She moistened her lips. “I decided that perhaps I had acted a bit too…hastily.”

He shook his head. “So he turned you down, did he?”

She lifted her chin. “Mr. Garvey is…no longer in a position to take on a wife.”

“Ah. So you decided to come crawlin’ back here.” He didn’t mean to give her a hard time, but the whole situation had put him in a bad mood.

She stood straight and refused to wilt beneath his steady gaze. “I am not crawling back. I simply want to know what I would be letting myself in for, should I decide to stay.”

He considered her query. “Like I said earlier, if’n you stay, I’ll make certain you’ll have enough ballast to start a new life after the year is up.”

She hesitated before asking, “As your wife, what would my…duties be?”

He rubbed his chin. Ah, now they were getting down to business. “The usual. I’d expect you to run my household and oversee my social obligations. Of course, you’d also help with the beeves.”

“Beeves?”

He frowned. “Cattle.”

When the puzzled look remained on her face, he explained. “There are certain times of the year that things get hectic around here, and we need all the meat hooks we can get.” Her frown told him he’d lost her again. “All hands are needed,” he said by way of explanation.

His easygoing manner belied his growing concern. Ranch life was tough. He’d known big, brawny men to break beneath its rigorous demands. What chance did a dainty lady with baby-soft hands and creamy-white skin have of surviving such a life?

“Have you ever cared for livestock?” he asked. “Cows? Goats…?”

She shook her head. “I had a cat once.”

“A cat?”

“And a bird.”

He stared at her, incredulous. Of all the women he could have married, he doubted there was one less suited to ranch life. “I don’t think this will work,” he said. “You stayin’ here, I mean.”

“Why not?” she asked, her eyes ablaze.

“No offense, ma’am, but this life isn’t for everyone.”

She lifted her chin. “You said it would be for only a year.”

“A year’s a long time if you’re somewhere you don’t want to be.”

She studied him for a moment. “I’m willing to give it a try if you are.”

It was a tough decision. He needed her every bit as much as he suspected she needed him. Still, everything told him it was a bad idea, and he couldn’t help but worry about her welfare and safety. If something happened to her…

He was just about to send her away when the sudden look of desperation in her eyes made him change his mind. “If you insist on stayin’, there’s not much I can do about it. But don’t say you weren’t warned.”

She accepted his decision with a nod. “About my duties as your wife…”

The sudden flare of her cheeks told him that it wasn’t the difficulties of ranch life that worried her. Or even the cattle.