P. Carroll

   

    Ruby is running from her parents and large family to the unknown of one lost Yankee, Charlie Ransom. She'd answered his ad for a mail-order bride and agreed to meet him at Sundown Ranch just outside of Duston, Texas. Hope rose in her heart as she thought of being loved by him and having a house to herself. She wasn't afraid of work, but desired it be for her and her husband.

    Charlie Ransom left the war only to find his parents and family farm gone. Sick of war and death, he left Ohio. Hearing of the cattle that roamed around Texas, and knowing the need for beef in the north, he bought a ranch in Texas and ordered a bride to help him make his dreams come true.

    All seemed so easy, but the ranch was broken down, and Ruby, well she wouldn't marry him until he could tell her he loved her. Add into the mix four orphans and a tornado of trouble swept around him and his ranch. 

    Love might not come softly, but it better come quickly for those on Sundown Ranch.

Excerpt

Charlie Ransom stared at the miserable piece of land he’d bought. The barren grass was nothing like the 

lush green of the farm he’d grown up on in Ohio. The war had been hard on everyone. With him and his brothers gone to war, his daddy couldn’t make the tax payments. Charlie had come home to two graves and little else.

     He’d left Ohio and finally made it to Texas and to Sundown Ranch. He stared at his new home, a caved in soddy hut that would have to be repaired before she came. What was he thinking when he ordered a mail-order bride? Sundown Ranch wasn’t fit for man or beast much less a woman.

    So, he didn’t know anything about Texas. At least, he knew a thing or two about horses, or the grizzled old codger at the livery would have sold him a bloated windbag. He kept a wary watch over the land. An old habit he couldn’t shake from the four years he’d spent in the war.

    Charlie swung his leg to rest over the saddle horn, dug in his pocket, and reread her last letter. She was coming this week. He’d tried to postpone her arrival and had sent her a letter telling her to wait. Apparently, Ruby Lee Baker intended to come anyway. That’s what he got for ordering a Texas woman.

    He wasn’t sure why he had the desperate longing to have a wife and children. Maybe it was all the death he’d seen. The lonely hill where his parents were buried. His brothers missing. Whatever the case, he longed to have someone at his side and children running in and out of his house. Charlie rubbed his bearded jaw, basically, he wanted to experience time with the living.

    A fly routed his thinking and took his attention from scanning the land. For spring, the day warmed like summer in Ohio, but this was Texas, and he wasn’t all too sure what to expect. He patted his Morgan stallion on the neck. “Well, Biscuit, looks like we got our work cut out for us.”

    Disgusted with the rundown ranch, Charlie dismounted and walked his horse to the remnants of the corral on the side of the hut.

    “I thought maybe you weren’t coming.”

    Startled, he looked up. How had he missed her? Lucky for him the war was over, and she wasn’t a Johnny Reb or he’d be needing a grave. The woman must have come out of the soddy, but mostly, he noticed the rifle angling down her arm to her legs.

    She raised the gun level with his chest. “Charlie Ransom?”

    He nodded, tearing his gaze from the gun to her face. “Ruby?” She wasn’t bad looking. He certainly could have done worse.

    She smiled. “I told you I was coming. I stopped in Duston, and they told me how to get to the Sundown Ranch.” She waved a hand at the hut and corral. “Hope you didn’t pay much. Soddy can be fixed, but it’s going to take some doing.”

    “I’d hoped to have it ready before you came. Wrote to tell you to wait—”

    “I’ve been waiting all my life to be married. Grant’s army couldn’t have stopped me.” She stared at him. “You haven’t changed your mind?”

    He shook his head but wondered why no one had asked to marry her before. What was wrong with her? He’d already bought a broken-down ranch. Stood to reason, she had her own set of problems. For one thing, she appeared to be headstrong.

    Seeing her discomfort, he tied his horse and went toward her but stopped short, giving her room to get used to him. Besides, he’d not had a chance to have a bath in weeks. And there was that rifle. “I haven’t changed my mind. Have you?”

    She lowered the gun and shortened the distance between them. “No. I’m not afraid of work.”

    He doubted she was afraid of anything. “We can clean up, go into town, and get married. … Unless you’re not sure.”

    Ruby blushed. “I’m sure … but I don’t want to marry you until you can say that you love me. Looking at you, I think you bought me like you did this ranch. Mama married out of need. Married a lowdown skunk that never cared for her or us eight kids. Not me. I’ll stay here on the ranch. We can be partners. I’ll sleep in the shoddy. You can camp outside. Later you can sleep in the barn after we build it. It’s the first thing we need to do.”

    Downright, bossy woman. Right now, he was too tired in body and spirit to argue with her. He sure couldn’t say he loved her. Not yet. Maybe not ever. But she did seem willing to work. “All right, Ruby Lee Baker. Partners for now. … Is there any water on this place?”

    She eyed him warily. “You bought the ranch and didn’t even know if it had water?” She shook her head and pointed south of the hut. “A nice creek runs back of the soddy. Has a perfect place to dam it and make a pond, too. … You sure are a greenhorn. Suppose you don’t know nothing about cattle either.”

    Charlie stared at her and was sure that it was going to take some time to tell her he loved her. If ever. “I’m a fast learner and hard worker. I know the North is starving for beef, and I heard that stray cattle roamed all over Texas. I’ll make it work.”

    Ruby grinned at him. “That’s why I’m here. Your letters told me a lot about you. You’re worth waiting for.”

    He took off his hat and raked a hand through his hair. “By the way, I ordered a load of lumber. I’m going to build us a proper house. Animals can wait for the barn.”

    She shrugged. “I guess you’re the partner with the money. We can build a lean-to for the horses. And when we go into town, we’ll get you a proper hat.”

    Hat? What was wrong with his hat? Persnickety woman.  Then again, he hated to tell her he only had one horse. She’d probably have some kind of bossy comment about that, too.

    She pointed to the back. “My horse is tied up back of the hut. She’s a sturdy mustang. We can round up wild horses too.”

    “I suppose you can break horses and round up cattle. Anything you can’t do?” The idea of loving her was getting further and further from his possibilities.

    Her bottom lip trembled. Only for a quick second, but he saw it.

    He reached out to her. “Ruby, I’m sorry. I’m just tired.”

    She sat down on the step. “I can work hard. Figure out how to do just about anything. Anything but get someone to love me.” She looked down and cried quietly.

    He closed his eyes. Now he’d done it. He walked to her and gently put a hand on her shoulder. “Look, I’m sure once we get to know one another, the love will come. You’re pretty. Smart. What’s not to love?”

    She shook her head. “No. They all say I’m too bossy. You’ll hate me just like every other man that has ever taken an interest in me has said.”

    He twisted one of her golden curls on his finger. “Come on, now. Who else is going to teach this Yankee boy how to be Texan?”

    She pulled her hair from him. “That is impossible.” Standing, she faced him, her grin returning. “Can’t teach anyone how to be a Texan. Either you got what it takes, or you don’t.”