Matthew was gonna do just that when the moment was right—and then the lumbering jackass had to chase her off before he got the chance.
Following in Charlie’s footsteps, Matthew stalked out of the grill in a temper, leaving his kin to manage on their own. He drove the five-mile distance to Gap Mills to see her, to say the things he should have said the second she showed up at the grill—to kiss her in plain sight if he had to and toss her in the truck so he might take her somewhere where they could sit and look at things. But she was already gone.
With a ticking jaw, Matthew listened to Mrs. Fontanne claim Charlie had not returned to the boarding house since leaving that morning.
She was nowhere to be found.
Or at least she wasn’t until the following evening when Charlie stumbled through the door around supper.
Startled, Matthew stood up from the table he’d commandeered for work, blinking at her and the looming Nathaniel behind her.
“Look what I found.” Nathaniel shoved her forward. “Miss Charlie out for a walk in the woods.”
Her dress was mussed, her hair looking as if she’d repeatedly run her hand through it—she even had a smear of dirt on her cheek. From the way she glanced about, it was obvious she was self-conscious, and Matthew could not even begin to wonder what on earth Nathaniel was thinking.
“I wasn’t walking in the woods!” Charlie’s voice grew shrill. “I was ambushed by your fool brother!”
“In the woods,” Nathaniel added with a grin, patting her shoulder.
Glaring behind her, Charlie hissed, “For Christ’s sake, Nathaniel. I was sleeping… I almost shot you, you drunk jackass!” Swinging her head back to Matthew she pointed as if all this was his doing. “He threw me over his shoulder and dragged me here!”
At least Nathan
iel was thorough.
“You should be thanking me.” The tallest Emerson shrugged. “Ain’t your ankle still sore?”
“THERE AIN’T NOTHING WRONG WITH MY—”
Matthew came forward, frowning at the manhandling. “Nathaniel, get your paws off of her… You’re getting dirt all over her dress.”
“It’s fine.” Nathaniel beamed, obviously having thought through his terrible plan. “She can change into the one she left drying here week before last.”
The woman looked just about ready to tear her hair out. Matthew stepped between them, leading her away from the no-good troublemaker and guiding her towards the washroom. “Stupid as he is, he’s right. Do you want me to fetch your dress?”
“He can’t sneak up on me like that, Matthew. I might have killed him! As it is, my knuckles are going to be swollen for a week.”
The scowl grew, Matthew’s attention going to her dirty hands. Across her knuckles, the faint beginnings of inflamed purple bloomed.
“First ice, then supper.” Matthew took her hand, gently testing the bruises. “You eaten today?”
Having the man hold her hand where roadhouse patrons and his kin could see, was apparently more than Charlie could process. She squeaked, “Not really.”
“Wash up. I’ll get your dress.”
Taking a lesson from his brother, Matthew ignored her protests and pushed her gently into the washroom, closing the door in her face.
Once he could hear her muttered curses and the sound of the tap, Matthew turned towards a proudly grinning Nathaniel and thinned his lips.
Matthew booted out the patrons, and a few minutes later Charlie emerged. Dressed in the clean cotton Matthew had laundered, hair somewhat tamed, she looked less bothered, but she had no powder, no rouge, no comb… and there was only so much soap and water could fix. Tucking her hair behind her ear, Charlie came to take her seat, all the while sucking her unpretty lower lip in her mouth so the scar would not be seen.
Once she took a seat, Nathaniel, making peace, slid a jar of applejack her way. Charlie was not biting, and threw him a look of rage, all the while growling like an angry dog.
Matthew was ready for her temper, distracting Charlie by reaching up to pull the lip she was trying to hide right out of her mouth. After setting a bag of ice on the stupefied girl’s knuckles, he traced over the scar with the pad of his thumb.
Charlie blushed right up to her roots.
He fed her, took her empty plate, then told Eli to do the washing so Matthew might lead Charlie out to the porch. They sat down side by side, the final traces of sunset coloring the woods, Matthew breaking the silence. “I called on the boarding house after you left.”