Gertie turned her back before Annabelle could respond, and she knew that tonight’s dinner with all the other families would be equally uncomfortable. She’d try to put on a brave face, and hope that no one said anything that tore at the tiny pieces of her heart she was trying desperately to hold together.
The sound of gravel crunching beneath someone’s boot drew Annabelle’s attention. She looked up to see Joseph approaching.
“How’s the foot?” Joseph bent down as if he was going to tweak her nose or something, but then straightened, like he’d thought better of it.
“I’ll be fine, thanks.”
The girls returned, fortunate, since she could tell by the light in Joseph’s eyes that he was probably going to say something to dispute her claim.
“Joseph! I’m gonna help Annabelle fix supper!” Nugget’s clear voice made it impossible to feel too sorry for herself. Though she’d done a lot of things wrong over the past couple of days, at least this was clearly one area in which she’d done all right.
Concern littered his face. “Are you sure you should be doing anything with your injured foot?”
“I’m just peeling potatoes,” she told him with a smile. “I can do that sitting.”
“I’ll help.” Joseph sat next to her in the dirt. Did he have any idea how charming that grin was? Why couldn’t he be doing something useful with his life like being a banker or a teacher or a blacksmith or, well, just about anything other than a miner? As soon as he found silver, Joseph would leave, taking Nugget, and where would that leave her?
She turned away before he could see that her cheeks were feeling a bit warm. Surely she was as red as fire.
And really! She shouldn’t have been thinking such thoughts about Joseph anyway. About any man. Here, of all places. Where she’d met Henry and carelessly given her heart away knowing so little about him. She’d not make that mistake again.
Stronger in her convictions, Annabelle turned back to Joseph. “Haven’t you ever heard that too many cooks spoil the broth?” She dug in the bag of potatoes and began peeling the first one. “Nugget, have you ever peeled a potato?”
The little girl shook her head, and Caitlin stared at her wide-eyed. “Mama says knives aren’t for little girls.”
Unfortunately, that was just the right amount of inducement Joseph needed. “You girls fetch us some water and I’ll help Miss Annabelle.”
Miss Annabelle. Her cheeks heated again, which was absolutely silly, given the close quarters in which she’d found herself with him over the past day or so. She was used to much more familiarity from him, and yet, moving to more formal address felt... Something prickled in her heart, stinging and leaving her more alone than ever. Why had she thought that opening her heart to a friend would be a good idea?
The knife slipped in her hand, nearly nicking her skin. Why did she always have to be so clumsy around him?
Her father entered the campsite, and he looked at Joseph, then at her, almost as though he was signaling Joseph in some way. Joseph gave a quick nod.
Joseph cleared his throat. “Miss Annabelle, if I may, I’d like to escort you to the creek for some water.”
Did he grow daft all of a sudden? They’d just sent the— Annabelle glanced at her father, who nodded. Of course. Her father had something he wanted to have Joseph talk to her about. Right now, her heart couldn’t take any kind of talk. Especially not one encouraged by her father.
Annabelle lifted her swollen foot. “While I do appreciate your kind offer, you might recall that I’m unable to put any weight on my foot.”
Polite enough to satisfy even the stodgiest of matrons. She was very tempted to stick her tongue out at both Joseph and her father for being such meddling oafs, but that would only prove just how childish she was. Annabelle sighed.
Fortunately, Joseph looked just as relieved as she felt at the prospect of not having to go to the creek together—code for having a little chat, she was now certain.
“I’d forgotten. Please accept my apologies.”
“Certainly.” She smiled in the direction of her father. Annabelle dropped a peeled potato in the pot.
“You thoughtless wretch!” Polly grabbed the pot off the ground and glared at Annabelle. “Have you any idea how wasteful you’re being? Look how much potato you’ve taken off with the peel!”
The insides that had finally begun to feel more comfortable in this place knotted up. “I meant no harm,” Annabelle stammered. “This is how Maddie told me to do it.”
“There are a lot of hungry bellies to fill, and you’ve just wasted the food that goes into them.”
Annabelle looked at the pot of potatoes she’d carefully peeled the way Maddie had shown her. “I’ve only done a few. I’ll be more careful with the others.”
Then, because she couldn’t bear to look at her father or anyone else witnessing more of her humiliation, she looked at the ground. “As for filling hungry bellies, someone else can have my share of the potatoes. It’s the least I can do.”
“The least you can do is—”
“Polly!” Gertie banged on one of the pots. “Just because you’re cross with Annabelle doesn’t give you the right to treat her like that.”
She marched over to where Polly stood over her with the pot. “You know how to fix potatoes the way Maddie does?”
Annabelle nodded. “But I can fix them the way you want. Just tell me what to do,” she said as quickly as she could.
Please, please, please, please let everyone see how hard I’m trying to be a better person. It was just potatoes, after all. Surely that wasn’t something to be declared sinful.
“I haven’t had Maddie’s potatoes in ages.” A smile
