Prim And Improper

Louise sighed. She hardly ever thought about old times anymore, or the life she had left behind. There was always too much in the present that demanded her attention. “Life is different here, Toby. When I was a girl, the men we knew were gentleman, or at least tradesmen. I wasn’t flirting with miners.”

“What’s the matter with miners?” Toby asked. “I wish I could go out all day and hunt for gold!”

“Wishes don’t earn their keep,” she chirped sagely.

“They would if I struck it rich,” he challenged. “Besides, Ty and Cal aren’t miners anymore.”

“They used to be.”

“But they aren’t now. They aren’t like Will Bundy and all that gang, just hanging around the saloon all day waitin’ to hear where the next big strike is. And anyway, Sally’s acting so funny, I worry about her. Last night she stayed up all night, humming.”

Louise shook her head. Sally’s sad hum was becoming a familiar sound in Noisy Swallow. She hated seeing her sister going through such a trying time, but in the end, she knew it was for the best. “Give her time,” she said sadly, “she’ll get over it”

“I know you think that,” Toby said boldly, “but I’m not so sure. I think she’s in love with…Mr. Saunders.”

“Then she just needs to learn not to love him,” Louise said.

“Not everybody can rein in all the things they feel like you can, Lou. Like me. Sometimes I feel like I could just burst out running and not stop till I reach the Pacific Ocean!”

Louise had to laugh at that. “That’s the way it feels to be sixteen. But if you do burst out running, I wish you’d head in the direction of Harvard.”

He shrugged sheepishly, and she gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t worry, Toby. I’ll go talk to Sally and see if I can’t cheer her up.” An idea struck her, and her voice brightened. “Maybe I’ll make her a new dress, or a hat.”

He smiled limply. “Maybe.”

Just then, a movement on the street outside the window caught her eye. “Oh, no!” she exclaimed.

Toby looked out the window, and two spots of color appeared in his cheeks. “Uh-oh.”

Dark as a thundercloud, Ty Saunders strode across the dirt road that was Noisy Swallow’s only thoroughfare. He had a grim determination about him—set off by his beard, his mouth appeared to be a straight slash—that made both Toby and Louise draw back a little.

In a second, he was knocking the dirt off his boots outside the door of the mercantile.

“Gosh, I’d better get back to my chores,” Toby said quickly, dashing for the door.

“Wait, Toby, don’t lea—”

Then Ty was there, inside the store, which seemed a whole lot smaller just for his being in it. Louise hadn’t quite appreciated how large a man he was when they were outside together. Now she noticed that he’d had to duck as he’d come through the door, and that his broad shoulders filled up the entrance to the store. The shelves next to him seemed dwarfed by his presence.

So did Toby. “Hi there, Ty,” he said quickly, not quite looking the man in the eye. “I was sure hoping to talk to you, but gosh, I’ve got lots to do now.” As fast as a mouse dashing for a knothole, Toby darted through the door.

Louise looked into Ty Saunders’s watchful gray eyes and found herself backing toward the counter. He followed her, until they stood on opposite sides of the long length of wood.

“I thought I told you not to come here,” Louise said.

His lips twisted into a curt smile at her no-nonsense greeting. “No, you told me I couldn’t see Sally.”

“Well, then…” Her mouth felt bone dry, so speaking took an effort. “Have you come to shop?”

“No, I’ve come to get something I’ve already paid for.”

Louise frowned. “I don’t recall your buying anything.”

“I didn’t. I paid for a service I haven’t received.”

All sorts of questions popped into Louise’s head as she looked into Ty’s devilish eyes. What had Sally been doing out there at the Saunders ranch?

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she said.

“That doesn’t surprise me. You don’t seem to know much of what goes on in your family.”

“If this has something to do with Sally—”

“It has to do with Toby,” he interrupted shortly. “He hasn’t shown up for work in three days.”

“Work!” Louise cried.

“You know,” he reminded her playfully, “that activity people engage in when they need niceties such as…money?”

“I should know what work is. I do enough of it.”

“Too much,” Ty replied, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “You ought to try relaxing sometime.”

Louise planted her hands on her hips and looked into the man’s disarming eyes. “And what would that get me?”

“Unwound.”

A sputter of indignation built up in her throat. “I’m as unwound as I care to be,” she said, practically choking on the words.

He shrugged. “Suit yourself. But maybe if you weren’t running around like a jackrabbit all the time, you’d know that little brother of yours has more ambition than can be held in all those books you’re always pushing on him.”

Louise’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Toby’s studies don’t concern you.”

Ty chuckled, a deep sound that seemed to rumble right from his chest to hers. “That’s right. If you turn a blind eye to a problem, it’s bound to go away…about one time in a hundred.”

She bristled, both at his words and her reaction to the man’s physical presence. Every move, every sound he made sent waves of awareness through her.

“Last week I paid five dollars in advance for work Toby has yet to show up to perform,” Ty said.

Louise felt her jaw go slack with shock. “You’ve been paying my brother to do work at your ranch?” To his nod, she asked, astounded, “When?”

“For about a month,” Ty said.

“A month!” Louise cried, flabbergasted.

“Maybe if you weren’t so busy running the town, you’d have more success running your family, Miss Livingston.”

Fuming, she planted her hands on her hips. “I’ve been quite successful running both, until you started wooing my brother and sister away to your ranch. Next thing you know you’ll be telling me Sally’s been herding cattle!”