Page 19 of The Drifter's Bride
And didn’t Aunt Ingrid mention something about an Independence Day picnic? That was less than two weeks away.
Addy smiled and dunked her head under the water to rinse the last of the suds away.
She had a plan, now she just had to execute it.
Chapter Eight
The ride to town took approximately twenty minutes. Lukas drove the buggy past the winding creek and across the flat prairie until he could see the wooden buildings rise in the distance. Marmee didn’t say much, and he didn’t want to start a conversation, lest he invite questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.
“There’s the stage,” Lukas said, pointing to a cloud of dust arriving toward town from the opposite direction.
“I hope that there weren’t any complications on the trip.”
“Complications?”
“I heard from Marshal Briggs that they were sending a replacement. I know he’ll be happy as he’s wanted to retire.”
Orrin Briggs had been the territory marshal since Flat River was first established. For over thirty years, he traveled all throughout the Nebraska Territory, keeping the peace. He finally married and was ready to retire his star permanently.
“Where is the new marshal staying?”
“I think he’ll be staying with Whitney for a bit.” Whitney Hartman was the sheriff. Lukas didn’t know him well personally, but he respected the lawman from the few times he interacted with him. Marmee reached inside her reticule and pulled out a piece of paper. She looked at it and then folded it back into a square. “The two women we are meeting are Justine and Catherine. Justine was the widow I mentioned. Her little girl is Hope.”
“That’s a pretty name for a little girl.”
“Do you want children, Lukas?”
Lukas gripped the reins through his fingers. He gave the horse a light slap to encourage it to go faster.
“I suppose every man wants to have a son.”
“What about a girl?”
If she had golden brown hair and eyes the color of nutmeg, then yes, he would.
“As long as the baby was healthy, I suppose it wouldn’t matter.”
Marmee folded her hands in her lap. “That’s a typical answer. I know it pleased Weston when he had sons, but you should have seen him when Marianne and Penelope were born. They were the prettiest little girls. Bright red hair and big green eyes. Then when Alice came along, he was done for. Let me tell you, that girl had her father wrapped around her pinky since she opened her eyes.” She held up her finger for emphasis. “Boys are nice, but there is something about a little girl and her father.”
“Why are you telling me this, Marmee?”
“My brother Leon had three sons. Only two lived long enough to get married and have children. The middle one died in the War Between the States. He was, and still is, proud of those boys. His first wife, Greta, died in childbirth. When Alex was about ten years old, Leon remarried. His wife gave him a little girl and his whole life shifted. Everything he has done, he did for that little girl.”
“I take it Leon is Miss Aland’s father.”
“Yes, he is.”
“Your husband has already told me to stay away from her. I know she’s headed back home in October.”
“Good. I would hate for something silly to happen, such as two very different people falling in love.” She glanced at Lukas. “I mean, look at me and Weston. We are as different as two people could be and look how we turned out.”
Lukas paused for a moment, wondering what Marmee might be getting at. If he didn’t know any better, he would think that she was subtly telling him to go after Addison.
“Marmee,” he began, but she cut him off.
Raising her hand to shield her eyes, she grabbed Lukas’s arm. “I think we’ll get there before them. When we arrive, why don’t you get Miss Huntsman’s luggage and put it in the buggy? Mrs. McGuthry will stay at the boarding house, so just ask the stage driver if he is changing horses. If he is, then he can remove the luggage at the livery. This way I can greet the women first and then introduce you. If neither is appealing, then you just say something, and I can make an excuse.”
“Say something?”
