Free Rexanne Becnel by When Lightning Strikes Page B

nervousness by lowering the plank table and propping the leg up. “Yes, we should. In fact I went so far as to invite him to share our dinner with us.”
    “You did what?”
    “Just as you have frequently done with Reverend Harrison,” she hurried on.
    “You cannot begin to compare—”
    “They are both men traveling alone. Both in need of a home-cooked meal.”
    Their gazes locked in silent battle, his eyes angry, hers determined.
    “There is a considerable difference of circumstance, daughter. I had hoped you and the Reverend Harrison—” He broke off, and his heavy brows lowered even farther. “You cannot possibly be envisioning you and this hired hand—”
    “We are all children of God,” she said, throwing one of his favorite quotes back at him. “We should not judge, lest we be judged.”
    “Yes, but God the Father does not expect his children to behave like fools. Your heavenly Father looks after your spiritual well-being, while your earthly father—me—looks after your physical well-being. And I would hardly consider that sort of man—”
    “Just what sort of man is he, Father? From everything I have observed, he is polite, well spoken. Well read,” she emphasized. “And a hard worker. Surely adequate enough qualifications for a dinner guest.”
    Though she silenced him temporarily with her list of Tanner’s attributes, Abby knew from his sharp scrutiny that his objections were far from assuaged. There was a dangerous quality about Tanner McKnight. She recognized it and so did her father. And while it both frightened and attracted her, it only worried her overprotective father.
    Their eyes met and held, and in the silence a quick rush of understanding washed over Abby. Her father’s life was changing too fast for him to deal with. He’d lost his wife and left his teaching position. Then their move. Now it must seem to him that his only child was ready to abandon him as well and find a new life of her own. What would he do then, alone in a strange land?
    Her expression softened and she reached to take his hand. But he stepped back with a harrumphing sound. “I’ll suffer him at our fire this one time, Abigail. One time only. Then you will consider your Christian duty toward him sufficiently exercised.”
    As he turned and stalked off, Abby gritted her teeth in frustration. Why must he be so pigheaded? Her understanding of her father’s position fled as she recounted all the ways he created his own misery. They hadn’t needed to leave Lebanon. He wouldn’t feel so alone in the world if they were still surrounded by their friends in Missouri. But he’d had to go, and still refused to tell her why. If he was depressed and lonely, it was all his own doing.
    If only her mother hadn’t died.
    That sobering thought squelched her rising anger. It all went back to that. But although Abby would give anything to have her beloved mother back—and to know what had precipitated their sudden flight to Oregon—there nonetheless was a part of her that no longer regretted their move. Though difficult, their weeks on the trail were still an unfolding adventure, bringing something new to learn and experience every day.
    And Tanner McKnight was the latest and most exciting part of that adventure.
    Tanner presented himself shortly after dusk, freshly washed and in a clean blue chambray shirt, buttoned up to the throat. When he removed his hat and extended a hand to her father, Abby noted the damp tendrils curling at his neck. He’d gone to a lot of trouble, and she appreciated it. But would her father?
    Robert grudgingly shook Tanner’s hand, then retreated to his chair and his pipe.
    “Sit down. Sit down.” Abby fluttered around nervously, indicating a chair to Tanner. “Dinner is almost ready. I made the antelope. I hope it turns out all right.”
    “It smells delicious, Miss Morgan,” Tanner replied.
    At such a polite use of her name Abby sent him a grateful smile. The last thing she needed was for