Evasive Eddie Joe (Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs Book 16) Read online

  Mary shook her head and faced forward again as they continued to walk. “Some men don’t need no reason to get mean.”

  Etta grinned wide. “That’s the truth.”

  Mary turned to her daughter with a frown. “What happened to your teeth? Buford again?”

  Etta pulled her hand free of her mother’s arm and slapped it to her left cheek to hide her mouth. She still felt self-conscious about the loss of her two teeth, her left cuspid and the small molar next to it. She nodded in response. “He knocked a couple others loose, but doc said if I was real careful, they’d tighten right back in place. They don’t bother me now. Just looks like the devil.”

  Mary sighed. “That explains the slight lisp you’ve got. Well, it’s not all that unheard of for people to lose teeth.”

  The two approached the frame house with its peeling paint to find a scowling Annalee standing in the doorway, her arms akimbo.

  “Might as well come in, Etta.” After the trio entered, Annalee pointed to the ladder stairs. “You can put your things in the loft with Ginny and Sarah and see if they’ll let you share their bed. We don’t really have room for you, you know.”

  Mary stood between her daughter and daughter-in-law. “Annalee, this is still my house. I’ll decide where she sleeps.”

  “It’s all right, Ma. I’ll sleep up there or down here on the floor. I’ve slept in worse places.” And she had. In order to avoid sharing a bed with Buford, especially when he came home from the saloon, she’d often curled up in a corner or, if warm enough, slept out in the pole barn.

  The rest of the day Etta kept silent and avoided getting in Annalee’s way as much as possible. However, she soon realized Annalee meant to turn her into a personal slave in exchange for her having a roof over her head and a place at the table. Her demands became more insistent and delivered with more scorn as the day wore on. The only way Etta was able to meet her niece was when Annalee ordered her to go in their room to take care of the baby.

  That night at suppertime, Cal returned tired and dusty from the fields. He glanced at Etta, no greeting in his expression. “I see you’ve come back. Too bad that old man of yours up and died on you.”

  Etta offered her brother a tentative smile. “Right nice to see you, Cal, even though it’s not under the best circumstances.”

  Cal sighed. “At least he didn’t get no baby on you. That’s all we would need around here is another squalling brat.”

  Etta’s eyes dropped to the floor, and she said nothing. Buford had gotten a baby on her. She had been about three months along, and she had not told him yet for fear over how he would react. It hadn’t mattered. After a particularly nasty attack, in addition to a host of bruises and a wrenched shoulder it had taken weeks to heal from, his kicks to her abdomen had led to a miscarriage. Fortunately, he had stayed away from the house several days that time, so it was over and done with, and she had the mess all cleaned up before he returned. But, why tell Cal and her family this? With the exception of her mother, none of them cared.

  After supper, Annalee ordered Etta to help Ginny wash the dishes while she took care of the baby. She returned from her room just as Etta finished wiping the table. She started complaining again about Etta being there, this time invoking her brother into the list of grievances.

  Mary stepped between Etta and Annalee, her voice sharp. “Stop it right now, Annalee. Instead of doing nothing but bellyache, do something useful. Find that newspaper ad you brought to Ginny when you wanted her to find a husband, the one from Colorado.” Mary turned to Etta. “Ginny wrote her letter, but the woman wrote back and said she was too young. She wouldn’t work with a girl only fifteen. But with you being almost twenty, maybe she can find you another husband.”

  Annalee muttered in disgust. “Stupid girl had to go telling her age. Should have left it alone.”

  Defensively, Ginny turned to her sister-in-law. “Mrs. Millard said to tell about me and be honest.”

  “And look what that got you. Nowhere.” She huffed and shook her head. “I don’t still have that paper.”

  Ginny perked up with a smile. “I have her address. I’ll get it.” She scrambled up the ladder stairs and soon returned with an envelope. “I don’t have no advertisement, but this here has her name and where you write.” Ginny sat down with Etta and explained about the Colorado Bridal Agency and how the owner, Mrs. Millard, matched up brides and grooms.

  As Ginny finished, Annalee slapped a piece of paper and pencil down in front of Etta. “Here. Don’t say I never gave you nothing. Write out your letter like Ginny said, only tell them you’re twenty. Don’t make no mention of being a widow.”

  As unenthusiastic as Etta felt about jumping from the frying pan into the fire with another husband that could be just as abusive and nasty as Buford Crabtree had been, she slid the paper closer to her and picked up the pencil. “I’m not twenty until the end of September, but that will be close enough.”

  Mary shooed Annalee away. “No need to hover over her like a blowfly, Annalee. Tend to your baby while she writes her letter. I’ll take it to town tomorrow.”

  Ginny leaned forward and whispered in Etta’s ear. “Be honest, Etta. Don’t worry none you’ll end up with an old coot like Buford. She’ll find you a good man. She’s got that special way of looking at handwriting to know who’d be best for you.”

  The next morning, Etta put breakfast on the table while Annalee took her time coming out of the bedroom she shared with Cal and the baby. However, once the meal was over and Cal rose to leave, Etta also jumped to her feet. “I’m going with you, Cal. Since I’m here, might as well help you get your harvest in.”

  Cal frowned and shook his head. “That’s man’s work, Etta.”

  “I’ve done it before when Pa took sick, and you know it. There’s plenty of women here to take care of the house and canning. I ain’t staying in the house being no slave to Annalee. Maybe I’m not as strong as a man, but I’m better than nothing. Without me, that’s what you got.”

  Mary had also risen from her seat and busied herself at the cabinet counter. She joined them with two bundles of food wrapped in napkins. “These biscuits and preserves will tide you two over until we call you in for dinner.” She turned to Annalee. “Not one word, Annalee. You, Ginny, Sarah and I can take care of the house. Etta ain’t as strong as no man, but she don’t eat like no man, either. If Cal hired on a farm hand to help with the harvest, he’d eat four times what Etta will.”

  Her eyes blazing at being crossed, Annalee snapped a retort directed to her mother-in-law. “And what about when harvest is over?” She turned to Cal. “Cal, you going to let her get away with not helping me?”

  Mary answered for both her children. “With a bit of luck, that lady from the bridal agency will find Etta a good man to marry, and she’ll be gone from here once harvest is over.”

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  MONARCH BEND, COLORADO – AUGUST, 1881

  CHAPTER 5

  ~o0o~

  Eddie Joe needed an excuse to travel into Jubilee Springs, and Cooksie had just handed it to him on a silver platter. It would not have been much to tell the boss he planned to go to Monarch Bend to pick something up from the trading post or feed and seed store, or take a horseshoe into the blacksmith to be fixed. Zeb probably would not have questioned him about it. However, there was no post office in Monarch Bend. Mail for that community had to be sent to Jubilee Springs. That meant, if Eddie Joe was going to get his next two letters to his potential brides off in the mail, he must find a reason to run an errand in the Springs that wouldn’t alert his boss to his real motive.

  Eddie Joe entered the ranch office and sat across from his boss. As they finished discussing the work plan for the rest of the week, Eddie brought up the topic that had been on his mind all morning. Of course, considering the nature of his wish to go to town, and that he did not want his boss to know what he had been up to, he could not come right out and say it.
“There’s something else that needs tending to. When is it you’re planning to go to Denver to buy winter supplies?”

  Eddie Joe forced himself to remain still as he watched Zeb stare at him for several seconds.

  Next his boss answered with a tone of exaggerated patience. “In mid-October, Eddie Joe. I’ve been making the trip that time of year for as long as I can remember. You’ve been here long enough to know that.”

  Of course, Eddie Joe knew that. However, thanks to the request Cooksie had made that morning, it was time to spring his trap. “That’s what I figured, Boss. Problem is, we’re going to need a few things sooner. I was talking to Cooksie, and he said we’re running short of flour, salt pork and corn meal, plus we don’t have enough airtights to stock all the line cabins for the winter. Also, he wants another couple jugs of maple syrup before the October trip.”

  Zeb shook his head. “You sure are awful interested in the food situation, Eddie Joe.”

  “As much as any, Boss. Maybe more so, since I’ve been hearing about it the past two weeks steady from Cooksie.”

  Eddie Joe proceeded to tell his boss why they were running short, and why they couldn’t wait until the big mid-October trip to get some of the items that had run short.

  “What you told me is not a big order, not big enough to justify a trip to Denver before October. It’s not the money; it’s the time. We got fall round-up right around the corner, and we need to get things ready for that.”

  Eddie Joe fought down a grin. The boss had played right into his hands. “What about the mercantile in Jubilee Springs? Think they may have most of what’s on Cooksie’s list? If nothing else, they’re by the rail station. What they don’t have, they can probably get here in a decent amount of time. I’ll be happy to make the trip over there, see what they can do for us.”

  Eddie Joe squirmed as he watched Zeb narrow his eyes and study him. Eddie Joe knew Zeb was aware that, by choice, Eddie Joe seldom volunteered to leave the ranch to run errands. He invariably delegated that kind of thing to one of the more trustworthy men.

  “What’s really going on, Eddie Joe? It’s not like you to be willing to leave your crew for a trip to the Springs to run errands.”

  Eddie Joe shrugged.

  That was the old Eddie Joe, the one not interested in getting married.

  Eddie Joe worried the slight flush on his face gave him away. “Nothing special’s going on, Boss. Just thought I’d offer, to save you the inconvenience, you know? I don’t mind driving the wagon in. Of course, if you want to go, I’ll stay here and keep an eye on the men.”

  “That’s right considerate of you, Eddie Joe, seeing as how keeping an eye on the men is part of your job anyway.” Zeb heaved a sigh of resignation. “I’ll go, and I’ll have Rusty drive the wagon. It’ll get him out of that barn for a while. Him I can spare for a fool errand like this that shouldn’t need to happen.”

  Eddie Joe fought down his disappointment over not being the one to go into Jubilee Springs. Evidently, Zeb picked up on it, for he offered for Eddie Joe to have the weekend off to go into town.

  “That’s all right, Boss. It’s not my weekend to go to town. I try to keep it fair among the men, not take advantage of my job, you know? But, since you’re going in, you mind dropping off a couple of letters for me?”

  Eddie Joe reached inside his vest to a hidden pocket and pulled out three envelopes. He glanced at them, and he put the back one addressed to his mother on top. Hopefully, Zeb would be disinterested in the letters enough he wouldn’t notice the other two were addressed to the two women with whom Mrs. Millard had put him in contact. He handed the pile to Zeb. “Got them right here, Boss.” In the same breath, in an effort to distract his boss even more, he quickly handed Zeb another paper. “And here’s the list of what Cooksie says we need. I’ll go tell Rusty. Oh, and Boss, while you’re there, you might want to look up one of the Bainbridge brothers.”

  “Why would I want to do that? I have no interest in what’s going on at the mine.”

  Eddie Joe quick-stepped towards the door of the ranch office. “True, but they can tell you more about how this bridal agency thing works. Can’t hurt to learn all the details, just in case. You know, considering your age and all…”

  As soon as Eddie Joe caught the annoyed expression worn by his boss as he rose from his chair, he skedaddled out of the office. It had been worth a try. After all, he still believed his plan’s key for success centered on convincing the boss to find his own bride and bring her to the ranch.

  ~o0o~

  Eddie Joe grinned from ear to ear, not because his boss had taken his letters to the two women picked out as possible brides for him to be mailed, but because with a little bit of coaxing, Eddie Joe had gotten the story out of Rusty of what had taken place while the boss was in town. Zeb Jacobson had met a woman while he was in Jubilee Springs. Rusty had seen Zeb walk down the boardwalk with her, although Rusty hadn’t admitted to it directly. When Rusty had gone into the store to buy some juice since, as usual, due to him being under eighteen, the boss forbade him to drink beer, the mercantile owner had proudly announced to Rusty the next time Zeb would visit with this woman. Rusty hadn’t told him every detail of what he saw and heard, insisting he had given his word to Zeb. However, Eddie Joe had heard enough of what he had pried out of Rusty to put it all together. He now knew the boss was taking the niece of the owners of the mercantile in Jubilee Springs to church the following Sunday.

  Yes, the pretext the boss had given Eddie Joe for driving into town this coming Sunday was to pick up the supplies the mercantile had ordered in on the train. But, Zeb or anyone else could have gone in any day of the week to do that, or maybe the Brinks’ son could have brought them out like he had done the previous year. No, that was a cover-up. The real reason the boss was going that particular day in person was because he, Eddie Joe, had put a bee in the boss’s Stetson, and the boss had found the right flower to pursue.

  Taking a woman to church was serious business. Driving ten miles to town to pick up a woman to take to church was definitely serious business. Then Eddie Joe recalled the next Sunday was the first of the month, the Sunday someone ended up with the task of taking Juanita in to the Catholic church. Eddie Joe’s grin widened. Only this coming Sunday it wouldn’t be him stuck driving the buckboard into town. The boss was going in person.

  Eddie Joe started scheming. This wasn’t his weekend to have off to go carousing in either Monarch Bend or Jubilee Springs. However, seeing the boss take a woman to church—the kind of woman a man would want to marry—was going to be too good to miss. Eddie Joe might even make a point to attend himself, just to make sure nothing slipped past him.

  Eddie Joe knew in the past he had been more than fair when dealing with the hands. That was one reason most of them respected him and followed his orders even though many of them were physically bigger than him and, assuming they could catch him first, possessed both the height and strength advantage to pound him into the ground. He had even gone out of his way to grant a few breaks to some of them. It was time for him to call in some favors. Although he had no intention of warning the boss ahead of time, he was going to Jubilee Springs that weekend.

  ~o0o~

  By the time he was on his way back from Jubilee Springs that next Sunday, Eddie Joe figured things were going his way. He had kept an eagle eye on both the boss and his lady before, during and after church. There was no doubt in Eddie Joe’s mind the boss liked her—a lot. Yes, the boss had stuck him with driving Juanita and the supplies from the mercantile home in the buckboard, but it was almost worth it. Zeb had kept Eddie Joe’s horse so he could ride it back to the ranch later that evening because Zeb Jacobson planned to rent a buggy and take Miss Bessie Carlson for a private drive in the country first. Yep, that was the word the boss had used—private. Eddie Joe felt real hopeful that there soon would be a second woman living at the ranch, and it wouldn’t be the woman he chose for a wife.

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  MONARCH BEND, COLORADO – AUGUST, 1881

  CHAPTER 6

  ~o0o~

  This letter-writing business was not going so well, Eddie Joe decided. Here he had a plot all figured out where he intended to build his two-room house, and he had ordered almost enough lumber to get the job done. All he needed was for the sawmill in Jubilee Springs to finish his shingles and the windows he had ordered to come in on the train from Denver. After that, he would worry about the most important furnishings to be purchased to get him and his new bride started. A table and chairs would be nice, but for a few months until he accumulated more money, he probably could get away with a wide board on sawhorses and a couple of small barrels. He wasn’t sure which would be more important: a decent wood stove for cooking and heating the cabin in the coming winter, or a nice bed. After considering, the stove won out, which reminded him he also needed to chop a supply of firewood.

  The one woman he wrote to mailed him a return letter saying she was used to the big city and being around a lot of people. She didn’t think she could be happy living out on an isolated ranch with the nearest town of any size being ten miles away. The other one wrote to thank him for considering her, but she had decided to marry another man. That left him out paper and stamps and with no prospective bride on the horizon.

  The third letter he received came from Lizett Millard in Denver. Thank goodness she had remembered his request to not use her business name as a return address, but only her personal directions. He flipped it front to back with his hand, wondering if it was her notice she was unable help him. If not, he hoped the bulk of whatever was inside meant she had at least returned the fee he paid her.

  Heaving a sigh of apprehension, Eddie Joe used his knife to slit open the letter. No money. He unfolded the pages. The one on top was a letter from Mrs. Millard acknowledging she knew the first two women she had referred to him did not work out. The last part of the letter explained how she had just received an application from a new woman living in Missouri. Although she might have been a potential match for one of the miners in Jubilee Springs, based on her handwriting as well as her background, she was a stronger match for him. A copy of the letter from this new correspondent was enclosed.