Page 26 of Willing to Wed the Rancher
Under the canopy of aspens in the growing darkness of the evening, the soft stuttering trill of toads wafted in the air along with the laughter of the children as they raced ahead.
“Hold on, now.” Clementine’s smile disappeared and concern filled her eyes. “You don’t mind that he’s calling on me, do you?”
Clementine must have noticed or sensed the dismay.
Clarabelle swallowed hard. How could she tell her sister that, yes, she really did mind, that she didn’t want to give up Franz? She couldn’t, not when Franz wasn’t hers to begin with. “He’s welcome to call on anyone he wants to.”
Clementine studied her face. “After the way you were just talking about him, I didn’t think you liked him.”
Had her strategy of listing all his negative qualities worked to her disadvantage? How could she possibly admit that she hadn’t wanted Clementine to like him? “He does have some nice qualities too.”
“Listen, honey.” Clementine swept a messy strand of hair behind her ear. “If you like Franz even a little, I’ll let him know that I don’t want him calling on me. I’ll cancel the dinner plans.”
If Franz had asked to call on Clementine, then what good would it do to stop him? He was obviously intrigued and attracted by Clementine enough to pursue her, enough to make plans to visit with her.
Clarabelle tried not to shiver as the cool evening breeze swept under her skirt and blouse. How could she interfere with what Franz wanted? And why would she want to? Not when he hadn’t been intrigued or attracted enough to pursue her instead.
Besides, she couldn’t deny Clementine anything. She never had been able to.
She gave her sister a smile—one she hoped was genuine and filled with love. “You know I just want you to be happy. And if Franz will make you happy, then I want you to see him.” Her statement was mostly true. She did want Clementine to be happy. But why did it have to be with Franz?
“You’re sure?” Clementine was still watching her carefully. “You seem hesitant.”
The children’s voices rose near the cabin. Bianca stuck out her tongue at Dieter, and he crossed his arms and glared back. While the two interacted well together most of the time, the bickering was more frequent than Clarabelle preferred. Would Clementine manage them better?
“If you start seeing Franz, you’ll have to get to know the children too, won’t you?”
Clementine nodded, gazing at Bianca and Dieter and then back at her. “Oh, so that’s it. You like living here and taking care of the children and don’t want to lose this?”
Was that part of the hesitation too? “I’m sure everything will work out the way it’s supposed to.”
“You do know that someday you’ll find a man who loves you and will give you a family of your own, don’t you?” Clementine’s tone held a note of pity.
Irritation rose swiftly inside Clarabelle. She never liked when Clementine felt sorry for her that she didn’t get attention from young men. It always made her feel worse.
“I’ll be fine,” she said, forcing another smile. “And if you end up loving Franz and the children, they’d be very blessed to have you in their lives.”
Clementine hesitated only a moment more before her smile came out in full bloom and the dreamy look with it. “If he proposed tomorrow, I’d accept. I’m ready to move from the ranch and start my own life.”
Something in her sister’s voice halted Clarabelle’s irritation. She knew Clementine was exaggerating, that she wouldn’t really accept a proposal tomorrow. But clearly, her sister was having a harder time living on the ranch than she’d let on. Maybe she felt out of place being there with Maverick and Hazel as newlyweds. Maybe she missed Clarabelle’s presence. Or maybe it was difficult being there with all the memories of Ma everywhere.
Whatever the case, Clarabelle knew what she had to do. She had to step out of the way so that she didn’t deter Franz in any way from pursuing Clementine, especially if courting Franz would make Clementine happy again and help her through the grief of losing Ma.
10
“So no one found the murder weapon?” Franz stood with the sheriff near the barn.
“Reckon whoever done it got rid of all the evidence.” The sheriff chewed on a long piece of grass, leaning casually against the wood pile Franz had slowly been adding to whenever he had a chance, like this morning.
Except for the star pinned to his vest, the sheriff looked like any other average fellow in the area. His gaze was riveted to Clarabelle where she was hanging garments on a clothesline near the cabin. The wind had picked up and was not only flapping at the damp linens but molding Clarabelle’s blouse and skirt to her body, showing off all her curves.
Franz cleared his throat, trying to draw the sheriff’s attention away from Clarabelle, but the fellow didn’t take the hint to keep his eyes off what didn’t belong to him.
Franz had the sudden urge to go over to Clarabelle and offer to finish hanging the clothing for her. But the truth was, Clarabelle didn’t belong to him either.
If only the sheriff wasn’t looking at Clarabelle like he was removing every article of her clothing and hanging them right on the line with the damp items. It was disrespectful.
Besides, the man had to be in his thirties, if not early forties. Even if he was single, he was too old for a woman as young and innocent as Clarabelle. Not that Franz considered himself young. But he prided himself on having some decency. When hefelt himself starting to lust over Clarabelle, he made a concerted effort to stop and change the direction of his thoughts.
