Billionaire Flawed 1(95)

“So what happened to Henry?” She asked and then was terrified she had overstepped by asking the question.

“He was thrown from his horse this afternoon and landed in the creek behind the house. Hit his head on a rock. He was gone before anyone got to him.”

“I hope he didn’t suffer much.”

Eric shook his head. “Not likely. From the size of that rock and the way he was…laying there, I don’t think he was conscious at all. Probably went like that.” He snapped his fingers. He looked at her again with worried eyes, his smile gone. He didn’t want to frighten her any more than she already was. “How long did you correspond with him?” He asked the question to distract from the current topic. He didn’t want to see his brother in his mind lying in the creek bed any more than he wanted to talk about it.

“We exchanged letters for several months. I wrote four to him, the first being the initial response to his ad.”

“So he put an ad in a newspaper in the East? Where exactly are you from again?”

“I was living in a little town in Virginia.”

“Virginia is a long way from here. You must not be used to the scenery or the weather here at all.”

“No.”

“You will find that things are very different here, where that’s concerned. Most of the women who are here dress…” He eyed her. “Very differently. I see you have a lot of…clothes on. You must be hot.”

“I am surprised you could not already see that.” Once the words were out, she regretted them. It seemed she was just putting her foot in her mouth every time it opened. She would have to learn to keep quiet and not burst out with her comments willy-nilly. It was inappropriate for her to speak to him that way and she knew it. All he had to do was turn around and take her back to the train station and send her back.

When she looked up at him, however, she didn’t think he would do that. He didn’t seem at all bothered by her constant verbal flubs. Back home, she’d had to blurt out what was on her mind if she expected ever to be heard from. If one person wasn’t talking, someone else usually was. She’d never been the girl to stand in the back of the room, pressed up against the wall with her mouth shut. She tried to be polite and respectful the way her parents had trained her to be. But typically she failed at that and just spoke whenever she thought someone might be listening.

Eric was watching her face change as she thought to herself. She was quite the mystery. One moment, she looked serene and at peace. The next, her brow was furrowed, and she looked like she might become sick. He wished he could read her mind, just for a moment.

Instead, he prayed quickly for guidance. She’s a nervous sort, it seems, Lord, he thought, and I don’t want to frighten her. Let me speak the right words to comfort her and relieve her of her nervousness.

“Do you want me to tell you about my family?” He asked, keeping his voice as gentle as possible.

“That would be nice, thank you,” Olive responded.

“Well…” He began. “I was born in a stable because my ma and pa didn’t…”

He stopped when Olive started giggling and looked down at her with wide eyes. “What did I say?”

“You don’t have to go that far back.” She couldn’t help giggling while she said it and she wondered if he even understood her.

“Oh.” He started to laugh with her. “I thought you wanted the complete story.”

They both laughed.

“But seriously…” Eric finally continued when she was reduced to giggling again. “My brothers and sisters and I never had a lot when growing up, just the house we lived in. We have had to work for a long time, real hard, on the farm and in the shops to keep food on the table. My ma stayed home and taught us all to read and write. My pa worked in the grain mill for as long as I can remember. He still works there. He’s a strong, healthy man and I hope to be that way when I’m his age. In the last ten years, though, he started adding on to the family house. You would think we were wealthy.” He looked down at her. “But we’re not really.”

“Wealth means very little if you aren’t leading a good healthy life,” she responded without thinking first. “That’s good to hear, your pa is a strong man. My papa is an engineer. He works for North Eastern Trains. He develops new techniques for making trains safer for passengers and to transport goods across America.”

“That sounds like a very prestigious job. He must make a lot of money doing that.”

“He does.” Olive said bluntly. “But the rest of my family doesn’t do anything. So he’s supporting everyone.”