Cassandra Austin (6 page)

Until now she hadn’t regretted the lack of funds that prevented her from buying any of the new dresses; they looked immensely uncomfortable. But today she wondered if Arlen would be embarrassed by her appearance. She tried to shrug off her unease. It was still a lovely dress, quite serviceable, and Arlen knew her situation.

She gathered up the basin of used wash water and left the room. There was no one in either the living room or dining room when she came down the stairs. The table was bare, and she wondered if she had missed breakfast. It seemed quite early, but she had heard that country folk rose before dawn.

She went into the kitchen and found Martha kneading bread. The woman looked up from her work and seemed flustered to find their guest in the kitchen again. She came forward, wiping her floured hands on her apron. “Miss Sterling. I’m so sorry. I would have sent Jake after that.”

“That’s quite all right,” Lynnette said. “I was coming down anyway. Have I missed breakfast?”

Martha carried the basin to a table near a screen door. She was startled to discover Lynnette had followed her. “I can fix you whatever you would like if you care to wait in the dining room. I could bring it up to your bedroom if you prefer.”

Lynnette stood for a moment before the screen door,
letting the cool breeze touch her. It was just a little too cold to eat on the balcony. “Am I the last?” she asked.

“Emily and Arlen are still asleep.”

Lynnette walked toward the counter where Martha’s dough sat, hoping she would return to her work. “I could wait and eat with them,” she suggested.

“Neither will want breakfast, I’m sure. And Emily might not be down for hours.”

“Please,” Lynnette said, indicating the dough. “If you don’t mind, I’ll fix myself an egg and toast some bread.”

“I can do that for you,” Martha said, hurrying toward the stove.

She had the skillet on the stove and was greasing it when Lynnette caught up with her. “I’m used to fixing my own breakfast, and my father’s. I really don’t mind. In fact, I’d enjoy it.” When Martha hesitated, Lynnette added, “If you don’t mind someone in your kitchen.”

“It’s not my kitchen,” Martha said, stepping away from the stove. She helped Lynnette find what she would need and set out a tray with dishes and finally, when the egg was nearly cooked, returned to her dough.

Lynnette glanced at Martha’s back as she checked on the toast She hadn’t meant to force her way into Martha’s kitchen. In her effort to avoid being an extra burden she had made herself a nuisance instead. At the earliest possible moment she filled the tray and left the kitchen.

The dining room table looked too large for her
alone, and she walked through to the living room. Finding an end table near the glass doors, she set her tray down and moved a chair into position.

What would Arlen want to do today, she wondered as she sat down. She hoped he would want to take her riding. Their surroundings were so beautiful, it seemed like a perfect way to spend the day. It couldn’t be too hard to learn to ride.

She bit into the toast and frowned. She had nothing appropriate to wear riding. Perhaps she could borrow something from Emily. Though the girl was shorter they weren’t so very different in size.

She was thus deep in thought when she heard heavy steps on the stairs. She turned her smile toward them, expecting to see Arlen. Denim jeans and a loose brown shirt descended through the gap in the ceiling. She hadn’t realized how muscular Arlen was. But as she watched, it wasn’t Arlen’s face that emerged above them. It was Christian’s.

He saw her immediately—before she had time to wipe the look of surprise off her face. She decided it was better to explain. “I thought you were up already.”

“I was,” he answered, coming toward her. His smile was friendly if a little cautious. “I had to roust your boyfriend out. Jake and I need his help repairing the hay wagon.” He hesitated a moment, then took a seat near her. “Don’t let me keep you from your breakfast.”

Lynnette took a sip of coffee and watched him self-consciously. She should ask him something, perhaps something about the ranch, or about Arlen. It seemed
awkward for them to sit watching each other. “I’m hoping to learn to ride while I’m here,” she blurted.

His dimples deepened. “You’ve come to the right place. Plenty of horses and plenty of trails.”

They stared at each other for a long moment. His eyes were incredibly blue, like the sky beyond the glass doors. It took an effort to turn her attention back to her cooling breakfast. She deliberately began eating again.

After another long moment, he spoke. “I’m sorry to take Arlen away from you this morning, but with Perry’s leg still mending, Pa’s out checking water levels in the pastures. And I need the wagon fixed before the first cutting of hay.”

“I understand. I certainly don’t need to be constantly entertained.”

He looked as if he didn’t believe her. It occurred to her then that he might not like the idea of a city girl staying here. She resolved to stay completely out of his way.
For more than one reason.
She tried to dismiss the thought. She wasn’t attracted to Arlen’s brother!

They were still gazing at each other when she heard more footsteps on the stairs. She was glad for the excuse to turn away. Arlen was dressed in what looked like discarded dress pants and shirt. He rolled up the sleeves as he descended.

“Lynnette!” He took the last steps much faster and hurrying to her side. “What are you doing up so early?”

“Flirting with me,” Christian said with a grin.

Arlen brushed a kiss across her cheek, ignoring his
brother. “There’s really no need to be up and around so early, dear. Emily won’t be up till nearly noon.”

“It’s what I’m used to, Arlen,” she said, hoping her voice didn’t show her irritation.

Christian stood, giving her a polite smile. “Come on, brother, let’s get to work.”

Arlen didn’t seem inclined to leave. “This shouldn’t take long. Make use of Father’s library. Have you seen it yet?”

“Come on, brother. Tear yourself away.”

Lynnette couldn’t help but laugh. They were both watching her, one so serious, one with a teasing grin. “Don’t worry about me. Go fix the wagon.”

“It shouldn’t take long,” Arlen repeated, as Christian began dragging him from the room.

“It’ll take all morning,” Christian called over his shoulder, waving with his free hand. They were nearly across the living room before Arlen actually turned and followed his brother.

Lynnette went back to her breakfast, hardly caring that it had grown cold. She loved the teasing relationship between the brothers and the obvious affection between Christian and Emily. It would be wonderful to be part of a family like this.

And if she married Arlen she would be. Christian and Emily would be her brother and sister. She smiled at the thought, though it didn’t seem quite real.

It wasn’t until she had finished eating and took her tray back to the kitchen that she began to consider what she would do during the morning. She could go to her room and write, but the thought held little interest for her just now.

The kitchen was empty when she arrived, and she washed her dishes quickly in the soapy water still in the sink. She headed for her room feeling she had put one over on Martha who would surely have stopped her from cleaning up after herself.

In her room, she stared at the small writing desk. She considered taking a notebook to one of the balconies but felt certain that she wouldn’t get anything done. She stepped out on the balcony and looked across at the barnyard. The small corral was empty this morning. There was no sign of the men, probably working inside the barn.

As she leaned over the railing to see more of the yard, she noticed a narrow path that disappeared around the barn. Instantly she decided to follow the path. She wanted to explore her surroundings, and she didn’t need a guide to do so.

She turned back into the room, carefully closing the doors against the invasion of the cat. She slipped out of two of the petticoats to make walking easier, changed to her sturdiest shoes and grabbed her broadest-brimmed hat. She adjusted the pin through the hat and hair as she left the room.

Christian caught a glimpse of pink through the open barn door. He couldn’t help watching the trim figure as long as she was in sight. The moment he returned to work, he realized he had been caught.

“She’s lovely, isn’t she?” Arlen’s tone said, I told you so.

“She certainly is.” Christian grinned at his brother. “You’ll forgive me for staring.”

“Of course. I rather enjoyed it. Stare all you want. Just remember I saw her first.”

Christian laughed. “You won’t mind having men stare at your wife?”

Arlen seemed surprised but not offended. “That’s part of the idea,” he said. “If they don’t remember me, they’ll at least remember her and think I have extremely good judgment. Or good luck. Either way, I’m sure to get their votes.”

Christian tried not to show his shock at his brother’s words. “She’s a campaign strategy, then?”

Arlen laughed. “She’s more than that, of course.”

They heard Jake coming, and Arlen changed the subject. “This really will take all morning, won’t it?”

“That’s what I said.” Christian placed another board between the sawhorses and measured it.

“You said we were fixing the wagon,” Arlen hollered above the sound of the saw, “not rebuilding it.”

“It’s all in how you look at things,” Christian hollered back.

Lynnette followed the path past the barn and along the side of the hill. A stone bench under a huge tree caught her eye, but she was determined to walk and turned her attention back to the path. It seemed to follow a natural terrace that narrowed to barely four feet as it turned sharply with the hillside. Around the corner, the terrace widened out again. She fell into a comfortably brisk pace.

She had walked often at home, her neighborhood being only a few blocks from the capitol building and the business district. Her trips had been fewer and
more rushed the past few years because of her reluctance to leave her father alone for too long.

Lost in thoughts about her father and her home, Lynnette paid little attention to where the path led. Abruptly it forked. She wondered fleetingly if it had branched out before and she hadn’t noticed. To her left the path wandered along the hillside much as it had before. To the right it dropped into the valley. Part of the path was hidden, but she could see where it crossed a little stream below. Looking back she discovered that all sign of the ranch yard had disappeared.

The stream looked inviting. The day had warmed considerably since she left the house and her only shade was the insubstantial brim of her hat. Studying the slope between her and the stream, she decided against it. Her legs ached at the thought of climbing back up the hill. She considered going back, but the sun wasn’t close to its zenith yet. She had a couple hours, she was sure, before noon. She would walk on a little farther then make her way back.

A few minutes later the path abruptly disappeared. She stood on the edge of a large grassy prairie. This, she decided, was where the path had been leading. From here a rider would turn in any number of directions to check cattle, or water levels, as Christian had said his father was doing. Or whatever else ranchers did.

Lynnette realized she had been picturing Christian on horseback riding across the pasture. She tried to change the image to Arlen, but it was too late.

She brushed the thoughts aside as an outcrop of
limestone caught her attention. It wasn’t far away, and she decided to take a closer look before turning back. The ground was uneven and littered with rocks and clumps of coarse grasses. She hadn’t realized how smooth the path was until she left it. Lifting her skirts, she walked on.

The rocks were farther away than she had realized and much larger. As she approached, she wondered if Christian and Arlen had climbed them as children, perhaps Emily too, though it was hard to imagine.

Lynnette walked around the outcrop, searching for toeholds and found instead the letters
C
and
P
scratched deeply into the gray stone. She ran her fingers over the letters, trying to imagine the young boy carving his initials here. Arlen’s were probably around someplace. How different their childhoods had been from her own.

She continued around the outcrop more slowly, studying the surfaces of the irregular rock. A movement at her feet made her jump and gasp. A huge grayand-brown-mottled snake slithered away from her. There was no rattle on its tail, she noted with relief. Still, she hadn’t even considered snakes.

“Time to go,” she muttered to herself. She made her way back around the rock and started across the prairie. The sun was high overhead now and she repinned her hat to better protect her face. She hadn’t thought about any possible dangers involved in walking alone. She hadn’t even told anyone where she was going. She tried to walk faster and nearly stumbled into a hole.

She was well across the pasture when she realized
that she couldn’t see the path. The hill, viewed from this direction, didn’t look at all the way she remembered it. She looked back toward the outcrop. How had it appeared from the edge of the path? She couldn’t remember. With the sun directly overhead, she couldn’t even use it to orient herself.

She walked on in the direction she had, until recently, considered the right way, thinking—hoping—the path would be just up ahead. But it wasn’t.

She had felt warm a moment before, but now she felt uncomfortably hot and dragged down by her heavy skirts. She had noticed a mild thirst before that now seemed unbearable. This was panic, she decided, deliberately shaking it off. She loosened a button at her throat and wiped her face on her sleeve. She had been fine a moment ago; she was still fine—only lost.

She had always prided herself in her powers of observation. She should have noticed the terrain; she should have remembered landmarks. “I should have dropped crumbs.”

Hearing her own voice made her feel better. “I
will
find my way back,” she announced. “But how?” She looked around again, noting a definite slope to the land. “I’ll head for the highest point,” she said, starting out. “From there I should be able to see something familiar.”