A Headstrong Woman(74)

“I don’t plan on letting you go until some woman whisks you away,” she assured him.

“That won’t be any time soon,” he said dryly.

“I’m glad to hear that, I hear that good foremen are hard to come by,” Alexandria invoked a thoughtful tone while biting back a smile.

“And I thought we were friends,” his tone betrayed false hurt.

“We are,” she laughed and smiled up at him. “Truly, Jonathon, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”

“You’d have made it somehow,” Jonathon glanced down at Alexandria.

“I don’t know about that, I’d be lost without you, Jonathon. Thank you for being so patient with me.”

“You’re easy to work with.” Jonathon shrugged his broad shoulders.

Alexandria snorted, “Now that is a bald faced lie! Just this past Friday I caused you all kinds of trouble.”

“You didn’t mean to,” his smile when he gazed down at her was warm.

Alexandria, unable to meet his any longer, dropped her gaze.

“Would you have taken him up on his offer if I hadn’t been there?” Alexandria tried for nonchalance.

Jonathon glanced at her and frowned. Alexandria forced herself to meet his penetrating gaze.

“What do you think?” Jonathon’s gaze had darkened.

Alexandria frowned and worried her lower lip as she considered it.

“No, I don’t think… I know you wouldn’t have,” Alexandria felt relief wash through her as she realized she truly believed that.

He smiled at her. “Thank you, Alexandria. I would be hurt if you thought me capable of that.”

“I’m sorry that I doubted that, Jonathon… I was pretty shaken up Friday,” she admitted.

“You really let me have it,” he teased.

Alexandria colored, “I’m sorry about that.”

“It’s okay,” he assured her.

“I guess I would shock my family if I told them I marched into a brothel huh?”

Her giggle was rather girlish and in Jonathon’s opinion endearing.

“Please don’t; your dad would hurt me for allowing you anywhere near a place like that,” Jonathon grimaced.

“Oh, he knows how stubborn I am,” she assured him.

“I imagine that you were a hand full to raise,” he chuckled deep in his throat.

The sound sent a small shiver through Alexandria.

“Oh, I bet you were an angel,” she shot back at him.

“My mom wishes I had been. Ted and I used to drive her crazy.”

“How’s that?”

“Fighting. We would fight over who was sitting where, who was supposed to do what chore, what to name whatever animal we had at the time. She always said she knew it was serious when I started calling him Teddy and he started using my middle name.”

“What is your middle name?” Her curiosity was peaked.

“I am not telling you or anybody,” Jonathon’s jaw was set mulishly.

“Please?” her green eyes were pleading under her half lowered lashes as she had seen other women do; she had always wondered if it really worked.

“You are not playing fair,” he accused and watched her blush. “Ashley.”

“Jonathon Ashley Stewart,” Alexandria tried it out. “I like it,” she decided.

“I’m glad you do; I always thought it was a girl’s name.”

“It isn’t, it’s very pretty, Jonathon and I assure you that there is nothing girlish about you or your name,” she assured him.

“Thank you, Alexandria,” Jonathon said sincerely and watched her color again. It made him smile. It made her look soft, feminine, and endearingly innocent when she blushed.

“You’re welcome,” her attention was on the corrals just ahead.





Chapter Fifteen





Alexandria wished her in laws well and hurried to find a seat on the train. Jonathon had been late arriving after difficulty getting the cattle to the station. Rusty had volunteered to sit in the back car and to check on the cattle at each stop. Lilly clamored into one of the seats and sprawled across it, effectively claiming the entire seat for herself.

“Care if I join you?” Jonathon joked from the aisle.

Alexandria smiled and scooted over. “You look tired. What time did you leave this morning?” she asked.