Page 13 of Wagon Train Redemption
“We already established that you did.”
“Then I believe you know all there is to know.”
“I don’t think so.” He gentled his tone. “But maybe someday you’ll trust me enough to tell me.”
She waved her hands in what he took for frustration. “Tell you what?”
“To begin with, what happened to your mother? How old were you when she passed? Was your father’s passing slow like Pa’s? Or sudden?” He lifted one shoulder. “I have no idea which would be worse.”
She opened her mouth, but he didn’t give her a chance to say anything because it was suddenly important to him that she explain why she acted the way she did though he couldn’t say why. Perhaps he had an overdeveloped sense of curiosity.
He held up a hand. “Not now. Not until you trust me.”
Her gaze locked with his. Neither blinked. She was the first to lower her eyes. “It isn’t that I don’t trust you.”
“That’s good to know.” But it wasn’t enough. “Shouldn’t you be resting like the others are?”
“I don’t need to rest. I’ll go for a little walk.”
He didn’t point out that if she followed her normal pattern with Ruby, she would walk much of the afternoon. “Do you mind if I accompany you?”
After the slightest hesitation, she nodded. “That would be fine.”
They kept to the shoreline, stepping over clumps of grass. She stumbled on one, and he caught her arm.
“Thank you,” she murmured, quick to put a distance between them.
Many things about her had changed, but she was as skittish now as she’d been when she first came. Or was it only around him? He hadn’t noticed it with the others. His curiosity about this gal increased.
“Tell me everything you’ve been doing since I left home.”
Her brows arched. “Four years of everything?”
“Why not?” The idea appealed.
“Very well. On one condition. You do the same.”
“Agreed. You go first.”
They walked a few steps. She nodded. “It’s hard to remember everything. I went to school with Ruby. I think she stayed in school longer than she wanted to give me a chance to catch up.”
“And did you? Catch up?”
“Well enough, I think. I was grateful for the opportunity to attend a school and loved learning. But I wanted to help Ma, so I quit.”
Did she mean it to sound like she hadn’t gone to classes before, or was he jumping to conclusions? Perhaps being a Mountie had made him overly analytical of every word. She rushed on before he could pursue the topic.
“I learned to sew and make the kind of meals Ma made.” Stopping to look at him, she explained, “I’d only cooked for Father and me before. Not for a whole family.”
“You do good now.” He already knew it had been only her and one parent so that wasn’t new information. Was she purposely restricting what she said?
“Thanks. Your ma is a patient teacher.”
“And no doubt grateful of willing help.”
Her gaze drifted away, and a faint smile curved her face. “I took over gardening. It’s a task I was experienced in.”
“Oh, how’s that?”
