Serri washed the dishes then wandered outside to admire the garden while Bess and Gabe discussed their plans for the day.
As she bent over a row of carrots, Serri had the strange sensation that someone was watching her. She stood up, spun around, and found herself face to face with a tall, blonde, amazingly handsome man.
"Hello," he drawled with a dazzling smile. "You must be a friend of Bess's. I'm Noah, Gabe's brother."
"Uhhh, hi, hello, umm," stammered Serri. "Yes. Nice to meet you, Noah."
As they shook hands, Serri couldn't help but notice that his hands were huge. They completely encased her hand in a snug embrace.
As they silently held hands in the carrots, Bess gazed out the backdoor.
"Enough with the goo-goo eyes, already," Bess laughed. "Why don't you two come on in and we'll make some proper introductions."
Serri turned a deep shade of crimson as Noah let loose a charming laugh. He put his hand on her back and allowed her to go past him as they made their way into the house.
"Noah," shouted Gabe as the three of them entered the kitchen. "Just the man I wanted to talk to."
They sat down at the table while Bess prepared some lemonade and arranged four glasses on a tray.
"I see you've met Serri," stated Gabe. "She's actually who I wanted to talk to you about. She could use a ride to St. Louie."
Noah turned to Serri with a warm smile and again covered her hand with his. "It would be my honor and pleasure to have you accompany me on my journey."
Serri blushed but quickly regained her composure and smiled. "I'm happy to pay my way."
"Not necessary. I've got plenty of rations and I'll put you to work to earn them," he said with a laugh. "Ever driven a covered wagon?"
Serri shook her head.
"How about shoeing a horse?" He laughed.
"Actually, I've done that plenty of times," Serri stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh! I see. You'll come in right handy then."
They picked up their glasses of lemonade and settled in to work out the details. Serri couldn't help but notice that Noah kept staring at her over the rim of his glass.
By suppertime they had a plan. They'd leave in two days' time and arrive in St. Louis within a week.
The woman whipped up a meal of beef and carrot stew while the men went out to the barn to talk tack.
Everyone was in good spirits as they sat down at the table to eat, so it came as a shock to Serri to catch Noah wantonly staring at Bess' hindquarters as she bent over the oven to take out the rolls.
Serri continued to watch him until he finally noticed and turned to her with a dazzling, boyish grin. He then focused on his food as if nothing was amiss.
Serri hurriedly looked down at her plate and tried to put the incident out of her mind. She was going to be in very close quarters with him for a week. She hoped she had misunderstood his behavior. Bess was his sister-in-law, after all. He was probably just looking at the hot buns. Still, she couldn't help but wonder - which ones?