Hidden Hearts by Rose Devlin

Author:Rose Devlin [Devlin, Rose]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sunsong Books

Chapter Twelve

Dan squinted against the wind, pulling his hat down more firmly above his eyes when an errant gust threatened to sweep it from his head. The ominous clouds gathered overhead were spreading to the west, a roiling black blanket heading in the direction of home, and after a few moments of contemplation he decided that, whether he was right about the storm blowing over and done by afternoon, or Bill was right about it settling in for a good long downpour, only a fool would try to race this weather.

He retreated back into the saloon and settled into a sturdy wooden chair which had seen better days, the wood stained and scarred from mishandling and probably more than a few brawls. Thankfully, the late morning crowd - all four of them - waiting out the storm in Longbend’s oldest saloon seemed more than content to spend their time together in relative silence, broken occasionally by the two men playing poker at a corner table, or calls for another round of watered-down drinks.

Bigger than Windy Banks by a dozen streets and a few hundred people, Longbend was busy enough to be a good place to hire temporary hands, a task which Dan always saw to himself. He didn’t doubt Bill’s judgement, but his father had never hired on a man, not even for a single day’s work, without speaking to him and shaking his hand. It was one of the many things his father had taught him growing up, and Dan liked to believe he’d learned how to judge a man’s character as well as his father.

His father, he admitted to himself, had been right about a good many things, and insisting Dan give up being married to the ranch in favor of being married to a woman was starting to look like another thing the old man had been right about.

He looked forward to getting home to Kate, more than he looked forward to being home and seeing his people and cattle. He’d expected a woman to throw his life into disarray...had expected, unfairly, every woman looking to wed to behave like Jade, with her constant demands for attention and absolute refusal to be anything more than decorative. Instead, Kate settled right in to learning the ways of the ranch, and any disruption she caused was more like a spring breeze, a welcome freshness that drew attention rather than demanding it.

She’d certainly had his attention Sunday, and he smiled at the memory of how she’d looked in her new dress. He hadn’t realized, until he saw her with the bright blue fabric setting off the color in her cheeks, and her hair done up for church, just how few favors her everyday clothes - neat and serviceable, but also worn and faded - did her. If she was lovely in the clothes she’d brought with her, the new dress highlighted how beautiful she truly was.

She’d been nervous to meet Windy Bank’s usual Sunday crowd, and apologetic about the dress which apparently had more lace and a few more frills than she’d asked for.

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