Peyton headed for the boardinghouse. He had missed out on a lot of evenings with friends to save his salary. His expenses were paid by Pinkerton and he lived in the bachelor wing of headquarters at a reduced rate when he was in Denver. For years he’d planned on retiring early to a nice ranch in these mountains.
He wondered how Red would feel about living next to her brother. He was about to find out. He went inside the boardinghouse.
Mrs. Ramirez spotted him. “Your wife is in the garden.”
“Thank you, Señora Ramirez.”
“We are to be family. You must now call me Sofia.”
He dipped a slight bow. “Thank you again, Sofia.” He walked through to where he saw a terrace.
Red set on a bench by the fountain. The late afternoon sun turned her tresses into a fiery halo. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen but he would have loved her if she had been homely. She was intelligent and sharp-witted and kind and generous.
Dang, he’d turned as gushy as schoolboy.
He sat beside her. “Aren’t you too warm here?”
She smiled in welcome and shook her head. “No, the fountain makes it cooler and I love the scents around me.”
“We have many things to discuss. Do you mind if we go upstairs where we are guaranteed privacy?”
She blinked at him as if worried. “No, let’s go to our room.”
As soon as he closed the door behind them he guided her to sit in a chair. Then he knelt on one knee in front of her. “Judith, will you do me the honor of staying married to me?”
She caught her breath, eyes widening. She pulled him up and threw her arms around him. “I thought you were going to tell me you wanted an annulment and didn’t want anyone to see me cry in public.”
He buried his face in her silky hair still warm from the sun’s rays. “Would you have cried, my love?”
“I hope not where anyone would see me but, yes, I would have cried buckets of tears.”
He led her to sit beside him on the mattress. “We have plans to make.”
Red took his hand. “Josiah and I want to buy Lawson’s ranch if we can and divide his and Lawson’s in half. Josiah hasn’t spent his inheritance, at least not much of it. You and I would get Lawson’s house, which I understand is quite nice. With someone capable running it the ranch would make a wonderful place to retire or visit when possible.”
He tweaked her nose. “Aren’t you a little young to retire?”
She linked her arm with his. “Now I am, but after several years as a Pinkerton agent, I won’t be. I’ll be ready to settle down and have a family. Think of what a nice place it would be to raise children.”
He couldn’t contain his excitement any longer and blurted, “I bought it.”
She stared at him in surprise then clapped her hands together. “That’s wonderful. But, Peyton, you said you were poor. Do you have so much money?”
“Naw, the sheriff let me have it for the back taxes.” He relayed the conversation to her. “I thought tomorrow morning we could go there and see the house. I need to talk to the cowboys.”
“Is there a way we can stay here a few days even though our case is over?”
“I’ll wire Archie that we’re taking a month’s sabbatical.”
“Let’s go tell Josiah and Yolanda and Mama.”
He yawned. “I didn’t get my nap, remember?”
She tugged his hand. “Come on, I know you’re tired. I also hope you wish to make love to me. Could we wait until tonight when we have plenty of time?”
With a shrug of his shoulders, he surrendered. Knowing she wanted him to make love to her energized him. “Oh, sure, we can go and tell them.”
He figured it was too late for a nap now anyway. Soon supper would be served. He hoped Red would be willing to go to bed early this evening—for several reasons.
Chapter Eighteen
Early the next morning, he and Jeff hitched mules to each wagon. Sofia had a two seat buggy she planned to drive and had lined up three women to help clean the hacienda. Yolanda wouldn’t leave Josiah’s side. Two village women were helping with the boardinghouse.
Diego was at the marshal’s office so Sarge and Ozzie could accompany the group to the two ranches. The number of horses to be moved was too large for two lawmen to control so Peyton would send several cowboys into town to drive them to the ranches.
Mama and Red were riding in the wagons. The plan was to stop long enough for Mama to see the hacienda then go to the former Lawson home. Afterward, the plan was they’d drop Mama back at the hacienda.
Peyton wondered if that would happen. After Jeff proposed to Mama she might choose to stay at the house where she would one day live. Peyton had no doubt she’d accept because she made calf-eyes at Jeff as much as he made them at her.
The previous evening, Josiah and he had negotiated the boundaries of the two ranches. In addition, Josiah and he agreed what Josiah would pay Peyton. They’d arranged to cut acreage from those of Peyton’s larger ranch. Now Peyton was not as worried about money.
Josiah had offered to pay the back salaries of the cowboys and the fees due at the livery. In fact, he would have paid more but those two things took the squeeze off Peyton’s pocketbook. They had yet to negotiate the cattle. Both of them suspected Corrigan’s cattle were mixed in with Lawson’s herd.
Peyton was impressed as they turned onto the drive to the
