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baby.”
    Breanna sucked in a breath, offering a short reprieve from her chatter. It didn’t last long.
    “What’s a finishing school? Did you learn sums and reading and such?”
    * * *
    Penny could sense Jonas White’s tension in the stiff set of his shoulders. What did he think she was going to do, tell Breanna that he’d gotten her mother with child outside of wedlock? It wasn’t her place.
    Turning to face Breanna, Penny accidentally knocked her knee against Jonas’s leg again. Drat the small seat on this wagon.
    She resettled her skirt to ensure her ankles weren’t showing and couldn’t help but take in the condition of the conveyance. It seemed to be the same wagon Breanna had just mentioned that had brought her companions west years ago, with wheels that had obviously been repaired and were bleached white from the sun.
    The horses seemed to be of good quality. Penny almost wondered if they were some of her grandfather’s stock.
    Penny forced herself to pay attention to the conversation instead of thinking of the Whites’ monetary situation. She told the young girl, “A finishing school is a special school for young ladies to learn skills to help them maintain a household. To make them more eligible for marriage.” Not that it had helped her catch a mate. Even with Mrs. Trimble’s training, Penny was too outspoken, too Western, for the men she’d met in Philadelphia.
    It was a stark reminder of how she’d disappointed her father. So much that now he’d decided to match her with Mr. Abbott. Penny pushed away the unwelcome thoughts.
    “What’s that mean? To maintain a household? ” Breanna’s nose crinkled adorably with the question. “Is it like sweepin’ floors and makin’ supper?”
    The man beside her coughed, his frame shaking.
    “No. Not like that. More of dressing the table and how to make polite conversation with dinner guests…arranging flowers…” As she said the words, Penny realized how trivial they sounded. Would she even know what to do to help her grandfather? She hoped so.
    But the little girl hadn’t seemed to pick up on that. “Pa, I don’t have to go away to school, do I?”
    Jonas glanced at his daughter’s concerned, upturned face. “No, miss. Not unless you grow up and decide you want to catch a rich husband.” He winked, and Breanna giggled.
    He still didn’t look directly at Penny. Had he meant the words as a slight? She couldn’t tell.
    “Do you have a rich husband, Miss Penny?”
    A wince she couldn’t hide. “No.”
    An hour later, the little girl was noticeably drooping, her questions slowing. Sam had long since dropped off to sleep and was snoring in the back of the wagon, chin tilted to his chest.
    “Why don’t you curl up and take a nap?” Jonas asked his daughter. “You’ve got room there. Do you want my hat to shade your face?”
    “Mmm…thanks, Pa.”
    Jonas handed the little girl his hat, and she lay down. Quiet, at last.
    Penny observed Jonas as he leaned back to tuck Breanna’s skirt around her legs and tilted the hat to make sure she could breathe easily. It was obvious he loved his daughter deeply. She wondered how he’d fared with an infant after leaving Philadelphia. Had he found someone to help care for Breanna? Or had he managed to care for the infant girl by himself? It seemed impossible…
    “She’s a lovely little girl,” Penny commented when the silence between them stretched. Unable to contain her curiosity, she asked, “Was there—did you…marry after you left Philadelphia?”
    “No,” came his short answer. “I’m not married.”
    But hadn’t Breanna just mentioned having brothers? Was it possible he’d fathered more children out of wedlock? Suddenly uncomfortable, Penny glanced over her shoulder to see if Sam still slept. Should she wake him?
    Turning back to face front, her eyes met Jonas’s and his gaze narrowed.
    Penny rushed to fill the awkward silence. “Sam and I are very grateful for the ride to my