“The woman who raised me after Mother and Father were killed.She’s Joshua’s wife.You remember him from yesterday?”
He nodded, then reached for the broad-brimmed, black Stetson hanging by the door.“Someone else’s cooking sounds good to me.”When Casey moved toward their bedroom, he paused.“Aren’t you coming, or don’t you eat with the hired help?”
She spun, and there was no mistaking the anger in her voice.
“Don’tever, and I mean,ever, refer to Tilly or Joshua as servants again.Do you understand?”
Surprised by her vehemence, his estimation of her went up a notch.“Yes, ma’am, I believe that I do.”
Again, Casey realized she’d overreacted.He must be as off center as she felt.“Sorry.I didn’t mean…”
“Easy now.”
Her stomach tied itself into a little knot.If only he’d quit saying those words in those tones.
“I am easy,” she said, and then groaned beneath her breath as a grin spread across his face.“Don’t say it,” she muttered.“You know what I meant.”
“Casey.”
A little nervous about what he would say next, she couldn’t have been more surprised by what came out.
“Don’t ever apologize for having a good heart.”
After witnessing the dangerous side of him last night, his gentleness was the last thing she would have expected.
“Was that a compliment?”she asked.
He ignored her.“Hurry up and get dressed.I’m starving.”
“Feel free to go on ahead.Tilly will be glad to…”
“No.”
“No?”
“I’ll wait for you,” he said.
She inhaled sharply, and then shut the bedroom door behind her as she went inside.Her hands were shaking as she sorted through the closet for something to wear.
I’ll wait for you.
His promise was echoing inside her head as she brushed and zipped and buttoned.Putting on makeup was even more difficult because she found herself looking through tears, but she refused to let them fall.She wasn’t going to let that man get to her, not in any way.
* * *
Erica sauntered into the downstairs kitchen just as Tilly was dishing up the eggs.
“What’s taking so long this morning?”Erica grumbled, picking a strip of hot, crisp bacon from the platter and crunching it between her teeth.
“Get on out of my kitchen,” Tilly said.“Everything is right on time and you know it.”
Erica hated this woman’s uppity manner, and at the same time, respected her authority just enough not to argue.
“It’s not your kitchen,” Erica grumbled, taking one last piece of bacon with her as she started out of the room.
“It’s not yours, either,” Tilly said sharply, and banged a spoon on the side of the pan to punctuate her remark.
Erica glared.And then the back door opened and she forgot what she’d been about to say.She forgot she was chewing, or that she was holding her next bite in her hand.All she could do was stare—right past her sister to the man behind her.Almost choking, she managed to swallow, then dropped the other piece of bacon back onto the platter.
