AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He was left to his thoughts and Jesse replayed the night’s events over again in his mind’s eye. He should have regretted most of it but he didn’t. He knew nothing of Hugh Jacobs other than he was a blacksmith and he was going to ask Alex to marry him and that fact alone was reason enough to hate the man. He’d taken the one thing Jesse wanted more than anything else.
He’d agreed to go to Boston, to the fancy boy’s school Grace got him in to because she’d told him no woman wanted an ignorant man. That having an education like the one he could get in Boston would make a more desirable prospect. Being good with one’s hands and enduring the heat and snow in Montana meant little if you didn’t have brains enough to manage a ranch, even one as small as what he and Rafe owned. So he’d gone, willingly, with every intention of coming back with enough knowledge to impress the girl who loved to hate him.
He sighed. Seemed pointless now. He didn’t know much about women but he was pretty sure one would pick a man with his own business, a blacksmith everyone seemed to like, over a man who owned nothing but half of an empty cattle ranch.
He had nothing to offer Alexandra Avery. Nothing but himself and her reaction to him told him her feelings hadn’t changed one bit.
Four
Alex’s handswere trembling as she unfolded the letter she’d been waiting on. She scanned the single sheet of paper, her heart racing by the time she saw the name Emily Harper appear. Elation was not a word strong enough to describe her glee. Her old teacher, Mr. Colby, had come through just as she hoped he would.
Alex refolded the note and tucked it inside the small wooden box sitting on the table in her little room behind the school. She gave the space a glance, smiling when she realized the four walls she’d felt so trapped in just ten minutes before were about to be Emily Harper’s new home.
Just as soon as she gathered the courage to tell her pa.
She grabbed the books sitting on the table by the door and carried them into the school room. For once, she didn’t feel a sense of loathing when she entered. She’d taught school there willingly but would never enjoy it. She wanted to be on the ranch, doing what she loved.
Placing the books in her hand on the desk, she moved through the room to the main door and exited the building. If Emily Harper was on her way, there were things to get in order.
She made it half way to the mercantile before she spotted Hugh. He was carrying a bundle of flowers in one hand, the smile on his face bright enough everyone who passed him stopped to stare. The conversation she’d had with her father about Hugh courting her came to mind. If she had to guess, she’d say he was on his way to see her and she realized they needed to have a serious conversation. She couldn’t let him keep on thinking they were actually courting. Could she?
As he approached, she took in his handsome face, his strong arms and gentle smile. He wasn’t a bad choice for a suitor. She could certainly do worse. But she wasn’t ready for marriage. Was she?
“No,” she said out loud. “I’m not ready.”
Hugh stopped when he reached her and held out his arm. “Alexandra,” he said in way of greeting. “These are for you.”
Alex took the flowers, her gaze roaming his bruised face. “Thanks.” She looked him over and shook her head. “What happened to you? Looks like you got kicked by a mule.”
Hugh rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Feels a bit like I did, too.” He smiled, his face turning a dark shade of red. “I got into a tussle over at the saloon last night.”
Her eyes widened in shock. She wasn’t aware he spent time in the saloon.
“I don’t frequent the place often but Walter Simmons insisted I come have a drink with him and I walked face first into a fist fight.”
“Over what?”
He smiled again and the look in his eye said he wasn’t going to tell her why. “I didn’t come to talk about all that.” He pulled on the vest he was wearing and straightened to his full height. “Are you free?”
He was avoiding the reason for the bar fight. She flashed him a grin. She’d find out one way or another. “What did you have in mind?”
“Lunch.”
She glanced toward the mercantile. Her shopping could wait. Getting things sorted with Hugh was more important than trying to impress Emily Harper. “As a matter of fact, I am. Lead the way.”
He hooked her arm in his and turned, leading her toward the hotel and its restaurant. “I haven’t seen you around this past week,” he said. “Have you been at the ranch?”
Her impromptu trip to Missoula to see Mr. Colby flashed across her mind’s eye. “I’ve been around. School starts soon so I’ve been trying to get everything ready.”
They passed in front of her uncle Morgan’s house. Alex looked to see if she saw any movement from her aunt or her cousins but nothing moved beyond the windows. Hugh continued to talk, the words lost as her thoughts shifted to what she was going to say when they reached the restaurant. She wasn’t ready to marry and have babies. She was barely twenty-three. She had time before the old maid taunts started coming her way.
Reaching the businesses that lined the road in town, their path was blocked when several men in the jail house doorway stepped out onto the sidewalk. Hugh stiffened by her side when Jesse turned their way. His grip on her arm tightened and it didn’t take long for Alex to figure out why. One look at Jesse’s face said it all. She glanced between the two of them and cocked her head to one side. “You two get into the middle of the same brawl last night?”
Hugh pulled her closer to his side. “You could say that.”
Her uncle Morgan stepped between the two. “I’ll throw you both in jail if you go at it again.” He gave them a look before glancing her way. “You’re trouble when you’re not even in the room.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.
