he said those very words to her when he'd told her what was in his heart?
She let out a long sigh. A tear rolled down her cheek just as Travis turned to look at her.
'I've loved Harrison for a long time, Travis.'
Her sister's voice had taken on a dreamy quality. Travis was disgusted.
'Honest to God, you're starting to act just like a woman. Oh, I knew it was coming all right, but I still wasn't ready. I wish you'd stop it, Mary Rose.'
'Exactly how does a woman act that offends you so?'
'Angry one minute, smiling the next, pouting and laughing at the same time, pretty much just the way you're acting right now. You never used to be this emotional, little sister. I don't like it.'
She wasn't certain if she was supposed to apologize or not. Travis stared at her and suddenly saw her in a completely different light. She wasn't a scabby-kneed little girl any longer. She was a beautiful woman.
'You grew up on me when I had my back turned, didn't you?' he whispered.
She wasn't really paying attention to what her brother was saying to her. She had more matters to think about.
'Do you want to know when I fell in love with him? I know the exact minute when I…'
He hastily interrupted her. 'No, I don't want to know,' he muttered. 'Men don't care about things like that. I'm still your brother, for God's sake. I don't want to hear any particulars about something that might have happened to you.'
'Nothing has happened between us I couldn't tell you about.'
'Thank God for that. I don't want to hear about it when it does. You got that, Mary Rose?'
'No, I'm not. I'm just being blunt.'
'Yes, you are too,' she argued. 'You're also just as arrogant as Harrison is.'
He dismissed the remark, for he didn't believe being arrogant was all that bad, even though his sister made it sound as though it was.
He lifted the coffeepot and turned to go back into the dining room. He stopped suddenly and turned to her again.
'If he ever hurts you, I want to be the first to know about it. You'll tell me, won't you?'
'Yes, I'll tell you.'
He nodded with satisfaction. 'I love you, brat.'
'I love you too. You like Harrison, don't you?'
'It's hard not to like him. I don't like what he came here to do. You won't either after we talk to you.'
'Oh, yes, the talk,' she whispered.
'He told you about…'
She interrupted him. 'He told me you were going to tell me something. He didn't tell me what the topic was. You can tell me now.'
He shook his head. 'Wait until tomorrow night. Don't frown about it. All right?'
'Travis, no matter what you tell me, I won't hate him. Do you think I will?'
He didn't believe she was capable of hating anyone. She was going to get her heart broken though. Travis was certain of that. Her entire world was going to be turned around on her, and it only seemed reasonable to Travis that she would blame Harrison. Travis certainly did.
'No, you won't hate him,' he said. 'Grab the cups for me, Mary Rose.'
He gave the order in an attempt to take her mind off of the subject of the coming meeting. He wanted her to remain happy and carefree for as long as possible.
He decided to turn her thoughts in another direction and told her about Cole and Eleanor.
'He's beginning to realize he can't mess with her. She's the marrying kind. Cole isn't.'
'Yes, he is,' she said. 'He just doesn't realize it yet. You are too, Travis. When the right woman comes along, you won't think twice about getting married. You're going to make a wonderful husband and father.'
'And give up my freedom? Are you out of your mind?'
She laughed. It was just the reaction he wanted.
'You're sounding like Adam. Why do men think marriage ends their freedom?'
'Because it does,' he replied.
He started to leave the kitchen again, but she called him back. 'Travis?'
'What now.'
'It was MacHugh.'
'What?'
'That's when I fell in love with Harrison.'
He rolled his eyes. 'I get it. You fell in love with his horse and figured Harrison was part of the package.'
He left the kitchen before she could make him understand. She didn't mind. She was happy to be alone again so she could think about all the wonderful things the love of her life had said to her. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. She couldn't imagine anything more wonderful.
She stayed at the table for several minutes, until Travis called out to her. She took the cups into the dining room, passed them around, and then excused herself for the night.
She went up to her room and sat down on the side of the bed to think things over. She tried to forget Harrison was waiting for her. She couldn't, of course. A warm knot formed in the pit of her stomach every time she glanced out the window and saw the light glowing in the window of the bunkhouse.
He was waiting for her to come to him. He had made her aware of her own body's demands, given her a glimpse of passion, and now she couldn't pretend it hadn't happened or that she hadn't wanted him to give her more.
She wanted him because she loved him. He was still being horribly arrogant. Mary Rose stood up and began to pace back and forth while she thought about the way he'd given her his command. He hadn't bothered to ask her. No, he'd assumed. Were all men like Harrison? She shook her head, discarding the possibility. No one had ever been this possessive with her or this high-handed. He was stubborn and willful, set in his ways, and sweet and giving and wonderful. No, there wasn't anyone else in the world like Harrison Stanford MacDonald. And that was precisely why she'd fallen in love with him.
He hadn't asked her to marry him. She tried to imagine him down on one knee begging for her hand in marriage and found herself smiling over the picture. He wouldn't ask. He'd tell. He was entirely too presumptuous, of course, but she didn't mind at all.
He was also being practical about their situation. It wasn't possible to officially marry now. Blue Belle didn't even have a church, and preachers were as scarce in the area as canned peaches. Hanging Judge Burns could perform the ceremony, but he was only available three or four times a year, the rest of the time the glut of men needing hanging demanded his full attention.
Harrison had made his commitment tonight with God as his witness. And she had done the same. Now everything was going to change.
She didn't have any idea how long she paced around the bedroom, pondering over her future, but the house was dark and quiet when she finally quit worrying about all the changes in her life she was going to experience. She took her time washing every inch of her body with her rose-scented soap, then put on her white nightgown. She added her pink, lace-trimmed robe Douglas had given her last Christmas, then sorted through her wardrobe in search of her impractical but lovely satin slippers.
She was still nervous and somewhat afraid of what was going to happen, yet she knew fretting about it wouldn't change anything. Loving Harrison didn't frighten her. The act of making love, however, was another matter altogether. Men liked it, she knew, because of the way her brothers ran to Hammond every other week and came home wearing cheap perfume on their clothes and silly grins on their faces. Perhaps the women liked it too. Since she'd never talked to any of them, she couldn't form an opinion. She could only hope she was guessing right. Blue Belle was experienced, but she'd always been like a fussy aunt with Mary Rose and never discussed her professional business with her.
She sat down at her dressing table, picked up her brush, and spent a long while mindlessly working on her
