Page 15 of The Drifter's Bride
Her eyes followed him as he went back into the bedroom, and she thought about the words he said. He hadn’t said he was meeting with Uncle Weston. He mentioned business with Aunt Ingrid. Addison doubted he was asking her aunt for gardening advice. The only business that men went to see Aunt Ingrid about was her matchmaking business.
The thought unsettled her. Was Aunt Ingrid finding a wife for Lukas? Did she already have someone lined up?
Please, Father in Heaven. Don’t let the match happen. Give me the opportunity to get to know him first.
“Were you talking to someone?”
The sound of his boots thudding on the floor brought her out of her prayer.
“I was just talking to myself,” she lied. She didn’t even know if this man was a man of God.
“Hmm. It sounded like you were praying.”
“I guess I was.”
He walked around to the side of the table. Addy felt her mouth go dry. He stood looking at her with his hands deep in his pockets, and she felt her heart flutter wildly inside her chest. No one deserved to be that handsome.
His hair was dry and golden-brown color. It fell in soft waves to his shoulders. She had never seen hair like that on a man. He had scrubbed his face, and she could see that he had a few freckles from being out in the sun. His black pants fit his hips snuggly, and his cream linen shirt stressed the muscles in his arms and chest. There was a string tie around his collar, and he carried a tan jacket over his arm. She laced her fingers together, lest she do something silly, like reach out and touch him.
Oh, how she wanted to touch him.
She needed to talk with Aunt Ingrid as soon as she got home.
He shrugged into the jacket and gave her a wink. “Do I look that bad?” he teased, pulling his hair back into a low ponytail. He reached over to the metal box on the table and flipped it open to remove a leather tie.
Taking a deep gulp, Addison played with the frayed lace at the throat of her dress.
“You’re definitely presentable.” She waved a hand at him, before ducking her head as he laughed long and loud.
“That’s good. I’m glad you think so.”
“Who is Hannah Woods?”
“I don’t know, why?”
“Her name was on the box.”
“Oh. I found that when I moved in. I think it belonged to the young lady who lived here with her Pa.”
Addy let loose a little sigh of relief. Lukas gave her a wink before walking to the door. “We should probably get going. The horses are just outside. You can’t ride Butterscotch, so we’ll just do double duty again on my horse.”
“Let me slip on my boots and we can go.” She slid her feet inside her boots and wrapped her stockings around her corset. With her fingers, she tried to brush out as many of the knots as possible in her hair before dividing it into three pieces and quickly braiding it. Accepting a piece of cord Lukas handed her, she tied off the end and threw the braid down her back. With her corset tucked under her arm, she accepted Lukas’s hand and walked outside into the morning sunshine.
The birds were chirping, and the sound of the creek rushed behind the trees. As she listened to the sounds in the clearing, Addy had decided right there. She intended to have Lukas Arkin as her husband, and she couldn’t afford to have Aunt Ingrid upset with him if she was going to ask for her help.
Chapter Seven
It didn’t take long to ride along the creek to the pasture that held the Chapman’s prize bull, Buckeye, and down to the horse barn before turning up the road that led to the large house where the Chapmans lived.
Lukas kept his arms loose around Addison’s waist as he held the reins. She clung to the iron saddle horn as if her life depended on it. They both rode in silence, deep in their own thoughts. He wanted to ask Addy what she was thinking but didn’t for fear of disrupting the tender moment of having her in his arms. He knew that once he delivered her to Weston and Marmee, the chances of seeing her again were going between few and far between as he would be working the pastures the next few weeks.
He knew he wanted to say something… anything, but he kept his lips pursed as he gazed on the road in front of him.
And if he said anything, what would he say?
I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met.
I’m sorry, but I have an arrangement with your aunt and I need to honor it?
