Homespun Bride

178 Homespun Bridea rocky trail with this woman. He got the notion thatthe Worthington Inquisition was just getting started. “Ilearned what I know from growing up on my family’shomestead.”“I see. No formal education?”“Just the local school.”“No academy or college?”“Begging your pardon, ma’am, but do I look likeI’ve been to college?”“No, but it was a hope.”He took a dinner roll and passed the bowl to theyoungest girl, who looked at him as if he’d turned intoa horse right there before her eyes.Yep, he was feeling mighty uncomfortable. As heaccepted the bowl of creamed potatoes from a tightlippedHenrietta, he caught Noelle’s amused expressionacross the table. She had to know that he was suffering.She didn’t seem to mind it at all.Well, she had warned him.“I got a good look at that mustang you ride.” The girlacross the table—Angelina?—dumped a spoon ofbuttered peas on her plate. “Was he once wild? Did youcatch him in a roundup? Did you break him?”“Yes,” Robert said from the head of the table. “Tell usabout your mustang.A plucky breed, as I understand it.”“Sunny is a mustang?” Noelle asked breathlessly.His pulse ground to a halt. Regret bit him like barbedwire. He forked a helping of roast beef on his plate,knowing what no one else knew at the table. She’d oncedreamed of raising her own horses—mustangs, native tothis rugged country. It was a dream they’d shared longago.“I’d just finished a drive on the Northern Trail and