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He chuckled. “Let’s just say there were mixed responses to my announcements regarding this past week.

Many came up to tell me how glad they were that I’d found Evan, but I heard a few sniffs of disapproval when I said you were my housekeeper.

” He sounded faintly apologetic. “I wasn’t sure how else to explain it. ”

“That’s fine.” Housekeeper? Was that all she was? How else would she explain her present situation? Wife in waiting? Prospective wife on trial? She shrugged. All that mattered was what happened in what was left of four weeks. “Dinner is ready.”

“Smells good. I’ll change and be right back.”

She wanted to tell him to keep wearing the black suit.

It looked good on him. But, of course, he wanted to keep it in pristine condition.

She hurried to the kitchen and set the table.

As she prepared to serve the hot pot, he returned wearing an off-white collarless shirt in a fabric that looked so soft she wished she could touch it.

Realizing she stared at the poor man, she waved him toward the table. “The meal is on.” She’d previously filled a bowl for Evan so it could cool.

Grandfather eased himself out of his soft chair and hobbled to the table.

She watched him anxiously. When he was seated, she glanced at Hugh. She let him see her concern and found strength in the way he held her gaze so steadily.

After he’d asked the blessing and the food had been served, she turned to Grandfather. “Tell me what Hugh said.”

“You want the whole sermon?” Grandfather said with a huge dose of disbelief.

“Mostly, I want to know what he said about Evan and me.”

Grandfather shrugged. “Didn’t say a whole lot.”

She leaned closer. “He said something. I want to know what.”

“So ask him.”

She turned to Hugh, though she would have liked to hear how Grandfather viewed Hugh’s remarks. “I’m asking.”

He flashed a quick smile. “I just gave the facts that I’d located Evan and he hadn’t been treated well and lived in fear.

I said I hoped to find an older woman who would settle for a businesslike marriage, but in the meantime, you and your grandfather were living here, and you were taking care of Evan. ”

“Thanks.” She wondered if he caught the edge of sarcasm in that one word and then gave her attention to her meal. He certainly never left any room for possibilities in what he’d said.

He spoke again. “By the way, your friend Miss Morrison asked after you. I said she was welcome to visit you anytime. I understood she would come by today.”

Her mood improved greatly at the news of Carly’s visit.

Grandfather groaned. “You two get together, and there is always some kind of mischief.”

“I beg to differ. We just like to have a little fun.”

“Uh-huh. Well, let me tell you.” He spoke to Hugh. “There was the time Annie and Carly?—”

“Grandfather, please.” There had been a few foolish episodes.

She didn’t want Hugh to know of them. “We’ve both grown up since those early days.

” She couldn’t look at Hugh. Didn’t want to see his expression.

One, she felt certain, that would be full of disapproval.

Why did Grandfather want to tell about those things and not all the caring, helpful things she’d done for the family?

She jumped up. She had the perfect way to make him remember the good and forget the not-so-good.

“I made that cinnamon coffee cake you like so much.”

Grandfather perked right up. “You’re a girl after my own heart. You’d do any man proud.”

That was more like it. She served generous slices for everyone and only when she put the dessert in front of Hugh did she finally allow herself to meet his gaze.

He watched her with measured study.

She gave him look for look but felt like she encountered a brick wall. He’d shut himself off to her. Her insides curled inward. Had the progress of the last four days been lost because of a teasing comment by her grandfather?

She bent over her own dessert, suddenly unable to think of anything to say.

A knock came to the back door. She was about to answer it, but this was Hugh’s house and she sat back and waited for him to do so. He rose and opened the door.

“Is Annie here?”

Annie jumped up. “Carly. Am I ever glad to see you.” She hugged her friend. “Have you eaten? Would you like to join us for dessert?”

Carly sniffed. “Cinnamon cake?”

“Good guess.”

Carly laughed. “Your famous coffee cake, if I’m not mistaken.”

So overjoyed to see her friend that she couldn’t stop grinning or hold back the happy laughter, Annie drew Carly toward the table.

Hugh brought in another chair from the living room and put it beside Grandfather.

Carly thanked him and then turned to Grandfather. “Hello, Mr. Marshall.” She winked at Annie.

Annie recognized the teasing tone and waited for the reaction.

“Hello to you, Miss Morrison.”

“Miss Morrison, is it? I thought we knew each other better than that.”

“I’ll use your name when you stop calling me Mr. Marshall.”

Carly laughed and gave the older man a sideways hug. “You know you’re my favorite grandfather even if I have to borrow you from Annie. Sometimes, I don’t think she deserves you.”

Annie laughed. She liked Carly’s teasing. It took away the sting of Hugh saying he wished he could find someone else. “Grandfather knows he’s well off to have me for his granddaughter.”

Carly just shrugged. “I don’t mind sharing with you.”

Both Hugh and Grandfather chuckled.

Annie tried to think if Hugh laughed at anything she said and couldn’t remember at the moment.

“And who is this handsome young fellow in the corner?” Carly asked.

“My son, Evan,” Hugh said, obviously pleased by her comment.

It wasn’t as if Annie hadn’t showered affection on the boy. She sighed. And why was she being so critical? Just because of a careless remark from Hugh?

They finished their dessert. Grandfather moved to his chair.

Hugh leaned back, suddenly relaxed. “Is there any more coffee?”

“I’ll make some.” She did so and served him a cupful. Grandfather refused one.

“As soon as the dishes are done, I have a project,” she told Carly.

Carly pretended to pout. “Do I have to help with dishes?”

“Of course not. You can sit and watch me do them.”

Carly laughed hard, and Annie joined her. They would never sit and watch the other work.

Carly spoke for both when she said, “I would as soon walk barefoot outside on a day like this as sit by and not help you when you need it.”

Annie wondered if Carly’s words should serve as a warning. It was comforting as well as frightening to think how she’d need Carly in four weeks if Hugh chose a different woman.

He wouldn’t, she vowed. He’d see he couldn’t do better. And she would keep her heart tightly wrapped so if he did, she would not leave a portion of it behind.

Evan watched them with wide-eyed wonder. He ducked his head as soon as he realized Annie looked at him. She shifted her attention to Hugh. Why did he seem so attentive? As if seeking for reasons to find fault.

She smiled gently. Silently promising he wouldn’t find any cause to disapprove.

She knew many saw her and Carly as wild simply because Carly often wore trousers and rode as hard as any man.

Little did they know how hard she worked to keep the Morrison ranch going.

As to the riding, well, Annie knew how much fun it was to race a horse at a full gallop and feel the wind in her ears, tugging her hair into a mane to match the horse’s.

No one thought it risky or unseeming when her brothers did the same thing.

She and Carly washed the dishes while she mused about her life. “Hugh, will you watch Evan while Carly and I do something?”

“He’s my son. Of course, I’ll watch him.” He looked at Evan. “Maybe I’ll read to him.”

Annie stared at the look that crossed Evan’s face as if Hugh’s suggestion was unwelcome. “Have you read to him before?”

“Read to him yesterday.”

“What did you read?”

He glanced away as if greatly interested in the view out the window. She knew he only meant to avoid looking at her.

He cleared his throat. “I might have read him my sermon.”

She stared openmouthed.

Carly whooped and then covered her mouth, trying to stifle her amusement.

Annie shook her head. Had she heard wrong? “You read him your sermon?”

He nodded, his gaze still on the window.

Amusement rushed unbridled from her, and she chuckled. She looked at Carly, and they both laughed, not even trying to hide the fact.

Hugh finally brought his gaze to her, his look full of self-mockery.

She sobered instantly as their gazes collided.

Something grabbed her heart in a grip as firm and secure as—she remembered being very young and having a hard time staying upright on an icy path.

Her pa had taken her hand and held her so she wouldn’t fall.

That’s how her heart felt. She knew she would have to analyze this thought further.

Safe and secure—wasn’t that what she wanted in the marriage she hoped to gain?

Safe and secure without the risk of her heart being involved.

And yet, even without falling in love, it was her heart that responded.

“It was a very nice sermon,” Carly said, her voice round with laughter.

He looked sheepish, his gaze never leaving Annie’s. “But not for a four-year-old?”

Carly pretended to look thoughtful. “I’m just guessing here, but I’m thinking many of the concepts would have been over his head.”

He grinned. “Not to mention that even at thirty minutes, it’s a long time for a child to concentrate.”

Annie told herself to look away from his smile, the deep grooves in his cheeks, the brown eyes so dark she could lose herself in them.

Carly nudged her. “Didn’t you say you had something for us to do?”

“Of course. Come to my room.” She led the way.

“Something to do besides stare at the man,” Carly said half under her breath as soon as they were out of earshot of the kitchen.

“I wasn’t staring!”

“And my name isn’t Carly Morrison.”

Annie knew better than to get involved with one of Carly’s teasing arguments.

Carly had a good look around her bedroom. Picked up the picture of Annie’s parents. “It looks to me like you’ve moved right in.”

“I intend to stay, and I’m getting just a little tired of telling everyone that. Hugh advertised for a woman to marry him and provide a mother for Evan, and here I am.”

“I’m guessing you aren’t what he had in mind.”

Her friend’s assessment stung. “Why do you say that?”

Carly shrugged and pretended to look disinterested. “It would seem to me that a man who wants a marriage that doesn’t involve love would do better to find some old maid who is willing to settle for anything. That isn’t you.” She gave Annie a direct look. “You need to stop running from love.”

Annie shook her head. “I’m not running from anything.”

Carly flopped on the bed. “So you say, but Annie, I see the way you two look at each other. If you don’t want to fall in love with the man, I suggest you pack your bags and return to the ranch this very afternoon.”

“I am not going to fall in love.” She ground out each word.

Carly shrugged. “I promise not to say I told you so.” She sprang to her feet. “Now, what is this project?”

Annie gladly changed the subject. “I want to make a dog.”

Carly hooted. “I don’t think you have that ability.”

“A stuffed dog.” She told about Spot and how she hoped Evan would learn some lessons from the stories she made up.

“I have some fabric here. I don’t know why I even packed it, except it was in my drawer at the ranch.

” It was white flannel and would do quite nicely.

The girls cut and fashioned a dog with a brown spot over one of its black button eyes and stuffed it with some rags Annie had found in one of the kitchen cupboards.

They laughed a lot as they worked, making the dog do silly things.

“You really care about Evan, don’t you?”

Annie nodded. “My heart goes out to him. Can you imagine losing your mother and not having a father to show you a little compassion?”

Both of them had lost their mothers and knew the uncertainty it brought.

Carly shook her head. “Poor little tyke. I hope he’ll be okay.” They paused to listen to Hugh’s deep-voiced rumble coming from the kitchen.

Carly gave Annie a troubled look. “I hope you’ll be okay too.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because you are already half in love with Hugh. He says he’d like to find an older woman. A spinster. If he does and you have to leave, I fear you will be terribly hurt.”

Annie shook her head hard, decisively. “I have no intention of falling in love. But I will prove to him that I’m the perfect woman for his need.”

And if she felt a shadow of doubt concerning either of those statements, she wasn’t about to admit it. Besides, she knew better than to put her heart at risk.