Page 14 of More Than Meets the Eye

“Shamgar.”

Evangeline tilted her head. “Is that from the Bible?”

“Yep.”

Heavens. He hoarded words like a squirrel did nuts. “Which part?”

“Judges.”

“Was Shamgar a judge?”

“Yep.”

Now he was being deliberately reticent. She could tell by the slight crinkling around his eyes. Zach did the same thing when he was trying to get a rise out of her. Well, after all the years she and the boys had grown sorghum, she knew one had to mill a lot of cane to extract enough juice to make even a single crock of syrup. She might not be the most patient person in the world, but no one could say she wasn’t persistent. If this was to be a battle of wills, she fully intended to be the victor.

Her gentle twirling became a little more forceful. “I don’t remember that one. Who was he?”

Her would-be rescuer shrugged. “All the Good Book says is that he saved Israel by striking down six hundred Philistines with an oxgoad.”

“What’s an oxgoad?” Not that she really cared, but he’d actually given her a response longer than a single word, and she wanted to keep the syllables flowing while the pump was primed.

Unfortunately, all he did was shrug again, killing her hard-gained momentum.

“Well, at least we know we have something in common, now,” she said.

He raised a brow in question. Apparently the pump handle had seized up completely.

Evangeline laughed. Really, he was stoic to the point of being ridiculous. “We both have pets named for characters from the Bible.”

“I suppose we do.”

“And speaking of names,” she said, keeping her voice deliberately light and teasing, “you seem to be holding yours hostage.” She smiled, expecting him to apologize and rectify the oversight.

He didn’t.

Instead, he just stared at her—his gaze frosting slightly, his features dulling, his expression becoming as still as a shallow pond in a breezeless summer. It was as if the fire within the vibrant man who’d selflessly attempted to save her life had been snuffed. And all because she’d asked him for his name.

Who was this stranger, and what was his true purpose for being here?

“I’ve given you mine,” she said, gently pressing for the answers she sought. “Now it’s your turn. The trust train runs both ways, you know.”

A veteran poker player should have more self-control, but Logan couldn’t stop his lips from twitching. “The trust train?”

She raised her brows to comical height. “What? Would you prefer a trust wagon?”

He shook his head at her inanity. She grinned, her mismatched eyes dancing.

What kind of girl was this? So ready to choose laughter over taking offense. It had been a long time since someone surprised him. He read people for a living, but this slip of a girl had done nothing but surprise him since he’d tackled her. First with her wild fighting style, then her pet boar. Who in their right mind wanted a pig for a pet? Then the barrage of little girl innocence and determined cheerfulness that made his skin itch with irritation even as it created a senseless craving for more. And just when he thought he could dismiss her as some kind of rainbow-loving idealist who had no true understanding of reality, she zinged him with a challenge, proving her sunny disposition hid a keen mind.

If the girl ever took to the tables, she’d be able to bluff her way into a fortune.

Logan peered at her earnest face, finally detecting a hint of suspicion in the line of her brow. “Train, wagon, whatever you want to call it, I don’t travel that road easily,” he admitted. “In my experience, trust is something people exploit.”

There. She’d been warned. What happened from here on out was on her head.

“That’s a pretty cynical view.” Her brow softened, her suspicion melting under the bleeding-heart compassion he’d noted earlier. “I’m sorry you feel that way, but I can understand. People can be cruel. Hurtful. For no good reason.”

There she went surprising him again. Real pain flashed in her eyes. Logan’s jaw clenched. Who would hurt this sparkling delight of a woman? Then he remembered the saloon owner in Pecan Gap and that superstitious claptrap about her eyes.