Taking a deep breath, he said, “Priscilla.”
She walked across the room and looked out the window. “The snow isn’t too high. I think we can probably head home.”
Mitch shook his head, then grabbed his coat and tossed Priscilla hers. “Fine. We’ll leave.” He helped her into her coat and escorted her out the door. “This conversation is not over.”
With the storm finally ended and the snow not too deep, Mitch was able to steer the buggy away from the cabin and onto the roadway. Priscilla was bundled up in her coat, scarf, gloves and hat. They had the blanket wrapped around both of them. She stared at the passing scenery, the snow on the trees glistening in the sun like diamonds. But even their beauty didn’t distract her from her thoughts.
Marriage. Not likely. When her cousin Ellie married Max, the school board forced him to fire her. Said they didn’t employ married women. Such a stupid policy. As if once you got married, you all of a sudden lost your brain. She wasn’t about to give up the job she’d just started.
Aside from that, if and when she ever married—a long time from now—it would be to a man who offered a better proposal than “we have no choice; it’s a final decision.” She snorted. So romantic. No talk of caring, or a future, or how much he wanted to marry her. No. It was all about “we have to get married.”
Mitch’s jaw ached from biting down so hard. How could Priscilla possibly believe they would not have to get married? When the townspeople learned they’d spent the night together in an abandoned cabin, all alone, she would be fired. Teachers had to maintain certain standards of behavior.
But aside from that, what was so horrible about marriage to him? She didn’t want to get married. Well, hell, neither did he, but he was ready to do the right thing. Of course, the idea of crawling between the covers with that luscious body every night made marriage appear a lot more palatable.
“Until we can make a decision on this, I suggest we keep our little adventure to ourselves. I can make sure Ian doesn’t say anything. It will give us more time to work out our issues.”
Priscilla sighed and turned to him. “You don’t understand, Mitch. There are no issues to work out. For some ridiculous reason you believe it is absolutely necessary for us to take a permanent step for no other reason than ‘it’s the right thing to do.’”
“Has it occurred to you that you might be carrying my child?”
He gleaned a certain amount of satisfaction from her face paling, which assured him that was something she hadn’t considered. “It is possible, you know.”
“And hardly likely. Getting pregnant so easily is not probable.” She chewed her lip. Perhaps she was not as sure about her assertion as she sounded.
Luckily since they’d left the cabin not long after dawn, the streets of the town were quiet and no one saw them on the main roads. He drove her directly home and helped her out of the buggy. Holding firmly onto her elbow, he guided her up the path through the snow to the house. “The town generally dispenses with school after a big storm, but since today is Saturday anyway, you will have the day to consider my proposal.”
“Oh, really? That was a proposal? How strange. I didn’t hear it that way.”
“Priscilla…” Mitch skimmed her jaw with his knuckle. “Just think about what I said. I will pick you up for church tomorrow.”
She flounced into the house, closing the door smartly. He jumped back just in time to avoid the clump of snow that slid from the roof. He shook his head and returned home. Ian was still sleeping when he arrived at the house, curled up in his bed. Mitch made coffee and sat in the rocking chair in the parlor with a steaming cup. He’d started a fire in the fireplace, and his little house warmed up.
He looked around, thinking about having a wife once again. The idea didn’t trouble him as much as he would have thought only six months ago.
Before Miss Priscilla Cochran arrived in Dogtown and turned his life upside down.
He glanced up as Ian stumbled into the parlor, rubbing his eyes. “You’re home.”
“I hope you weren’t too worried.”
“A little. Where’s Miss Cochran?”
“I dropped her off at her house.” He waved his son over and pointed to the sofa. “Sit down for a minute.”
“What?”
“Miss Cochran and I got caught in the snowstorm on our way back from little Emily’s house.”
Ian nodded. “I figured that. Where did you stay?”
“Do you remember the old hunting cabin out by the Old Bridge Falls?”
Ian nodded.
“We stayed there and left this morning right after dawn.” Mitch leaned forward, placing his forearms on his thighs. “It’s not considered proper for an unmarried lady to spend the night alone with a man. However, we had no choice. If we didn’t stay in the cabin we would have frozen to death.”
“Then I’m glad you stayed in the cabin.”