Emilia’s slim figure slipped around the corner of the barn and disappeared. Derek followed quietly.
When he reached the corner, he peeked around and there she was, leaning against the side of the structure, her arms wrapped around her waist and her eyes staring sadly up at the sky.
“May I join you?” Derek asked after a moment. He knew that he shouldn’t. He knew that he should leave her out here and not look back, but something was keeping him there. Maybe he just wanted to make sure she was all right for Mrs. Carson’s sake, he told himself.
“I—um,” Emilia stuttered, a look of discomfort on her face.
Derek decided not to put much stock in her discomfort and settled in beside her. “It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?” He looked up at the dark night sky and the sparkling stars that adorned it so perfectly. It truly was a spectacular sight.
“It is.” She sounded morose.
“What are you sad about?”
For a moment, Derek thought the silence meant she wouldn’t answer him.
“My family… Mary and I used to watch the stars together at night.”
“Who’s Mary?”
“She’s my sister. Lily reminds me of her a lot.” This time, Emilia looked at him with almost a happy smile.
Derek felt as if he was walking on pins and needles—like at any moment, everything could go wrong.
“I’m sorry you miss her so much.” Derek wondered what it would be like to miss his family. He had only ever felt relief when he was away from them. He often wondered if he had been born to the wrong set of people. He had so little in common with any of them.
“Would you like to dance?” The words came out of his mouth before he could stop himself.
Emilia looked as shocked as he felt. “I, um, I actually don’t really dance. I just need some fresh air.”
“Do you feel all right? You look very pale.”
“I’m fine. I’m not used to some of the things I’ve been doing here in Texas. I guess I’m not yet as strong as everyone else here.”
Emilia’s cheeks flushed pink and Derek wondered what she was talking about, exactly, when she referred to not being strong enough.
When Lily had sent him to find her, she’d looked positively ill, as if she were ready to keel over.
“You should join the dance, though, Derek. I’m perfectly fine here alone.”
“To be honest, I’m not much of a dancer either, I guess.” Derek pulled his hat down a little lower and let the silence settle between them for a few moments. He could see that Emilia was uncomfortable by the way she fidgeted beside him.
He wondered what she was thinking, but he had a feeling that it was about how she didn’t want to be anywhere near him. He didn’t really understand what he had said or done to make her so uncomfortable.
“I should go back inside and find Lily,” Emilia announced, pushing off of the side of the barn.
Derek nodded and watched her walk away. She was like a thin little ghost, floating back into the barn. She intrigued him. He knew that she shouldn’t, especially with the way she had reacted to him from the beginning.
But he couldn’t help it. He had never met anyone quite like her. Derek shook his head, trying to remind himself that he didn’t have time for a woman who was so decided on who he was without really getting to know him. And she apparently had no desire to get to know him. He tried not to let himself feel sad about it.
After a while, he got tired of watching the sky alone. He pushed off the side of the barn and walked slowly toward the cabin. He didn’t want to stick around to watch Emilia avoid him. It bothered him too much.
She was something complicated that he wasn’t yet sure how to navigate. The evening seemed to carry on forever, although Derek knew that it couldn’t have been more than a couple of hours since he had talked with Emilia when George approached him to tell him it was time to go.
When they got back to the wagon, Emilia and Lily were standing beside it, looking chilly.
“I told them we would give them a ride back to the entrance. One of the twins should be meeting us there to pick them up in the wagon.”
Derek nodded and hopped up onto the wagon seat. He didn’t say so, but he was going to insist on taking them himself. He remembered how Emilia had looked earlier, and he wasn’t about to let her walk that distance in the dark.
It was getting chilly, which was rare for Texas but a nice treat for Derek. While most days, he enjoyed the heat, there were times when it got old.
“You can leave us here,” Emilia spoke up a few moments later. Derek glanced around. They were past the entrance to the ranch, but there was no one in sight.
“Where are the twins?”
“I don’t know, they said they would come in a few hours. They probably got distracted since Ma had visitors,” Lily explained with a smile, batting her eyelashes in George’s direction.
Derek decided to ignore Lily’s advances. He wasn’t comfortable with that at all. He saw Lily as a little sister, and knowing George’s track record with women, he didn’t want her to get hurt.
“We’ll go drop you off at your house. If your brothers come after all, we will probably run into them on the way.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Derek saw that Emilia looked as if she wanted to protest, but she didn’t.
It frustrated him. Why was Emilia so set against him?
It didn’t take long to get to the girls’ home, not as long as he would have thought, anyway.
He wasn’t sure if it was because he was absorbed by his thoughts or if the time really had gone faster.
George hopped down and offered his hand to Lily, who accepted it just a little too enthusiastically.
Derek was secretly happy when Emilia refused George’s help and instead climbed down on her own.
He waited outside of the cabin until the two girls disappeared inside. Things may have seemed safe here close to town, but there were stories, every once in a while, of bad things happening. Nothing was going to happen to the Carson family members as long as he could help it.
“You sure you don’t want to go in and say hello?” Hopefully, George elbowed him a bit in the side.
Derek grimaced, something he was fairly certain his friend couldn’t see in the dark. “You know, I don’t like you getting too friendly with Lily. She’s just a kid.”
George shook his head. “She’s not just a kid anymore. She’s eighteen, and she likes me. She is old enough to be wed, you know.”
Derek was taken aback. “Wed? Who do you know willing to wed the girl? I doubt you, yourself.”
George shrugged again and then chuckled. “No, I’m not really thinking of wedding her, or anything else. I’m just having a bit of fun. We both are. It’s harmless, nothing to it.”
“There is something to it. You don’t see the way she looks at you. She certainly doesn’t know that you think there’s nothing to it. It appears that, for her, there is something to it.”
Derek wasn’t sure if it had been the long day of helping the men finish building the barn or his conversation with Emilia, but he was feeling a bit testy.
“Calm down, it’s nothing. If you would like, I’ll just avoid her.”
“There’s no reason to be rash. Just don’t play with her feelings, okay?” Derek knew he was being a little harsh, but he couldn’t help it.
“What’s gotten into you? Did something happen with Emilia?”
“No, nothing. That girl has had it out for me since the night we met. I don’t know what I said that first night, but something sure rubbed her the wrong way.” Derek shook his head from side to side. He didn’t exactly want to talk to George about what was going on with Emilia, but keeping it inside was difficult, too.
“The two of you seem to be like oil and water. Whenever you talk to each other, you come out with a bad mood.”
Derek bit his lower lip and decided not to answer that. His friend was right. Maybe he and Emilia were bad luck for each other.
But
despite his efforts to remove her from his thoughts, she filled them again. Her wispy little figure and her sweet face with her guarded eyes haunted his mind. He just couldn’t seem to shake it.
“Do you want to go down to the saloon for a while? I hear that ol’ Joe is going to be playing on his piano and fiddle tonight.”
Derek was almost tempted. He loved a good bit of music, and Joe was notorious for playing some of the best piano and fiddle a man had heard. But not tonight; he just wasn’t in the mood.
“I think I’ve had enough music and dancing for one night.” Besides, the saloon wasn’t really his scene. He wasn’t entirely sure why everyone else seemed to enjoy it so.
His friend, for one, had a particular affinity for whiskey, like many of the men in town. Derek had never found much of a taste for it.
“Suit yourself. I’ll probably turn in, too. Some of the men are coming to help me finish the cabin tomorrow.”
“You know I’ll be there, too.” Derek gave his friend a glance.
George smiled. “You’d better be. I couldn’t finish it without your approval.”
Derek slapped the reins on the horses’ backs with a bit more urgency. He was ready to find his bed and get some rest. Today had been a long day.
Chapter 14
Lily hugged herself and danced around the bedroom the best she could while preparing for bed.
Emilia giggled behind her. “Why are you so excited?”
“George danced with me! He actually did! He is so handsome. Did you notice how blue his eyes are?”
“Oh, I see. No, I guess I didn’t notice.” Emilia sounded disappointed, worried, just like she had earlier that day in the parlor.
“Why are you so against him? He was such a gentleman. You should have seen him.”
“I did see him. And I am not really against him, I’m just worried about you.”
“You know, you don’t have to worry about getting a husband. You’re so pretty, you could probably get anyone to marry you—even Derek, and he’s never been interested in anyone.”
“What are you talking about?” Emilia was looking at her cousin as if she’d just said the most ridiculous thing in the world.
“I mean that you're beautiful.” Lily wasn’t exactly jealous; she had taken an instant liking to Emilia the moment she had stepped off that train. But that didn’t change the facts.
She knew some people considered her homely. She didn’t have her mother’s blonde hair or pretty eyes or light skin. In fact, she had very little from either of her parents’ looks. Her skin was so dark, kids at school had teased her and said she was part negro.
“You’re pretty, too, Lily. You shouldn’t ever let anyone tell you differently.”
Lily nodded, happy to hear the reassurance, but it changed little. She knew how she looked.
“Look, I just really like George. I’ve known him for so long and he’s never really seemed to notice me until now.” Lily didn’t know what it was about George. Maybe it was all the time he had spent helping their family. Or maybe it was the jokes that he told whenever he was over at their house. She reckoned it had started a long time ago and she was just starting to notice him more now.
“I do want to get married, you know. I want to have a big family with lots of kids and live on a ranch just like this one.”
Emilia nodded and sank down onto the side of the bed. She didn’t look convinced that any of the things that Lily claimed to want were good things. “I know that you think you do, but when you are older, you might change your mind,” she said.
Lily tried to think about changing her mind, but she was fairly certain that she never would. “I don’t think my mother or your mother changed their minds, and what would have happened if they did? Neither of us would be here now.”
Emilia shrugged. “Well, I don’t know. I guess. Look, if you are happy with George, then that is fine. I will support that. He had just better be good to you.”
“Really?” Lily’s heart leaped with happiness. “I’m so glad! He said he might come with Derek tomorrow.”
“Why is Derek coming tomorrow?” Emilia didn’t sound happy about the news.
“He’s coming to help Ma with the left field. It needs to be prepared for the next planting season. You don’t really know a lot about farms, do you?” Lily shook her head. In a way, her cousin’s ignorance was cute.
“Why does he help so much? Does your mother pay for him to come and do the work?”
“No, he just does it to be nice, I suppose.” Lily didn’t really know why Derek and George helped so much. “After Pa died, we were having a hard winter. Derek and George came by and helped with the harvest, and since then, they just come all the time to help.”
“Oh.” Emilia didn’t look happy, she looked confused. “I suppose that’s nice.”
“It is,” Lily giggled. “You’re acting strange tonight, are you all right?”
Emilia nodded. “I’m just tired.”
“Me, too.” Lily hopped into her bed and snuggled deep under her blanket. She loved cooler nights like tonight, where she could actually enjoy being warm between the sheets.
In the dim light of the moon, she saw Emilia get into bed as well. Everything was silent for a few moments.
“Goodnight, Lily,” Emilia said softly a few moments later.
“Goodnight.” Even after she was certain that Emilia was asleep, Lily stared up at the dark ceiling above. She wondered if George was thinking about her.
It had been a long time since she had thought anything like this. Her whole life, she had tried not to care what others thought of her. When she had gone to school in the one-room schoolhouse, she’d had her share of bad experiences with people making fun of her.
In fact, she remembered only a few happy days—yet she didn’t remember many miserable ones, either. She had always managed to make the best of every situation.
Lily forced her eyes closed. She needed to get some rest, no matter the fact that she didn’t feel the tiniest bit tired.
---*---
The next morning, the sun in Lily’s eyes woke her. She was surprised to see Emilia’s empty bed. Unlike the first few days she had been there, Emilia had somehow managed to get up before Lily today.
Lily scurried around the bedroom, fixing her dress and then her hair and making sure that she looked her best. She didn’t know when George would be coming over, but she was going to be ready when he did.
She couldn’t get the feeling from the night before out of her chest. She had felt ecstatic, as if all her wildest dreams had come true.
George had paid attention to her, he’d danced with her, he’d treated her like she was someone special. Lily paused at the window and stared outside.
Derek and George were tying their horses in front of the barn. She couldn’t hear them, but she could tell they were having a good time by the way they were throwing their heads back in laughter.
For a moment, doubt clouded her mind. Maybe Emilia was right. Maybe she shouldn’t be looking for a husband. After all, she didn’t look anything like her family, and she wasn’t as pretty or smart as all the other girls in town. Maybe she just wasn’t George’s type.
An Enduring Love to Heal Her: A Historical Western Romance Book Page 11
