Page 10 of A Bride for Brodie

The barn was huge, with ten stalls on each side and a wide aisle between them.

Brodie hurried around and helped Lottie dismount. He enjoyed feeling her in his arms.

She joined the rest of the ladies as they waited for the men.

“You ladies can go inside and meet Agatha.” Ross nodded toward the big house.

Fiona stepped forward. “I don’t think so. We can help you with the horses or we’ll wait until you’re done. We’re all quite capable of tending to the horses. If we help, we’ll all get inside quicker.”

Lottie nodded and crossed her arms.

Ross tilted his head and looked at Fiona with narrowed eyes. “All right. Their stalls are there.” He pointed directly across from where he stood.

Brodie untied Lottie’s carpetbag from behind his saddle and set it in the aisle behind him. Then he removed his saddle off of Dusty and took it back to the last stall on the right.

The women took the saddles off their horses and carried them to the last stall, just as the men did. Three rows of logs had been shaved smooth and mounted about three feet above the ground there, so they could lay the saddles over them.

Lottie went back to Bluebell and rubbed her down with fresh straw from the last stall on the left side across the aisle from the saddles. Then she curried and brushed her until her coat shone.

The other women did the same with their mounts.

Brodie looked at Bluebell. He whistled. “You did a great job.”

“We took care of the guards’ horses and the warden’s, too. If we didn’t do a good job, they gave us extra duty, and no one wanted that.”

“No, I don’t suppose they did.” He grabbed Lottie’s carpetbag. “Let’s go inside and you can meet Agatha. She’s the real force at the Circle C. She keeps us all on the straight and narrow path.”

On the way inside, Ross was sidelined by his two daughters.

“Who are they?” Lottie smiled at the little girls and wiggled her fingers as she and Brodie passed.

“They’re his daughters, Jenny and Susie. Jenny is the older one. Come on in. He’ll be awhile. Their mother was murdered two years ago, and he’s raised them by himself. And with our help, what little that is.”

Lottie wrapped her arm around Brodie’s elbow. “I’m sure you have all been a substantial source of support. Just knowing he can rely on you to be there for the girls if something happened to him is probably quite comforting.”

They followed the other couples, except Ross and Fiona, inside to the kitchen.

Brodie put an arm around Lottie’s shoulders. “And this little gray-haired lady is Agatha. This is Lottie, my wife.”

Agatha held out her hand. “Pleased to meet you.”

Shaking the older woman’s hand, Lottie smiled. “I’m very pleased to meet you, too.”

“Agatha is the heart and soul of this ranch. I don’t know what we’d do without her.” He hugged the housekeeper. “She feeds us, cleans up after us, and keeps the house in order.”

Lottie clasped her hands in front of her. “Well, hopefully, we can make your life a little easier.”

Frowning, Agatha looked around the room. “With all you girls here, there won’t be anything for me to do.”

“Oh,” said Lottie. “There will be plenty to do. You’ll have to show us how to cook, how you do the laundry, what to plant in the garden and your schedule. There’s plenty to keep us all busy. And if we have the afternoons off well, who’s saying we can’t read or knit or darn socks or whatever? Probably should put darning socks in the chores category.”

Agatha laughed. “Definitely.” She clapped her hands. “You boys take these girls to your rooms and get them settled. I’ll have lunch ready in about ten minutes.”

“Come with me.” Brodie took her hand and headed out of the kitchen and then up the stairs. The bedrooms, all six of them, were along the hall, three on each side. “My room is the first on the left. The girls’ room is across the hall. They like to come and jump on us all while we’re in bed, so we’ll be locking the door from now on. I don’t want them coming in while we’re making love whenever that is.”

Lottie untied her hat and laid it on the bureau.

Brodie glanced around the room, trying to see it as Lottie did. Besides the bureau, there was a chest of drawers, a commode, and two nightstands, all made from a light-colored wood. The headboard and footboard were simple, with a short post on each corner. Would she think it too simple and want another one made? The bed was extra-long and wider than most beds because it had to be specially made. All the men had beds like this one because they were all very tall. His parents had commissioned the local carpenter to make them when Ross was about fifteen.