Handpicked Husband (Love Inspired Historical) by Winnie Griggs Page A

concern yourself—we’ll handle it.” He lifted a brow. “Now if there’s nothing else, I need to check Trib’s saddle.”
    She glanced at the horse and some of her stiffness eased. “He’s a magnificent animal. Did you bring him with you from Philadelphia?”
    Adam was surprised by her softening. He’d expected her to stalk off. “Yes. He was sired by a stallion I owned before—” He caught himself, then pressed forward, refusing to sugarcoat what had happened. “Before I lost everything.”
    During those years he’d spent caged in that bleak prison, he’d dreamed of galloping across rolling hills and meadows, with only open ground and endless sky around him. When the judge had paid him for this assignment, Adam had used the money to buy Trib. He hadn’t even considered leaving the animal behind.
    He gave her a cynical grin. “In fact, this was my ‘thirty pieces of silver’ from the judge you inquired about yesterday.”
    “Oh.” Instead of meeting his gaze, she shifted the blanket she carried to her other arm and patted the horse with her free hand. “Trib is an unusual name.”
    “The man I bought him from named him Lancer’s Tribute. Sounded too pompous to me, so I shortened it.” He bent to check the cinch straps. “Besides, Trib can stand for things that have more meaning to me, like ‘Retribution’ or ‘Tribulation.’”
    He didn’t realize he’d actually said that last aloud until he heard the slight hitch in her breathing. Her head came up and shock widened her expressive eyes. Her gaze locked with his, and something strong and elemental flashed in the air between them.
    A butterfly shiver fluttered her shoulders.
    That tiny quiver cleared the fog from his brain and brought him back to the present. Taking a deep breath, he smiled. “Time to round everyone up and get moving again.”
    She nodded and turned without saying a word.
    Adam watched her go, wondering what it was that had just passed between them.
    He rubbed the back of his neck. Three weeks seemed an eternity. He didn’t have time for this distraction, didn’t want to lose his focus, his edge.
    Jack ran up to Regina as she neared the carriages. She bent down and straightened his shirt collar. Then she gave him a hug and ruffled his hair affectionately.
    Adam reached back in his mind, trying to dredge up a memory of his own mother doing something similar.
    Nothing came.
    He’d been four years old when his mother abandoned him. His only memories of her were of a tired, unhappy woman. She’d clothed and fed him, but he couldn’t remember one time when she’d given him a motherly kiss or even an affectionate pat.
    Her dumping him on his uncle’s doorstep without a backward glance had widened the hole that already existed in his life.
    Well, his uncle had made up for that. Philip Barr hadn’t been an openly demonstrative man, but he’d always treated Adam well. Adam had known, as long as he did as he was told and followed all the rules, he’d have a home and a family.
    Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Adam led Trib toward the road. He watched Regina organize the group, making certain everything was packed properly and all were accounted for.
    Then, as they moved toward the carriages, she touched Everett’s arm. “Mr. Fulton, why don’t you join me in my carriage?” She smiled at Chance. “You won’t mind trading places, will you?”
    So, she was ready for a new victim, was she?
    Chance gave her an elegant bow. “Whether or not I mind, I graciously concede the seat of honor to Everett.”
    She touched a hand to her chest. “Why, Chance, I didn’t realize there was the touch of the gallant in you.”
    It was the young man’s turn to give her a pointed look. “There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, Miss Nash.”
    Adam hid a grin at her nonplussed look. Regina was a resourceful woman, one who seemed accustomed to steering her own course, and perhaps that of the others around her. It probably