Hometown Redemption - Book Three of the Western Girls Trilogy

Chapter 2

Morgan laughed softly. Jake had left the newspaper open on the table, and circled the large advertisement the Double HH Ranch had placed for their newest cattle drive. Having been recently married, he was leaving Ted Pierce in charge this year, and had complete faith his good friend could pull it off just fine. Besides, the herd was only fifteen hundred head this year. "Easy peasy," as Morgan called it.

Mr. and Mrs. Harris had been more than happy to hire Morgan on at the ranch. Mrs. Harris had been having trouble getting around as well as she used to and although she hired her for her cooking and cleaning skills, she was happy to have a bit of companionship too. Her husband, who was also getting on in years, worked long hours out on the ranch and it was nice to have someone to sit and talk to during the day.

Morgan didn't mind the work. The Harris' were far neater than the girls at the orphanage, and she rarely had to mop up muddy boot tracks since Mrs. Harris insisted all boots be taken off on the porch. The employees had been trained well, too, washing up before they came inside for meals and always scraping their plates and stacking them neatly by the sink afterwards. Most of the employees lived in the bunk house, but since Jake was the foreman, he actually lived in a small, but separate house on the property, which was perfect for a newlywed couple.

Mrs. Harris was just coming down the stairs and Morgan folded the newspaper back up so her husband could read it when he came down. "Anything good?" she asked.

"I think Jake is teasing me." Morgan replied. "He circled the advertisement your husband put in the newspaper for the cattle drive. In red, mind you!"

Mrs. Harris chuckled. "Happy anniversary of the time the two of you met!"

Morgan laughed softly. "Yes, I suppose it is."

"I can't tell you how pleased I was to find out Jake finally got married!" the woman reached up for a coffee cup and poured her husband the first cup, as she did every morning. "I was a little shocked at how he went about it, but it all seemed to turn out well, don't you think?"

"I was surprised he didn't hate me by the end of it all," Morgan said.

Mrs. Harris laughed and gently reached up to pat her on the cheek. "I think he was too distracted by your pretty face!"

Morgan started breakfast, now that the coffee was done. The hungry men would be coming inside in about twenty minutes and they would expect the food to be ready. "Well, thank goodness he wasn't so distracted that he couldn't do his job," she smiled.

"So, who was that man that came looking for you yesterday? Someone you know?"

"Oh!" Morgan realized she hadn't told her, and she explained everything that had happened after she'd left the day before, as she cooked.

"It's so strange how young people meet these days. Not like the old days!" Mrs. Harris smiled. "So, Mallory married his brother?"

"That's what he said! I couldn't believe it! I mean, when I ran into her in San Fransisco, she mentioned that she had decided not to marry the man she was sent there for, but she didn't mention anything about his brother!"

"Oh, you're going to have to find out what happened!" Mrs. Harris had sat down and drank some of her husband's coffee as she'd listened to her story. Realizing the cup was nearly empty, she stood up to refill it just as he came downstairs. "Good morning, Dear. Your coffee."

"Thank you, Sweetheart," he kissed her on the cheek and sat in his usual chair to read the paper while he waited for breakfast. "Anything special happening today?"

"Sorry, Jake marked up the inside of your paper," Morgan said.

"Check the advertisements, Dear," Mrs. Harris said.