Page 11 of Montana Lawman Rescuer
“Come on in and tell me what it is.”
He followed her into the kitchen, accepted a cup of coffee, and helped himself to the cookies she offered. Hugh came from his adjoining office.
“Good, you’re both here. Saves me having to tell the story twice.” He explained about the stagecoach robbery and finding Emily with no memory and young Mikey, who couldn’t tell them anything.
“All their belongings are gone. I hoped?—”
“Say no more. I’ll gather up enough for her and the boy. How big is she?”
“She comes to about here.” He indicated his shoulder. “She’s slender. Too big for anything of Gram’s, too small for yours.”
Annie studied Jesse intently a moment.
He couldn’t help but wonder what was going on in her busy mind.
“How old is she?”
“Annie, how would I know? She can’t remember.”
“Give it your best guess. I need to know what sort of clothes she’d like to wear.”
“I’d say she was about your age.” Annie had recently turned twenty. “Give or take a year or two.” He tried to think what elsehe could tell Annie that might be of help. “She’s wearing a blue top like yours and a dark skirt. Just ordinary clothes.”
Again, Annie’s study of him lasted a heartbeat longer than was comfortable. What did she think she saw or understood?
She nodded as if she’d made up her mind about something. “And the boy?”
“Says he’s almost—” He held up three fingers as had Mikey. “Smaller than Evan. It must be an awful feeling not to remember who you are.”
Annie leaned closer, her eyes sparkling. “Maybe this is an answer to my prayers.”
He sat back and stared at her. “You prayed the stagecoach would be robbed?” He shifted his gaze to Hugh. “Did you know this?”
Hugh squeezed Annie’s hand, giving her an adoring look. “I think you better explain things.”
Annie brought her gaze back to Jesse. “Of course, I didn’t pray that, silly. I’ve been praying a young woman would come into your life.”
Jesse stared at her. “You can’t mean—she might be married for all we know.” He recalled her worry about having done something wrong. “You haven’t even seen her, and yet you—” He shook his head, stunned at her words. “We don’t know who she is, and she can’t remember. She might be hiding, for all we know.”
“I think who she is when she can’t remember is who she really is. No masks. Nothing to hide. Just the real Emily. Perhaps more real than the person she is when she can remember all the things that have happened to her.”
He stared at her. Could she be right? “It makes no difference in any case. My job is to apprehend the robbers and take care of Emily and Mikey until we can see them safely to their destination. I have no other interest in them. And I can’tthink why you’d suggest otherwise. You know how I feel about women.”
She dismissed his protest with a wave of her hand. “A good woman would change your mind, but I understand you have reason not to trust them.”
He tried not to sputter. The trouble was, she knew too much about him. But her judgment was way off. “Your grandfather is the matchmaker in your family. One is quite enough, don’t you think?”
She laughed. “I’m sure he’ll do his share. But never mind. Perhaps I am being premature.”
“Perhaps?”
“I’ll come and see for myself what kind of woman she is.”
“Now, wait a minute.”
“I need to see both of them to know what size clothing they need.”
“I thought I told you enough.” He didn’t want her coming over. As soon as she saw Emily, she would decide she was more than suitable. After all, she was a beautiful woman and, if the way she treated Mikey was any indication, a kind one, too.
