gone only a few steps when Josh called her name. She turned around.
“The pond is that way,” he said, pointing in the opposite direction.
“I know that,” she insisted, trying to keep him from realizing that not only hadn’t she known where his children were, she didn’t know where she was. “I was heading for the house.”
Josh pushed his hat back on his head. “I don’t suppose you used to be a scout with the army?”
“No, of course not. Why?”
“The house is the other way.” He pointed again.
“Oh.”
Josh gazed down at her for a moment, as if by looking hard he could make her confess the truth. Annie was tempted. Tempted to confess all, beg for forgiveness and a ride back to the house. Instead, she glared right back up at him.
He swung down from his horse and looped the reins around a low branch.
“You shouldn’t come out here with no water,” he said, untying his canteen.
She licked her lips but shook her head. “No, I’m fine. Really.”
“Suit yourself.” Josh leaned his head back, drinking from the canteen. Little rivulets of water trickled down his chin, his throat and under his shirt.
She watched him as long as she could, then gave in. “Well, maybe I’ll have a sip.”
Annie accepted the canteen from Josh. Dry as her throat was, she hesitated. Putting her mouth where Josh’s mouth had been seemed too personal. Almost scandalous. And Annie had never done a scandalous thing in her entire life.
Finally, good sense won out. Annie tipped up the canteen and drank greedily. The water tasted sweet and fresh.
It tasted like Josh, surely.
“You shouldn’t be out on foot like this,” Josh said.
“I had no choice. The children were g—that is, they wanted to play a game.”
He raised an eyebrow again. “Hide-and-seek?”
Annie could have sworn she saw the corner of his lips turn up, but refused to acknowledge the possibility that she was lying.
“Yes, hide-and-seek.”
Annie plopped down in the soft, green grass beneath the tree. A faint breeze stirred the leaves above them and a bird flew over. She gazed out across the fields.
“It’s pretty here,” she said.
Josh grunted. “You’re not much of a farm girl if what you see here is ‘pretty.”’
“I’ve never lived on a farm before, except for these last weeks with my cousin,” Annie admitted. “If you don’t see ‘pretty,’ what do you see?”
He walked over and stood beside her. “Money. Money and hard work.”
“Money from the crops, I guess?”
“Wheat, mostly. We’ll be planting soon.”
“At the end of summer?”
“Winter wheat,” Josh explained. “It develops its root system before the onset of cold weather, and becomes dormant. The plants make vigorous growth in the spring before they’re harvested in early summer. Winter wheat usually gives greater yield than spring wheat.”
“And, therefore, more money?”
He looked at her. “Exactly.”
“And plenty of hard work?”
He nodded. “Always plenty of that.”
“The work seems to suit you.”
Josh looked out over his fields again, then dropped to the ground beside her. “I love this place. I bought the land with money I’d won from a lucky streak of poker, and started farming.”
Annie wanted to ask him how many acres he owned, but didn’t. She didn’t want Josh to think she was interested in his wealth, as so many of the other nannies had been.
“My cousin Angus has lived here a while, I understand. He loves the land, too,” Annie said. “It’s been difficult for my mother to adjust to this place.”
Josh turned to her. “Why’s that?”
Annie stifled a gasp. Why had she mentioned her family? She hadn’t meant to. In fact, the very last thing she wanted to discuss with Josh was her family. She was lucky that he didn’t already know about them…about the scandal.
“She was worried about moving out here, so far from a large town,” Annie explained. “Worried about the Indians.”
Josh shrugged. “We’ve had no trouble with Indians in years. After the war with the Sauks back in ’32, most of them headed west to Washington. A few stayed behind. One of them is my friend, Night Hawk. Besides, there’s a large contingency of soldiers at Fort Tye.”
“My cousin Angus said there was no need to worry,” Annie said. “But my mother, well, she worried anyway. It’s been difficult for her since my father died.”
“They were in love, your mother and father?”
She was a little surprised by his question. “Well, yes, I suppose they were. I mean, they were married for years. Wouldn’t they have been in love?”
Josh grunted and turned away.
“Isn’t that what marriage is all about?” Annie pushed her straw hat off her head and stretched her legs out in front of her. “When I marry it will be for love. Love and passion. Enough to last two lifetimes.”
Josh fell silent for a few moments, so long, in fact, that Annie turned to him. A vacant look had come over his face and she realized how thoughtless her comments were.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything about marriage, with your wife gone.”
Josh shook his head but still wouldn’t look at her. “No, it’s all right.”
“I won’t speak of her again.”
Josh turned to her then. “I don’t mind. Really. I don’t want the children to think they can’t talk about their mother.”
For a man who seemed determined to spend as little time with his children as possible, Annie was surprised to hear Josh say those things.
“Mrs. Flanders speaks highly of your wife,” Annie said.
“Lydia brought Mrs. Flanders with her from Philadelphia when we married.”
“Your wife wasn’t from here?”
Josh glanced down
