Chapter 7—

Time stood still as Nora stared at the letters she held. They were addressed to her mother and her heart clenched as she saw the return address- Nora's grandmother in Boston. Mama had certainly kept this correspondence a secret from her daughters, and perhaps her husband as well. Flipping through the stack, she noticed the dates took place over many years, starting when Valerie was little. The top letter was sent only a couple of weeks before Amanda passed.

Nora handled the stack, her mind racing. The letters weren't addressed to her, so she wasn't sure if she should read them. And yet, her mother was gone so what could it hurt?

Before she could make up her mind, she heard a noise outside. Rushing to the kitchen, she grabbed the pistol from the drawer, trading it for the pile in her hand, and quickly checked to make sure it was loaded before pulling back the hammer. The sun had only recently set, and it was dusk outside, almost dark.

Nora heard a deep bark that became softer as it ran away from the house. It seems her intruder was back, and Sentry had appeared to run him off once again. Well, at least she had a gun now, although she shuddered when she thought that she might actually have to shoot someone. Releasing the hammer, Nora noticed she had been holding her breath and loudly exhaled. Laying the gun down on the table, Nora sat and took deep breaths until her heart came back to a normal rhythm. Then she stood and fixed herself some dinner.

###

The knock on the door broke through the chapter Nick was focusing on. "Come in," he said, from his comfortable spot on the bed, seeing Heath enter.

"I hate to bother you, but I wanted to follow up on those new hands," he began as Nick sat up straight. "Jameson and Adams both are hard workers and follow orders well. I haven't had any complaints from the foreman on either one of them. Jameson is a friendly sort; Adams is quieter but nice enough. You hired well."

Nick nodded silently as he made a decision. "Thanks for letting me know. I... uh...have something I wanted to talk to you about." He sat up straight as he said the words.

"Shoot."

"It's about Nora Steele. The truth is I don't trust her."

"Would you mind telling me why?" Heath asked.

"The other day when I went to town, I played some poker. A young man with green eyes played against me. His name was Lenny..."

"Lenny. I heard you mention him before."

"Heath, Miss Steele is Lenny. She was dressed as a man. I'm concerned she may be running some type of con. Did you see that dress she was wearing last night? She didn't look as needy as she made you think she is."

Now it was Heath's turn to nod in silence. "Now just suppose," he finally said, "that she only had a little money and needed more. She couldn't come to town as Nora and gamble in the saloon. But she could dress as a man and play a game of poker to make more money. Trust me, Nick, the girl has nothing. Didn't you see her place today? Did it look like she was hiding something?"

"But the dress..."

"Was Audra's old one. Of course, you didn't recognize it, she probably wore it once a few years ago. I took a box of Audra's clothes over there myself. And even if she had a nice dress, that doesn't mean she is trying to defraud someone. Nick, you don't know what it's like to be without, the things you will do when you are hungry." Heath gestured to the book still in Nick's hand. "What did Jean Valjean do? Nora is a nice girl who's had a hard life. No need to doubt her. Think about it. Goodnight brother."

The door closed quietly behind him, leaving Nick to consider his words. Here he was pronouncing Nora untrustworthy when perhaps all she was up to was making ends meet after her father left her alone. She needed understanding, not judgment.

Putting his book away, Nick noticed the house had gotten quiet and dark. Standing up, he grabbed his saddle bag and discreetly left his room.

###

Looking over her shoulder, Nora continued her ride to the Barkley ranch. Wishing she could kick Demarco into a run, she kept a slow pace so as not to harm him. If he needed new shoes, Nora would take care of them quickly, but she had never felt as apprehensive as she did today.

Two times in the last three days someone had tried to break in. And although she now had a gun for protection, she didn't get much sleep last night.

Nora hadn't planned to leave the house today, but she had told Audra she would let her know about the dress, so she put on her riding clothes from her friend and decided to ride over.

Victoria came to greet her on the porch as she came up. "Nora, it is such a delight to see you again. This must be Demarco. Oh, he is absolutely beautiful!" she said as she hugged the younger woman and stopped to pet the horse. "Let's take him to the barn, oh wait, here's Heath."

"Hello, Nora," Heath said as he walked up.

"Heath, could you take Demarco to the barn?" Victoria asked her son.

"Of course," he said, Nora stopping him before he walked away.

"Heath, would you mind checking his shoes for me? Your brother happened to mention he needed new ones. I plan to take him to town and have it done, but I wanted to make sure he wasn't harmed by the walk over here. I would appreciate it."

"No problem," Heath answered with a crooked smile as he took the reins and walked the horse to the barn.

Victoria took Nora's arm. "Let's go find Audra, shall we? And we will all have some tea. I think I smelled some cookies baking earlier."

Nora smiled as she patted the older woman's hand and walked inside with her, feeling quite at home in the Barkley house.

###

Nick had spent most of his morning out looking for an expectant cow. She was spotted a couple of days back, but he was concerned she may have gotten out through the broken fence that Jarrod was working on. "Sure seems like we repair a lot of fences around here," Nick said in frustration to no one as he sat on Big Duke and looked around before moving once again, a yawn escaping his lips.

Being busy was a good way to keep his mind occupied and off a certain redhead. He was not looking forward to Audra's party in 2 days and watching his brother with Nora. As much as he tried to convince himself he approved of their relationship, he wondered if he would ever get past his attraction to her. If not, it would certainly be awkward if the two got married.

"Now where is that darn cow?"

###

"So, tell me about the dress?" Audra asked, curious about what her friend had come up with.

"No," Nora replied, giggling. "I want to surprise you both."

"Well, I can't wait to see it. I'm sure it's lovely. More cookies?" Victoria asked as she held out the plate.

"I better not or my dress won't fit! Maybe just one. Silas is quite the chef! I've never had cookies like this before," Nora said as she took one. Victoria noticed her manners once again, as she had observed them the other night at dinner. While the girl might be destitute, she had been raised well.

"Nora, would you tell us about your mother?" she asked, hoping not to upset the girl.

Her eyes went off into the distance and she smiled. "She was simply wonderful. Amanda Worthington- before she married my papa."

"Worthington? As in the Boston Worthingtons?"

Nodding, she replied. "Yes. They were quite well known, from what I hear. I've never met them."

"I'm sorry I interrupted, please continue," Victoria stated.

"Mama was charmed by my papa's good looks and sweet talk. He had nothing and was passing through when he saw her in town. The way my mama told it, he walked right up to her and said, 'you are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen and I'm gonna marry you.'" A soft laugh interrupted her story before she continued. "And she was beautiful. I wish I had a picture of her to show you. We never had the money for that." A slight pause followed.

"Anyway, within a few days they were indeed married by the judge, and left town; 'on his broken-down wagon driven by my romantic hopes and dreams,' Mama used to say. They traveled a lot, never having much besides Mama's love. She found out soon enough that Papa was nothing more than a dreamer- always hoping for that big thing that would make him rich. Little did he realize that it would take hard work for that to happen, and Papa was too lazy for that.

"Mama, though, was wonderful. She had Val- my oldest sister- about a year after getting married and she spoke of how difficult things were for them. But she never lost her smile. Gabby came along many years later, Mama thinking she wouldn't have any more by that time, then a year later, I was born. 'Her three girls' she always called us. We never had anything but didn't realize we were poor until we were older. Mama saw to that. She made life fun, and somehow always found something to feed us, even if she didn't eat herself."

"Oh Nora, she sounds delightful and selfless," Audra interjected.

"She was. Gabby and I used to put on plays for her- Val had already moved away. We would take turns writing them- Mama included- and she was our audience of one. How she would cheer the heroes and boo the villains!" laughing now, "and when we needed a male character, it was always relegated to me. I would put on some of Papa's old clothes and melodramatically act him out with all my might! Gabby even had a nickname for me because of it. She called me..."

Suddenly stopping her story as she had gotten carried away and almost said 'Lenny,' Nora changed the subject. "Mama always made Christmas fun too. We didn't have the money for presents for that or on birthdays, so she would make us a handkerchief or a scarf out of some donated fabric and yarn and embroider our initials on them 'as the rich folks do' she would say. Or knit us some mittens. Then we would have tea and she would tell us stories of her childhood. She always tried to make up for what we didn't have, and we loved her dearly."

Tears filled Victoria's eyes as Nora stopped speaking. "You were blessed to have such a mother. I wish I had known her."

Reaching over, Nora took the other woman's hand. "I wish you had too. You remind me of her- strong and beautiful. I believe you would have been great friends."

"Like we are," Audra added cheerfully. "Thank you so much for telling us about her."

"I need to get back home and finish my dress, but thank you both for a perfect afternoon," Nora said as she rose.

"Miss Nora," Silas said as he entered with a small box. "I made you some cookies to take home with you."

"Oh Silas, you are such a dear!" Nora said, leaning in to kiss his cheek, bringing a surprised look from the man.

"Why, thank you, Miss Nora! Thank you so much!" Silas said with a bright grin as he turned to leave, touching his face all the way out of the room.

As they walked outside, the groom met them with Demarco in tow. "Here you are. All shoed up and ready to go."

Nora gaped in disbelief. "I... didn't ask for Heath to shoe him. What do I owe you?" she said stiffly.

The groom stood there staring in silence before seeking help from Mrs. Barkley.

"Nora, it's no charge. This is something neighbors do for each other. As you are here a bit longer, you will understand that," Victoria said, trying to smooth the girl's proud feathers.

Looking ashamed, Nora nodded. "Mama used to tell me I had too much pride. I'm trying to work on that. Thank you, Mrs. Barkley."

"We are way past that. Please call me Victoria."

"Victoria it is. Audra, I am so excited about your party! It's my first one. And my birthday is two weeks after yours. I was wondering where Heath might be so I can thank him for taking care of Demarco," she said as she glanced around.

"If you ride that direction a little way, you might find him," Victoria answered as she pointed.

"Thank you both," Nora said, hugging each one before mounting up. "Let's go, Marco," she said to her friend as she kicked him into a run.

Both women waved as she rode away. "Mother," Audra said. "I'm pretty sure Heath is behind the house working on that siding that came loose. You pointed her towards the north pasture. Isn't that where Nick is?"

"Yes, Audra. Come into the house and let's have a talk," Victoria said, taking her daughter's arm and leading her inside.

###

As Nora rode, she couldn't help but fall in love with the beautiful land around her. How amazing would it be to own all of this! Reaching up, she removed the ribbon from her hair and let it flow free as she rode. Her irritation with Heath was quickly replaced with shame when she realized that this was a generous family that liked to help others. The more she was around them, the more she wanted to be part of them.

The thought took her by surprise. She wasn't interested in Heath that way and Jarrod seemed more of a father figure than a suitor. Stopping suddenly, the other brother she had met came to mind. But he rubbed her the wrong way.

No, Nora would simply have to settle for a friendship with the Barkleys.

Seeing someone up ahead in a crop of trees, but not able to make out who it was from this distance, at her insistence Demarco ran towards the man.

Stepping out from the trees, Nick's eyes widened as he saw a white horse carrying a redhead coming his way. The white mane and tail blew in the wind along with her long, scarlet locks. He had never seen anything more beautiful and his mouth went dry as he observed. When she came near, he was mesmerized by her windblown hair that fell across her shoulders.

"Uh...Miss Steele," he said, smiling. "Come down here. I have something to show you."

Although she had almost turned the other way upon recognizing him, Nora was drawn to his cheerful manner, so she dismounted. Following him into the hidden area, she gasped when she saw how serene it was. A small lake was concealed by the trees and surrounded by wildflowers.

Heaven.

A peace overtook her as she looked around before turning back to Nick. When she did, she smiled radiantly.

"Oh, Nick..." she uttered, not even realizing what she had said. Standing next to him was a cow, apparently a new mother, with a small calf by her side. Nora walked over and knelt, softly caressing it before looking up at Nick and smiling again. "Was it just born?"

"In the last few hours, yes," he answered. Although she might not be aware of the way she addressed him, he certainly was, and enjoyed hearing his given name on her lips. "It's a male," he added, joining her on the ground as he also petted the new life. Trying to keep his eyes on the calf, Nick stole glances at the woman near him. Her long curls were wild and captivating as he listened to her speaking sweet endearments to the young bull.

"He's going to need a name," Nick said gently.

Nora looked up as he spoke, her eyes on the sky as she thought before looking back at the animal. "I think he looks like a Romeo."

"Romeo! How did you come up with that?" Nick said with a laugh.

"Because he is handsome and charming, and the girls won't be able to resist him..." Nora hesitated as she looked at her companion and her smile faded. She hoped he didn't think she was referring to him.

Maintaining eye contact, Nick said, "Romeo it is." His face grew serious as his hand reached up and lightly touched one of her messy curls, wrapping it around his finger. Realizing what he had done, Nick pulled his hand back, cleared his throat, and stood. "I need to go back to the house to get a wagon. If you will excuse me, Miss Steele."

Nora watched as he quickly rode away, before stroking her hair where he had touched it. Had they really had a few moments of peace between them? Her face turned red as she remembered his hazel eyes staring into hers; she could get lost in those eyes if she wasn't careful. Nora couldn't recall a time when she had been attracted to a man before Nick Barkley. Exploring her feelings, Nora hated to admit that she cared for the man. It was hard not to after watching his nurturing of little Romeo.

Smiling down at him, Nora rubbed his head and kissed his face, while wishing that her companion hadn't left.

Nick stopped briefly and looked back at the trees where Nora remained. He almost went back to remind her about her horse's shoes, and that she shouldn't be running him but decided to leave things on a good note.

Seeing her riding with her hair down was the stuff dreams were made of. At least his dreams. "Be careful what you wish for, Nick Barkley," he said before shaking his head and continuing his path home.