Page 35 of More than Words Can Say

He stared hard at her. “So?”

“So?” She jerked away from the wall, fire lighting her eyes. “So? You may not care what people think of you, but you’re a man. Your life isn’t dictated by the opinions of others. If word gets out about these photographs, my friends will turn their backs on me. Decent men will scorn my company, and indecent ones will proposition me like that fellow in the alley. I will be gossiped about and looked down upon. No one will ask me into their homes or trust me to watch their children. I’ll be a pariah.” Tears moistened her eyes. “And because of her relation to me, Abigail will suffer as well. The bakery will suffer. People won’t patronize the shop of a woman with an immoral sister. They’d view it as a contamination of their standards.”

“You won’t be a pariah. Or a contamination. Not to the people who matter.”

For the first time since meeting Rosalind Kemp, the truth of her youth hit him square between the eyes. Evie had instigated a few similarly dramatic scenes during her teen years, certain the world was going to end. But it never did. The world kept spinning, and she kept putting one foot in front of the other until things improved. Granted, Rosalind’s situation had a little more kick to it than anything Evie had faced, but his sister had dealt with ostracism too, thanks to close-minded people judging her by her mismatched eyes instead of her character. He’d borne witness to Evie’s pain and understood what Rosalind stood to lose.

Zach put a hand on her shoulder. “No matter what happens with the bakery, I’ll take care of you and your sister.”

She twisted away from his touch. “That’s not enough! I want a future. And without my reputation, I won’t have one.” Clapping her arms against her sides, she turned her back on him.

“So we build you a new one.”

Rosalind cast a disbelieving look over her shoulder. “As if that’s possible.”

Zach took a step in her direction. “Why not? We could move to a new town where no one knows us. Maybe even a new state.”

She shook her head. “Abigail would never leave the bakery.”

If the worst came to be, she might not have a choice. “Your sister is good enough at what she does to be successful anywhere. And if forced to choose between you or the bakery, she’d choose you every time.”

“But she shouldn’t have to choose!” Rosalind spun to face him, cheeks red and eyes flashing. “Don’t you see? It’s not fair for her to pay for my mistake. I won’t let her!”

“Well, we’ll just have to pray it doesn’t come to that, then, won’t we?” Zach crossed his arms over his chest.

He had no satisfactory answer to her problem, and he hated that. Hated not being able to fix things for her. He couldn’t just smash his fist into the photographer’s jaw like he had the fellow in the alley. He didn’t even know where the scoundrel was. And with Rosalind’s signature on that paper, he had no legal high ground, either.

“Look, Rosie, we can’t control the future. All we can do is deal with the present. And right now, your reputation is intact, so frettin’ about what could happen does you no good. What might do you some good, though, is learning how to handle yourself should any other fella try to lay hands on you.”

A spark of interest flared in her gaze, clearing away the foggy hopelessness that had been dulling the blue of her eyes. “You’ll teach me?”

“Yep.”

Thank God for something he could actually do. He was about as good at using words to soothe female worries as he was at walking on water. But fighting? That he could do. After scrapping his way through the majority of his life, he had enough experience to make her a prize-winning bare-knuckle brawler if she wanted.

“Taught my sister,” he said, making no effort to disguise the pride in his voice. “Figure I can teach you too.”

“When can we start?”

Zach fought off a grin. He didn’t want her to think he was laughing at her. In truth, he was downright impressed by this newfound gumption. She was gonna need plenty of that to face whatever trouble came from those picture cards.

“Tomorrow. Noon. Meet me at the field behind the church. Should be a private enough spot for a few lessons.”

“Thank you, Zach,” she said as she jumped forward and flung her arms around his neck.

Unprepared for such an attack, he froze. With his arms still crossed in front of him, he couldn’t exactly hug her back. And while she was family, it just didn’t feel right to hold another female close when he and Abigail still had distance to navigate between them.

Thankfully, Rosalind released him nearly as quickly as she’d grabbed him. A smile on her face, she opened the stall door and swept out into the heart of the stable. Whisking up the market basket, she waved her fingers at him. “Until tomorrow.”

Well, actually she’d see him tonight at home, but he didn’t correct her. Just nodded as she traipsed away, chin high, her world no longer facing imminent collapse.

Too bad his own world felt a little shaky. He’d just made a date with the wrong sister.

CHAPTER

19

“Are you sure one loaf will be enough, Mrs. Putnam?” Abigail smiled at the tiny gray-haired lady carefully wrapping a bread cloth around the sourdough loaf Abigail had just given her. “You’re the last stop of the day, and I still have this pair of rolls that will go to waste if you don’t claim them.” She tilted her basket so the rolls tumbled toward the side closest to her friend.