As he made his way to find Emma and his sister, Coltonwas troubled by what had just happened. He’d never considered that a man might show interest in Rosie. She was quite pretty with her petite frame and dark brown eyes. He could understand a man being attracted to her looks. It posed yet another set of problems. The men outnumbered the women in Cheyenne, just as they did in Texas. It wouldn’t surprise him at all to find a collection of suitors vying for not only Emma’s attention but Rosie’s as well.
He should have known by the way Robert had acted at the dinner they’d shared that first night in Cheyenne. He was very observant of Emma and Rosie, but especially Rosie. Colton had been too tired to see that the man’s interest had been more than polite tolerance.
I won’t let him take advantage of Rosie. She won’t recognize his toying with her emotions—doing whatever he can in order to take liberties with her.But alongside these thoughts came ribbons of guilt. Wasn’t he here to take advantage of Emma? He cared about her—had lost his heart to her when he’d first met her. All of that was true, but his brothers had also sent him on a mission to win her hand in order to safeguard the family interests.
“You look upset,” Emma said as he rejoined her and Rosie.
“Did you have a talk with Rob?” Rosie asked. “I told Emma that he’s going to help me learn to read.”
Emma met his gaze. Her brow raised slightly. “Perhaps it would be best to talk about it later ... after lunch. Rosie and I made you something special. An apple pie. We baked it after the cookies you seemed to so enjoy last night.”
Colton did his best to put on a smile. “If the two of you made it, I know I’ll enjoy it. Let’s go home. I’m starving.”
10
“All right, it’s been several days since Sunday, and you’re still under a black cloud.” Emma fixed Colton with a look she hoped was that of a concerned friend. “Tell me what’s bothering you so much.”
Rosie had gone outside to gather the laundry from the lines. She was all excited because Emma had been teaching her to iron, and she wanted to show Colton how good she was at doing the job.
“I don’t know what you mean.”
They had finished with lunch and now sat rather leisurely in the front room. Emma shook her head. “You’ve been out of sorts since church. Did you not like it? Was there some reason you took offense?”
“Church was fine. In fact, I found it to be better than I expected. The sermon wasn’t all focused on hell and what terrible sinners we are. Honestly, I don’t know how a Christian is supposed to find any happiness at all with that hanging over his head.”
“But if they accept Jesus as Savior, they don’t have that hanging over their heads.” Emma gave him a smile. “I knowfrom things Tommy and you have both said that your mother was a godly woman. Surely she taught you about the joy of the Lord as well as the consequences of sin.”
“Ha! You told me yourself that you didn’t want to be a Christian because you were convinced they never had any fun or happiness.”
“But I was a child when I believed that.”
“You weren’t a child when you married my brother, and you still thought that way. The only reason you changed your mind was a fear of dying.”
Emma tilted her head slightly to the right and glanced at the ceiling. “I suppose that’s true. I’m certainly not proud of believing that way. But I’m not too prideful to admit that I was wrong. My thoughts were selfish and self-serving. I wanted to live a life without rules or restrictions.”
“And you no longer want that?”
Colton’s question surprised Emma. She lowered her gaze to meet his. “I suppose there will always be a part of me that desires adventure and a good time versus a bad one. Rosie and I were talking just the other day about how we’d like to see London and the palace where the queen lives. We’d like to see some of the ancient wonders in Rome too.”
His expression softened. “I didn’t know that.”
“I often read to Rosie, as you know. We were reading in Romans just the other day, and both of us thought it would be wondrous fun to visit Rome and see the things the apostle Paul would have seen, walk where he walked.”
“I think a trip to Rome would be a great adventure.”
“Would you want to come with us? That would be wonderful!” Emma couldn’t contain her excitement. “Just imagine all the places we could visit. We could read about them first and figure out where all we wanted to go.”
“Slow down, Emma. I only said that it sounded like a great adventure.”
“I know. And I know that you aren’t one for having fun, but think of Rosie. She would be absolutely over the moon.”
Colton’s frown momentarily silenced her. Had she made him feel bad?
“I’m sorry, Colton. I didn’t mean to suggest you never want to have fun. It’s just I know from Tommy and my own observations that you are very cautious and diligent about your life.”
“Cautious and diligent. Hmm. Not much of a recommendation.”
“Unless you’re a doctor tending to the sick or a diplomat fending off war. Goodness, Colton. Those are admirable traits, and you are an admirable man. I’ve thought highly of you since I first met you, in part, for those very things.”
