Groom Wanted. Debra Ullrick

curled a stray strand of hair around her ear.

      Phoebe dipped her head down and nodded. Two seconds later her head popped upward and alarm marched across her face. “You two are still coming, aren’t you?”

      Leah walked over to Phoebe and grabbed her hands. “Of course we’ll be there. Nothing would stop us from coming.”

      “But you know how unpredictable the weather is here in May. What if it rains or snows and you can’t get into town because the roads are too muddy?”

      Horrified was the only way Leah could describe Phoebe’s face.

      “Then we’ll ride the horses into town. They’ll be able to make it even if the buggy can’t.”

      Phoebe’s head jerked with short, nervous nods. “Oh. Okay.”

      Leah clasped Phoebe’s hands again. “We’ll be there, Phoebe. I promise. Now.” She released her hands. “Come on, Abbynormal.” Leah used the nickname she often called her sister. The one that best suited Abby’s personality. Abby was anything but normal, but Leah loved her sister for it and envied her at the same time. How wonderful it would be to be so carefree. “We need to get going.”

      Abby stopped talking with Phoebe and faced her. “Why?”

      “Because...” She gave Abby that look. The one that let her know she was going to Jake’s again. Something the two of them had done ever since his accident many months back when he’d fallen and hit his head. Back then, the idea of him alone and needing help had eaten at Leah until she couldn’t bear it. She was so glad Abby had agreed to go with her to help him until he had healed. During that time Leah and Jake had become great friends.

      Make that the three of them. Abby enjoyed going to Jake’s farm as much as Leah did and thought it was great fun playing the role of her older sister’s chaperone. Leah was glad she found it fun, but it was necessary more than anything. If she didn’t drag her sister along, Leah could never have gone to a single man’s house alone. It would be improper and, most importantly, her reputation would be ruined.

      Being seen with Jake too much in public would give people the wrong idea about the two of them. Like a wildfire out of control, all of Paradise Haven would spread rumors that they were courting. She’d seen it happen to several other couples who eventually wed or ended the whole thing in a ruinous scandal—neither of which she wanted with Jake. Besides, it wasn’t like that between her and Jake. To be sure, they enjoyed each other’s company, but neither of them had feelings that went beyond friendship.

      Leah loved having a male friend as special and caring as Jake. She looked forward to their visits. Despite the fact they wanted different things out of life, he was the one person she felt she could talk to about anything.

      Well, almost anything.

      He didn’t know the real reasons why she had turned down his proposal and why she wanted to move. No one knew about the nightmares except for her former friend Marie. Former for two reasons—one, Marie had moved away, and two, Leah hadn’t associated with her since the day she’d confided in Marie about the nightmares and how she blamed this place for killing her father. Marie had laughed and said she was just being silly and that she needed to get over it. Oh sure, as if it were that easy.

      “Ohhh.” Abby nodded, then turned to her friend. “I’d better scoot along now, Phoebe. Sister dear has places to go and things to see. But fear not, I shall see you on the morrow. You have my word.” Abby, the dramatic one in the family, grabbed her cloak, swung it around her shoulders with the grace of a queen and, with her arm outstretched holding her cloak, glided toward the door.

      “Thank you so much for helping me make my dress and for putting the finishing touches on it.” Phoebe scurried after Abby and hugged her.

      Abby pulled back and waved off her friend. “You are quite welcome, my dear.” Abby’s British accent imitation needed help. She sounded nothing like the Manvilles, their British neighbors back in New York City, or even like Rainee, their sister-in-law, who mixed British with Southern quite nicely. “And now, I must make haste and take my leave.” Abby swung the door open and, with a flourish, headed outside.

      Leah shrugged toward Phoebe’s direction. “What can I say? You can’t help but love her.” With that, she followed Abby out the door and onto the wagon. They turned and waved goodbye to Phoebe before she disappeared into her house.

      “So, we’re heading to Jake’s again.” Abby waggled her eyebrows.

      “We sure are.”

      “Well, then, sister dear, what are we waiting for?” Abby faced forward. “Make haste. Make haste, my dear.”

      Leah shook her head. She should have never let Abby read the well-worn copy of Pride and Prejudice that Rainee had given Leah years ago. Ever since then, Abby imitated the British often. She hoped Abby never found the copy of Sense and Sensibility that she kept hidden in the bottom lining of her trunk. She shuddered just thinking about how Abby would act after reading that one.

      Leah wondered if Abby would follow in her footsteps.

      The real Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, not the one Elizabeth Bennet thought he was before she had gotten to know him better, reminded Leah of her father. Mr. Darcy had rescued Elizabeth’s family when Lydia’s infidelity would have shamed them. He was a man with integrity, a big heart, a protector, just like her father. From the moment that realization had struck Leah, her love and respect for Mr. Darcy had her praying that someday she would find her very own Mr. Darcy—a man who represented everything her father had stood for.

      “C’mon, Leah. What are you waiting for?”

      “Pushy.”

      “Me, pushy? You were the one who was in such an all-fired big hurry to go.” Abby nudged Leah’s shoulder.

      “True. True. I hate it when you’re right.” Leah tittered and with a quick slap of the lines on her horse’s rump the buggy pitched forward. “Oh, you won’t believe this, Abbs, but Jake knows about my advertisement.”

      Abby whipped her head so fast in Leah’s direction that one of her curls whacked her sister across the face. “How’d he find out?” Abby’s eyes gleamed as she searched Leah’s. Her sister loved a good story and loved to tell them, too, but she wouldn’t tell this one. She’d been sworn to secrecy.

      “He started getting newspapers from all over, including back East where I placed mine. When he searched the papers to see his ad, he saw mine and put two-and-two together.”

      “Oh. What are you going to do if he tells Michael?”

      “He won’t.”

      “How do you know he won’t? Jake and Michael are good friends. If Michael finds out, you know he’ll tell the rest of the family. And Haydon and Mother will put a stop to your plans.”

      “They won’t find out because Jake and I made an agreement and shook hands on the bargain.”

      “Oh, yeah? What kind of agreement?”

      “Well—” she shifted toward Abby “—he won’t tell anyone if I help him find a wife. You know, help him decide which of the letters he should respond to.”

      “Ohhh. This could be fun.” Her sister’s eyebrows danced.

      Fun? Leah hadn’t thought about it being fun. But it just might very well be. She gave a quick flick of the leather lines to get her horse to pick up her pace. “Don’t tell anyone, Abbs. This whole thing will be our little secret, okay? Promise?”

      “I haven’t said anything to anyone before, have I?” Her sister looked slighted.

      “No, you haven’t. And I know you wouldn’t, either. But with this concerning Jake, too, I just thought I would remind you, that’s all. Okay?”

      “Okay.”

      They rode in silence for a time. The only sounds were the