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He grinned. “How else do you think we breed them?”
“I don’t know! I guess I was picturing a little marriage ceremony where the mare wears a white veil and the stallion a tie. Then you make them a bed of roses in the stable, and hang curtains so they have their privacy…”
He laughed. “Well, you certainly have an imagination. Perhaps you should write children’s books about animals.”
“Perhaps I will,” she said grinning at him.
He led her into the stables and showed her their prize stallion. “I’m still trying to find the perfect mare for him. We’ve bred him multiple times, and his foals always end up being the best ones we have. Of course, if we had the perfect mare for him, we’d have prize foals year after year. It would really help us out with the breeding and training business.”
Sydney took a step closer to the stall the stallion was in, stroking his nose with one hand. “What’s his name?” she asked.
“Renegade.”
“Hello, Renegade.” She blew out a breath in the horse’s face, so he could get to know her scent.
Lewis was surprised. “Have you been around horses a lot?”
Sydney grinned. “I’ve always liked horses, and I ran down to the stable every minute I had to see them what I was a little girl. My mother didn’t think a girl of my station should be spending much time with horses though, so I had to sneak away. She was more riled up when I rode my bicycle anyway.”
Lewis grinned. “And you wanted her riled up?”
“It was the only time she showed any real emotion. When she was yelling at me. She wanted a boy, you see…”
“I’m sorry. Does it help if I tell you that I like you just the way you are?” he asked, catching her hand, and pulling her to him for a stolen kiss.
“I think I like you just how you are as well. Oh, Lewis, are we doing the right thing? We just met yesterday, and I feel like we’re halfway to an engagement already.”
“I don’t know if it’s the right thing for you, but you’re certainly not my first opportunity to marry. I’ve met a lot of girls over the years, but you’re the one who interests me the most. I…I already feel like I’m half in love with you, and you act as if I’m the first man you saw when you got into town, so you feel obligated to think about marrying me.”
“That’s not how I feel at all! I just…I’ve never met any man that I could marry that I had any desire to marry. I just met all the terrible men my mother paraded me in front of, and then I met men that I wasn’t allowed to marry. It’s just a different feeling, and I’m afraid I’m jumping into things too quickly, though I don’t have a choice. I know that probably didn’t explain things at all.”
“It did. I understand. But I do hope you’ll choose me. To make things a bit easier…” He dropped to one knee right there in the stable. “Will you marry me?” At the look of shock on her face, he said, “You don’t have to tell me now. If you’ll give me an answer on Sunday, I will be very pleased.”
Sydney took a deep breath. “You’ll have your answer on Sunday. Thank you for allowing me a few days to just be Sydney and not my mother’s daughter and not Mrs. Dailey. I need to be me for a little while if that makes sense?”
“It does. I’ve never been in a position where I couldn’t be me. I’ve always known that whoever I chose to be on a certain day would be just fine with my family. I think in your position, I might just feel the same as you do.”
“Thank you for trying to understand me,” Sydney said, waiting until Lewis got back on his feet and throwing her arms around him. “You are the only man I’ve ever met that I have a desire to consider marrying, if that’s at all helpful.”
He chuckled. “You just keep making me feel better and better.” But he did understand. Whether he wanted to or not, he needed to know that she was going to be happy with whatever decision she made.
He walked her back toward the main house on the ranch, where she was staying with Susan’s family. “How long have you had your own house?” she asked as they walked along.
“A few years,” he said, twining his fingers through hers. “Albert and I built them at the same time. We’d build one bedroom, and then we’d go to the other house and build the exact same bedroom. I love my little house. And I’d make sure it was clean before we ever married.”
She laughed. “I enjoy cleaning, but that’s probably because I’ve never had to do it on a regular basis. I look forward to cleaning up after you and cooking your meals.”
“You do? Does that mean you’re leaning toward accepting my proposal?”
“It does. You know I am.”
When they reached the house, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her goodnight. “Dream of me and the life we’ll have together once you stop being stubborn,” he said.
“Stubborn?”
Before she could get riled up, he dropped a kiss on her nose. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She smiled. “Why does tomorrow sound like a promise all of a sudden and not like something I should dread?”
“Because your mother is no longer ruling your every action. I just hope we’re already married before she sends someone after you.”
“I’m sure my papa will give me a head start and say he found the note later than he actually did. He never liked how mother would try to force things I didn’t want on me.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t know if I could let you go back to Massachusetts.” He kissed her once more and then opened his father’s front door for her. “Goodnight, Sydney. I’ll see you in the evening.”
Sydney smiled, wondering if Susan would allow her to take over her kitchen. It might be nice to fix a meal for him all on her own, and they could eat it together, outside somewhere. It was certainly warm enough. That’s one thing she could say for the Texas weather. It was warmer than it would have been in Beckham, and they could start having summer-type fun.
