question the hiring of a particular man.
"That man, 'Hawk', he be nothin' but trouble," Rob had said. "I don't know nothin' 'bout him, but I kin tell he cain't be trusted. He got that red hair on his head…"
Adam countered, "Rob, I appreciate your input. I've made you the foreman because I trust you and believe in your instincts. The men respect you and you respect them. But I can't fire a man because he has red hair. One of my friends in town has red hair and he's one of the finest men you'll ever meet." Adam was referring to Ted.
Rob nodded. "Mister Adam, you be da boss. But be watchful."
"I will, Rob," Adam answered. "I'll keep an eye on him. But he's a top hand, and we need those right now." End of discussion. At least as far as Rob was concerned. But Susan had given the same warning to Sam.
"Hawk ain't a good man, Miss Sam. Be careful 'round him. The Great Manitou made some dangerous creatures that got bright colors to warn you. Hawk got red hair and strange eyes."
Sam dismissed the thought of Hawk's flaming red hair. But she did notice something about the man's eyes. They were devoid of any emotion, what in medical terms would be referred to as "flat." She would be careful around this man.
In the meantime, pre-round-up parties were held at almost every rancher's home. Sam found good friends in Lori and John Hardin, Delores and Whit Franklin, and Mindy Williams who was engaged to Rick Barton. Lori, Delores and Mindy all had outrageous and hilarious senses of humor – they kept Sam laughing all the time. John, Whit and Rick had smaller ranches than Adam's but they had been good friends for a long time. Gretchen, who had taken Sam's advice and moved into town, appeared with Ted at these parties and slowly became friendly with the women. Sam was glad to see that Gretchen was putting forth a concerted effort to open up her heart to allow friendships that she needed so badly.
Ilsa Werner became more sour at every party. She still blamed Sam for "stealing" Adam from her daughter. Sam began to ignore comments from Ilsa – innuendos made to her face or what she heard behind her back. Ilsa often embarrassed Friedhelm with her comments but there seemed no way to stop her sharp tongue.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Spring round-up time had arrived and every rancher had been busy getting supplies, checking tack, and putting together necessities needed for the few weeks ahead. This would be the first time that Sam and Adam would be separated and, as she snuggled next to Adam this last night at home, Sam was sad.
"I don't want you to leave," Sam said as she brushed her hand over Adam's hairy chest.
"I don't want to leave, darlin'," Adam answered gently. "But this is an annual thing that has to be done. And it won't last forever – maybe three weeks – and then I'll be home. We have mustangs to catch and cattle to drive to new pastures. This is an integral part of our lives."
"I know," Sam whispered. "But I don't have to like it!"
Adam chuckled. "I don't think anybody likes it. I heard Mindy telling Rick that, if the cattle were so important, maybe he should marry a heifer!"
Sam giggled in spite of herself. "That sounds like Mindy. I know how Lori and Delores feel. They were threatening to dress up like a cow, head out onto the range, bawl like crazy and wait to be roped!" She paused. "We've already made plans to get together at each other's homes and practice cooking different meals and sew and have girl talk several nights a week."
"And you have Susan here to keep you company," Adam added, glad that Sam had turned toward some positive thoughts. Hop Sing would be cooking for the Cartwright clan, as usual, as well as for Adam's ranch hands.
"Susan has been a blessing," Sam smiled. "I don't know where she finds the time, but she manages to do laundry, clean and cook without any trouble at all. She's always so cheerful and she's excellent company. I haven't heard one complaint about either her or Rob. That's a good sign."
Adam rubbed his leg against Sam's and pressed his lips to the inside of her neck. His hand found the curve of a breast, cradling it.
"You have a one-track mind," Sam scolded in mock anger.
"How would you know if your mind wasn't on the same track as mine?" Adam grinned as he rolled toward her, his lips finding her mouth before she could answer.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sam waved at Adam as he left the ranch and continued a faltering wave as Adam and his men disappeared from sight. Susan was at her side, waving goodbye to Rob as well. The lump in Sam's throat prevented her from speaking.
"The first time your man leaves be the hardest time. But it do get easier with each passin' year," Susan said kindly. "There's just some things that you gotta accept, and round-up time be one of those things."
Sam nodded but didn't move. Susan galvanized her into action. "Today look like a perfect day to start work on yer veg'table garden. We lin mark it off and start turnin' the soil. It'll keep us busy."
Sam brightened at the thought of planting seeds and watching things grow. Linking her arm through Susan's, the two women headed for the barn to get the tools that they would need. Donning gloves, they then headed out to the far back side of the house. They worked all day, taking a break only for lunch and for water and, by the end of the day, they had accomplished more than half the job. Susan pronounced that the soil was rich and the crops would be excellent. They would finish the job the next day and then would plant seeds for corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots and potatoes.
Both women were tired that evening, but they threw some left-over stew in the pot and made biscuits. "Cathead" biscuits was what Susan called them because they were as big as cats' heads. With butter and homemade jelly, the biscuits almost melted in Sam's mouth.
Susan talked about interesting things. Her mother was a black run-away slave from a Georgia plantation. Rob's father was a black "mountain man" from North Carolina. The Cherokee tribes had been kind to both people and had taken them in. Rob and Susan had met on "The Trail of Tears" and had fallen instantly in love. But they had seen changes coming and intuited that the Indian way of life, as they knew it, wouldn't last much longer, so they decided to leave the Cherokee way of life behind. The problem was that, being of mixed "minority" blood, work was hard to find. And when they did find work, they were treated badly. So they moved on from place to place, never having a home of their own.
Sam shared her life story in a nutshell – how she had decided to be a special doctor, how she had met Adam, how she had left him for Robert, and how she had returned to him. She talked about the problems with Gretchen and her parents.
Susan had met Gretchen and didn't like her, though this was the first time Sam knew of Susan's feelings. Ironically, Susan had mentioned that "craziness" can run in families; Susan remembered the meeting in St. Louis where one of the lecturers told all about genetic proclivity toward mental illness.
"Maybe Gretchen be diff'rent," Susan said. "But I sees somethin' behind them eyes that bothers me. It's like an itch in the back of my brain."
That night, the two women went to bed – alone – each one sleeping on the husband's side of the bed. Sam was aware of Adam's scent and she pulled his pillow closer to her face.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
By mid-day all of the soil had been turned, and Susan announced that the earth was wet enough to start planting. Susan attended to most of that chore while Sam made little signs to mark which growing thing was located in each row. The sun was beginning to set when Sam and Susan came into the house to wash up. Hearing hooves in the front of the house, Sam was delighted to see that Doc Martin had arrived. She hugged him with delight.
"I thought I'd better check on things now that so many of the men are gone," he said as she walked him into the house.
"Susan and I have been planting all day. We made a huge garden and now all we have to do is to wait for things to grow!" Sam's face was bright with excitement.
"Doctor Martin!" exclaimed Susan. "You be just in time for that meal I promised you when you fixed my foot!"
Doc smiled. "I timed it just right then. A home-cooked meal sounds wonderful! By the way, how is your foot?"
"It be fine," Susan answered as she scurried into the kitchen.
How she did it, Sam didn't know, but in a short while there was a full meal on the table, complete with Cathead biscuits. Sam was tired and ate little, but she thoroughly enjoyed the mealtime conversation. Doc thanked both Sam and Susan for their hospitality and for the supper. Sam walked outside as Doc climbed into the buggy.
"You're looking tired, Sam," he said. "Don't overdo your work here. Come into the office tomorrow and catch up on some more medical books. You can rest and learn at the same time."
"I'll do just that," Sam answered. "Susan can rest while I'm in town. Besides, I want to see if I can find Lori or Delores or Mindy. I want to plan some kind of get-together here one night this week."
Doc nodded, clucked at his horse, and drove off with a wave.
Sam was tired. She wasn't used to so much manual labor. Susan had already gone to bed, so Sam climbed the stairs and put on one of Adam's shirts to sleep in. It gave her great comfort.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sam had a key to Doc Martin's office and had let herself in long before Doc arrived. "'Morning!" Sam said brightly, but her face still looked pinched and tired.
"I'm certainly glad you took my advice to come in and catch up on your book-learning," Doc said with a smile. "But you look tired."
"I didn't realize that planting a garden was so much work," Sam answered, putting her book down. "But Susan says that the 'signs' are just right for growing things – whatever that means – so we just did it. Fancy isn't broken to the plow, and the draft horses are so big that we were nervous about even trying to hitch one of them up to see what would happen. So we just did everything ourselves."
"Uh-huh," Doc said, pouring himself a cup of coffee. "Well, just pace yourself. Gardens are a lot of work."
"Susan does most of the work. Honestly, I've never seen anybody so knowledgeable about so many things. She never complains and is wonderful company. I'm lucky to have her – and Adam is lucky to have Rob. It was Rob who picked out the draft horses that first day. They're incredibly gentle but they're enormous!"
And then the morning started with patients who had only minor ailments – a cut here, a sprained ankle there, and little Billy had tried to fly off the roof of the barn and had landed, fortunately, in a haystack. He had a big bump on his head and the beginnings of a black eye. The morning went by quickly. After lunch, Sam went looking for her friends and found Lori window-shopping.
"Aha!" Sam exclaimed. "Just the person I wanted to see!"
Lori smiled as she pointed at a dress in the store window. "I'd love to have that dress, but I think I can sew one myself much cheaper. Let's go in and look at patterns!"
While they looked at material and patterns and spools of thread, Sam suggested that Lori, Delores, and Mindy come out to "The Pines" and pool their ideas for making a new kind of meal.
Lori grinned. "The best time to practice on cooking is when John is away. I'll bring some stuff from my house, and I bet Mindy and Delores will too. I saw them both earlier. Maybe we can still find them."
Lori picked out a pattern and material that she liked, and then she and Sam went out to look for the other two women. After half an hour, they did find them and presented the evening's plans. Mindy and Delores were delighted with the idea and promised to bring food from their own houses.
Sam returned to Doc's office to see if she could be any help. Doc took one look at her tired face and told her to go home and take a nap. Which is exactly what Sam did. By the time Sam got home, she found Susan sitting on the front porch, feet propped up and drinking lemonade. Sam told her about the guests for the evening and made sure that Susan knew she was invited to be part of the group.
"Miss Sam," Susan said, "you look tired. Why don't you go rest for a while? I'll see that you're awake in plenty of time. I hope you don't mind, but I got the bunkhouse cleaned and then tidied up in the house."
Sam sighed. "You're a Godsend! And a nap sounds wonderful. Thank you, Susan."
Sam didn't see Susan's knowing smile. Susan just sat and rocked and chuckled to herself.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
What Susan referred to as the "hen party" was in full swing. Lori had brought along her pattern and material to show everybody, and there would be enough food to satisfy a whole house of hungry men. But before starting to cook, Sam had to show off her vegetable garden, so the whole group went out – including Delores with her six month old baby, Ansley. Ansley was a delight, gurgling and cooing and making everybody laugh when she managed to get a handful of dirt that went immediately into her mouth. She drooled mud in great globs.
"Wait 'til you have children of your own," laughed Delores as she looked at Sam and Lori. "Anything that they can fit in their fist goes right into their mouth." Ansley burped loudly.
Susan chuckled to herself as she and the other women returned to the house. Just in time to see Gretchen arrive. Uninvited.
"Did you ask Gretchen to come tonight?" Mindy asked.
"No, I didn't," Sam answered. "But I don't see how I can turn her away when she sees all the horses outside. Let's give her a chance – she so desperately needs friends."
Sam thought it was rude for Gretchen to just arrive, uninvited and unexpectedly, but she forced herself to smile when she greeted Gretchen at the door.
"Is it all right if I came to visit? I can go back to town if I'm imposing." Gretchen looked forlorn, and Sam felt sorry for her.
"Come on in. We're going to experiment with making different kinds of meals. And Lori brought some material and a pattern to show everybody."
It was awkward at first – none of the women really liked Gretchen – but soon they were all so busy in the kitchen that past hostilities were forgotten. Only Susan seemed distant and wary.
For the most part, the experiments of meats and vegetables turned out well. Susan helped with the adding of herbs which she grew in a window garden in the back of the bunkhouse. And when the pots and pans and dishes were clean, Lori pulled out the small bolt of material and her new dress pattern.
"It's a brand new pattern," Lori said triumphantly. "There was only one in the store and I was happy to get it!"
"Let's unwind the material and see what it looks like draped around you," suggested Delores, snatching a figurine away from baby Ansley's hands.
"Let's not," laughed Lori. "I'm too full to have to wind it back up and I hate for it to get wrinkled." She looked at baby Ansley. "Or eaten."
A chorus of laughter ensued. The women talked for a while and then, one by one, they left, each carrying wrapped leftovers from supper. Delores decided to have the next meeting at her house two days later. Susan suggested that she teach them how to weave baskets – an idea that was met with great approval. Susan would find the right materials and
would bring them with her. And Gretchen was invited too.
Sam put on Adam's shirt and fell into an uneasy sleep. She missed Adam's arms around her.