by Jillian Hart
Giving no indication he did, he simply shook his head before clearing his throat. "Most women don't think quality when they see a cowboy. I like you, Jada, more than ever, and I thank you for the way you treated my boys today. I didn't mean for them to come along on our supper out, but that was generous of you to accept them. I can still order them to stay home, you know, if you want the option of being without them. It might be safer."
17
"Safer?" Amusement warmed her soft, sweet alto making him lean into her, just melting a little more at heart.
He cleared his throat again, but his words still came out gruff. "There are food fights, random punches and once a frog, who knows where it came from (Aiden's shirt pocket), hopped off the chair and onto the neighboring table's diner's skirt. That resulted in a scream which launched the frog into the mashed potatoes and green beans on her plate. The frog croaked in protest, or perhaps he was just complimenting the food, and if the waiter hadn't scooped him up, gently dabbed him off with a cloth napkin before handing him back to my boys, we would have lost the pet I knew nothing about. Right now, he's enjoying life in the pond out back, but you can just never tell when something like that will happen again. Next time it could be a lizard."
"It's a chance I'll have to take."
"Well, good, glad that's settled and that you know what you are getting into." His chest cinched so tightly with deep affection for her that every word failed him. He pulled the horse to a stop and just sat there, frozen in place staring at her. How had he fallen so fast for her? So hard? It was terrifying and heartening to know that somehow life must have something good still in store for him.
Then she smiled, and he felt it deep in his heart, how bright he was head to toe and every inch in between. Every one. That sexual kick was reassurance he'd found the right one, and, man, he wanted her, and how he did.
"Oh! We're in the alley behind the shop." Surprised, she scooted forward on the seat. "I hadn't realized it, but the ride is over. And so is our time together. Thank you for thinking of me, Frisco, and for this. Thank you."
"Just doing things for you and showing you the way I intend to go." He hopped down and held out his hand to her. "What do you think?"
"That I should do the same." Her fingers curled around his and held on lightly, when she wanted to hold on tightly, and scooted off the end of the seat. "Is there anything I can bring for Friday's supper?"
"Just you, only you." Frisco's eyes twinkled at her, his palm sizzling hot as he helped her down. "You might be demeaning yourself and lowering your reputation by agreeing to have me beau you to supper, but maybe the food will be worth it. I'll want you to order the best steak in the house. It's all I've got to help raise your opinion of me because once you've dined with my boys, that will be it for me. The utter downfall. You'll even let a derelict prospector with no prospects be your beau before me."
"That's a risk you'll have to take."
"I knew you were going to say that."
They laughed together and it was a wonderful feeling, as if somehow they'd gotten closer when he hadn't moved one single step closer. He released her hand, leaving the scorching, sensually hot print of his palm against hers, and she couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, feeling full up with flickering hot sweetness that was more, much more, holding within it a strong desire for the man, to be held by him.
What would it be like to have the right to love him fully, the way a wife loved a husband? Heat scorched her cheeks and rocked through her pelvis, making her suddenly aware of where he was made to go, and where her body might cradle him, snug and tight, if, just if. What if this really could work out? What if he really would want her?
Oh, how would her heart take it if he decided no and changed his mind? Her heart cringed, withering. Yes, she would not be able to take it. She stared down at the shadowed tips of her boots, barely visible beneath her trouser hem, and then realized he'd still wanted to take her out, had gone to the trouble of reassuring her, even though he'd seen her in men's clothing, even when he'd seen her not looking as feminine and as coiffed as he was used to.
She gasped, unable to speak, feeling way too much. Why did the man have the power to begin to unfurl her like a flower bud, closed up tight to a cold hard storm? Why did she see him not only with her eyes, but with her heart? She had no answers, she did not know, but she liked him way too much to keep her inexperienced heart safe.
"Have a good safe night." He opened the door for her the instant she'd unlocked it in his usual, confident, easy-going manner. "I hope your evening was successful and that you panned a lot of gold dust."
"What? How would you know that? Ladies don't prospect for gold. Why, that would ruin my reputation entirely. I would never want that to happen." She froze in the doorway, reluctant to move a muscle, unsure and surprised that he'd guessed what she'd been up to at Pa's claim. "Perhaps selling baked goods and attempting to sew outfits for women in a town with about a dozen other women is not the most economically smart business to start up, but this has helped only a tiny bit."
"I don't know much about the business of gold panning," he winked, making her wonder if he really did or, as a cowboy he had no interest in it whatsoever. "But I do know that the creeks here don't have much dust at all in them, but if you keep at it, you never know what you will find."
"You aren't scolding me and telling me to stop?"
"Why would I? You'll have to tell me about it one day. Until then," his eyes twinkled, full of mirth and kindness and, shockingly, approval. "Good night, beautiful lady."
"Thank you, Frisco." She gulped, stumbling backward a few paces because his caring gaze held hers for a long instant, and she felt the adoration and warmth of attraction for him rise up from her soul.
Okay, she was definitely in trouble, trouble of the best kind, and there was no going back. She was already tumbling, really falling for the man. The door clicked shut, leaving her alone in the quiet kitchen, where only one lamp tossed golden-amber light across the wiped clean countertops, all spotless and ready for tomorrow's baking.
Why, what a phenomenal evening! And here she'd thought she would be lonely and having to do more work in that cold creek, working to find a pinch or two of dust after long, long hours of work, and it had turned out better. Wasn't that a stroke of good luck?
And what about Frisco? He really was attempting to become her beau! Her beau! How exciting it was to consider the possibility of being with him again.
Her feet didn't seem to touch the wood floor as she headed through the kitchen. The entire place felt like a palace tonight. She'd never felt a sweeter night or had a sweeter moment in her life.
"Jada, is that you? You startled me." A pleasant tenor interrupted her thoughts as Bernard Stroud from across the alley whipped off his hat politely. "I didn't know anyone was in the kitchen. I thought you were out with Stella for the night or I would have come over to stay a bit longer. How are you faring?"
"I'm quite well, thank you, and it's always good to see a fellow shopkeeper in our store." She shrugged one shoulder, wishing she'd not been caught in her man's clothing. "Please excuse the way I look. Pa's tent is quite prone to dust and dirt blowing in through the flap doorway and so I could not very well wear my nice dresses to his place, now can I?"
"Why, I would never presume to judge or to gossip, truly. I rather admire what I think you're doing out at your father's claim."
"Y-you do? What do you mean?"
"Doing those little kind things to fuss over and take care of your poor old father. Who could blame you? He's a kind sort, even if he is rather like my pa. I can never motivate him to do a full day's work, but then, I suspect your father, as does mine, has heartbreaks of his own he's never been able to talk about."
"I cannot say you're wrong, but I do not fuss enough over him. I had to admit I left Stella there to watch over him. I didn't know you had a father like ours."
"I don't tend to burden folks with my family stories, only unless the subject comes up. It's painful whe
n you know you have a parent who hurts, who can't be a parent, and if they are brutal and criminal, then the choice is easy. You know they are not worth it and they wind up in prison. But when they are just lost, it is a different road to walk. I know my way of dealing with it is to work as hard as I can, no vacations, no easier path by hiring more help in the store, to pay my brother's widow who does such a good job taking care of his house, cooking for him and looking after him. I built a little cottage for her and their son in the backyard and so it works." He gave a shrug. "Mindy is upstairs fetching some tea for me. The mercantile is closed and my grandfather didn't realize it."
"I'm glad you knocked on our door for help. Oh, I think I hear Mindy now." She tilted her head, listening to the tap, tap, tap of her sister's quick feet descending the stairs, as if in a hurry not to leave the well-educated bachelor waiting. Not to mention, she was alone with him. A woman's reputation was a fragile thing.
"Whew, I hurried as fast as I could!" Mindy landed with a hop and a swirl of her pretty pink skirts. Her eyes lit up, full of surprise and an oh! no! look. "Jada! So glad you're home. Run upstairs quick, and Bernard, you're not to notice that she had to swap her skirt for one that looks very much like trousers, but aren't."
"I didn't see a thing, dear lady," Bernard assured them as Jada slipped around her sister and padded up the stairs. His voice trailed up behind her. "I can't thank you enough for this. I'll bring you back new from the store when their tea shipment comes in, I swear it. My grandfather thanks you from the bottom of his heart. An evening just isn't as good without tea to warm it."
Not staying to hear Mindy's answer, Jada breezed into the parlor where the potbelly stove puffed out meager heat, but it felt wonderful warmth and she instantly sighed, relaxed and shrugged out of her coat in front of it, savoring the heat wafting over her.
Why, she hadn't even realized how cold she was. She hadn't even noticed! That's how Frisco affected her. Well, she wasn't going to be like a silly school girl about it, losing all practical sight of life, letting herself get all full up of hope and bedazzled by dreams.
But some of that hope and dazzling dreams clung to her as she draped her coat over the arm of the sofa and held out her cold hands, still a little numb from the icy creek's water, toward the stove. Aw, heat, she thought, sighing blissfully. She breathed in the hot air, let it chase away every bit of cold inside her and the next thing she knew her brain was working again, full of thoughts, just thinking away.
Or, maybe it was dreaming.
One day maybe she would gaze down at her hand and see a wedding ring on her left fourth finger. Her heart gave a little startle with that bright hope. There she went, getting carried away and right after she'd vowed to be sensible about it. Frisco had only just asked her to supper. Just! And here she was, simply dreaming too much!
Even if it was a very nice dream. It was only that, a dream. As for reality, she would have to wait and see. But she thought of Frisco and smiled.
"My, aren't you the popular one?" Mindy swept into the room.
"Me? Popular?" Hardly. Yep, that was a laugh, but she liked that Mindy was so happy for her. She always knew how to put a kind spin on things. "I'm nothing but a wallflower and a spinster past her bloom, everyone knows that, but I am happy to be so. I'm the ugly sister, and I'm so happy to say that my two sisters are the most beautiful."
"Ooh! Don't you attempt to distract me by wild and untrue flattery! I used to fall for it, you know, and now, I'm grown up enough to recognize this for what it is. The absolute awesome behavior of a sister who loves us more than herself. Well, I can do that too, you know. I can say I'm an ugly duck next to your beauty, Jada."
"Just when I thought you couldn't get anymore wonderful, there you are, even more amazing than before. You're a good little sister, Mindy. But Bernard didn't come to see me." She chuckled.
"It doesn't seem that way to me." She lifted both hands in a helpless gesture. "I just thought he was a little smitten, but I'm not you. I don't have more than one man noticing me, on a string."
"What? What are you talking about? Now you are teasing me. Can you imagine me, with more than one beau? I'm still reeling from what Frisco asked me earlier this evening."
"Oh, no! Frisco? Did he see you wearing pants? To be honest, I'd better try to make you feel better with wild and outrageous flattery because he just might stop being interested in you." Her hands flew to her face. "I can't believe I said that. Maybe I can bribe him with baked goods, if you would like me to try and save things."
"I love the bribe attempt with baked goods, but let's face it. He still drove me home tonight even if he noticed the trousers and man's boots. He also invited me out to supper with him despite my inappropriate attire."
"What? Supper? Really?" Mindy hopped, skipped and squealed. "And here I thought all hope was lost, that you'd missed every chance with him. But he asked you out!"
"I'm assuming he'll expect me to wear a dress, but I suppose you never know what the future holds."
"Too true." Mindy wiggled her eyebrows up and down. "He surely must be smitten. He drove you home, didn't he?"
"Yeah, he was waiting at the road when I was walking down the path from Pa's tent. He had to be waiting there for awhile watching for me, and it's cold out there tonight."
"He really must mean it, Jada. He has to be truly serious about you."
"It's early, too early to tell how this will work out, but my heart's open." She turned around to warm her backside at the stove, blushing and glad that the red on her face could be attributed to the heated air from the stove and not from her embarrassment of admitting that she truly desired the man.
"I don't want you imagining doom." Mindy plopped down on the far end of the sofa cushion. "Just concentrate on today, stay in the moment and enjoy every moment of such a handsome, eligible man courting you."
"I'm starting to think that you might be right. I'll give it a try." Warm to the bone marrow, she swept over to the couch and plopped down not too far from her sister, tossed her a happy grin and reached for her knitting basket. She had a project to work on and love blooming in her heart.
Now, everything hinged on Friday's supper. What if it went well, what if everything went right? With hope building, she counted her stitches and began to knit. She couldn't wait to find out.
* * *
Friday dawned soft and sweet and the brightness of it felt like a sign of good fortune. Jada looked up from kneading bread dough at the bread board on the counter in the warm and toasty, fragrant kitchen and shivered when the cold air from the doorway blew over her.
"Brr, Mindy!" she protested, laughing over her shoulder as her littlest sister bounded back into the building, shouldered the door closed and hopped over in front of the cookstove.
"It's cold as February out there, I swear it! I'm nothing but a snowman, or would it be snow woman?"
"Whatever you do, don't say it's a bad sign for tonight. Nothing can go wrong," she said, giving the warm dough a push with the heel of her palm, giving it a scoot on the floured board. "My whole heart is hinging on tonight."
"Then I won't point out what I found on the back step." Mindy held out her hand, revealing a small jewelry box, grinning as brazenly as the beams of summer sunshine streaming through the window. "Is this a good sign or what?"
"Really a great one," Stella agreed, full of mischief as she ignored the mixing bowl in front of her. "I bet that's from that handsome cowboy."
"That's what I say, too." Mindy slipped the remarkably small box, just right for a trinket, on the counter. "Sorry. I already read the notecard. It says, 'to Jada, with great admiration.'"
"Oh, this Frisco is a good man." Stella set down the wooden spoon, full of excitement. "He's doing this just right. I have such great expectations."
"Don't you get me doing that. I don't dare look ahead. I have no expectations here, honestly, my heart can't take it." Jada reached for the measuring cup and shook out flour over the board. "You know this, so keep
your wonderful, perfect hopes to yourself. I do better if I have no expectations at all."
"Exactly! That's what I'll do now," Stella said. "Mindy, don't you start being positive and optimistic around our big sister, or I'll have to beat you with my wooden spoon."
"It won't be the first time," Mindy teased with a wink. "The neighbors are still wondering if the joke you made about hitting me with your spoon was the real thing or not. Then when I walked into the door when I didn't realize the wind had blown it partly closed instead of open and bruised my cheekbone, Bernard's grandfather glared at you. You've gotten the stink eye from him ever since."
"It's true, I've seen it!" Jada laughed. She felt so light, as bright as the sunshine. Even in cold Montana Territory, summer was in the air, and it was in her heart, too.
"Open it, Jada!" Stella demanded, reaching for a measuring spoon. "I can't take the wait anymore. I've just got to see what he bought you. Oh, this is so fun. All I could do to keep from thinking about it last night when I was taking care of Pa. I left some poultices for his chest to heat up and use, and he should be fine. As it turned out, it was a boon that I wasn't walking home with you. Or Frisco would have had to offer me a ride too, the gentleman he is, and you would never have gotten to be alone with him."
"Don't waggle your eyebrows like that!" Jada rolled her eyes, laughing. "Why it is that I can't keep anything private, not one thing? Not from the two of you, anyway."
"What's the use of you having sisters, if we can't stick our noses in your business and make it ours?" Mindy shook her head. "Or do you want me to open it? I may already have, I have to confess. The box lid just pops right off. It's easy to take a peek."
"Did you really?" Stella clapped with delight. "Judging by that smile, he did really good, didn't he?"
"I'll say!" Mindy nodded enthusiastically.
Jada rolled her eyes. What happened to a woman's privacy? What happened to trying to keep this one-moment-at-a-time, to take it as it came? If she listened to her sisters, she'd have her heart broken by six o'clock suppertime. "Honestly, you two. You need to get beaus of your own and leave my love life alone. Poor Frisco doesn't deserve this. If he had any common sense," she teased while she lifted off the jewelry box's lid, "he'd never come this way again, never darken our door, oh! Look at what he gave me!"
