Page 105 of The Ranger

Or so she thought. The moment the two sat on the porch swing, the parlor window slid up. Pa poked his head out between the lace curtains, glared at Markhel, then disappeared.

“I wonder what’s got into him?”

“Perhaps he has poor digestion,” Markhel commented.

She shook her head and tried not to think about it. She was on the porch swing with the handsome Markhel! Oh, blast it, there were problems with that.

“When are you leaving?” she blurted.

He looked straight ahead. “When I am ready.”

“Are you?”

He gave her a side-long glance. “No.”

She wiped her hands on her skirt. This again, was it? Maida twiddled her thumbs, caught herself and stopped. “Is Melvale your brother?”

Another glance. “Yes.”

She sighed. “Priscilla is your sister then?”

He cringed. “After a fashion.” He looked at her. “She is… adopted.”

“Oh, that explains a lot.” Maida tried not to wring her hands. “So… what are your brother and sister doing here?”

“Passing through.”

She smiled and a tiny giggle escaped. “Do you ever say more than two words?”

He arched an eyebrow at her “Often.”

“Then how come you aren’t doing it now?”

He looked past her to the window next to them. “Because everyone is in the parlor trying to listen to us.”

“What?” She left the swing and parted the curtains in the window. He was right.Everyonewas in the parlor and none of them were talking.

Maida let the curtains fall back into place, then motioned him to follow her.

He looked at the window and back, and his eyebrow went up again.

“Let’s go to the other end of the porch,” she whispered.

If her whole family moved into the dining room and openedthat window, then they’d make their eavesdropping too obvious even for them.

They retreated to the opposite end of the porch and leaned against the porch rail. “There, this is better,” she said.

“They are concerned for you.”

Maida looked up at him. “They always are. Sometimes they treat me like I’m made of glass.”

He nodded then looked at the barnyard. “Where is your brother?”

“Duncan? He went hunting with our Uncle Sam. They were going to camp out on the prairie and come back tomorrow.”

“Does he do that often?”

She smiled, unable to believe he was making conversation. “Yes. He likes hunting.”