aside. âWeâd better get to the Oasis quickly. You can interview Hendricks while we wait for the doctor, if you feel well enough, that is.â
â§
Marva sat upright. Monteâs abrupt withdrawal stung her pride. She had sought only consolation and a safe haven. Did he imagine sheâd been craving romance? Utterly ludicrous! Tears burned her cheeks until she wiped them away.
He brushed off his trousers and offered her a hand up. She thought about ignoring his offer but reconsidered. Her head still swam, and she still felt sick. After shifting to a position from which she could rise, she gripped his hand. It felt warm and rough with calluses.
He pulled her up, but her legs refused to cooperate. Again he caught her before she could pitch forward on her face, quickly shifting his grip to her shoulders. The world spun around her, and her stomach roiled.
âMarva, can you walk, or should I carry you?â
âI can walk,â she tried to say, but it came out sounding more like a breathy wail ending in a sob.
He put one arm behind her shoulders and the other behind her knees and scooped her off the ground. She felt him stagger to regain his balance, but otherwise he didnât seem overly strained by her weight. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hid her face in his shoulder and tried to pretend he was someone else. Anyone else.
He gently deposited her on the seat of the dogcart, waited to make sure she could sit upright unattended, and then went back to retrieve her hat and his coat. Marvaâs vision narrowed to a small tunnel of reality; everything else was black. Yet when she closed her eyes, she was fully aware of her surroundings. She felt the cart tip to one side when Monte climbed in beside her; she felt his shoulder bump hers, then the comforting warmth of his arm sliding around her and pressing her toward him. She heard him exhale a deep breath just above her head. Her position was awkward, yet she knew it enabled him both to drive and to make sure she didnât fall out of the cart.
Monte shook the reins and clucked. Marva heard the creak of harness and the clop of Buzzâs hooves, and the cart lurched forward. Light flickered over her eyelids, and motion freshened the air on her face. She drew a deep, shaky breath and let it out in a sigh.
How would he treat her during the remaining days of her vacation at the lodge? She couldnât help but wonder why he had chosen to follow her. What if Harding Stowell had come to her rescue? How very different she would feel about resting against his shoulder! Monte Van Huysen was easily the most attractive man of her acquaintance, married or single. Why couldnât he have been her newspaper correspondent?
If she had waited for Godâs timing and not attempted to find herself a husband, she would have met Monte without her head full of plots to hunt down a certain lodge owner, and maybe, just maybe, something might have developed between them. It might still. After all, he might come to Longtree to visit his brotherâs family sometime. And if he did, she might encounter him at church or in town. . . .
Marva had little experience interpreting the behavior of men, and though she was probably ridiculously mistaken, her heart conceived the tiniest hope that Monte found her attractive. Not in her current sunburned, bedraggled condition, of course, but maybe at her best, she might catch his eye. Just maybe. Any hope at all was better than none.
If only her head would stop spinning.
Ten
Wherefore be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:17
The sun had dropped behind the tallest trees before Marva succeeded in convincing Mel Hendricks, owner of the North-woods Oasis, that she felt well enough for Monte to drive her home that evening. Monte wrapped his arm around her shoulders with a proprietary air as he escorted her out to the waiting dogcart.
Seeing his rifle on the floorboards as she
â§
Marva sat upright. Monteâs abrupt withdrawal stung her pride. She had sought only consolation and a safe haven. Did he imagine sheâd been craving romance? Utterly ludicrous! Tears burned her cheeks until she wiped them away.
He brushed off his trousers and offered her a hand up. She thought about ignoring his offer but reconsidered. Her head still swam, and she still felt sick. After shifting to a position from which she could rise, she gripped his hand. It felt warm and rough with calluses.
He pulled her up, but her legs refused to cooperate. Again he caught her before she could pitch forward on her face, quickly shifting his grip to her shoulders. The world spun around her, and her stomach roiled.
âMarva, can you walk, or should I carry you?â
âI can walk,â she tried to say, but it came out sounding more like a breathy wail ending in a sob.
He put one arm behind her shoulders and the other behind her knees and scooped her off the ground. She felt him stagger to regain his balance, but otherwise he didnât seem overly strained by her weight. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she hid her face in his shoulder and tried to pretend he was someone else. Anyone else.
He gently deposited her on the seat of the dogcart, waited to make sure she could sit upright unattended, and then went back to retrieve her hat and his coat. Marvaâs vision narrowed to a small tunnel of reality; everything else was black. Yet when she closed her eyes, she was fully aware of her surroundings. She felt the cart tip to one side when Monte climbed in beside her; she felt his shoulder bump hers, then the comforting warmth of his arm sliding around her and pressing her toward him. She heard him exhale a deep breath just above her head. Her position was awkward, yet she knew it enabled him both to drive and to make sure she didnât fall out of the cart.
Monte shook the reins and clucked. Marva heard the creak of harness and the clop of Buzzâs hooves, and the cart lurched forward. Light flickered over her eyelids, and motion freshened the air on her face. She drew a deep, shaky breath and let it out in a sigh.
How would he treat her during the remaining days of her vacation at the lodge? She couldnât help but wonder why he had chosen to follow her. What if Harding Stowell had come to her rescue? How very different she would feel about resting against his shoulder! Monte Van Huysen was easily the most attractive man of her acquaintance, married or single. Why couldnât he have been her newspaper correspondent?
If she had waited for Godâs timing and not attempted to find herself a husband, she would have met Monte without her head full of plots to hunt down a certain lodge owner, and maybe, just maybe, something might have developed between them. It might still. After all, he might come to Longtree to visit his brotherâs family sometime. And if he did, she might encounter him at church or in town. . . .
Marva had little experience interpreting the behavior of men, and though she was probably ridiculously mistaken, her heart conceived the tiniest hope that Monte found her attractive. Not in her current sunburned, bedraggled condition, of course, but maybe at her best, she might catch his eye. Just maybe. Any hope at all was better than none.
If only her head would stop spinning.
Ten
Wherefore be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
Ephesians 5:17
The sun had dropped behind the tallest trees before Marva succeeded in convincing Mel Hendricks, owner of the North-woods Oasis, that she felt well enough for Monte to drive her home that evening. Monte wrapped his arm around her shoulders with a proprietary air as he escorted her out to the waiting dogcart.
Seeing his rifle on the floorboards as she
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