Whirlwind Groom by Debra Cowan

Author:Debra Cowan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2005-09-11T04:00:00+00:00

Four days later, Josie was still thinking about that kiss. Even William had never kissed her like Davis Lee had. As if he’d been waiting years just for her.

Which was a ridiculous notion. If her gun hadn’t gone off when she dropped it, she wouldn’t have jumped into his arms. And that kiss wouldn’t have happened.

Now, as she rode out to the Eishens’ place on Friday night with Cora and Loren to attend this annual event that signaled the coming pecan harvest, Josie resolved to stop thinking about Davis Lee. And that kiss. And the fact he’d backed out of giving her shooting lessons.

“I don’t imagine you’ll see Davis Lee here tonight,” Cora commented.

Wishing her friend hadn’t mentioned him, Josie groaned under her breath.

“Why not?” Loren asked.

“He never comes to the harvest dance. I’m not really sure why.”

Good, Josie thought. That should help keep thoughts of him out of her mind. If Cora didn’t talk about him all night.

The Eishens, who lived about two and a half miles from town, had hosted the dance for the past twelve years. Cora pointed down the slope of a hill and Josie followed her gaze, stunned at the thousand acres thick with tall, mature trees. The nut harvest would begin in two or three weeks.

She shifted her gaze to the Eishens’ home. It was bigger than Cora’s and the white frame home was extravagant. Framed by the lush foliage, it was sprawling with a veranda that went around the whole house. The trees sat some distance from the house. Spaced well apart to allow for their full, spreading branches, they formed a wall of sorts around the sides and back. Nothing obstructed the front view of the house with the wide porch as they rolled up the road, packed hard from years of wagon use.

Behind the main house, Josie saw a springhouse and a garden and a couple of large buildings. She’d heard the Eishens were one of the wealthiest families in Taylor County. Her eyes widened. “How many barns do they have, Cora? I can see two from here.”

“Only one is a barn.” Her friend pointed to the building closest to the trees. “The place we’re going is a cleaning room for the nuts.”

“A cleaning room?” Josie had never heard of such a thing.

Loren looked interested, too. “How do you know that, Sister?”

“Sometimes for extra money—” the other woman’s voice cracked “—Ollie worked the pecan harvest.”

Josie reached up from her place in the back to pat Cora’s shoulder. Loren passed his sister a handkerchief.

“I’m all right,” the widow said, pointing to the building’s doorway, which was wide enough for two wagons abreast. “After the pecans are knocked out of the trees with padded sticks, they’re tossed into the wagons. The wagons drive inside the cleaning room and deposit the nuts there throughout each day’s harvest. Then the hulls are removed, the nuts are loaded into burlap bags and driven to the train in Abilene where they’re transported back East.”

“I never knew there was so much involved in getting pecans.

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