and Lawson seemed doubtful.
Everett hummed thoughtfully. “In that case, I’d like to find out just how long it’s taking them to get started. Where’s the local land office?”
“If you don’t mind me tagging along,” Lawson offered, “I’ll take you there myself.”
Ellie waved the men on saying, “We’ll meet y’all at the mercantile.”
As the men left, Adelaide’s gaze snapped to Ellie’s sparkling green eyes. “Ellie, I couldn’t. Things didn’t end well between Chris and me. He wouldn’t want to see me.”
Ellie tilted her head as her gaze slid between Adelaide and the mercantile several times. Finally the woman shrugged. “It seems to me, the question isn’t would he want to see you, but...” Ellie placed her elbows on the table and leaned forward before lowering her voice. “Do you want to see him?”
Adelaide wavered. “Well, maybe...just a glimpse. A glimpse—simply out of curiosity...”
It only took a few moments for them to formulate their plan. Ellie would go into the mercantile and lure Chris over to the display window. Adelaide would catch a glimpse of him as she oh-so-casually and undetectably walked past. Afterwards, she’d just keep on walking right to the train station where Ellie would tell Everett to find her.
There was hardly any risk involved. There was nothing to be nervous about. There was no reason to examine why seeing Chris had become so important to her.
Adelaide waited until she saw a flicker of movement in the display window. Heart pounding in her chest, she strolled toward it. She stole a quick glance, only to accidentally catch the unmistakably kind gaze of Olan Johansen. Chris’s father froze. Recognition flared in his eyes. He leaned forward and knocked on the glass as if he didn’t already have her attention.
She realized she’d stopped in her tracks. Panicking, she started to turn one way then the other before realizing it would be incredibly rude not to acknowledge the man. She did so with a smile and a minuscule wave. He grinned, then beckoned her inside.
Her eyes widened. She shook her head. Still smiling, she began to back away muttering, “Oh, no. Oh, no. No. No. No. I am not going in there.”
The man left the window an instant before he stepped onto the sidewalk. He was saying something, but all she could do was stare at the mercantile door, which somehow got ever closer. She was speaking now, responding automatically to whatever he’d said. “Yes, it’s wonderful to see you, too. I’m surprised myself. I wasn’t planning to be here. Oh, doesn’t the store look wonderful? You’ve rearranged things, haven’t you?”
“Chris!” She winced as Mr. Johansen’s bellow echoed through the large store. “Chris, come here. Chris!”
Adelaide backed up a step as everyone but Chris gathered around to see what the commotion was about. Finally, Chris eased through the crowd with Ellie at his heels. He was just as tall as she remembered, but he’d filled out in muscle—a man now, instead of the boy she remembered. He moved with a sense of purpose and confidence that a less sensible woman might find downright intoxicating. His hair had grown out a little but it still reminded her of spun gold. His fingers raked it away from the worry that wrinkled his brow as his blue gaze landed on his father with a mixture of confusion and concern. “What is it, Pa? Are you all right? What’s happened?”
“I’m better than all right. Look who’s finally here.” Olan caught her hand and lifted it, pulling her a step forward. Adelaide barely held back a groan. All she’d wanted was a glimpse of Chris. Instead, she was getting a whole lot of trouble.
Chris’s gaze continued to search his father’s for any indication that he was in pain or short of breath. Olan hated the worry his heart condition added to the family. This wouldn’t be the first time he’d tried to downplay one his heart episodes with a distraction. Olan was flushed, but it only seemed to be with excitement, so Chris reluctantly allowed his attention to be drawn elsewhere.
It landed on the woman standing just in front of his father. A hat dipped low over her right eye. Yet it did little to hide the perfection of her slightly turned-up nose, the rosy blush racing across her high cheekbones or the sweet curves of her bow-shaped lips. She was beautiful. She was familiar. She was achingly familiar.
He caught her chin, tilted her face upward and got lost in her light green eyes. “Adelaide.”
A fleeting smile touched her lips. “Hello, Chris.”
Silence filled the air. He released her. His words came out as more of a growl than a greeting. “What are you doing here?”
Olan slapped Chris’s back just hard enough to knock some sense into him. “Son, is that any way to greet your fiancée?”
Time slowed. Chris saw Adelaide turn toward his father. He knew exactly what was going to happen. The truth was going to come out. He could almost see the disbelief, the shock, the disappointment on his father’s face. His imagination went even further until he saw Olan’s face whiten, his hand covering his heart as he sank to his knees in pain. Chris couldn’t let that happen. Instinctively, Chris reached for Adelaide. He caught her by the arms, tugged her toward his chest, then stifled whatever she’d been planning to say with a quick, ardent kiss.
All it took was one slow blink of her long lashes for the dazed look in her eyes to change to pure fire. She opened her mouth to say something rude and incriminating so he kissed her again—gently this time. For a second he feared she’d pull away. Instead, she responded hesitantly by lifting her chin. Her fingers tentatively touched the nape of his neck, then slid into his hair. Suddenly, he was the one who was distracted. It wasn’t just by her kiss, either. It was the wisp of a dream that came with it, the vision of what could have been if she hadn’t rejected him.
But she had—soundly and irrevocably with little explanation and no warning. He’d do well to remember that.
His father clamped a hand on Chris’s shoulder, no doubt to remind him that they had a store filled with gaping customers. “Why don’t you two take a walk and sort some things out?”
By “some things” Chris was certain Olan meant a wedding date. In response, Chris gave a quick wave and a nod on the way to the front door. He didn’t have time to do anything else because Adelaide wasn’t going to stay quiet for long. He barely managed to tug her outside, then into the nearby alley beside the mercantile, before she whirled and punched him in the shoulder. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”
He winced more at her yelling than the blow. Realizing they needed a bit more distance from the street for privacy’s sake, he grabbed her hand and dragged her around to the back of the building. Placing his hands on the wall beside her waist, he caged her in and waited for the lambasting to stop. She’d lost her hat and a few tendrils of her auburn hair had tumbled loose to gleam in the sunlight. She distracted him from the temptation to smooth them back into place by pushing at his chest. It didn’t move him an inch. Her eyes flashed in frustration. “What were you thinking?”
Realizing she’d finally taken a breath, he tilted his head and lifted a brow. “You know, all of this indignation would be a lot more convincing if you hadn’t kissed me back.”
She froze. A blush suffused her cheeks.
