Page 79 of Montana Groom of Convenience
What were he and Jill going to do for a home? What about Carly? What was going to happen to her? To them?
Chapter 16
Sawyer hurried toward the door and then paused to consider Jill and his father-in-law both standing at the counter. Jill drooled over the candy selection. Mr. Morrison tacked the notice to the bulletin board. Sawyer resisted an urge to snatch it off and toss it into the garbage.
“I’m going to catch up to Carly.” He tossed a penny on the counter for Jill’s candy. “Come on, little sister.”
Mr. Morrison limped after them. “Wait for me. I’m done here.”
Feeling less than charitable to the old man, Sawyer nevertheless waited for him to get up on the seat, then turned the wagon in the direction he’d last seen Carly.
Jill leaned over his shoulder. “Where’d she go? Why’d she go without waiting for us?”
He leaned forward, anxious for a glimpse of Carly, but all he saw were the benches of the town square and the trees, leafed out in fresh green, which surrounded the square. “I guess she was upset about something.”Thankfully, Jill had not read the notice, so she did not know what was planned.
“Oh.” She considered the news. “Did you do something?”
“Me?” He looked over his shoulder at his sister, her face wreathed in worry and accusation. “Why would you think that?”
She got a stubborn look on her face. “’Cause you aren’t nice to her.”
“What? When have I ever been unkind to her?” The announcements of the day got stranger and stranger.
“You treat her like a man.”
Mr. Morrison chuckled.
Sawyer resisted an urge to jump from the wagon and join Carly in marching away.
“I do not.” He certainly never thought of her as a man. Not even for a second. They reached the intersection of the streets. He slowed the wagon to a crawl. “Does anyone see her?”
The three of them craned their necks.
He caught a movement to the south. “There she is.” Seems she was headed home. Perhaps to pack. If her father succeeded in his plan, they would all be packing.
He overtook her. “Want a ride home?”
She shook her head and kept marching. “What home?”
“Girl, get in the wagon. ’Tis home until otherwise.”
She stopped and faced her father. “I’m not sure I care to ride with you.”
The man had the audacity to laugh.
Sawyer decided to try another way of appealing toher. “Get in. When we get back—” He no longer felt free to say home. “We can discuss this.”
She glanced up at Sawyer. “My father is not known for being reasonable.”
He guessed she meant being forced into a marriage agreement to save the ranch, which didn’t seem to satisfy her father.
Carly continued her journey, her feet pounding on the grass at the side of the road. Sawyer slowed the wagon so it kept abreast of Carly. She stopped walking and took a deep breath. “Very well.” And climbed into the back with Jill.
Jill sidled close. “Why’re you mad?”
“Because someone didn’t keep his word.” The words should have left bruises on her father, but again, Mr. Morrison chuckled. He was getting far too much enjoyment out of the turmoil he’d created.
“Was it Sawyer?” Jill asked, still determined to blame her brother for Carly’s anger.
