She didn't wait for the horse to come to a complete stop before she kicked one leg over the saddle and slid to the ground. The momentum pushed her toward the knot of boys, and they scattered.
But not quickly enough.
She grabbed hold of Dougie's collar and, even though he was several inches taller than she, she shook him good. "Touch my horse again, and you'll be missing fingers."
His face went pale even as several of the others laughed and jeered. He shoved a wad of crumpled bills into her hand, and she let him push away.
She ignored the rest of them. Twice as much Tommy when he rode back and dismounted, talking in a low voice to the other boys.
Boys. That's what they were. Playing pranks like little children. Cheating.
What did that make her? She'd been the one unable to walk away from the bet.
She strode back to the gelding and had to pretend her hands weren't trembling as she worked to right his bridle.
Stupid.
She wasn't sure whether she meant the boys or herself. She blew a chunk of hair out of her too-warm face.
"I thought I'd have to do some searching to find you."
She looked up as someone jumped from the train platform.
A man. Unfamiliar. But wait. He was wearing a sharp pair of trousers and a tailored vest. Duds like that cost a pretty penny. He tugged off his bowler hat and held it in his hand.
His blue eyes were sharp and betrayed his interest as his gaze swept over her.
She was instantly conscious of the wrinkles in her split riding skirt, the dust covering her boots, the kerchief askew at her neck, and the way her windblown hair was coming out of its braid.
Had she really considered Tommy handsome? He wasn't, not compared to this fine specimen of a man.Thiswas handsome.
Who was he?
And then her memories clicked into place. This was someone from a time she didn't want to remember. Her disastrous trip to Philadelphia. She'd been fifteen and determined to meet her birth family. It hadn't gone well.
She'd been walking through a fancy Philly park with Cecilia when she'd inserted herself into a horse race against him. Though back then, he'd been three years younger and not so... intimidating.
Adam Cartwright.
"That was a fine display of riding." His words were complimentary, but his gaze was so intense that she couldn't hold it. Was he being sincere?Girls don't race. Her pride was already in tatters at Tommy's humiliation.
"Thank you." Her mind raced faster than Buster had moments ago. She was aware of the town boys still clustered nearby. Who else was watching from the train platform or one of the storefronts nearby?
Flustered and suddenly hot, she bent and grabbed the brown-wrapped packages for Ma that she'd stashed near the platform. She began to tie them off behind the gelding's saddle. She didn't want Adam Cartwright to know how he was making her feel. She didn't even really know herself.
Her discomfort made her voice cool. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to meet the illustrious White family."
She fumbled and dropped one of the parcels.
He knelt in the dirt in his fancy duds, scooped it up, and offered it to her with a hint of a smile, as if he knew something she didn't.
And that made her temper spark.
Adam had beensubject to his mother's matchmaking machinations for long enough to recognize the spark of attraction that Breanna White was too fresh-faced to hide.
With the flush across her cheeks and wisps of blond hair escaping her braid, she was just as pretty as he remembered. Maybe more. Her reaction to him made him want to grin, but he knew that would be a mistake.
