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grandfather’s place. It’s very kind of you.”
    He grunted, now refusing to look at her, squinting in the sun without his hat. His hair was matted to his head where the hat had been, a ring of darker blond showing where the hat had rested on his head. Penny was surprised to note he was quite handsome. She had been too absorbed with her own need to escape Calvin that she’d hardly paid attention to her companion, but she was unable to ignore the sculpted chin and finely arched brow.
    The realization was discomfiting. Especially in light of Jonas White’s moral deficiencies. The man had fathered one—or more—children outside of wedlock. And he appeared to struggle for money, lived on a homestead. In short, he wasn’t a man she would consider a suitable match. In addition, she wanted to fall desperately, powerfully in love the way her grandparents had.
    To distract herself from uncomfortable thoughts, Penny continued making conversation. “How did you come to be in Calvin? Isn’t Bear Creek closer for purchasing supplies?”
    He thought about his answer for a considerable amount of time. “It is. I had business with your father’s bank, and with other banks as well.”
    “That’s right. Was your business concluded in a satisfactory manner?” Jonas hadn’t been in her father’s office for very long, she’d noticed, even though she’d been waiting on customers.
    “No. Your father didn’t grant me the loan.”
    His blunt, quiet answer seemed to end that vein of conversation.
    “I’m sorry,” she murmured, staring down at her gloved hands. She didn’t know all the circumstances, but the man’s disappointment was palpable. She remembered her father’s anger when Jonas had interrupted his party and wondered if that had anything to do with his denying the loan. Surely not. “Then I’m doubly grateful you agreed to convey my brother and me to Grandfather’s homestead.”
    A long silence settled between them. Penny stood it for as long as she was able, but finally felt compelled to make further conversation.
    “How did you come to be in Wyoming?”
    He frowned and glanced back at his daughter, who still slept. “I was…encouraged to leave Philadelphia.”
    Ah. Because of the scandal with Millie, though he did not say it in so many words.
    “But how did you choose Wyoming? And…is it…do you raise cattle?”
    “Some.” He paused for a long time and again she wondered if he would answer. “I once heard someone read a story about Wyoming in a dime novel. With nowhere else to go, one place seemed as good as another.”
    “Hmm.”
    She hoped her interest would encourage him to go on, but he stubbornly went silent again. Well. If he wasn’t inclined to make conversation, she would simply endure the quiet.
    But what a coincidence that they’d ended up in the same state, near in geographic area. As he’d said, with nowhere else to go, it didn’t much matter where he landed, but how had he come to be Grandfather’s neighbor?
    An hour passed without a word spoken between them. Breanna woke up. She seemed quieter, more reserved, and this seemed to worry Jonas, if the crease on his brow was any indication. He insisted they stop awhile under a clump of trees. Sam roused, too, though he remained taciturn and kept to himself. They ate a small picnic in the limited shade from the wagon before continuing on their way.
    Breanna did not chatter this time. Penny idly wondered if the trip was a mistake—she already missed conversing with her friends from town. The summer sun made her drowsy, and she was half-dreaming about her father forcing her down the aisle to meet Mr. Abbott when a startled exclamation from Jonas roused her.
    “Breanna? Do you feel ill?”
    Breanna did not answer, but Penny turned in time to see the little girl collapse into the wagon.
    Suddenly, the placid, quiet man next to Penny leapt into action.
    “Whoa!” He pulled back on the reins and set the brake as the wagon rolled to a stop.