Frontier Courtship by Valerie Hansen

McClain.”
    “Hush. I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t use my name.”
    “Why not?”
    Connell shot a glance at the empty portion of the seat beside her. “Your sister isn’t with you?”
    “Not at present. You haven’t answered my question.”
    “May I come aboard?”
    “No! I told you, I’m perfectly able.” She heard him mutter a string of epithets that reminded her of her father’s mood just prior to his leaving for the gold fields. Before she could protest further, Connell had urged his horse closer and stepped off onto the wagon seat as easily as if he did it every day.
    His presence crowded more than her body. Her senses were full of him: his earthiness, the scent of the soap he’d obviously applied so liberally while at the fort. And his strength! Oh, my! He exuded the power, the controlled force of someone who knew his extraordinary capabilities and took care to harness them as long as he deemed necessary.
    To her relief and surprise, he didn’t try to wrest the lines from her. Still, she ordered, “Get out of my wagon.”
    “No.”
    “It’s not fitting for you to be here or to talk to me that way.”
    He lowered his voice. “If I’d come to court you, Miss Beal, you’d be right. But I have no such intentions. I’m here to speak to you man-to-man…as much as possible. So please keep your voice down and try to look relaxed.”
    Staring ahead, he propped one booted foot up near the brake and laced his fingers together around his knee. “You’re going to hire me.”
    “I’m what? ” Faith’s voice squeaked. She was still struggling to digest his odd suggestion that they speak man-to-man.
    Connell laid a finger across his lips. “Shush. Some of Tucker’s people might hear you.”
    “What if they do? I have no intention of hiring anyone. I already made that quite clear.”
    “I know, I know. You’re a regular mule skinner. Fine. Say that’s true. Who’s going to spell you along the way? Your sister?”
    Faith pulled a face. “You know better.”
    “Ab or Stuart, then?”
    She scowled over at him. “How do you know them?”
    “I get around.”
    “They used to help me out. The last time Tucker beat poor Ben, I stood up to him and caused him to lose face, so now he doesn’t want either of them to come near me. This morning, Ab helped me harness up and the captain flogged him across the shoulders for his trouble.”
    “Nice fella.”
    Faith couldn’t help agreeing with the sarcastic observation. “I wish my sister didn’t really believe that.”
    Taking off his hat, Connell ran his fingers through his thick hair to comb it back. “That’s the only part that’s got me buffaloed.”
    “What does?” She was so caught up in their strange conversation she was almost able to forget the shooting pain in her side every time the wagon hit a rut or bounced over a depression.
    “Mrs. Morse tells me Tucker’s been acting interested in your sister. I can’t figure out why. Not that she isn’t a pretty little thing.”
    Faith kept her familiar twinge of sibling rivalry to herself. For as long as she could remember, people had remarked how lovely her younger sister was.
    “Charity is comely,” she said.
    “So’s a butterfly, but men don’t go around courting them. No. There’s got to be something else.” He pondered a bit, then shook his head and replaced his hat. “Blamed if I know. From what I’ve heard about Tucker, he only goes after women of considerable means.”
    Faith gasped, nearly dropping the reins. “Oh, no! Why didn’t I think of that?”
    Connell reached over and relieved her of the lines without incurring any protest. “Think of what?”
    “The mining claim.”
    “What claim?”
    Faith shifted her body sideways. She wanted to watch her companion’s expression while revealing the family secret. “Papa’s been gold prospecting. Last we heard, he’d been quite successful. I’ll bet Charity told Tucker. She’s just foolish enough to have spoken out of