She looked away, off toward where the town sat, miles from here. “But you don’t want to marry me.”
Her words sliced into his heart. And right then, he knew with absolute certainty, that she was wrong.
Hedidwant to marry her.
Swallowing to press back the emotion that welled up in his throat, Matthew took a moment before he spoke. “You’re incorrect. I would very much like you to be my wife.”
Her eyes found his then, and she tilted her head as if she were trying to suss out the truth. “I fear you’re only saying that out of duty. You wanted a wife like Miss Timperman, and I was going to help you find one.”
Matthew shook his head. “I didn’tknowMiss Timperman, aside from what she told me in letters. And when it came time, she changed her mind without a word to me. So, no, I don’t want Miss Timperman.”
Sophia took a step toward him, those brown eyes searching his and gently prying her hand from his own. “Then whatdoyou want?”
His breath hitched in his throat.You. But the word stuck there like the pit from a cherry. “I . . . I want someone courageous. Joyful. Unafraid of challenges or hard times. Kind and caring. Smart. Generous. Honest.” He paused, looking for some sign in her expression that showed she was changing her mind.
“I believe you want a woman who doesn’t truly exist. No one is that perfect, Matthew.” Her voice skittered across him like a leaf on the wind.
He shook his head, rubbing his temple. “That isn’t what I meant. I know that. What I was trying to say was that I believe you fit all of those qualities—most of the time.” He added a little smile, hoping to lighten the moment.
She smiled too, but it was fleeting. “This isn’t necessary. I could take the train to another town. Go where no one knows me or what happened.”
“Do you wish to keep that journey we took a secret forever?” He paused. “And do you wish to be alone? Here, you have me and my family, the girls you’ve met at the boarding house. I can introduce you to other ladies at the church.”
Sophia’s lips pushed together again, and he knew he was getting somewhere. The breeze kicked the little strands of hair around her face into a dance, and she pushed them away impatiently. “I hadn’t planned to marry immediately.”
It sounded as if she wanted to say more, so he waited. But when she didn’t speak again, he realized what might be bothering her. “I understand. Please know I’m not the sort of man to push anything on you that you aren’t ready for. We can pretend as if this is the mail-order arrangement I’d counted on.”
Her cheeks went a pleasing shade of pink. He was so close to having her say yes.
“And while I may not be the handsomest man around, I imagine I’m a sight better looking than that fellow who was pestering you in Kansas City.”
That did it. Her reticence gave way, and she laughed, the joy he’d come to love seeing upon her face back again.
“You are that, indeed,” she said, her voice breathy from the laughter. She turned then, her eyes tracing the land, from the rise of the hills in the distance to the mountains far to the east to the graceful line of the grasses leading the way south before she found him again. “Would we live here?”
His heart warmed at her obvious appreciation for this land he loved so much. “Yes, as soon as I could get a house built. In the meantime, my parents have room—unless you’d prefer to take up a room in the hotel—”
Sophia shook her head. “No, it would take so much longer to accumulate the funds needed to build if we did that.”
And again he marveled at her practicality. Not many women would have been willing to live in such an arrangement. “Does this mean you’re saying yes?”
Her lips curved into a smile. “Yes. I’m saying yes.”
Matthew let out a shout and threw his arms around her waist. He lifted her just barely off the ground and swung her around. Sophia laughed, and when he set her down, he let his hands remain in place on her waist.
She looked up at him with a hesitant reverence. As if she still wasn’t entirely certain about this marriage.
And right then and there, Matthew vowed he’d prove to her that she wouldn’t regret it.
