Why would he? They'd only met once, and that only briefly. In the wake of Tommy's humiliation, she'd shored up her every defense. She wouldn't be embarrassed again.
She wished that when she'd issued the invitation to church, she'd remembered her friend Maribelle's wedding after the service ended. She'd agreed to stand up with Maribelle two weeks ago when her friend had asked her.
As Breanna stood at the front of the church beside her best friend, she couldn't help but be aware of the tall, dark-haired stranger sitting in the back of the sanctuary. Hehadshown up after all. Apparently the thought of seven brothers wasn't enough to scare him off.
How did the one-room church compare to the cathedral he was probably used to? Ma had made the family tour one with soaring ceilings and stained glass when they'd visited Philadelphia. Breanna had been in awe. It was nothing like the tiny Bear Creek wooden building. Or the people who filled it, dressed in their country best.
Would Adam think she'd made herself look pretty for him, in her Sunday dress and with her hair pulled up in a twist behind her head? She hadn't. She'd done it for Maribelle. She'd never chosen to pretty herself up for a man. She’d certainly never willingly wear this dress, with its itchy collar that felt like it was choking her.
Mama was staring at her. Had she fidgeted? The preacher had promised this ceremony would only take a few minutes, but it felt like she'd been standing up here for hours.
Because of Adam's eyes on her, not because of her usual growling stomach that wanted Sunday lunch.
Focus. When she was small, how many times had Ma had to repeat the admonition? More times than Breanna could count.
Maribelle was staring into the eyes of her groom, a shopkeeper from two towns over. Most of Breanna's other friends had already married. Only Cecilia and Breanna were left. Emma, Fran's younger sister, who’d lived on the ranch, had gone back East with her brother Daniel.
One of these days, Cecilia would find a match, and Breanna would be the only unmarried girl left. An old maid.
I came for you. I can't seem to forget you.
Breanna's face heated. He couldn't have meant it. She'd met him for all of fifteen minutes, three years ago. He was rich. She'd been able to tell back then, just by his fancy clothes. And the beautiful horse he'd owned.
She'd bested him in a race. And forgotten she'd even mentioned her hometown.
It was a ridiculous thought, believing he'd come here for her. She’d thought of him and the horse race maybe twice in the years since it had happened.
Someone like him would never—could never—be a match for someone like her. She was rural, he was big city. Her family was secure, big as it was. But he wasrich. The fact that he'd dressed so he looked like a mail-order-catalog-on-foot proved it.
She would never fit into his high society world. She'd proved that already.
She was jarred from her wandering thoughts when the preacher pronounced Maribelle and her groom husband and wife. Breanna’s family and the other townsfolk started filing out of the church building.
She hugged Maribelle and wished her the best and then left her friend with her new husband, because Adam had disappeared along with her family.
Outside, the afternoon sunlight seemed harsh. Wagons and horses were moving in the churchyard. Beyond that, the land opened up to prairie. Where had Adam gone?
There. He was talking to Pa, both men standing tall and handsome near the family wagon. Oscar and his brood, minus Cecilia, were loading up in their wagon, and Breanna couldn't help but notice her oldest brother's sharp looks toward the interloper.
Her brother Walt, a ten-year-old who sometimes acted like the grandpa he was named for, sidled up to her. "Who's that talking to Pa?"
Her face flushed, but she didn't answer her little brother.
She was on her way over there—to rescue Adam or to join in, she couldn't say—when someone stepped into her path. Tommy.
The heat in her face went right to her temper. She tamped it down. They were in the churchyard, after all, practically surrounded by her family.
The young man twirled his hat between his hands. "You never answered me yesterday. About the picnic."
Over his shoulder, she could see Pa talking and Adam nodding. What were they saying? She should be over there, not blocked by Tommy.
"I think your joke's run its course, don't you?" She tried to skirt around him, but he snagged her wrist.
She glared at him, and he instantly let go, but he didn't back off.
"I wasn't joking yesterday," he said. "When I asked you."
"Then your intellect isn't as developed as the rest of you," she said tartly. "Do you think I'd want to accompany someone who'd play a trick like that? Dougie could've injured Buster's mouth."
