Vera shrugged. “You need not talk about it. I understand it must have been a shock for you to see her. Grace told me about your betrothal.”
Wyatt frowned. “She was quite a character. She dropped me like cow dung when she met my best friend, Lee Baxter. His father owns a cattle ranch and they are well-to-do. I supposed what hurt the most wasn’t a broken heart as much as a bruised ego.”
Vera smiled up at him shyly. “Lucy is beautiful.”
“And she well knows it, and she uses it to her advantage. My mother once told me that it’s all right to make a mistake as long as you learn from it. I learned from it, all right.”
“You sound like you’re still upset.”
“I guess I never expected she’d come back to Hays, is all. I’ve had a long time to think about it, and she would have made the worst farmer’s wife.”
“Why do you think that?” Vera asked.
“Well,” Wyatt said, stretching out the word, “beauty won’t milk the cows, cook, clean house, or even be a good companion. A farmer needs someone who can do all those things and still look good on his arm ... like you, Vera.”
Vera hated that she couldn’t stop the blush running from her neck to her cheeks or the shy smile she gave him. “I don’t think you can compare my looks to Lucy’s—”
“Yes, I can. You are all the things she isn’t, and you’re still an attractive woman. Put fancy hair, clothes, and makeup on Hilda and you still have a cow. All Lucy has to offer is her looks, and she knows it, so she plays it up as much as she can.”
“I wonder what happened to your friend, Leland?” she asked.
Wyatt shrugged. “Poor Lee. He probably got ditched for someone else.”
Vera pressed her luck. “Would you still be friends with him if he were to show up here to see you? After all, he did steal your intended.”
“I would. We’d been friends from our schoolhouse days. He actually did me a favor—Lucy’s beauty blinded me, and I looked no deeper. It took some time and my brother Clay, to knock some sense into me.”
Vera stood and picked up the empty tea tray. “I’m glad. Goodnight, Wyatt.”
Vera could hear Wyatt firing up the coal heaters and stoking the fireplaces for the night. She shivered beneath her quilt. Had he actually called her attractive? She giggled to herself. He had. In his own masculine way, he’d given her a compliment she’d cherish.
Finally, she heard him close the door to the master bedroom. Would she ever sleep there with him? Did she even want to?
~~~***~~~
Wyatt pulled his quilt up to his neck and hoped the coal stoves and fireplaces would keep the house warm enough overnight. It was only his second winter in the house, and he was never sure if he’d put enough coal in the stove or enough wood in the fireplace. He hadn’t even thought to check the fireplace in Vera’s room. He hoped she knew enough to stoke it to keep the unburned wood near the middle. Wyatt figured she did—she’d probably been doing it longer than he had.
Vera seemed to get lovelier each time he saw her. On that day, she’d worn a dress of orange and russet, which brought out the brown in her eyes. Her face was pleasing enough, and her complexion was flawless. What he found most attractive about her, besides her smile, was the look of ... . oh, what word did he want? She always looked so ... so in charge. She seemed self-assured, like she had everything under control, which she usually did. Her look was stoic and confident at once, and he wondered if she ever lost control and cried.
He no longer feared a lack of physical attraction for her. Helping her in and out of the buggy had assured him of that. She might not show it, but she had a slim yet sturdy figure, which he found seductive. He thought that what a man couldn’t see, gave a woman more mystique than what a man—and the entire world in Lucy’s case—could see. It made a man wonder as it hinted at somewhat of an exciting adventure ... when the time came, of course. That brought him to his main worry: how and when should he make his first move toward intimacy?
He’d felt nothing but disgust inside when he’d spotted Lucy that day. How could she leave town with a man and then return to face the town? Had she no guilt? During their short betrothal, she’d always tried to urge him into intimacy, but while her beauty had deceived him, he wasn’t dumb enough to let her tempt him into bed. That wasn’t what the Bible said should happen before marriage. And here he was now, married and sleeping alone; how ironic.
Chapter Five
Vera and Wyatt were having breakfast together when Vera went to answer the door. Wyatt knew something was wrong the moment Vera entered the kitchen, wearing a frown.
“Who was it?” Wyatt asked.
“It’s not who was it, it’s who is it? She’s in the sitting room.”
Wyatt stood. “Who is she?”
“Lucy.”
Wyatt rolled his eyes. “What could she possibly want with me?”
Vera picked up the dirty dishes. “She asked to speak with you.”
Wyatt uncharacteristically took hold of Vera’s arm. “You need to come with me.”
Vera set the dishes down and let him pull her into the sitting room.
Lucy’s eyes widened when she saw that Wyatt had brought his wife with him. “I’d hoped for a private talk.”
Wyatt took Vera’s hand in his. “I’d like to introduce my wife, Vera. Vera, this is Lucy, an old friend. Lucy, anything you can say to me you can say in front of Vera. We have no secrets.”
Lucy’s raised one
