Page 12 of Texas Destiny
He tugged on his hat, and Amelia had the feeling something deeper dwelled within his words, something he had no desire to discuss. Although she could not see it, she was certain that he’d just thrown up a wall.
“Take a look around and see if you can think of anything else you need while I purchase the clothes. If not, we’ll be leavin’.”
He went into Mimi’s shop and returned a few minutes later with two large parcels. “Did you think of anything?” he asked.
“No, I feel guilty about all that you’ve purchased already.”
“Don’t feel guilty. Dallas won’t begrudge the purchase. He’s generous to a fault when it comes to those he cares about.”
“And you think he’ll come to care about me?”
“He already does, Miss Carson. Give you my word on that,” he said as he stepped off the boardwalk.
Amelia’s apprehensions began melting away. Perhaps the man behind the letters was as she had imagined him. She thought of Houston’s comment that she needed clothing for entertaining. One day she would delight the ladies of West Texas with parties and social calls—just as her mother had charmed the women from the neighboring plantations. Perhaps as the wife of a rancher, she would find a semblance of the life she’d known before the war, a life she’d thought would one day be hers.
A life shattered by men in blue and men in tattered gray.
Shuddering, she squeezed her eyes shut and forced the past back into the recesses of her mind. Her future lay before her, clear and untarnished, with a man who had shown her nothing but compassion and respect in his letters.
Amelia came to a halt as Houston placed the packages in the back of a wagon laden with supplies. A brown horse, tethered at the rear, nudged Houston’s shoulder. He reached into his duster pocket and brought out an apple. The mare grabbed it and began chomping greedily.
As Houston pulled a tarpaulin over the supplies, securing it in place with ropes, Amelia traced her fingers over an emblem burned into the side of the wagon. An “A” leaned over until its right side touched the left side of a “D.”
“What’s this?” she asked.
“Dallas’s brand. An ‘A’ and a ‘D.’ Joined.”
Joined. As in a partnership. As in a marriage. “Has he always had this brand?”
“Nope. In the beginning, he just had the ‘D.’ He added the ‘A’ when you accepted his offer of marriage.”
Deeply touched, she wished Dallas could have shared this moment when she discovered his gift. “He never mentioned it in his letters.”
“Reckon he wanted it to be a surprise.”
“A brand is important, isn’t it?”
“The choosing of it isn’t something a man takes lightly. Neither is the changing of it.”
“Is this why you think he cares about me?”
“It’s one of the reasons.”
“And the other reasons?”
“I reckon they’ll be real obvious when we get to the ranch.” He tied a final knot in the rope. “Ready?”
More than ready, she nodded. He placed his large hands on her waist. She grabbed his shoulders as he swung her onto the wagon. She sat and arranged her skirt, trying not to think about how the warmth of his hands had soaked through her worn clothing. Dallas’s hands would be that warm, his shoulders that steady.
Houston climbed in and settled onto the bench seat beside her. He released the brake and slapped the reins over the backs of the four mules harnessed before them. “Well, Miss Carson, take a last look around because where we’re headed there’s nothing but open land, cows, and cowboys.”
Chapter Four
It was well past noon before they reached a small stream. As Houston watered and fed the mules and his horse, Amelia sat on a log, using a fork to dig beans out of a can that he had opened for her.
She couldn’t hear his words, only his voice, as he talked to the mare. Neither of them had spoken as the wagon had traveled away from Fort Worth. From time to time, she had glanced over her shoulder. He had never once looked back.
He crossed the clearing and hunkered down before her, his right shoulder close to her drawn-up knees. His black duster parted, revealing the gun strapped to his thigh. It served as a gentle reminder that she was headed toward an untamed land.
