“So are you competing with us?”
“There’s something you should learn about me. I never do anything halfway. Once I set my mind to something, I do whatever it takes to get it. I’ve gotten a buck before. It’s not that hard.”
“For you, having fun means going after a challenge.”
She shrugged. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I see the logic. Life would get boring if everything was handed to me.”
“Is that why you moved to Omaha? You wanted a challenge?”
That sounded like a good enough reason, so she nodded. She recognized the edge of the farm where Wiley lived. This property was the ideal place for hunting since it included a section of trees and the river. Hunters could hide behind the trees and catch the animals off guard. She straightened in anticipation. With any luck, she’d get that buck and prove just how well she could hunt. And, even better, she’d find out if Isaac was interested in Eva or if there was any possibility Isaac might prefer her.
Chapter Nine
Two hours later, Emily balanced her rifle and focused on the deer. It wasn’t exactly a huge buck, but it was impressive enough so she could brag about her hunting prowess if she got it. It was certainly better than the two rabbits Wiley got or the quail Isaac got. So far, Clayton hadn’t gotten anything, but that didn’t mean much because she hadn’t either.
However, she wasn’t wasting her bullets on the small animals. She wanted a prize. When she counted to three, she pulled the trigger and the shot echoed through the still air. A squirrel scurried up a tree and the deer leapt out of the way. Grunting, she set the rifle down. So close. If she’d fired a little more to the right, she would have gotten it.
“Not bad, Elmer,” Isaac said from where he sat a few feet away from her. “You almost had him.” Looking at Wiley and Clayton, he added, “Elmer’s goal is to catch the biggest animal he can find.”
Sitting with her back against a tree, she flexed her hands to warm them up. “Maybe I’ll get the next buck that comes along. That one was a little weak, so I’m better off missing him.”
Not sitting too far from Isaac, Wiley tipped his hat back and grinned. “You want to get a buck?”
“The largest one I can find,” she clarified.
Clayton, who sat across from her, shrugged. “Does it matter how big it is? I’d think getting it would be good enough.”
“That’s what I told him,” Isaac said, “but he likes a challenge.”
“There’s nothing wrong with that,” Wiley replied as he crossed his ankles and settled back against a tree. “Sometimes it makes the hunt exciting.”
“That explains why you seek out Emily as much as you do,” Clayton teased.
Interest piqued, Emily forgot about hunting and leaned forward. Maybe now she could get Isaac to talk. “Who’s Emily?”
With a shrug, Wiley said, “She’s just a young lady we know.”
“A young lady he’s been trying to get the nerve to ask if he can court her for the past year,” Clayton filled in, looking as happy as could be to embarrass his friend, but Emily got the feeling Clayton did it in good humor. “You can’t take it personally that she’s so aloof. From what I hear, she’s not interested in anyone.”
“That can’t be true,” Wiley replied with a chuckle. “She has to be interested in someone.”
“You might have a better chance of finding out which someone she’s interested in by asking that friend of hers. What’s her name?”
“Alice Reed.”
“That’s right. Alice was at the schoolhouse last year. Is she there now?” Clayton glanced at Isaac. “You still go there. Does Alice still attend?”
“No,” Isaac replied. “But even if Alice still wanted to attend school, her parents moved to town.”
“Is that so?” Wiley asked and shook his head. “I don’t leave the farm much. I should leave it more often, though. How am I going to talk to Emily if I don’t?” He straightened and snapped his fingers. “Her pa does business with mine! Maybe I can go over to her house and ask her pa a question about the cattle.”
Emily cringed. Wiley was nice. She hated the thought of having to come right out and tell him she wasn’t interested in him the way he wanted her to be.
Clayton motioned to Isaac. “Before you do that, Wiley, maybe Isaac could talk to Emily for you and find out if she’d let you court her. No sense in asking if she’s going to say no.”
Curious about what Isaac thought of another man taking such an interest in her, she focused on him.
“You know I can’t do that,” Isaac softly said.
“Why not?” she asked, figuring she might as well ask it in case his friends didn’t.
Isaac avoided eye contact with her and didn’t seem to be willing to answer her since he didn’t respond. Instead, he picked up a handful of snow, molded it into a ball and tossed it to the side.
Fortunately, Wiley was more forthcoming. “Isaac’s pa won’t have it. If he so much as says hi to her, his pa gives him the ‘don’t talk to the Craftsman girl’ lecture.”
Emily’s eyes grew wide in shock. That was why Isaac avoided her? What did she ever do to upset his father?
Isaac sighed. “It’s not that bad. My pa doesn’t lecture me.”
Wiley rolled his eyes. “Fine. Then he firmly encourages you not to speak to her.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” she said before she could stop herself.
“Tell me about it,” Wiley agreed. “One day, his pa caught Isaac talking to Emily outside the schoolhouse while we were all waiting to go home, and he told Isaac to stay away from the Craftsman girl.”
“I don’t remember that,” Clayton said.
“You weren’t there that day,” Wiley replied.
“Oh.” Clayton shrugged and closed his eyes, probably figuring the topic had nothing to do with him so why bother listening?
“Can we talk about something else?” Isaac asked, irritation slipping into his voice.
“Sorry, Isaac,” Wiley said.
“It’s fine, Wiley.” Isaac tossed another snowball over a fallen tree limb. “Don’t worry about it.”
After a couple of seconds, Wiley said, “I’ll make a trip out to Emily’s place and see if she’ll talk to me.”
Emily wasn’t looking forward to it. If Wiley wasn’t so nice, she’d have no trouble telling him she wasn’t interested. But since he was nice, she didn’t know whether the direct but kind approach would work or if she should go into hiding when he planned to stop by.
She couldn’t worry about that right now, though. The men were talking about women they were interested in, and since Wiley already mentioned who he wanted, it was only logical the others might follow suit. And that meant she could find out if she needed to worry about Eva or not. Clearing her throat, she asked, “So what about you, Clayton? Are you thinking of courting someone?”
Clayton shrugged. “I haven’t given it serious thought.”
Emily sensed he had someone in mind, but since she was more concerned about Isaac, she motioned for him to speak up.
“Me?” Isaac shook his head. “No.”
She frowned. Something in the way he quickly spoke the word no told her he did wish to court someone. But the question was who and how in the world could she get that little tidbit out of him without giving herself away? So far the only thing she learned was that Isaac’s father was the reason Isaac stopped talking to her…and that Wiley planned to come see her. Sighing, she decided to turn her attention back to hunting. The men picked up their guns in silent agreement that the time for talking had ended.
An hour later, Isaac got a wild turkey to add to the quail, Wiley got more rabbits, Clayton got two quails and a partridge, and Emily ended up settling for a coyote. She considered the whole morning to be a bust, even if she knew why Isaac avoided her. In some ways, knowing made her feel worse and that surprised her. She thought if she knew why, she could figure out a way to push past his barrier, but she didn’t count on
that barrier being his father. How was she supposed to overcome that one? Maybe it was a sign. Maybe she needed to give up. She glanced at Wiley. He wasn’t a bad man. In a way, he was cute, and he certainly was kind. With a sigh, she carried the coyote to the buckboard Isaac brought out to the place and dumped it in the back, next to his wild turkey and quail.
“Want to come to my house for lunch?” Isaac asked her after they said good-bye to Wiley and Clayton.
“I’m not that hungry,” she said, which was the truth. She’d lost her appetite an hour ago and couldn’t imagine eating anything ever again. Well, maybe not ever again. That was a bit extreme. But she surely didn’t feel up to eating at the moment, nor did she relish the thought of seeing his father. Shrugging, she added, “I should probably get back to town.”
“Oh come on. We’ve been out here for three hours. You have to be hungry.”
“Not really.”
Isaac studied her, and she feared he might see through her disguise. She quickly looked away from him and headed for the barn where she helped Isaac bridle the horses. After the horses were ready to pull the buckboard, she pulled herself up to the seat and placed her rifle by her feet.
When Isaac joined her, she cleared her throat. “You can have the coyote.”
“Upset because you didn’t get that buck?” he teased.
With a wry grin, she shrugged. “Well, I would have caught that one if I had aimed a little more to the right, but a coyote’s not too bad. It certainly beats rabbits. Of course, you can’t tell Wiley I said that.”
He released the brake and waved to Wiley and Clayton.
She did as well and turned to him. “How come you don’t eat over at Wiley’s since you’re right here?”
Isaac gave a slight grimace as he urged the horses forward. “I know this is going to sound bad, but I prefer the way my ma cooks.”
Emily couldn’t blame him for that. His mother was one of the best cooks around. “I suppose your ideal woman is someone who can cook, am I right?”
“It wouldn’t hurt.”
She wondered if Eva was any good at cooking. Probably. Eva strived to be perfect. Perfect manners. And she was perfectly dressed with hair that was always held in place in that horrid bun she insisted on wearing all the time, perfectly educated in the finer subjects like art and literature, perfectly composed in all situations… That’s what bothered her so much about Eva. Eva had no flaws, except if one counted her average looks a flaw. But beauty had its drawbacks, too. Men tended to treat Emily like she wasn’t very smart simply because they couldn’t get past her good looks. That was the only advantage Emily had over Eva: her beauty. But she doubted it’d be enough for Isaac. She tapped her foot on the wood board and wondered if she cooked well enough to make a man like Isaac happy.
Isaac directed the horses off of Wiley’s property and onto the road that headed for town. “Look, I wouldn’t feel right sending you back without making sure you had something to eat. You’re a stranger in these parts, and I bet you haven’t had a good, home-cooked meal in a long time.”
“I manage,” she vaguely replied. Who knew what single men living on their own ate?
“Well, I’d feel better if I took you home on a full stomach, especially if you really don’t want to keep the coyote. Consider it payment for the animal.”
Sighing, she agreed. She couldn’t say no to Isaac. Even if the day had been a disaster, she couldn’t bring herself to insist he take her back to town when he looked at her with those intense blue eyes and heartbreaking smile. How she was supposed to go on with her life and marry someone else, she didn’t know. She suspected she might spend her entire life pining for him because his father, for whatever reason, decided he didn’t like her. But his father sure did like Eva. Emily recalled how he laughed and talked to Eva when he was at the schoolhouse. What did Eva do right and I do wrong? Realizing her eyes were filling with tears, she quickly wiped them away.
“What’s wrong?” Isaac asked.
“Nothing.” She pressed her finger under her nose and added, “I feel like I’m going to sneeze. My eyes water up when that happens.”
“Same thing happens to me. It’s annoying, isn’t it?”
“You have no idea,” she softly replied.
He really had no idea how annoying the whole situation was. Too bad she hadn’t been born in the Connealy family. As soon as she thought it, she chastised herself. There was nothing—absolutely nothing—wrong with being a Craftsman. Her father was a good man, and his second wife treated her as if she was her real daughter. Even if her siblings, especially Elizabeth, had a tendency to get on her nerves from time to time, she was still glad they were her brothers and sister.
It didn’t take long for them to reach his family’s farm. Taking a deep breath, she straightened her shoulders and decided that even if Isaac’s father didn’t like Emily, he might like Elmer. And if someone in Isaac’s family recognized her and revealed her identity, she’d deal with whatever consequences that would bring when it happened.
When he pulled up to the barn, Jacob came running out of the house. “Who’d you bring, Isaac?” he called out as he hurried over to them.
“Get back in the house,” Isaac told his younger brother. “It’s too cold for you to be out here without a coat.”
“Aw, come on. I just want to know who you brought over.” Jacob skirted around the horses and went over to Emily’s side. “I’m Jacob. Who are you?”
Emily grinned and tipped her hat. “Name’s Elmer.” She climbed down from the buckboard and extended her hand to him, thinking he might enjoy being treated like an adult, even if it was from a complete stranger. “Nice to meet you.”
His eyes lighting up, Jacob shook her hand. “Nice to meet you, too, Elmer.”
Isaac set the brake and motioned to the house. “Get back inside before you get sick. Rose just got well. The last thing we need is for you to catch a cold and get her sick again.”
Jacob rolled his eyes but headed back to the house, yelling out for his ma as he did.
“He’s cute,” Emily said, quickly wondering if that was wise since she couldn’t recall any of her pa’s farmhands saying the word cute.
Isaac grimaced. “He doesn’t know how to mind his own business.”
“Maybe, but he’s only a kid. You can’t blame him for wanting to know what’s going on.”
As she followed him to the back of the buckboard, he said, “It’s because of his big mouth I’m having trouble at school.”
She didn’t recall him getting in trouble at the schoolhouse. There was no way Eva would criticize him for anything, not with the way she adored him. Curious, she reached for the coyote while he grabbed the other animals. “What do you mean he’s getting you in trouble?”
Sighing, Isaac glanced around before lowering his voice. “What I mean is that he says things here and there to the teacher to make her think I enjoyed it when she was over here for supper last week.”
Her eyes growing wide, she asked, “Really? What does he say?”
“It’s little things that had to do with what she was talking about.” He shrugged. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be telling you this.”
“What? No! I want to know.” If this was going to confirm that he didn’t want to be with Eva, then she definitely wanted to know! When he furrowed his eyebrows, she forced out a, “Unless you don’t want to say anything. It’s your life.”
After a moment, he said, “It grates on my nerves. He doesn’t know when to shut up, you know? My pa plans to gather my uncles to help me build a house after the planting season, and Jacob keeps telling the teacher about it, as if I’m going to marry her and take her out there to live with me.”
“Oh.” Emily briefly recalled Jacob teasing Isaac about a house. “He does this right in the schoolhouse?”
“His not-so-subtle hints, if that’s what you want to call them, usually happen before or after school is in session.”
That explained why she missed it. She walke
d with Isaac to the barn, carrying the coyote in her arms. “So when you said no while we were all talking during the hunt, you meant the teacher?”
“More or less. I didn’t feel like going into it, especially in front of Clayton. He works at the paper with her father. His father also works there.”
Wow. Emily was surprised how everything seemed to connect together. “It’s a small world.”
“Exactly. Sometimes it’s too small.” He dumped the animals on the table in the corner of the barn, so she did the same. “Well, let’s clean up and then get something to eat. You haven’t lived until you tasted my ma’s apple pie. She was making some this morning when I left. With any luck, some slices will be left over.”
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