Page 25 of The Drifter's Bride
Addison gave a gasp and moved further behind the rack of clothes.Lukas! Were they talking about her Lukas? She wasn’t aware of any other men named Lukas in town. And certainly not another with the same last name.
“You said you met him here?”
“I did. We ran away together ten years ago. He took me with him as he drifted from town to town. He was always promising to marry me. Never actually settling down. Then… this. He left me alone to return here. I wanted to let him know about his child, but he won’t even talk to me.”
Addison lifted her fist to her mouth and bit her hand to prevent herself from crying out. How could he? Is this why he was a perfect gentleman to her? Because he already had a child on the way?
How could he?
Thankful that she found out his true nature now, before spending more time chasing him, Addison looked at the dresses. Pulling out a deep blue one that she knew would draw attention at the picnic tomorrow, she didn’t even look at the price tag before taking it over to the counter. If she couldn’t have him, she would make him sorry he had ever met her.
“Did you find something you liked?”
“I did. I’ll take all of this. Thank you.”
Once her purchases were totaled, she nodded to the two ladies fussing over the bars of soap and toiletries. As Rose went to help them, Addison left to go find her Aunt Ingrid. She knew Aunt Ingrid said she was meeting the widow, and she knew the widow was staying at the boarding house above the livery.
She glanced around the small street and saw a sign for the livery several hundred feet down the road. Tucking her packages to her chest, she started walking there, determined to ignore the burning in her heart.
As she crossed the first alleyway, she saw a young couple she didn’t recognize exit the livery and walk toward her. The woman said something to the man, and he laughed. She was beautiful, with her red hair hanging below her lace trimmed bonnet. Her dress was immaculate and perfect for the prairie. She was shorter than him, and he could wrap her up easily in his arms. Except his arms were full.
On his hip, he carried a young girl only three or four years old. A precious child with cherubic cheeks and heart-shaped lips, Addison felt the first tear fall as the child grabbed the man’s hat and put it on her small head.
The woman took the hat from the child, as if a game, and placed it back on top of the cowboy’s head and laughed.
Addison wanted to retch as she finally recognized the man walking with the woman and child. A ball of emotions clogged her throat as she watched Lukas bend down and kiss the little girl on top of her curls. They didn’t see her, as the woman tucked her arm underneath’s Lukas’s arm, and they crossed the street to head to the offices on the other side of the road.
Addison turned on her heel and raced back to the wagon, running into her Aunt Ingrid.
“Addy. Is everything alright? You look like you are about to cry?”
“I think I overexerted myself today, Aunt. I need to get home and put my foot up.”
Aunt Ingrid put her arm around Addy’s shoulders. “Of course, darling. Let’s get you home right now.” Addison walked slowly back to the buggy, not allowing herself to look over her shoulder at the happy family she just spied on the street. As she climbed in the buggy, her aunt looked at her once more. “Are you sure you are all right, Addison?”
“Of course, Aunt Ingrid,” she lied. “Like I said, I’m just tired.”
As the buggy rolled out of town Addison looked at the prairie so her aunt wouldn’t see her cry.
Chapter Ten
Lukas couldn’t wait to see Addison at the picnic. It was something he had been looking forward to all week. He thought he had seen her in town the previous day, when he was escorting Justine to the marshal’s office, but when he went to look for Addy, she was gone.
He was happy that Justine and the marshal were getting along. They appeared to be a perfect match. That eased the pressure from him and made him free to see if he could court Addison. He knew Weston didn’t approve, but based on what Marmee said, it sounded like her parents didn’t approve of her marriage at first. Now she had been married for over thirty years.
That was the love Lukas wanted, and he knew that he could have a love like that with Addison. No other woman had ever tempted him the way she did. She was intelligent as well as beautiful. He viewed his reflection in the looking glass as he combed his hair. It was his job to relieve the cowboys in the afternoon so they could enjoy the picnic, but he was going to take advantage of having the morning off.
It was a beautiful day for a picnic. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. He even stopped along the creek bed and picked a bouquet of wildflowers for Addison. He hoped she would enjoy the fragrant blossoms.
When he arrived at the Chapman’s home, there were already wagons in the field. Families were setting up their blankets and picnic baskets under the shade of hickory trees. He saw Hiram King and his wife, along with their two little girls and Aunt June. Ranger was with them, and he said something that made June laugh before tucking her hand under his arm and escorting her and the two little girls towards a wagon filled with hay.
Interesting.
Ranger had a reputation with the ladies, but it was just that, a reputation. He never engaged the fairer sex in conversation. Lukas rode Hickory over to where the horses were being corralled and released him into the pasture, watching for a moment as Hickory ran and jumped over the plush grass.
“Lukas,” Weston said, coming up to greet him. “Glad you could make it.”
“Peter said he’d try to stop by, but Elizabet isn’t feeling well.”
