Holden nodded. “I’ll pass it on to him. I already told him your horses are the best stock in the valley.”
Matthias nodded. For the first time in months the weight pressing on his shoulders eased. Suddenly, he felt like eating a piece of Abby’s pie. “You said there were two reasons you came.”
“I came to talk to you about a little business proposition.”
Matthias lifted an eyebrow. “More business.”
Holden shrugged. “The valley is booming.”
“I’ll pour a cup of coffee,” Abby said.
“Thank you.” He sat down at the table, noting its surface was smooth and clean, not sticky with grease and dirt. Last night when he’d slipped into bed, he noted the sheets were clean and smelled of fresh air and not stale smoke.
Abby set the coffee in front of him along with a slice of pie. “Company in the afternoon—I’d swear it was a holiday.”
Matthias stared at the pie, astonished she’d baked the small miracle. He took a bite. “This is delicious.”
Abby smiled. “I’m glad you like it.”
Holden took another bite. “Where’d you learn to cook?”
Abby smiled. “At first I learned from my mother. Then later Cook.”
Again Matthias was amazed how her face transformed when she grinned.
“Who’s this Mrs. Cook?” Holden said.
“Cook isn’t her name, it’s her job. Her real name is Cora O’Neil. She is the cook in my aunt and uncle’s house. She is a difficult woman but very talented. She taught me the finer points of baking.”
The surprise on Holden’s face mirrored what Matthias felt.
Holden scratched his head. “Your aunt and uncle have folks working for them? Must be pretty rich.”
She shrugged. “They employ a butler, three maids and a gardener. My aunt would like to hire more but my uncle’s income won’t allow it.”
“If you had all that, then what brought you out here?” Holden said.
Her smile vanished. “I simply wanted a change.”
Matthias sensed a shift in her mood immediately. Her life in San Francisco hadn’t been happy. She’d once said there’d be no going back to the city. Now he wondered why.
“That’s one mighty big change,” Holden said.
Matthias traced the rim of his cup with his calloused thumb. “If you were living in a house with servants, what were you doing working in the kitchen?”
Abby clasped her hands neatly in front of her on the table. “My uncle expected me to carry my own weight around the house.”
“So you worked in his kitchens?” Matthias couldn’t hide the bitterness in his voice.
The tension around her eyes that had been present when she’d arrived a week ago returned. “I wanted to work in the kitchen. It gave me something to do. I’m not one for idle pastimes.”
The kitchen was a place to hide.
The people who came to Montana came to start over, often to get away from a past that wasn’t pleasant. For him it had been the war.
He clamped down on any questions. She was good to his boys and that’s all he needed to know. The less he knew about her the easier it would be in the end when she left.
He pushed his half-eaten piece of pie away. “Holden, what’s this business proposition you were talking about?”
“Well, you know how I come this way with the stage from time to time.”
“We trade horses.”
“Right, well, with the rail line coming in, I’ll be doubling the number of times I make my route to accommodate the railroad men. Seeing as you have a woman on the ranch again, I figured when I stop my passengers could get out and stretch their legs, maybe get a meal if Abby is willing to cook. It’ll mean more money.”
Abby. When had Holden started calling her Abby?
Holden had proposed the same idea three years ago. Elise had been all for it at first, but she quickly found the extra work too demanding. She’d never complained but he saw how the extra work had drained her and so he’d gone to Holden and asked him to alter his route. “My days already feel like they are ten hours too short, anyway,” he said more gruffly than he intended.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea!” Abby said. “If you give me an idea of what days you might be coming through then I could make extra that morning.”
Matthias tapped his index finger on the table. “You’ve got your hands full as it is.”
Her eyes lighted with excitement. “I’ve cooked dinner for fifty before. It takes planning but it’s not impossible.”
He met her gaze. “It’s more work than you realize. I won’t allow it.”