Page 15 of Wagon Train Hope
“I knew it.” Just as she knew her tone didn’t suggest rejoicing at the knowledge. “What happened? What was her name? What?—?”
He held up his hand. “Her name was Adeline. We were both eighteen. So young.”
Best not to point out that she was eighteen and an adult ready for adult responsibilities.
“She’d lived with her maiden aunt since she was ten. I thought she was a serious, cautious young woman. After her aunt died,she grew reckless. Tried to get me to do foolishthings. Said I was too careful. That I took my responsibilities too seriously. One day, she said she’d had enough of restrictions and got on the train and headed east to big-city life.”
Which, Irene guessed, had made him more cautious and serious. “Did she write? Or try and contact you?”
“No. Nor did I try to contact her.” His pole dipped, and she shifted, impatient for him to deal with another fish.
“She broke your heart?”
His laugh was short and humorless. “No, she didn’t. But she made me examine my life and decide if I needed to change things.”
“What did you decide?”
He dropped his hook back into the water. “Better check your line.”
She’d forgotten it. She lifted the rod to play the hook a little and was rewarded with a bite. She brought it in but didn’t rebait her hook. They had enough for supper. Maybe they’d go fishing again tonight or early in the morning.
Wind rippled the water and teased her hair.
“What did I decide about what?”
She pushed the loose strands off her face. “About your life. Was it what you wanted?” Not that she expected he’d admit otherwise.
“I was content until Pa said he was heading west. Then I realized that’s what I’d been waiting for.” He shoved his hat back on his head, giving her yet more access to those dark eyes brimming with something warm and inviting.
She swallowed hard.
“Now it’s your turn.”
“My turn?” she croaked.
“To tell me about the young man who judged you.”
She tossed her head again, sending strands across her cheek again. Again, her fingers tucked them back. “Who says it was a young man?”
“Are you going to tell me it wasn’t?”
Her tongue refused to work. Words failed to form in her mind. Finally, a sentence developed. “Lots of Ma’s friends spoke frankly about the need to tame me.”
“Did you care what they thought?”
“Not so long as Ma and Pa weren’t upset, and they didn’t seem to be. Pa said my spirit would take me far in life, and Ma said I wasn’t harming anyone or anything.”
“That’s understanding of them.” He pulled his empty line from the water and laid it on the ground. “In that case, I’d say their disapproval didn’t matter a whole lot to you.”
She nodded.
“But the rejection of a young man did.”
It wasn’t a question. Merely a statement of facts. And for the first time, she realized how that rejection affected her more than she should have allowed. “His name was Terrence, and he said if I wanted him to be my beau, I needed to change.”
“Huh. What can you expect from someone with the name Terrence? It must have pinched his mouth every time someone said it. A name that hardly lets a man smile.”
At Walt’s description, peals of laughter burst from her. “You—” Mad laughter made speech impossible.
