“You got it.” He grabbed onto her arm with both hands and tugged.
It took a couple of hard yanks, but she came loose, and he flew back onto his backside with the momentum.
“Oomph.”Miss Briggs fell in a great heap down at his feet, covered in pieces of Mrs. Sidler’s bush. Ellie pushed her hair, which was in disarray, away from her face and stared at him. Then she burst into laughter. “Thank ... you.”
“You’re welcome.” He attempted to stand, and pain in his backside made him go down on one knee. “Ow!” He rubbed the offending part of his body and grimaced.
She covered her mouth, but her laughter only increased. He joined in, and pretty soon, they were laughing so hard, tears streaked down both of their cheeks.
Carter finally calmed and took a deep breath. He found purchase with his feet and kept a hand on his backside. His tailbone was gonna be sore for a while. “You sure you’re all right?” He helped her to stand.
“Oh, other than some scratches and a million pieces of shrubbery attached to me, I believe I’m just fine.” She beganto pick each piece off one at a time. “Thank you for your assistance. That car came out of nowhere! Heavens, I’m used to seeing them in Chicago and the other big cities, but I wasn’t expecting to see one out here in the wilds of Montana. Especially not aimed right for me! They must not understand how to steer yet.”
“You handled yourself just right. If you hadn’t swerved when you did, you’d probably be badly injured.” Who could have been driving one of those contraptions here? Perhaps Ellie was correct, and it was someone learning how to drive. Carter hadn’t taken time to really see who’d been driving. His focus had been on Ellie.
The neighbor children surrounded them.
Eleanor stiffened and blinked several times. “Well, hello there.”
The kids stared. Then the oldest piped up, “Is your bicycle all right?”
“My bike!” She jumped and looked around for it.
But two of the children had already pulled it out of its shrubbery cocoon.
She put a hand to her chest. “It appears to be in working order.” Crouching down, she examined the pedals and wheels. “But I do seem to have a flat tire.” She put her hands on her hips. “Bother.”
“Anna! James! Caroline! Michael! Charlie!” The children’s mother called from her doorway. “It’s time to come inside.”
“Gotta run, Mr. Carter. Thanks for playing tag with us.” Anna squeezed his hand and then ran off with her siblings.
Ellie peered around him as she watched the kids. “I guess it’s a good thing you were out here playing tag. I might nothave been able to extricate myself from that bush without you.” When she glanced at him, her blue eyes shimmered with the remnants of her laughter. “Thank you, again. I truly needed the laughter. It’s been a trying afternoon.”
“You’re welcome.” He cleared his throat. Funny. It seemed she was opening up to him, and he had no idea how to respond. “Why don’t you allow me to walk you back to the Ashburys’ since your tire will need fixing.”
She looked around. “I appreciate it. Especially since it is getting a bit later.”
Carter took charge of the bicycle and wheeled it between the two of them. Neither one of them said anything and the awkward silence grew.
They’d walked two whole blocks before he couldn’t stand it anymore. “I didn’t think you were the silent type.”
“Pardon me?” She turned her face toward him. Little pieces of shrub still stuck out from her hair .
“You just always seem to know what to say.” There. Maybe that was nicer. But it was hard to concentrate on being nice when every step made him wince. Could a man break his tailbone? Or had he done some other sort of damage?
“You know, Mr. Brunswick—”
“Carter.”
“Fine. Carter.” She huffed. “I realized that I was partly responsible for us getting off on the wrong foot. I apologize. I apologized to Gus as well. Neither one of you deserved my irritation. It was rude of me.”
His eyebrows shot up higher than he knew they could reach. “That’s awfully kind of you to apologize, Ellie—”
“Eleanor.”
“Fine...” At least for now. “Eleanor.I believe I owe youan apology as well. It wasn’t right for me to take my frustration out onyou. I wasn’t exactly planning on getting sucker punched that day.”
She stopped and turned toward him. Then she stuck out her hand. “I forgive you.”
