Page 35 of Wagon Train Promises
“Well, I don’t mean to brag, but often, young ladies would stop across the street, away from the smoke and heat, and watchme. Guess I put on a bit of a show for them. At least according to Blackie.” He nudged her with his elbow, and they grinned at each other.
“I can imagine.” She batted her eyes in mock adoration.
A shadow crossed his expression.
“There was someone special?”
“Not really.” The grass at his feet held his interest. He ran a finger up blade after blade. “Though I might have fooled myself into thinking so.”
“What was her name?”
“Myra. Pretty as a postcard she was. Blonde curls caught back in a pink bow. Blue eyes that clearly liked what she saw when she glanced my way.” He plucked a handful of grass and tossed it toward the water. It fell short.
“What happened to her?” Although he didn’t say, it obviously hadn’t turned out the way he hoped.
“When she passed on the street, I’d dropped my apron and tell Blackie I had something important to do. I’d saunter over and offer to escort her home. We did that for weeks.” His fingers grew still. His gaze sought something in the distance.
“Then she stopped coming.” A dismissive shrug. “I managed to make it to her side after church one Sunday and ask if there was something wrong. She said she couldn’t see me again. She had bigger things in mind. I was lots of fun but—” Another shrug that did nothing to convince her Myra’s rejection hadn’t hurt.
“She walked away with a man who had recently moved to town—a clerk in the lawyer’s office.” Air huffed from him. He came round to look at Louise, but his smile did not reach his eyes. “I was destated.” He waited. “You know. Like I’d told Gramma, meaning?—”
“Devastated. I remember. Oh, Cecil. That’s awful. No doubt she’d regretted her choice.”
“I don’t know. They married and moved away.”
“Well, she rejected a good thing.”
“She what?”
In for a penny, in for a pound. She wasn’t going to back down now. “You heard me. She had a chance to know the love of a good, noble, kind man. And she chose otherwise.”
He opened his mouth and closed it again without speaking. Tried again. This time, he succeeded in jerking out his words. “That’s how you see me?”
“No. That’s what you are.”
The moment froze between them. Even the rumble of the water faded into a distant whisper.
“Louise, that might be the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me.”
Heat burned her cheeks at her boldness. And yet she didn’t regret it. “If that’s true, it’s sad, but I think it’s more likely you simply didn’t hear.”
“Yes, well, having Gramma say things like that is different. She was my grandmother.Shehad to believe that.”
Laughter gurgled up Louise’s throat at his reasoning.
His grin was full of pleasure.
“Dinner is ready.” Hazel’s call hit Louise like a blow. She scrambled to her feet. What was she doing, sitting with Cecil? What must Hazel think? Louise was not being a good friend. At least not to Hazel.
A smile escaped as she hurried back to the camp.
Maybe she’d proven herself to be a good friend to Cecil.
“I’m sorry. I should have taken care of this.” Her apology to Hazel rushed out.
“Really?” Hazel shook her head. “I think I can manage heating up some leftover stew.”
“Of course.” That wasn’t what bothered Louise. She meant to honor the romance between Hazel and Cecil. Not steal his attention for herself. She’d do better. Starting immediately.
