When Virg’s hold on her hand loosened, Ruth pulled it free and walked to the mirror to take down her hair and fix it in a braid the same way she’d done it a thousand nights before. Only this time, she wouldn’t be going to bed alone with her dreams about Webb. She would be sharing the bed with her husband. She watched his reflection in the mirror as he loosened the knot of his tie. There wasn’t any room for regrets, not anymore.
Whi
le she mechanically brushed her pale blond hair, Ruth studied the leanly muscled man removing his suit jacket. He stretched his neck to unfasten the boiled collar of his white shirt and glanced her way. His gaze met the reflection of hers in the mirror, and he paused to study her with a possessive intensity.
“It’s a rare feeling to look at you and know you are Mrs. Virgil Haskell.” Then he smiled, a little at himself and at the idea. She caught the glint of satisfaction in his eyes. “I’m a married man now, with a wife to think about . . . and someday, a family. It makes a man look at things differently.”
“What do you mean?” Since he seemed to expect a response from her, Ruth made one. She had learned it was easier to ask questions than to make statements. It encouraged Virg to talk so she didn’t have to do much of it herself.
“Your pa told me he had some money put aside for you. Maybe we should use it to get a small place of our own,” he suggested. “It isn’t going to be easy to look after you proper on a cowboy’s wages.”
The idea of leaving the ranch was a possibility Ruth had never considered. And she didn’t want to now, either. This was her home; all her friends were here—and Webb. “My father’s health isn’t that good,” she murmured. “I should be nearby so I can look after him. With what I earn teaching—”
“But I don’t want you to teach anymore,” he interrupted and sat down on the bed to take off his boots. “You’re my wife. Your place is in our home, taking care of things and raising our family. I wouldn’t be much of a man if I couldn’t support a wife.” He pulled off one boot and tossed it in the corner, then raised his leg to take off the other. “Any chance of me being more than a cowboy on this ranch is about zero. Calder doesn’t make outsiders into foremen. The only ones who get positions like that are men whose fathers worked for his pa.”
“I don’t think you’re being fair to Webb.” Ruth couldn’t remain silent in the face of that criticism. “If you talked to him about a better position, I’m sure he would consider you.”
“No.” The other boot joined the one in the corner. Virg Haskell stood up and walked the few steps to the mirror in his stockinged feet, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Maybe if you talked to him, he might listen. But he doesn’t think all that much of me.”
“That isn’t true.” Ruth turned around to face him, defending Webb, as she always would. “I’ve heard him say to others how hard you work and how dependable you are.”
“Next week sometime, why don’t you mention to him about me becoming one of his foremen . . . kinda feel him out on the idea,” Virg said and let his hand trail down the length of her pale braid. “If it looks like a possibility, I’ll go talk to him myself. If I can earn a decent wage, there wouldn’t be any reason to leave here.”
“I’ll . . . I’ll talk to him,” Ruth agreed reluctantly, because she didn’t want to leave.
He grinned and kissed her lightly. “Spoken like a proper wife,” he said and moved away to unbutton his shirt.
But she knew she wasn’t. It made her look at him and say, “I’ll be a good wife to you, Virg,” she promised, determined to make up for the fact that she didn’t love him the way she should.
His shirt was completely unbuttoned and pulled loose from his pants, but he didn’t slip it off. He stared at her for a long second before speaking. “You can start by unbuttoning that dress.” His voice was husky and the look in his eyes was avid as he watched her fingers comply with his request. “From this night on, you’re going to belong to me—and no one else.”
Not even Webb Calder. Virg Haskell had known about him all along. Ruth was his wife by default, but Virg was convinced that he’d won just the same. He had wanted her, and she was his. Nothing would ever change that. It was his name she carried, and it would be his children she birthed. If she didn’t love him now the way he wanted her to, she would.
When she stepped out of the dress and stood before him in her lace petticoats, Virg Haskell reached out to take what was his by right. This night her body would know his—and every night to come.
The range had been in poor condition going into the winter months, and the winter turned out to be one of the most brutal in thirty years. The chinooks either were late in arriving or didn’t come at all. The strong, warm wind was blowing across the plains to usher March toward its conclusion and offering a respite from the killing cold, melting snow and ice. The Triple C was taking advantage of the brief spate of mild weather to check the ranch stock and tally up the losses that would undoubtedly run high.
Separating himself from the band of riders on shaggy-coated horses, Webb rode over to the Stanton house and dismounted. His knock on the door was followed by a muffled permission to enter. He stepped into the house and shut the door behind him. Ruth came out of the kitchen and faltered slightly when she saw him.
“Webb. I didn’t know it was you.” She pushed at her hair, trying to smooth the stray wisps into place, nervously gesturing at a chair. “Sit down. I’ll pour you some coffee.”
“No, thanks,” he refused, not bothering to take off his hat because he didn’t intend to stay more than a couple of minutes. “We’re on our way out to check the herds. I stopped by to ask if you would mind looking in on Lilli while I’m gone today. She hasn’t been feeling well this week.”
“Oh?” Ruth put a hand to her stomach, aware of the life it contained. The recent bouts of morning sickness had left her somewhat weakened and shaky for most of the day. “What’s wrong? Do you know?”
Webb shook his head, “She feels all right when she wakes up, but by the afternoon, she can’t seem to keep any food down. I’ve sent a couple of the boys into town to have Simon stop by when he makes his rounds. She insists she’ll be all right, but—I won’t be back until late today, and I’d feel better if you checked on her later.”
“Of course.” She wondered why Webb didn’t say anything about the expected addition to her family. Surely Virg had told him. He had spread the word quickly enough through the other families at the Triple C headquarters. She remembered how proud Virg had been when she told him, happier than when Webb had given him a foreman’s position.
“Thanks, Ruth.” A smile briefly creased his face, showing relief. He reached for the doorknob and paused in the act of turning it. “I heard about your news. Congratulations. You’ll make a fine mother.”
But not to your child, she thought, then buried it deep. “We are very happy about it.” Which was true, because a baby would give her something to love, and she had such a storehouse of love.
“I’m sure you are.” Webb studied her for another close second, not entirely convinced she was happy with her husband. He couldn’t lay his finger on what it was about Virg Haskell that he didn’t like. Making him foreman was one of the rare times Webb had showed favoritism, solely because of Ruth. He couldn’t fault Haskell on the job he’d done so far. Maybe he’d never regarded Haskell as being good enough for Ruth.
He touched his hat to Ruth and walked out of her house. He would always consider it her house, never Haskell’s. She was the one whose roots went into the land as deeply as his own. Webb knew he could count on her to look after Lilli while he was gone. The knowledge helped to ease his concern about his wife.
Lilli couldn’t recall any time when she’d been so sick. She watched the doctor closely while he made his examination, trying to get some advance warning in case there was something seriously wrong. But his face showed her nothing—so calm and composed, just as it had been when he was treating Stefan.