скачать книгу бесплатно
Taken off guard, Ellie pulled in a steadying breath before replying. “M-Maddie at the café says you’ve been telling everyone that I’m engaged to Lawson.”
“Yes?”
“But I’m not!”
Mrs. Greene sniffed disdainfully. “Well, of course you are. I saw him get down on his knee and propose. It’s pure nonsense keeping the engagement hidden when you know both families will approve. Why should I keep your secret for you?”
“It isn’t a secret! I mean, it isn’t an engagement!” Ellie shook her head to clear her confusion. “Lawson was just teasing me—he proposed as a joke. As soon as he was done, I punched him on the shoulder and then we both had a good laugh about it. That was it! Or it should have been, except that you had to go and tell everyone. Now the whole town has gotten the wrong idea.”
“Have they?” Mrs. Greene tilted her head. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m sure! I thought it was obvious we were joking and that you were just telling people it was real as a prank. You know, like the ones I used to pull.” She probably shouldn’t have reminded Mrs. Greene about the pranks. The woman’s face turned a little red so Ellie rushed on. “I just thought that if we talked—if I apologized for the way I used to behave—maybe you could tell people that you were mistaken.”
“Hmm.” There was a long pause as Mrs. Greene pondered the matter. “No.”
Ellie was so stunned that it took her a minute before she could speak. “No?”
“I don’t believe I will.” Mrs. Greene’s laugh was tinged with pity. “Did you really think a half-sincere apology would fix everything? Oh, no. I think it’s high time someone gave you a taste of your own medicine.”
“What medicine? I don’t spread false stories about other people.”
“No. You prefer true ones,” Mrs. Greene said before she paled slightly then hurried on. “Never mind, Ellie. I accept your apology but I doubt anything I say will stop this train now that it’s on the tracks. Everyone will begin meddling in your life just as you’ve always meddled in theirs. We’ll see how you like it.”
Ellie surveyed the woman carefully then shook her head slowly. “That isn’t what you meant about getting a taste of my own medicine. What true story do you think I spread?”
“I really must go.”
Ellie stopped the woman with a quick hand on her arm. “No, Mrs. Greene. I think you’d better stay and tell me what this is all about. I’ve always sensed you didn’t like me. I’d like to know why.”
Mrs. Greene stared at her. “You really don’t remember?”
She shook her head. “Should I?”
Ire momentarily rose in the woman’s eyes. She gave a tight nod then sat down on the bench. “I daresay you should. I certainly do.”
Ellie waited as Mrs. Greene gathered her thoughts. Finally, the woman met her gaze. “I used to be good friends with your mother. You remember that, at least.”
“Vaguely.” She took the seat at the far side of the bench. “I was only eight when they died.”
“I know,” Mrs. Greene said quietly. “Once I went to visit your mother. You were home from school because you weren’t feeling well. You’d fallen asleep on the settee as your mother and I talked, so I felt it was all right if I shared a confidence. Your mother was so sweet. She even prayed that I would accept the fact that God’s love had covered my sins. That was the end of it, or so I thought.
“The next day my daughter came home crying.” Mrs. Greene surveyed her scathingly. “You hadn’t been asleep after all. You’d heard every word and repeated it to your friends at school. The whole town knew in a matter of hours.”
Ellie frowned in confusion. “Knew what?”
Mrs. Greene’s words were quiet, steady, yet bore a trace of shame. “I bore my daughter out of wedlock.”
Ellie gasped—not at Mrs. Greene’s words but at what that meant about her. “You mean, I told everyone that?”
“You certainly did.”
“Oh, no. I’m so sorry!”
The woman fiddled with her reticule. “Your parents came to me a few days later and apologized. They said you repeated the story without knowing what it meant. Unfortunately, the rest of the town did.”
“My parents...” she murmured as she blinked away a vague semblance of a memory. It returned with vengeance. She remembered overhearing the conversation, telling the older girls and feeling so important when they gasped. She also recalled the disappointment on her parents’ faces when she’d admitted it. The disappointment in their voices...
That vague feeling of guilt overcame her with startling intensity. Quickly, she pushed it away—blocked those memories from her thoughts. She didn’t want to examine them. She didn’t want to remember. She rose abruptly from the bench to look down at Mrs. Greene. “Don’t tell me any more. I understand. I’m sorry. I—I don’t want to talk about this ever again.”
Odd, how Mrs. Greene didn’t seem startled by her reaction. She just nodded slowly. As if she knew something Ellie didn’t.
“Everyone has something to be ashamed of, Ellie,” Mrs. Greene said quietly. “You exposed my secret and humiliated me and my family in front of the whole town. But you’re not innocent, either. The things you’ve done have brought down terrible consequences on your family, too.”
Ellie stared at the woman. What terrible consequences? What had she done that caused so much harm? Could it be possible that after all these years of suppressing it, that strange sense of guilt actually meant something? Was it something Mrs. Greene—and Mrs. Greene only—was somehow intimately aware of? It must have to do with her parents...with their disappointment in her. She swallowed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Perhaps not.” The woman smiled ruefully. “Perhaps it’s just as well you don’t. We won’t speak of this again. I have to go.”
She watched Mrs. Greene walk away then sank onto the bench. She felt so guilty—almost dirty. She wasn’t sure how long she sat there but she slowly became aware of the man standing before her. She shook the clouds from her head to meet the stranger’s blue eyes. “I’m sorry. What did you say?”
“I said I’m new here. I just got off the train, in fact. I’m looking for the boardinghouse.”
“The boardinghouse—” That’s as far as she got before tears began to run down her cheeks.
A look of panic crossed the young man’s face before he sat beside her and handed her a handkerchief. “There, now. If it’s such a horrible place, I won’t go anywhere near it.”
She gave a watery laugh. “I’m sorry. The boardinghouse is a wonderful place. I just had an unsettling conversation, that’s all. You mustn’t mind me.”
“Ellie, I’ve been looking all over for you.”
She jumped up to greet Lawson. “I’m sorry for leaving you like that. I just had to speak to Mrs. Greene.”
He eyed the handkerchief in her hand. “I’m guessing that didn’t go well.”
“She said some awful things. She also said that she thought the story was true when she shared it—but even now that she knows it isn’t, she’ll do nothing to stop it from spreading. I was right. She wants to get back at me for...everything.”
“Well, let her have her fun.” He caught her arms to give them a supportive squeeze. “We won’t let it bother us.”
A weak smile was all she could offer in return. After all, he wasn’t the one with an ominous secret lurking somewhere in a memory. A throat cleared behind them. She followed Lawson’s gaze when it traveled past her to the man standing patiently by the bench. “Oh, this man saw that I was upset and tried to cheer me up. I’d introduce y’all but I don’t think I caught your name. I’m Ellie O’Brien and this is Lawson Williams.”
The stranger’s smile slipped into what almost seemed like alarm for an instant before he held out his hand to Lawson. “I’m glad to meet you both. I’m Ethan Larue. I’m sure y’all have a lot to discuss so I think I’d better get going.”
Ellie managed to give him directions to the boardinghouse and he was soon on his way. “I’m sorry I was angry earlier.”
He shrugged. “That’s all right. I was angry, too—at the town, I mean. I hope they didn’t offend you too badly.”
“Offend me?” she asked with disbelief. “Why would I be offended? You’re a wonderful person, Lawson. You’re intelligent and funny and...”
His lips titled into that slow grin of his and he held up a hand to stop her. “I meant I hope they didn’t offend you by suggesting you needed help finding a match—not that you may have been offended to be matched with me.”
“Oh,” she breathed, feeling her cheeks begin to warm. Why was it that she couldn’t even have a simple conversation without making some silly mistake?
He eyed her. “It’s kind of a crazy idea they have, isn’t it?”
“Uh-huh,” she muttered, in an effort to save face. “Plain crazy. That’s what it is.”
Lord, I just have the knack of getting myself into uncomfortable situations whether verbally or otherwise. It’s just one of my many faults, I know, but if there’s any way You can help me fix that I’d be forever grateful. She bit her lip. As for the town’s matchmaking—well, she’d much rather focus on that than her altercation with Mrs. Greene and its mysterious implications.
* * *
Lawson ignored the sweat mottling his brow as he pounded another wooden stake into the ground. Nathan followed slowly behind him, digging the holes the new fence posts would soon go in. “We’ve got company.”
He glanced up as a rider approached. It took him a moment to realize the rider was Chris Johansen. The distance between them dissipated, allowing Lawson to see him more clearly. The man’s hair was slicked back and it was also obvious that he had taken special care with his clothing. However, it was the bouquet of wildflowers that gave away the true nature of the man’s mission.
“It looks like you have some competition,” Nathan teased.
Nathan and Sean had gotten a kick out of the town’s decision to hitch him to Ellie, and his supposed “courtship” had been a running joke ever since. Sean laughed so hard that Ellie had been put out with him for the entire week. It was a little disheartening how against the whole thing she actually was. Not that he’d planned to do anything about the attraction that had started stirring in his chest during Founders’ Day. He knew where stirrings like that eventually led—to a little white chapel and tiny booties.
Whether he’d really make a good husband and father was anybody’s guess. He’d been willing to try with Lorelei but when she’d walked out on their wedding, he’d started to wonder if maybe God’s will was involved in keeping him single. The past ten years of his life had been wonderful but he’d been branded by the first fourteen, and that scar wasn’t going to go away. Even if he could somehow trust himself not to emulate his memories, he wasn’t sure he would be enough to make a woman stay. His first mother had abandoned him. Lorelei had literally run from him. Despite Lettie’s affection, he kept wondering when she’d reach her limit and decide she didn’t want him. He’d spent a year away from home and she hadn’t forgotten him. It was practically unfathomable.
Meanwhile, Lawson and Ellie had figured out the best way to avoid the town’s tricks was to simply avoid the town itself. So far, so good, but now it seemed the town had come to them and not at all in the way they’d expected. Chris pulled his horse to a stop. Lawson drove the stake into the ground with one last swing then stood to greet the man since he was closest. “Hello, Chris.”
Chris dismounted then turned to greet Lawson with a wary look. “Hello, Lawson. I’d like to see Nathan in private, if you don’t mind.”
Lawson nodded then turned to Nathan for direction. “Why don’t you go get Ellie and tell her to meet us in the house?” Nathan suggested.
“Yes, sir.”
“Thanks, Lawson.”
Lawson waved off Nathan’s thanks then made the long walk to the barn in search of Ellie. He found her near the back in the stall with a mare that was due to foal in the next few weeks. Her hands were carefully examining the mare’s stomach. She looked up when he neared and he propped his boot on the stall’s gate. “You have a visitor.”
“I do?” She tilted her head curiously. “Who is it?”
“Christian Johansen,” he said, carefully pronouncing each syllable.
“Why didn’t he just come inside?” She gave the mare one last pat then climbed the few rungs of the gate until she was able to sit on top of it. She lifted her legs over the gate then pushed herself around to face him.
He tilted back his Stetson to look up at her. “It isn’t that kind of a visit.”
She braced her palms against the wooden railing beneath her. “What kind of visit is it, then?”
“Why don’t you just open the gate and walk out?” he asked when she began to lean forward as if ready to jump down.
His question made her hesitate long enough to set her off balance. Her hands began to slip from the railing. He caught her around the waist and carefully lowered her down to keep her from tumbling the rest of the way. She found her footing then leaned back, accidentally trapping his hands between her waist and the stall gate behind her. Her green eyes sparkled as she looked up at him. “That wouldn’t be nearly as exciting.”
“Probably not,” he admitted as he tried to ignore the way his heartbeat increased.
“What kind of visit wouldn’t let Chris come to the barn?”
“A courting kind of visit.” Grateful for the reminder, he shifted her weight forward just long enough to reclaim his hands, then took a large step back. Ellie looked positively perturbed.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
“Nope. He’s talking with Nathan and is going to meet you in the house. You should clean yourself up. You have a dirt smudge on your cheek.” He gestured to the affected area. She lifted her shoulder and wiped her cheek on her shirt. That only left more residue. He grinned. “There’s your problem.”
He lifted her chin to the side then carefully wiped the smudges from her cheek with his handkerchief. He stuffed the handkerchief back in his pocket, released her chin and stepped back. “That’s better. Now you’d better get in there.”
Her green eyes sought his for a long moment before she smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Ellie and Kate disappeared into the parlor to whisper together. Lawson figured he might as well stick around and get a drink of water before he headed back into the heat. He had just poured himself a cup when Nathan and Kate’s oldest child, Timothy, burst through the back door. “I was digging up potatoes. That makes a man awfully thirsty.”
“It sure does, partner.” Lawson handed him the cup and poured himself another. “Slug that down. I bet it will help.”
“Thanks.” The dark-haired boy showed his gap-toothed grin and did just that.
The front door opened and Lawson heard Nathan and Chris enter. Chris went immediately into the parlor while Nathan joined them in the kitchen. “Looks like the men are taking over the kitchen. Kate’s going to stay in the room with them.”
“Chris, if you came about that silly list, you should know that I’m not going to talk about it anymore.”
Lawson’s eyebrows rose at the faint but clear sound of Ellie’s voice, then he stared into the hall that separated the kitchen from the parlor. He looked at Nathan. The man shrugged. “There are thin walls in the old part of the house.”
Lawson grinned. “No kidding.”
Timothy frowned. “Who was that man you were walking with?”
“I didn’t come here for the list, Ellie. I came here for you.”
“That was Chris.”
Ellie’s voice sounded in response but Lawson couldn’t hear what she said because Timothy started talking. “That didn’t look like Chris. That looked like some kind of fancy man all gussied up.”
Lawson laughed. Nathan shook his head. “Chris got all gussied up because he came to court Ellie.”
Timothy turned to Lawson. “I thought you were courting her. At least, that’s what the other kids say at school.”
“Those were just rumors,” Lawson said. “Don’t believe them. You’d know for sure if I was courting your aunt.”
“How?”
“You’d see me doing it, kiddo.”
“I can’t hear—” Nathan complained before he could catch himself. He turned to Timothy. “How about a piece of your ma’s cake? You can have some if you’re very quiet.”
Lawson shook his head. “Shameless.”
“Ellie, I’ve wanted to court you for a year now.”
“Why didn’t you?”
