Was Sarah watching? She was, and pretending not to care, he noticed with amusement.
The Englishman turned his back to them, just as his bride had done to the ladies. “Good luck, gentlemen!” he cried. “Who’ll be the next lucky groom?”
Nolan dared a wink at Sarah, but before he could see her reaction, Nick Brookfield tossed the garter. It flew through the air, and Nolan launched himself upward as the tiny missile flew straight and true as if the groom had been aiming it precisely at him.
And perhaps he had. Brookfield met his gaze and grinned as Nolan waved the bit of ribbon and lace above everyone’s heads as they applauded and clapped him on the back.
“Thanks,” Nolan murmured, handing the garter back to Brookfield, who returned it to his blushing bride before turning back to him.
“Don’t mention it, old fellow. And don’t give up. Sarah’s a good woman—I think you’ll find she’ll be worth a bit of persistence on your part.”
Nolan’s eyes sought and found Sarah, who was watching him with an unreadable expression on her face. Then she turned away, pretending a great interest in something her sister was saying to her.
It means nothing, Sarah told herself. She wasn’t a believer in omens, so there was no significance to Nolan Walker catching the garter as she had the bouquet. It was all just part of the traditional tomfoolery at weddings. Catching the bouquet or garter guaranteed nothing. Anyone could see that Caroline Wallace and Pete Collier would be the next bride and groom, despite not winning those prizes.
At the opposite end of the room, the fiddlers were tuning up for the dancing. She supposed she would have to dance with the cursed Yankee, if only to spare herself the scene that might follow if she refused.
The first dance, of course, was the bride and groom’s dance, and the musicians struck up a waltz. Sarah forgot all about the Yankee while watching Nicholas Brookfield, her new brother-in-law, whirl her sister ever so gracefully across the floor as if they had been dancing together all their lives.
They were so perfect for each other, she thought, seeing the loving way Nick gazed down at her sister, and she up at him as if no one else existed in the universe. She felt the sting of tears in her eyes. She remembered how he had only had eyes for Milly from the first day he had arrived. Lord, please grant them a long and happy life together, and lots of children.
She felt a twinge of aching sadness, too. Milly’s happiness also meant changes for Sarah’s life. It would never again be Milly and Sarah, two sisters alone against the world. Milly now had a husband to tell her deepest hopes and secrets to. Please, Lord, if You see fit, find me a husband, too, a good man who also loves You. I know that if it’s Your will for me to marry, You’ll send a man who’s neither a liar nor a Yankee!
Almost against her will, her eyes searched the hall for Nolan Walker, but she didn’t see him. Had he left? Good, she thought fiercely. She could relax and enjoy herself if she knew he wasn’t here to plague her any more.
Then someone tapped her on the shoulder. She started, giving an involuntary cry that came out soundng remarkably like a mouse’s squeak, thinking Dr. Walker had managed to circle his way around to her without her noticing his approach and was now claiming his dance. But it was only Edward, Viscount Greyshaw. “Oh, I do beg your pardon, Miss Sarah,” he said, looking as startled by her reaction as she felt. “I—I didn’t mean to take you unaware. It’s time for us to join in, I believe,” he said, nodding toward the pair still waltzing in the middle of the hall.
“O-of course,” she said, giving a weak laugh. “I didn’t mean to jump. I’m afraid I was so intent on watching my sister and your brother dance, I didn’t see you coming.”
“They do make a handsome couple, don’t they?”
Fitting her gloved hand to his, she joined him on the floor, thankful that she had lately practiced with Nick and could give a competent accounting of herself. It would not do to tread on a lord’s feet.
In a few moments, Caroline Wallace and her counterpart among the groomsmen, Richard Brookfield, joined them in their waltzing, and then Prissy and old Josh, the foreman of their ranch. They certainly made an odd couple, the old cowboy and the young, vivacious Prissy, and Sarah knew that old Josh would have rather faced a horde of Comanches again than be dancing in a fancy frock coat. But Nick had become like a son to him, so he’d been honored when Nick and Milly had asked him to be in the wedding. Sarah saw him laughing at something Prissy had just said, and figured Prissy’s lively chatter was keeping Josh’s self-consciousness at bay.
A Virginia reel followed next. Lord Edward remained with her, remarking, “You know, we call this one ‘Roger de Coverley’ at home.” He was a good dancer, and so was his younger brother, Richard, who claimed her for the Schottische which followed. He drew back when a square dance was called after that, though, unfamiliar with the American dance. Josh came to Sarah’s side and asked her to partner him.
Sarah had seen Dr. Walker in the crowd during the waltz, and when the band struck up the reel, she saw him ask Jane Jeffries, one of the Spinsters who had been widowed by the war, to dance. To Sarah’s surprise, Jane accepted, a smile lighting her usually somber face. Didn’t she know that Dr. Walker had served in the same army responsible for her husband’s death?
Nolan sat out the Schottische, taking a chair next to Maude Harkey, another of the Spinsters. Maude wasn’t dancing tonight, for she still wore deep mourning for the death of her father, Dr. Harkey. How did Maude feel, speaking to the man who had taken her father’s place as town physician? Yet she seemed pleased that Dr. Walker had sat down with her.
How kind of him to keep Maude company since she can’t dance tonight, a voice within Sarah whispered, but Sarah firmly squelched it. He probably just feels guilty that he’s the town doctor only because her father died.
Sarah was even more surprised to see him up again when the square dancing began, partnering Faith Bennett. Well, aren’t you the ladies’ man? The spiteful thought distracted her and caused her to stumble in the “Allemande left” the caller announced.
Pay attention to your steps, Sarah. Did you expect him to gaze longingly at you until he finally gathers his courage to claim his dance? Of course she wasn’t jealous, she told herself. One wasn’t jealous over someone one didn’t want. His behavior just proved he was a liar and a deceiver—a typical Yankee, in short!
Chapter Three
The lead fiddler announced the last dance of the night, a waltz. After this, Milly and Nick would go to the hotel for the night, and the guests would all disperse to their homes.
By this time, Sarah’s nerves were raw, expecting at the beginning of every dance that Dr. Walker would come to claim her, but so far he hadn’t. She had not lacked for partners, for someone else always asked her, but dancing with others did not mean she avoided him. Every dance but the waltz meant being passed to other dancers for at least a few seconds. Still, Dr. Walker had seemed intent on charming every woman in town except her.
Once, he had even managed to get Mrs. Detwiler up on the floor, and the older lady had clearly enjoyed it, though she was red faced and out of breath by the end of it. Sarah saw him fetching her punch while she sat and fanned herself. Sarah wouldn’t have minded spending some time in a chair herself, being fetched a cool drink, for her feet were aching from all the dancing and her hair had long since fallen from its elegant knot.
Now, though, she felt a kinship with the gazelle
