He paused. Standing to his full height he regarded her from head to toe. “I ain’t interested in getting hitched up with no female to do it.”
Beti released her breath. “Well, that is a relief.”
He kept filling that bucket.
“I am not looking to get married either. I simply wish to hire a man to help me cross the Wilderness Trail to Kentucky. I have been told that I may not travel without a man’s help.” He dropped the scoop and put his hands on his hips.
“Ye mean that ye are going to Kentucky alone?”
Beti’s anger stirred. She stood a little straighter. She might as well proceed as she meant to go. “Yes. But I need to hire a man to help me.”
“Just how are ye planning to pay such a man?”
“In gold.”
A light lit in his blue eyes that made her rethink her choice to speak with him alone. She took a step back and crossed her arms.
Toby relaxed his stance and crossed his arms. “What exactly are ye offering?”
“I am not offering anything—yet. I am asking if ye would be interested in applying for the job of working for me for passage to Kentucky.”
“What do ye want this hired man to do exactly?”
Beti’s usually ordered thoughts scattered. “Well, I don’t know exactly, but I will by tomorrow.”
He cocked an eyebrow.
“If ye are interested, be at the tavern yard tomorrow morning nine o’clock sharp.” She skirted her way past him and out of the barn.
Aggie slipped up next to her. “Well done. I do believe there’s hope for ye yet.”
Beti was relieved to see her friend. “Thank ye. I don’t know what I was thinking rushing off like that to talk to him alone.”
“Men in barns. Never know what to expect.”
“Exactly. And just why is that? Whoever the man is I hire, he is going to work for me. I cannot be intimidated by him.”
“It just takes practice.”
The wagon from Morgans arrived with their provisions. Beti and Aggie watched as Toby maneuvered barrels as easily as she kneaded bread. He wasted no time and was sufficiently strong for the work.
“He’s not hard on the eyes either,” Aggie whispered.
Beti felt the heat rise in her cheeks. “No, but I’ve seen better.” She spun on her heel and headed back into the house.
“And just who might that be? Some farm boy back home I reckon.”
Beti put hands on to cool her face down. “I honestly don’t know what made me say such a thing.”
The twinkling in Aggie’s eyes let her know that she wasn’t fooled. “I will let it go for now, but I do not believe ye for a minute.” She giggled as she made her way deeper into the house.
The morning brought back her nerves, but confidence rode underneath them. As much as Beti chafed at the edict from Captain Taylor, she had to admit that watching Toby easily lift a barrel of flour had its impact. Hiring a man to travel with her would make life easier in many respects. He could drive the wagon while she drove her sheep. Unless the man had experience with sheep.
She’d spent the evening making a list of things she’d like a hired man to accomplish. Carrying things, driving the wagon, building a cabin. All of those things were back-breaking work. Hiring it out should get her little homestead set up easily twice as fast as she could manage on her own. She’d need to ask Toby how he was with building cabins.
Beti stared at her gowns laying out on the bed. If she wore her faded wool, then the man would know that she expected to work alongside him. If she wore her brocade, he would understand that she was in charge. Or would he? Perhaps he would be oblivious. In the end she picked her nicest cotton indigo print. The fabric was from her own loom, and she was proud of the fine weave.
Beti smoothed her hands down her skirt. Beneath she could feel the list in her pocket. After a deep breath and a prayer for safety. She stepped onto the landing. She could absolutely handle whatever came her way even if her hands trembled. She’d brought herself to Kemp’s Landing from North Carolina without incident. Resolve put a cap on her nerves. Beti Boatman was going to Kentucky. Of course it was safer if she caravanned with Aggie’s troops, but if it came to it, she would go on her own. Her heart lightened not quite as high as flying foam at high tide, but she was prepared. Snatching her bonnet off the peg she left the room in search of her new friend.
Aggie sat before a plate of crumbs finishing a cup of chocolate. “I love chocolate,” she said by way of greeting. “We never got this in the camps.”
“I know.” Beti grinned. Aggie had told her the same truth every morning. “I don’t think I could touch a morsel.”
“Don’t fret.”
“Spoken like a true soldier.”
Aggie’s lips lifted in a half grin. “Look, ye will either find a worthy man to hire or ye will not. Do not let it ruin ye day. Ye may have already found yer man in Toby.”
“Ye may be right, but I’ve no desire to parade around in front of the whole town. Who knows who will be there.”
“Ye mean the looters.”
“Aye.”
“They will hardly carry ye off in the middle of town in broad daylight, will they?”
