Page 19 of Conveniently Wed
“I hoped by the time we were found, it would be too far away from civilization for you to turn us back.”
Edgar had to look away from the woman’s saucy, endearing grin. He waited for his rolling stomach to settle. The two biscuits he’d downed for breakfast that morning must’ve been bad.
It was the only thing he could think of that would have caused that hitch in his breathing when he’d touched her and that swoop in his stomach when she smiled.
What he couldn’t explain was the dizzying relief he felt when he’d realized both sisters had hidden in the wagon.
The man that had approached him at the holding yard had asked after two small, dark-haired young women. Which could easily have been Fran and Emma. But for some reason Edgar couldn’t explain, he had held back from answering the man.
Or maybe he could explain it. The man had had the look of a crook or a confidence man, with beady eyes and a half-chewed cigar hanging from one corner of his mouth. He’d been much too sly. Too oily. Edgar had had a bad feeling about him, but had trusted that Davy would be able to keep the two women safe on Jonas’s ranch. Mostly.
It was the relief at their presence that made him edgy, and he crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here? Why’d you sneak onto that wagon?”
“I thought I could help with your cattle drive. You’ll be tired after a long day in the saddle, and I can cook supper. I can at least take on that one task so you don’t have to do it.”
She had a lot to learn about the life of a rancher. She’d just described about every day of his life. Long hours in the saddle and then chores at home. “You said you couldn’t cook.”
“I said I couldn’t cookmuch. But I’ve been reading these and I think I’ve got the idea….”
She turned back to the wagon and then held up a small wooden box that had been tucked inside. A box he recognized from his ma’s kitchen. “You stole my ma’s recipe box?”
“I didn’tstealit. I borrowed it.”
She clutched it protectively to her chest, as if offended that he would suggest she would take something of his ma’s.
The corner of his mouth wanted to tick upward, so he narrowed his eyes instead. “Why’d you really hide in that wagon all morning?”
She huffed and looked past his shoulder. So did he. Nearby, her sister walked through some tall meadow grasses, hands gently touching the tops of the tall buffalo grass. Emma’s eyes were on the horizon—she wasn’t paying any attention to them—and she looked almost peaceful.
The younger girl’s previous soft question had twisted something in his gut. She was afraid of something. Something that had been enough to send them west?
He looked back to her sister, watching Fran until she spoke again, eyes still on Emma.
“I thought it might be better if we kept moving, rather than stay in one place. Even with your brother for protection.”
“You gonna tell me what you’re runnin’ from?”
She considered him with her big brown eyes. “Not today.”
He shifted his boots, nodding toward the double tracks the wagon had left in the soft grass as it had traveled along. “I oughta leave you out here to find your way back to Bear Creek.”
Her eyes widened, a flicker of fear or uncertainty flashing through them.
For some reason, his chest started aching. It made his voice gruff when he spoke.
“It’d take too long to drive you back. You’ll have to ride along. But when we get to Tuck’s Station, you and I will have a serious talk about what the future holds.”
He started off toward where he’d left his big black grazing, and tossed his last words over his shoulder. “I’ll send Ricky back to teach you how to drive the wagon. Might as well make yourself useful.”
He’d been thinking on it all morning. His ma frequented a seamstress in Calvin, a good thirty miles from Bear Creek, who was in high demand. If she could use a helper, he might be able to use his ma’s connection to talk her into taking on the two girls.
Then all he would have to do would be find a place for them to board, and he could wash his hands of the whole situation.
Calvin was close enough that he could help if she needed it, but he wouldn’t have a woman messing up his orderly life.
It was a workable solution. He could only hope.
Fran had never been so glad to see the sun dipping toward the horizon.
