“Where have you been?” Elise exclaimed when Rosa rejoined her sister. “I haven't seen you for over twenty minutes.”

“I, uh, just went for a walk,” she answered in Italian, not wanting the others to know what she'd been doing. “There's no need to get so upset.”

Elise eyed her suspiciously. “You went for a walk by yourself?”

Although Rosa might be inclined to omit some information, she would never outright lie. “No. I was with Jacob.”

Her sister's frown deepened.

“My dear sister, you must be more careful. You can't just go off alone with any man you please. It doesn't take much to encourage a man out here. You don't want to mislead anyone.”

Rosa laughed incredulously. “By your account, that would have half the men in this place thinking that they can propose to me after tonight. You told me to dance with everyone who asked.”

“That's entirely different!” she countered. “You were in plain sight the whole time. To be alone with someone is not the same.”

After processing this information, Rosa grimaced. “Well then, you won't be too happy about something else.”

Elise pulled her off to the side, crossed her arms, and waited.

“Um, well, I agreed to go on a picnic with him next Saturday, with the children.”

“Which children?” Elise asked, her brows lowering as though thinking deeply.

“Um, well, yours of course, and his nieces and nephews.”

It was almost comical to watch Elise's face transform from worried to pleased. Her smile was so knowing that Rosa wanted to groan.

“Ah, well, you won't do any better than Jacob Bowman. He's a hard worker and a good man.”

Rosa was piqued at the assumption. “Just because I'm going on an outing with him doesn't mean we're automatically going to marry. That's quite a jump, don't you think?”

“Not around here, sister. Even a warm glance at a man is enough to make him think about marrying.”

Rosa didn't know what to say. If there was a man that she would be interested in, it would be Jacob, but she wasn't ready to entertain the notion just yet.

“Should I cancel then?” she asked, worried she’d made a poor decision.

Elise shook her head. “No, but if you're not interested in him, you should make that clear on the outing.”

In that moment, Rosa knew she would have to spend a lot of time in prayer regarding this. As much as she was drawn to Jacob, there was still much more she needed to know before she would even consider the idea of pursuing anything beyond a friendship.

Before she could think about it anymore, Elise was rounding up the women at the dance.

“Now, I think it's time you get to know my friends a little better.”

Since the band was taking a break, the group had a chance to chat. Although they all seemed perfectly nice, Rosa wasn't sure if she would find a close friend among them. She didn't have anything in common with the ladies near her age, and there was almost ten years between herself and the younger ones.

However, it didn't take long for her to warm up to Amanda, Jacob's sister-in-law. She supposed it wasn't really a coincidence that she took to this particular woman, given who she was.

“You are a teacher, yes? It is a most noble profession. You must be very smart.”

Amanda laughed and blushed a little. “Not that smart, and I'm no longer a teacher. These days, I'm just a wife and mother.”

“Just? No just... This is even more noble…and harder, I think? Also, you never stop being a teacher. You teach your children every day.”

A warm light entered Amanda's eyes. “How did you know? It's true. I guess I'll always be a teacher.”

The two chatted for a while longer, and it would have been extremely pleasant if George hadn't kept interrupting them every so often to either ask Rosa a question or bring her something, such as a drink or a treat from the table. His behavior was so obvious that Amanda couldn't help but give Rosa a funny look each time.

At around nine o'clock, the party drew to a close. The little ones were rubbing their eyes and the adults made comments about getting up early the next day. Before Rosa could say thank you to everyone for attending, George was once again before her.

“I was hoping to show you around when you have some time. There are some real pretty sights not too far from here. What do you say to a picnic this weekend?”

Flustered, Rosa wasn't sure what to say. His forward remark had taken her by surprise and she was momentarily dumbstruck.

“No need,” came a voice from behind George. “I've already offered to play the part of the guide, provided that Elise approves, of course.”

She looked over George's shoulder to see Jacob standing there, a possessive look in his eyes.

“Oh, I see,” George mumbled, clearly disappointed. “That's how it is. Well, I shouldn't be surprised. Once a man gets a bit of land, that's all it takes.”

Rosa was indignant and about to reply when Elise laid a restraining hand on her arm.

“But that was kind of you to offer, George. Thank you.”

It was a good thing Elise had prevented her from speaking because the words on her tongue were caustic and probably would do harm to whatever reputation she may have earned.

“Yes, thank you,” she said stiffly instead. “I appreciate it.”

The faces of the other men also reflected disappointment, each one probably thinking the same as George: she'd already made up her mind.

That her future could be sealed so easily disturbed her, and she found other words coming out of her mouth that she didn't intend. “Maybe another time.”

She immediately regretted her words when she saw George's face light up with hope. “Anytime you want. Just give me a holler, and I'll make time.”

The man went away happy, but Rosa realized that she'd made a mistake. In her attempt to show that she was still her own woman and was not spoken for, she'd done exactly what Elise had warned her against and led the man on. Worse than that was the look on Jacob's face. While it would be an overstatement to say that he was crushed, the sparkle in his eye disappeared.

Elise and the others discreetly moved away and left the two of them standing alone.

“I will see you next Sunday? Elise is happy for me to go.” She worked hard to keep her voice bright.

He nodded and smiled a little, but his enthusiasm had dampened. “Sure. I'll pick you up around eleven o'clock.”

“Yes. Good. Thank you.”

He nodded once more and then made his way to the exit, leaving Rosa feeling as though she'd lost something, but that was ridiculous. She didn't have anything, so what could she have lost?

Jacob chided himself for behaving so petulantly, but he couldn't seem to control his feelings. Was Rosa going to accept every invitation that came her way? She hadn't struck him as the type to lead on any man who crossed her path, and hadn't she actually tried to escape the attentions of George Campbell? Why had she suddenly changed her mind? Was it something he said, or maybe something George had said?

He reviewed the conversation in his mind.

Rosa seemed to take offense to the comment that she was going on a picnic with him because he was a land owner. Perhaps she felt insulted and wanted to show them that she wasn't as shallow as that. The thought cheered him up a little, but he still had to contend with the fact he wasn't the only one in pursuit of her.

From practically the moment they'd met, he'd felt so drawn to her that he could almost see their future together. The only thing preventing his vision from being complete was that her faith seemed to be ahead of his by leaps and bounds. However, he thought that perhaps it didn't matter that much. He would go along with whatever she wanted in that regard. It didn't bother him that other people believe in God; he just didn't see things the same way.

Deciding that a little competition wasn't necessarily a bad thing, Jacob changed his outlook. He would take Rosa out and show her such a good time that anything George tried to do would pale in comparison.

But what could he do that would make her see he was clearly the better choice? That would require some thought. For now, he had to think about everything else he needed to do to prepare for the arrival of the horses in just five days.

As she prepared for bed, Rosa mulled over the events of the evening. She'd been annoyed at her sister for forcing the party on her and then for expecting her to socialize with everyone there, no matter who they were. The time she spent with the women was nice enough, but she had to figure out how to dissuade the men for pursuing her any further.

One idea that popped into her head was creating a fictitious beau, or better yet, someone they knew. She wondered if Jacob would be willing to go along with the idea.

The thought of him sent a small shiver up her spine. It wouldn't be hard to pretend with him, but she wanted to get to know him better first. She knew that he was going to be at his ranch the day after tomorrow, checking that everything was in order before the arrival of the five Thoroughbreds. Although she had initially been against the raising of horses for the Army, now that she knew Jacob a little better, she hoped he would do well. In fact, she prayed for him to do well.

“And, Lord, if he's the one for me, if You have plans for the two of us, would You please show me? I don't want to get my hopes up.”

The time they'd spent together had been enjoyable this evening, but something was a tiny bit off. She couldn't figure it out, but she didn't feel as comfortable as she'd hoped with him. He was a perfect gentleman, but there was something about his responses to her statements about God's will for their lives that didn't sit well with her.

Could it be that he wasn't a believer? The thought seemed too incredible to consider. He hadn’t refuted any of her statements, but neither did he agree with them enthusiastically. Perhaps he didn’t feel the same way. That would be a huge obstacle if it were true. She would never consider a union with someone whose beliefs were so drastically different from her own.

As soon as she could, she would find out if this were the case, and if it was as she suspected, the outing would have to be canceled.

There was no question of that.