Lord, I just have the knack of getting myself into uncomfortable situations whether verbally or otherwise. It’s just one of my many faults, I know, but if there’s any way You can help me fix that I’d be forever grateful. She bit her lip. As for the town’s matchmaking—well, she’d much rather focus on that than her altercation with Mrs. Greene and its mysterious implications.
* * *
Lawson ignored the sweat mottling his brow as he pounded another wooden stake into the ground. Nathan followed slowly behind him, digging the holes the new fence posts would soon go in. “We’ve got company.”
He glanced up as a rider approached. It took him a moment to realize the rider was Chris Johansen. The distance between them dissipated, allowing Lawson to see him more clearly. The man’s hair was slicked back and it was also obvious that he had taken special care with his clothing. However, it was the bouquet of wildflowers that gave away the true nature of the man’s mission.
“It looks like you have some competition,” Nathan teased.
Nathan and Sean had gotten a kick out of the town’s decision to hitch him to Ellie, and his supposed “courtship” had been a running joke ever since. Sean laughed so hard that Ellie had been put out with him for the entire week. It was a little disheartening how against the whole thing she actually was. Not that he’d planned to do anything about the attraction that had started stirring in his chest during Founders’ Day. He knew where stirrings like that eventually led—to a little white chapel and tiny booties.
Whether he’d really make a good husband and father was anybody’s guess. He’d been willing to try with Lorelei but when she’d walked out on their wedding, he’d started to wonder if maybe God’s will was involved in keeping him single. The past ten years of his life had been wonderful but he’d been branded by the first fourteen, and that scar wasn’t going to go away. Even if he could somehow trust himself not to emulate his memories, he wasn’t sure he would be enough to make a woman stay. His first mother had abandoned him. Lorelei had literally run from him. Despite Lettie’s affection, he kept wondering when she’d reach her limit and decide she didn’t want him. He’d spent a year away from home and she hadn’t forgotten him. It was practically unfathomable.
Meanwhile, Lawson and Ellie had figured out the best way to avoid the town’s tricks was to simply avoid the town itself. So far, so good, but now it seemed the town had come to them and not at all in the way they’d expected. Chris pulled his horse to a stop. Lawson drove the stake into the ground with one last swing then stood to greet the man since he was closest. “Hello, Chris.”
Chris dismounted then turned to greet Lawson with a wary look. “Hello, Lawson. I’d like to see Nathan in private, if you don’t mind.”
Lawson nodded then turned to Nathan for direction. “Why don’t you go get Ellie and tell her to meet us in the house?” Nathan suggested.
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks, Lawson.”
Lawson waved off Nathan’s thanks then made the long walk to the barn in search of Ellie. He found her near the back in the stall with a mare that was due to foal in the next few weeks. Her hands were carefully examining the mare’s stomach. She looked up when he neared and he propped his boot on the stall’s gate. “You have a visitor.”
“I do?” She tilted her head curiously. “Who is it?”
“Christian Johansen,” he said, carefully pronouncing each syllable.
“Why didn’t he just come inside?” She gave the mare one last pat then climbed the few rungs of the gate until she was able to sit on top of it. She lifted her legs over the gate then pushed herself around to face him.
He tilted back his Stetson to look up at her. “It isn’t that kind of a visit.”
She braced her palms against the wooden railing beneath her. “What kind of visit is it, then?”
“Why don’t you just open the gate and walk out?” he asked when she began to lean forward as if ready to jump down.
His question made her hesitate long enough to set her off balance. Her hands began to slip from the railing. He caught her around the waist and carefully lowered her down to keep her from tumbling the rest of the way. She found her footing then leaned back, accidentally trapping his hands between her waist and the stall gate behind her. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. “That wouldn’t be nearly as exciting.”
“Probably not,” he admitted as he tried to ignore the way his heartbeat increased.
“What kind of visit wouldn’t let Chris come to the barn?”
“A courting kind of visit.” Grateful for the reminder, he shifted her weight forward just long enough to reclaim his hands, then took a large step back. Ellie looked positively perturbed.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“Nope. He’s talking with Nathan and is going to meet you in the house. You should clean yourself up. You have a dirt smudge on your cheek.” He gestured to the affected area. She lifted her shoulder and wiped her cheek on her shirt. That only left more residue. He grinned. “There’s your problem.”
He lifted her chin to the side then carefully wiped the smudges from her cheek with his handkerchief. He stuffed the handkerchief back in his pocket, released her chin and stepped back. “That’s better. Now you’d better get in there.”
Her green eyes sought his for a long moment before she smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Ellie and Kate disappeared into the parlor to whisper together. Lawson figured he might as well stick around and get a drink of water before he headed back into the heat. He had just poured himself a cup when Nathan and Kate’s oldest child, Timothy, burst through the back door. “I was digging up potatoes. That makes a man awfully thirsty.”
“It sure does, partner.” Lawson handed him the cup and poured himself another. “Slug that down. I bet it will help.”
“Thanks.” The dark-haired boy showed his gap-toothed grin and did just that.
The front door opened and Lawson heard Nathan and Chris enter. Chris went immediately into the parlor while Nathan joined them in the kitchen. “Looks like the men are taking over the kitchen. Kate’s going to stay in the room with them.”
“Chris, if you came about that silly list, you should know that I’m not going to talk about it anymore.”
Lawson’s eyebrows rose at the faint but clear sound of Ellie’s voice, then he stared into the hall that separated the kitchen from the parlor. He looked at Nathan. The man shrugged. “There are thin walls in the old part of the house.”
Lawson grinned. “No kidding.”
Timothy frowned. “Who was that man you were walking with?”
“I didn’t come here for the list, Ellie. I came here for you.”
“That was Chris.”
Ellie’s voice sounded in response but Lawson couldn’t hear what she said because Timothy started talking. “That didn’t look like Chris. That looked like some kind of fancy man all gussied up.”
Lawson laughed. Nathan shook his head. “Chris got all gussied up because he came to court Ellie.”
Timothy turned to Lawson. “I thought you were courting her. At least, that’s what the other kids say at school.”
“Those were just rumors,” Lawson said. “Don’t believe them. You’d know for sure if I was courting your aunt.”
“How?”
“You’d see me doing it, kiddo.”
“I can’t hear—” Nathan complained before he could catch himself. He turned to Timothy. “How about a piece of your ma’s cake? You