Danny’s energetic footsteps crunched through the grass as he met her and fell in step beside her, his red hair blending in perfectly with the sunset colors behind him.
“Dreamin’ again?” he teased gently as he linked her arm in his.
“Always.”
“Good, just don’t tell Ma. We’ve got visitors, and she wants you to come and be polite.” Danny grinned. He knew how much she hated small talk.
Kate wrinkled her nose in distaste. “Have we met them yet?”
“Yep! You remember the Schmidts, who come to services on Sundays? They’ve got five kids.”
“And one of them is a blonde-haired, blue-eyed beauty named Hannah, if I remember correctly.” He just grinned wider. “How is it that every time a pretty girl comes around, you start losin’ your mind?”
He held up his hands in defense. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with enjoyin’ a conversation with a pretty lady.”
She snorted. “Nothin’ indeed.”
The Schmidts and their children were sitting in a haphazard group across from Ma, Pa, and Ian. The firelight glinted on the pale gold hair perfectly replicated on each head of the Schmidt clan. Hannah sat primly next to her mother while her four younger brothers slouched on the ground around her like a pile of puppies.
“Well, here you are, Katherine,” Ma said as she and Danny came up to the fire. “Martha, Heinrich, may I introduce my daughter, Katherine. Katherine, this is Mr. and Mrs. Schmidt.”
“Pleased to meet you,” she murmured.
“And these are their children: Matthew, Luke, John, and Mark.” Ma paused, clearly unable to tell which boy belonged to which name. They did look nearly identical. Remarkable, really. “And this is their daughter, Hannah.”
“Pleased to officially meet you all,” Kate repeated. They all looked at her, expectant. She didn’t know where to look or what to say. If only she possessed the ability to converse with people she didn’t know!
Ma cleared her throat. “Katherine, why don’t you pour some coffee for our guests?”
Kate gratefully turned to the task. The conversation restarted with the men debating how much ground they had covered so far and the women agonizing over the ever-present dust of the trail. The Schmidt boys pulled out a game of marbles. Kate poured a cup of coffee and proffered it to Hannah.
“Thank you ever so much!” Hannah took the cup eagerly, her blue eyes sparkling. “I absolutely adore coffee! But Mama says it’ll stain my teeth if I drink too much, so I only have it on special occasions, or when we’re visiting.” She took a sip, closed her eyes, and smiled blissfully, sighing in rapturous enjoyment. “Absolutely heavenly! I don’t know how anyone couldn’t love coffee! I have a friend back East who says it tastes like mud. Can you believe it? The only thing that makes coffee better is chocolate. Have you ever tried chocolate? I’ve had it twice in my life. Oh my goodness, it tasted like a dream! I tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve tried it!”
The chatter poured out of Hannah at an alarming rate. Kate had barely opened her mouth to respond to the first question when the second was already asked. She just stood there awkwardly, coffee pot inher hand, mouth half open to respond, waiting for Hannah to finally take a breath.
“Ain’t lived ’til you tried what?” Danny sidled up to Hannah and plopped down on the grass beside her, giving her one of his roguish, lopsided grins. Hannah blushed demurely and looked at him from under her long lashes, just exactly like she’d done with Jacob the other night after services. Kate rolled her eyes. At least now she didn’t have to bother about making conversation.
Hannah cleared her throat daintily and replied, “We were discussing the merits of chocolate, Mr. McGrath.”
“Oh please, call me Danny,” he said, charm oozing out of his pores. “And I’d rather have a dance with you than all the chocolate in the world.” Kate rolled her eyes again. He didn’t even notice.
Hannah tittered and patted her golden curls. “Why thank you, Danny, for such a, uh, forward compliment.”
“Well, Kate? What do you say?”
Kate looked up, startled to be included in one of her brother’s attempts to charm the prettiest girl around. “What do I say about what?”
“Why don’t you get your fiddle, and we’ll have a dance!”
“Oh, I don’t know Danny, it’s been so long—”
“Oh, please, Kate,” Hannah jumped in, “I do so love to dance!”
Pa called from across the fire, “Did someone mention dancin’?”
“Yessir!” Danny replied before Kate could protest. “Kate’s just gettin’ the fiddle!”
“No, Danny, please!” Kate whispered fiercely, but the idea had already caught, and everyone started putting things away to make room around the fire. Kate felt a moment of pure fury. To be forced to play in front of strangers when she hadn’t played in weeks, all because Danny wanted to flirt with some girl! She glared at her twin. He only winked back, and she threw up her hands in resignation and stalked over to the wagon.
