Prologue
Arizona Territory - October 1868
Boots walked into the saloon and approached the group of men playing poker. “You’ll never guess who’s back,” he said, directing his statement to one man in particular. “Kate.”
Sam looked up from his hand of cards. “Are you sure?”
“She rode onto the ranch about an hour ago. I saw her talking with Daniel and Carly and thought I’d come let you know.”
Sam stood, and with one motion pushed his chair back. Throwing his cards on the table, he announced, “I’m out, boys.”
His friends watched as he strode quickly to the swinging doors of the saloon and out to his horse. Mounting up, he pointed the buckskin in the direction of the ranch and galloped out of town.
***
Kate was talking to Carly when she heard hoofbeats. Turning, her breath caught when she saw him again.
“Hi, Sam,” she said softly.
“Kate,” Sam replied tersely, swinging his leg over the saddle and dismounting. “Is this a visit or are you back for good?”
“I’m back, Sam. I was hoping we could try again.”
“Try again?” He couldn’t hide his incredulity. “You’re kidding, right? It’s been a year, Kate. How do I know you won’t get it in your head to run off again?”
“I’m not going anywhere, Sam,” Kate answered softly. “I’m here to stay.”
Chapter One
18 months earlier
April 1867
The town of Hidden Springs is appropriately named, Sam Mackenzie thought, gazing out at the view in front of him. There wasn’t a drop of water in sight. Flat and dry, the landscape consisted of rocks, weeds, and a stand of trees here and there.
A mining town back in the ‘40s, it hadn’t taken long for the residents to pack up and move away when the vein of gold running through Cooper’s mine petered out. Hiram Cooper, for whom the mine was named, tried to hang on, but within a year Hidden Springs had become nothing more than a ghost town, its few buildings inhabited by scorpions and mice.
The desert heat and dry wind took their toll, and there wasn’t much left when, twenty years later, Fred Cooper, grandson of Hiram, arrived to reestablish the forgotten town. Fixing up the building that was now the town’s general store, he placed an ad in several eastern newspapers encouraging folks to move west and fulfill their dreams of ownership. Since the land had belonged to his grandfather and had been passed down to him, Fred gave away parcels to anyone who had the dream to be part of a successful town.
People responded, and in the two years since, Hidden Springs flourished, boasting a livery, saloon, hotel and restaurant, dress shop, bank, and schoolhouse. As the community grew, rumors abounded regarding the location of the springs the town was named for, but to Sam’s knowledge, no one had found them. The available free parcels had long since been given away, but more and more folks were moving to town each day.
Sam spotted Ben Kincaid, the town’s doctor, walking out of the bank. Ben had hung up his shingle three weeks earlier, right around the time that Sam and his best friend, Jack Tanner, arrived in town.
Restless after being discharged from the Army and having no family to speak of, Sam and Jack moved westward, searching for something that neither one could quite put into words. Making ends meet by taking any job available, they’d punched cows, provided security for a stage line, and even worked on the railroad. Now they were in Hidden Springs with ten dollars each to his name, wondering what to do next.
Sam waved to Ben then pulled his hat down to shade his eyes, stretching his long legs out in front of him. He and Jack were sitting in front of the saloon trying to stay out of the noonday sun. As he leaned back further in his chair, he heard Jack give a low wolf whistle.
“Will you look at her!” Jack exclaimed. “I haven’t seen her around before.”
Sam lifted his hat and squinted, searching for the object of Jack’s remark. Riding past them on a black gelding was the prettiest woman he’d ever laid eyes on. Though they’d only been in town a short time, Sam knew he hadn’t seen her before. And that was a shame because she was definitely worth seeing. Watching as she rode up to Landry Prescott’s dress shop, he couldn’t help but admire the view as she dismounted and walked inside.
“I gotta tell you, Sam,” Jack remarked. “I’ve always liked a woman to look like a woman, all dressed up in frills and stuff, but there’s something about a pair of trousers on a female that heats my blood.”
Sam raised an eyebrow at his friend but silently agreed. He was pretty sure this woman would look good in anything she was wearing, or not wearing, for that matter.
Where did that come from? Sure, it’d been a long time since he’d had female companionship, but he didn’t even know this woman, and already he was wondering what she would look like naked. While pondering this new development, the door to the dress shop opened, and the woman stepped out.
She appeared young; her chestnut hair pulled back away from her face, a tan hat on her head, and a blue checked shirt tucked into brown trousers which showed off her slim figure. She was too far away for Sam to make out her features clearly, but every fiber in his body started to hum.
As she rode closer, he stood to get a better view. He noticed Jack step into the street to intercept her, but she expertly guided her horse around him, not slowing until she reached the general store.
Once there, she dismounted and walked inside only to reappear half a minute later. Tacking a piece of paper onto the board in front of the store, she got back on her horse and rode to the livery. Sam and Jack watched as she tacked another piece of paper up there, making several more stops before disappearing from view.
“Well, let’s just see what she’s advertising,” Jack said, pulling the paper down from where it hung on the mercantile wall.
Help wanted to put up fencing. 75¢ per day plus one meal. Apply at Ryan’s Ranch, 3 miles west of Hidden Springs
“Well, buddy,” Jack said, slapping Sam on the back, “feel like getting to work?”
“Why not? There isn’t much else to do around here.” And the view wouldn’t be half bad either.
Kate Ryan didn’t like the fact that she needed to hire help for the ranch. She was uncomfortable having strangers around, especially men, but she needed the corrals and pastures fenced off before she could bring horses in, and it was too big of a job for her and Daniel to handle on their own. She knew that Daniel would watch out for her, but it made her uneasy all the same. She hoped she could hire enough help for the job to be completed quickly so that she could return to her solitary life.
The sound of hoofbeats reached her ears. Taking a deep breath, she said to no one in particular, “Relax; it’ll be fine.” Adopting her most business-like expression, her heart skipped a beat when she saw the men who were approaching. They were the same ones she’d seen in town. Quickly dismissing the taller of the two, her eyes were drawn to the man with the sandy brown hair.
He’d been standing in front of the saloon, and she’d been unable to help noticing his broad shoulders and lean physique. She’d felt his eyes on her as she rode past and every nerve in her body tingled; a feeling that lasted until well after he was out of sight. He was here for a job? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad having extra help around after all.
Sam and Jack rode up to the ranch, surveying the property as they did. There was a modest house on the left, run-down but repairs were in progress. A new two-stall horse shed stood behind and to the right of the house. Sam could just make out what appeared to be a chicken coop behind the shed. Three hundred feet to the right, directly across the expanse of dirt in what he supposed was a yard, another small house stood, a clothesline stretching from the corner to a shed in the back, sheets blowing in the wind. But a different building drew his attention.
A huge two-story barn loomed directly in front of him, one wall unfinished. Sam could smell fresh lumber as he rode past the structure, heading for a table that was set up nearby. There sat the woman he’d seen in town, several pieces of paper laid out before her. She looked up as he approached, and he could see her eyes were a deep chocolate brown. A smattering of freckles graced her cheeks and delicate nose, her ivory skin tinged pink from the sun.
Before he had a chance to speak, Jack brushed past him. “Hi there, Jack Tanner at your service. Anything you need taken care of, I’m your man.”
Groaning, Sam walked up and introduced himself. “I’m Sam Mackenzie. I understand you’re needing help putting up fencing?”
Kate gazed into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. “Yes, I need board fence put up for corrals and pasture. I’m Kate Ryan. This is my place. It’s going to be a horse ranch if I can ever get everything finished.”
“We’ll get it finished.” A man stepped up behind her. He was huge, as big as a bear, and Sam made a mental note not to mess with him.
“This is Daniel Fitzpatrick, my foreman. He and his wife, Carly, live over there,” she said, pointing to the house where the sheets were hanging.
Daniel gave a booming laugh. “I don’t know what kind of foreman I am. No one to order around here but tumbleweeds and prairie dogs.”
“All that will change as soon as the fencing is up and the barn is finished,” Kate replied. “There will be horses everywhere, to feed and water, break and breed….” Her voice trailed off as she closed her eyes and imagined her dream becoming reality.
Sam cleared his throat.
She opened her eyes and spun around, a blush tinting her cheeks as she remembered she wasn’t alone. “Be here tomorrow at six a.m. There will be coffee and biscuits. Dinner will be at noon; then we work until five. Every day but Sunday. Payday is Saturday afternoon at quitting time. Sound okay to you?”
“Sounds good,” Jack said. “We’ll be here bright and early. Do we need to bring any tools?”
“I have extra hammers and all the supplies we’ll need for a while.” She shaded her eyes. “Seems I have more help coming.”
Sam turned to see Boots Dunn riding up. “What are you doing here? Aren’t you afraid of getting those fancy boots of yours dirty?”
He and Jack both started laughing as Boots dismounted.
“I’ll have you know these are my work boots!” Boots replied indignantly.
Sam laughed again and shook his head. He’d never seen anyone care for anything as much as Malcolm Dunn cared about his footwear, thus the nickname ‘Boots’.
“Are you still hiring?” Boots asked Daniel.
“I guess I can put one more man on the payroll,” Kate answered.
“Wait a minute, you? You’re in charge here?”
“This is my place, yes. What, you don’t think a woman can run a ranch?”
“I didn’t say that,” Boots sputtered. “I just thought you had a husband or a father or something. I didn’t expect to find a woman running this place alone.”
“I’m not alone!” Kate stated harshly. “I have Daniel and Carly to help me. As far as my personal life, that’s none of your business. You’re here to do a job for me, nothing more. Remember that!”
“Yes, ma’am. What time do we start?”
“As I told your friends, six a.m. sharp. And I expect a full day’s work out of each of you,” she said pointedly.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jack answered. “Let’s go boys. Looks like we’re going to need our rest.”
Effectively dismissed, the three men mounted up and headed back towards town.
“Can you believe her?” Boots asked, his horse trotting along at an easy pace. “She sure isn’t like any female I ever met. She’s so….”
“Authoritative?” Jack asked, quirking a brow.
“Yeah, that,” Boots answered.
“I don’t know,” Sam interjected. “I think she’s trying to set boundaries. Make sure everyone knows where they stand, so there are no misunderstandings.”
“Yeah, well, I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Boots said.
Silently, Sam agreed, but he couldn’t ignore the feeling that life around Hidden Springs was about to get interesting.
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