Catching Kent (15 page)

“
There’s only one man I
want to be with.”

Glancing at the coins, he sighed.
“This is too much.”

“
I have no need of
anything. I know you have some people who can’t afford to pay you
for helping them but you take care of them anyway.”

“
Alright, I’ll take it.”
After a moment passed, he added, “Since you’re not going to bid on
anyone, would you like to help collect the money as the bids come
in?”

“
I’d be happy to
help.”

He put his arm around her shoulders
and they headed for the area where he was due to start the bidding.
“Kent’s a lucky man.”

Giggling, she couldn’t resist playing
along. “Yes, he is, and next time you see him, you’ll have to tell
him that.”

He winked. “Don’t think I
won’t.”

Chapter Thirteen

Kent told himself the only reason he
went to the park was because he’d get bored sitting in a wagon for
a couple of hours. At least at the park, he could sit on a bench or
take a stroll and see which man ended up being forced to spend an
afternoon with the woman who bid on him. The notion of women
bidding on men was ridiculous. Only Rose would come up with
something like that.

But she was young and naïve to the
ways of the world. She believed in happy endings, that anything was
possible as long as someone wanted something hard enough. He’d once
been that foolish. A part of him longed to be that foolish again.
It’d been a season of hope, a season full of laughter and love. But
the season couldn’t last forever, and he felt sorry for Rose when
it came time for her to realize that not everything ended up in a
happily ever after. She was bound to be devastated.

He placed his hands in his pockets and
slowed his steps as he approached the park where couples were
sitting on blankets, talking and enjoying their meals. As much as
he tried not to look for Rose, he found that’s exactly what he did.
Which man had she chosen to spend the afternoon with?

He scanned the faces, his eyes finally
settling on the one that looked just like Rose, and his gut
tightened. So she’d chosen to bid on Stan. But then he remembered
Harriett had been wearing the green dress and relaxed. To his
credit, Stan didn’t give away his disappointment. Kent knew Stan
had his heart set on having Rose pick him.

He continued his search, not willing
to admit that he grew more and more nervous the more he couldn’t
find her. If he’d only find her, he could rest assured that she
would replace him with someone else as soon as he left
Nebraska.

When he finally saw her, however, she
was alone. She sat on her blanket and ate her sandwich. He waited
for a couple minutes, just to make sure someone wasn’t going to go
over to her. And no one did.

He crossed the lawn, passing several
couples who glanced in his direction, but his focus remained on
her. As soon as she looked up at him, his face warmed. “The walk
through town didn’t take as long as I thought it would, and there’s
nowhere else to sit so…”

She motioned for him to sit next to
her and opened the lid of her basket. “I knew you’d come so I saved
you a sandwich.”

“
You didn’t know I was
going to come over here.”

“
I knew we’d spend the
afternoon together. It was just a matter of how.”

If he was smart, he’d turn around and
go right back to the wagon. There was no sense in encouraging her.
Except, she had chosen to be alone if she couldn’t share the
afternoon with him. Considering the men she had vying for her
affections, he knew without a doubt that she wanted him. Only him.
And that meant something. And maybe it was time to stop pushing her
away.

He sat next to her and accepted the
sandwich.

“
You don’t need to worry,”
she assured him. “My brothers will eat my sandwiches. It’s nothing
like the stew I make.”

Despite himself, he chuckled.
“Granted, the stew wasn’t as good as what your sister or ma makes,
but I suspect you put a lot of effort into cooking it.”

“
I did. That makes it
worse, doesn’t it?”

“
I don’t think so. At least
since you tried, you know you did what you could.”

“
I see no reason to avoid
taking a risk just because something seems impossible, even when
others tell me not to do it.”

This would be a good time to warn her
that not everything worked out the way she hoped, but he couldn’t
bring himself to do it. He took a bite of her sandwich and
swallowed it. “This is good.”

“
We might have to live on a
lot of sandwiches, but we’ll be happy.”

He almost choked on his next bite of
the sandwich. “You take a lot for granted, Rose. All I’m doing is
eating one sandwich.”

“
I can bake cookies, too.”
She dug into the basket and showed him the cookies she had wrapped
in a towel. “These taste as good as they look.”

As much as he wanted to sigh in
frustration since she refused to even consider they might not get
married someday, he felt a smile tug at his lips. “I’m sure the
cookies are good.”

“
Wait until you have one
before you make a judgment.”

He accepted the cookie and ate it.
“They’re good.”

“
You only ate
one.”

“
I don’t have to eat all of
them to know they’re good.”

“
Do you plan to eat more
than one?”

He shrugged. “I guess. I mean, it’s
hard to limit yourself to just one cookie.”

“
That’s why I made a whole
plate’s worth.”

Since she still held the plate toward
him, he gathered a few more. “Thank you.”

After they finished their sandwiches,
she turned to him. “Why did you come here? I thought you were going
to wait at the wagon.”

“
I don’t know.” He ate his
last cookie then wiped his hands on the cloth napkin she’d set
beside the basket. “I saw you were by yourself and saw no reason to
let the food go to waste.”

She shot him a knowing grin and leaned
closer to him. “You wanted to spend the afternoon with
me.”

“
You’re the only woman here
who doesn’t have someone to eat with,” he countered.

“
Why don’t you just admit
that you want to be with me?”

This time he did sigh, and he did it
loud enough so she would have to notice it. He rose to his feet,
not surprised when she followed suit and did the same. “I think I
will go to the wagon. Alone.”

She grabbed his arm before he could
walk away. “Let’s go for a walk. I’ve always wanted to go for a
walk along the pathway that goes over the bridge, but no one’s ever
been willing to go with me.”

Somehow he doubted that she made an
attempt to ask other men to walk with her to that bridge because
they would have jumped at the chance if she had. Even now, he
couldn’t help but notice the way a couple of men, Stan included,
glanced their way, envious of him. If she snapped her fingers,
they’d come running to do whatever she wished. But he knew what she
really meant was that she always wanted to go for a walk to the
bridge with someone who meant something to her, and he’d be lying
if he didn’t admit that was flattering.

“
If I take you there, are
you going to assume I’m going to marry you?” he asked.

“
I don’t have to assume
anything, Kent.”

He frowned, not sure he liked the way
she worded that.

She slipped her arm around his and led
him to the path. “I’ll get the basket when we get back. It’s such a
lovely afternoon. Cool but no wind so nothing will blow
anywhere.”

“
Yes, I suppose it is
cooler than it has been lately.”

“
The storm last night
cooled things off. My ma hates them, but I love them. The rain,
lightning, and thunder are all exciting, don’t you think?” Before
he could reply, she continued, “I like to pretend that I’m in an
old creepy castle and am exploring secret passageways. Last night I
imagined that someone was trying to find me in that castle. He did
end up finding me, and he took me down one of those passageways and
was going to keep me as his prisoner indefinitely, but you came and
saved me. It was very romantic.”

“
Goodness, Rose. I’m not
the kind of man who runs around saving women.”

“
But you weren’t saving all
women. Just me. You were my knight in shining armor, brave and
noble.”

“
Your family is right. You
spend way too much time reading books.” The stories she came up
with! And why was he always the hero?

“
If such a situation ever
happened, I know you’d do everything you could to rescue
me.”

He grimaced.

“
Oh, it’s true. You can’t
help it. You have the heart of a kind and honorable gentleman. If I
was ever in danger, you would come for me.”

Let her believe what she wanted.
Eating her stew was one thing, but going into some abandoned castle
to defy a masked gunman was something entirely
different.

They passed through a bend along the
path then the bridge came into view. She squeezed his arm. “Isn’t
it beautiful? I just love the way the tree branches form a canopy
over the bridge. It’s my favorite spot.”

It was pretty. There was no denying
that, but he was distracted by the way Rose’s breast brushed his
arm. He didn’t know if he should bring it up so she’d put some
distance between them or not. She was too naïve to know what such
contact did to him. There was nothing manipulative in her actions.
But that didn’t stop his mind from going in directions where it had
no business going.

Perhaps if he hadn’t experienced the
horrible aching loneliness since his uncle’s death, he would have
been strong enough to push her away. God knew he’d been doing his
best to discourage her ever since he woke up and caught her kissing
him. But she was so unbelievably persistent that she had worn him
down. It was part of her ploy, he knew. She must have known sooner
or later he’d grow weak.

They reached the bridge and she let go
of him so she could hold onto the rail and peer into the water. He
should have been relieved. At least it enabled him to think clearly
again. But he was disappointed.

With a sigh, he leaned on the rail and
followed her gaze. “What are you looking for?”

“
The fish. Once in a while,
they swim on by and it’s fun to watch them.” She glanced at him.
“You ever go fishing?”

“
No.”

“
My pa took me when I was a
girl, along with my brothers. Harriett never wanted to go. I tried
to explain to her how much fun it was to feel the fish catch on to
the hook and pull it out of the water, but she thought it was
silly. She’d rather be cooking or sewing or decorating the house. I
can’t imagine anything more boring, can you? Oh, I didn’t mean that
I didn’t enjoy making your shirt. That was something I was excited
about because I knew you’d look good in a solid blue color. Adam
mostly wears plaid shirts. Not that you don’t look good in his
shirts, but all plaid all the time gets boring. What good is living
if you never do something different? I can’t think of one
interesting thing Adam’s ever done, if you want to know the truth.
Of course, you’ve had a life much more interesting than any of us.
You’ve been to Europe. Tell me, what was Ireland like?”

He didn’t know why her familiar
rambling should strike him as funny as it did, but he found himself
laughing. And it felt good to laugh.

Her eyebrows furrowed and she turned
toward him. “Did I say something funny?”

“
No.” Her eyes grew wide,
making him laugh even harder. “Rose, I have never met anyone who
can talk about nothing as much as you do.”

Her face grew pink. “Nothing? I’ve
been talking about fishing, my brother and sister, and
Ireland.”

“
Yes, and all the while,
thunderstorms make you dream of spooky castles where you’re pursued
by some evil villain. I don’t know where you find the time to think
of so many things when you’re so busy telling me I’ll never go to
California unless I take you with me.”

She shrugged. “I suppose I do have an
active imagination.”

“
I wasn’t criticizing you,
my dear Rose,” he assured her when he realized he’d hurt her
feelings. “I think it’s adorable. You’re never bored, and better
yet, you bring light and laughter wherever you go. The world needs
more people like you. Life is sometimes painful. You come along and
bring joy to it.”

She clasped her hands together, her
eyes lit with excitement. “You called me ‘my dear
Rose.’”

He blinked and stopped laughing. Good
heavens. Did he really?

“
Oh, Kent! And everything
else you said! Those are some of the most beautiful things anyone
has ever said to me.” She closed the gap between them and looked up
at him. “Kiss me.”

Startled, he took a step back.
“What?”

She stepped forward. “I’ve always
wanted to be kissed here. It’s such a romantic spot. Someday I’ll
bring our children here and tell them you gave me my first kiss
here.”