Page 25 of Nightingale

Samuel grunted in his sleep and started squirming. She watched him until he settled. Her gaze slid to her dresser. The contract between herself and Harrison McBride was in the first drawer, hidden under her shifts and bloomers and regardless of what might or might not happen between her and Aaron, it was pointless to think about it now. She’d still not told Ben what she’d done. He was just going to yell and tell her it was a stupid idea and maybe it was. But it hadn’t felt like a stupid idea when she’d signed her name to that document.

And now Aaron was giving her soft kisses in the darkness of her room as she lay in bed.

She rolled over and stared at the ceiling. Those kisses may be too late now because come end of the month, Harrison McBride and his contract would be all that mattered. That and the stagecoach ticket she’d already accepted.

Chapter Ten

Intention and executionwere two very different things. Aaron’s plan to start courting Betsey went belly up. Oversleeping and not being able to stop by to see her and Samuel before he had to head into town for work meant he’d had to stay later. By the time they’d closed the stable, he was so bone tired he barely made it to the outskirts of town without falling out of the saddle. He’d headed home instead of Betsey and Ben’s place.

Two days later, he was run so ragged he’d cornered Percy and demanded he find someone else to help them ease the load. He’d only been there a week but couldn’t continue to work every day from sun up to sun down the way he was. He didn’t know how Percy and Caleb had done it for so long. Even with him helping out, it was still too much. With mucking out stalls, boarding horses and renting buggies and wagons, the three of them were killing themselves. But instead of hiring more help, Percy did something that shocked the entire town. He shortened the hours he was open during the week and on Sunday, didn’t open at all. It was the first time since Percy had opened and started running the place he’d ever been shut down. That one day stress-freewould probably do more for Percy—and him—than another able body would.

It took another three days before he could get back to Betsey and Ben’s place. He was half expecting Betsey to slam the door in his face the minute she opened it and looked up at him. She hadn’t. She’d stood there staring at him as if she’d never seen him before. Maybe it was the smile he gave her and the soft kiss to her cheek but if he had to guess, he’d say it was probably the flower he held. He’d seen it on the prairie not far from town. It had looked out of place and sat alone. He’d jumped from his horse and picked it, the light blue bloom nearly the same color as Betsey’s eyes.

She looked at the flower and her cheeks turned a light shade of pink. “What’s that for?”

“It’s for you.” Aaron moved her hair away from her face and tucked the flower stem behind her ear. “Can I come in?”

Her blush deepened before she stepped back. The scent of roasting meat filled the air. Ben sat in the rocker next to the fireplace, Samuel tucked into his arms. “Ben.” He nodded his head in greeting.

Ben stood and to his surprise, crossed to where he waited by the door and handed Samuel to him as Betsey walked past them and headed to the kitchen. No one said a word as he stood there staring at the baby. As awkward as it should have been, it felt a bit—normal. As if him being there wasn’t unusual or out of place. He’d spent his fair share there growing up, so had Jesse, but this felt different. Being here now felt more—intimate. As if he belonged here now and not just visiting.

“Supper’s almost ready if you’re hungry.”

He was starving. “I could eat an entire cow.”

Ben started setting the table and grinned. “It’s not an entire cow, but Holden Avery did give me a big chunk of one. There’s plenty.”

He nodded and continued to stare at Samuel as Betsey andBen moved around the kitchen. Samuel was awake and looking up at him, his eyes as blue as Betsey’s. He sat down in the rocker and laid Samuel out on his legs, unwrapping the blanket so he could get a good look at him.

“He has all his parts and the correct number of them.”

Betsey’s voice held a bit of an amused tease. He picked up Samuel’s arm, running his fingers over it, amazed at how soft his skin was. “He’s tiny.”

“He’s actually quite big. Dr. Reid said he weighed nearly ten pounds when he was born.” She sat in the chair opposite the rocker. “Your ma said you were a big baby, too.”

Aaron laughed. “To hear Sophie Ann talk, I still am.” She was smiling when he glanced up. He wasn’t sure he remembered seeing her smile once since he’d been back. Not around him, at least.

He tucked the blanket in under Samuel and said, “Percy’s shutting the livery down on Sunday’s. I thought if you didn’t have anything planned I could come by with the buckboard and take you and Samuel out to the house for lunch, then swing by Jesse and Alex’s place on the way home.”

“I have to work on Sunday’s.”

Aaron lifted his head. “I don’t want you working there anymore, Betsey.” Ben dropped a pot in the kitchen. The noise was loud but he would have sworn he heard his old friend laugh. When he looked back at Betsey, her jaw was clenched.

“We all want things we can’t have, now don’t we?” She stood and went back to the kitchen, shooing Ben away and taking over the cooking.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She shrugged her shoulder. Ben looked his way and grinned. “Good luck getting her to listen to you. I’ve been telling her to quit working over there since she started. She doesn’t listen to me either.”

“I’m not listening to either of you.” She turned and met boththeir gazes, lips pursed. “I’m a grown woman and I can make my own decisions.”

“Not when your decision is the wrong one.” Her mouth gaped open and whatever she said was drowned by Samuel’s sudden outburst. The wail he let out startled them all. Aaron picked him up to cradle him against his chest but Betsey was there, taking him out of his arms before he had a chance. She stomped out of the room and slammed her bedroom door behind her.

“Go in there and talk to her.” Ben’s voice was pitched low. “I’ve been trying to get her to quit that job but she refuses. She’s got no business in there.”

The words, “then why do you keep taking her into town” were on the tip of his tongue but he swallowed them before voicing them aloud. He stood and went to Betsey’s room, opening her door without knocking. She was sitting on the bed changing Samuel, her back to him.

“Get out.”

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