Catching Kent (16 page)

“
Your first kiss happened
when I was asleep.”

“
I’m not going to tell them
about that one. Besides, it doesn’t really count because you
weren’t awake.” She placed her arms around his neck. “Just one
kiss?”

He put his hands on her hips, thinking
to push her away from him, but his errant hands only brought her
closer to him. “This isn’t a good place for a kiss. People are
nearby.”

“
They can’t see us that
well from here.”

“
Why can’t you act like a
proper lady? It’s not appropriate for you to try to kiss me like
this.”

“
There’s nothing wrong with
me kissing you here.”

“
If your father saw us,
he’d come at me with his gun.”

She giggled. “You’re silly. All we’re
going to do is kiss. We won’t do anything improper until after the
wedding. Then it’ll be proper. In fact, we’ll have to do it
then.”

He should pull away from her. That was
the safest thing he could do, but her hands clasped around the back
of his neck and he let her pull him toward her. His lips touched
hers and the last of his resistance faded away as he brought her
into his embrace. She felt so very wonderful. And she hadn’t chosen
the afternoon to spend with someone else. She’d chosen
him.

She melted in his arms. Her response
to him thrilled him as much as it scared him. It’d been a long time
since he’d given his heart to a woman. He didn’t think there’d ever
be anyone after Ann Statesman. But even in the times he’d been with
Ann, she hadn’t impacted him as deeply as Rose did at this moment.
With Rose, he wouldn’t have to worry that she’d replace him with
someone else. He was safe with her. He felt it as surely as he
could feel his heart beating with excitement.

When the kiss ended, he kept her in
his embrace, reluctant to part from her. He was tempted to kiss her
again but felt he’d taken enough of a risk by kissing her to begin
with. Anyone could walk over to the bridge at any moment and see
them.

Rose smiled up at him in her usual
charming way. “That kiss was the most wonderful thing I’ve ever
experienced. It was much better than the one we had while you were
sleeping.”

He chuckled. “I hope so.”

“
Will you admit we’re going
to marry now?”

With a sigh, he released her but held
her hand. “I need to talk to your father first.”

“
You will? What
about?”

“
It’s only right I ask his
permission before marrying you.”

“
He’ll say yes.”

“
We’ll see,” he replied and
tugged on her hand. “Come on. We have to get back before people
start to wonder where we are.”

“
Alright.”

Surprised she willingly obeyed him, he
hesitated before taking a step forward.

“
What’s wrong?” she
asked.

“
Well, nothing. I just
can’t remember you ever accepting anything I’ve said so easily
before.”

“
You kissed me. That’s all
I really wanted to do at the bridge. Now that we did, we can go
back.”

He should have known. She hadn’t just
wanted to go for a walk. She had an ulterior motive and that was to
get him to finally admit he wanted to be with her. “I have a
nagging suspicion that when you let me win an argument, you’re the
one who’ll actually win.”

Squeezing his hand, she led him down
the path. “I don’t know what gives you that silly idea. We should
get going. And I agree with you. We should get back before someone
wonders where we went.”

A smile tugged at his lips as he
followed her, this time not minding it so much when she started
rambling about their future.

Chapter Fourteen

“
I still can’t believe you
two are sitting together,” Adam said as he led the horses down the
row of corn that marked his father’s property.

From where Kent sat next to Rose in
the back of the wagon, he said, “It’s a long story,” for what had
to be the tenth time.

He knew her family would be surprised.
No one was more surprised than him. But even so, it was a most
pleasant surprise. He wouldn’t plan on anything until he got her
father’s permission to court her. It was still too soon to tell
where things were going, and his past had taught him not to take
anything for granted.

“
It might be a long story,”
Rose said, her hand slipping in his, “but it’s like I told you
before, Adam. Kent and I are going to get married and be very happy
together.”

Adam groaned.

“
Didn’t you have a good
time at the picnic?” Rose asked him.

“
No, I didn’t. You wanted
me to go. And all for what? So I could spend the afternoon with
that horrible Ellie? I wish it hadn’t been up to the women to bid
on the men.”

“
Me too. Stan wasn’t happy
to be with me,” Harriett said. “I wish I hadn’t taken that risk.”
She glanced at Rose. “Risks might work for you, but they don’t work
for everyone.”

“
I’m sorry,” Rose replied.
“I thought if he got a chance to know you, he’d find out what a
wonderful person you are.”

“
All he did was ask
questions about you. It was especially bad when he saw you and
Kent. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone more
disappointed.”

“
Oh. Well, I was sure if he
got a chance to talk to you, he’d be smart enough to realize you’re
perfect for him.”

“
I’m not perfect for
him.”

“
But you are. You’re
thoughtful, generous—”

Harriett shook her head. “I’m not what
he wants. That’s the point. I took the risk and it failed. Please
don’t tell me to take another risk again. It’s just not worth
it.”

“
Amen,” Adam agreed. “I
don’t want to spend another afternoon with a woman who can’t keep
her mouth shut about other people’s business.”

“
You two are hopeless,”
Rose said then looked at Kent. “Don’t you think they’re
hopeless?”

“
I’m not getting dragged
into this,” Kent replied. Sure, she had finally gotten him to admit
he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, but there was no
way he was going to get involved in an argument she was having with
her family.

Rose turned her attention back to Adam
and Harriett. “You think one failure means you should give up? A
failure only means you need to try something different next time.
If you really want something badly enough, you’ll keep doing
different things to get it until it’s yours.”

“
Rose,” Harriett began,
“sometimes you just can’t get what you want. Not everyone has a
fairytale life like you do. Everything you’ve ever wanted has come
to you.”

“
Through lots of
determination. I didn’t give up just because I didn’t get something
right away. I kept at it.”

Kent couldn’t argue that point. If
she’d listened to him every time he’d said no, he wouldn’t be
trying to figure out a way to ask her father if he could marry her.
The courtship would be a formality. The end result was marriage, as
she had already stated countless times.

Adam stopped the wagon in front of the
house and turned toward Rose. “You don’t understand that your way
of doing things doesn’t work for everyone. I mean, you can get
annoying. Obviously, annoying works well for you.”

With a sigh, Rose let go of Kent’s
hand and knelt in front of Adam and Harriett, something Kent was
thankful for since it meant they would stop looking over at him.
Rose studied her brother’s expression. “What is it you want most,
Adam? And more importantly, what’s stopping you from getting
it?”

“
I have to put the horses
and wagon away,” he said. “Kent, will you help her off this wagon
so I won’t toss her out?”

Kent slid to the edge of the wagon and
hopped down before extending his hand to her. “Come on,
Rose.”

For a moment, he thought she was going
to keep arguing with Adam, but after a couple seconds, she groaned
and went to him.

“
Finally,” Adam muttered
then went to help Harriett.

Kent took Rose’s basket and led her to
the porch. “They’ll find their way,” he assured her, surprised she
should find their protests so distressing. “Just worry about your
life.”

“
You’re right,” she said
and took the basket from him. “I know you’re right, but sometimes I
see all the opportunities they pass up.”

“
They took some
opportunities today. Maybe they’ll want to take more in the future.
Maybe they won’t. But it doesn’t help that you keep pestering them
about it.”

“
I’m not pestering
them.”

“
Yes, you are.” Giving her
hand a gentle squeeze, he added, “I know you mean well, but
sometimes it’s better to wait until someone comes to you for your
advice before you give it.”

“
But those two will never
ask for it.”

“
And that’s their
choice.”

She looked as if she was ready to
protest but finally settled for nodding. “You’re right.”

He waited to see if she’d add
anything, like the fact that if she had listened to him when he
said no, they wouldn’t have spent such a lovely afternoon together.
But to her credit, she settled for squeezing his hand and going to
the front door.

“
Do you want to go for a
horse ride before supper?” she asked. “Sometimes I like to ride
through the property and make sure everything is as it should
be.”

“
I better not.”

“
You don’t like to ride
horses?”

“
No, it’s not that. I like
riding them.” Just recalling all those days riding on his uncle’s
property brought back a wonderful feeling of contentment. He had no
doubt he’d experience the same feeling with her now that he
understood she wanted him—and only him—to be with for the rest of
her life. But the sooner he talked to her father, the better. “I
need to talk with your father first.”

“
He’ll be happy to hear you
want to be with me.”

“
I hope so.” He motioned to
the basket. “Would you like me to take this inside before I look
for him?”

“
I’ll take it. Talk to him
right now. He’ll be in the barn at this time of the day. Then we
can go for a horse ride.”

She took the basket and opened the
door.

“
Rose?”

She glanced back at him.

“
It’s nice that you’re
happy. I hope you never lose that trait.”

Her eyes twinkled. “I have every
reason to be happy, especially with you. I’ll change for riding and
be out soon.”

He turned from the door and headed
back down the porch steps. On his way to the barn, he saw Adam
carrying Harriett’s basket while Harriett talked to him in low
tones. He wondered what the other siblings were like. It was
apparent to him that Harriett and Adam were more serious than Rose
and Eli. He’d seen Isaac, the oldest brother, but only briefly
because Isaac’s wife and their four children insisted on listening
to him play when they came out a couple weeks ago. Rachel was in
Montana with her own family. From what he’d seen of Jacob in the
mercantile, he’d seemed happy, too.

Kent surmised that Rose took after her
Uncle Joel the most, given her uncle’s tendency to joke around
while he checked on his wounds. And there was some of her father in
her. Harriett and Adam seemed to take more after their
mother.

Turning his attention back to Harriett
and Adam, he asked, “Is your father busy in there?” He gestured to
the barn.

“
He and Eli are getting
ready to build a fence for the cattle he just bought. I’ll be
joining them in a minute,” Adam replied.

“
Is it a good time to talk
to him or should I wait?”

He shrugged. “You can talk to him
now.”

Harriett’s eyebrows rose. “Are you
going to seek his permission to marry Rose?”

“
I want to court her first,
but my intention is to marry her,” Kent replied and took a deep
breath to calm his nerves. “Do you have any advice on how I should
ask?”

“
Just tell him the truth.”
She paused then added, “What is the truth? Adam and I can’t
understand why you want to be with her all of the
sudden.”

After all the nice things they’d done
for him, he figured the least he could do was let them know why he
had a change of heart. “I thought I was going to marry someone a
few years back, but she ended up with someone else. When I saw Rose
eating by herself, I realized she would rather spend the rest of
her life alone than be with another man. It’s not often you find
someone who’ll give up everyone else to be with you.”

“
No, it’s not,” Harriett
softly said.

“
If nothing else can be
said about Rose, she is loyal to those she loves,” Adam added then
chuckled. “But if she knew all she had to do was eat a lunch by
herself, it would have saved her a lot of plotting.”

Harriett laughed. “And us a lot of
headache.”