Westbound (Love Travels West, Book 1)

Chapter 7. Breaking Boxes.

Let me be a little kinder, let me be a little blinder, to the faults of those around me--Edgar A. Guest

Chapter 7.

Breaking Boxes.

   The evening of the second day found Dannie and Jake setting up camp once more.

   "If you can't drink this coffee, then just think of me yesterday," Dannie stated, handing Jake a cup.

   "That's not at very comfortin'," Jake retorted, lifting the cup to his lips. "It's passable," he stated after tasting the coffee. "You need a lot more practice, but I guess it will do for a first time."

   "Yes, well, Rome wasn't built in a day," Dannie stated, sitting down at the other side of the fire.

   "What?"

   "It's just a saying, meaning everything takes time."

   "Makes sense. So," Jake leaned back on the large rock that was behind him, "So, I take it you like books? Seein' as you had those two trunks full of 'em?"

   "It's something Papa and myself had in common, we could spend all day in his library pouring over books. It was Papa who taught me to read and write in Latin and Greek."

   "I'm wonderin', Miss Preston, how does it all stay in your head? My brain would have long exploded from all that knowledge being stuck in there."

   Dannie giggled. "I've just got a talent for languages, Papa said so. Mamma kept getting upset at him for keeping me in his study all day, saying that the last thing men like was a woman who was smarter than them. Papa kept saying that those silly country boys had no business marrying me anyway, and that my husband should be with a mind to match my own," Dannie bit her lip here as Paul came rushing through her memory again. 

   "And was yer betrothed smart?" Jake hoped he wasn't prying too far, but ever since he found out Dannie had a ruined engagement, his curiosity had been bursting at the seams wanting to know why the promise had been broken.

   "Paul was very smart, he was studying to be a lawyer when I met him. I liked talking to him, he was full of the subjects that interested me and it was so easy to carry on a conversation with him. We could talk about books and discuss philosophy and science. He often told me I was the only girl he could carry on a decent conversation with. I was sure Paul was the one, even Papa always said that we were made of each other. When he proposed to me no one was surprised, except for me, perhaps. I couldn't believe that someone would consider marrying me?"

   Surprise registered on Jake's face. Sure, he could easily believe the fact that no one would want to marry such a stubborn and rude girl who seemed to have a very high opinion of herself, but the fact that she herself was admitting that she was surprised that someone would want to marry her, well, that sort of didn't fit in with the box he had originally placed her in.

   "Why couldn't you believe that someone wanted to marry you?"

   "There is no need to mock me," Dannie's voice was quiet but hurt, "I'm sure you could come up with plenty of reasons why no one would want to marry me."

   Jake felt his face turning hot, "Yeah, well, that's me, you know I have a low opinion of any woman. What surprises me is that you couldn't believe it."

   At this Dannie let out a bitter laugh. "Really, Jake, I should think it painfully obvious. In my whole life I never got much male attention, mainly because there are two things that men look for in a woman. The first is money, even a hideous girl will become attractive if she has several thousand pounds to her name, but if she hasn't any money, then they will look for an attractive face, which unfortunately, I haven't got."