Page 31 of A Convenient Heart
“Here and there.” Jack still didn’t know what John-the-groom had written in his letters, didn’t know how much Merritt had told her cousins about her potential groom.
“What happened to your hat? Hey, Merry,” Drew called into the kitchen, “I’m not sure I can trust a guy without a hat!”
“Lost it,” Jack said cheerfully. “How far’s your ranch?”
It must be pretty far if they were staying the night in town. The oldest brother had mentioned staying in the bunkhouse of a rancher nearby. The girls would stay the night here with their cousin,Merry.
Drew stared at him.
It was Ed that answered. “About half a day’s ride.”
“How many cattle you run?”
If he could keep the conversation focused on the brothers, it’d make everything simpler.
“Almost a hundred head,” Drew answered. “You got family back home?”
Jack sat down on the sofa, crossing one ankle over his knee. “No family. Why do you want to know?”
Drew’s eyes narrowed. “Wondering whether you’re going to try to take Merritt away from her family.”
They’ll be your family in a few days. Merritt’s words from moments ago whispered through his mind.
They wouldn’t. He knew it.
And it seemed Drew wasn’t too keen on the idea of this match.
Merritt appeared in the kitchen doorway. The scent of frying ham had his mouth watering. The sounds of something sizzling on the stove were muted, as were the girls’ voices behind her.
“We’ll be staying in Calvin long enough for me to finish the school year,” she told her cousin primly. “Not that it’s your business.”
She set several tin coffee mugs on the table with a clank. The pot followed with a heavier clunk.
“You can pour, Ed,” she said. She pointed a finger at Drew. “Be nice.”
There’d been a flurry of introductions outside, and the young girl he thought was named Tillie skipped into the room, carrying a glass of milk. There’d been no mention of a mother. Was Drew widowed? Jack’s curiosity was piqued, despite knowing he should ignore those thoughts.
“What’re you doing, peanut?” Drew asked as she skirted him and then came to sit right next to Jack on the sofa.
“Merry asked me to come rescue Mr. Jack.” She took a sip of her milk and set her cup on the table too. She had a small milk mustache across her upper lip, and it made her look innocent somehow.
He felt another kick in his stomach. Had Dewey ever been as innocent as this girl seemed?
Her leg swung where her foot didn’t touch the floor. “What d’you need rescuin’ for, Mr. Jack?”
He glanced up to where Ed had turned his smile into his shoulder and Drew was staring at him. “I reckon I don’t.”
She tipped her head to one side. “Then how come Merry thinks so? She’s real smart, ya know? If she says you need rescuin’, ya prob’ly do.”
She said the words with such earnestness that he couldn’t argue. But Merritt was wrong. He didn’t need rescuing from these men. He could hold his own at a card table with men more dangerous than these. Men with loaded weapons in their laps. He wouldn’t be afraid of her family.
Tillie pointed toward a small pile of brown-wrapped packages in one corner of the room, half hidden behind the edge of the sofa. He hadn’t noticed them until now.
“Those’re our Christmas presents.” Tillie whispered so loudly that the sound carried across the room. “Merry always gets me a book, but this year I’m hopin’ for a dolly.”
His lips twitched with the urge to smile. “You’ll be as smart as your cousin if you read lots of books,” he said.
The girl wrinkled her nose. “I cain’t read yet.”
