Page 37 of Mail-Order Bride Mommy
Lindy stood still long enough to ask, “Can I get a candy stick?”
Gwen had a few dollars and could buy the child a treat but before she could answer, Lindy bounced across the room. “I’ll ask Uncle Matt. He’ll say yes.”
Seeing Lindy so confident in Matt’s generosity boosted Gwen’s opinion of the man. She laughed softly. Despite her initial disappointment at his delay of the wedding, he’d been slowly, but steadily, climbing in her esteem.
A basket held the simple lunch she’d prepared. There were cold potato pancakes, boiled eggs, chunks of cheese, and dill pickles from a crock she’d found in the pantry. She’d made a raisin loaf she thought Matt would enjoy and baked cookies. She might have done more but there hadn’t been time.
The wagon rumbled to the house, and she heard the brake squeak into place. She tied her bonnet on as Matt stepped inside.
“Everyone ready?” he asked.
Lindy raced for the door without answering. Matt jumped out of her way as she tore past. He looked at Gwen. A feeling as strange and yet familiar as her dreams rushed up her throat at the way his smile started at the corners of his mouth and moved upward in one swift movement to fill his eyes so they glistened. She’d never before understood that description but now she did.
A deep sound broke the silence that had engulfed her. He was laughing. A bubble of answering amusement raced up her throat and past her lips. She’d learned to laugh and enjoy life, thanks in large part to her mother’s encouragement, but this felt entirely different. It was as if he’d poured the feeling into her. Her gaze locked with his.
His smile softened. “Are you ready?”
His words broke the spell. She shifted her gaze away, trying to make sense of her thoughts and indicated the basket. “Our lunch.”
He took the container and waved her ahead of him out the door. Matt set the basket in the back of the wagon where Lindy waited and then held out a hand to assist Gwen to the seat.
She rested her palm in his and almost gasped at the way her nerves jolted at the touch. She swallowed hard. What was wrong with her?
Her insides calmed as Matt made his way around the horses and up to the seat beside her and drove from the yard. Unsettled by her unexpected reactions, she concentrated on the landscape as they journeyed along the trail.
“Have you ever driven a wagon?”
She laughed at the absurdity of his question. She’d lived in town where she could walk most places and if her destination was too far, she asked Maurice to take her or hired a driver. “I have not.”
“Then it’s time you learned.”
She stared at him. Never mind the twinkle in his eyes. “I don’t wish to drive a wagon.”
“You’ll need to know if you want to visit Opal or go to town on your own.”
She couldn’t argue with that, but she’d never had any desire to be in control of two large horses. The thin pieces of leather seemed inadequate for the task.
“Here, take the reins.”
She shook her head. His eyes narrowed for a second then he smiled—a beguiling smile if she’d ever seen one. Completely ignoring her resistance, he placed the reins in her hands.
“You hold them this way. To turn them you pull this way or that.” He moved her hands, and the horses began to leave the road. He moved her hands the other way and they returned. “To stop, you pull back but for now, the trail is straight, and the horses know what to do.”
He leaned away, leaving her with narrow strips of leather in her hands and her heart in her mouth. “Matt!”
“You can do this. Relax.”
She tried to, but the feeling was oddly like running down a hill faster than she should be able to.
“Doesn’t it feel good?”
She laughed, a sound more nervous than amused. “I’m driving the wagon.”
“Yes, you are.”
Lindy leaned over the bench. “Can I learn?”
Matt chuckled. “When you’re older.” The sound filled Gwen with an emotion as unfamiliar as the reins in her hands. She sought for a way to describe it. A name to give it. But nothing came to mind. She’d simply have to enjoy it.
