Catching Kent (9 page)

“
I don’t know. You know how
to cook good meals, the kind that makes everyone run to the table.
They say that the stomach is the way to a man’s heart.”

“
If that was true, then why
are you the one turning down hopeful young men?”

Rose pulled the ribbon out of her hair
and considered her sister’s question. “I don’t know why they come
to me instead of you. You and I look exactly alike. It can’t be
because I’m prettier than you.”

“
I know why. It’s because
you have a pleasant way about you. You’re a lovely person to
know.”

“
So are you.”

“
Not in the same
way.”

Her eyebrows furrowed as she slipped
out of her dress and hung it in the armoire. “I don’t see how we’re
all that different.”

“
I can’t explain it. You
just… I don’t know. I suppose it’s the way you see life. You
daydream so much, but those daydreams make you excited about
ordinary things, things the rest of us take for granted. I suppose
men like your enthusiasm.”

“
That’s not fair, Harriett.
You enjoy life.”

“
I’m more serious than you.
Pa is right. I’m more like our mother and you’re like Uncle Joel.
It does no good to change who we are. Things are the way they are
for a reason.”

Rose placed her chemise and petticoats
on a shelf and pulled out her nightshirt. “Kent is sad. Something
terrible happened in his past.”

Harriett set the brush down and
hurried over to her. “Did he tell you this?”

After she shrugged into the
nightshirt, she started braiding her hair. “No, but he didn’t have
to. The songs he chose to play told me.”

“
He played a lot of them,
some happy, some sad.”

“
I said it was the songs
he
chose
. Eli and
Pa chose the happy ones. He chose sad ones. It was enough to break
my heart.” Even thinking about them brought tears to her eyes. “It
was also in the way he played them. His posture, the expression on
his face… His past haunts him even though he struggles to forget
it.”

Her sister crossed her arms. “I think
your imagination is getting the best of you. You can’t learn all of
that just by watching someone play the piano.”

Rose decided not to argue with her.
Harriett had a hard time understanding why she could detect things
in people by studying the way they talked or by the way they moved
their bodies. She didn’t even know how to explain it, except that
whether people were aware of it or not, they gave clues into their
lives. Most often, it was in the subtle things, tiny details often
overlooked. If her sister wasn’t so busy running around doing
things, she might take the time to notice those things.

“
It’s been a long day,” she
finally said and settled into her bed. “Why don’t you teach me how
to make that beef stew you’re so famous for?”

A smile crossed Harriett’s face.
“You’d like to learn my recipe?”

“
I can’t promise I’ll be as
good as you but yes, I’d like to try it.”

With an excited shriek, she clapped
her hands and finished getting ready for bed.

Rose grinned and closed her
eyes.

Chapter Eight

The next morning, Kent decided to join
the Larsons for breakfast, so he let Adam help him down the stairs.
His gaze went to the parlor where the piano was. His fingers itched
to play another song.

“
Oh, good! You’re well
enough to eat breakfast down here,” Rose called out from behind
him.

He would have lost his balance had it
not been for his crutch. Gingerly turning around, he saw Rose
bounding down the stairs, her ponytail swishing from side to side.
She reached the bottom of the steps and made a move to slip her arm
around his waist.

“
I can do it myself,” he
insisted and stepped away from her.

“
Rose, haven’t you heard
that it’s wise to let the man do the leading?” Adam asked
her.

At least she had the common sense to
blush at her brother’s words. Kent could only hope it would make
her stop bothering him.

“
Besides,” Adam continued,
still focused on her, “shouldn’t you be helping Ma and Harriett in
the kitchen?”

“
I was out feeding the
horses,” she argued. “I came back because I thought I’d change into
a dress.” She glanced at Kent. “Do you like it?” She motioned to
the pink dress she wore with little white flowers on it.

As much as Kent hated to admit it, she
was breathtaking to look at, especially with the way the dress
hugged her curves, something he didn’t want to notice.

Adam groaned. “You’re a hopeless
cause, sis. I better tell Pa and Eli breakfast is ready.” He headed
outside, letting the storm door slam behind him.

“
You play beautifully,”
Rose told Kent, stepping closer to him.

“
Excuse me?”

“
The piano. Last night when
you played. I’ve never heard anyone play music with so much
emotion. You have a wonderful gift.”

“
Oh, um, thanks.” Unsure of
what else to say, he hobbled toward the dining room.

Not surprising, she stayed right by
his side. “Music is how you connect with your feelings, isn’t
it?”

He shrugged.

“
Oh, I know it is. I could
feel it. Every note you played echoed something you experienced at
some point in your life. The sad songs were so haunting, so
incredibly deep in sorrow. Tears sprang to my eyes. Then when you
played a happier tune, the heaviness from the sad songs left and in
its place was great hope. It lifted my spirit to incredible
heights, heights I never thought possible. You went through
something very painful in the past, didn’t you? And now you’re
trying desperately to find a happy ending.”

He stopped walking and turned to face
her, unnerved that she perceived so much about him.

“
You’ll find that happy
ending with me, Kent. All I want is to make you happy.”

“
You want to make me
happy?” he asked, struggling to hold back the sarcasm in his
voice.

“
Of course, I do. You’re
meant for me, and I’m meant for you. There’s no one else I’ll
marry.”

He gritted his teeth, forcing back the
memory of a time when another woman promised she’d never love
anyone but him, that she’d given her heart to him
forever.

Her eyes lit up with understanding.
“That’s it, isn’t it? There was another lady in your past, one
you’d given your heart to, one who promised she’d always love you
and no one else. But she married someone else.”

“
Stay away from me,” he
snapped, not at all comfortable with the turn of their
conversation.

“
I’m sorry, Kent. Truly I
am. But even though you went through the pain of a heartbreak, fate
has led you to me.”

He ignored her and hobbled as fast as
he could to the dining room, breathing a sigh of relief when he
made it. Her mother and sister were setting the table. Good. That
would stop Rose from rambling more of her nonsense. The last thing
he wanted to do was dwell on the past. He came out west to leave
the past behind, not rehash it.

He chanced a glance at her as she
pulled out his chair for him. There was no way she could’ve
detected all that from the way he played music on the piano. She’d
been guessing. But it was unnerving to no end that she was so
accurate.

She smiled at him and held her hand
out. “I’ll put the crutch aside while you sit.”

He hesitated but since her mother and
sister were bringing food into the room, he handed her the crutch
and limped to the chair. Not surprising, she sat next to him once
she was done, still smiling at him as if they were
courting.

When they were alone, he said, “I
don’t care what you think. I will never marry you. Once I’m well
enough, I’m leaving Omaha.” Before she got any ideas, he added,
“And I won’t take you with me.”

Undaunted by his words, she replied,
“You will marry me, and I have a feeling we’ll be staying in
Omaha.”

“
Is there anything I can do
or say to get rid of you?”

She giggled. “Why would you want to do
that?”

Really? She had to ask the question?
He groaned and rubbed his eyes.

She stood up and poured him some milk.
“Here. Drink this. It’s so hot outside, and I hate the thought of
you being thirsty.”

“
I didn’t say anything
about being thirsty.”

“
But you must
be.”

She was completely and absolutely
frightening to him. He was thirsty. But how did she know
that?

“
You haven’t had anything
to drink yet this morning,” she said, as if she could read his
mind. “It makes sense that you’re thirsty.”

He immediately felt better. Yes, it
did make sense. Her figuring out the fact that he experienced
unrequited love didn’t make sense. But her knowing he was thirsty
did. With a relieved sigh, he picked up the glass and drank some
milk.

“
There. That’s better.” She
rubbed his back then added, “I’m going to help Ma and Harriett with
the rest of the dishes. I’ll miss you until I return.”

He rolled his eyes as she left the
room.

***

“
Are you sure you don’t
mind?” Kent asked later that day.

Rose’s mother shook her head and set a
cushion on the piano bench. “Of course, I don’t mind. You play so
beautifully. It’ll be nice to listen to music while I
clean.”

“
Well, I would rather play
the piano than read or sit on the porch.” Or go back up and rest in
bed. He was tired of resting in that bed. While it was comfortable
enough, his body ached in certain places from having rested on it
so much over the past month.

She patted the piano bench and waved
him over. “It’ll just collect dust if it’s not used.”

Using his crutch, he closed the
distance between him and the piano and sat on the bench.

“
I’ll take that for you.”
She held her hand out, so he handed her the crutch which she set
against the side of the piano. “I’ll return in a few minutes with
something for you to drink. Would you like water, lemonade, milk,
coffee?”

“
I think water will
suffice,” he replied. Even with the wind blowing through the open
window and cooling the room, he decided water would be best. As she
turned to leave, he called out, “Thank you, Mrs. Larson. For
everything.”

She glanced over her shoulder and
smiled. “You’re welcome.”

After she left the parlor, he turned
his attention to the music book and flipped through it. Few things
soothed his soul like music, and it’d felt wonderful to play this
fine instrument yesterday evening. For the moment, he was allowed
to lose himself in the music. He found a song that reminded him of
Ireland since he played it so often while he lived
there.

Setting the book in front of him, he
scanned the notes on the music sheet before he ran his fingers over
the keys. The music swelled around him. He closed his eyes,
imagining—just for one moment—he was back on his uncle’s estate.
He’d played this song often after he left America. It reminded him
of her—Ann Statesman—at the time. Now it reminded him of his uncle
and the friendship he’d developed with him before his
death.

His uncle understood him in ways no
one else did. He realized how much music meant to him and allowed
him to play whenever he wanted, even in the lonely hours of the
night when the heartache did its worst. His uncle often said he
could feel Kent’s emotions when he played, that the way he played
told much more than words ever could. And that morning, Rose had
said the same thing.

He stopped playing and took a deep
breath. He didn’t like that Rose could read him so well. It
unnerved him. Why couldn’t she be like Harriett? Harriett didn’t
overstep her bounds. She was quiet and unassuming, patient and
kind. Best of all, she gave him all the privacy he desired. But not
Rose. Rose came unashamedly at him, her intentions so obvious that
it’d take a dullard to miss them. Why did she have to keep pursuing
him? Was there nothing he could do to dissuade her?

Forcing her out of his mind, he picked
up where he left off. The music once again flowed around him with
its soothing power. He was aware that Rose lingered just on the
edge of his awareness. Try as he might, he couldn’t fully get her
out of his mind. Why did she have to haunt him so?

A noise from behind him notified him
that someone had stepped into the room. He slammed the keys and
glanced over his shoulder, ready to tell Rose to leave him alone,
but when he saw Eli jerk, he immediately calmed. “I’m sorry,” he
told the boy, embarrassed he’d overreacted. “I didn’t realize you
were standing there.” And that was true. He’d thought it was Rose.
Clearing his throat, he smiled, hoping to ease the boy’s
discomfort. “Was there something you needed?”

“
Well, um, I wondered,” he
hesitated and shifted from one foot to the other, “if you’d teach
me a song?”