Chapter 4 #2
Grace looked worried. “What will you be doing as a deputy? What was your plan?”
“I suggested that someone go out to the farms and spend some time there, seeing who might be targeted next. Then they could follow the bandits back to their hideout. If we find the base where they’re holed up, then we might be able to take out their leader and stop the attacks.
So Jeff, Robert, and I are planning to go tomorrow. ”
She straightened. “Take out? What does that mean?”
Hunter squirmed a little in his seat. “It means possibly kill or arrest, depending on how things go.”
Grace clasped her two hands together. “Do you think it would come to that? Having to kill the man?”
Hunter shrugged. “It’s hard to say. My idea might not even work.” He chuckled weakly. “You never know. The bandits might never show up at the farm we visit.”
Grace nodded. “Well, all right. Where have they targeted already?”
“Gee, I don’t know,” Hunter said. “Robert never said.”
“I think you should ask him,” Grace said. “There are certain things that towns need more than others.”
“Oh sure, like we would need food more than, say, leather for hats and saddles and boots.”
Grace nodded slowly. “Something like that. You could send out hunting parties to get meat and then there would be hides for that sort of thing. So, that doesn’t have to come from the farms. But things like grains and vegetables and fruit only come from a farm.
There aren’t a wealth of wheat fields growing in the wild around here, are there? ”
“No, you’re right,” Hunter said. “By finding out who they’ve targeted, we can find out who will be next. Grace, you’re a genius!” He leaned forward, and before he realized what he was doing, he kissed her cheek.
Abruptly, he realized what he’d done.
They both froze, sitting like life-sized statues at the table. Grace’s mouth had formed a perfect round O, and her eyes were wide.
Hunter sat very still, not knowing what to do.
He’d moved on instinct. Should he apologize?
Would that make it worse? Grace was quite shy, and she’d specifically requested that they refrain from any …
marital activities until they knew one another better.
It was far too soon for such demonstrations of affection.
He had to do better. If he scared her off by being silly and impulsive, he would never forgive himself.
“All right then,” Grace said, suddenly rising from her seat. “I think I should … Dinner should be started … I should go.” She hurried from the room.
Hunter sighed and held his head in his hands.
He stayed out of her way for a while that evening until she called him for dinner. When he entered the kitchen, he found that not only had Grace cooked something that smelled delicious, but she had also set the table and even put some wildflowers in a vase.
“It’s a bean and vegetable stew with rice,” she said. “Your pantry is rather bare, but I thought that our first meal together in person should be proper. This china looked very pretty, so I hope it’s okay to use it?”
Hunter couldn’t help but grin. “I bought these plates and bowls especially for you,” he said.
“The day I got your letter saying you were coming out to meet me, I was in San Antonio, taking a shipment to Mr. Fry … And there they were in a store window. I thought to myself that you would most likely love them.”
She grinned. “How nice of you to think of me. And you were right.”
“Would you like some small cider? I have some in the cold cellar,” Hunter said.
“You know, after the day we’ve had, I think a little cider may be just what we need,” Grace agreed.
Hunter hurried to the cellar and brought up a jug. She had found some glasses and was waiting with the stew and rice all dished up.
Hunter poured the cider into the glasses, and they sat to eat. Grace said grace first, and then they started eating. It was delicious.
“This is amazing,” he said. “How did you make it taste so good?”
Grace chuckled. “A good cook never reveals her secrets,” she said with a smile.
“All right, you keep your secrets, so long as you keep making food like this,” Hunter retorted as he lifted another spoonful to his mouth.
“I’ve been thinking,” Grace said.
Hunter looked up from his bowl. Something in her tone was a little worrying. She sounded as though she had something on her mind. In the few hours he had known her in person, he had heard this tone quite a bit already.
“Yes?” he asked.
“I was thinking that since none of you seem to know the first thing about food and farming, I should come with you to the farms.”
Hunter swallowed wrong and began to cough. He thumped his chest. “You want to come with us?” he asked when he could speak. “But if anything happens, you’ll faint.”
“I don’t faint all the time,” she snapped.
“You caught me on a bad day when a lot happened, and I had been throwing up the whole journey out here.” Now she looked sulky.
“I think I could be of use to you.” She folded her arms across her chest. “Anyway, it’s final.
I’ve made up my mind and I will be going with you.
You’ll need me. Farmers can be difficult to negotiate with. Trust me.”
Hunter sighed. He was beginning to understand how husbands got railroaded into doing things they really didn’t want to. And then he saw a way out.
“It’s Robert’s mission,” Hunter said. “He would have to agree.”
Grace nodded with great determination. “Then I will speak to him tomorrow.”
Hunter looked at the set of her jaw and the look in her eyes and felt a rush of amusement, followed by pity for the unsuspecting Robert.