Ian entered the mess house and sat at the long harvest table.Surprised to see his boss in the middle of the day, Roy wiped the flour from his hands and joined him.  “How’s the babysittin’ goin’?”Ian chortled.  “It does kind of feel a little like that.   I’m walking on eggs trying not to upset her.”“She was real skittish about goin’ to the river.”“Can you blame her?  She’s a young woman in a camp full of men.”“Don’t know how I’d feel in that situation. Does she give ya a hard time about sleepin’ alone in the house with ya?”“I can’t imagine that young thing giving anyone a hard time about anything,” Ian said as he rolled himself a cigarette. “I got engaged while in Fort Benton,”“Congratulations, boss.  I was wonderin’ when ya planned on startin&rs

Ian sat in the rocker and sipped his coffee while he watched Angel busy herself in the kitchen area of the main room of his little house making biscuits.  The weather was warming up outside enough that a fire in the fireplace wasn’t warranted, but it was the only means of cooking until he purchased another stove.  Even though the fireplace worked surprisingly well for cooking, practicality told him to stick with his plans of purchasing a small stove.  Angel might be fine with the heat of the stove on nice days, but that didn’t mean that whoever finally settled in as his housekeeper would.  Even though his main meals would be in the mess house, there would be times when he’d want something cooked in his house and he had to consider the comfort of his staff.  He’d moved the chair close to the open window and was enjoying the crisp, late spring breeze coming off the mountain.The more time he spent with Angel, the closer he felt t

Roy would have to go to the medicine man himself, so the men needed to agree to go without a cook for a few days.  Since all of the men agreed that there was something wrong with the boss, they were eager to cooperate.“I understand that woman cooks,” Jacob said to Harold.  “Maybe we can make up a lie about where Roy is, and she’ll cover for him.”“I hate the thought of eating beans and biscuits for the better part of a week.  It might be worth a try.” Melody strained to listen to the whispers of the men, from across the room in her place in the far corner, in hopes of hearing some tidbit that might explain what was really happening.  She’d known Ian for far too long to believe that he meant what he said about calling off the engagement. He was too much a man of honor for such a thing.  She wouldn’t believe it.  She couldn’t believe it.She slowly approached th

Ian stretched in a cat-like manner as he pulled his lean body off the bed.  They’d taken the cot from his room and put it beside Angel’s bed to create a wider sleeping surface.  This left little space for walking and required the washstand be repositioned beneath the only window the room possessed.  With the shutters thrown open and no glass to protect him from the elements, he shivered from the crisp breeze the flitted into the room while he washed with the tepid water in the basin.Angel came up behind him and wrapped her slender arms around his muscled torso. “I love your body.  It reminds me of the statue of a Greek god I saw in a museum in Paris.”He placed his large hand over her petite ones. “You remember Paris?  Are your memories coming back?”She released him and stepped back so that he could turn and face her.  The room was so small that the back of her legs touched the end of the bed. A

Ian was just going into the house when Melody and Jackson returned from the river.  He stopped and politely bowed to her while keeping one foot on the ready to step onto his porch.“I’m so glad we caught you, Ian.  I wanted to see if you would join us for dinner tonight?”“Your father is waiting for you, my dear.  I believe he is eager to leave,” Ian said in a gentle tone that hinted of the love she knew he still felt for her.“But, we’ve had no time to speak,” she said with a sweet smile.The door opened far enough for Melody to see Angel’s shaded form.  Her blonde hair hung wild and free around her shoulders.  At closer inspection, she could see the flesh of the woman’s legs beneath the hem of the oversized man’s shirt that hung well below her knees. Ian took her gloved hand in his and brought it to his lips.   “I must get back inside