Kisses With KC (Cowboys and Angels Book 11)(11)

“I’m your wife, and this is the only time we’re seen together, and I have a new dress. I’m going to walk with you.” Benita scrambled past the people still sitting while Theodore seemed to hurry his steps to leave her behind.

Mr. Anders shook the reverend’s hand before he left. Reverend Theodore stood at the door, chatting with the rest of the people leaving. Benita inserted herself into each conversation.

Without first greeting the Turley family, the reverend said, “Perhaps if you can’t control the child, she is not of an age to be part of a congregation.” He sniffed and raised his chin.

Benita just smiled hugely beside him.

Eliza wanted to punch the man, but she felt KC lean past her shoulder, closer to the man, and in a soft voice, said, “‘Forbid them not, for such is the kingdom of heaven.’ We’ll see you next week, Reverend.” He took Eliza’s fist and tucked it into the crook of his arm.

She could feel herself shaking. Maybe she’d been closer to hitting the man than she’d thought. As much as she liked the idea of being on KC’s arm, she didn’t want to take a step. It was one thing for him to know she had a limp and another thing for him to feel her waddle beside him.

He tugged her arm a little, and they began walking together. He chuckled. “I think my favorite might have been when Rayna pretended to read the Bible and slammed it shut.” She thought he might be trying to distract her. His eyebrows raised, and he laughed again.

Eliza liked the sound. She found herself smiling at the fresh memory, too.

Ellis walked up beside them when they reached the wagon and said, “KC, would you mind seeing the women home on the buckboard? I’d like to borrow your horse.”

Eliza noticed Ellis’s eyes flicking to his left. When she looked that way, she saw Dorothy Moore watching them carefully.

“I don’t mind at all. When will you be back to the homestead?” KC asked.

“An hour. Maybe two.”

Kailin handed Rayna to Eliza and climbed in the back. “You’ll miss Sunday dinner,” Eliza said.

“Save me some. I’ll eat later.” Ellis reached for Merlin’s reins.

KC pulled a braking-pole out of the rear wheels and set it in the bed. “Not likely,” he answered before Eliza could protest. “That’s the price. I get your portion. Take it or leave it.” He took Rayna from Eliza’s arms and handed her to Kailin. Then he assisted Eliza into the seat, seemingly without expecting an answer from Ellis and hopped up beside her. “Be good to my horse.”

“Where is he off to?” Kailin asked, pointing at Ellis as he led the horse away.

“He’s … well, he’s going to visit our neighbor,” Eliza answered.

“You mean he’s sparking Dorothy,” Kailin said.

“Sparking. Sparking,” Rayna chanted.

“Where did you hear that word?” Eliza asked Kailin. Did Eliza really want to have a conversation about courting while sitting next to KC? “Never mind. Don’t use it again.” Eliza hoped her parents moved their Uncle Morris’s family back soon. She wasn’t sure how to take over all their mother did.

The wagon rolled down the road to Rayna singing, “Sparking. Sparking. Sparking.”

Eliza was grateful when Kailin turned Rayna’s attention to counting her fingers, then her fingers and toes. Apparently, the girl’s shoes were now off. She’d deal with that when they got back to the ranch.

“Speaking of sparking,” KC said very closely to Eliza’s ear. Chills raced down her neck.

“We weren’t.”

“Well, yes, everyone in this wagon was except me, and I felt left out, so I thought it might be a good time to jump into the conversation.” He gazed steadily at her.

His words had started out with an edge of humor but were spoken in a hushed tone by the end of the sentence. Goose flesh broke out on her arms. His gray eyes, rimmed with midnight blue, seemed to darken the longer Eliza and KC gazed at one another silently.

“Tell me one of your dreams, Eliza.” He looked at her earnestly.

Her mind ran through several—to have a home and family, to be adored by her husband, to live a long and happy life. She smiled and chose another one. “I want to keep bees on my own homestead.”

“Bees? Why beekeeping?”

She hadn’t expected him to be interested. Lance had never even asked her what she wanted. “I love honey. Everything tastes a little better with a bit of it. I used to think my mother made wheat gruel for breakfast as a punishment, but one day, I drizzled a little honey on it, and just like that, it was better. Just a little in the mix when grinding sausage—.”

“Better?” KC supplied.

Eliza nodded. “I put a little on the fried potatoes while they’re cooking. You can’t taste it, but they’re better,” Eliza said, and KC repeated the last word with her. “And no one knows why,” she finished.

“Honey is your family secret for recipes.”

“Not my family’s. Just mine.” She felt compelled to look from his eyes to his mouth, his lips, full and—she found herself wishing for a few holes in the road that would jostle the buckboard just enough that their lips would touch accidently again.

He leaned noticeably away from her.

She looked down, exhaling a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. Where their legs had been rubbing alongside each other’s, there was space and cool air now. When she looked up at him, his eyes darted away from her.