Page 79 of Conveniently Wed
“Just didn’t—don’t want to let my pa down. With Maxwell gone to medical school and Oscar married, more work falls on him.”
“But doesn’t your oldest brother still live on the ranch?”
“Yeah, across the valley. But he’s busy with his own family.”
“And the other brothers? Seems like they’re all of age…able to help take on more responsibility….”
He turned his head, the soft grasses beneath him rustling.
She turned to meet his gaze straight on. From only inches away, the intensity of his blue eyes caught her breath.
“And what of Ricky?” she asked softly. “Maybe he could bear a little more of the load?”
“You’re not going to let my excuses stand, are you?” he asked.
“Should I?”
That one corner of his mouth kicked up. “You’re intent on turning every cranny of my life inside-out, aren’t you? The only one who challenges me.”
“Only what needs it,” she murmured.
He moved toward her and gently kissed her forehead, a brush of his beard against her skin.
She waited for him to apologize, or say the kiss had been a mistake, but none of that came. Was he beginning to soften toward her?
He pushed to his feet and extended a hand to her. She accepted his help to stand and brushed at the few pieces of grass that clung to her skirt.
“I’m not going to get a frog in my supper, am I?” he teased, making her giggle.
She knew they needed to push forward; he’d told her earlier that it was imperative to get the cattle to Cheyenne on time or the buyer would back out of the deal.
But he graced her with a long, level look, showing her some deep emotion in his gaze, before he released her hand and turned to mount up. He waited for her to get into the wagon before he rode off.
Something was changing between them. She could feel it.
If they could get things settled, would she really get the fresh start she wanted? Would Edgar accept her as his wife—for keeps?
That question distracted her for the rest of the afternoon.
Edgar might have gone a little crazy. It was the only explanation for the thoughts swirling through his head all day.
Ricky was hung over and useless. Angry and distant. But thoughts of Fran kept Edgar from being able to maintain an appropriate level of anger toward his wayward brother.
When he’d left Fran after finding her daydreaming in the prairie grass, he’d imagined her sprawled in the spring grasses back at his pa’s homestead. With him beside her.
They’d stopped briefly for lunch. All she’d done was hand him a cold biscuit and a thick slice of ham, but when he’d ridden out to spell one of the other cowboys he thought about what it would be like to see her rumpled and with her hair unbound over the breakfast table.
And that distracted him. Matty had to whistle at him, and Edgar realized he’d allowed a whole troupe of steers to escape past him. He spent the next several minutes rounding them back into the main herd and lecturing himself on keeping his mind on task.
Which worked until he started thinking about seeing her around the supper campfire. Maybe…maybe they could sneak away and he could steal a kiss.
He was on the opposite side of the herd from the chuck wagon when a group of riders thundered over a bluff and into view.
Fear sliced through him, sharp and painful in its intensity. Hemustbe falling for her if a threat against her had this powerful an effect on him. The fear was followed by a deep sense of unease.
A sharp whistle to his brother and a wave at the horizon sent Matty and his brace of pistols back to the wagon. They’d planned for this. Seb and John also rode toward the wagon as Edgar made his way around the herd.
Although the approaching men didn’t seem to be in any hurry. They came on at a steady walk.
