fill a growing boy.”
“How old are you, Roy?”
“Ten. But I can do a man’s work. I work over at the livery barn. Mr. Peterson gives me a place to sleep in exchange for cleaning the barn and seeing the horses have feed and water.” The words came out in a rush as if Roy needed Wade to understand his value.
“Where’s your ma and pa?”
Roy’s expression grew indifferent. “Ain’t got none.”
A rattle at the doorknob pulled their attention to the Dry Creek dining room. Lucy stepped out with a plate piled halfway to the roof. “Hettie said there were lots of leftovers today. You’ll get a good feed tonight.” She ruffled Roy’s hair and beamed at him. “I see you washed up.”
Roy had his face buried in the food but spared her a pained look. “’Course I did. What you think I am? A…a…?” He couldn’t seem to find a fitting word and tilted his head in Wade’s direction instead. “Who’s he?”
Lucy jerked back, finally realizing his presence. Her expression grew a whole lot less welcoming. “What are you doing here?”
Wade snatched off his hat. “Ma’am, I just want to talk to you.”
“I think you already said all I want to hear.”
“What’s he want?” Roy spoke around a mouth crammed with food.
“Don’t talk with your mouth full. He’s nobody. Just another cowboy. I see hundreds of them.”
Roy wisely ignored her comment and continued shoveling in food but his eyes darted from Lucy to Wade.
“All I ask is that you allow me to explain the whole thing.” Once she knew how desperate the situation was, she’d surely agree to visit the ranch.
Roy paused from inhaling food. “You got no one to take you to the recitation tonight. He could take you.”
At the look Lucy gave Roy, Wade wondered if the boy would have singe marks.
“I don’t need an escort.”
Roy shrugged. “You said you don’t like walking home alone after dark.”
“You must have misunderstood me.”
Roy stopped chewing. He looked like she’d personally called him a liar. Like her approval of him meant more than the food itself. The boy scraped the last of the food into his mouth and ran his tongue over the plate. Well, maybe not more than food. But he was obviously hurt by Lucy’s remark.
Lucy saw it, too. Her expression flicked toward regret. “I’ll be fine, Roy. Don’t you worry about me.”
Wade saw his chances of Lucy agreeing to accompany him slipping away. “This here recitation—it’s like a meeting thing?”
“Lucy has a poem to say.” Roy sounded as proud as a papa.
“It’s the literary society.” Lucy’s tone made it plain that a cowboy wouldn’t enjoy such.
“I like recitations.” A lifetime ago he’d hovered behind a half-closed door and listened to recitations and music playing in the drawing room of the house where his ma worked. “I’d like to go if it’s open to cowboys.”
She didn’t miss his mocking tone and looked slightly regretful.
“Go with him,” Roy urged. “Ain’t you the one to always say a person shouldn’t be afraid to take a chance now and then?”
Lucy closed her eyes and sighed deeply. “Roy, do you write down everything I say and commit it to memory to quote at the most awkward moments?”
Roy got that hurt look again but Lucy smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder.
“You’ll go?”
“Of course I’ll go. I’m going to recite.”
Roy shook his head. “I mean with him.”
Lucy studied Roy a long moment. “I don’t see why it’s so important to you.”
“I want you to be safe.”
Lucy ruffled his hair. “For you, I’ll do it.” She faced Wade, an expression of pure stubbornness on her face. “On one condition.” She waited for him to accept.
“Can’t hardly agree to something when I don’t know what it is.”
“You promise not to talk about my father.”
He swallowed, weighing his options. His primary reason for wanting to go to the event had been to explain why Lucy must visit her father. But a pack of other reasons overtook that one. It had been a lifetime or two since he’d heard poetry. He imagined Lucy speaking with the laughter in her voice that she seemed to reserve for everyone but him. But poetry and a musical voice mattered not. He had to convince Lucy to visit her father. Perhaps if he bided his time, she would get curious and ask after Scout.
“Deal.” Yes, he’d promised not to talk about her father. He hadn’t, however, promised not to talk about himself.
Chapter Two
Wade couldn’t help but stare at Lucy. When he’d first seen her, serving in the dining room, she’d worn a black skirt, a white top and a crisp white apron with frills along the edges. Her hair had been up in a tight bun although bits of it had come loose. She now wore a dark pink dress with a wide pink ribbon around her tiny waist. A few more strands of hair had also fallen loose from her bun. She looked very pretty. Like some kind of candy.
Wade glanced down at his trousers, suddenly aware he might not be fit to attend a literary society function. But having gained Lucy’s agreement to let him accompany her, he wasn’t about to let his lack of Sunday-go-to-meeting clothes hinder him.
She tilted her head in the direction they were to go.
He whistled for Two Bit to follow, nodded goodbye to Roy and fell in at Lucy’s side.
She waited until they turned from the alley into the street before she spoke. “I’m only doing this for Roy.”
Her words were so unnecessary he couldn’t help but laugh. “And all this time I thought it was my irresistible charm. You sure do know how to cut a man down to size.”
She looked vaguely troubled by his comment. “I got no need of a man.”
“I ain’t offering to marry you.”
“That’s not what I meant. I meant I don’t need a man to escort me to the recitation.”
“I still ain’t offering.” He had been alone for a long time. Preferred it that way.
They reached the schoolroom that apparently served as home to the literary society and crowded inside with the others. All the windows had been shoved up and the doors at both ends propped open to let in air. Still, the place was like
