Page 18 of Willing to Wed the Rancher
He stiffened, a V forming between his brows. “Pressured into marriage? What does this mean?”
“There are plenty of single men in the area who would step in to take Eric’s place here.” It’s just that she wasn’t interested in the available candidates any more than she’d been interested in Eric.
“These men should stay away from you.” With a deepening scowl, he stood and folded his arms across his chest. “I do not think anyone should hurry into marriage.”
“I agree.”
“And you are young and should wait.”
“I’m nineteen. I think that’s old enough.” In fact, she and Clementine would be turning twenty over the summer. “If the right man came along, I would be ready.”
One of his brows quirked, softening the hard edge that had been tightening his features. “Who is therightman?”
“I’m not sure. Hopefully I’ll know when I meet him.” Was she really having this kind of conversation with a man she’d just met? She felt strangely comfortable with Franz.
Maybe the ease in relating was because he was only visiting. She’d see him for a short while, and then he’d disappear from her life.
Or maybe it was because he was such a kind person and had a knack for putting people at ease.
A slight smile played at his lips. “Surely you must have some idea of who the right man is for you.”
“I suppose so.”
“Do you want him to be charming and handsome and smart, like me?” His voice held no arrogance, only teasing.
A smile of her own began to break free. “No, none of that matters.”
“Really?”
“You don’t believe me?”
He shrugged. “Actually, I am a confirmed bachelor and have failed quite miserably at relationships, so I cannot pretend to be the expert.”
Failed? She wanted to pry, but she’d never been proficient at pressing others for personal information.
“Well?” he asked. “If not a handsome, charming, and smart man, then who?”
“I need only love.”
He didn’t respond, but his widening eyes reflected his disbelief.
Maybe she was being too forthright with him, but now that she’d started, she had to finish explaining herself. “I want the kind of deep and abiding love that my parents had. They were so connected that when my pa died, my ma died only months later of a broken heart.” At least, that’s what Clarabelle believed.
“She could not live without him?”
“Exactly.”
Franz pressed a hand against his chest and fingered a necklace underneath his shirt, the outline of a chain just visible. “My parents loved each other very much also.”
“I’d love to hear about them.”
“And I should like to hear about yours.”
Her heart warmed at the sincerity in his voice and expression, and soon she found that she was sharing about her parents, how they’d met so long ago when they’d lived in Kentucky before moving to High C Ranch and how they’d weathered many storms during their twenty-eight years of marriage.
She appreciated how well Franz listened to her and asked more questions. He was open enough to talk about his parents in return, how they’d met and fallen in love. He even shared how they’d both died.
He told her about his leaving to study at a university after their death and how he eventually become a professor. She was surprised when he asked her about her assistant teacher position and what the school was like in Breckenridge and why she hadn’t gone to teacher training school yet.
