Chapter 10 #4
“I’m glad.” He didn’t say that she was already a warm and loving person, nor did he say that she just needed to let it show.
He understood why she was like she was…almost frightened by her own emotions.
Was it because she’d never been allowed to show those emotions?
Because she was afraid? Or was it for some other reason?
He watched her walk along the stream for a few moments more before he pulled a gold pocket watch from his pocket. “Dinner should be ready shortly. Mama wouldn’t like it if we’re late.”
“No, it would be rude to be late.”
He reached out to take her hand as they strolled back to the horses.
“Do you know what’s on the menu?”
He laughed. “With my mother and Royce, I never know. It’s always a surprise.
” Much like you, he almost said out loud, but stopped himself just in time.
He had to admit, if only to himself, that he was enjoying this day.
There was still more to come—dinner with his mother and Royce—but even if this was all it was, then he was happy.
“Before we go back to the house.” He stopped in front of the horses and drew her close. “I’d like one more of these.” He stared into her eyes, then lowered his head and kissed her.
Later, much later, Wyatt pulled the buggy to a halt in front of the barn after bringing Sheridan home, surprised to see Royce sitting on a bale of hay, having a conversation with the calico cat that rubbed against his legs.
“I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Everything all right? Mama?”
“Your mother’s fine.” Royce rose from his seat and opened one of the barn doors, then the other. He spoke over his shoulder as he did so. “Actually, she’s the reason I’m sitting out here in the cold. She wanted me to talk to you.”
Suspicion flared in his gut as he pulled the buggy into the barn and climbed from the seat. “What about?”
“Sheridan.”
“I see.” He unhitched the horses from their harnesses and led them down the central aisle toward the empty stalls. “And what does Mama want to know?”
The man had the good graces to blush, the redness creeping up his face.
He shrugged. “You know your mother.” Royce grabbed a brush and started brushing down Goliath while Wyatt filled a feedbag with oats for the horse.
“If she’s not trying to get Kyle hitched, she’s trying to get Preston hitched, and if she isn’t trying to get him hitched, she’s gonna turn all her attention on you.
She likes Sheridan. Wants to know if you do as well and what your intentions are. ”
Wyatt laughed. Delilah Cabot was just as bad as Lucy Hart, trying to match everyone and marry them off. “Does she think sending you out here to do her dirty work is going to help?”
The man laughed in response. “I don’t know what she thought, but it made her happy to go along with her plans, so here I am.”
Wyatt said nothing to that. He couldn’t, not in the face of the obvious love Royce Cabot had for Delilah. It was a good marriage, as far as he could see. They were both willing to sacrifice or compromise to make each other happy and he couldn’t fault either one of them for that.
“I do like Sheridan,” he admitted. “She’s a very lovely woman, but I hardly know her.”
“Wouldn’t you like to? Get to know her better, I mean?”
“I would.” He stopped in the middle of filling a feedbag for Black Star. “She’s different, Royce.”
“Different how?”
“I can’t explain it.” Wyatt slipped the feedbag over Black Star’s head then picked up another brush.
“Katie wanted everything. She wanted this ranch, so I bought it. She wanted new clothes and hats and shoes, so I bought them for her. She wanted diamonds and pearls, and I did my best to give her those things, too, but it never seemed like it was enough. She always wanted more.” He glanced at Royce as he brushed Black Star.
“Sheridan isn’t like that. She doesn’t want material things. At all.”
Royce looked at him over Goliath’s back, curiosity in his expression. “What does she want?”
“To know who her mother was. To be respected for who she is. To be happy, I suppose. I don’t think she’s had much of that in her life.”
“Do you think you can do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make her happy.”
“I don’t know if one person can make another person happy.
That’s something one has to work on for themselves.
” He realized the truth. “But I’d certainly like to try.
She’s a good woman, even if she’s a little staid and reserved.
And the complete opposite of Katie. I don’t think Sheridan would leave me standing at the altar while she ran away with another man. ”
“You’re right. She wouldn’t. She seems to have a good head on her shoulders.
And she is quite lovely.” He put down the brush, then patted Goliath’s shoulder before he left the stall and started walking up the central aisle, speaking over his shoulder as he did.
“Your mother likes her. I do as well.” A moment later, one of the barn doors closed, leaving Wyatt to his own thoughts.
“What do you think, Black Star?”
The horse continued to eat the oats from the feedbag, completely ignoring him.
Wyatt put the brushes away, then slipped out of the stall.
He checked all the other horses to make sure they had water and plenty of hay, then left the barn and strolled across the barnyard.
He looked up as he approached the porch to see his mother sitting in one of the rocking chairs, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, a cup of coffee, steam rising, cradled in her hands.
“Mama, what are you doing sitting out here in the cold?”
“Waiting for you.” Her gaze followed him as he mounted the steps. “I like her,” she stated boldly.
He smiled. His mother was, indeed, incorrigible. Once her mind was set, it was difficult to change it, and apparently, she thought Sheridan was a potential partner, even going so far as to recruit Royce in her efforts.
Wyatt grunted but didn’t respond.
“You like her, too, don’t you?”
Again, he didn’t answer. Instead, he dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Good night, mama.”
“You could do worse, you know.”
Wyatt closed the door behind him, putting an end to the conversation. Yes, he could do worse. He had. But at this moment in time, he wasn’t sure he’d survive having his heart broken again.
Or was it already too late?