just behind the indigo depths of her eyes.
“I know I forgot to tell you about Aunt Etta in my letter.” She smiled as if her secret would somehow delight him. “I hope there’ll be no problem with room?”
Colt thought, Hell yes, there’s a problem with room. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the likes of you, much less an aunt! Instead he shook his head as if brushing away a slight obstacle. “I don’t think it will be a problem,” he lied as he turned to the aunt and raised his finger to touch the brim of his hat. “Ma’am.”
The older woman smiled as if she’d just walked into the middle of a play and suddenly discovered she was one of the actors. “Call me Aunt Etta. Everyone does.” She lifted a small box that looked as disheveled from the trip as she was. “I brought the children some valentine candy. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind, ma’am.” Colt couldn’t imagine himself ever calling her aunt anything, but he managed to nod respectfully. “In my ad for a tutor I assumed it would be a male, or a female who’d board my children at her home somewhere out of Indian country. Not a female coming here to Texas. The fort is not an easy place for a woman to live.”
“I understand.” Again he saw the challenge in her gaze. “Do you wish to terminate my employment?” Joanna asked.
Colt hesitated. He both admired and resented her directness. In a man he’d have expected it, but in a woman it was a little unsettling. “I suppose we could try it for a month.”
Joanna nodded once in agreement. “Today is January fifteenth. If either you or I are not satisfied, my aunt and I will be on a return train one month from today.”
“The day after Valentine’s Day,” Aunt Etta said more to herself than anyone around.
“February fifteenth,” Colt agreed. He could ask for no fairer proposal. Though unsure of how to deal with these women under his command, he figured he’d manage. “If you’ll show me your luggage, I’ll load for the fort right away. You’ll be riding with Sergeant Abe Buckles.” Colt would have liked to load them back on the train, but somehow the idea of having them stay didn’t seem as bad as having to face his three children alone. It had taken him three months to get one reply for help and he didn’t plan on waiting another three months for some other tutor to answer his ad.
“We have our luggage,” Joanna answered as she pointed at the two small carpetbags beside her.
Colt lifted the bags, suddenly very intrigued by these two women. He’d never known a lady to travel anywhere without a trunk. “This way.” He moved toward the line of wagons getting supplies for the fort from the train.
As they waited for the wagons to be loaded he studied this new tutor carefully. Joanna Whiddon wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but she fascinated him. She had hair the color of spring sunshine and eyes the cold blue of an ice storm in winter, which softened with laughter when she looked at her aunt. She was the kind of woman a man wanted to step out with on Sunday morning, not like most of the women he’d seen in the west, who looked like they’d been cozied up to once too often on Saturday night.
Before he knew what was happening, they were heading toward Fort Griffin. He tried not to think of her as he rode in front of his men, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He wondered if he’d ever see laughter in her gaze when she looked at him. When she saw the fort, he was much more likely to see fire.
* * *
The January wind was dry, blowing cold against Joanna’s face as the wagons crawled slowly west. Rolling brown land, broken only occasionally by a scattering of trees, spread across what seemed to be an endless horizon. For the first time since she’d left home, she wondered if she’d done the right thing. When her father had declared that she was to be married, she hadn’t had much time to contemplate her decision. But
“I know I forgot to tell you about Aunt Etta in my letter.” She smiled as if her secret would somehow delight him. “I hope there’ll be no problem with room?”
Colt thought, Hell yes, there’s a problem with room. I don’t know what I’m going to do with the likes of you, much less an aunt! Instead he shook his head as if brushing away a slight obstacle. “I don’t think it will be a problem,” he lied as he turned to the aunt and raised his finger to touch the brim of his hat. “Ma’am.”
The older woman smiled as if she’d just walked into the middle of a play and suddenly discovered she was one of the actors. “Call me Aunt Etta. Everyone does.” She lifted a small box that looked as disheveled from the trip as she was. “I brought the children some valentine candy. I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind, ma’am.” Colt couldn’t imagine himself ever calling her aunt anything, but he managed to nod respectfully. “In my ad for a tutor I assumed it would be a male, or a female who’d board my children at her home somewhere out of Indian country. Not a female coming here to Texas. The fort is not an easy place for a woman to live.”
“I understand.” Again he saw the challenge in her gaze. “Do you wish to terminate my employment?” Joanna asked.
Colt hesitated. He both admired and resented her directness. In a man he’d have expected it, but in a woman it was a little unsettling. “I suppose we could try it for a month.”
Joanna nodded once in agreement. “Today is January fifteenth. If either you or I are not satisfied, my aunt and I will be on a return train one month from today.”
“The day after Valentine’s Day,” Aunt Etta said more to herself than anyone around.
“February fifteenth,” Colt agreed. He could ask for no fairer proposal. Though unsure of how to deal with these women under his command, he figured he’d manage. “If you’ll show me your luggage, I’ll load for the fort right away. You’ll be riding with Sergeant Abe Buckles.” Colt would have liked to load them back on the train, but somehow the idea of having them stay didn’t seem as bad as having to face his three children alone. It had taken him three months to get one reply for help and he didn’t plan on waiting another three months for some other tutor to answer his ad.
“We have our luggage,” Joanna answered as she pointed at the two small carpetbags beside her.
Colt lifted the bags, suddenly very intrigued by these two women. He’d never known a lady to travel anywhere without a trunk. “This way.” He moved toward the line of wagons getting supplies for the fort from the train.
As they waited for the wagons to be loaded he studied this new tutor carefully. Joanna Whiddon wasn’t the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, but she fascinated him. She had hair the color of spring sunshine and eyes the cold blue of an ice storm in winter, which softened with laughter when she looked at her aunt. She was the kind of woman a man wanted to step out with on Sunday morning, not like most of the women he’d seen in the west, who looked like they’d been cozied up to once too often on Saturday night.
Before he knew what was happening, they were heading toward Fort Griffin. He tried not to think of her as he rode in front of his men, but he couldn’t get her out of his mind. He wondered if he’d ever see laughter in her gaze when she looked at him. When she saw the fort, he was much more likely to see fire.
* * *
The January wind was dry, blowing cold against Joanna’s face as the wagons crawled slowly west. Rolling brown land, broken only occasionally by a scattering of trees, spread across what seemed to be an endless horizon. For the first time since she’d left home, she wondered if she’d done the right thing. When her father had declared that she was to be married, she hadn’t had much time to contemplate her decision. But
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