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She could let nothing take Dancing Cloud away from her. She would fight tooth and nail for him. He had to understand that what he had seen tonight was not of her own choosing.
He had to believe that she had gone to the Browns’ not only to get his horse for him, but also to tell Paul that she was going to marry Dancing Cloud!
Her heart sank, realizing now that she would also have to reveal some small truths that she had wanted to keep hidden from him—that she had for a moment or two been taken by this farmer whose eyes were so blue one could get lost in them.
Of course she would not tell Dancing Cloud that, about how she felt about Paul, or Paul’s eyes. But she would tell him that because of her deprivations as a child, she almost allowed herself to be taken in by a man she could never love.
Now only a few feet behind Dancing Cloud’s horse, Lauralee shouted at him to stop.
Dancing Cloud looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes widening when he realized whose horse she was riding. His own! Had Noah Brown brought the horse to the Petersons’? Is that why she was riding him?
No. He now recalled that she had arrived at the farm in a buggy. That had to mean that the farm, where he had taken his moonlight swim, was the Browns’. She had surely gone to get his horse.
But who was that man he had seen kissing her?
It came to him in a flash. Noah had mentioned two sons. One had died during the war. The other was still alive.
His surviving son had seen Lauralee and had become attracted to her!
But then he recalled how she seemed to be returning his kiss.
Wanting answers, tired of speculating, he wheeled his horse to a stop and turned it around and waited for Lauralee.
Lauralee drew rein beside him. Her eyes wavered as she gazed at him.
“Why were you at the farm kissing that man?” Dancing Cloud asked tightly, the first one to demand answers.
“Why were you there, swimming in the Browns’ pond?” she demanded equally as adamantly.
They both then started to talk at once.
She with her explanations.
He with his.
When it was all over and done with, they both broke into laughter.
Lauralee leaned over and gave Dancing Cloud a hug. “Darling, don’t you know that you have my heart—lock, stock, and barrel?” she whispered. She sighed and went weak inside when he gave her that much-needed kiss of understanding.
When he groaned, she knew that it was not from passion. It seemed borne of pain.
She drew away and gazed at his wound. “Lord, you’re bleeding,” she gasped. She looked wildly into his eyes. “You should be off that horse and in a bed.”
She glanced over her shoulder, stunned to see that they had unknowingly stopped directly in front of the Peterson House.
She then took Dancing Cloud’s reins and urged his horse into a trot beside hers as she headed into the driveway of the stately house. “The doctor said that you were going to be released tomorrow from the hospital,” she said flatly. “Well, we’ll just not wait that long. You’re going to stay here and take my bed tonight. I’m going to see to the wound personally, darling. I see no need in you having to ride clear across town to go to Dr. Kemper’s, when I am here, to see to your every want and need.”
Dancing Cloud hunched over, breathing hard. “The Petersons,” he said thickly. “They may not approve of my being in their house, much less in your bed, Lauralee.”
“They will just have to accept my decision to do this,” Lauralee said stubbornly. “I have already tested the softness of the bed. It will work perfectly for you as you recover. I shall move into the other bedroom down the hall from you. I do know there is one spare bedroom not being used.”
“O-ge-ye, do you know how much I truly love you?” Dancing Cloud said.
“I’m so glad,” Lauralee murmured.
The sound of an approaching horse and buggy made Lauralee stiffen. She drew tight rein, then turned and watched Paul Brown come into the driveway in the Petersons’ horse and buggy, his horse trailing on a rope behind it.
Paul stopped and came to Lauralee. “I believe you forgot something,” he said tersely. He frowned over at Dancing Cloud, then at Lauralee. “The horse and buggy. I don’t think I have a need for them, Lauralee.”
