Taking the ledger from Hawke's jacket, she settled into the chair near the fireplace and opened the book to the page marked "Lacey O'Carroll." First she read the Disadvantage column:

Slothful--How dare he suggest such a thing after getting her up before dawn each day!

Messy--the grandest of lies! This man's home was never so clean as it'd been under her care!3. Incompetent farm hand--"Apprentice" farm hand, maybe, but she was eager to learn.

Too weak and frail to be a ranch wife--Maybe, she wasn't sure, but she
figured she deserved credit for being strong at heart.

Believes in fairies--doesn't everyone?

Lousy Cook--he had her there--but only temporarily. She could learn.

Bed partner--This notation stumped Lacey. She'd get to the bottom of what he meant by that later.

Too damn nosy--what had she done to elicit this--other than what she was doing now?

Can't sew--another area in which she could make no argument.

Lies/can't be trusted.

Crestfallen over number ten, for she couldn't even fake a fit of anger over the truth in that disadvantage, Lacey sighed and glanced to the right- hand side of the ledger. There under the Advantages Column she found only three notations:

Good with Horses--her mood brightened considerably.

Makes good pie--that would have brightened her mood had he not drawn a thick, black line through it, voiding the entry (He did so because Lacey asked a friend to bake the pies)

Bed Partner--Now she was more confused than when it had been in the disadvantage column--and how could one attribute be listed in both places, anyway?

The score as she read it, was ten to two, a lack of eight pluses on the advantage side of the ledger. How could she make up that number, or even exceed it in the little time she had left to win Hawke over? She couldn't go back to Ireland!

It occurred to her that she might as well list a few of her qualities now, and worry about proving them to the man later. What could such a plan harm at this juncture? Hawke had already made note of the fact that she was nosy and not to be trusted. Pleased with her rationalization, Lacey lifted the pencil from its little slot, moistened the tip, and got busy balancing the scale in her favor. Adding a new entry in place of the one that had been scratched out, she started with the obvious.

2. Resourceful