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“Yes, ma’am.”
She tapped her pencil against her lips, a slight smile teasing her mouth. It appeared Mr. Mitch Beaumont was not at all the man she’d believed him to be.
Chapter 5
“Hi, Miss Cochran.” Ian gave Priscilla a bright smile as she left her house to join him and Mitch in their buggy. Since she’d been watching for them before Mitch had a chance to fetch her, she was already next to the buggy. She was very excited to attend the church service and the social afterward.
“I imagine automobiles are the main mode of transportation in Guthrie,” Mitch said as he helped her into the vehicle.
“There are some. Ellie’s husband, Max, owns one, and my papa bought a Ford Model T last year. He purchased it because Mama wanted to learn to drive. Although Max lets Ellie drive his automobile, he won’t let anyone else touch it. You see more of them on the roads in Guthrie each year, but most people use the trolley cars or buggies.”
“Your mama wanted to drive?”
“Oh, yes. She’s not your typical mama.” She turned toward him, “When she was only twenty-three years old, she become guardian to my four cousins and they joined the Land Run in 1889.”
“Well, that explains a lot.” He grinned in her direction.
She stiffened. “I hope I haven’t just been insulted.”
“What’s the Land Run, Miss Cochran?” Ian’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
Priscilla went on to describe the event that history books would cover for years to come. All those people lined up on the borders of Oklahoma Territory, waiting for the signal to sound at noon on April 22, 1889. She would have to be sure to cover that in her history lessons.
She had passed the church on her way into town earlier in the week, but now that she had the opportunity to take a closer look at it, she was a little disappointed. It was a nice structure but badly needed a coat of paint. The grounds around the outside were not well kept, and the pastor standing at the front door looked as if a good wind would blow him down.
“My goodness. How old is the pastor?”
“Older than God, believe me.” Mitch jumped down and helped her out of the buggy. Ian followed behind until he spotted boys his age and took off.
“Reverend David Thatcher has been here since I was a boy. That’s why the place looks like it does. He refuses anyone’s help in maintaining the grounds. He says God doesn’t care what the church looks like. The town’s been trying to convince him to retire, or at least allow us to paint and fix up the place. He’s a wonderful man, but stubborn.”
Priscilla took Mitch’s arm as they climbed the steps. Close up, the pastor looked even older and more fragile than he had from a distance.
Mitch stopped in front of the man. “Reverend, I would like to introduce you to Miss Cochran, the town’s new teacher.”
“New preacher? I’m not ready to retire. And we can’t have a woman preacher, anyway.”
His lips twitching, Mitch leaned in further. “No, Pastor, Miss Cochran is the teacher.”
“Oh, another one, eh?” He glared at Priscilla with watery blue eyes. “You gonna stick around or take off like the last one?” He shook his head. “Poor girl cried her eyes out. Didn’t like Dogtown at all.”
“No. I plan to stay for a long time. I like it here in Dogtown. The people are friendly and I’m anxious to meet all of my students Monday.”
The old man took her hand and patted it. “Good. Good. We need strong women here.”
They moved past him and into the church. Mitch spoke out of the side of this mouth. “And you don’t mind lying to a man of God?”
Anger flashed through her, and she had an urge to kick him in the shins. If they weren’t in church, she might have even done that. “I did not lie to him, and please stop this constant barrage.” She released his arm and entered a pew, muttering, “Sacré bleu! Cet homme est une douleur dans mon cul.”
Mitch almost choked on Priscilla’s referral to him as a pain in the ass. He really should tell her he understood her insults, but he was having too much fun allowing her free rein with her comments.
Ian slipped into the pew just as Reverend Thatcher toddled up the aisle to the sanctuary. Mitch’s thoughts wandered as the pastor gave his Sunday sermon. For the man’s age and decrepit appearance, he still gave a moving sermon each week. But this Sunday Mitch’s thoughts were on the woman sitting next to him in church.
No woman had ever gotten under his skin the way Priscilla had. He had the intense need to constantly remind her she wasn’t staying. He loved watching her breasts heave and her eyes flash with annoyance. Priscilla Cochran in a temper was a sight to behold. To see all that fury unleashed in bed had him hardening and shifting in his seat.
He wondered if his constant prodding was his way of reminding himself that his attraction to her was futile. Even if he was crazy enough to consider marrying—which he wasn?
?t—a woman from her background and upbringing was so far above him as to be laughable.
