Leo (Romancing the Ponderosa Book 3)

Chapter 2

Steppin' outta the general store with the last sack of flour on my shoulder, I flop it down on the back of the buckboard. Wipin' the sweat off my face, somethin' catches my eye. I turn my head just in time to see Mrs. Tirk jump up from where she was sittin' on the hotel steps to chase after Cherry. She snags her just before she runs out in the street. That little gal kicks up a fuss as her mama sits back down with her an' plants her firmly in her lap. I can't help wonderin' why her husband ain't helpin' her with them youngins or why they're on the outside of the hotel instead of inside where it's cooler.

Jeff sees me as I walk towards 'em an' stands up from his seat on the step, wavin' with a big ole toothy grin. Mrs. Tirk looks in my direction as well, a look of relief on her face. Cherry wiggles from her lap and runs up to me, grabbin' my legs.

"Mrs. Tirk, it looks like you're havin' a little bit of a hard time with these youngins. They're more than a little gal like you can handle. Ain't your husband around someplace? I can go fetch him for you if you want." I offer, scoopin' Cherry up so she don't trip an' fall over my feet.

"I really wish you could, Mr. Cartwright, but my husband passed away a little over a year ago." She looks up at me with a sad smile.

"You mean to tell me you've been takin' care of these two youngins all by yourself for a year?" Givin' her face a closer look I can see how tired she is by the dark circles under her eyes.

"Yes. It's been hard but we've made it this far." With a sigh she stands up. "Except for five cents, I spent every last penny to get us here to Virginia City. I figured I could find work and be able to take better care of my children here than I could in Carson City. But now I have nowhere to go and no way to feed them or myself."

"Ma'am, you could come stay on the Ponderosa, my Pa's ranch, for a few days. Well, at least until you get back on your feet." I offer feelin' terrible for the little gal.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Cartwright, but I don't want charity."

"Then don't think of it as charity, think of it as doing Pa and me a favor. The house has been down right lonesome since my two brothers moved out." Grinnin' at Cherry, I ruffle Jeff's hair. "These two little rascals will liven the house up quite a bit. They're just what my Pa needs."

"I guess if you put it that way, we'd be glad to stay at your place." She says after a thoughtful moment, a grin on her face. She grabs her carpet bag off the step which I take from her insistin' on carryin' it, so she grabs Jeff's hand and follows me across the street to the parked buckboard.

"I figure you'll want this little rascal up on the seat with you." I swing Cherry up on the seat before helpin' Mrs. Tirk up an' over the wagon wheel. I gently toss the carpet bag behind the seat while givin' Jeff a boost into the back on top of the sacks of goods. He plants his hat on his little head, pushin' it back slightly. The way it's angled reminds me of the way Joe wears his hat sometimes. Walkin' around the side of the buckboard, I climb up on the seat beside Mrs. Tirk, who's holdin' Cherry firmly in her lap. Slappin' the reins, I call out, "Giddyup!"

"Mr. Cartwright, I can't thank you enough for your hospitality." She runs her hand over Cherry's hand to smooth her messy curls. "If there was only something I could do for you in return."

"There is, ma'am. Just call me plain ole Hoss."

"Oh, I will. That is if you'll drop the Mrs. Tirk and just call me Leo instead. Calling each other Mr. and Mrs. sounds so formal and this isn't exactly a formal sort of place."

"That it ain't, ma'am, that it ain't." Lookin' over at her, I see Cherry's sound asleep, her head pillowed on her mama's chest. "Did you say Leo? That ain't much of a name for a purty little gal like yourself."

"Well, Hoss isn't exactly a name for a man either, even though it seems to fit you quite well. I've been called Leo ever since I was a little baby. I guess it was just easier to call a baby Leo instead of Leona."

"My name ain't actually Hoss, it's really Eric. When my older brother saw how big I was he started callin' me Hoss. An' it just sorta stuck."

"You said you had two brothers and a Pa, what are they like?"

"Well, my older brother, Adam, he's the brains of the family. He even went back East to go to college and got a lot of fancy book learnin'. Then about five months ago he got himself hitched to a purty little gal."

"What do your brother and his wife look like?" She interrupts.

"Adam's a little shorter than me an' he has black hair an' light brown eyes. His wife, Misty, is a purty little thing with fiery red hair and grey eyes, she's a spitfirey thing, too. She actually lived with the Indians for fourteen years."

"Oh, how awful!"

"And then there's my little brother, Joe, well I should say Little Joe. He's hotheaded and wild but since he married Hannah, he's calmed down quite a bit. I figure you want to know what they look like too, don't you?" She nods. "Well, Little Joe's the shortest of us brothers an' he's got curly brown hair an' green hazel eyes. Hannah's a purty little thing just like Misty, that is except she has dark brown hair instead of red an' the prettiest dark green eyes you've ever seen."

"What about your Pa? What's he like?"

"He's steady an' sure. I guess you would say he's just Pa." I shrug, not knowing how else to describe how Pa is. A person has to meet him for himself to find out how he really is. "He's got a really deep, smooth voice an' dark brown eyes with grey hair."

"Hoss, your family sounds wonderful! I hope I get the chance to meet all of them."

"You won't have to wait long cuz they're all comin' to supper tonight."