After Sheila left, Norah took an inventory of the kitchen equipment and serving dishes, but she couldn’t keep her mind on the work she’d be doing throughout the summer months. Instead, she kept anticipating another evening in Mason’s company.
Soon after she returned from lunching with Doug and Sheila, she packed her overnight bag and headed toward the Flying K headquarters. Sheila had contributed some fresh vegetables and other staples to supplement the supplies she’d find in Mason’s kitchen.
Barking loudly, the black Labs surrounded her car when she reached the Flying K. Their tails were wagging, and considering that a good sign, Norah got out of her car, let them sniff her hands, then scratched their backs before she went inside.
She didn’t know when to expect Mason, but she figured he’d work until almost dark. She took a thick steak from the freezer, and while it thawed in the microwave, she checked out the rest of the supplies she’d need.
Three hours later, when she saw Mason, on horseback, hazing a small herd of calves toward the corral, she had the meal prepared. Swiss steak, curried rice, green beans, vegetable salad, hot rolls and custard pie should be the kind of meal he’d like. As hard as he worked, Mason would soon throw off the calories from that kind of meal, but Norah knew she’d have to eat small portions.
When had she suddenly become concerned about the extra ten or fifteen pounds she carried? Oh, just in the past twenty-four hours! Admiration of Mason’s muscular body had prompted her to take a closer look at herself, making her wish she still weighed the same as she had twenty years ago.
All day long, Mason had looked forward to another evening with Norah. While he rounded up calves for branding, he kept remembering how well she’d fit into his environment. It hadn’t seemed awkward to have a strange woman sitting at the table. He couldn’t recall when he’d ever met a woman who put him more at ease. Living alone as he did, he’d talk for hours when he met one of his male acquaintances, but he never had much to say to women.
He’d used the excuse of a meal to persuade her to spend another night at the Flying K, although it wasn’t the food, but Norah’s company that he wanted.
After he’d thought about it, Mason figured Norah had hesitated to accept his invitation because she wasn’t comfortable staying in the house with him. He supposed he should have thought of that. He knew she was safe with him, but she had no way of knowing what kind of man he was. He’d wondered all day if she would really come, but his heart beat a little faster, and he jiggled the reins for added speed, when he topped a small rise and saw her white car parked in front of his home.
Norah was standing on the porch, and she waved as he drove the calves into the corral. He hustled to finish his evening chores, so eager to see Norah that he didn’t even think about food until he stepped up on the porch. It was such a change to smell food cooking when he approached the house that he halted abruptly. What had he missed all of these years by not having a wife waiting for him at the end of his day’s work?
Norah smiled easily, and Mason’s smile, gleaming from his bewhiskered face, matched hers in contentment when she appeared at the door, dressed in a red blouse and tan pants.
“Good evening, Mason. You work late.”
Mason had never experienced such a pleasurable homecoming. If she’d been his wife, he could have taken her in his arms and kissed her, but he only said, “There’s always a lot of work on a ranch in the spring. I usually have a man or two working with me, but no one could help today. Smells like you’ve got a fine supper waiting. I haven’t eaten since morning, so I hope you fixed plenty.”
“I don’t think you’ll go away from the table hungry.”
And he didn’t. When the meal was finished, dishes put away, they sat down to relax. He’d forgotten how much pleasure a wife could bring to a home. He’d only lived one year with his wife, and that had been a long time ago. Besides, she’d been ill most of that time carrying their child, and they hadn’t had much opportunity to enjoy each other’s company.
Just two days of Norah’s presence, and he’d started thinking of marriage again. He’d told himself, over and over, during the past twenty-four hours that his thoughts were ridiculous. He knew they were, but he could see no reason not to enjoy Norah’s company to the fullest when he could.
Wanting to learn all he could about her, Mason asked, “What about your family, Norah? Your childhood?”
Norah’s dark eyebrows curved mischievously. “You’ve already hired me. It’s a little late for a background check.”
He countered her lighthearted mood by saying, “After that feast tonight, regardless of your credentials, you won’t get fired. I’ll kidnap you if I have to, just to have you cook for me.”
“But when Horses and Healing starts operating, I’ll be cooking for them,” she responded. An eyebrow tilted provocatively, and her lips trembled slightly in amusement.
“Surely you won’t turn me away if I come around for an occasional handout.”
“We’ll see,” she said, her azure eyes sparkling with silent laughter. “But about my childhood,” she continued, seriously, “it’s been so long ago that I can hardly remember. Actually, I had a fine childhood but my mother was killed in an automobile accident when I was almost eighteen. I grew up mighty fast after that.”
“My mother died when I was two. I can’t even remember her.”
“Oh, I’m sorry!”
“My dad made up for it, though. He didn’t marry again and devoted his time to me. But go ahead with your story.”
“There were five of us. I was ten years older than the other children, so Dad asked me to take over managing the house after Mother’s death. I didn’t hesitate to do that, although it was a great disappointment when I couldn’t go to college as I’d planned.”
“What was wrong with your disabled brother?”
“Billy had cerebral palsy, and I cared for him as my mother would have done.” Her lips quivered as she added, “He died six months ago, a month before my father. My other brother and two sisters were away from home by that time. The work I’d spent over half of my life doing was suddenly taken away, and I was at loose ends. I admit that I’d chafed at my lifestyle—often thinking I was in bondage. But when I had my freedom, I didn’t know what to do with it.”
Norah paused, and her thoughts filtered back to the time when her whole life seemed to collapse around her. “While I was casting around for some direction, I came across your e-mail advertisement. Coming to do this work seemed like an opportunity to get away from familiar surroundings for a few months and find a new perspective on what I can do with the rest of my life.”
“What do you want to do?”
“Become a missionary,” she said simply. “That’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. I was fifteen when I experienced God’s call to go overseas as a missionary. By the time I graduated from high school, I’d been accepted at a Christian college. My training would have started a month after my mother was killed.”
“Are you going on with that training now?” Mason asked, with some disappointment. His dreams of a future with Norah had been nipped in the bud before they’d hardly materialized in his own mind.
“I don’t know. I’m kind of apprehensive about starting college at my age. I’d be almost fifty before I could get the necessary education and training. And I’m not sure I could receive an appointment at that age.”
“It seems a bit selfish of your father to ask you to give up the career you’d planned.”
“I’ve never blamed him. He couldn’t care for Billy by himself, and none of us wanted to put Billy in an institution, so I was happy to do it. But I fully expected, when my siblings became older, that they would assume some of the responsibilities and free me to go to college,