Wilbur wiped his forearm across his brow. I gathered that he also intends to spend those three days arranging my return as if I were a crate of calico. He cannot make you get on a wagon. No, but he can wear at me until refusing him becomes the only thing anyone hears. She looked toward the house.
I want time to finish my bargain here and decide my winter for myself. I do not want every meal turned into a family vote. Wilbur leaned one shoulder against the splitting block and the arm around you. Let Barnaby believe you are calling on me seriously until he leaves." Adella lifted one finger before he could answer.
"He is the audience, not the children, not the trustees, not your hands. You may sit beside me, walk with me, offer escort, and look as solemn as you please. You may not promise marriage. You may not answer for my work. You may not use the children as proof of anything.
My room and my belongings remain mine. If either of us says the play acting is over, it is over. And your wage? He asked. What about it?
It stays what the trustees agreed to pay. Whether you leave this ranch tomorrow or four weeks from now. If you want a team to Silvercliffe, I hitch it. If you want your mayor instead, she is yours to ride. None of that depends on what answer you give me about anything else.
Wilbur pulled the axe free of the block for three days. For three days. At supper that evening, Barnaby tested the arrangement before the potatoes made one circuit of the table. What are your intentions toward my sister Jennings? 10 children went quiet with such speed that Wilbur could hear a spoon settle against a tin plate.
Adella kept buttering Ruthie's biscuit. Wilbur answered from habit, the way he handled ranch trouble quickly and completely. Her place is here through the term, he said. Then before good sense caught him, he added, and I expect she'll remain in the valley through winter. Adella's knife stopped.
The silence around the table changed. Wilbur knew at once he had gone one sentence too far. Adella looked across at him. Mr. Jennings means my present contract has several weeks remaining. I have made no decision about winter.
Barnaby's brows lifted. I see. Wilbur did not reach for an excuse. Miss Hart is right. I spoke beyond what I know.
The children returned to their plates, but the mistake stayed with him. He had used the false courtship as if it gave him a real vote. By the time supper ended, he knew an apology would mean little unless the next question found him behaving differently. After dark, he found Adella at the corral rail. The wind had sharpened and she had a shawl crossed over her chest.
"You stepped across the line," she said. "I did. You made it sound as if my winter had already been settled between two men." Wilbur rested his forearms on the top rail. I spend my days solving trouble before it reaches the gate.
I saw your brother pressing and solved too much. You are not driving cattle when you speak for me. No. He looked at her. Then it will not happen twice. Tomorrow, if you want me to answer, give me the nod.