Catching Kent (12 page)

Surprised but pleased that he chose to
extend such a high compliment to him, Kent smiled at
him.

Mr. Larson patted him on the back.
“I’ll let you two take care of business while I get what I need
from the mercantile.”

Kent nodded and followed Doug Connealy
to his desk.

***

When Kent was assured his money would
be in the bank soon, he headed for the mercantile. As he came
within a few yards of it, he caught sight of Rose talking to a
young man who looked much too happy to be with her. They stood by a
bench, and he was the one doing all of the talking. She offered him
a polite smile, nodding when appropriate and kicking at a small
rock when looking away from him. Even though she showed absolutely
no interest in him, Kent had to stop the urge to interrupt them. It
was ridiculous that the scene should bother him as much as it did.
She might have expressed a desire to be with him, even to the point
of getting on his nerves, but she didn’t belong to him.

And after Ann Statesman, he swore he’d
never get tangled up in another situation where he’d have to worry
about another man wanting the lady he was attracted to. He gritted
his teeth. No, he didn’t want Rose. She wanted him, and that was
where it ended. He was more than happy to pawn her off on someone
else. The sooner she turned her attention elsewhere, the
better.

Forcing his eyes off them, he
proceeded toward the mercantile.

“
I hope you’ll bid on me,
Rose,” the man said.

“
Oh, I don’t cook well at
all,” she replied. “You should let my sister bid on
you.”

Kent felt the weight of her stare as
he passed by. Ignoring her, he pressed forward.

“
There’s no one better than
you,” the man told her. “I just hope you won’t bet on Abe or Cody.
They’re awfully eager to court you.”

Good grief, there were more men
pursuing her? Kent opened the mercantile door with more force than
necessary and willed himself to calm down before someone detected
his irritation. He should be glad Rose had men lined up to be with
her. It made it that much easier to get out of Omaha when he got
his money.

“
How did things go at the
bank?” Mr. Larson called out.

“
Fine. The money should be
here soon.” Noting the full basket Mr. Larson was holding, he
asked, “Do you need another one? I can carry some
things.”

“
No, I’m just about
done.”

Just as Kent nodded, Rose came into
the store and hurried over to them.

“
Did you talk to your
uncle?” her father asked.

“
I did. Everything is set.”
She glanced at Kent and smiled in a way that made Kent wonder what
she was up to. Turning her gaze back to her father, she asked, “Did
you get everything on Ma’s list?”

“
Yes, I did.”

“
Can we get some
tea?”

“
Tea?”

“
Kent came from Europe and
I hear they drink tea all the time over there.”

Kent shook his head. “That isn’t
necessary, Mr. Larson. Coffee is just fine.”

Her father hesitated. “Do you like
tea?”

“
Well,” he glanced at Rose
who nodded as if she could read his mind, and in this case, she’d
be right, “yes. But I don’t want you to go to any
trouble.”

“
It’s no trouble at all,”
he said and went to retrieve some.

“
I can’t wait to try it,”
Rose told Kent.

He almost told her to run back out and
find some other man who’d fawn all over her but bit his tongue. No,
he didn’t want her to go back out there. And he wished it didn’t
bother him that other men were interested in her.

“
I think I got everything
now,” Mr. Larson said, returning to them. “Is there anything else
we need?”

“
Some clothes for Kent?”
Rose suggested.

“
Right.” He placed the
basket on the counter.

“
I’ll make you a shirt,”
she said. “I can sew better than I cook. What’s your favorite
color?”

“
This isn’t necessary,” he
told both of them as her father grabbed a catalogue to sort
through. “When I get my money, I can buy clothes.” He could even
pay someone to make them for him.

“
Nonsense,” Mr. Larson said
as he showed him the men’s clothing. “We can order anything on here
you want or go to the tailor’s. It’s your choice.”

“
But I have
money.”

“
And it’s not here right
now. I don’t want you to have to worry about going to California
and buying clothes. You’re young and starting out. You need all the
money you can save up. I’ll have no argument over this.”

Kent opened his mouth to protest,
knowing there was no way Mr. Larson had even a fraction of the
amount he did, but Rose said, “What’s your favorite
color?”

“
Blue,” he quickly
answered. She ran off so he turned his attention back to Mr.
Larson, but he was already pointing to a pair of trousers and
denims. “What’s your size?”

“
Mr. Larson, this
isn’t—”

“
I know it’s not necessary,
but I want to.”

The resolute tone in his voice stopped
Kent from saying anything else. It was important to him that he did
it, and Kent decided he should go ahead and let him purchase two
pairs of pants and let Rose make a shirt or two for him. After he
told him his size, he added, “Thank you,” and left it at
that.

Chapter Eleven

A week later, Rose held up the blue
shirt and sighed in satisfaction. She’d spent every waking moment
working on it, and now that it was finally done, she couldn’t wait
to give it to Kent. Jumping up from the chair in the parlor, she
hurried up the stairs and ran to her brothers’ bedroom.

“
What are you doing?”
someone asked her.

Gasping, she clutched the shirt to her
chest and whirled around. She laughed when she saw it was Harriett.
“You scared me.”

“
I gathered that much,”
Harriett said, holding neatly folded clothes in her arms. “I asked
you a question, Rose. What are you doing with that
shirt?”

“
I was going to give it to
Kent.”

“
He’s not in the bedroom.”
Closing the gap between them, she lowered her voice. “You shouldn’t
even think about going in there if he’s there. That’s not something
a lady does.”

“
Well, he’s in our house,
and that means he risks me entering any room I please at any time I
wish.”

Harriett shot her a pointed look and
tapped her foot on the floor. “You’re awful. A man deserves some
privacy, especially since he’s a guest in our house.”

“
It’s the middle of the
day. It’s not like he’ll be taking his clothes off.” Though it
would be fun to see him without his shirt on. “I bet he looks
wonderful without a shirt on.”

Harriett covered Rose’s mouth with her
hand. “I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that. In the future, you mustn’t
ever say something like that. It’s very inappropriate. Can you
imagine what Ma or Pa would do if they heard you?”

She pushed her sister’s hand away.
“Pa’s outside and Ma’s in the kitchen. I can say all I want about
how much I’d love to see Kent’s naked broad shoulders and chest.
You know he’d look wonderful.”

Harriett groaned. “You think
everything about Kent looks wonderful.” She paused, her face pink.
“At least what you imagine.” Then, in a whisper, she asked, “You
aren’t imagining him without clothes on? You haven’t snuck at peak
at him when he’s bathed have you?”

Her eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea!
I should sneak into the kitchen next Saturday evening when we take
turns bathing.”

“
You shut your mouth this
instant.”

“
Why? It was your
idea.”

“
No, it wasn’t. I was only
making sure you didn’t do it.”

“
No, I wasn’t that clever.”
Rose grinned. “But I can be now. I’ve always wondered what a man
looks like when he’s naked. You know, an adult man.”

“
Rose, you can’t. You
mustn’t! Not now. Not ever. Do you understand?”

“
I’m going to marry him.
Sooner or later, I’ll get to see him without clothes on. Why not
now?”

“
Because you’re not married
yet. Stop acting like a saloon girl. You are an honorable woman and
will stay that way until you exchange vows with him.” Harriett
rolled her eyes and grunted. “For heaven’s sakes! You got me
talking as if you’re going to marry him.”

“
Well, I am.”

“
No one knows that,
especially Kent.”

“
He’s starting to figure it
out.”

“
And you know this
because…?”

“
Because he ate my stew
even though it tasted awful,” Rose replied, inspecting her work on
his shirt. “Only a man who wanted to be with me would put himself
through that agony.”

“
Your reasoning never
ceases to amaze me.”

Giving her sister a shrug, she asked,
“Do you know where he is?”

“
He’s helping Eli clean out
stalls.”

Rose grimaced. “Why does he have to be
out there doing that? He should be doing something fun, not doing
one of the worst chores around here.”

“
He offered. He said he
wanted to do something to earn his keep, and Eli said he could use
help with the stalls so he went with him.”

“
It’s just awful that Eli
talked him into doing that.”

“
Eli didn’t talk him into
it. He offered.”

“
Only because he feels
sorry for Eli.”

Harriett let out a long sigh. “If it
makes you feel better to believe that, then believe it. I have
clothes to put away.”

“
I’ll change into pants
then head out to the stable so I can help them.”

Laughing as Rose hurried to their
bedroom, she called out, “Who would have thought I’d see the day
when you got excited about mucking out a stall?”

Rose shot her an amused look. “It’s
not the stall I’m excited about seeing and you know it. My future
husband is out there.” Then, before her sister could argue with
her, she slipped into the bedroom and shut the door so she could
change.

***

Kent wiped the sweat away from his
forehead then wiped the back of his neck. “Are we done?” he asked
Eli as the boy put his rake away.

“
Yes, though the chore will
need to be done again in the future,” Eli said and took his rake
from him so he could put it with the other one. “No one likes doing
it so we have to take turns. But we’ll get to play on the piano
this evening, right?”

“
I promised I would if you
showed me how to pitch in and help out around here.” Kent was tired
of feeling like he wasn’t doing his part to help the Larsons out.
He smiled at the boy. “You might even get to play another simple
song tonight.”

“
Alright!”

“
I said it was simple. No
more than three notes.”

Despite his disappointment, Eli
nodded. “I’ll be playing less simple songs in the
future.”

“
As long as you stick with
it and keep practicing. That’s the key to being a good pianist. You
can’t give up, even if you have to keep playing the same songs to
the point where you want to quit.”

“
I won’t give up. I want to
be as good as you.”

Mr. Larson came into the barn and
handed Eli a pail. “Take care of the cow. Mr. Craftsman is here and
I want to purchase some of his cattle.”

“
Yes, Pa.”

As Eli went to the stall where a cow
waited for him, Kent turned to Mr. Larson. “Is there anything else
I can do to help?”

Mr. Larson shook his head. “Take a
break. Everything’s good for the moment.”

Kent followed him out of the barn
while Mr. Larson went over to Mr. Craftsman’s wagon which was
pulling three cattle. Mr. Craftsman’s son called out a greeting to
Mr. Larson as he hopped down. The cattle mooed as the wagon came to
a stop.

Since Kent didn’t feel like going back
inside the barn, he sat on the bench next to the barn. It faced the
house, and when Kent caught himself glancing at the front door for
the third time, he realized he was hoping Rose would come out.
Criticizing himself, he forced his gaze off the door and pulled off
his gloves. Setting them and the bandana on the bench, he inspected
his hands, surprised to see a blister forming on his right thumb.
Other than that, his hands were smooth, giving away the fact that
he’d never done any physical labor.

“
Are you going to the
bachelor auction Joel Larson’s having on Saturday?”

Kent looked up at Mr. Craftsman’s son.
“Pardon?”

“
Joel Larson. Rose’s uncle.
Don’t you know about the bachelor auction?”

Massaging his hands, Kent shrugged. “I
think I heard something about it, but I didn’t pay much
attention.”