Tracie Peterson - [Land of the Lone Star 03] by Taming the Wind Page A

looking to see what her reaction might be. She lowered her gaze to the empty plate and folded her hands. Her discomfort seemed to stretch as she waited for someone to offer grace.
    “Let’s pray,” William finally declared.
    Carissa breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes. She felt so confused. Life used to be much easier—as a young woman, she would flirt and bat her eyelashes at any man who captured her fancy. She was the belle of the ball, and they all vied for her attention. Then Malcolm came along, and she thought he’d hung the moon and stars. He was so good at convincing her of his love. How could she ever trust her heart again?
    “He said amen,” Tyler whispered in her ear.
    Carissa’s head snapped upward to find everyone busily passing platters and bowls. She looked at Tyler and realized he was the only one watching her. She gave him a weak smile. “I’m afraid I’m rather tired.”
    “I don’t doubt it. You were hard at work every time I saw you today.”
    Taking up the bowl of grits, Carissa put a portion on her plate and held the ladle up. “Would you like some grits?”
    He smiled and nodded. “I sure do. And I wanna top it with some of that good pork gravy.” He looked to Gloria. “How about you, little gal? You want some grits?”
    Gloria clapped her hands. “Grits are good. I want grits.”
    He laughed and turned back to Carissa. “You heard the little lady.”
    Carissa pointed to her plate. “She can eat off my plate.”
    “Or mine,” he said as if it happened every day.
    Ted Terry interrupted her thoughts. “I heard from our buyer in Abilene. Prices are on the rise. There’s a big demand for beef out of Chicago and New York. Our buyer feels confident he can get us top dollar. The sooner we can get there, the better. I have a feeling once word gets around, every man and his brother will be pushing beeves north.”
    “So we might make more than forty a head?” William asked.
    “That’s what I’m thinking,” Ted said, helping himself to some of the pork roast. “Maybe even as high as fifty.”
    “That would bring us well over a hundred thousand,” William said, looking to Tyler. “Depending on how many head we lose, it might well bring us close to . . . a hundred and twenty-five thousand dollars.”
    “That’s amazing,” Marietta said, shaking her head. “Three years ago we couldn’t give those animals away. I remember Ted selling five steers for ten dollars.”
    “Apiece?” Carissa asked casually.
    “No, for all five,” Marietta replied. “Two dollars a head. The war made it impossible to make any decent wage.”
    “She’s right about that,” Ted agreed. He took two large pieces of corn bread and passed the platter to Tyler. “But now the entire world is starved for beef. The King ranch down Corpus way is shipping them out as fast as they can. I heard tell that Mr. King is going into the meatpacking business, as well.”
    “Wouldn’t that require a lot of money, to keep the beef from going bad?” William asked. “I know they ship in ice cars on the rails, but our rail system isn’t the best.”
    “King could be planning to send his beef out of Corpus on ships,” Brandon offered. “Packing a freighter full of ice would probably keep easier than a railcar.”
    “Possibly. All I’m sayin’,” Ted continued, “is there are gonna be a load of opportunities for us in the future. I believe we can join our efforts to accomplish great things.”
    “I am certainly all for that,” William replied.
    Carissa noted that Tyler remained silent. She wondered if this was due to his uncertain future. She wished there was some way to offer him comfort. She wished her father and mother weren’t bound for Europe. Her father had many good friends among the former Unionists. Perhaps he could have helped Tyler get back his land.
    “So did you ladies plan for how you will go about living together?” Marietta asked.
    Hannah nodded. “We did indeed. We took your