For the most part Lewt had no idea what she was laughing at . . . the volume just hit him at hurricane force every now and then.
Rose circled the table a few times and asked if he needed anything, but she didn’t put her hand on his shoulder while she talked as she did when she stopped behind Boyd and Davis.
When the meal was finished and the others moved in to sing around the piano, Lewt slipped out onto the porch. He didn’t care if he froze; he needed silence.
He had it for about a minute before he realized someone else was on the long porch.
Em. She sat sideways in a cushioned porch swing, her long legs filling the seat.
Lewt walked up, stared down at her boots on the cushion, and waited.
With a grumble, she moved her feet and sat up straight.
He didn’t bother to speak to her. He just sat down in the swing next to her and began to rock back and forth.
She ignored him, as if hoping he’d go away without noticing her, for as long as she could, then finally turned to him and said, “How’s the courting doing?”
Lewt chewed up the first dozen words he thought of saying and finally said, “When I came here, I thought I might have a hard time picking the girl I wanted. When I saw them, I figured it would be almost impossible to pick out which one was the prettiest. They were all grand. No matter which one I chose, any would make me a grand wife.”
“So,” Em cut in. “What’s your problem, cowboy?”
He glared at her, thinking the cowboy comment was probably her idea of a joke. On the dark porch he could barely make out her face, but he didn’t have to see. He knew she was laughing at him.
“The problem is—” He pushed hard, almost swinging them off the porch. When the swing settled, he finished. “It never occurred to me that they might not want me.”
“Not one?”
He didn’t like the way she asked. It sounded like she’d suspected the possibility all along.
He had a feeling Em was just playing him. “Oh, two of the ladies in there just love me. They won’t stop talking to me. You could say they fought for my attention all through dinner.”
“So, what’s your problem?”
“The two were Mrs. Allender and Mrs. Watson.”
Em laughed. Not just a kind laugh to show she was following his troubles, but a falling-over, holding-her-ribs laugh. She laughed so hard she shook their seat.
When she finally settled enough that they could continue swinging, he said, “You think my heartbreak is funny?”
“You’re not heartbroken. You’ve spent more time looking at the McMurray girls’ assets than you have at their eyes.”
“Damn it! I’m pouring out my troubles to you and you’re making fun of me. You’re the one person on the ranch, apparently, who knows even less about courting than I do, and here I am telling my problem to you.”
She seemed to take pity on him. “Oh, come on, you must have met many a girl. I bet you know the words to sweet-talk them. Maybe you just haven’t tried. I can’t believe you’re giving up after two days. Turn their heads with words. You must know how.”
He stared out at the night. “Not unless you count ‘How much do you charge for the night?’ as sweet talk. That’s about all I usually say to a woman.” He looked into the night, wishing he hadn’t told her that. She’d probably think he visited ladies of the night every chance he got. In truth, he rarely even bought one of the girls a drink in the saloons. He learned early from watching that those kinds of workingwomen value friends far more than customers.
He pushed the swing. “Until now I hadn’t realized how very little I knew about the fairer sex.”
“You’re kidding. Don’t tell me that family of yours never lets you out to go to dances and dinners with proper young ladies.”
“My family’s dead.” Lewt spoke the truth before he thought to stop. Not that it mattered; the girl who took care of the horses wasn’t likely to tell the group inside.
“All of them?”
“All of them,” he said slowly. “They have been for a long time.”
She didn’t say anything for a long while. They just rocked back and forth. He thought she might get up and leave, but she stayed. She probably figured he’d go back inside, but he had no plan to as long as