“And you haven’t?”
“I wasn’t happy in Austin. Things would have to be much worse than they are for me to want to go back.”
“Are they bad? I thought everybody pretty much bowed to your commands.”
Rose laughed, a sputtering sound which indicated her amusement as well as her surprise. “Look again. They’re really very nice, especially when I forget my place and start handing out orders, but I’m an outsider. I always will be.”
“At least George thinks you can do no wrong.”
Rose wasn’t about to explain how things stood—or didn’t stand—between her and George. But before she could think of an answer to disarm Salty’s curiosity, the kitchen door banged open; they both spun toward the house as Jeff stomped out and strode off into the darkness.
“I take that to mean you’ll be cooking breakfast for some time to come,” Salty said, turning back to Rose. “I expect George will be here to deliver the verdict any minute.”
George didn’t get a chance. Zac exploded through the doorway almost on Jeff’s heels.
“You’re going to stay!” he shouted, racing toward Rose and throwing himself into her arms. “Jeff is as mad as a castrated bull. Aren’t you glad?”
Rose gave Zac a big hug. “I’m glad you want me to stay, but I’m not glad Jeff is upset.”
“Jeff don’t matter,” Zac stated. “Not as long as George wants you to stay.”
Unable to think of a judicious answer, Rose decided to ignore Zac’s remark and his bad grammar. Neither did she want to read too much into George’s approval. That had gotten her into enough trouble already.
“I’d better start on the dishes,” she said, getting to her feet. She took Zac’s hand in hers and headed toward the house. “Much longer and they’ll be as bad as the day I got here.”
“I got to go to bed,” Zac said when they reached the house. He very primly disengaged his hand from Rose’s clasp and turned toward the men’s bedroom. “Hen said he’d tell me a story if I promised not to nag him to death tomorrow.”
Rose couldn’t tell whether Zac was running toward the story or away from the dishes. But the question didn’t engage her mind for long. George was clearing the table when she entered the kitchen.
“You don’t have to do that,” she said, hurrying to take the plates from him.
“You’d have been through long ago if we hadn’t run you out.”
“It won’t take long.”
“I’ll help.”
“Okay,” Rose said, a flutter of excitement making her stomach feel almost queasy. George hadn’t helped since that first night when she threw dinner onto the floor.
“I suppose Zac told you the news.”
“Was Jeff very upset? He went past me like the north wind.”
“He’ll get over it.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t stay.” She didn’t know why she said that. The last thing she wanted was to leave, no matter how Jeff felt.
“He’s not really mad at you,” George said as he settled the dirty plates into the tub of water Rose had left to heat on the stove. “He just can’t forget what the union soldiers did to him.”
Rose felt despair close in on her. “It’ll be like it was in Austin. Everybody started out hating something else, but they ended up hating me.”
“No one will hate you. I won’t let them.”
Rose felt some of her alarm melt away. Silly man. Didn’t he know he couldn’t control people’s feelings? But he would protect her.
“You needn’t worry about Tyler either. He doesn’t even dislike you.”
“I’m still uncomfortable.”
“Don’t be. The rest of us want you here. Monty can’t say enough about your cooking. And Hen admires you.”
“I didn’t think he approved of any female except your mother,” Rose said, surprised.
George’s smile left his face.
“I’m sorry if I shouldn’t have said anything, but I never know when it’s safe to mention your mother. Sometimes you don’t seem to notice. Other times you turn as stiff as dried leather. You didn’t even tell me that was her bedroom,” Rose said, nodding toward the door still hidden behind the coats. “I had to find out by accident.”
“I guess it’s about time I told you about my mother.”
But George didn’t appear anxious to begin. He just stood there as though the memories were drawing him back in time. Rose had to take the dishes out of his hands.
“Ma was a beautiful, gentle creature. She came from an old family long on respectability and short on money. Pa mesmerized her with his good looks and charm and dazzled her with his boundless energy and wealth. But she married him because she loved him. It was the biggest mistake of her life.”