Page 96 of His Unforgettable Bride
She rarely used such a tone with the children.
But as she took the letter from his hand and slipped it into the pocket of her skirt, she felt blazing heat in her cheeks and realized she was breathing hard, as if she’d run up here instead of walked.
“You’re gettin’ married?” Harriet asked in the sudden empty silence.
“Course she ain’t.” Bobby Flannery piped up from across the room. “Miss Harding is a spinster and everyone knows it.”
His seatmate must’ve elbowed his side, because Bobby yelped. “What? My ma even said so.”
“That ain’t nice,” Clarissa said. “Miss Harding is pretty enough to get her a man if she wanted one.”
“Children—”
Merritt’s attempt at regaining control of the class went unheeded. Two students began arguing about her looks while Paul said, “I thought you couldn’t be our teacher anymore if you get married.”
Little Samuel looked at her with sad eyes and a now-trembling lower lip. “You don’t want to be our teacher no more?”
“Of course I do,” she told him.
But it was more complicated than that.
“She’s old!” A voice burst out from the middle of the room.
And Merritt felt her temper spark.
“Enough!” She rapped the edge of her desk with her ruler, and the children went silent.
Twenty-five might be a spinster here in the West—most girls married before they were eighteen—but Merritt wasn’told.
She bit back the words to defend herself, knowing that debating a ten-year-old would not be an effective use of her time. Though it was tempting.
“I was not planning to tell you this yet”—her heart pounded as she made her voice loud and clear—“but I am…possibly…considering getting married.”
“To who?” demanded a single voice from the back before Merritt’s raised eyebrow quelled any more noise.
“Ifyou complete today’s work diligently and make it through our rehearsal, I will tell you a bit more.”
It had been years since she’d lost control of her classroom like this. Even longer since she’d had to resort to bribery. But these were desperate times.
Her plea worked, and the last hour of the day flew past—probably because she dreaded what the children would ask.
The inquisition was as terrible as she’d imagined, but she was able to shorten it a bit as she rushed the children into their coats and out the door.
“I have known him for months.” Technically true, though she’d never met her intended groom in person.
“He is a businessman.” John had told her about investing in the railroad, though she hadn’t understood it all from his letters. There would be time to discuss it at length soon enough.
“No, he isn’t from around here.” They hadn’t discussed where they would live, other than agreeing that she needed to stay and finish the school term as her contract stipulated.
“Where did we meet? I answered an ad in a newspaper.”
These last words were said as she ushered the children out the door with her own woolen cape on and arms wide lest they dawdle any longer.
As she crossed out of the doorway, she caught sight of a familiar figure standing on the boardwalk just outside.
Drew McGraw. Her cousin and his three younger brothers owned a ranch well outside of town. She hadn’t seen him in weeks, and he had a couple of days’ worth of scruff on his jaw.
Her stomach was already twisty with anticipation and nerves as she crossed the boardwalk to him, watching the last of her students scurry toward their homes.
