Catching Kent (20 page)

“
No, he won’t. He decided
to skip it this year.”

“
But who will play the
fiddle?” Rose asked, shocked to hear her brother decided not to
go.

“
Uncle Tom’s pretty good at
it.”

“
I know, but they usually
play together.”

“
Maybe someone else will
fill in.” Harriett opened the bedroom door. “Anyway, since you’re
anxious to see Kent, you might as well go out to the porch and wait
for him as you usually do.” As Rose hurried out of the room, she
added, “I just hope you manage to restrain yourself from jumping up
and down in delight when he pulls his buggy up to the
house.”

Gasping, Rose paused. “I don’t jump up
and down.”

“
Alright. For the sake of
discussion, we’ll say you don’t.”

“
But…” She watched as
Harriett breezed by her then followed her down the stairs. “I might
be a little happy to see him—”

“
A little
happy?”

“
A lot happy. Fine. I’m
excited when he comes over, but I don’t jump up and
down.”

She chuckled but didn’t look back at
Rose as she went to the kitchen.

Rose waited at the foot of the stairs
for her sister to return. Her first impulse had been to run out to
the porch and see if Kent had arrived yet, but she decided it
wouldn’t hurt to show more restraint, even if she hadn’t seen him
in two weeks. She inwardly groaned as she tapped her foot
impatiently on the floor. What was taking Harriett so
long?

“
Why don’t you sit on the
chair outside so you can see when Kent is here?”

She glanced over her shoulder as her
mother approached her with two baskets. “Oh, I thought I’d wait for
Harriett.”

“
Are you going with
Harriett, Eli, your pa and I?”

“
No,” she slowly replied
with what she hoped was a nonchalant shrug, “but I thought I’d wait
for her to bring me the basket of goodies she made for me to take
so I wouldn’t have to show up empty-handed.” Her gaze went to the
baskets in her mother’s hands. “Unless you brought one for
me?”

“
You can take this
one.”

Rose took a basket and lifted the lid.
“No one will believe I made apple pies.”

Her mother chuckled. “Take it. It
doesn’t matter if people think it’s from you or me. They’ll just be
glad you brought more pies.”

“
Thank you, Ma.”

“
You’re welcome. Now, go on
out there and tell me when you and Kent are leaving.”

“
Since you put it that way,
I think I will.”

And Harriett couldn’t tease her about
it since their mother ordered her to do it, which was even better.
After she put on her coat, she hurried out of the house. She set
the basket next to a chair on the porch and sat down. She clasped
her hands over her knees and impatiently tapped her heels on the
wooden planks. She didn’t think it was possible, but every time she
saw Kent, she fell deeper in love with him. It was such a wonderful
feeling. There was no way she could feel this way about anyone but
him.

When she saw his familiar buggy
heading down the pathway to the house, she bolted to her feet and
opened the front door. “Ma, Kent’s here!”

Eli’s head poked out of the parlor.
“Ma’s in the kitchen.”

“
It’s alright, Eli. I heard
her,” their mother called out from the other room. “Go on to your
uncle’s. We’ll be there soon.”

“
Yes, please go,” Eli
added. “I can’t stand hearing you talk about Kent all the
time.”

“
You and me both,” Adam
called out.

Deciding not to respond, Rose shut the
door and picked up the basket. She waited at the top of the steps
until he pulled the buggy up to the house. Before he could get out,
she went to the buggy and slid into the seat next to him. She
leaned toward him and kissed him.

Smiling, he chuckled as she settled
the basket on her lap. “I was going to ask how your day went, but I
think I know.”

“
Oh, any day that I get to
be with you is a good one.”

Putting his arm around her shoulders,
he drew her close to his side and kissed her cheek. “It’s a good
day for me, too. Now, tell me the truth. Am I dressed appropriately
for a harvest dance at the barn?”

She took a moment to inspect the
clothes he wore. A dark plaid shirt, denim pants, and leather
boots. “You look perfect. I adore the way you look, no matter what
you’re wearing. But it’s funny how quickly I got used to seeing you
in a suit.”

“
You prefer me in a
suit?”

She shrugged. “I know it seems
strange, but a suit seems more like the person you are. It’s as if
you’re supposed to wear it.”

“
Will I fit in at the barn
tonight?”

“
Of course, you will. But
you’ll be much better looking than the other men.”

“
I can handle
that.”

She giggled. “I don’t know. The other
young ladies will be jealous because I have the best man
there.”

He squeezed her shoulders and shook
his head, despite his chuckle. “I wish I’d met you
sooner.”

Pleased by his compliment, she felt
her cheeks grow warm. On impulse, she kissed his cheek. “The
important thing is that you met me.”

They arrived at the end of her
property, and he glanced at the fork along the path. “Which way to
your uncle Tom’s?”

She pointed to the left. “His house is
the first one that way.”

“
Sounds easy enough. I just
hope square dancing is as easy as you say.”

“
Oh, you have nothing to
worry about. Just do the same thing the other men are doing, and
you’ll be fine.”

“
After we get married, I’ll
teach you how we danced in Virginia.”

“
Do we really have to wait
until this spring before we marry?”

He didn’t answer as he led the horse
in the direction of her uncle’s farm, which alerted her to the fact
that he was considering moving the wedding to a closer
date.

Encouraged, she turned toward him.
“There wouldn’t be anything wrong with us marrying sooner. You said
you already bought the house, and my pa has no objection to us
marrying whenever we wish.”

“
I know.”

Sensing his reluctance, she sighed.
“Then why don’t you agree to marry me tonight?”

“
You deserve time to be
courted, to be romanced. Then, years from now when I do or say
something to make you wonder why you married me, you can think back
on this time and remember why you wanted to be with me.”

Amused, she nudged him in the side.
“My parents married the same day they met, and my ma never has to
wonder why she married my pa.”

“
We’re not your
parents.”

“
Are we more like yours?
How long did your pa court your ma before they married?”

He shifted uncomfortably and she
studied him.

“
You don’t have to tell me
about them if you don’t want to,” she softly added and took his
hand in hers.

With a sigh, he said, “There’s not
much to tell. They cared more about things than they did people. My
uncle always put people first.”

That was the most he’d ever said about
his parents, and since he didn’t continue, she figured that was all
he was prepared to say. But it was all she needed to know. Now it
made sense why he didn’t want to talk about them or think about
them. At some point, they had used him to get what they wanted, or
at least they tried to use him. It was no wonder he wanted to put
as much distance between himself and his past as
possible.

She leaned closer to him. “I’m sorry I
won’t get a chance to meet your uncle.”

“
He would have liked you.
He probably would have asked me why it took me so long to court
you.”

“
Then he was also very
smart.”

He chuckled. “Why am I not surprised
you’d say that?”

Grinning, she pointed to the wagon
ahead of them that was turning onto the path that would take them
to her uncle’s house. “Go that way.”

“
As my lady wishes.” With a
wink, he directed the horses to turn down the path.

She edged away from him as they
approached the barn where a large group of people had gathered to
celebrate the fall harvest. This was one of her favorite times of
year, especially since it meant enjoying an evening of dancing.
“Kent, will we dance often after we marry?”

“
In my line of work, it’s
common to mingle with clients and their families at social
functions. We’ll be dancing, but we won’t be doing the square
dancing you’re used to.”

“
I don’t mind what kind of
dancing we do as long as we’re dancing.”

“
I have a feeling you’re in
for a big surprise when you realize what you’re getting yourself
into by marrying me.”

Intrigued, she studied the way his
eyes twinkled. “Oh, give me a hint. Please?”

“
Nope. You’re going to have
to wait. I want to see the look on your face when I take you
home.”

She groaned. “It’s rude of you to not
even give me a hint.”

“
Fine,” he relented as he
parked the buggy between two wagons. He set the brake and turned to
her. “But only a hint and I won’t go any further than this
one.”

Well, it was better than nothing.
“Alright. What is it?”

“
Even you, with your wild
imagination, won’t guess what kind of house I bought.”

“
That’s not a
hint.”

“
Yes, it is.”

“
How can it be if I can’t
guess it?”

Getting out of the buggy, he called
out, “You’ll understand when you see it.”

She rolled her eyes but held onto the
handles of the basket so she was ready to accept his hand as he
helped her down. “While you consider that an actual hint, I
don’t.”

“
That’s all you’re getting
out of me. You’re much too good at figuring things out.”

“
So my intelligence works
against me.”

“
Your
intuition
works against
you.”

“
What a horrible thing to
say. I’m to be punished because I understand people too well?” To
show him she was teasing, she kissed his cheek. “I look forward to
being surprised, though I have no qualms about being surprised
before the year ends.”

“
Rose.”

Noting the exasperation in his voice,
she shrugged. “You can’t blame a girl for trying.” She slipped her
arm around his. “Are you ready to go to your first barn
dance?”

“
As ready as I’ll ever
be.”

She led him to the barn, marveling at
how many people came out. “It’s not usually this crowded,” she told
Kent over the noise around them. “I better find a place to put this
basket while there’s some space left at the table. I’ll save you a
seat so we can sit together.”

She hurried over to a table where
other desserts were and placed the basket on it. Seeing Lisa who
was putting her basket down, she went over to her. “What did you
bring?”

“
Two pumpkin
pies.”

“
Oh, I tried making one
once.”

Lisa turned to her, eyebrows raised.
“And?”

“
And once was all it took
for me to know I can’t make pumpkin pie.”

Lisa laughed and playfully nudged her
friend. “You’re so funny, Rose. I’m glad you could make it, and I’m
not just saying that because I want to meet the man who finally
caught your attention. I heard you’re engaged.”

“
I am and he’s wonderful.
Want to meet him?”

“
Of course. I’ve been dying
of curiosity ever since Pa told me you and Kent were coming here
tonight.”

“
It’s not the only reason
you came, is it?”

“
No. I also came to dance.
My parents offered to take care of Ida while my husband and I came
here, and we thought we’d take them up on it. As much as I enjoy my
little girl, it’s nice to get some time alone with him. So which
one is Kent?”

Rose scanned the crowd but didn’t see
him. “I don’t know. But I’ll be sitting with him while we eat. Why
don’t you and your husband sit with us? Then you can talk to
him.”

She nodded. “Alright. In the meantime,
I’m going to start talking to some of our cousins. It’s not often I
get to see them.”

After Lisa hurried off, Rose turned
from the table and almost bumped into Stan. She jerked back and
pressed a hand to her chest. “Oh, Stan! You startled
me.”

“
Sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
His cheeks grew pink and he shifted from one foot to the other.
“Rose, I know you came here with someone.”

“
Yes, I did.”

“
Well, I was wondering how
serious things are between you two. You see, a friend of mine had
an accident. He left behind a child. A girl. She’s two. Her name is
Maggie. Anyway, there’s no one who can take care of her except for
me, and she needs a mother. I thought you’d be perfect. You’re
sweet and fun and kind. I know we haven’t ever courted and this is
all of the sudden, but I’d like for you to help me raise her. I’d
do right by you and marry you, of course.” He cleared his throat.
“What do you say?”