Page 2 of Montana Bride By Christmas
“You’ll have to excuse me.” Hugh leaped to his feet and hurried through the open door, across the sitting room, and into the kitchen.
Evan faced Mrs. Ross, his eyes wide, his mouth a grimace far too like a snarl for Hugh’s peace of mind. A shattered dish lay between them.
Mrs. Ross flung about at Hugh’s approach. “He slapped the bowl out of my hands.” She backed away from Evan. “Hugh, I’ll clean your house. I’ll make your meals. But I’m sorry, I can’t handle this child of yours.” She looked about ready to weep.
Hugh patted her back. “I understand.”
The distraught woman grabbed her thick woolen shawl and hurried out the back door.
“Hmm. Looks like you need someone immediately.” Uninvited, Annie had followed him.
He wouldn’t look at her...would not let her see how desperation sent spasms through his jaw muscles. How was he to care for his son? Would the boy ever recover from his state?
Somehow Grandfather Marshall had managed to get down from the wagon despite his crippled state and hobbled into the kitchen, his canes thudding against the floor.
“Annie, you listen to me,” he said with some authority.
Hugh hid a grin. The elder Marshall ruled his family and half the territory.
Annie jammed her fists on her hips and glowered at her grandfather. “How’d you get down?”
“Called to the blacksmith to help me. I had to talk sense to you. Marriage is not a business deal. Whatever reason causes a man and woman to get hitched, it’s forever. Forget this foolish advertisement for a marriage of convenience, and let’s get home before winter sets into my bones and I freeze into a solid block.” He turned back toward the outer door.
Annie didn’t move. Didn’t give any indication she’d even heard his remarks. Instead, she lowered her arms, tucked her hands into her skirt, and looked at Evan.
Hugh’s eyebrows rose a fraction of an inch. The girl must be the only one within the whole of Montana who dared ignore the old man. A young lady who wouldn’t heed the directions of someone in authority. It further reinforced his opinion that she was unsuitable.
Evan huddled in the corner, his eyes wide as he watched the adults. No doubt, he wondered what they would do that involved him.
“Well,” Annie said after a few seconds of silent study between the two. “Looks like someone should sweep up the mess.” Shespied the broom behind the stove, swept up the broken dish, and looked about for a place to dispose of it.
Hugh sprang forward, holding the ash bucket, and she dumped the debris into it.
The look she gave him was part pity, part curiosity, and all challenging. Before he could think how to divert her from her goal, she shifted her attention to Evan.
She squatted down to the boy’s eye level, keeping far enough away not to frighten him. “It’s okay, Evan. No one is cross with you.” She waited a moment, then slowly straightened and brought that determined blue gaze back to Hugh.
“You need someone. It might as well be me.”
Her grandfather banged one of his canes on the floor. “I forbid it.”
“No need, sir,” Hugh said. “I’ve already told her no.”
Annie shook her head. “What about Evan? Who is going to look after him while you do whatever it is preachers do?”
He resisted an urge to list all the things he did, but she was right. He couldn’t prepare a sermon, visit the shut-ins and the ill, listen to people’s worries in his office, or even read his Bible if he had to constantly wonder about Evan and keep an eye on him. God, I beg You. Send me someone to help with Evan. Knowing God understood his heart, he didn’t bother to add someone older, less attractive, less likely to want a life of adventure...or at the very least...less likely to want courting and all that went with that.
He leaned to one side to watch the door to his office, fully expecting it to open and the answer to his problem would step inside.
“I have the perfect solution,” Annie said.
Hugh did not share her opinion.
Her grandfather thumped his cane again. “Forget this nonsense and take me home.”
She shook her head. “Grandfather, I’m pretty sure that Conner and Kate would prefer to have the house to themselves.”
Her words caught Hugh’s interest. He’d performed the marriage of her brother Conner and his wife Kate a few months ago. They’d adopted the baby that had been left on Conner’s doorstep, spent a few months in a cabin, and then had moved into the big ranch house. It seemed Annie was feeling like an extra spoke in a crowded wheel.
