Hill Country Courtship. Laurie Kingery

An old wooden cradle sat on the floor between the bed and the rocking chair. Mrs. Meyer must have brought it down from the attic, Maude thought. Had it been from that long-ago time when the proprietress had been a young mother? How nice that it was getting used again.

      April Mae’s eyes were closed, but she opened them at the creaking of the opening door. Her gaze darted first to the infant, then, satisfied, to Maude.

      “How are you feeling?”

      “Tired. Sore...but ain’t she purty?” April Mae said, smiling at her child, her eyes bright with pride.

      Mrs. Meyer rose and handed Maude the baby. “I’d better go start workin’ on dinner—noon’ll be here before we know it,” she said, and left.

      “She’s perfect,” Maude agreed, even as she took note of the purple shadows under April Mae’s eyes. Her face was slightly swollen from the exertion she’d gone through the night before, but Maude told herself not to jump to conclusions that anything was amiss. All women looked like that after delivering a baby, more or less. “Is she nursing all right?”

      “She’s getting the hang of it,” April Mae said, still smiling, but her eyelids flickered drowsily.

      “It’s all right to go back to sleep,” Maude assured her. “You need to rest up after the wonderful job you did last night, bringing Hannah into the world. I’ll just sit and hold her for a few minutes, then put her in the cradle when I have to leave. Will you be able to get her if she wakes?”

      “Mmm-hmm...”

      Within seconds, her soft snores told Maude the girl slept. Now she had time to think about how April Mae and the baby’s coming was likely to change life here at the boardinghouse—and how that was likely to affect her.

      But the image of Jonas MacLaren and his job offer, delivered in that delicious accent, kept intruding on her mind.

      * * *

      Reining in his horse on the knoll overlooking the flock, Jonas MacLaren doffed his wide-brimmed hat and took a moment to rub both temples with his thumb and fingers.

      “What’s wrong, patrón?” Hector asked, bringing his mount alongside Jonas’s. “You got dolor de cabeza? A headache?”

      Jonas gave his segundo a sideways glance. “I’m all right.”

      “With respect, senor, you do not look it,” his Tejano foreman said in his forthright manner. “I think you are hungry. Why not go back to the big house and have something to eat? You been out with me since dawn, and I’m thinking you did not break your fast before you left the house, sí? The flocks will still be here when you return.”

      Jonas stared down at the peacefully grazing cluster of merinos that dotted the slope below like so many little clouds of creamy white, though some of the “clouds” had long, curling horns. They were but a small portion of his flock, which numbered about two thousand. Scattered among these were Angora goats, similarly colored, that produced prized mohair.

      “Maybe I’ll see what’s in the pot in the bunkhouse,” Jonas muttered. “It’s not real peaceful in the big house at the moment.”

      Hector’s dark eyes took on a gleam of understanding. “Ah. Senora MacLaren, she is on the warpath again?”

      Jonas couldn’t suppress a rueful smile at his mother being compared to a rampaging wild Indian. Between all the Spanish and “Texanisms” he was picking up since he’d bought the ranch and moved himself and his mother to the Hill Country of Texas, he’d added considerably to his vocabulary.

      “Yes, she is. This morning she threw a dish of huevos rancheros at Senora Morales, saying respectable scrambled eggs didn’t need heathenish peppers in them.”

      “Ay yi yi,” Hector said, but his attempt to look concerned was utterly defeated by the grin he couldn’t quite stop. The senora’s tantrums were legendary, and on the ranch they had become a source of great amusement...to those who didn’t have to experience them firsthand.

      “You smile, but Senora Morales told me if I didn’t find a companion for the senora within the week, she would leave and go back to her sister’s in San Antonio.”

      “Do not worry, patrón. She doesn’t mean it.”

      Jonas raked a hand through his hair. “This time, I think she just might,” he insisted.

      “If she left, I could ask my sister, the one who lives in Refugio to come and be your cook,” Hector offered. “It would take her a while to travel so far, though.”

      Jonas shook his head. “You already told me how sweet-tempered she is. I’d hate to inflict my mother on someone like that. And it really is too much work, to handle the cooking and cleaning, and care for my mother on top of that. No, she needs a dedicated companion. And to fill that role, I’m starting to think what my mother needs is someone as strong willed as she is.”

      Unbidden, the image of Maude Harkey came to mind once again. He resolutely banished it. Miss Harkey had already said no, and that was the end of it.

      Hector shrugged. “It’s possible.”

      “Meanwhile, I’m heading for the bunkhouse. Tamales eaten in peace are better than risking my ears in the ranch house right now.” Maybe he’d get an inspiration while he ate for where he could find the right lady.

      He had missed his chance to speak to several ladies at once by not taking full advantage of the Spinsters’ Club barbecue. It was unlikely he’d find so many potential candidates in one place again. But he wouldn’t let that obstacle stop him. If he knew anything, it was that no man in the world was more tenacious than a Scotsman. He would find the right woman to see to his mother’s needs.

      But in the meantime he’d enjoy a quiet meal, and he might just grab a siesta afterward on one of the empty bunks. He would find a companion soon, but not tonight. And in the absence of someone to abate her tantrums, he knew he’d need his rest before he had to face his mother again.

      * * *

      “You go ahead, Maude,” Ella Justiss said that evening, when the last customer had left the little café that Maude helped her run. “I’m just going to wash these few remaining dishes. Would you want Nate to walk you home? By the time he did that and came back, I’d be ready to go.” She nodded toward Nate Bohannan, her fiancé, who was sitting at one of the tables, having just finished a helping of Ella’s fried chicken. “I know you want to go check on little Hannah.”

      “I’d be happy to walk with you, Miss Maude,” Nate confirmed.

      “There’s no need, but thank you, Nate. I’ll be fine. You two have wedding plans to discuss.” She had no fear at the prospect of walking back to the boardinghouse by herself. Simpson Creek was a safe little town, even at night. Untying her apron, she hung it up on a peg by the door and removed her shawl from another peg.

      “I’ll light a lantern for you, at least,” Nate said. “Then you can be on your way.”

      Maude couldn’t deny that she was eager to see that tiny little bundle of perfection, with her rosebud mouth and the thick thatch of downy black hair, so she walked quickly across the bridge over the creek and down darkened Main Street, taking a shortcut via the alley between the mercantile and the hotel to reach the boardinghouse on Travis Street.

      She would discuss finding the baby’s father with April Mae, too, Maude decided, after she’d made sure the new mother had eaten some supper. Now that the girl wasn’t in labor, she should be thinking more clearly and might remember where Felix Renz had planned to go next on his circuit. The man sold pots and pans and other kitchenware from a cart, so he wouldn’t be traveling all that fast. And it was high time the man was made to take responsibility for the girl he’d left in the family way—and the new baby that had come into the world as a result. Surely when he saw that precious infant, he’d want to do right by her and her mother.

      Maude