Anyplace But Here (Oklahoma Lovers 4)

She regarded him with raised eyebrows.

“Did you get fired tonight?”

Heavens, had he insisted she be fired and Mr. Tinsdale went against the wishes of a customer? No. That wasn’t likely. Mr. Tinsdale never went against what a customer requested. “No. Mr. Tinsdale—that’s my supervisor—gave me a second chance.”

He seemed to relax his stance. “I’m glad to hear that. When I didn’t see you in the dining room the rest of the time I was there, I was afraid he’d fired you after all.”

“After all?”

He grimaced. “Ah well, he sort of said he was going to dismiss you, but I asked him not to.”

He had kept her from losing her job? What a nice man. One of very few she was sure. Her warm thoughts came to an abrupt halt. Unless he expected some type of ‘reward’ for doing so. Was that why he’d waited for her in a darkened train station? She drew herself up and narrowed her eyes. “Why?”

“Huh?”

She raised her chin. “Why would you care if I lost my job?”

He removed his Stetson, ran his fingers through his hair, and then placed the hat back on his head. “I don’t want to see anyone lose their job. Especially if it was an accident.” He paused and gave her a slow smile that did strange things to her insides. “Unless you really intended to give me a cold bath?”

Images of this man sitting in a bathtub—naked—while she poured water over him produced a heated flush that began at her toes and ended at her hairline. What was the matter with her? Sure, he was handsome. Probably the handsomest man she’d ever seen, but she never felt an attraction to a man before. Any man. She’d had enough of men to last a lifetime.

“No, not at all Mr.—?”

“Henderson. Hunter Henderson.” That slow smile again made the slight lines at the edges of his eyes deepen.

“Well, thank you very much, Mr. Henderson. I appreciate you standing up for me.” She moved as if to go around him but he turned so he was walking alongside her.

“May I walk you home? I don’t think a nice young lady like yourself should be out at night alone.”

All right, just what did this man want from her? “The boardinghouse is only a two block walk. I’ve done it numerous times, and I feel quite safe. I certainly know how to take care of myself.”

“Ma’am, Tori would beat my hide if she knew I let a young lady walk the streets at night by herself.”

“Is that your wife?” Why did she feel a bit of a letdown?

Stupid.

“No, ma’am. I’m not married. Tori is my aunt. She and Uncle Jesse took over our raising when my dad died.” His lips tightened and his eyes changed from mirthful to something very dangerous.

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Memories of her own parents dying in a boating accident when she was away at school threatened to once again bring her to tears. Their demise had been the beginning of her living death. “Why do you say Uncle Jesse but not Aunt Tori?”

“I don’t rightly know, to tell you the truth. When Tori came to Kansas to take over our raising, she was only twenty-two and my brother—the oldest—was sixteen. We’d never met Tori before then, since the woman who raised her and my dad didn’t get on. Somehow she never seemed more than just one of us.”

“How many of them are you?”

“Michael, Rachel, Ellie, and me.”

“That was quite ambitious of a twenty-two-year-old woman to take on four unknown nieces and nephews.” It startled her to realize she was older than that by only one year. Could she ever feel confident enough to assume such a burden? Her attempt at independence had brought her here, and while she was doing all right, she never went through a single day without looking over her shoulder.

But at least she’d gotten away.

Mr. Henderson continued. “Not only that, Tori also entered the Land Run and hauled all of us here to Guthrie.”

Emily shook her head at the woman’s tenacity. “And ‘Uncle Jesse?’”

“He and Tori married shortly after we all arrived. He is a Territorial Senator. And I guess once we become a state later this year, he’ll be a State Senator.”

“What a remarkable couple.” Emily was amazed to see they had already reached the walkway to the boardinghouse. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d enjoyed a conversation with another person as much as this one. “Well, here we are.” She waved her arm in the direction of the large wooden structure that she called home.