A Love of Her Own by Maggie Brendan

his hat in his hand, nearly toppling the wooden chair. Morgan threw his eyes heavenward. Lord, I need me a huge dose of Your patience right now. He meandered toward her.
    “Miss McBride. Nice to see you again,” Morgan said, ignoring the question for the time being, which only irritated her more. “How about a cup of coffee? Just brewed up a fresh pot myself.”
    April blinked at him and tapped her toe again on the floorboard. “I’m not here to have tête-à-tête. I came to get my trunk.”
    Leon shifted on one hip as he watched Morgan take his time stirring sugar in his tin cup. Morgan took a sip before looking April squarely in her narrowing eyes.
    “Will dragged it to the edge of the woods. He said there was a skunk around and he was afraid your trunk might have been affected.”
    “What?” April expelled a breath of exasperation. “How can that be? Was mine the only one? Sounds pretty suspicious to me.” She tossed her head angrily.
    Morgan briefly closed his eyes then snapped them open. “Yours was the only trunk that wasn’t picked up when I left the depot late last night. With all due respect, ma’am, I don’t think anyone knew where you wuz staying.” Morgan shook his head. “No one is to blame.”
    April stalked out the door, then said over her shoulder, “Well then, someone should have at the very least gone to enough trouble to find me! How ridiculous!” She grabbed her dress in her hands and tripped down the porch steps with Leon pounding down the steps behind her.
    “Miss McBride, don’t get all het up. I woulda brung it to you myself personally, if I’d known where to haul it to.”
    April hurried on, but just as she reached the last step, she heard the rip of material as a rusty nail poking out from the handrail snagged her dress, tearing it halfway down and exposing her naked calf. Stopping in her tracks, she turned sideways and looked down at her exposed leg. She had foregone her stockings this morning, waiting until she’d retrieved a fresh pair from her belongings.
    “Creeping spiders and slivering snakes!” April yanked the rest of her dress free. “I don’t need this aggravation today!” Behind her, she heard a chuckle from Morgan and an “Aw, shucks” from Leon.
    She looked back over her shoulder to see Morgan and Leon staring at her leg. “Well, what are you staring at? Never seen a woman’s leg before?” Morgan’s stupid grin was getting under her skin.
    “Leon”—Morgan shot him a look—“put your tongue back in your mouth and go help the lady out. Take her trunk wherever she wants.”
    With all the dignity that April could muster, she tripped toward the clearing but then stopped and turned around. “Oh, Mr. Kincaid . . . I guess I should express my thanks for the use of your horse.” She watched as he stood on the porch saying nothing. His lips were pulled into a tight scowl as he cleared his throat. “No trouble—glad I could help you out, Miss McBride.”
    April straightened her shoulders, lifting her hand to shield her eyes from the bright afternoon sun. “Yes, well . . . thanks to you I made it to the wedding, but just barely.”
    “I’m sure that made your brother happy,” Morgan said dryly, then he scooted back inside the depot.
    Leon waved his arm. “Come on, Miss McBride. Let’s go see about that trunk.”
    “Mr. Kincaid is a man of few words, isn’t he?”
    Leon chortled. “Yep. Morgan is not one to waste his time repeating words.”
    April was curious that Leon wanted to help and thought him an odd sort. The kind of man who respected his friend but at the same time liked having someone else in charge.
    As April neared the clustered pines with the largest tree trunks she’d ever seen, a peculiar smell caused her to catch her breath, threatening to dislodge her lunch. “Oh no. Is that my trunk I smell?” She stopped two feet away, covering her nose with her hand.
    “Reckon it is. That’s too bad, but I think Will said the skunk just