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but knew Harriett would see right
through her lie, just as her mother had. “Yes. Aren’t you curious
about him?”
    “ Of course, I am. It’s not
every day Pa brings home someone who’s been hurt.”
    “ I want to know everything
about him. You think he has a love interest he’s on his way to
meet?”
    “ Unlikely. Usually, it’s
the woman who travels to be with the man.”
    Rose hoped so. She hated to think he
was already promised to someone. “He’s handsome, don’t you
think?”
    “ It’s hard to tell with his
face bruised.”
    “ I can tell. He’s got a
wonderful masculine beauty about him. In that book we saw in
school, our teacher showed us pictures of some princes and kings.
You remember that book?”
    Harriett shot her an amused grin.
“That book also had pictures of princesses and queens.”
    “ Who cared about
them?”
    “ I cared. Their gowns were
exquisite.”
    “ Well, so were the men.”
She paused while rinsing the sheet and sighed. “There was one man
in particular who haunted my thoughts for weeks. I snuck into the
schoolhouse during lunch to take another look at him. His name was
Philip and he was the best looking one in the book.”
    Rolling her eyes, Harriett
selected another clean sheet to hang up. “Don’t remind me. I had to
listen to all your daydreams about him.” After a moment, she added,
“Please tell me you haven’t saved any of the letters you wrote to
him and from him.”
    “ It’s no fun to write a
letter unless you get a reply.”
    “ I don’t even want to know
if you still have those. At least you’re no longer fantasizing
about him.”
    “ Do you think it’s wrong I
pretended to have a courtship with him?”
    “ Not wrong. Just
ridiculous.”
    “ I like to think it was
good practice.” Yes, that’s what it was. Just practice for when the
right man finally came along. With a mischievous grin, she said,
“Kent is much better looking than Philip.”
    “ Is that the guest’s
name?”
    “ Yes. Kent Ashton. It
sounds noble, doesn’t it? Ashton. It’s classic and regal. It
matches him very well. Do you think he might be a prince who is in
hiding?”
    “ Oh, Rose! You need to
spend more time in the real world.” Harriett laughed and threw a
pillowcase at her.
    Chuckling, Rose returned her attention
to the wash.

 
     
     
    Chapter Five
     
    The next day, Kent was able to sit up
in bed without assistance, though he had to be mindful of his sore
ribs. After Adam took away his breakfast, someone knocked on the
bedroom door.
    He called out for the person to enter
and the young blonde woman came into the room, carrying a couple of
books in her arms. “I heard you were more alert so I thought you
might like something to read.” She paused and glanced at the books.
“Can you read?”
    “ Yes, I can read,” he
replied. He studied her as she approached the chair by his bed and
sat down. “Forgive me. I know your mother said your name, but I
can’t remember it.” He knew it was the name of a flower but not
which one.
    “ Rose Larson.”
    He offered a slow nod. He didn’t
understand what she wanted with him. He’d had no past dealings with
her, and yet she seemed strangely interested in him. His gaze went
to the books. “You wanted to give me some books to
read?”
    “ Yes.” Instead of showing
them to him, she smiled and added, “I’ve lived here my entire life.
My ma didn’t, though. She came out here from Maine. I’ve never been
to Maine. Have you?”
    “ No, I can’t say I
have.”
    “ My pa said you came off
the train. Mind if I ask where you came from?”
    Though he wasn’t sure why she cared,
he decided to oblige her since her family had taken good care of
him. “I came from Ireland.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Yes. I arrived here on a
ship and got on a train heading west.” She didn’t look satisfied
with his answer, so he asked, “You don’t believe me?”
    “ Well, it’s not that I
don’t believe you, but I met someone from