Page 110 of My Heart Will Find You

“That is our goal in life,” Bert said seriously, and the women left.

The two men drank until Alice came to tell Max that it was time to leave.

All in all, he was glad the horse was well trained because he was half-asleep.

Thursday dawned sunny and bright, and Max found he was genuinely excited about the surprise dinner that was coming. He and Alice had managed to keep all of it secret from Etta.

Unfortunately, that had been too easy. The “new Etta” asked no questions. The woman he’d come to know asked who, what, and where about everything. And she was never without an opinion. But now she just went about preparing meals and seeing to laundry and, well, to bed pleasures. It was as though they were the only things in life that mattered to her.

She didn’t seem to notice the preparations that were underway.

In the afternoon, one of Kecklin’s men arrived in a wagon. In the back were pots of food that had been prepared for the evening. Cookie was to see to them for the dinner.

“Etta’s food is better,” the man said, his upper lip in a sneer.

“She can’t cook for her own surprise, now can she?” Max snapped at him.

Cookie was unperturbed. “I’m just saying that she won’t like this.” He carried a big iron pot away.

Alice came to him and said, “Pat doesn’t want to come.”

“Let him eat with a pitchfork and he’ll be fine.”

Her glare made Max sigh in defeat. “Tell him I’ll be drinking beer and there will be lots of beef.”

“Andyouwill be nice.”

“Always am,” he muttered, then said, “I promise.”

With the food, the Kecklin man gave Max a note from Cornelia. It was on her blue vellum stationery that she ordered from London. It said that she’d found the painter, Henry Fredericks, and he was glad to come to dinner. Cornelia also wrote that she’d offered Martha Garrett six heifers if she’d be there, and she’d agreed.

The last bit made Max smile. The question about Cornelia and her father was answered. To get John Kecklin to part with six cows Cornelia must have had to bully and berate him. It looked like she was doing well with the man. Maybe keeping his daughter’s respect was more important than buying all of Kansas.

Two hours before people were to arrive, Rufus brought Etta back from where she’d been loading up on her beloved vegetables. He’d had to endure three lectures on the value of a “plant based diet.” When he said cows ate plants, she hadn’t even smiled.

“Could we go upstairs?” Max asked.

Her eyes lit up. “Gladly.” She hurried into the house and up the stairs ahead of him.

Max followed. He dreaded what was coming because he didn’t know how she’d react. He closed the door behind him, and she put her arms around his neck. He disentangled them. “I have something to tell you.”

She stepped back. “I’m sorry. Really and truly sorry. I shouldn’t have done it. I know you can never forgive me but please let me stay here.”

He had no idea what she was talking about. “Sorry for what?”

“Sunday. I didn’t mean to humiliate you. I know everyone was laughing at you. Kecklin said I was the kid who cried wolf. The women hated me. It was horrible.” She sat down on the bed. “I’m so very sorry. I’ve been trying to keep my nose out of things.” She looked up at him, her eyes full of tears. “I never meant to hurt your feelings. I truly believed there was danger.” She put her hands over her face.

Max was so stunned it took him a while before he could speak. “You’ve been dragging around here because you thought you had—what was it you said? Hurt my feelings? That is great. I can’t wait to tell Bert.”

She looked up at him. “Bert? What does he have to do with this?”

“He tried to help me figure out what was wrong with you.” He sat down beside her and took her hands in his. “It’s true that everyone laughed at me. Like they did at our wedding, remember?” He kissed her hands. “Nobody teases and laughs at a man to his face if they don’t like him. And respect him. You think anybody ever made fun of Kecklin in front of him?” Max stood up. “I should have told you the truth about Sunday, but I was embarrassed.”

“About what I did to you? Everyone knew it wasme!”

He took a breath. “That day I went to the Kanzas, we had a very good time. I had beer delivered. And a hog. I was supposed to be some sort of rescuer, but I was a...a...”

She was blinking at him. “You were a drunken lout?”

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