Chapter 19 #2
The light frost stung her stockinged feet as she pattered across dried grass and pebbles.
The soap vats lay idle. She sat down on an upturned barrel by the smokehouse and wiggled on her shoes.
The warmth of two days ago had vanished.
She shivered. She should have grabbed a coat or at least a shawl, but she wasn’t about to turn back now.
Morning Fawn entered the stables through the side, out of view of the house, in case someone was watching.
The worn wooden door creaked as she opened it.
Voices hushed. Dressed in his lieutenant’s uniform, Devon squatted in the open grooming area, giving Ginger’s cinch belt one last tug.
His eye widened as he pivoted. “Morning Fawn?” He lost his balance, dropping to one knee.
George paused in the middle of mucking out a stall, and the boy Oliver swayed from the weight of two feed buckets, one in each hand.
Devon nodded to George. “Could you give us a few minutes?”
“Yes, sir. We’ll take a couple of these beauties out for some fresh air.” He leaned his pitchfork against a pole and slipped a halter over a quarter horse’s head. “Come on, Ollie. Set one of those buckets down and bring Prince out for a walk.”
Benson, the hound dog, loped out of an empty stall and followed along after them.
Ebony lifted her head over the stall door and stared. Morning Fawn’s fingers twitched to stroke the beauty’s mane. Instead, she clasped her hands and waited.
Cavalry boots hugging his lower legs, Devon looped the strap through the saddle ring and then slowly pivoted toward her when the back stable door swung closed. His cartridge belt and holster hung low on his hips. He was going somewhere.
Where?
His hands dropped to his sides as his gaze drank her in. A smile vanquished his frown. “You were in a hurry?”
Morning Fawn touched a hand to her hair. My goodness, she hadn’t even brushed it. It hung loose over her shoulders and down her back. “I didn’t want to wait around for my relatives to crawl out of bed.” She smoothed her hand over her waves.
“Don’t worry about it.” He drifted a step closer. A red linen shirt showed beneath his unbuttoned shell jacket. “You look mighty fine.”
She crossed her arms, but that didn’t stop the flutter in her stomach or the wobble in her knees. “Where have you been?”
The crinkles at the corner of his eye deepened as he glanced at her shoulders. “Is your dress buttoned all of the way?”
“What?” Her face heated like a kettle on a stovetop. She reached up and around. Her collar dropped away from her neck. How in the world could she have forgotten the last three buttons?
“Turn around. I’ll see what I can do.”
“I don’t need your help.”
He cocked his eyebrows as if to say differently. “Should I close my eyes while you take care of the problem?”
Her hands were shaking so much, she’d never manage the buttons. “No. Fix it. And behave yourself.” She turned her back to him.
Her breath caught as he lifted waves of hair and gently laid them on her shoulder. His hand paused ever so lightly there before continuing with the task. He tugged the two sides of the dress together and buttoned the garment.
The collar tightened snugly around her throat. Did she imagine it, or did his fingers tremble? Her thoughts scattered.
“I’m sorry I’ve made myself scarce these last couple of days.” He stepped back toward Ginger.
“Why have you?” She bit her lip.
“Your uncle thought it best.” He picked up the loose end of the strap and looped it through the ring two more times.
“I figured he had something to do with it. What did he say?”
Devon flipped the left stirrup down from atop the saddle. Bits of straw clung to his trouser knees.
Ginger shifted her head toward Morning Fawn and nuzzled. Morning Fawn rubbed the mare’s forehead before moving on to stroke her neck. “What did he say?”
Devon snagged a bridle from a hook and walked over. “He ordered me to stay away from you.”
Her mouth dropped. “Why? Surely, he doesn’t think you did anything ungentlemanly on our walk. I could talk to him. I could tell him.”
“It’s not that.”
“Then what is it? He’s the one who wanted me to find—” She pressed her lips shut. A husband. For land. But land had nothing to do with their walk or the tremble in her voice now.
“A potential groom?” He finished her sentence for her. The bridle dangled in his hand.
She blinked at him. “Yes. But that’s not why…”
He studied her face as if he wasn’t convinced. Why did her uncle have to invent the whole land deal?
“What does that have to do with us going for a stroll?” she asked.
He shifted into motion, drawing the mare’s muzzle through the noseband and laying the headstall against her forehead as he situated the bit.
Morning Fawn bit her lip. Wasn’t he going to answer?
The crinkles at the corners of his eyes deepened as he poked Ginger’s ears inside the top of the bridle. “Your uncle wants me to either declare my intentions to court you or to stay away from you.” His words rang with finality.
“Oh.”
“I’m not ready to consider marrying, Morning Fawn.”
“I never suggested it.”
A loose lock of hair slipped to Devon’s forehead, and he shoved it back. “Your uncle did.”
Why couldn’t her uncle keep his mouth shut?
Devon secured the latch beneath the horse’s throat, paying more attention to the animal than her. “I can’t make any commitments at the present.”
“I’m not asking you to. It doesn’t matter what my uncle said.
” For goodness’ sakes, she wasn’t going to beg the man.
Hadn’t she told him she’d just as soon be a spinster?
Her gaze fell on the back stall. Ebony waited there, neglected.
“What’s wrong with two friends or acquaintances going on a walk together?
” Best use the word friends rather than those going through her heart.
No need to scare him clear back to Dallas.
“I said the same thing to your uncle.”
“And?”
“He said no.”
“You’re going to take no as an answer?” If the other evening meant something to him, why wasn’t he willing to fight for it? “We don’t have to listen to my uncle. I could sneak out for a stroll now and then.”
Devon scrubbed a hand over his face. “My goal is to find a way to get you out of here eventually. Crossing your uncle now will only make that more difficult.”
“And what happens when you do rescue me?”
His brow furrowed. “I’ll get you to some friends of mine. They’ll hide you, give you a place to stay, until you figure out what you want to do.”
“And what about you?”
“I’m a soldier. I have commitments until the war ends.”
Why should she expect anything different?
He’d help her escape because he felt guilty, but he wouldn’t be with her.
She jabbed a hand to her hip. “So the stroll the other night …was just another Saturday evening? After you’ve done your duty by me, you’ll find another girl to walk with?
” Probably wouldn’t even wait that long.
He scuffed his boot against the straw-peppered dirt. “You’re the most contrary girl I ever met, and the most forward.”
“I am not forward.” She snatched his slouch hat from a railing and aimed it toward a pile of manure.
Blowing out a breath, she tossed it at his feet instead.
“Forget I said anything. I don’t want to take up your time, and I don’t want any more of your help.
” Her gaze settled on Ebony. “It’s Saturday.
Nicholas is coming to dinner again tonight. ”
He picked up his hat and dusted it off. “Thanks for the warning. I’ll make sure not to hurry back.”
“You’re going to Alleyton again, aren’t you?”
“I’m sure you’ll be too busy with Nicholas to care. Before you know it, it’ll be Nick.”
“Fit right in with Frieda.” She hadn’t come out here to fight. How had this conversation gone so wrong?
“Well, a glass of lemonade hardly equals a horse.”
“Speaking of horses, I’ve been neglecting mine.” She pushed past him, grabbed a curry brush, and headed to the back of the stable.
“At least you’re finally ending the charade that the mustang is only on loan.”
Halfway down the aisle, she pivoted toward her accuser. “I don’t know what charade means.”
“Ask Nick. I’m sure he’s master of them.” He gripped the saddle horn, stuck his left foot in the stirrup, and swung his right leg over. “And if you don’t watch it, he’ll try to be master of you.”
“No one’s going to be master of me.”
He blew out a breath. “We’ll see about that.” He gathered his reins. “If the cook asks, I may not be back until morning.”
“Morning?” Her hands dropped to her sides. He was going to be gone all night?
“I’ve got business in town, then a card game. Might go late.”
“I didn’t know Frieda played cards.”
“It’s nothing to do with Frieda.”
“I could care less.” She jutted out her chin. “If you show up at church tomorrow, I’ll walk by as if I don’t even know you.”
“That’s fine by me.” He flicked the reins. “I bet Nick Moyer doesn’t even know what the inside of a church looks like.”
Air whistled through her clenched teeth like a tea kettle as he rode out of the stable. Infuriating man. He could stay gone as far as she was concerned.