Blue Moon Promise (18 page)

Jed nodded. “There’s one that’s worth half that all by itself.” He studied the coins on the bed and picked one up. “This is it.” He dropped it into Lucy’s palm.

“It’s just a silver dollar.”

“Dad said it was a Dexter draped bust coin. There are only eight in the world.”

Would someone kill to possess this coin? She shuddered at the thought that her father might be dead because of someone’s determination to have this.

“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “Who do we give the money back to? It’s not ours.”

“Dad said the owner was dead.”

“His family might still be alive. I wonder if the police would know about this.”

Jed bit his lip. “Dad said it was dangerous to tell anyone.”

“I have to do something about these coins. I can’t just put them back in the hem and forget them.”

“Dad didn’t know how much they were worth when he bought them. The owner was happy with the money too. But Dad still didn’t feel right about it. He wanted to make sure they weren’t stolen. That’s why he wanted to talk to the police. He wasn’t going to give them to the police, though, unless he found out they were stolen. He wanted to keep them.”

“And the shop was broken into.
Someone
knew how much they were worth.”

“Dad said maybe someone who knew their worth had been planning to steal them and found out where the owner had pawned them. He said to keep them safe until he found out, because if it was all fair and square, the money would help all of us.”

She gathered up the coins. “I’ll put these away for now and think about it.”

“Be careful, Lucy.” Her brother touched her arm. “I think they killed him. I get so scared when I try to remember that night.”

Lucy waited until her brother went out to start chores, then looked around for where she could hide the money. Under the mattress was too obvious. She carried them into the kitchen and glanced around. The root cellar. She grabbed the lantern, then stepped outside and opened the door to the cellar. In the cellar she opened a barrel of pickles. After wrapping the coins in an oilcloth, she stuffed the package deep into the bottom of the barrel.

That part was easy. Deciding what to do next would be much more difficult.

NATE HAD HEARD every sound in the room below him all night long. Jed groaned several times in his sleep. Lucy was up taking Eileen to the outhouse several times, and he heard soft weeping at one point near dawn. He thought about climbing down from the loft to see who it was, but he didn’t have the right words to fix the problem if it was Lucy. He’d finally fallen into a heavy sleep when he’d known he should just get up.

The rooster crowed. He rolled over and punched his straw pillow into shape. It was prickly and uncomfortable. He was used to the feather pillow now propping Lucy’s head. Their conversation last night and the threat to his new family had kept him awake until the wee hours.

And Lucy was related to Larson. He didn’t care for that knowledge at all. He’d been ready to trust her and work on a relationship, but what if her pretty face hid something darker? He grimaced, remembering the fear he’d seen in her face when he asked to kiss her last night. She obviously thought he intended to claim his husbandly rights. Her blue eyes had been huge, and she looked as though she wanted to bolt for the door. Those soft cheeks had bloomed color like the first rosy blush of dawn. He smiled at the memory. He’d like to make her blush again.

A rooster crowed again from the chicken coop out back, and Nate sighed. Those cattle weren’t getting herded into the south pasture by themselves. In spite of having little sleep, he had to get up.

As he swung his feet to the floor, he heard the rattle of pans in the room below. He raised an eyebrow. Who was up so early and why? He pulled on his boots and climbed down the ladder. Jed yawned at the kitchen table while Lucy, her glorious blond hair still hanging down her back, poked life into the cookstove fire. She was already dressed in a faded blue gingham dress.

Jed saw him first. “Morning, Mr. Stanton.”

“Call me Nate, remember?” he said, his eyes on the way the lamplight lit Lucy’s hair with shimmering lights.

“Yes, sir.”

Lucy turned and caught his stare. A becoming bit of color raced up her cheeks, but she bravely met his gaze. He saw the muscles in her neck move as she swallowed, then she spun around and took some eggs out of a bowl.

“Jed and Eileen got me some eggs this morning. I hope that’s all right,” she said without looking at him. “He did chores.”

“I didn’t break none,” Eileen put in with a big smile.

He smiled at Eileen and put his hand on her head. “I wasn’t expecting any of you to get out of bed so early. You had a busy day yesterday.”

Lucy stirred the gravy. “So did you. I heard you tossing and turning all night.”

“You didn’t seem to get much sleep either,” he pointed out. He glanced at Jed. “We have a full day’s work ahead of us. You ready for it?”

“You bet!”

He grinned at the boy’s enthusiasm. “We’ll be working by the big house, so I expect we’ll be late tonight.”

“No lunch?”

He shook his head. “We’ll let Percy feed us.” Bridget nosed his leg, and Nate looked down. “You want out, girl?”

The dog whined, and he went to the door and pushed it open. Bridget gave a deep bark and wobbled out the door. Barking furiously, she limped to the road and planted her feet wide as she growled and barked at a figure by the gate.

Nate squinted through the dim light of predawn. A rider on a horse. Not willing to take any chances, he shut the door and stepped to the back door, where his rifle leaned against the wall. He checked to make sure it was loaded, then swung open the front door.

Drew Larson waved his hand. “Put the peashooter away. I didn’t come to see you.”

Scowling, Nate tightened his grip on his rifle. “I’ve got nothing to say to you, Larson. And if you’re here to see Lucy, I’ll ask you to stay away from my wife. You tried to burn down my barn. The next time I’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”

Drew gave a derisive laugh. “You don’t have the guts, Stanton. Now your pa, that would be a different story, but I got nothing to fear from you.” He touched his hat, his gaze again on Lucy. “Morning, Lucy. I thought maybe you’d want to have lunch with your old uncle. My sister would like to meet you.”

“You have another sister?” Lucy took a step onto the porch. “I have an aunt?”

“You do. And some nieces who are eager to make your acquaintance.”

Her glance slid sideways toward Nate. “I should like that. But not today, I’m afraid, Uncle Drew. I have so much to do getting settled in.”

Larson shrugged. “Another time, then.”

“Where does she live?”

“In town. At the end of Main Street. I’ll tell her you’ll be along soon.” He turned his horse around and rode away.

Nate let out the breath he didn’t even realize he was holding. His jaw hurt from clenching it, and his heart was stuttering like a faulty steam engine. He went back inside with Lucy on his heels. Her brother and sister flanked her.

He pulled out a chair at the kitchen table. “I could use some of those flapjacks I smell cooking.”

Lucy blinked as though she had forgotten what she was doing, then blushed and turned back to the stove. “The gravy is done, and the eggs will be ready in a minute.” She flipped a pancake, then faced him. “I want to meet my family.”

He opened his mouth, then shut it again at the entreaty on her face. “I’d rather you stayed away from him.”

“I’d rather you solved your differences.”

“That’s not possible.”

She sighed. “Very well. But I’m not going to ignore the only family I have still living.”

She had a point. How would he feel if someone told him he couldn’t see his family? “Fine. But I don’t want him here.”

“As you wish.” She turned to flip the bacon in the skillet. “Jed fetched some clean water for you to wash up in.”

He stared at his hands. “I don’t need the water. I’m reasonably clean.”

Lucy whirled and pointed a spatula at him. “Nate Stanton, this may be Texas, but where I come from, we wash up for meals. I won’t have dirty hands at my table.”

“My hands are clean. See?” He held them out for her inspection.

She didn’t look at his hands but stared him in the eye and pointed to the bowl and pitcher. “The soap is there as well. Your father wants some genteel manners brought to this spread. You’ll wash your hands, or you’ll go without breakfast.”

His stomach growled in answer. Nate eyed her rigid back, then grinned. Snatching up the cake of soap, he lathered his hands, then poured water over them. “Satisfied?” He held them up.

She put the plate on the table. “Thank you, Nate. Please sit down and say grace. You’ll want to eat your breakfast while it’s hot.”

Her voice was composed, but he could see a hint of a smile on her lips. “That’s what I wanted to do an hour ago,” he muttered.

He caught a glimmer of a grin on Jed’s face. “You have something to say?” he asked the boy.

“Nope,” the boy said hastily, stuffing a flapjack into his mouth.

“Jed, what have I told you about talking with your mouth full?” his sister said. “And I didn’t hear either of you pray.”

Nate exchanged a commiserating smile with Jed. At least he wasn’t the only one in hot water. He bowed his head and thanked the Lord for the good food.

At the conclusion of his prayer, Lucy glanced at her brother. “Would you quote your Bible verse, Jed?”

Jed turned scarlet. “Uh, I forgot it, Lucy.”

“Psalm 51:2,” she prompted.

“Oh, I remember. ‘Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.’”

A smile played around her lips and she glanced at Nate.

“I like Matthew 15:19 and 20. ‘For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.’” He grinned back at her.

Instead of replying, she lifted a sweet voice in song.
“‘I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord; No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.’”

To Nate’s surprise, Jed’s voice joined in as if he were used to singing every morning at the breakfast table. Eileen’s sweet little voice stumbled along. The song swelled in Nate’s heart too, and he had to sing along with them.

As the music warmed the kitchen, he found it warmed his heart even more.

SEVENTEEN
 
 

L
ucy felt a little cranky. Maybe she had come off too pushy over the washing up, but she wasn’t about to start off this marriage by letting a man eat at her table without washing his hands. She’d worked for years to get Jed in the habit, and Nate could destroy all her hard training in the blink of an eye.

She had her work cut out for her. Nate was used to being around only men, and he had no concept of the niceties of life. But she would set such a good spread for him that he would be willing to do whatever he had to do to eat her cooking.

Lucy heated water on the stove to wash the dishes, then got out the ingredients to make bread. She kneaded it with practiced hands, put it on to rise, then went through the cabin and collected all the dirty clothes. She’d noticed a pile of Nate’s clothes in the pantry, of all places, so she hauled in wood and water to do laundry. She set Eileen to helping hang the clothes up to dry on some string Lucy strung up by the fire.

Humming as she worked, she baked a raisin pie, then rolled out noodles and left them on the table to dry. What a blessing it was to have chickens and eggs in the backyard. God had truly blessed her. As she’d tossed in the night, she came to that conclusion. Nate was a fine man, a bit rough around the edges, but he just wasn’t used to women. She would be patient and be the helpmeet she was created to be. Nate would be glad for his father’s meddling in the end. She would be everything he needed. She could do this.

She glanced at the watch pinned to her dress. Ten thirty. She’d gotten a lot accomplished in a short time. What if she went to her aunt’s? It wasn’t that far. She could be back in time to fix the evening meal. She’d made it clear to Nate that she intended to meet her family. Why not now?