Page 70 of The Outlaw and the Heir

"She really must have been lovely," I said, trying not to sound surprised.

"She was," Elizabeth's voice piped up, and I saw her walking toward me, fully dressed. One of the requirements Ambrose had was that she would be allowed to go out with an escort if she made sure to still look like a woman. I hadn't seen the logic, but apparently Elizabeth did, and she had looked pissed at the suggestion. I'd voted against it because it wasn't practical if we needed to move quickly or if we ventured somewhere that could damage her nice clothes. I still didn't understand why Ambrose insisted on ignoring all that, but maybe it was some sisterly thing...or a man-to-woman thing I didn't get.

I looked over her dress, which was toned down from her normal ones, but it was her boots poking out from her skirt that raised my brow. "Are we going on a journey today? I see riding boots."

"How observant," she said with a snort. "I want to go riding today to see the parts of the land that aren't behind fences."

I wasn't sure if that was covered under the agreement, but I wasn't going to argue. She had spent a great deal of her life tied down and restrained by the rules she'd been given by birth and gender. If she wanted to bend the rules slightly to have a little freedom...well, that would be more than somewhat hypocritical for me to argue. Plus, she agreed not to leave the ranch without letting someone know. However, if we were still technically on the property owned by her family, she could make the exceptionally frustrating argument that she was still on the property, even if she’d originally agreed to stay on the ranch.

It was what I would do.

"Well, far be it from me to argue with a lady," I said at her raised brow, smirking when she scowled at me. Which, of course, made me stand up and bow politely, holding my arm out as I straightened. "Now, if you'll be so kind, I will be your guardian for the day."

"Oh, the things I could say right now," she murmured, choosing to ignore my arm like I figured she would.

"Things unbefitting a lady?" I wondered.

"Things that would make Hipolita scold me," she said, adjusting her hat. "Now, let's go."

Chuckling, I began walking, knowing she would keep in step even if I went too fast. Clearly, stubbornness and an overwhelming desire to prove oneself ran through the family line. That or it was just the children. Then again, Elizabeth didn't havequitethe level of fear or desperation around her father as her younger brother. She was far more like their father than Ambrose.

It was in the little things, like the way she’d expressed her annoyance at my joke a moment ago. Ambrose would have growled and grumbled, but she was simply cool and direct. Shecertainly had more warmth than her father, but if you peeled back the layers of her behavior and personality, you would easily see someone with that same core of steel. Yet there was more ice in her than there was in either of her brothers, who were more strongly affected by their emotions, guided by them. Not her, though, and reading between the lines from things she'd said, I suspected she had a much greater hand in her husband's decisions than anyone outside the marriage might have guessed.

We stepped outside, and since I was supposed to be her guardian and not her guide, I let her take the lead. It was, after all, supposed to be her freedom to do as she pleased. Being able to accompany her wasn't really freedom for me, but it was a lot closer than anything I’d had before. Plus, even if I refused to admit to anyone, especially Ambrose, I was touched that of all the people he could have chosen to look out for his sister, he had chosen me.

After a little while, we reached the stables, and she smiled as we ducked into the cooler shadows inside. “It's funny."

"Considering the state of the world, I think you might have to be a little clearer about what is funny," I said with a shake of my head.

"My brother has complained about how much you like to talk, and yet when you're around me, you seem perfectly happy to be quiet."

"Well, the difference is that, unlike your brother, you have a sense of humor and aren't as easy to rile up."

"Some people might think it was a bad idea to rile up the man who holds the other end of your leash," she said as she prepared her horse.

"Perhaps, and normally, that would be true. But your brother is far too noble and good deep down to do anything other than drum up petty punishments for me getting on his nerves," I said with a chuckle as I grabbed a horse as well.

"Mother always liked to say that she was able to tell what we would be like while she still carried us. I believed her when I was a child, but when I got older, I realized she just said that because we were children, and people say all sorts of things to children. Maybe just because they believe you."

"Which doesn't really hold water considering she would have predicted Ambrose, but?—"

Without a struggle, she pulled herself onto her horse and shot me a small smile. “But she went and died. You don't have to tread carefully around the subject with me. I loved my mother very much and still love her, but I have made peace with her death. It's silly little men like my brothers who don't know how to move past it."

"And your father?"

"He's made as much peace with it as a man can after they lost the person they thought they were going to spend the rest of their life with."

"Ah...well, that's good...I think."

She laughed as I mounted. “Back to my original point. My mother said she knew something important about all of us. She said Joseph would be headstrong and difficult at times, but he would always know what he wanted. She said I would be independent and bright and give them both conniptions if I really wanted to."

"A little vague, but still specific enough to be eerie that they're right. Which now comes down to Ambrose to prove if she really was telling the truth."

"She said he would have a big heart and a hard head, and he would need to find his own place to stand rather than trying to get out from under the shadows of others."

I scoffed. “You can't be serious."

"I would expect anyone who didn't know my brother well to say something like that," she said with a chuckle.

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