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know
of,” Mrs. Weingarten said. “Does he?”
    “ No, no he doesn’t.” Lynne twisted
her fingers together in her lap. “I wouldn’t include him in your
consideration, though.”
    Lynne was certain she saw Mrs. Weingarten’s
eyes twinkle with mischief, although her expression remained as
neutral as it could be.
    “ And why not?” the older woman
asked.
    “ Why….” Lynne scrambled for an
answer. “He’s stubborn as a mule, for one. He’s forever telling me
to ride in the wagon or stay away from his horse. Well, he started
saying that after I rode Arrow the other day. And he tried to keep
me from walking with you when your brother was sick,
Callie.”
    As soon as she let the accusation out, she
felt guilty. He was looking out for her best interests, after all,
and it didn’t feel right to put him down in front of the
others.
    “ He seems sensible enough,” Mrs.
Weingarten argued. “And he does a good job of watching over
you.”
    “ That’s just it,” Lynne said. “He
does too good a job. I can hardly settle my thoughts when
he’s around, he’s so overbearing. If it’s not one thing, it’s
another. Why, I’ve even been dreaming of him, that’s how
overpowering he is.”
    She frowned at her words. Something about them
didn’t come out sounding the way she’d intended them to sound. Mrs.
Weingarten was smiling fully now.
    “ I don’t think I would consider
Mr. Lawson,” Callie said.
    She didn’t give a reason, but Lynne was
relieved all the same. That didn’t make any sense either. She
sighed and rubbed her forehead. Her Papa may have had his concerns
about the perils of this journey, but she doubted he would have
foreseen the troubles she was actually having.
    “ So Mr. Finch or Mr. Rye, then,”
Mrs. Weingarten said.
    Callie nodded. “I’ll speak to them each in the
next few days.”
    That was the end of the discussion. Night was
falling quickly, so Lynne hugged her friends goodbye—promising that
she would be by Callie’s side at a moment’s notice if she needed
her—then marched back down the stopped line of wagons to where Cade
and Ben had made a small camp beside her wagon. Ben was nowhere in
sight.
    “ Said he had a headache and went
to bed early,” Cade explained when she asked about it.
    “ I might turn in early tonight
myself,” she said, and sat on a barrel by Cade’s side. Nothing felt
right, like the unsettling calm before a storm.
    After a few moments, Cade said, “Is your
friend going to be all right?”
    Lynne chewed her lip, picking at a small stain
on her skirt. “Eventually. I hope so. Mrs. Weingarten has suggested
she marry one of the single men in the wagon train.”
    “ Is that so?”
    There was a shade too much humor in Cade’s
voice. Lynne scolded him with a look.
    “ It’s not something I would ever
consider,” she said.
    “ No, I expect not.” He didn’t even
try to hide his smile. It flashed in the rose-hued light of sunset,
sending an uncomfortably delicious shiver down Lynne’s
spine.
    “ I’m not sure I like your tone,
Mr. Lawson,” she said to hide the giddiness of her reaction to his
smile.
    “ Cade,” he reminded her, taking a
long drink of coffee from the tin cup he cradled.
    “ So you’ve said.” She smoothed her
skirt, then tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, whishing
she didn’t find him so enticing when he teased her. “I could never
marry a man that I hardly knew, but I think Callie just
might.”
    Cade shrugged. “And why not? A woman needs a
husband.”
    Lynne sent him a flat stare. “A woman does not need a husband.”
    “ Sure she does.” He grinned.
“Especially out on the trail like this. Things could get dangerous,
and a woman can’t defend herself on her own.”
    “ I hope I get a chance to prove
you wrong on that account before this trip is over,” she shot
back.
    “ I hope you don’t,” he answered in
all seriousness. Before she could argue on, he shifted to lean his
elbows on his knees,