Page 10 of A Dangerous Heart
Isaac blinked and looked away. He’d had nowhere else to go when everything had fallen apart. He needed the seclusion of hiscabin to hole up, lick his wounds, and try to find a way forward. And to keep his eye on Quade.
He assessed the pretty woman sitting next to him. She’d come here as a mail-order bride. Why? He pushed aside his natural curiosity. Clare Ferguson was not his responsibility. But he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she might bring trouble.
Isaac pulled the reins taut, and the wagon rolled to a stop. Drew and Kaitlyn were already off the porch, walking hand in hand. Jo appeared from the barn and sprinted to the wagon. David dismounted and tied his horses to the corral fence before returning to the wagon.
“Uncle Isaac, you brought her home with you!” the girl exclaimed. Her eyes, wide with excitement, flitted from him to Clare and to the back of the wagon. Her brow wrinkled.
Isaac fisted the reins, his gaze tangled with Clare’s. She lifted her eyebrows. He dipped his chin. Vowing to ignore her, he slid from the bench and halted at the side of the wagon. He craved distance. Recalling the gentle brush of her shoulder, his bicep responded with a twitch, as if haunted by a phantom touch.
Clare’s boys were already out of the wagon.
“Is that your dog?” Clare’s youngest asked. She’d called him Ben.
Isaac gritted his teeth, hardening himself against the young boy’s curious tone. He restricted his thoughts to the tasks at hand. Tend to the horse, unload the supplies, and fix the box staple that had come loose on the wagon. His meddlesome family could figure out the rest.
He was already running his fingers over the loose staple on the sideboard when he heard Jo say, “She didn’t say she had boys.”
Drew ambled to Clare’s side of the wagon and offered a hand down, but he sent Isaac a side-eyed look over the wagon. Kaitlyn stepped forward, laying a gentle hand on Clare’s arm.
“Welcome to the McGraw homestead, Miss…” Kaitlyn faltered, her forehead wrinkling as she took in the boys scrambling around the supplies while Jo unlatched the wagon back.
“Ferguson.” Clare provided her last name.
A beat passed where Isaac expected Clare to say more. She didn’t. Was this the same woman who had yammered all the way from Calvin?
There was a flurry of introductions and a mention that Ed and Rebekah were currently over at the Boutwells’ place nearby. Nick was with the cattle.
Clare Ferguson was all smiles, the youngest boy glued to her side. Eli and David stood a few feet from each other near the back of the wagon, eyeing each other awkwardly. Isaac moved to the back of the wagon, lowered the tailgate. He grabbed a large grain sack, hoisted it over his shoulder, and headed to the barn. Drew grabbed one too, following Isaac and leaving Kaitlyn with Clare and the children.
“What happened?” Drew asked when they were inside the barn.
“Quade happened.” Isaac tossed the feed sack onto the ground. It landed with a thump that wasn’t satisfying enough.
“What?”
“Quade and his cronies were on the platform at the depot. David disappeared.” Isaac had seen David sneaking toward the wagon just before Clare had disembarked.
“When I met her”—he jerked his thumb back toward the wagon and the women’s chattering voices—“she was spouting off about the letters. Quade was quick to offer to help her sue us forbreach of contract. Said it would be a real shame if the family lost our homestead in a lawsuit.”
“That skunk!” Drew’s eyes narrowed, but his anger was banked.
After hearing about Clare Ferguson’s hardships, Isaac couldn’t really say whether she would do it or not. She obviously needed the money.
“Folks started gathering around. I thought it best to bring her here instead of making a bigger scene.”
“This scheme of Jo and David’s was foolish.” Drew ran his hand over his face and blew out a breath. “Kaitlyn can buy her train tickets to go home. I’d take her back to town tomorrow, but I can’t—not till after the roundup.”
Kaitlyn’s inheritance had helped the family out of a difficult spot earlier in the year.
Isaac’s stomach growled, reminding him he’d given the boys his lunch. He thought of Clare, who’d only taken a few bites and given the rest to her boys. She had a mother’s heart.
Drew must’ve heard. “Come on up to the house and eat.”
As they walked, Isaac studiously ignored Clare walking with Kaitlyn toward the house. Drew glanced between them. “So, what do you think of Clare?”
Pretty.The word almost tumbled from his mouth. He pressed his lips together. Sure, she was pretty. Probably one of the prettiest women ever to arrive in Calvin, Wyoming. Her dark hair was pinned up, but a few tendrils had escaped, curling at her temple and brushing against her cheek. Her hazel eyes danced, and her smile was striking enough to land like a gut punch. Isaac still couldn’t figure out why she would need to answer an ad.
He didn’t think she’d throw her lot in with a man like Quade.
