Groom Wanted (5 page)

“Promise.” He hiked his foot up, set it on the phaeton step and rested his forearm on his leg, waiting for her answer.

“Mr. Darcy is the hero in
Pride and Prejudice
.”

“What’s that?”

“A novel.”

Jake forced his eyes not to bounce wide open. A novel? She wanted a man like some imaginable character out of a book? Whoa! He hadn’t seen that one coming. Right now, laughing was the furthest thing from his mind.

“I know it sounds silly. But the man reminds me so much of my father.”

“So this Mr. Darcy is a rancher?”

She shook her head and her bouncy curls wiggled with the motion. He longed to wrap his finger around one of them, just to see if they were as soft as they looked. “No. He’s not a rancher. He reminds me of my father—before we moved here, that is.” She clamped her lips together tightly.

Jake thought he saw a shimmer in her eyes but wasn’t sure because she looked away. He placed his foot back onto the ground, not sure what to say or do.

Seconds ticked by. With a slow turn of her head, she dropped her attention onto him. “I’d better go, Jake. I have lots of errands to run.”

That was it. No explanation. He scanned her face. Though she tried to smile, he could see in her eyes that she was upset. He hated to see her leave like this, but he didn’t know what to say or do to make it better because he didn’t even know what was wrong.

She reached for the lines. Reluctantly, Jake laid them in her hand when what he really wanted to do was snatch them back and ask her what was wrong. But he didn’t. She said she needed to go, and he needed to respect that. He stepped back, out of her way. “Be careful.”

“I will. Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For helping me with my horse and for not laughing at me.”

“Nothing to laugh at.” His grin was meant to reassure her.

She nodded and flicked the lines. Jake watched the buggy pull out of the yard. Curious about what type of person this Mr. Darcy fellow was, he decided that he needed to purchase a copy of that book. What was it called? Oh, yes.
Pride and Prejudice
. The title alone made him nervous. He’d never been much of a reader in school, but this was important. He could only imagine what was stuck in between the pages and who this Mr. Darcy fellow was. The sooner he found out, the better.

Chapter Five

L
eah couldn’t believe she’d almost slipped. Telling Jake about wanting a man like her dad was bad enough, but she’d almost started to tell him why. Good thing she’d caught herself.

Two hours later, after running all of her errands, she headed for home. Seven letters had come for her and sixteen for Jake. She looked at the large bundle of Jake’s posts, and without warning or understanding, jealousy snipped at her. Why, she didn’t know. She wanted her friend to be happy. And if one of the women in those letters would make that happen, she’d be happy, too.

A light breeze swept by her and over the field of blooming camas. The purple flowers waved as the gentle wind drifted over them. Spring was her favorite time of the year. It meant winter was coming to an end and new life, new growth and new births were being ushered in.

From afar, she noticed Jake out in the field tending to the cattle and grinned. He had a way of making her smile. Another click of the lines, and she coaxed Lambie into a fast trot.

Jake spotted her, swung into his saddle and headed toward her. Her heart picked up as he neared. That happened a lot lately.

“Howdy-do.” Jake pulled his horse up alongside her buggy and rode next to her.

“Howdy-do yourself.” She pulled her horse to a stop and raised her hand to block out the sun as she gazed up at him.

Jake moved his horse until he blocked the sun from shining in her eyes. “Did you have a pleasant trip?” He thumbed the brim of his hat upward, and she got a clear look at his tabby-gray eyes.

“I sure did.” It was even more pleasurable now that her best friend was here. “How’d your day go? Did my brothers work you too hard?”

“Naw. I’m used to hard work. Think they went easy on me today, though.” There was that lazy grin she enjoyed.

“Why’s that?”

“’Cause. Didn’t do much.” He leaned over and rested his arm on his saddle horn and gazed down at her. His horse shifted and stomped its leg, trying to get rid of a pesky horsefly. Jake didn’t even flinch but remained relaxed.

Leah envied how relaxed he always was, whereas she was always restless and fidgety inside and out. Oh, to have his peace. Someday. Someday soon, she encouraged herself. “What all did you do?”

“Milked the cows. Doctored a few heifers. Cleaned the barn. Checked to make sure the pigs were all okay. That was it. I’m done for the day already.”

“Already?”

“Yep.”

“Sweet twinkling stars above. They really did go easy on you.” She grinned and nearly laughed outright.

He chuckled. “Yep. Told you they did.” Jake sat up straight. “Before I forget, did I have any mail?”

“Oh. Um. Yes. You did. Quite a bit, actually.” She moved her reticule, grabbed the tied bundle of his mail and handed it to him.

“You weren’t kidding.” He took the generous bundle from her and turned it around.

“Sixteen, to be exact.”

His attention drifted to her. “Sixteen, huh?” A knowing smirk accompanied his question.

Heat rushed to Leah’s face. She wished she could blame it on the warm sun, but the sun had been there for hours, and her red face hadn’t. She dipped her head and only let her eyes look up at him. “Yes. Sixteen.”

There was that chuckle again. “How many you get?”

“Seven.” She raised her chin, hoping her face was no longer red.

“You busy now? I mean, after you take your supplies home.”

“No. Why?”

“Well, was wondering if you’d help me go through these.” He raised the package of letters.

“Sure. You want to go through them now?”

“You mean right here?”

“Yes.”

“What about your supplies?”

“They’ll be fine. Besides, I got done earlier than I thought. Mother won’t be expecting me home for another hour or so. We could...” She looked around and pointed to the trees. “We could go sit on that rock over there in the shade?”

Jake followed her line of view. “Works for me.”

He dismounted, gathered both reins under his gelding’s neck, and wrapped them around the saddle horn and let go.

“Won’t he leave?” Leah asked, referring to his dun-colored horse.

“Nope. Dun’s trained not to go far when his reins are tied to the saddle. We do this all the time.”

“Our horses are trained to stand still when the reins are down, but I’ve never seen anyone do it like that before.”

“Yeah, well, I’m different.”

“That’s for sure.” A smile lit up her face.

It must have been lost on Jake because he whipped his head in her direction and his tone sounded defensive. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Oh. I see how that must have sounded, but I meant that as a compliment. Truly. That’s one of the things I like about you, Jake. You do things differently than most folks.”

“Like what?” His forehead wrinkled as he tied off the lines on her carriage.

“Well, for one, you keep that silly goat and put up with her silly antics when no one else would.”

“Yep. I do. ’Cause I know if I gave that little escape artist to someone else they would probably destroy her. That’s why I keep her.”

“Exactly. They would have put her down. And so you put up with all the trouble she causes rather than risk someone else destroying her.” Leah watched as he shrugged off her compliment. “You’re a softy when it comes to animals, Jake. That’s one of the things I admire about you. And another thing you do differently is... You asked another woman to help you pick out a wife. I don’t know anyone who’s ever done that. Do you?” She danced her eyebrows up at him and sent him a smirch of a smile.

“Got me there.” His lazy grin appeared. “Speaking of. We’d best get to it so we can get ready for Phoebe’s wedding.” Jake slipped the tied bundle of letters from her hand.

Under the clear blue sky the knee-high bunchgrass rustled as they walked through it side by side until they reached a large flat-topped boulder and sat down.

“Okay. What do we have here this time?” Leah pointed to the letters Jake held.

He untied the string and handed her the first one. Leah opened it and scrunched her face.

Jake leaned toward her. His breath brushed the hair near her ear, sending chills rushing up and down her back. Not understanding why that would happen, she turned her head, and her face was inches from his. Her gaze soared to his gray eyes. Eyes that searched hers, questioning hers, as her eyes did his.

A moment passed in which neither moved.

Then Jake pulled back, cleared his throat and looked straight ahead. Leah, realizing she hadn’t been breathing, drew in a long, quiet breath, wondering why her insides were suddenly fluttering.

* * *

Jake willed his heartbeat to return to normal. The urge to kiss his friend just now was so strong that he’d almost given in to it. Nothing good would have come from it, of that he was certain. And he would do nothing to risk his friendship with her.

No one understood him like she did.

No one accepted him just as he was like she did.

And no one filled his thoughts more than she did.

And therein lay the danger.

She was leaving soon.

It was time for him to find a wife. He looked back at her. “Well. Let’s get to it.”

Leah tilted her head. “Get to what?” Confusion infused her face.

Did she know he had been about to kiss her? If so, is that what she thought he meant? “The letters. Get to the letters.”

“Oh. Yes. Oh, um. Right. The letters.” Her attention dropped to the post in her hand. “I think we have to forget this one.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because.” She placed it under his view. “I can’t even read it.”

He squinted, trying to make out the sloppy cursive. He could make out only a few words. Saloon. Toothless. And ten babies. “Whoa!” He balled the letter up faster than he could say the word
no.

“What?” Leah glanced at the wad in his hands.

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Well, now you’ve got me curious. Tell me?”

Reluctantly, he un-balled the letter and smoothed the wrinkles as best as he could. Heat drifted up the back of his neck as he pointed to each of the three words.

Leah’s eyes opened farther and farther with each one he pointed to. “Sweet twinkling stars above.” Her hands flew to her flushed cheeks, and her wide eyes darted to his. “Oh my.” She shook her head. “Oh my, my, my, my, my.”

“‘Oh my’ is right.” He took the letter from her and wadded it up again before he shoved it into his pocket to burn later. Apprehension and fear fisted inside him as he stared at the remaining pile. “Not sure I wanna do this anymore. Bad idea.”

“What’s a bad idea?” Leah’s color had returned to normal and she seemed to have recovered from the shock.

He wished he had. His gut was still being punched around. “Don’t think I want you to read anymore.”

“Why?”

His own eyebrows pointed upward. “Why? You ask me why after reading that letter?”

Leah’s lips quivered and her nostrils danced.

He watched, amused at her trying to hold back her laughter. His own lips now curled and twitched. Soon a belly laugh rolled out of him.

Leah’s hand rested on his arm and her sweet laughter joined his.

He didn’t know how long they laughed, but it was long enough that Leah had tears rolling from her eyes.

He would offer her his handkerchief, but it was too worn and would be too embarrassing. No need, anyway. She reached inside the pocket of her skirt and pulled a lace hankie out and dabbed at her eyes.

When they both had composed themselves, Leah asked, “What do you want to do with these?”

“Burn ’em!” he blurted.

They burst out laughing again.

“Seriously,” Leah said through a twitter. “What do you want to do with them?”

“Told you already. Burn ’em.”

She tilted her head. “Surely they can’t all be like her.”

He hiked a brow.

“Okay, Jake. Tell you what. I’ll turn my back to you and read them so you can’t see my face. If they’re bad, then I’ll slip them back into the envelope. If they aren’t, I’ll read them to you. Sound fair?”

After that last letter, he didn’t care what was in any of them. He no longer had any faith in this process. He’d rather remain single the rest of his life than marry a toothless woman who had worked in a saloon and wanted ten babies.

“Well, what do you think?”

“Think I’ll just forget the whole thing.”

Once again her hand rested on his arm and lingered there.

His attention trailed there and to the heat that now raced up his arm.

“Oh, sorry.” She yanked it back and rested her hand on her skirt. “You sure you want to do that, Jake? There might be some lovely ladies in here.” She patted the stack.

Debate did a roundup through his brain. He really wanted to get married, but some of the letters he’d received were downright scary. Okay, a few of them were. Still. Did he dare take a chance on one of them?

“Jake.” Leah’s soft voice reached his ears and he looked at her. “I know you’re scared. So am I. But if you don’t step out in faith, how will you ever know? Besides, like I said before, you can always have her come here before you make a decision. I mean, it isn’t like you have to marry her or anything before meeting her.” She shrugged. “What have you got to lose?”

Her words pinned his heart to the hard ground. It was once again obvious that she would never consider him. If she would, she wouldn’t have suggested he send for someone else.
Is that what’s been holding me back? Hoping Leah would change her mind and marry me?
Truth smacked him upside the head. That was it. Knowing that, he decided he might as well give it a try. “You’re right. Don’t have anything to lose. Okay. Open the next one.” If only she knew how hard those words were for him to say. When what he really wanted to say was,
Are you sure you won’t reconsider my proposal and stay here? At least I know what you’re like. These other women are downright scary.

Leah pulled out the next one. One after another she read, and the second to the last one caught his attention.

Dear Mr. Lure,

My name is Raquel Tobias. I am a Christian woman looking for a Christian man to share my life with. I’m twenty-three years old, five foot seven, 130 pounds, with auburn hair and blue eyes. I’m currently residing in Chicago, taking care of my beloved Aunt Sally who encouraged me to not follow in her footsteps wishing she’d married. Therefore, I decided to take a chance by answering your advertisement.

Aunt Sally insists on paying my way there and back in case things do not work between us. It is her way of saying thanks for being a companion to her all this time. Aunt Tillie, her sister, is recently widowed and will be coming to live with her, so my aunt will not be alone if I leave.

So, if you would like to meet me, please reply to this post.

Thank you and God bless you.

Raquel Tobias

Leah shifted her focus from the letter onto him. “What do you think?”

“Well,” he stood, pondering Miss Tobias’s words. Seconds passed. “Like you said, I need to step out in faith, so I’ll answer her.” And what a leap of faith it would be. Bigger than any he’d ever taken before.

* * *

“Do you want help writing her back?” For some odd reason, the prospect of Jake actually responding to a woman who could potentially become his wife made Leah uneasy. Was the feeling a warning from God that this woman wasn’t right for him? She didn’t know. She couldn’t rightly discern why she felt the way she did. All she knew was something didn’t feel right.

“You okay?” Jake asked, shifting his vision down on her.

Leah gazed up at him. Once again, Jake, being the perfect gentleman, blocked the bright sun from shining in her eyes. She shook out the confusing thoughts. He was going to think she’d lost her mind. “Yes. Of course. I’m fine.” Only she didn’t feel fine. No. In fact, she felt sick. Even so, she forced a smile onto her face. Later on, when she was alone, she’d try to figure out just what was bothering her about this whole situation. After all, from the looks of things, everything seemed to be working out exactly as she had hoped. She realized then she was just being silly about all of it.