LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter Three

      Dusk shadowed the graceful stalks of corn, yet still Jenny plied her hoe. To rest against its handle would only invite more of Shay’s scrutiny, and she’d borne about all of that she could handle for one evening. His eyes rested on her between each movement of his hoe, ever observing, as if she might fade from sight if he didn’t keep close track. Yet it did not detract from the rhythm he’d set, pushing himself to complete the task he’d taken on. It seemed the man would never say die, never cease his energetic removal of weeds from around each hill of corn. And who could argue with that?

      Certainly not the woman who’d accepted his offer to work beside her in the cool of the evening. And then the mosquitos descended. To thwart the advance of the pesky critters she’d simply rolled her sleeves to her wrists, then buttoned them. Her bonnet kept them from her hair, and she waved away the few insects that buzzed near her face.

      She cast sidelong glances in Shay’s direction. The man could work. There was no getting around that fact. His hands and arms moved in a rhythm she could never hope to emulate. His own hat kept the bloodthirsty insects from his head, and he’d turned up his collar, somewhat protecting his neck from their bites. Shirtsleeves tightly fastened, he worked diligently. As if the crop of corn would be his to sell at harvest time, he chopped weeds with a vengeance.

      Jenny moved between the rows at a slow but steady pace, noting that Shay uprooted the green predators in the row to her right before she could reach them, easing her workload by almost half. Leaving only the weeds to her left to the mercy of her hoe, he moved smoothly beside her, doubling her accomplishment, with no apparent effort on his part.

      She paused, standing erect, her hand moving to the small of her back, and Shay glanced at her, his harsh features visible in the twilight. “Had enough for tonight?” he asked.

      His words were low, drawled in a voice that made her think of cool sheets and moonlight streaming through her bedroom window. And where that thought had come from, she wasn’t sure. She only knew that she hadn’t traveled such paths since the day Carl rode his big buckskin stallion down the road, then turned to wave goodbye with a jaunty hand. That this dark, enigmatic stranger could elicit such pondering from her female mind was a fact she wasn’t ready to cope with.

      “Yes, I suppose so,” she murmured, aware fully now of the aching muscles in her back, just below her waist. Hoeing corn had never been her favorite chore, yet she’d done it for the past four years or so without complaint. Mostly in the evening when Marshall was under Isabelle’s care, bathing and readying for bed. Though the task was tedious, she enjoyed the stillness, when her only companion was a mockingbird in the hedgerow. When her thoughts could have free rein, and memories of past days and nights ran rampant through her mind.

      None of those solitary evenings held a candle to this one, she decided, turning her hoe over to Shay’s capable hands, watching as his broad palm encompassed both handles easily. Before them, rows of corn seemed to stretch endlessly into the field. At the horizon a pale moon appeared, rising in increments into the sky.

      “You don’t have to do this,” she said, allowing her gaze to rest on the shadowed outline of his face. “You work hard all day long. I really don’t mind coming out here alone in the evening.”

      “Do you think I’d let you work by yourself?” he asked. “Don’t you do enough all day, let alone chopping weeds till dark?” He reached for her, gripping her hand firmly in his, and she followed his lead, a row of fragile, foot-high cornstalks between them as they walked. “Watch where you step,” he told her. “I’ll pick up the piles of weeds tomorrow.”

      “I can do that,” she protested. “I’ll bring a basket out in the morning.” His hand was warm, his fingers enfolding hers with an easy clasp. She allowed the intimacy, relishing the brush of his callused hand against her own. In silence they reached the end of the rows and she turned to look back over her shoulder.

      “Admiring your work?” he asked dryly.

      “No,” she answered, smothering a laugh. “Just being thankful for good weather, I guess. The corn’s doing well.”

      He halted, drawing her across the few inches that separated them, where the tilled ground meshed with grass and tall weeds. “Listen, Miss Jenny,” he whispered, cocking his head to one side. “You can almost hear it growing.”

      It was a whimsical notion and she smiled readily. “I’ve thought the same thing before,” she told him, “when the heat of the day is gone and the night is quiet. My papa used to say that corn was the perfect crop for a man to plant.”

      Shay turned his head and she saw a flash of teeth as his lips parted in a smile. “I’ve never heard that theory before,” he said. “I would have thought cotton would be on the top of his list.”

      Jenny lifted her shoulders in a small shrug. “Cotton is a moneymaker. But you have to have hands to harvest it. A poor man can only plant ten or fifteen acres. A man and his family can only tend to so much, if they’re going to tend it well.”

      “Carl wasn’t a poor man. He must have had plenty of field hands out there.” His head nodded toward the far fields, where the land lay fallow.

      “That was a long time ago,” Jenny said quietly. “Things change. I’ve never forgotten the things my father told me though, when I was growing up. He didn’t own a place like this. We weren’t poor, but…”

      “You were raised to be a lady,” Shay said.

      “Yes, I was. But I learned early on that life is uncertain, and tomorrow brings surprises.”

      “And so you’ve managed to take hold here and keep things going.”

      “I’ve done my best. For Carl’s sake, and for Marshall. Yet, even now I think of all the things my father taught me, and they’ve proven to be true. He said that if we do the hard work, God will provide the rain and sun. Corn’s the best crop we can raise to keep us from goin’ hungry.” She spread her hands in a gesture that encompassed the field. “You

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