Page 48 of If the Boot Fits

She grinned as she wagged her head slowly from side to side. “Nope.”

“Didn’t think so.” He uncrossed his arms and scratched a spot on the side of his neck. “What about staying with your Aunt Regina for a spell? It’d keep you off that stretch of road where you seem particularly prone to mishap of late.”

The idea had merit. She’d be closer to Asher and the rest of the Ellises. She could walk wherever she needed to go, a rather attractive prospect after the two vehicle mishaps she’d experienced. But no. She needed to be at the Three Cedars.

“I’m staying here, Daddy. Ida Mae plans to start work on Monday, and I want to be here to help her get settled.”

That muscle in his jaw ticked again. “You’re a stubborn little thing. You know that?”

Samantha smiled. “I get it from my father.”

Eli chuckled as he wrapped an arm around his daughter’s shoulders and started steering her toward the house. “Don’t be so sure. Your mama could be mighty headstrong when she set her mind to something.”

So Samantha was coming to discover.

They walked several steps in silence, Samantha enjoying the shelter of his arm. Up ahead, she spied Clint in the doorway of the barn. Martin stood beside him, pointing in their direction. Her time alone with her father would be ending soon.

She slowed her step and turned to the man she was finally starting to understand. “Thank you,” she said. “For being my daddy, even after all the grief I caused you over the years.”

A sheen came into his eyes, but he blinked it away as he hugged her shoulders. “Only natural for a spirited filly to kick and buck a bit as she’s learnin’ her way. Don’t make me love her any less. In fact, it makes me right proud to see that fire in her eyes. Means she’s strong. Won’t let the world beat her down.”

Samantha dipped her chin. “I didn’t feel strong in the wagon. I felt helpless and terrified.”

“Look at me, girl.”

She raised her gaze.

“Feeling fear don’t make you weak. It makes you human. Bein’ strong means you don’t let fear dictate your actions. You kept your head out there. Sure, you were scared. I woulda been, too. But you lassoed that fright and kept it tied down until it was safe to let it go. I’m proud of how you handled yourself.”

The last of the chill left her bones as his words wrapped around her heart.

“But that don’t mean I ain’t gonna take a few extra precautions moving forward.” His stern look warned her not to argue. “You aren’t to go to town without an escort. That Ellis fellow can see you home, but one of my men will ride with you into town from here on out until we catch the scoundrel who attacked you.”

Samantha certainly wasn’t eager to make that trip to town again by herself, but she couldn’t help worrying about what having an escort might mean for her riding lessons. She had less than two weeks to determine if Asher Ellis might be the man for her. She couldn’t forfeit her time with him, but neither could she make herself a target for Leroy or whoever wanted her dead.

She might have to solicit some help. And the young man heading her way might be just the ally she needed.

22

“Are you humming?”

Asher squinted through the suds on his face to find Fergus squatting near his knee and peering up at him as if he’d never seen a man wash up on the back porch before. The tuneful vibrations resonating in Asher’s throat cut off abruptly.

“Mama says if a fella is humming, it’s likely he’s got a gal on his mind. You got a gal on your mind, Ash?”

Why the good Lord thought giving little brothers an extra helping of curiosity was a good idea, Asher would never understand. Didn’t big brothers have enough to do with protecting and providing to deserve a break when it came to provoking personal questions?

Fergus tugged on Asher’s trouser leg. “Do ya? Have a gal on your mind?”

Instead of answering, Asher scooped a handful of water from the basin and tossed it at Fergus’s head.

His little brother squealed and scampered backward, but the dousing proved an insufficient deterrent.

“You do!” Fergus shook water from his head like a dog, then slapped his hands to his knees and continued his interrogation. “Who is she? Do I know her?”

Asher bit back a groan and squeezed his eyes closed as he cupped both hands in the water and rinsed his face before he ended up half-blind from soap sting.

“Are you on your way to see her? Is that why you quit workin’ on the roof an hour before supper?”