Chapter 23
No one tried to stop Lily when she left the dinner table to go to bed early.
The looks of relief clearly showed on their faces—and matched the feeling she carried with her. The energy it took to explain what happened had long left her. Best for everyone for the discussion to drop while she took her leave.
A decent night’s sleep, that’s what they all needed. She’d fallen under the Sandman’s spell the moment her head touched the pillow and had slept the entire night through.
Sunshine crept through the divide in the white curtain panels and brushed her cheek. Warm, comforting, and bright, it offered a coziness that she so desperately needed. She basked in the light, holding the glow as close to her heart as possible. It might be the last peaceful moment she had, and she knew it.
She opened one eye and peeked at the other bed. Empty.
So, the trio had already convened. Surely she occupied the central place in their gossipy discussions.
How had her life fallen this low? She should be planning her wedding, not hiding in a tiny bedroom in the middle of nowhere wondering how she’d survive what lay before her.
But survive it, she must. And late in the night, she’d decided that the babe would remain, as well. Disgust that she’d even considered not keeping it washed over her, even as she made excuses to herself about it being better off with a family than a single mother. She brushed it all aside. The day would prove difficult enough—no need to scold herself.
She slid from bed and got herself ready to face what could not be avoided. Her morning routine suffered but she made it downstairs in short order, expecting to find the women assembled and waiting.
Every room sat empty. Tidy, homey—and completely without human occupants.
A wave of uncertainty hit her. Should she look for them?
She found a note on the entry table. They’d all gone to the schoolhouse, and they welcomed her joining them if she wanted.
Well, she didn’t want.
A reprieve from their probing eyes could not be squandered. She grabbed her reticule and headed for the front door. Time to explore Wylder on her own.
She stepped out onto the porch and pulled the door closed behind her.
“Well, exactly the person I hoped to see.” Theo stood beside a wagon stopped beyond the picket fence. In casual dress, he looked almost handsomer than he had in his Sunday best. Something about a man wearing low-slung blue denim pants, boots, and a blue chambray shirt screamed rugged. Add the Stetson he held loosely in one hand and the reins in the other, and her senses were heightened even more. “It must be my lucky day. And you, looking pretty as a June bug on a daffodil.”
Lily walked down the gravel path, past the blooming flowers, smiling. They were pretty but the man’s words made her feel as if she out-bloomed them all.
“And here I thought you weren’t one for that ‘romance’ stuff.”
He feigned surprise, placing a hand over his heart and taking a tiny step backward. “Why, wherever did you get such a notion?”
“From you, just yesterday.”
With a chuckle, he shrugged. “I daresay you’ve got a good memory.”
His lips turned up when he smiled, and when they did that her heart flopped around like a fish on the seashore. A sensation both fabulous and disconcerting, all at once.
“Not always.”
He raised one eyebrow. “Now that makes me nervous.”
She shook her head and tugged on the strings of her reticule before she remembered how unflattering it looked for a woman to fiddle with anything. Her hands went to her sides as she met his gaze.
“No need to be nervous. I only mean that I recall what’s important to me. The rest I forget as quickly as I can.” She didn’t want to appear shallow, so she added, “I mean, why cloud a mind with meaningless details? Keep the essentials and let the rest blow away.”
Theo ran a hand down the neck of the sleek animal that nudged his shoulder. “You are a wise woman, Lily Bloom. Very wise, indeed.”
The praise made something in her belly jump. At least she hoped that’s what did it. She wasn’t mentally prepared to feel the baby move. Not yet. And if the flutter were a prelude to another bout of queasiness… She shook the thought from her head. Best to not even entertain that idea.
Time to change the subject, before he said anything else that either heated her up or made her insides quiver. Both of those reactions were too risky. The last thing she wanted to do—well, better to reduce the chance she’d embarrass herself.
“To what do I owe this pleasant surprise? I certainly didn’t expect to find you here when I came outside.”
He tapped his hat against his thigh and scraped the toe of a boot across the dirt. In that instant he looked like a mischievous schoolboy.
“Well, it’s like this: I kinda hoped I’d run into you, so I moseyed into town to see if I’d spot you out and about.”
She grinned. “So you weren’t sitting outside Violet’s house waiting for me to emerge?”
“Nope. I actually just drove up and figured I’d knock on the door.” He tapped his hat again and shrugged. “I already drove down most of Wylder’s streets, hoping to see you. When I didn’t, I thought you might still be at home.”
“You figured right.” She drew in a deep breath. “Well, now that you’ve found me, what next?”
“I hoped you might agree to come for a ride with me. A longish one, out of town.”
Her curiosity sent a tingle along her nerve endings. “Longish? Like to California?”
When he chuckled again her body warmed. The sound, so deep and masculine, filled her with a desire to hear it more often. As in, all the time.
“Not that long.” He met her gaze and lingered a moment, letting their eyes speak without words. “No, I kind of hoped you’d agree to come out to the homestead for a bit. I’d like to show you that there’s more to Wylder than what you see here in town.”