One Texas Night Read Online Free PDF

ready to have her pull away. They might be strangers, but she felt so right against his side.
    The whistle blew as the train slowed. As he knew she would, Aggie straightened and replaced her bonnet. “Are we close to your home?”
    “No,” he managed to answer while thinking how ugly her hat fitted her face and hid the color of her hair. “We’ve only made the first leg, but there’s a café here that stays open for this train. You hungry?”
    She nodded.
    “Twenty-minute stop,” the porter yelled as he passed. “We don’t wait for anyone.”
    Aggie’s hand slid around Hank’s arm as they rushed from the train. “Does the wound pain you?”
    He covered her cold fingers with his. “I’d forgotten about it.” He guided her into the café.
    After they ordered, Hank decided to voice his thoughts. “I’ve been thinking since I just sold a few cattle that you should go ahead and order those tools you need right away. There’s a mercantile across from the station.” He added in almost a whisper, “We could also pick up any clothes you might need and maybe a hat to protect your face from the sun.”
    She looked up from her coffee. “I’ll keep a record and pay you back.”
    He nodded, guessing she wouldn’t accept the money any other way, and was thankful she didn’t take offense at his suggestion of a new hat. “I could build you a bench in the barn to work. I have a bench out there where I’m always intending to build a few pieces of furniture, but I never seem to have the time. You could work with me on warm days, then when it gets cold you could use the kitchen table as a work area.”
    “You wouldn’t mind?”
    “I wouldn’t. If we’re to truly have this partnership, then half the barn, as well as the kitchen, is already yours.”
    “Thank you,” she said as the cook delivered two bowls of chili with corn bread on the side.
    When they were alone she added, “Mr. Harris, would you consider telling me why you married me?” She’d talked freely of her work and the rules, but she must think this question personal for her shyness returned.
    “Don’t you think you should call me Hank?”
    She shook her head and looked down at her hands. He finished half his chili before she spoke. “My father told me once that my mother never called him anything but ‘dear.’ Would you consider it too bold if I did the same?”
    No one had ever referred to him as dear. “I wouldn’t mind.” He wanted to add that she’d just made this bargain worthwhile even if she didn’t do another thing, but all he said was, “I married you because you needed me.”
    She looked surprised. “Not because you wanted me or because folks say I’m pretty or because you needed a wife to help out?”
    He shook his head. “You know you’re pretty. In fact, I think you may be the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen, but I wouldn’t have offered if that were all there was to you. In the dark, when we met, I saw your dreams, your hopes and, when we went inside, it didn’t take much to see that those two fools would never make them happen.”
    She laughed, but her eyes studied him as if searching for a lie. “And will you?”
    “Nope,” he answered between bites, “but you will.”
    They ate the rest of the meal in silence with him wondering if she believed him. When they left the café and ran for the train she huddled close to him. The wind blew hard from the north. Hank could feel a storm coming and he hoped he made it home before it hit.
    When they settled back into their seats, the car was empty except for a drunk snoring on the last bench. Aggie tugged off her shoes, doubled her legs beneath her skirts, and shifted so that her back rested on the window. Hank folded his leather coat and made a pillow for her to lean against.
    “Thank you, dear,” she said as casually as if she’d said the endearment all her life.
    “You’re welcome,” he managed.
    Hank had been an only child raised by a father who seldom said more