Page 14 of A Letter to Adaya
“Good morning, I’m Rose Arden. Can I help you find anything?”
Adaya smiled and pulled an envelope from her reticule. “I was hoping to drop off a letter to be delivered.” Pointing at the jars lined up on the shelf in the corner, she stopped at one filled with bright yellow candies. “Are those lemon drops? I’ll take a small bag of those.”
“The letter can go here.” Mrs. Arden touched a basket on the counter. “Let me just grab those candies for you.” The woman hurried away while Adaya watched a wagon pull up through the large picture window at the front of the store. A fierce-looking man with a tan broad-brimmed hat was driving it. He was joking with a light-haired man atop the prettiest dapple mare she’d ever seen.
The woman coughed lightly, jolting Adaya out of her daze. “That’ll be fifty cents,” Mrs. Arden declared, bringing Adaya back to the present. “And it looks like you can take this letter with you.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s Beau Pickett right there.” Mrs. Arden pointed out the window. “You can hand deliver your message.” Adaya couldn’t help but notice the woman had a twinkle in her eye.
“Oh no, I couldn’t do that. It wouldn’t be proper,” Adaya protested, her cheeks blushing with embarrassment. She placed two coins on the counter and collected the bag of candies. “Thank you, though. It was nice to meet you.” Collecting her skirt in one hand, she all but fled the mercantile.
Skirting around the wagon, she moved over to the far end of the platform where her trunks were sitting. The stagecoach had moved, and she could see it further down the road in front of the livery. Her eyes strayed back to the men now standing outside the store. She should have asked which one was Beau Pickett. The darker-haired man was handsome, but he seemed a tad dangerous. The other was slightly taller with blonde hair and an equally menacing look on his face. A wolf and a bear. That was what the unlikely pair reminded her of. Adaya wondered what they were arguing about.
“Beau Pickett!” Rose Arden marched out of the shop, brandishing Adaya’s letter with determination.
She spun back to her trunks, perching lightly atop the nearest one. If the woman was going to point her out, she didn’t want to be caught staring.
Walter had vanished. Was he still inside, drinking coffee, or had he gotten directions to the land agent’s office?
“Excuse me, are you Miss Breckenridge?” A deep voice rumbled behind her. Adaya nearly jumped to her feet; he had approached her almost silently.
Looking up, she stared into a pair of green eyes that reminded her of emeralds. She lifted her hand to block the sun from her eyes, and he shifted to help cast the surrounding shadow. “I am,” Adaya replied, trying not to let her gaze linger on the man’s sharp jawline and blond hair that was swept back from his forehead. Her heart skipped a beat as she took in the rugged features of the man in front of her.
He wore dark blue trousers with a wide leather belt around his waist and a buckskin jacket. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and had an air of confidence about him that drew her in.
“My name is Beau Pickett, and I’m here to collect you and your companion for my sister-in-law, Emily.”
Her eyes widened in shock; she sucked air in noisily as her throat tightened. “Collect me? Why ever would you do that?”
“You sent a wire saying you would arrive today. Emily always sends someone to pick the arrivals up.” Big arms came up to fold over his chest, a frown forming on his face. “Today it’s me.”
“Adaya?” Walter’s voice cut through the air, and she cast a prayer of thanks.
“Excuse me one moment.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder as she stepped away to speak with Walter, color riding high in her cheeks when she looked back. When Walter told her what he learned, she knew they would have no choice but to accept Mrs. Pickett’s offer.
Returning to the man waiting impatiently for her, she took a deep breath to calm the panic rising inside her.
“Mr. Pickett, this is Walter. We would be very pleased to accept your offer of lodgings. It seems our plans did not work out as intended.”
“Mr. Breckenridge, I’m Beau Pickett.” Beau held out his hand.
“Pickett.” Walter accepted the hand offered to him.
Adaya watched Beau shake hands with Walter, wondering when the world around them had gotten so warm. “Welcome to Flat River,” Beau said, a smile breaking open on his face as he looked at the older man. “Let’s get these trunks loaded in the back of the wagon, and we can get you settled in. It must have been a long trip.”
Walter paused, looking him up and down, searching for an answer to a question he hadn’t asked. “Well, I’ll be.” Walter laughed and shook his head, before turning and gesturing between the wagon and the trunks to a younger boy who was standing nearby.
With her chaperone otherwise engaged, she found herself the sole focus of the man who still held her letter in his hand. Perhaps she shouldn’t have written it after all.
“Have you eaten recently?”
“Who was the other man you were chatting with when you arrived?”
They spoke simultaneously. Beau chuckled and goosebumps appeared on her arms. She shook her head, gesturing for him to go first.
“That was my brother, Bass.” He gave her a curious look. “I asked if you’d eaten recently.”
