“Daliah says that Olive here was talking to Orville as the meeting hushed and everyone heard her say that the town was Needful of good women.”
“That’s pretty much it,” Olive agreed with a shake of her head. “Dan heard me say it and put the name to a vote right then and there. It seems folks were willing to go with it.”
Amanda laughed, thinking over what Mr. Lewis had told her about the town. Perhaps it was only going through the typical growing pains of any place on the edge of the frontier. Perhaps time would tell if Needful got all it had need of.
Chapter 5
“Cookie, what on earth were you thinking?” Teddy gave the old man a harsh look as he helped load the wagon. “You nearly scared Miss Amanda half to death.”
The old man chuckled. “She ain’t so scared of you now, though, is she?” Cookie chuckled.
“Why you rotten old coot,” Teddy gaped. “You did that on purpose.”
“You’re kinda slow, ain’t ya, son? What would an old man like me need with a pretty young wife? I ain’t never needed a wife before, and I sure don’t need one now. You, on the other hand, you’re half smitten with that girl already. Now she knows there’s worse things could happen than bein’ hitched to a half-wit like yourself, she might come around.”
Teddy pulled himself onto the padded seat of the wagon, still bewildered by the old man. It was true if Cookie hadn’t gone into the Hampton House nattering on about taking a bride, Miss Amanda Antonia would never have joined him outside.
“I ain’t as dumb as you look, son,” Cookie chuckled, slapping the reins to the horses and heading out of town. “You mark my words, you come calling again in a few days, and little Miss Amanda will look at you all different like.”
Teddy pressed his hands onto the bench, flinching as the wagon rolled over a deep rut. He sure liked the idea of the sweet little miss being his wife. He would protect her, watch out for her, and let her know she was safe. A soft smile played about his lips as he imagined Amanda living in his home, cooking his meals, and sitting with him in the evening around a quiet fire.
“You think she’d be receptive-like to my callin’?” Teddy asked.
“She’s young, alone, and you ain’t half bad on the eyes, even if you are neigh unto hollow between the ears,” Cookie said. “I reckon she’s met you twice now, which is more than any of the others in town can say. You go on in and call on her in a day or two and see how it goes.”
Teddy leaned back, crossing his arms over his chest with a grin, only to half stand as they rolled through another dip in the road.
Maybe, just maybe, he had a chance yet with Miss Amanda Antonia. Teddy was tired of being alone, especially now that Mayor Dan had married Rosa. The men at the ranch spent more time in the bunkhouse, or on their small places, rather than lounging about the big ranch house.
Soon Dan would have children of his own, and Teddy thought that was a grand idea. What if he married Amanda and their children could play with Dan and Rosa’s children. A soft blush warmed his face and Teddy settled back on the padded seat.
“Don’t go gettin’ the cart before the horse now boy,” Cookie grinned. “It’s one thing to convince a woman to marry you, it’s another to keep her happy.”
Teddy shot a scathing look at the old man. “How would you know?” he asked. “You ain’t never been hitched.”
“I got my reasons,” Cookie growled. “They just ain’t none of your business.”
***
It took two more days before Teddy was fit to sit his pretty pony, and he headed into town. He’d dusted his best shirt, put on clean trousers, and placed his new hat carefully over his neatly combed hair.
“How do I look?” the young man asked Rosa as he shuffled to the house to retrieve the flowers his boss’s wife had prepared.
“You look, muy handsome,” Rosa smiled. “I wish you luck.”
Teddy blushed, tugging at his string tie self consciously. “You think she’ll approve?”
“This, I do not know,” Rosa sighed. “I do not know this girl. I know that you are a good man and a good friend to Daniel.” Rosa’s lilting voice, accented with the tongue of her motherland, was almost musical. “If she is the right woman for you, all will be well.”
Teddy nodded, mumbling a thank you to the dark-haired woman, then strode to his horse and stepped into the saddle, flowers clutched firmly in his hand.
“Don’t do nothin’ I wouldn’t, Teddy,” Dozer, a big man with a slow drawl, shouted as he started from the ranch yard.
“You talk real sweet now and maybe that girl will ignore them jug handle ears of yours,” another cowboy offered.
“Just don’t try to sing her a song,” a third rider called as Teddy kicked his horse into a trot. “You’ll be sure to scare her back home with your caterwauling.”
Teddy felt the heat rise up his neck at the joshing of his friends and fellow riders. He knew he wouldn’t get away with courting, completely unscathed by their acid wit. He just hoped that none of what they said was true. He barely knew how to talk to the young woman as it was, let alone win her hand.
Easing his pony to a walk, Teddy straightened his tie and ambled toward town. “Maybe I should make up a poem,” he spoke to his black and white pinto. “Women like poems, don’t they?”
Pepper snorted as if dismissing the thought and Teddy blushed again as the only poem he could recall was not fit for a delicate young lady like Amanda’s ears.
“I’ll take her to
