And she hoped the preacher would be gone, too.
Noon came, and Courtney returned to the hotel and went into their large dining room for lunch. She quickly found a table and sat. Although the place looked busy, a server came to her table within five minutes. Courtney ordered the soup of the day and a slice of homemade bread with jam. She also ordered some tea.
After the server left, Courtney cautiously glanced around at the other patrons. It was difficult to keep her eyes downcast, only because she was bored of doing that. Besides, studying people would help keep her mind busy while waiting for her food to arrive. The day wasn’t passing nearly fast enough, and she was running out of things to do.
Suddenly, her gaze connected with a man sitting by himself at a corner table. When recognition struck, she wanted to look away, but his charming smile and green eyes captivated her from across the room. She quickly gave him a polite nod before quickly resting her gaze back on her table, which was where it should have been this whole time.
Her heartbeat quickened, and she hoped she hadn’t given him the wrong impression. This was not the time to become friendly with a man – or anyone, for that matter.
Time seemed to tick by slowly as she waited for her food. Her nerves were on edge, and she tapped her foot against the table leg. It was difficult to relax now, and her mind spun with things she’d say if he came over. It was too late to tell him she didn’t speak English, especially since they talked inside the store. And he probably heard she was a widow, especially since the woman who’d been talking to her had a loud voice.
Finally, her food arrived, and she breathed a sigh of relief that the man hadn’t come over to talk. She hadn’t looked his way and didn’t plan to, but she hoped he had already left by now.
She found herself rushing through her meal, even if she didn’t want to. All she could think about was hurrying up to her room and locking herself inside until it was time to check the telegraph office. Even at that time, she considered dressing as a boy so as not to be noticed.
Once she was finished with her meal, she left money on the table and quickly stood. Keeping her gaze to the floor, she hurried out of the dining area and toward the stairs. As she passed through the lobby, she heard one of the hotel clerks calling a familiar name. She stopped and froze. She held her breath as she listened for the name again, not sure if she had heard correctly.
“Mr. Graham.”
She gasped and placed her hand to her mouth. What were the odds that the boy was calling her soon-to-be husband? No, that couldn’t be correct. There must be more than one person with that surname.
Cautiously, she glanced around the room until she saw the adolescent boy holding up a chalkboard with Mr. Graham’s name written across. The boy called out again, and immediately,that manwalked out of the dining area and stopped the boy.
Oh, heavens!It was the green-eyed man with the charming dimple.
She couldn’t catch her breath, but she watched closely and listened to him talk to the boy.
“I’m Mr. Graham,” the man said, pointing to the chalkboard sign.
“Oh, you have a telegram.”
The man gave the boy a coin before he took the telegram and opened it. Courtney didn’t move as she watched his gaze wander over the page. Finally, he sighed and folded the page. A pleasant smile touched his mouth, and her heart leaped.
She needed to find out if that man was indeed, Timothy Graham – or related somehow. The quicker she could get out of this town, the better.
So then why didn’t her feet move to take her toward that man?
Once again, her nerves began to quake, and her stomach churned with indecision. This was it. She needed to decide about her futurenow. If she didn’t make herself known to him and present herself as the mail-order-bride, she would be on the run for a long time, always wondering if the sheriff of Helena had somehow found proof that made them think she was Albert’s killer. Although she knew there wasn’t any proof, since she was innocent, that didn’t mean they wouldn’t still point fingers at her.
Yet... if Courtney walked across the floor and introduced herself – and if he was really Timothy Graham – she would convince him that she would make a wonderful wife and mother to his children. Once she did that, all of her problems would be taken care of.
She took a deep breath for courage and walked toward him, keeping her eye on the target now. When he noticed her, his eyes widened, and his bright smile returned.
“We meet again,” he said, moving toward her.
“Yes.” They both came to a stop together. “I suppose we are destined to be introduced.”
He chuckled lightly. “That’s exactly what I was thinking.” He held out his right hand. “I’m Mr. Graham.”
“Are you Mr.TimothyGraham?”
“Tim? Oh, no. That’s my older brother. I’m Denton Graham.” The man grinned.
Disappointment filled her chest that he wasn’t Timothy, but at least she knew he was related and would soon be her brother-in-law.
Putting on her best smile, she slipped her hand into his. “I’m Miss—” she quickly stopped herself before sayingMills, “Parker. I am the woman who answered your brother’s ad for a mail-order bride.”
He blinked in shock. “Youare Courtney Parker?”
