Page 32 of Willing to Wed the Rancher
She drew in a sharp breath, the exquisiteness of the moment nearly making her swoon. The charming and wonderful Franz Meyer was kissing her cheek. Hers. As if she were a treasure, something rare and prized, that needed careful handling.
He lingered an extra heartbeat, as though he wasn’t ready to be done. Then he shifted back slowly, his eyelashes low, his nostrils slightly flared.
Had he been affected by the kiss like she had?
“Now it’s settled!” Bianca threw herself against them both, and the momentum forced them to break away from each other—although Clarabelle found herself still clinging to his hand.
“Now you’re married, and you can be our new mother and father.” Bianca held on to each of their legs and beamed up at them.
Dieter wrapped his arms around them, too, pushing her and Franz closer again.
Franz’s gaze was riveted to her mouth, as if he wanted to kiss her again but this time on her lips.
Oh, sweet heavens. He wouldn’t dare do that, would he?
The whirlwind in her stomach picked up speed. What was going on between her and Franz? Had they taken their playacting too far? Or had it already been more than playacting from the start?
Whatever the case, she had to set the children straight. The marriage wasn’t official. “Hold on, children.” She began to unfold herself from their grasps. “We’re only pretending. Franz is just the troll, and I’m the mother goat.”
Franz tore his attention away from her mouth finally, gazed in the direction of the field, and blew out a tense breath.
Was he frustrated?
Clarabelle disentangled her hand from his. And she wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or disappointed when he didn’t try to hold on to her longer.
He glanced at the sky and then tugged his watch out of his pocket to check the time.
She didn’t need a watch to know the afternoon was spent and that they had chores waiting for them. It would soon be time for Franz to call upon Clementine. Was he thinking about that too?
Her mind filled with the vision of Clementine in her best dress, greeting Franz at the door of the ranch house. She’d be as beautiful as always.
Clarabelle blinked, trying to ward off thoughts of Clementine and focus on the look in Franz’s eyes from moments ago. But even if Franz had felt something this afternoon that went beyondpretending, those feelings would soon be shoved away by all his attraction for Clementine.
It was Clarabelle’s turn to release a tense breath.
Before Franz could examine her face and see the conflict there, she reached for Bianca’s hand and started to lead the little girl toward the bridge. “Time to return home, sweetie.”
As fun as the afternoon had been with the children and Franz, she couldn’t forget it was all pretend, and that’s the way it needed to remain.
12
Clarabelle stepped out of the bank and forced herself not to look down the street in the direction of Dewitt’s Hotel, even though the need to see Franz was mounting with every passing moment.
That wasn’t why she’d hitched the wagon and come into town with the children first thing after rushing through the morning chores. She wasn’t anxious to see his face and try to gauge his reaction to his time with Clementine. Or at least, that’s what she’d been trying to tell herself.
But the truth was that she’d hardly slept all night with thoughts of Clementine and Franz running through her head. On her way into town, she hadn’t been able to resist stopping over at the ranch, hoping Clementine would tell her that it hadn’t gone well, that Franz wasn’t the man for her, and that she didn’t plan to see him again.
Unfortunately, Clementine had gushed even more.
“I’m in love with him,” she’d said dreamily as she stood at the stove and stirred one of the bubbling pots of a sugar-and-butter mixture. “I’ve finally met the man I intend to marry.”
Clarabelle’s heart had cracked at the declaration. And it had cracked even more as Clementine had breathlessly described everything she loved about Franz. By the time Clarabelle had torn herself away and started to town, she’d been nearly sick. With jealousy that her sister had such a lovely time with Franz? With the frustration of losing a man she’d never had?
Whatever the case, her chest still ached.
She drew in a breath of the crisp morning air, letting the coolness that lingered from the night clear her head. Forcing her attention away from the hotel, she focused instead on the wagon in front of the bank and the children waiting on the bench as she’d instructed them, having promised that if they behaved, she would allow them to each pick out something at the store once she finished her errand.
The trip to the bank had been long overdue. In his will, Eric had given her access to his account, and since she’d started running low on supplies, she had no choice but to find out what financial means he’d left her.
