Free Beloved Texas Bride by Ginny Sterling Page A

fashion dictated she wear daily. She pulled a blouse over and tucked it into the printed cotton skirt she had packed. She felt so strange to be bare under her layers, but relieved to be out of the coach and clean. Twisting her dark hair, she pinned it into place atop her head loosely and smiled at her reflection in the mirror.
      Wondering what Cole was doing, she quietly opened her door, unsure if he was sleeping, still. He seemed so exhausted yesterday when they parted after their makeshift dinner, she assumed he was still out cold since the sun hadn’t made it high into the sky yet. Tiptoeing barefoot, she was surprised to see that his door was open and he was nowhere to be found.
      Elizabeth did a double-take when she turned and noticed a small metal plate on the table with a few pieces of fried bacon waiting. Did he leave that out for her? She did not remember having any bacon left over from last night. She shivered as she thought of her possible side dishes from the remaining jars: tomatoes or beets. Neither was appetizing.
    She spied a bowl of dried beans soaking in water and sliced a piece of cheese from the small wheel they had brought up from the cellar. The cheese was tangy and smooth; her stomach gave a slight growl as if it realized more was coming to fill the empty void. Elizabeth cut another piece of cheese, added it to the pieces of bacon and fished out a few beans from the bowl.
      Grabbing the small metal plate, she made her way over to small bench to sit and eat. Placing a bit of bacon in her mouth, her eyes closed in rapture as the salty, smoky taste hit her tongue. Giving a big sigh, she chewed in delight, swallowed and grabbed another piece. Elizabeth grabbed a bean off her plate, eyed it and promptly dropped it guiltily as she noticed Cole standing in the doorway watching her with the most peculiar look on his face. Had she eaten his breakfast?
     
     
    Cole could not believe Elizabeth was getting ready to eat a raw bean. He wondered if she had eaten several already. “I hope you weren’t planning on eating those? They will give you the quickstep, Elizabeth,” he explained cautiously.
    “You ate just the bacon and cheese, right?” He looked in the bowl to see if much was missing and glanced warily at the plate with the few beans remaining.
      Elizabeth blushed furiously, embarrassed that she had been caught eating too much. “Of course not, I was saving the beans for you. I thought you were kind enough to put out the bacon for me, I would serve up the beans for you,” she stammered, mortified.
He did leave the bacon out for her right?
She wondered and turned her face away when he started laughing uproariously at her.
      “What is so funny?” she said hotly, refusing to meet his eyes. She got up from the bench as quickly as possible, moving away and placing the table between them. She watched as he turned away and got quiet, a smile still plastered on his face. She watched as he wiped his eyes and gave a loud sigh.
    “Now that you are finished laughing at me, would you like to share the joke?” she asked frostily. Elizabeth stuck her nose haughtily up in the air and stared down it, watching him gain composure.
      Elizabeth felt her stomach clench and she tossed it up to digestion as she stared as his large frame sprawled against the small counter that held the sink. The sunlight hit him in just the right angle to accentuate the sharp jaw line that still held a wide smile and revealed a dimple on his cheek. Smoothing her dress, she broke eye contact and picked off an imaginary piece of lint from her skirt.
    “Well?” she asked, piqued.
      Cole was more than surprised to see her getting ready to put the raw bean in her mouth. They were practically inedible and he had just put them to soak an hour ago. Eating them would make her miserable and horribly sick.
    “Elizabeth, did you eat several beans?” he asked again. He watched her turn away from him, smoothing her skirt. She finally