Page 31 of That Fateful Ride

“You know Mama.” He squeezed her shoulder. “How’s it been?”

Cy and his magical touch flashed before her eyes. She fought the blush. Her brother wouldn’t understand. “Good. You didn’t say you went into town. I had to go a few times. Met Megan and Sharla. They seem taken with you.” Robert dropped his gaze to study his toes. She smiled. “I got a bath then went back.”

“How are they treating you?”

She pulled out a mixing bowl for biscuits and as she started on the meal, she told her brother in more detail than she’d shared last night. Almost everything from Bill’s injury to why she was riding Polaris. She even mentioned the arrow slice from the Indians.

“Are you sure you’re all right?” The worry thick in his tone.

“Hank did a good job,” she replied. Kneading the dough in her mama’s spotless kitchen, she worried her lower lip. “When will you be ready?”

“Can you handle another month?”

Ignoring the brief pain in her heart at the idea of not seeing Cy again, she nodded. “Of course. I’ll come home next payday and we can switch back.”

“Thank you, Becca.” He paused. “You know Anson has been by looking for you.”

She groaned. “What did you tell him?”

“You took Polaris to visit your Indian friend. And would be back later.”

“And he believed you?”

“He’s come by a few times since. At least until Mama answered the door.”

Rebecca smiled. “She’s never liked him very much. Calls him shifty.”

“Anyway it’s fall and he knows when you go see her.”

“Shehas a name you know.”

He grumbled but didn’t dispute her. She covered the bowl and got to work on the rest of the meal. While it cooked in the oven, she went out to their barn to feed the animals, her brother beside her on crutches.

“Have we heard from Papa?”

“Nothing. Not even by post.”

She was worried but didn’t speak on it. Robert fed the chickens while she fed and milked the cows. Once finished with the chores, she carried the pails back to the house.

“What do you think of Cyrus?”

Good Lord, she almost dropped the buckets. Blowing out a deep breath, she shrugged. “He’s fair. Seems kind of young to be running a station.”

“He was a soldier. Got injured so he couldn’t serve anymore.”

“What happened to him?”

Robert glanced at her and she gave him an innocent look. They walked in and as soon as she set the pails down, he grabbed her wrist.

“What?”

“Are you kidding me?”

She had a sinking feeling he’d just figured it out. Still she had to try. “Kidding about what?”

“He’s a Southern white man.”

“What does that have to do with how he got injured?” Damn her twin for knowing her so well.

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