What makes a man a gentleman? Naomi Sullivan is sure it’s a handsome face, an exciting career, and impeccable manners. Rancher Ethan Garrett has different ideas, but wonders if Naomi will change her mind before she’s swept off her feet.
Naomi has a difficult choice to make. Should she give her heart to the dashing Cavalry officer or the ordinary cowboy who lives next door?
Naomi's Choice
Naomi tried to move. There was no reason to suspect Ethan Garrett would behave improperly. Mrs. Leeland called, “It’s all right, my dear. Mr. Garrett is nothing like that ill-mannered brute from yesterday.”
Naomi’s face warmed. Surely Mrs. Leeland wouldn’t embarrass her by telling Ethan what the cowboy had done.
Mrs. Leeland, however, was apparently anxious to relate the tale. “You should have been here, Mr. Garrett.”
“Why’s that, ma’am?” Ethan asked.
“We ladies had to suffer a most impudent lout. Wouldn’t you agree, Mrs. Jacobson? A vagabond of the worst type, a drifter of unseemly morals, took liberties with Miss Sullivan when we stopped for the night.”
“Come now,” Mrs. Jacobson said with a laugh. “You make it sound much worse than it was.”
Naomi took a deep breath, gathered her skirts, and reached for Ethan’s hand as she stepped off the stagecoach. Then she squeezed her eyes shut, as if to make Mrs. Leeland and her overdramatic retelling disappear.
Naomi glanced at the young mother and sent her silent thanks. But Mrs. Leeland was caught up in her own lurid retelling. “That drifter, who hadn’t used soap and water for at least six months, stood beside the coach step and offered his hand as politely as any footman. He helped me and Mrs. Jacobson alight with nary a hint of impropriety, but when Miss Sullivan took his hand…”
Mrs. Leeland paused for dramatic effect and Naomi walked away from the passengers. She couldn’t stop Mrs. Leeland, but she didn’t have to listen to Ethan Garrett laugh at her.
“Would you believe that no-account grabbed Miss Sullivan around the waist, twirled her around, and kissed her? Right on the lips.”
Naomi raised her chin. The other passengers didn’t need to know the remorse that now lived under her skin. She’d dreamed of her first kiss since girlhood, only to have that dream crushed by a loathsome drifter.
Let the man laugh. Once she found her grandmother, she’d be on her way. There was little chance she’d ever see Ethan Garrett again.
But she didn’t hear laughter.
She slowed her steps, intent on catching Ethan Garrett’s reaction. “I’m sorry to hear Miss Sullivan was accosted in such a way. Was she hurt?”
“No, no,” Mrs. Jacobson answered. “The man put her down, laughed, and went into the livery. I’m sure my husband would have gone after him, but Benjamin was on the opposite side of the coach and didn’t see what happened.”
“If you ask me,” Mrs. Leeland continued, “Miss Sullivan isn’t entirely blameless. She must have done something to encourage that cowboy.”
Naomi closed her eyes. She’d never spoken a word to the man. She’d rarely made eye contact. But wasn’t that the way of the world? The woman was always to blame.
As Naomi stepped onto the boardwalk, she turned her head in order to catch of glimpse of Ethan Garrett. He put on his hat and climbed to the top of the coach. A moment later, his saddle sailed over the edge, sending up plumes of dust as it hit the road.
He hadn’t laughed at her. Although he was far from being a gentleman, at least he had acted with consideration.