Yankee and his sister might not want to come to the party, but they had no right to hurt Winnie.
The more Cooper thought about it, the madder he got. As shadows melted together and the threepiece band warmed up in the barn, rain blew in like an unwanted guest.
Cooper rushed with everyone else to move things inside. Every time he passed Winnie, he saw her worried expression and her gaze turned to the road. Finally, he grabbed a slicker, saddled a horse, and rode out toward town. If Woodburn wasn’t bothering to show up, he would have some explaining to do.
Almost within sight of Minnow Springs, Cooper spotted the old borrowed buggy of Woodburn’s leaning almost sideways, a back wheel propped against it. Miles stood alone in the muddy road, his jacket off, his sleeves rolled to the elbows.
Anger turned to worry inside Cooper. As he neared, he yelled, “Having trouble?”
Miles shoved his thinning hair off his face. “This time, I am.”
As Cooper swung down from the saddle, Woodburn added, “I ?nally got the wheel patched enough so it should hold, but I can’t lift the frame and roll it into place. Would you mind giving me a hand?” He chewed on the words a minute before he added, “You see, there’s a party I promised to attend.”
Cooper moved to the boot of the old buggy. Bracing his feet in four inches of mud, he lifted.
Miles maneuvered the wheel around the axis. “Thanks,” he shouted over the rain as he stood.
“Where’s Mary?” Cooper tried to make his question sound casual while he watched Miles roll muddy sleeves down over even dirtier arms.
“She walked back to town. With everyone already gone to your place, she decided she could get a wagon and be back faster than I could ?x this wheel.” Frustration deepened the lines on his scarred face. “With this leg, it’s hard for me to walk on ?at ground, much less in the mud. I talked her into coming along and now it looks like we may miss the party.”
Cooper swung onto his saddle, realizing riding a horse must be impossible for Woodburn or he would have ridden bareback to the ranch and left the wagon by the road. “Go ahead. Winnie’s worried about you. I’ll head toward town until I ?nd your sister, then I’ll make sure she gets to the ranch safely.”
Woodburn grumbled at the suggestion, but climbed inside the buggy.
Cooper lowered his hat and rode straight into the wind. He hoped Mary had made it to town before rain drenched her.
A deserted Main Street, dressed in thick gray fog, greeted him. Rain hung in the air, soaking him despite the oiled slicker. Cooper tried the Woodburns’ store ?rst, then realized Mary was probably at the livery.
There would be a slim selection of wagons left if the old buggy had been their best choice before. And she’d have to rig it herself, for the Andrews clan had been among the ?rst to show up at the ball. By midafternoon Cooper had no doubt the children were instructed to eat their weight in food.
When he stepped into the livery, the sound of someone crying drifted around him seeming to come from no particular direction. For a moment, he thought it might be one of the Andrews kids who had been accidentally left behind.
He moved closer, hearing the jingle of his muddy spurs blend with the sobbing. Pausing, Cooper let his eyes adjust to the dim light.
Finally he spotted Mary, curled into a ball, arms hugging her knees, head down, hair wild around her shoulders. She was sitting in the back of a wagon that would have taken both a carpenter and a blacksmith a week to get in even fair shape to travel.
Cooper waited, knowing that if he took one step toward her the spurs would frighten her. “Evening, Miss Woodburn,” he said slowly. “Nice day for a ride.”
Mary’s head shot up. Bright bluegray eyes sparkled on a muddy face. When she spotted him in the doorway, she quickly shoved a tear, along with caked dirt, across her cheek.
Cooper couldn’t help but laugh. “You look like a mud doll.”
Mary grinned back. “You don’t look much better.”
He smoothed a layer of muck off his duster. “And I got all dressed up for the country ball.”
“Me too. Miles said I had to go for Winnie’s sake, but my efforts to dress were wasted. I fell twice running toward town, trying to beat the rain. I’d hoped to ?nd a rig that might make it out of the barn, but I’ve failed. Miles is stuck out on the road, unable-”
“He’s on his way to my ranch,” Cooper interrupted. “I’m supposed to bring you along.”
“I’m not going.” She stared down at her clothes. “It’s impossible.”
“Then the party will come to you.” Cooper took a step forward. “I don’t care if I return or not. The whole thing is a hoax. After everyone stuffs themselves a few more times and dances a couple of rounds, they’ll probably raf?e me off to the highest bidder.”
“Oh. You think you’ll go for a good price?”
“Of course. If you don’t count the undertaker, who owns his own business, I’m the most eligible bachelor in this part of the state.” He laughed at his own lie. “I’m sure I’ll go to the girl whose father can send the most acres along with his daughter’s hand.”
Helping Mary out of the wagon, he added, “You look mighty pretty, Miss Woodburn.” To his surprise, he meant it. “Would you like to dance before I’m hogtied and carted off to the altar?”
“I hate to turn a man down whose freedom is now counted in hours.”
He pulled her into his arms before she could say more, holding her far closer than he would have dared to in public. With her feet barely touching the ground, they twirled around the haycovered ?oor as though they were at a grand ball.
When he slowed the dance, he realized she was soaked and shivering. In one swing, he lifted her into his arms and carried her toward the door. “Do you trust me, Mary?”
“I think I ?nally do.”
“Then, let’s get you into some dry clothes and try dancing again on my barn ?oor with music playing. We’ll both catch pneumonia if we stay in this drafty place much longer.”
Before she questioned, he ran into the rain toward her store. By the time she unlocked the door they were both newly soaked.
Laughing for no reason other than it felt good, he followed her upstairs. Cooper hesitated only a moment when he reached the threshold.
She crossed into the darkness and returned a moment later to hand him a dry towel. “Come in by the ?re. I’ll change.” She hurried across the room and disappeared behind a door.
Cooper stood in the center of the small apartment and scrubbed the water from his face. Then he stirred up the ?re and looked around the room. Hundreds of books lined the walls and art, ?ne art, blanketed every inch of space left. He knew, without having to ask, that these were the few, ?nal treasures of what once must have been a grand home. He’d always thought of Southerners coming home to only the crumbs left of their former lives. He never thought of Northerners losing everything in the war.
Slowly, he realized what a joke it must have been for him to loan her books. She probably grew up with a real library in her house.
He pulled off his duster and damp coat, hanging them over chairs to dry. Unlike the store, the apartment above was neat, orderly, with a once valuable rug adding a warmth that made the small place a home.
He saw what must be Miles’s room across from Mary’s closed door. Maps and charts covered the walls of his chamber. A cot was crammed into one corner, making room for a huge desk weighted with books and papers.
“Your brother studying something?” he yelled toward the closed door.
Mary’s muf?ed answer returned, “He wants to write a book about the battles in the war. He’s already written several articles that sold back east.”
“And spent all the money on more books,” Cooper guessed.
“I’m afraid so.” Mary could barely be heard. “But it will all be worth it once he’s published.”
Cooper couldn’t bring himself to invade Woodburn’s private space. He never would have guessed the cold man would have such a secret.
Mary’s door opened, shining more light into the room. Cooper turned and watched her move about.
“I’ll put on some tea.” Nervousness shook her words. “We can drink it while my hair dries.” She crossed into the tiny square of a kitchen and poured water into a pot.
He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Against her robe, he could see the outline of her body and the grace in
