Page 67 of Short-Straw Bride

“Myra!” Meredith gasped in shock, then promptly started laughing at the picture that came to mind of a bewildered Travis searching high and low for his bed.

“You ain’t got nothing to worry about, Miss Meri.” Myra reached across the table and patted her hand. “From what Moses says, your man’s got a good head on his shoulders. He’ll figure it out. And if it takes him longer than you like, you can always let him accidentally see you with your hair down, or tangle your apron strings in such a knot that you need his help to undo them. Find excuses to touch him, even if it’s just passin’ the potatoes, and look him in the eye while you do it. Trust me, that cot will find its way back into storage faster than you can fold the sheets.”

Myra winked at her, and the insecurities that she’d been dragging around for days finally lifted. She could do it. She could woo her husband.

Meredith sat a little straighter in her chair and finished off her tea, ideas churning in her mind. Myra stood to refill her cup, her secretive smile no longer quite so mysterious. With confidence blossoming, Meredith felt a similar smile stretch across her face.

Knowing she needed to get back to the ranch, Meredith downed her tea as quickly as politeness allowed. Myra didn’t seem to mind. She just peered at her over the rim of her still half-filled cup, her eyes gleaming with a light that made Meredith’s cheek warm.

“I’m sorry to rush out on you, Myra. I promised Travis not to stay long.” Meredith stood and collected her mittens and scarf. “The weather, you know.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Myra murmured, that secretive gleam of hers only growing brighter.

Meredith ducked her head to hide an embarrassed smile. It was the middle of the day, for heaven’s sake. She probably wouldn’t even see Travis for another couple of hours. It wasn’t as if she were rushing home to put their plans into action.

All right, maybe that accounted for some of her urgency. But the coming storm was cause for concern, too.

Just as she reached for her cloak, Joshua stomped through the back door, letting in a gust of wind that pricked her skin like tiny ice needles.

“Lord have mercy!” Myra inhaled sharply. “When did it turn so cold?”

Joshua closed the door behind him, but Meredith still shivered. She hurriedly donned her cloak and crossed her arms over her middle, trying to reclaim the heat she’d lost.

“It’s been droppin’ for the last hour, Ma,” Joshua said as he moved closer to the stove. “And now it’s rainin’. Ain’t much more than a drizzle, but the water’s freezing on its way down. I suspect we’ll get snow overnight.”

Myra jumped to her feet. “I had no idea.” She tossed an apologetic look Meredith’s way. “You do gotta get home. Joshua, saddle her horse for her.”

“Already done it. Ginger’s ready to go when you are, Miss Meri.”

“Thank you, Joshua.” Meredith stuffed her hands into her mittens and wrapped her scarf high around her neck. “I best be on my way. I don’t want my husband to worry.”

And heaven knew, Travis would worry. He’d specifically warned her about the freezing rain. If she didn’t get home soon, he might not let her leave the ranch for the rest of the winter.

Myra helped fasten the buttons on Meredith’s cloak, since mittens didn’t allow for much dexterity. Meredith thanked her and pulled her friend into a brief embrace.

“I’d be lost without you, Myra.”

“You and Mr. Travis will find your way through this,” the older woman whispered fiercely in Meredith’s ear. “I have no doubt.”

Meredith followed Joshua outside, heartened by the woman’s words and eager to get home to put some of Myra’s strategies into practice.

Icy drizzle stung her cheeks, and the wind seemed to know the location of every crack and crevice in her clothing, chilling her instantly. Ginger stamped her hooves and twisted her head away from the wind.

“I know, girl,” Meredith soothed, stroking the paint’s neck. “Let’s get you home to that new barn.”

“Pa always takes the cutoff by Beaver Creek,” Joshua said after helping her mount. “It could save you some time gettin’ back.”

Meredith nodded as she took up the reins and turned Ginger’s head toward home. “Thanks.”

Moses and Josiah usually traveled on foot, not on horseback, but Meredith trusted Ginger to handle the terrain. It wasn’t truly raining, after all, just drizzling. The ground didn’t even feel muddy when they left the road.

By the time she reached the edge of the creek, however, the drizzle had worsened into a light shower of sleet. Her soggy mittens only intensified the cold as the wind blew through the knit, leaving her fingers numb.

Meredith reined Ginger in and tugged her mittens off with her teeth. She tucked them into the pocket of her cloak, then lifted her hands to her mouth and tried to warm them with her breath.

“All right, Ginger,” she said as she guided the horse to the lowest spot on the creek bank. “Home’s not much farther. Let’s get across.”

The paint tossed her head but obediently trudged forward. The creek wasn’t more than a foot deep, but the banks were getting slick as the rain increased. Halfway down, Ginger’s back hoof lost purchase and sent her staggering to the right. Meredith grabbed the horse’s neck, barely managing to stay in the saddle.