leaned on his saddle horn. “You know he’ll get cantankerous when he figures out we’re hoping he’ll want one of those brides.”
“Yep.” He used a leather thong to tie the bird to his saddle.
Will tipped his hat back and looked at Daniel. “Maybe he’ll take a shine to Leah.”
“Maybe.” Daniel didn’t like the arrow of discomfort that pierced his thoughts and made him turn away to look at the sky. He relived a brief moment of jealousy, remembering the hug Leah had impulsively given Will. His friend had appeared startled and exchanged a glance of confusion with him over her golden head. Daniel prayed he’d either get used to thinking of Leah with someone else or the good Lord would send him his own wife to change his confusing feelings about her.
Before the war Daniel had stood back and watched as Will courted Leah. She had shown his best friend favor. Daniel had never told either of them how he felt about her, but Will had figured it out. Things had been tense at first, and they hadn’t talked about it at length, but Daniel had assured Will that if he made Leah happy, so be it.
After the men had joined the army, Will and Leah’s separation had made communication difficult, and eventually the two had ended their courtship. Daniel and Will had come to terms with the past a long time ago. Life was too uncertain to hold grudges stemming from circumstances that were out of their control. They’d seen each other through days and nights with little to no rations, dug graves side by side, mourned comrades left where they’d fallen and bolstered each other’s grit and determination when death had seemed the easy way out. Leah’s arrival might muddy the waters in respect to their plan for brides, but her presence wouldn’t come between them. He’d see to that.
They spotted Noah digging a post hole. It appeared a section of fence had been broken or trampled. “Did buffalo do that?” Will called. “We saw a small herd.”
Noah squinted at them from beneath the brim of his hat and leaned on the handle of his shovel until they got close. His hat shaded his face and eyes from the sun, and beneath the brim his collar-length hair was dark with sweat. “What brings you two out here? Wasn’t this the big day?”
“It was.” Daniel got down and hobbled his horse. Will did the same.
“Everything go as planned?”
“Cowboy Creek has a friendly preacher and four new marriageable women,” Will told him.
“That’s what you wanted.” Noah gripped the shovel and continued digging the hole.
Will went for one of the posts in the back of Noah’s wagon and Daniel grabbed a sledgehammer.
“So, it all went well and you came out here to be ranch hands this afternoon?” Noah still had a Virginia drawl. The burn scars on the side of his face stood out white in contrast to the rest of his face, which was red from exertion and the sun. The scars extended down his arm and on his chest, as well, and were the biggest reason he stayed to himself and rarely went into town.
They’d met the southerner when the 155th Pennsylvania Regiment had marched to Washington. Opposed to slavery, Noah had left behind his home and family to fight for his beliefs and joined the army at the Potomac in ’62. Only a year later, as they joined the fray at Gettysburg, Noah’s gun backfired at the Battle of Little Round Top and ignited a fire that left him badly burned.
His discharge from the army had been all the more difficult for him because Noah had always believed that as a born southerner he had to fight harder than any northerner. His bravery had been an example to all the men who fought with him, but he’d been forced to leave due to his injuries. That’s when he’d come to Kansas and staked his claim.
“I shot a turkey for supper,” Daniel said. “Thought we’d stay.”
“Daylight’s burnin’.” Noah’s reply was terse as always.
Daniel and Will glanced at each other and bent to the task.
Near sundown, the fence repairs were finished and the men headed to Noah’s cabin. Noah’s black fierce-looking companion, a cross between a dog and a wolf, greeted Noah and watched the other two men dismount. Wolf accompanied Noah to town on the rare occasions he went, and folks were wary of him. Like Noah, Wolf came across more dangerous than he was.
The men washed at the pump in the yard, and Daniel prepared the turkey, splitting it and roasting the meat over a fire pit. Noah brought turnips from his root cellar and Will baked biscuits in a skillet. It was dark by the time they ate under the stars.
“You remember us telling you about Leah Robinson?” Daniel asked.
Noah tossed a turkey leg to Wolf. The dog snatched up the meat and trotted several feet away to eat. “Wasn’t that the woman Will was engaged to before the war?”
“That’s her. She showed up today on the bride train.”
Noah looked at them with a quizzical expression. “I thought she got married.”
“Her husband died.”
“In the war?”
“I assume so.”
“So she’s looking to remarry.”
“She is, and I’m concerned about her.” Daniel removed his hat to rake a hand through his hair and then settled it back on his head. “The three of us grew up together. I don’t want her to make a wrong choice. She needs to find the right husband. Someone who will take care of her like she deserves.”
“Too bad Will’s got himself a fiancée. He could marry her.”
Daniel’s supper felt like lead in his belly at the thought.
“We were barely more than children when we were engaged. Like it or not, the war changed us all,” Will objected. “Besides, Leah isn’t cut out to be the wife of a politician. Dora is well aware of my ambitions, and she shares my vision. What about you?”
Noah tossed a bone into the fire and rubbed his hands together. “Don’t need a woman. There’s nothing wrong with my life the way it is.”
“You have a great life out here,” Will agreed. “But companionship is a good thing.”
“Don’t need a companion, and don’t ask me again.”
“All right, all right,” Will said in exasperation. “Don’t get your tail feathers all ruffled.” He glanced at Daniel. “How about Owen Ewing then? He has a flourishing business. He’s a fine cabinetmaker.”
Daniel cast him a dark scowl. “He’s also the undertaker. That would never do. Not for Leah.”
“You’re not getting squeamish on us, are you?” Noah asked.
“I wouldn’t be the one marrying him. Leah is a lady of refined sensibilities. She can’t live in a home where there are bodies in the basement. The other ladies would snub her.”
“He might have a point,” Will said.
Noah shrugged. “Quincy’s a good man. Honest as the day is long. Hardworking. He’s only in his thirties. He looks like a man women would take to, doesn’t he?”
“A lawman’s job is too hazardous,” Daniel objected. “He’s not salaried, you know. He gets paid by the arrest, so he’s motivated to get himself into some tight spots going after criminals. A wife would worry about a man in that position. And, worst case scenario, he might get killed. You never know. She’s already lost one husband.”
Will and Noah both nodded, and Noah poured them cups of coffee. “This is like the old days, the three of us eating under the sky,” he commented.
“Except the food is better and there’s more of it,” Will said.
They sipped their coffee and discussed a couple more candidates that Daniel rejected for one reason or the other.
The