Wars at Home

Chapter 11

"Emily, go ahead and pick out that fabric you wanted," I said once I spotted the table of colorful material in the corner. I turned and was surprised to find only air where my niece had been a minute ago.

I quickly scanned the store, before I looked at Ruby and Victoria, standing a few feet behind me.

"Where's Emily?"

"She's outside, talking to her boyfriend," Ruby answered in a sing-song voice, making Victoria giggle.

I walked the few steps to the window to look for Emily. Just as Ruby said, she was talking to someone. Only he wasn't a boy. He was a man. I was a little far away, but I guessed he was upwards of twenty-five at least. He was probably closer to thirty.

"Who is that?" I glanced at Ruby who was spying out the window next to me.

"Stephen Harper," she said. "He works for Daddy."

Well, that explained why I'd never seen him before. I hadn't been to the ranch in years, and many of the men who worked for John, rarely left the property. A lot of the time, younger ones like Stephen moved on in only a few months.

"Does your father know that he's Emily's boyfriend?" I turned my attention back to the street, already guessing the answer but wanting to be sure. Obviously I didn't know anything about Stephen, but the simple fact that he was so much older than Emily, made me think that John didn't know and wouldn't approve. And seeing the way Stephen was looking at her, made me certain that John wouldn't approve. It wasn't the way a man looks at the woman he loves or even likes in a special way. It was more the way that he looks at an alluring toy.

"Oh no!" Ruby giggled. "Daddy would have a fit if he knew. Emily's not allowed to have a boyfriend."

"Hmm." I frowned watching Emily laugh and playfully bat Stephen's hand away when he tugged on her hair.

Apparently John had adopted Papa's idea that his daughter shouldn't be thinking about marriage until at least eighteen. Which I thought was interesting, considering that John was the one who broke that rule with Jenny. But it wasn't that Papa didn't approve of John. Jenny was just too young at the time. I could tell that Stephen was nothing like John, and I really didn't think he had marriage on his mind.

"Ruby, go get your sister please, and tell her that she needs to pick out fabric now." I didn't look away from the couple on the street, but I was mildly surprised that Ruby didn't comment and simply did what I asked.

When I met Victoria's eyes, I could see that she understood that I didn't think the situation with her cousin was as entertaining as she and Ruby had a minute ago.

Maybe that was why Ruby was solemnly delivering my message at the moment. Or maybe it had something to do with wanting the candy that I'd bribed her with if she behaved on our shopping trip. Either way, I watched until Emily tore herself away from Stephen and started toward the store.

"Why don't you help me find some pumpkins for the pies?" I forced a smile for Victoria, trying to appear more at ease.

She seemed to relax and obligingly headed for the vegetables.

Once Emily and Ruby were safely back inside, I followed Victoria and made sure to keep a closer eye on my eldest niece. She began to pick through the material and I was glad that she didn't seem concerned about me having seen her with Stephen. I needed time to figure out what to do about this whole thing.

Of course, the obvious idea was to tell John and let him deal with it. But I had a feeling he might not handle it all that well. He was usually pretty calm and reasonable, but not always. It was rare, but he could definitely lose his temper from time to time. Particularly when he felt that someone he cared about was being hurt or threatened. Even though, from what I could tell, nothing more than flirting had actually happened between Emily and Stephen, I didn't doubt that John would see this as one of those times. He would do whatever came into his head and then stop to think about whether he should have done it or not. And I didn't think a vengeful ranch hand, and a rebellious daughter would make the best combination. Because even though Emily was calm and quiet most of the time, she was every bit as much like Jenny as Ruby was. And knowing Jenny, if Papa had forbidden her from seeing some boy, she would have done it just to spite him.