“No.”
She stared.
He raised both hands.
“I planned to destroy the claim.”
“I did not plan that sentence.”
“You announced marriage in front of half the county.”
“Yes.”
“Without asking me.”
“Yes.”
“Do you understand why that might anger me?”
“Completely.”
She stepped closer.
“Then why?”
The Cowboy looked around.
People moved toward wagons.
The Younger Sister was far enough away not to hear.
He lowered his voice.
“Because the attorney was turning reputation into evidence.”
“I needed to cut the argument.”
The Older Sister’s eyes narrowed.
“So marriage was strategy.”
“No.”
“Choose your next words carefully.”
The Cowboy took one breath.
“The timing was strategy.”
“The marriage was not.”
Her anger stopped.
The Cowboy continued.
“If I didn’t mean it, I would have said tenancy.”
“Employment.”
“Partnership.”
“Anything else.”
“I said marriage because when he asked whether I planned to stay, I realized I already knew the answer.”
The Older Sister stared.
The Cowboy looked almost uncomfortable.
Good.
She liked him less invincible.
He continued.
“I love your sister.”
The Older Sister’s face changed.
He immediately added:
“Like family.”
She stared.
The Cowboy smiled slightly.
“You should have seen your face.”
She hit his chest.
Hard.
He laughed.
“Do that again and there won’t be a wedding.”
His smile disappeared.
“So there is one?”
The Older Sister froze.
He stepped closer.
“Is there?”
She looked toward the waiting horses.
Then back.
“You still haven’t asked properly.”
The Cowboy’s expression softened.
“Here?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because I have standards.”
He laughed.
The Older Sister pointed.
“You will ask when we are home.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And if you ever publicly announce my life again without consulting me—”
“I understand.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Probably not.”
She almost smiled.
Then remembered something.
“And your timing was terrible.”
“Judge disagreed.”
She hit him again.
The ride home felt different.
The Younger Sister rode ahead.
She kept smiling to herself.
The Older Sister eventually asked:
“What?”
“Nothing.”
“You have been smiling for ten miles.”
The Younger Sister turned in the saddle.
“I’m thinking about how you told me he was trouble.”
“He is.”
“And how you told me men do not stay.”
“He hasn’t married anyone yet.”
The Cowboy rode behind them.
“I can hear both of you.”
The Younger Sister called back:
“Good.”
The Older Sister ignored him.
Her sister looked at her more seriously.