will be when we’ve ruined Bambury.”
Chapter Twelve
“The problem was the smallest gear…”
Esme tuned out the intent discussion going on between her father and her…well, what was Jed to her? He’d held her last night, comforted her, accompanied her unprotestingly, all the time planning Bambury’s ruin, but did he do so as a friend or something more? He’d never said anything, although his manner had at times implied a heated man-woman attraction.
“That’s what I thought,” her father exclaimed and slapped his thigh.
The horses continued their steady pace. The long ride had taken the fidgets out of them. Esme drew rein a fraction, dropping back enough that she could study Jed.
He rode well. The day had warmed enough that he’d shed his coat and tied it to the saddle. Broad shoulders tapered to leanly muscled hips and thighs. His free hand gestured, emphasizing some point in his explanation.
Yesterday, he’d said he was an inventor. She believed him. It was there in the absorbed way he’d watched the kangaroo bound, and today, in the passion he brought to the discussion with her father.
An inventor. Not a confidence man. He’d even said he had sufficient money for his needs.
But he’d agreed to be her spokesman for the Women’s Advancement League and he’d done an excellent job.
She’d pegged him as a charming, honorable scoundrel—and she’d gotten it wrong. So, who was he?
“Esme, remember that wind-up rabbit I made you? Do you still have it?”
“Hardly. You made it for me when I was ten. A year later you took it apart because you needed a gear for your latest project—I think you were making an automated teapot?”
“Oh yes.” Her father looked momentarily abashed. The tea-maker had been a disaster. Meant to sit on a tripod over a fire, it kept tipping over when the boiling water poured over the tea leaves. “Not one of my better ideas. I was going to show Jed the jumping mechanism in the rabbit. His idea for a kangaroo car sounds beaut.”
Her father had no doubts about Jed. He assumed Jed was her suitor, one she favored. He’d been suspicious last night and this morning, but the suspicions had faded when they discovered a shared enthusiasm for all things inventive.
She smiled ruefully. Next, he’d be urging her to accept Jed’s hand in marriage when it hadn’t even been offered. Aaron Smith wanted his daughter married and happy, as he’d been with her mother. The troubles with Bambury would only increase his determination to marry her off to a decent fellow.
Jed saw her smile. “Are we boring you? I tend to become overly absorbed in a problem.”
“I’m not bored.” Uncertain, hopeful, confused . “I’m glad to be nearly home.”
The settlements—farms, police outposts and small general stores—were becoming more frequent. Approaching from the southeast, they avoided Perth, but they’d be in Fremantle by evening.
“I’ll have a hot bath and a hot meal and my own bed,” she continued.
“She’s not as pampered as she sounds,” Aaron excused her to Jed. “I taught her to shoot and throw a knife. Her mother and her spent a lot of time in the goldfields with me before I struck it lucky. Esme can handle anything.”
“I believe you.” Jed smiled at her. “And I have to confess, I’d quite like a hot dinner, myself.”
“You’ll have to eat with us,” she said. “Maud will love the challenge of producing a three-course meal in minutes.”
Esme was right.
After the exclamations of joy and relief at Aaron’s appearance, Maud stirred her kitchen into a frenzy while the three travelers bathed. The gardener’s lad ran for clean clothes from Mrs. Hall’s boarding house for Jed. Francis was ordered to sit with them through their late meal and update them on Bambury’s activities.
“He hired Sid Archer,” Francis said, drinking tea while the others ate their way through steak and potatoes. The soup had been mixed vegetable. “Sneak thief. He
Chapter Twelve
“The problem was the smallest gear…”
Esme tuned out the intent discussion going on between her father and her…well, what was Jed to her? He’d held her last night, comforted her, accompanied her unprotestingly, all the time planning Bambury’s ruin, but did he do so as a friend or something more? He’d never said anything, although his manner had at times implied a heated man-woman attraction.
“That’s what I thought,” her father exclaimed and slapped his thigh.
The horses continued their steady pace. The long ride had taken the fidgets out of them. Esme drew rein a fraction, dropping back enough that she could study Jed.
He rode well. The day had warmed enough that he’d shed his coat and tied it to the saddle. Broad shoulders tapered to leanly muscled hips and thighs. His free hand gestured, emphasizing some point in his explanation.
Yesterday, he’d said he was an inventor. She believed him. It was there in the absorbed way he’d watched the kangaroo bound, and today, in the passion he brought to the discussion with her father.
An inventor. Not a confidence man. He’d even said he had sufficient money for his needs.
But he’d agreed to be her spokesman for the Women’s Advancement League and he’d done an excellent job.
She’d pegged him as a charming, honorable scoundrel—and she’d gotten it wrong. So, who was he?
“Esme, remember that wind-up rabbit I made you? Do you still have it?”
“Hardly. You made it for me when I was ten. A year later you took it apart because you needed a gear for your latest project—I think you were making an automated teapot?”
“Oh yes.” Her father looked momentarily abashed. The tea-maker had been a disaster. Meant to sit on a tripod over a fire, it kept tipping over when the boiling water poured over the tea leaves. “Not one of my better ideas. I was going to show Jed the jumping mechanism in the rabbit. His idea for a kangaroo car sounds beaut.”
Her father had no doubts about Jed. He assumed Jed was her suitor, one she favored. He’d been suspicious last night and this morning, but the suspicions had faded when they discovered a shared enthusiasm for all things inventive.
She smiled ruefully. Next, he’d be urging her to accept Jed’s hand in marriage when it hadn’t even been offered. Aaron Smith wanted his daughter married and happy, as he’d been with her mother. The troubles with Bambury would only increase his determination to marry her off to a decent fellow.
Jed saw her smile. “Are we boring you? I tend to become overly absorbed in a problem.”
“I’m not bored.” Uncertain, hopeful, confused . “I’m glad to be nearly home.”
The settlements—farms, police outposts and small general stores—were becoming more frequent. Approaching from the southeast, they avoided Perth, but they’d be in Fremantle by evening.
“I’ll have a hot bath and a hot meal and my own bed,” she continued.
“She’s not as pampered as she sounds,” Aaron excused her to Jed. “I taught her to shoot and throw a knife. Her mother and her spent a lot of time in the goldfields with me before I struck it lucky. Esme can handle anything.”
“I believe you.” Jed smiled at her. “And I have to confess, I’d quite like a hot dinner, myself.”
“You’ll have to eat with us,” she said. “Maud will love the challenge of producing a three-course meal in minutes.”
Esme was right.
After the exclamations of joy and relief at Aaron’s appearance, Maud stirred her kitchen into a frenzy while the three travelers bathed. The gardener’s lad ran for clean clothes from Mrs. Hall’s boarding house for Jed. Francis was ordered to sit with them through their late meal and update them on Bambury’s activities.
“He hired Sid Archer,” Francis said, drinking tea while the others ate their way through steak and potatoes. The soup had been mixed vegetable. “Sneak thief. He
Similar Books
