The Enchanted Land Read online

  Morgan went to investigate the pictures—they were all of one little girl. She looked questioningly at Gordon.

  “Don’t you recognize her?”

  “They’re … that’s me, isn’t it?”

  “Every one of them. These were your toys. When my father and Uncle Charley built the house, he had the pictures put into the room. It’s been more or less a shrine. Your father spent hours in here. Sometimes, after a letter arrived, he’d lock himself in here for an entire day. I’m glad there’ll be a little more life in here now.”

  Morgan laughed. “With Adam, you don’t have to worry about any place being dull—or quiet. Adam!” She tried to be heard over his shouts of happiness about the rocking horse. “Let’s go eat breakfast.” Adam stopped rocking immediately and quietly climbed off the horse. Seeing Gordon’s puzzled stare, Morgan explained: “Eat. That’s a magic word with Adam.”

  Gordon took Adam to breakfast. Morgan dressed in a sturdy cotton gown, one that fit perfectly and accented her curves. Then she joined them. Both Adam and Morgan ate heartily of the food Roselle prepared.

  After breakfast, Roselle asked to keep Adam in the kitchen with her. Morgan consented, and while Gordon attended to the business of the ranch, she explored the house and gardens.

  At lunch, Martin watched Adam constantly, and anticipated his every need. Morgan sighed, knowing that all the attention was not good for her impressionable son. When Adam began rubbing his eyes, Morgan took him to his room for his afternoon nap.

  Gordon returned to the house and asked Morgan to go riding with him, to see some of the ranch. They rode along the little river and Morgan found an ideal place for picnics under a grove of cottonwoods. When she dismounted the mare Gordon had given her, she tripped and grabbed at her saddle to catch herself.

  Gordon caught her in his arms, holding her close to him. “I’m sure that this will be the highlight of my day.”

  “Oh, Gordon,” she laughed, as she stepped away, “you’re always teasing, just like…” She left her sentence unfinished.

  Gordon’s eyes were serious. “Believe me, Morgan, I am totally serious.” She turned away to hide the consternation that flooded her face. She wasn’t ready yet. Seth was too real to her. When his memory faded, then she’d be able to look at another man.

  The candlelight dinner, alone with Gordon, was pleasant and Morgan relaxed with him. “To my beautiful little foster cousin, who changed into an even more beautiful woman,” he lifted his glass to her.

  Early the next morning, she heard Adam in the hallway. She opened her bedroom door and her small son found his mother’s room. She crawled back into bed, watching him wander about the room, looking at rugs, touching jars on Morgan’s dressing table, and knocking on the door that connected Morgan’s bedroom to another room.

  “There’s no one there, Adam.” Morgan rolled over and found herself looking into Gordon’s amused eyes. He was standing in her open doorway. “It used to be your grandpa’s room, but now it’s empty.”

  Morgan moved down in the bed, bringing the sheets to her shoulders.

  “Do you mind if I take Adam with me today? I’d like to show him the ranch and show him to the men.”

  Morgan sat up, the covers falling away. Gordon was like an older brother. It was difficult to think of him in any other way, in spite of his protestations to the contrary. “Gordon, you don’t want to take Adam. You don’t know what he’s like. There are times when he’s more than I can handle. You’ll never get any work done.”

  “Leave him to me. If it’s all right with you, I’ll take him.”

  Gordon stepped out of the room and returned with a little sombrero. It had a beaded band on it. “I bought this in Santa Fe. I think it’ll fit.” Adam loved the hat, jumping up and down at the sight of himself in his mother’s mirror, the long nightshirt flying and looking very incongruous with the hat.

  “Are you sure you’re ready to handle that all day?” Morgan laughed.

  In answer, Gordon swept the laughing boy into his arms. “My pleasure. Now, cowpuncher, let’s get you into some other duds.”

  Morgan heard Adam’s laugh all the way to his room. She leaned back against the pillows. Yes, she thought, this is very pleasant. It was peaceful here. No memories assailed her. Gordon was wonderful, too. It would be very comfortable to fall in love with him, yes it would.

  With Adam gone, Morgan found she had too little to do. As always, she wandered toward the kitchen. Roselle was surprised when Morgan rolled up her sleeves and plunged into kneading a large mound of bread dough. They both soon forgot the notion that they were mistress and servant, and became just two women, cooking and talking together.

  “Gordon has always been such a lonely fellow, even as a little boy. My heart cried for him at times.”

  “Lonely? But Gordon doesn’t ever seem to be sad at all.”

  “He covers it with his jokes and laughter, but it is not easy to grow up without a mother.”

  “Didn’t his mother ever live with him?”

  “No. She left soon after her son was born, returning to her own people. For all the jokes he makes, Gordon takes his Comanche relatives very seriously. He has never spent much time with them. Once when he was very young, an uncle came to see him and Gordon followed him around for two weeks. His Indian uncle showed him how to dress like a Comanche and told him to be proud of his Indian blood. Gordon was very upset to find the Indian gone one morning. Now he gets so upset over what the white man is doing to the Indians.” Roselle cocked her head toward Morgan. “The men on the ranch try to forget he’s half-Indian. They don’t like the idea of an Indian boss.”

  Morgan nodded her understanding.

  Lunch was lonely for Morgan, with both Gordon and Adam away from the house. She ate in the kitchen with Roselle and Martin, but realized that her newness in the household made them shy.

  She went to her room to nap. For some reason, her thoughts of Seth were especially strong. As she removed her dress, she almost felt his hands on her body. The memory made her ache.

  Gordon arrived later with a tired, sunburned Adam. Morgan, glad to be busy, washed the child and slipped him into a clean nightshirt. He was asleep as his mother finished buttoning the gown. As she kissed her son’s cheek, she was reminded again of how much Adam resembled his father. She chastised herself for always thinking of Seth.

  At dinner, Gordon was especially happy. “You should have seen them! I never saw grown men make such fools of themselves over anyone. All day they talked baby talk to him. Calhoun especially! ‘Ooh want to go for wide on horsey?’ Adam just stared at them. Wouldn’t go to a single one of them. Stayed with me.” Gordon’s eyes gleamed with pride.

  Gordon put his hand over Morgan’s. “I can’t tell you how glad I am that you are here. I’ve been rattling around alone in this big house for years. Sometimes I slept in the bunkhouse rather than be alone in here. Roselle and Martin have been the true occupants.”

  Gordon kissed her check. He was handsome, easy to laugh, and Adam adored him. What more could she want? she asked herself. Gordon’s goodnight kiss had not sent shivers down her spine as Seth’s kisses did. Don’t compare them! she told herself. As she climbed into bed, she thought again how comfortable it would be to be in love with Gordon.

  The days began to fall into a routine, and Morgan was content, if not deliriously happy. Gordon often took Adam with him in the days, and in the evening he entertained her with stories of how the men tried to entice Adam from him. It seemed they never succeeded.

  When Adam was gone, Morgan spent her mornings in the kitchen and her afternoons riding, improving her skills on the mare. Adam and she often took a picnic lunch and spent the afternoons together by the river. It was a little greener, but otherwise a lot like the place where they had spent their afternoons at the Colter ranch.

  They had been at the Three Crowns for three months when Gordon first mentioned the divorce. Seeing Morgan every day and not touching her was agony for him. He wan