Anywhere you wanted.
The answer unsettled her.
Not because it frightened her.
Because she believed him.
Gideon had paid fifty dollars to her father, yet he apparently did not consider that money a purchase.
She wrote:
Why did you agree to marry me?
For the first time since she had met him, Gideon seemed genuinely uncomfortable.
He stared ahead at the road.
Rosalie waited.
Finally, he wrote only:
Your father asked.
That was not an answer.
She underlined the question.
Gideon looked at it.
Then at her.
Something almost like amusement appeared in his eyes.
He wrote:
You are stubborn.
Rosalie added:
You are avoiding me.
This time, Gideon smiled.
It transformed him.
The severe lines around his mouth softened. For one brief moment he did not look like Coldwater’s mysterious rancher.
