Not that she’d wanted to notice, but it was impossible to not be aware of his height and size when he’d loomed over her as she’d laid sprawled on the side of the road.

He should have helped her up.

She swallowed hard, hands gripping the prayer book in her lap. He was not a gentleman and she dreaded meeting him after this morning’s service. Thomas Sheenan made her angry, as well as incredibly uneasy. Just looking at him made everything inside her lurch and slosh—most discomfiting.

He was also painfully arrogant but, in his defense, he wasn’t vain or haughty like Mr. Fridley. Mr. Sheenan did no primping, prancing, or mincing. Nor did he sweat excessively.

His fault was the opposite. He was tall and muscular, darkly handsome, and absurdly confident. He exuded authority, oozing control, and it was beyond aggravating that a man who hadn’t even been in Crawford County six months should have formed such a negative opinion of her.

How could he find fault with her behavior when he didn’t know her?

Pfft.

Ellie felt a prickle of awareness and she glanced from beneath her lashes to her left, and discovered that Mr. Baker was staring at her, full lips slightly parted, expression hungry.

She closed her eyes, and held her breath. Please, dear Lord, send me a proper suitor. A man that I can respect and eventually tolerate in my bed. Amen.

Prayer over, she opened her eyes and looked up at the pulpit from where the minister was still speaking. Normally she enjoyed attending the Sunday service, not because she was particularly religious, but it was a tradition in their family. Sunday was the one day her father didn’t work as he made it a point of honoring the Sabbath. He did it for her late mother, part of the promise he’d made to her as she lay dying that he’d raised Ellie to be a good Christian. It was a big promise for Archibald to make since he wasn’t a churchgoing man. But he’d kept his promise. Ellie never missed church, or the Sunday school classes after the worship service. He might feel like an imposter in the pew, but he made sure Ellie was there.

There was a ritual to attending church, too.

Growing up, after supper on Saturday night, he’d heat water for her bath, and then he’d wash her hair before sitting her before the hearth in her little rocking chair to ensure her long red hair dried completely before she went to bed. While her hair dried, he’d iron her best dress and her petticoats and then shine her shoes. Then on Sunday morning they’d put on their good clothes and head to town for church.

Papa gave Ellie her late mother’s bible as a confirmation gift when she’d turned twelve. For nearly a year, Ellie poured over the bible, memorizing her mother’s favorite underlined verses, but it had been a long time since Ellie believed that God answered prayers. If God did, he would have saved her father.

No one lived forever but, before the cancer, her father had been impossibly strong and healthy. At six-four he’d towered over men, and on the ranch he could do the work of two to three men. It hadn’t been easy but he’d managed to be both mother and father, too, and now God would take him? Without leaving her with anyone? Surely He could at least provide a decent man, someone suitable to marry.

She was so very tired of thinking about marriage, too.

It was a shame things hadn’t worked out with Sinclair Douglas because Ellie had liked him. She hadn’t been in love with him, but Sinclair had been easy to like, and she’d felt an almost sisterly affection for him. He was Johanna’s big brother after all, and respected by the community. She had confidence in his ability to manage the Burnett Ranch and not squander the resources, or run it into the ground.

She found herself looking at Mr.