Page 325 of Conveniently Wed
Aundy followed him, grateful the injured man still breathed. “He indicated he didn’t want to go to Doc’s. I was going to take him home and see if I could help him.”
“Just like that, you’d open your home to any stranger? You don’t know a thing about him. For all you know, he could be a thief or a murderer. Ever consider that maybe he did somethingto get beat up like this?” Garrett’s anger caused his shoulders to bunch and his jaw to clench.
“I…” Garrett held up his hand, cutting off whatever excuse Aundy planned to offer.
“Don’t, Aundy. Just don’t. You get on that horse and go home and we’ll talk about why you’re dressed like that later. I’ll see if Ma can help your friend here. If he isn’t better in the morning, I’ll send for Doc.” Garrett walked around the wagon and climbed onto the seat. He watched as Aundy mounted and started down the street before guiding the wagon behind her.
After driving into town for a load of supplies at the feed store earlier in the afternoon, he ran into his friend, Kade Rawlings, one of the sheriff’s deputies. They enjoyed dinner at their favorite restaurant, taking time to catch up on news.
Garrett started home when he noticed Bell tied to a hitching post around the corner from a saloon. Genuinely hoping he was mistaken, he parked the wagon and walked over to the horse, confirming it was, in fact, Bell.
Since the only person the persnickety horse would let ride her was Aundy, he began searching for his neighbor. Curious as to what brought her to town on a Friday night, he was surprised she rode the horse instead of using the buggy.
Garrett went into every respectable business that was still open then ventured to the saloon, wondering where Aundy could have disappeared.
Relieved he didn’t find her in the drinking establishment, he went back outside and made another trip on foot through downtown, trying to think of anywhere she might be. Concerned, he hoped she was at the church. He started back to the wagon to head that direction when he noticed a cowhand help a drunken Chinese worker down the street. He didn’t think anything of it until they neared Bell.
The horse, who didn’t tolerate any strangers and refused to let a man ride her, rubbed her head on the man’s arm while the two stopped by her side.
With each step that drew him closer to the duo, Garrett felt something in his gut twist tighter and tighter, concluding the cowpuncher had to be his spirited neighbor. Convinced his suspicion was accurate, terror washed over him at what could have happened to her if anyone discovered her disguise. The terror quickly gave way to anger at her putting herself in danger whether she realized it or not.
Garrett knew it was Aundy when the cowboy bent down and laced fingers together to make a step for the Chinese man. Men just didn’t have curvy backsides like that or look so graceful in their movements. When she glanced at him with those beautiful blue eyes, he knew he was right.
He felt like turning her over his knee and paddling her attractive posterior. Instead, he caught the Chinese man before he could fall to the ground, carried him to the wagon, and somehow heard himself say he was taking him home to Ma instead of to Doc or the sheriff’s office.
As he watched Aundy ride Bell with a straight spine and her head uplifted, he had no idea what she’d been thinking.
Why in the world was she dressed like a man and how on earth did she come to have a beaten Chinese man in her care?
He supposed he’d get the answers to his questions soon enough.
As they neared the lane that led to Nash’s Folly, Aundy dropped back to ride beside him.
“Garrett, I’m sorry, but I’d rather not go to your house looking like this. I don’t want to upset Nora.” Some little part of her had died the moment Garrett figured out who she was. It was one thing to be dressed like a man when no one knew she wasreally a woman. It was an entirely different matter for Garrett to see her dressed that way, knowing the truth.
As much as she tried to deny it, she wanted to look nice when he was around. She knew she wasn’t beautiful, but something about seeing him smile at her with his silvery eyes glowing like liquid metal made her feel feminine and attractive. The very last person she’d want to see her dressed like a man was Garrett Nash.
He’d not only seen her, but also seen right through her guise. She’d have to ask him sometime how he so easily figured out who she was. Right after he started speaking to her again.
“Fine,” he said, pointing a hand down the road toward the Erickson farm. “Get yourself home and be prepared to tell me all about your little adventure later. And don’t you ever try something like this again. You hear me?”
Since he was already fuming, she let her temper rise, too. She didn’t appreciate the way he bossed her around, especially since her trip to town resulted in finding a herd of sheep to purchase. That was the whole point of her adventure and she was inordinately pleased with her successful efforts.
“I appreciate your assistance, Mr. Nash, truly I do. However, I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. I’m a grown woman with a mind of her own, a strong constitution, and no man to answer to. Don’t feel the need to give yourself the job because I’m not looking to fill the vacancy!”
Aundy gave Bell her head and took off down the road.
Stunned by Aundy’s outburst, Garrett watched her ride away, unable to formulate a reply even if the infuriating woman had stayed to argue with him.
A chuckle worked its way up his chest and out his mouth as he turned the wagon toward home. “She is something else,” Garrett muttered to himself. He would probably never again meet anyone quite like Aundy Erickson in his lifetime.
Reluctantly admitting he may have been a little high-handed with her, he couldn’t help it. Anytime he was around her, he felt an unreasonable need to protect her, to keep her safe and sheltered. Only Aundy wasn’t the type of person to want protection. She was strong and resilient and, as he discovered, a bit of a free spirit.
Although he didn’t approve of her dressing like a cowhand out for a night on the town, he had to acknowledge she did do a good job of posing as a man. If he hadn’t been so curious about the horse’s reaction to her, he wouldn’t have thought twice about how she looked. Bell’s friendly greeting made him realize there was only one person the persnickety mare would allow that close.
Garrett stopped the wagon at the end of the front walk. He set the brake, jumped down, and ran inside the house to let his parents know they were about to have unexpected company.
Nora hastened to prepare a bed and J.B. hobbled to the door, holding it open as Garrett carried the Chinese man inside.
