The Brides of Chance Collection Part 8

"I thought nothing of the kind." She flashed a smile at him. "I already planned to make Polly a new outfit as my gift."

Chapter 11.

Thursday at lunch, Miriam set a basket of rolls on the table and smiled her thanks as Gideon pulled out her chair. "How many men do you expect to come help build the cabin tomorrow?"

"Can't say for certain."

Paul crowded into his place. "Us, maybe eight more. I'd venture probably a dozen or so all together."

t.i.tus nodded. "Sounds about right to me."

Gideon took his place and folded his hands. He gave Miriam a nod, and she said grace. The Chance brothers didn't do a whole lot of talking at the table during the midday meal. They tended to shovel in as much food as they could in the least amount of time possible. Miriam had learned that sketchy plans for the day comprised any breakfast discussion and all conversation usually took place at supper.

Still, Miriam needed to ascertain a few basic facts. "Will those eight men eat as much as you all do?"

Gideon gave her an amused look. "Stop fretting. We're putting a steer in the fire pit."

"Bunch of nonsense," Daniel groused. "Practically reenacting the Prodigal Son, killing the fatted calf." For all of his bl.u.s.ter, he still gently spooned a bite into Ginny Mae's mouth. "Built my cabin without anyone else coming by."

"This way, it'll only take one day," Logan reasoned.

"Paul and I'll saw the floor planks this afternoon." Gideon sopped the last of the stew from his bowl and popped the roll into his mouth. "Bryce, make sure the troughs are full for everyone's horses tomorrow."

t.i.tus rested his elbows on the table. "You haven't said anything about the plans yet."

"No need. Same as Daniel's." Gideon rose.

"Auntie Miri-Em, you better start making gravy for the chimney!"

Miriam started to wipe Polly's hands.

Gideon cleared his throat. "No need. I have White bringing a little potbelly stove from his mercantile."

"Great galloping hop toads!" Bryce blurted out. "Really?"

"Yep." Gideon strode toward the door as if he couldn't escape fast enough. His voice went gruff. "You all get to work."

t.i.tus was the last to leave. He tarried by the door a moment.

"Did you need something?" Miriam asked.

He gave her a lopsided smile. "I'd be happy to pick a couple of heads of cabbage so you could make that fancy cabbage salad." Once he'd built up the nerve to make that request, he added on, "You'll have to hide it from Gideon, though. He'd eat the whole bowl of it before anyone got a chance at getting a mouthful tomorrow."

"It needs to stay cool, t.i.tus. I'll make it tomorrow."

"Make it today. I'll put it in a bucket and lower in into the well. Hovering stuff above the water keeps it chilly as can be. Ma used to do that to keep food."

"Wonderful! Thank you."

"Every last man in Reliable towns.h.i.+p is here," Paul marveled the next morning.

Gideon growled and called himself twelve kinds of an idiot. Of course the men came. Miriam was single. Pretty. Could cook. He'd hoped a few men who could spare a day's labor would get a quick peek at her today, then leave her be. He'd planned on their spreading the word that Miriam belonged to the Chance family and wasn't looking for a husband.

So much for my grand plan.

White's wagon rolled into the yard. Gideon let out a grateful sigh. Reba had come along. She'd help Miriam in the kitchen and keep any of the fellows from getting too friendly. As he helped Reba down from the wagon, she gawked about. "Looks like half the world came."

Bryce counted aloud. "Thirty-seven, Giddy." His eyes went wide. "That's more than three dozen!"

And every last one of them is hovering near Miriam, trying his best to capture her attention. I've got to do something.

Reba tugged on his sleeve. "I'm going to borrow Logan and t.i.tus to help carry those crates inside. I figured Miriam would need some help feeding the hordes."

Gideon cast a quick glance at the crates and gave Reba a relieved smile. "You're a peach."

Daniel had a daughter in each arm and stomped up as his other brothers emptied the wagon. "I'm taking the girls to my cabin and shutting the door. This is a circus, and I'll be lucky if they don't get trampled. I hold you accountable for the whole mess. You've got enough men here to build a dozen houses!"

Gideon watched his brother slam the door to his cottage, and a slow smile lit his face. Maybe not a dozen, but...

He cleared his throat. "Men!"

They stopped palavering and turned toward him.

"Thanks for coming out. Fact is, a whole lot more of you showed up than I planned."

"Folks ain't gonna think you're so smart anymore, Chance," Chris Roland hollered. "Everybody knows you got a pretty gal up here. 'Course every man jack in the county came!"

The men hooted with laughter.

Gideon hooked his thumbs in his belt. "Well, they're gonna think I'm right smart all over again, then, because I'm going to take advantage of your strength. Daniel's been chopping down trees for months now. I figure we can organize into groups and put up three cabins today!"

"You ain't smart. You're plumb crazy!"

"Then, Chris," Gideon said, pointing his forefinger at the man who called out that insult, "it seems to me that your team ought to be able to beat mine."

"You're on! I'm calling Rusty on my team."

"Wait-" Rusty yelled. "What does the first team done win?"

Gideon paused a moment. He turned when he felt Miriam's light touch on his arm. She stood on her toes and whispered in his ear. He nodded and announced, "Sunday supper. Miss Hanc.o.c.k will cook Sunday supper for the winning team."

The men all shouted with glee and quickly organized themselves into three teams. Gideon turned to Miriam and gave her a stern look. "You stay right by Reba White. I don't want these men troubling you, and she knows how to handle them."

"You don't have to worry about me, Gideon. I had to deal with all of the sailors back on the islands."

Her innocence made his blood run cold. "Those sailors wanted sinful union and likely found it in any number of brothels; these men want a wife. You're the only prospect around."

"Then you'll simply have to tell them I'm unavailable. I'm committed to rearing my nieces."

Reasoning with Miriam was as preposterous as saddling a squirrel. Gideon hollered, "Reba? Will you come here?" Reba marched on over. "Do me a favor. Keep the men away from Miriam."

Spurred on by the prospect of eating Miriam's Sunday supper, the men worked with zeal. The simple square floor plan with a door in the front and a window in the back made for rapid construction. All of the men had built their own cabins and worked together to raise barns. When they set to business, they knew what they were doing.

Then again, each team seemed to have notions as to what would improve the basic plan. Gideon's team built on the foundation that had the floorboards in place. Clearly that would become Miriam's. They wanted to put an additional window by the door, so they set the door one-third of the way across the front instead of dead center.

The middle team, under Chris Roland's lead, determined they had a better plan. Their cabin featured a front and a back door-and Rusty was busy making Dutch doors so each one could become a window if the occupant so chose.

The cabin closest to Dan's started out exactly like the plan. Paul was leading that team. He and t.i.tus kept quiet, but Gideon could tell they were up to something by the way the men would huddle every now and again to discuss something. Sure enough, they kept on building the walls higher while men braced the first two cottages' roofs.

No one wanted to stop, since Miriam's Sunday meal hung in the balance, but she banged a spoon on the bottom of a pot. "Gentlemen, I'm calling a break. It's only fair everyone cease laboring for the same length of time."

They grumbled good-naturedly and headed for the food. Daniel came out of his cabin, and Polly ran toward Miriam. "Auntie Miri-Em, I get to eat first! It's my turn because I already washed my hands and face. All the men gots dirty hands. See?" She held up her little pink scrubbed hands.

Gideon sat on a stump and watched as big, burly men all backtracked and waited by the pump so they could sluice off. He suspected this was the cleanest some of the men had been in ages. Miriam probably thought the same thing of us when she arrived.

Bryce stood over by the pit with Logan. They started slicing off slabs of meat. Men piled it high on pie tins, then went toward the table. Miriam and Reba had cooked up a storm. Good thing, too. He'd thought Miriam overdid it when she made eight loaves of bread and four pies last night. With twoscore men, that wouldn't be sufficient. Truth be told, men would be satisfied to load up on the barbecue, but they'd feel cheated if they didn't get their fill of sweets. Thank the Lord, Reba brought pie, too!

Gideon caught himself. He'd been thanking the Almighty quite a bit lately. In truth, ever since Miriam showed up and just lived her faith in the simple, straightforward way that she did, he'd been reexamining his own ways. He'd found a whale of a lot to be grateful for and had become a whole lot less irritable.

Society matrons would swoon, but practical Miriam did what needed to be done with what she had on hand. Two two-gallon wooden buckets held potato salad and the cabbage slaw salad he liked so much. Deviled eggs, pickles, and tomato slices made the table look restaurant-fancy. Not only were there baskets of sliced bread, but there were also plenty of drop biscuits. Best of all, eight pies lined a board the women laid over two barrels.

"Whaddya have there?" Todd Dorsey called.

Reba rested her hands on her hips. "Two dried apple pies, two peach, a custard, two chocolate pudding, and a shoofly."

A masculine chorus of groans and satisfied grunts filled the air.

"That isn't all. Miriam made oatmeal cookies."

Marv Wall elbowed his way toward Miriam. "That does it. I'm not doing another lick of work. I'm proposing marriage so Miss Miriam won't need a cabin here."

Gideon was ready to wring Marv's neck, but Miriam clapped her hands and laughed. "Oh, that was the best joke I've heard yet today, sir. You simply must have the first choice of pie for having such a charming sense of humor."

Marv got a bewildered look on his face. Gideon took pity and bellowed, "The ladies better cut the pie, else he'll take a whole one to himself!"

"I'm not averse to having a pie of my own, but I'd rather have the cook," Marv said mournfully.

"The cook," Miriam singsonged, "is here to take care of her nieces. I'm sure you gentlemen understand, and I'm thankful that you're here to help me settle in with my family."

"Guess that says it all, men." Gideon took a stance by Miriam and stepped out in faith. "I aim to ask a blessing on the food." The yard went quiet. Gideon's pulse thundered in his ears as he bowed his head. "Almighty G.o.d, we give Thee thanks for the fine things in our lives-for land and livestock, family and food. Draw us close to Thee, we pray, and bless the hands that prepared the meal. Amen."

"Amen," the men said in unison.

He gestured toward the food. "Dig in." Miriam said nothing, but she'd slipped her hand in his as he prayed. It felt...right. Like it belonged. His heart felt right, too. Like he'd come home-not just because they were of one accord, but because he'd been keeping the Lord at a distance, and that had changed.

The men made utter pigs of themselves. It wasn't until every last speck of food was gone that they decided it was time to start up on the challenge again. "Paul and t.i.tus are going to take forever to get that third cabin done."

"We'll see about that!"

Axes rang out and saws grated. Men counted as they worked in accord to heave logs into place. Gideon's men went back to the far pasture to fetch more logs for the roof. He dusted off his hands and stood back to survey the progress.

His cabin for Miriam would be sound. It still needed c.h.i.n.king and a window set into it, but those things didn't take much time or effort. It would be a fine little place, and he'd even kept some of the sc.r.a.ps from the floor planks and hammered them together to make a drop leaf to serve as a writing desk that folded against the wall.

The center cabin sat square as could be, and it got a mighty fine breeze going through with both doors wide open.

Gideon surmised what t.i.tus and Paul were doing and gave them a nod of approval. Instead of making a peaked roof, they'd built up the front and left the roof as a simple downward slant to the back. The extra height bore support trusses for a loft.

Paul sauntered over and swiped his sleeve across his damp brow. "Dan and the girls'll outgrow their little cottage in a few years. t.i.tus and I decided we might as well b.u.mp it up a bit."

"Good thinking." Gideon looked at the three new buildings with a growing sense of satisfaction and slapped him on the back.

Bryce mopped at his neck with a bandanna. "This is the workin'est day ever." His sunburned face split into a smile, and he elbowed Paul. "Couldn't have done it if Dan hadn't been in such a foul mood and hacked down so many trees."

Paul and Bryce started laughing.

"Men," Miriam said as she daintily picked her way across chips of wood and bark. She smiled at them. "I'd like a word, if you will."

"Better make it quick," Gideon warned. "Don't want to slow down our teams."

Miriam's eyes sparkled. She reached them and looked from Gideon to Paul and Bryce, then back at Gideon again. "The men have all worked so hard. Would you mind terribly if all of them came for supper after church?"

Gideon toed the dirt and shook his head. "Miriam, there's a problem."

She turned a becoming shade of pink. "Oh dear. I'm sorry. I didn't think about how much food-"

"That's not the problem." He sighed. "Sweet pea, other than an occasional itinerant Bible-thumper who happens through, Reliable doesn't have a church."

She looked utterly flabbergasted.

"Maybe it's not quite that heathen," Paul added hastily. "The last one said he's riding circuit and will be back through every other month or so."

Her mouth opened and shut a few times. Then she smoothed her skirts. "Well, we'll just have to remedy that. It's summer, and the weather is lovely as can be. We'll have wors.h.i.+p right here in the yard."

She turned around and sashayed back into the house.

Bryce looked stricken. "Giddy, do something!"

Gideon shrugged. "You did this. You voted for her to stay, and now she's changing everything. Live with it."