Page 24 of An Uncertain Road

At that moment, the sounds of an approaching engine drowned out further discussion. Before they could react, another team drove straight up to the wagon. Waving to Jensen and Flora, the driver chatted with the locals, then they began working together, setting up wide wooden planks to form a ramp. Getting back into his car, the driver guided it up the bending, heaving planks. The car was soon tied into place, and the team members each took up a spot around the vehicle to brace it while the wagon driver urged his horses into the raging river.

Jensen didn’t want to watch the whole contraption be swallowed by the river, but he couldn’t look away. To his shock, after several nerve-wracking minutes, the horses strained enough to pull the heavy wagon to the opposite bank. They’d done it. Finally freeing his gaze from the debacle, Jensen felt Flora fuming before he even looked at her.

“I told you it would be fine. And now we’ve wasted twenty minutes, and another team is in front of us.”

Without giving him time to apologize, Flora stomped over to talk to the local man waiting for the wagon to return, arranging for them to go next.

Jensen dropped back to lean against the car while they waited. Sure, one team had made it safely to the other side. But this still seemed like a terrible idea.

Fred leaned over the side of the car from the back, where he still sat with Beth. “Let me guess. You don’t want to do this, and she’s set on it.”

Wiping a few errant raindrops from his face, Jensen nodded. It wasn’t as though he could deny what had happened right in front of them. “Seems to be the way our relationship will always be.”

Beth offered a sweet smile. “She wants to know you trust and respect her as an equal. It shouldn’t be so hard to prove to her if you try.”

Wrapping an arm around his wife, Fred nodded. “That’s true. You do respect her ability, don’t you? And trust her to drive this car?”

“Of course I do.” But Jensen could see how his instinct to protect all of them might make it seem otherwise. “How do I show her that when she always wants to buck safety in favor of unnecessary risks, though?”

He watched Flora walking back toward them as Fred responded. “Start by asking her opinion and listening to it. Try to see things from her perspective.”

Stopping in front of them, Flora looked triumphant. “As soon as the wagon returns, we’ll load the car on. Beth, you’re welcome to stay seated. The rest of us will help keep the car from shifting. Jensen, do you want to get in before I drive over to the loading area?”

Her brown eyes held pensiveness as she waited for his answer. Listen to her perspective, Fred said. Jensen already knew what she wanted. Could he stand by and help her, even if he didn’t agree? “Sure. Let’s get to the other side.”

The relieved smile that graced her features at his response was worth the effort of biting his tongue. She radiated confidence as she hopped back into the car while he returned to his seat. He did his best not to show the way his stomach churned, much like the roiling water facing them.

Before he was ready, the wagon returned, and Flora eased the car up the make-shift ramps onto what they called a ferry. Jensen joined Fred at the back of the car while one of the ferrymen took the spot opposite Flora at the front. And then the driver urged the horses into motion.

It was the shifting of the wagon Jensen hadn’t anticipated that made the trip worse. With so much weight on it, he’d assumed the water wouldn’t do much to move the wagon, but the entire contraption tilted and jerked back and forth. By the time they reached the shore, Jensen wasn’t sure he could keep down the contents of his stomach for one more minute.

As soon as the wagon stopped on dry land, he jumped down and dropped into the mud, unable to care if it added to the mess already covering him. Fred did the same, breathing hard as he sat next to Jensen. They were all dripping wet again, including Beth, who looked rather nauseous herself in the back seat of the car. Flora was the only one who appeared to have come through the experience unscathed. She was charmingly damp, with only a few tendrils of hair out of place. Jensen had a hard time not staring at her as she backed the car down the ramp and pulled it up an incline to the road.

Energetic and ready to get back to racing, Flora gestured for the men to join her and Beth. Fred jumped right up, but Jensen groaned as muscles he hadn’t worked in a long time protested the strain of the crossing.

Fred grinned and offered a hand to help. “Come on, you can make it, old friend.”

They returned to their seats and waved to the ferry operators as Flora put the car into motion and they pulled away from the river. It wasn’t more than a few minutes before she sent a smile toward Jensen. “It turned out fine, didn’t it? You saved the day, after all.”

Her words lifted his heart, even through a stab of guilt that he’d fought her so hard. “I did? You’re the one who saw it would work. I would have turned us straight around, and we’d still be sitting by a crossing waiting for the water to calm.”

Her gaze held him captive, and another smile curved her lips upward. The sore muscles, frayed nerves, and irritated feelings all faded in light of her approval. Jensen could see now why Fred would do anything to give Beth the trip of her dreams. Seeing Flora smile like that as a result of his actions was intoxicating.

And a dangerous distraction.

For the next few hours, Jensen did his best to focus on the now-damp map he pulled out instead of on the woman beside him and they made it to the stop in Boston without any problems bigger than rutted, muddy roads. Flora parked the car with the others in the designated spot, and they all disembarked to allow the officials to inspect the car and record their points.

The newlyweds wandered off to get settled in the hotel while Jensen and Flora remained with the car, waiting for the officials to finish. Should he apologize to Flora for doubting her earlier? He still thought the river crossing had been a huge risk, but she was right enough that they had made it across. He didn’t gather his thoughts quickly enough, though, as Sam headed toward them from where his team’s car was parked, quite a few spots in front of the Harrison Goods team.

Sam stopped next to Flora, rather closer than necessary. Looking over the muddy Decauville, the young mechanic let out a whistle. “Looks as though you had a rough day. You didn’t start too far behind us this morning. Did you have trouble with the storm?”

Flora sighed. “We came to an impassable spot and had to find a way around. Mr. Franklin must have been going quite fast to cross there before it flooded.”

“Ah, yes, he was speeding along. The car ran quite well today.” Was Jensen imagining things, or did Sam’s eyes shift away from Flora, as if he didn’t want to hold her gaze when he answered?

Not seeming to notice, Flora shrugged. “Well, I’m glad for you, even if it didn’t go as well for us.”

Sam nudged her with his elbow, grinning in the silliest way, trying to amuse her. “Cheer up, now. Tomorrow’s a new day, and you have every possibility of taking the lead.”