Montana Vagabond: Bear Grass Springs Book Eight

  Montana Vagabond

  Bear Grass Springs, Book Eight

  Ramona Flightner

  Grizzly Damsel Publishing

  Copyright © 2019 by Ramona Flightner

  All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without permission in writing from its publisher, Ramona Flightner and Grizzly Damsel Publishing. Copyright protection extends to all excerpts and previews by this author included in this book.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. The author or publisher is not associated with any product or vendor in this book.

  Cover design by Jennifer Quinlan.

  Barry

  You always believed in me and my dream of writing

  from the first day. Thank you.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Also by Ramona Flightner

  Stay In The Know About Ramona Flightner!

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  Bear Grass Springs, Montana Territory, April 1888

  Certain secrets are meant to remain secrets. Jane Keith sat on a stool on the boardwalk outside Annabelle’s Sweet Shop in Bear Grass Springs, Montana Territory, staring at the distant mountains as she sipped a cup of coffee after a busy workday in the bakery. Her mother’s words echoed through her mind, and she clung to them as though they were prophetic. However, now that she was finally in Bear Grass Springs, she had difficulty maintaining the charade she’d concocted. “It’s not a charade,” she murmured to herself. She took pride in the fact she’d told no blatant lie to the MacKinnons and their friends.

  However, she knew her relationships with them would change were they to discover her secret. Or she worried her friendships would alter. Ultimately she feared they’d reject her. Like Horatio. Like…She jumped as a shadow appeared in her peripheral vision.

  “I’d never mean to startle you, Miss Keith.” Ben Metcalf’s dark brown eyes shone with concern and a hint of amusement as he managed to sneak up on Jane again. She always seemed surprised by his presence.

  “Mr. Metcalf,” she said as she held a hand to her chest. “I had thought few were around today.”

  He shrugged and smiled, his brown eyes glinting with delight as he spoke with her. “It’s a cool day, and most are in the saloons or the café. I had hoped to discover if you were amenable to a meal at the café tonight.” He stood a little over six feet tall, a good half foot taller than her. He wore his black hair long to his shoulders, and a strand of it nearly hung in his eyes.

  She flushed and shook her head. “Thank you for your kind invitation. However, as you know, my brother and I prefer simple meals.”

  Ben frowned. “The meals at the café are hearty, but no one’s ever called them fine cuisine.” He looked down the boardwalk toward Harold and Irene Tompkins’s Sunflower Café. He appeared relieved they were not on the boardwalk to hear his comments. “I had hoped that we could be friends.”

  Jane sighed. “I believe we are friends. And we are as well acquainted as we are going to be.” She flushed as his friendly countenance sobered at her frank insistence that she wanted little to do with him. “I must focus on my job and my brother.”

  Ben ran a hand through his black hair and shook his head in frustration. “Why must you continue to hide?”

  At his question, she stood. His low voice had pierced her more than any of her former boyfriend’s shouts ever had.

  “Why won’t you have the courage to …” He broke off as he saw Ewan MacKinnon walking in their direction. “Ewan,” he said deferentially.

  Ewan chuckled as he paused in front of them before shivering as a cool breeze blew. “I dinna ken why I always expect it to be warmer the first part of April.” He looked from Ben to Jane and then back to Ben again. “An’ I dinna ken why ye always act obedient in front of others outside of work. Everyone kens ye are as opinionated as I am.” Ewan and Ben were virtually the same height, although Ewan’s lighter hair contrasted Ben’s black hair. The crinkles at the corner of Ewan’s brown eyes were due to him always being on the verge of laughing, and he had only found more joy in life since he had married Jessamine, the town’s reporter. Ewan was one of four MacKinnon siblings who had moved to Bear Grass Springs from the Isle of Skye, Scotland.

  “You’re the boss,” Ben muttered and then chuckled as Ewan rolled his eyes. Ben worked as Ewan’s foreman for Ewan’s burgeoning construction business.

  “In name only,” Ewan said with a chuckle. “I ken I couldna do half of what I do without ye. Nor would I want to.” He winked at Jane. “Some smart lass will discover that truth soon enough.”

  Jane shivered as another gust blew and raised a hand in an attempt to keep her reddish-brown hair from flying free of its pins. However, the strong gust had loosened a strand, and it thwacked Ben in the face. “I beg your pardon.”

  “Now you’ve injured me,” Ben said with a teasing smile. “Have dinner to make it up to me.”

  She laughed and shook her head. “No. You’re as incorrigible as Ewan.” She smiled at Ben and felt lighter in spirit than she had in a long time. “I must …” She shrugged and entered the shuttered bakery.

  Jane stood with the her back to the door, waiting until she heard the men’s boot heels sound on the boardwalk as they sauntered away. She sighed as she imagined Ben eating his dinner meal at the café alone. “How much longer must I force him to walk away before he gives up?”

  Ben watched Jane sequester herself in the bakery and stifled a growl of protest. Although he smiled at Ewan, his gaze was solemn as he heard the lock click on the bakery’s front door.

  “Come away with ye,” Ewan said as he slapped a hand on his foreman’s shoulder and steered him in the direction of the café. “Ye ken ye must be patient with such a skittish woman.” As they walked down the boardwalk, across the street Warren Clark, the town’s lawyer, spoke with a townsperson in front of his office as he headed home for the day. Patrons entered the Watering Hole saloon next to the café, but no one loitered outside.

  The town of Bear Grass Springs continued to grow, although the mines were not as prosperous as they had once been. The winter the previous year had caused some smaller cattle operations to close, although Frederick Tompkins’s ranch had expanded in size. Ben suspected supporting the ranchers and farmers would be the future of the town, rather than mining. As he paused before entering the café, he looked across the street toward the attractive two-story hotel and then to Cailean MacKinnon’s house. Cailean was the eldest MacKinnon, and he ran the nearby livery with his brother, Alistair, and partner, Bears.

  Ben shook his head in disgust as he continued the conversation he and Ewan had begun outside the bakery. “I fear I’m a fool. Who’s to say she won’
t be as skittish when she’s ninety?”

  Ewan laughed. “Well, Fidelia did marry Bears last year. Ye ken I had doubts that would ever occur. If that marriage can happen, then I ken ye still have hope.”

  Ben stopped and glared at the man he considered friend before boss. “And how many years did Bears have to wait?”

  The Scotsman chuckled. “More than ye are willin’ to, I’d bet.” Ewan steered him into the café and to a small table set for two to the side of the bustling room. A blue-and-white checkered cloth covered the table while a small vase with dried flowers sat in the center. “I’m no’ eatin’ with ye. Jessie is home tonight, an’ I want time with her.”

  “How’s her search for her latest story going?” Ben asked as they waited for Harold Tompkins to serve them.

  Ewan smiled as he thought about his spitfire wife, Jessamine, who ran the local newspaper. “Ye ken how she gets when she’s weary of printin’ the same stories. Soon she’ll settle down an’ relish the next tall tale she hears. For now, she’s fed up with the yarns she’s hearin’.” Ewan shrugged.

  “Don’t you ever worry that she’ll tire of life in a small Montana town?” Ben asked as he took a sip of coffee from the mug that Harold had set in front of him before rushing back to the kitchen. “She has to be accustomed to a different sort of life.”

  Ewan shook his head. “She was raised in luxury but was miserable. I ken she loves this life and our family.” He smiled at Ben. “Dinna think I’m no’ canny enough to ken what ye’re doin’. Ye’re tryin’ to get me to focus on anythin’ other than that woman.”

  Ben’s shoulders slumped for a moment, and he focused on Harold as the older man approached again. “Hi, Harold. The café’s busy.”

  Harold looked at him with a perplexed expression. “Seeing as you eat almost every dinner here, you know it’s no more busy than usual. We have fried chicken or fried chicken.” He rubbed at his temple. “What would you like?”

  Ben chuckled and shrugged. “I guess fried chicken.” He watched in confusion as Harold marched away while muttering to himself. He shared a look with Ewan and murmured, “Any ideas about what upset Harold?”

  “Nae, but we’ll wait for a lull an’ ask the man.” Ewan settled in as though he were looking forward to a long chat.

  Ben had looked forward to a little time to contemplate his interaction with Jane and his ongoing interest in her. With a quiet sigh, he resigned himself to Ewan’s company.

  “I’m still angry with ye, ye ken,” Ewan said as he stretched out his legs. His blondish hair stood on end from the wind, and he always looked on the verge of laughing or telling a joke.

  Ben studied him a moment and then nodded. “Because of Duncan.” When Ewan glared at him, Ben rubbed at his head. “What could I do? He was living off his sister and showed no inclination to begin to earn a decent living.”

  “It’s no’ yer job to rescue her, Ben.” Ewan’s brown eyes flashed with annoyance. “Ye ken he almost killed Nathanial today?”

  Ben gaped at his friend and paled at the thought. “No. How?” Nathanial Erickson ran the sawmill on the edge of town with his brother-in-law and best friend, Karl Johansen.

  “Duncan’s an immature fool who willna do what he’s told. He was supposed to wait with the horses. Instead, he got it into his pea-size brain to investigate the inner workin’s of a sawmill. Rather than cuttin’ the boards at the correct speed, he set it so the boards were spit out so fast he nearly decapitated Nathanial.” Ewan nodded as Ben paled to resemble a ghost. “Aye, we must give thanks Nathanial has the reflexes of a cat an’ managed to duck in time.”

  “How was no one hurt?” Ben whispered.

  “Karl was there an’ shut off the steam. Ye ken that means they lost money?” Ewan’s accent had thickened, and his brown eyes glowed due to his ire.

  “I’ll pay for anything they lost,” Ben whispered. “It was my decision to hire the kid. I should pay for it.”

  Ewan grabbed Ben’s arm. “Ye ken I dinna blame ye. If Jessie’d had a brother, I’d have done the same.” He made a sound of disgust in his throat. “What I dinna understand is why he seems incapable of learnin’. Why can he no’ listen?”

  “I don’t know. And I fear I’m about out of patience,” Ben said. He nodded to Harold as he approached with his dinner of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and a slab of corn bread. “Sit for minute.”

  Harold pulled up a chair and sat with a sigh, his knees cracking with the motion. “What’re you two young’uns whispering about?” Harold focused on Ben and Ewan for a second before casting an eye around the café. Everyone seemed content for the moment, so he returned his attention to the young men. Harold wore an apron over his white shirt, brown waistcoat and matching brown pants. His white hair had a sprinkling of black hair, hinting at the youthful, handsome man he had been. Although in his mid-seventies, his exuberance made him seem decades younger.

  Ben took a bite of the mashed potatoes and sighed with pleasure. “Irene makes the best food.” Harold shrugged as though that statement were obvious. Pointing at Ewan with his fork, Ben said, “He’s mad at me because I hired Duncan.”

  Harold gave a grunt of disgust. “From what I hear, your men could end up incapacitated any day due to his idiocy.”

  Ewan glowered at Ben. “Just because ye are foreman doesna mean I canna override yer hiring decisions.”

  Ben nodded. “I know. And I fully admit I made a mistake with him.”

  Harold chuckled as he sat with his wiry arms crossed over his chest and watched the two friends. “Ah, but you’d do whatever you could to get in that girl’s good graces. She’s got you tied in knots, hasn’t she, boy?”

  Ben flushed at his frank assessment and nodded.

  “If you were to truly help that boy, you’d keep him away from the gambling tables. He’s taken a shine to them. And to rotgut.” Harold shook his head at the thought of drinking the poorly distilled liquor that the saloons in town sold. “It’s cheap, but it’s worse than its name.”

  Ewan shook his head. “The lad’s more trouble than he’s worth.”

  Harold rolled his eyes as he looked at the Scotsman. “Tell me what you wouldn’t have done to get your Jessie. You would have made peace with her father, if that’s what it took.”

  Ewan opened his mouth as though he were to argue and then sat back in contemplative silence.

  “You were fortunate you had the opportunity to outwit her father, and now you no longer have to suffer his presence.” Harold looked at Ben. “I fear, at some point, you will have to take as drastic a measure with her brother.”

  Ben frowned. “Duncan’s a fool, but he’s nothing like Jessamine’s father. He was manipulative and mean.”

  Harold shrugged. “We’ll see.” After a moment, he murmured, “There’s a newcomer to town. A gambler that won’t give his name. He had lunch here today.” Harold paused, his gaze filled with foreboding. “I’ve met my fair share of men during my life. And he’s one I wish would continue his journey and leave Bear Grass Springs behind.”

  Ewan cocked his head to one side as he studied Harold. “Why? He did no’ threaten ye, did he?”

  Harold shook his head and then heaved himself up as new arrivals entered the café. “No. But some are harbingers of ill. And he is one.” He clapped Ben on his shoulder, pasted on a smile and moved to the newcomers.

  Ewan made a dismissive wave with his hand and nodded in Harold’s direction. “We now ken what’s botherin’ Harold. But, for now, our concern is that brother.”

  Ben nodded, his delight in his delicious meal fading as he considered Jane’s unruly sibling.

  A few days later, Jane stood outside the Merc for such an extended period of time that Harold Tompkins watched her with unveiled curiosity. Harold swept the boardwalk in front of the Sunflower Café with such diligence it looked as though it would soon sparkle. Jane took a deep breath as she noted Harold’s interest. After taking another deep breath and pacing in front of the general store o
ne last time, she squared her shoulders and pushed open the large door.

  The glass gleamed on the storefront door on this sunny April day, and she stared in wonder at all of the items for sale on display inside the large tidy store. Although she now earned a decent living working at the bakery in town, she knew she could not afford the beautiful ice-blue satin fabric on the rack. Running a hand over her serviceable, clean blue cotton gingham dress, she gave thanks for what she had. A man clearing his throat interrupted her silent perusal of the store, and she jerked her head in the direction of the sound.

  “If it isn’t the latest fallen dove to be rescued by a MacKinnon,” Tobias Sutton said with a sneer as his gaze roved up and down Jane in a contemptuous manner. “I believe they forgot to inform you of your proper shopping hours.”

  Jane stood stock-still, her friendly smile frozen in place at his attack. Jane had not ventured into the Mercantile, or the Merc, as the locals of Bear Grass Springs called it, since she had moved to the town in November of the previous year. Although she had walked past its proprietor on the boardwalk many times as he swept the area outside his shop, he had been snide, muttering comments to her each time. Her nerve had faltered every time she had attempted to enter the Merc to meet Tobias Sutton.

  Prior to today’s trip to the Merc, she had visited the town’s other, smaller General Store on the opposite side of the town’s main street near the Stumble-Out saloon. However, Jane had just learned that the proprietor of the General Store had shamed and scorned Sorcha MacKinnon Tompkins after Sorcha had married Frederick Tompkins the previous year. As Jane was employed by Annabelle MacKinnon, Sorcha’s sister-in-law, and Jane had become friendly with Sorcha after the birth of Sorcha’s twins, Jane wanted to show solidarity to her new friend.