“Please wait just a moment,” he said.
Her skin, covered though it was by the sleeve of her dress, warmed under his grip. She swallowed, trying to wrest her attention away from the unfamiliar feeling, and nodded.
Mr. Harris glanced down and let go quickly. He cleared his throat and took a step backward. “I plan to take my brother’s place on this land,” he said, his voice oddly stiff and formal. “I want to finish the work Lucas started, purchase some cattle, and turn this into a ranch anyone would be proud to call theirs.” His voice grew gravelly as he spoke his brother’s name.
Jolie smiled, glad to hear that this beautiful place wouldn’t be abandoned, and that Mr. Harris would call it home. Despite her own worries, it was reassuring to know that he would remain here. Perhaps once she’d arrived in New York, she could close her eyes from time to time and imagine what the ranch looked like as he improved it.
“I am so happy to hear that,” she said.
He smiled then, and some of the formality fell away. “I’m glad you approve. I have a . . . Well, there is something I ought to do—to ask you, I mean.”
Jolie waited. Would he offer to pay her fare back East? It was too much, especially for a man trying to build up a ranch. If he offered, she would decline. Surely there was some sort of work she could do in Crest Stone to pay for a boardinghouse room and save for her return journey.
“I won’t take your money,” she said softly when he didn’t continue.
He blinked at her. “Money?”
“For my fare to New York. You need everything you have to build this place up.” She gestured at the half-finished barn. “It will take me time, but I can work, and I can save my own funds.”
He shook his head, even as he smiled. “I like that about you, very much, Miss Taylor. That you’re capable and able to adapt to your situation.”
“Oh.” Jolie was taken aback by the unexpected compliment. “Thank you.”
“And that’s why . . .” He took off his hat and tapped it against his leg. “Well, I have an obligation to see things through for—for my brother. And that includes you.”
His gaze held her in place, intense brown eyes that seemed to see through to her very soul. Jolie’s mind was a haze of confused thoughts. What did he mean? “I’m sorry, I don’t understand. If you aren’t offering to pay my fare, then—”
“I wish to marry you, Miss Taylor.” He said the words in a rush, his eyes still holding hers.
“Oh!” she breathed out.
A marriage proposal was not atallwhat she’d expected.
Chapter Six
Cade’shopefelllikea boulder from a mountain.
What was he thinking? Of course she wouldn’t agree to marry him. She’d been expecting Lucas, his smart, formidable older brother who’d always had a better way with the ladies than Cade ever had. Miss Taylor was far too pretty, too smart herself, too cultured for a man like him.
He was on the verge of taking it back, salvaging some shred of his pride, when she spoke.
“That is a very kind offer, Mr. Harris,” she said in that soft voice that was somehow still layered with an inner strength. “And I see how you might think I am your obligation—”
He cringed at her use of the word. “I didn’t mean it in that way. Only that . . .” He trailed off, searching for the right word. He owed this to Lucas, to do the right thing by Miss Taylor. He pushed aside the ever-present pain at the mere thought of his brother’s name. He was doing the right thing, offering to marry Miss Taylor in Lucas’s stead. He was absolutely certain of that.
“You wouldn’t be considering marriage if I hadn’t landed at your figurative doorstep, prepared to wed your brother?”
His breath caught at her abrupt description of the situation. But she gave him a little smile, and he relaxed. “Yes,” he admitted. “But please rest assured that I see you as more than an obligation.”
She watched him a moment, her smile dipping as she fell into thought.
“I need help out here,” he went on. “And companionship would be nice. We get along, don’t you think?”
“We do,” she said.
Cade pressed his lips together, trying to find some other way to convince her. It wasn’t just that he felt he owed this to his brother. He couldn’t stand the thought of her living alone in town, finding some sort of drudgery for work only to barely scrape together enough pennies for room and board. Besides, he hadn’t much relished the thought of working alone out here. And, truth be told, he was quite taken with her.
“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” he asked. Even if he’d never imagined himself taking on a wife in this way.
