Deborah Camp (7 page)

“He is the rudest human being!” she exclaimed.

“Blade?”

“Yes.”

“He doesn’t like us ve-wy much.”

“He doesn’t know us. Once we get acquainted, he’ll be different.”

“We should go live with Adam.”

“This is our home, Penny,” Elise insisted. “We must try hard to make Blade glad he brought us here.”

“I’ll pick a bouquet for him,” Penny said, bending to pluck a dandelion.

Elise smiled, touched by her sister’s gesture. “That’s nice, Pen. I’m sure he’ll like that.”
And if he doesn’t, I’ll make him sorry!
she mentally added.

They were only a few feet from him when he yanked on the reins to stop the mules in their traces. He glanced at Elise, a frown creasing his wide forehead.

“I don’t have time to stop and chat.”

Elise drilled him with a hard glare. “We aren’t here to chat. I brought you some food and drink. I didn’t know if you’d eaten this morning.”

“And I brought you these,” Penny said, holding out a fistful of dandelions and primroses.

Magically, the frown disappeared and a tender smile graced his wide mouth. His eyes crinkled at the corners. Elise saw that the skin in those crinkles was a paler color for want of the sun. When he wasn’t smiling or squinting, the pale lines fanned out against his dark bronze skin. A streak of dirt arced across his left cheekbone. He pulled off his work gloves, and Elise noticed that the stitches on them were coming undone.

Amazingly, she pictured herself mending them, and this amused her. Mending gloves! Why, she barely knew how to thread a needle! Still, if he asked her, she’d give it a try. She wanted desperately to gain his respect.

He wore a sky-blue shirt and dark work pants that were full in the legs but hugged his backside. His heavy black boots had seen better days, as had his faded red suspenders. His straw-hat brim looked as if it had been chewed in several places. He took the flowers from Penny, his strong fingers gentle as they pressed against the fragile stems.

“Much thanks,” he said, his voice huskier than usual. He removed his hat and tucked the blooms under the leather band. “I’ll just put them here.”

“That looks nice,” Penny said. “We have eggs and biscuits. Want some?”

“I guess I can stop for a few minutes. Let’s go sit under that tree.” He looked pointedly at the basket, and Elise handed it to him. “I made do with beef jerky and milk this morning.”

“I would have thrown something together for
you if you’d awakened me,” Elise said, although she hated to think what kind of mess she would have made in the kitchen.

“I don’t wake people up. That’s what I have a rooster for.”

A rooster … Elise dimly recalled a raucous crowing earlier. She had placed the feather pillow over her head to drown out the noise. Back in Baltimore, her mother had kissed them all awake each morning. Her loss gaped inside Elise like an open wound, and she shut her mind to the memories, however sweet. If she allowed herself to dwell on the many things she missed about her parents, she’d dissolve in a puddle of tears and Blade Lonewolf would send her packing for sure! She sensed he was a man who kept himself on a tight rein.

Elise removed the tablecloth from the basket and spread it under the tree. Blade set the basket to one side of the cloth, then sat with his back braced against the tree trunk, one leg bent, the other stretched out in front of him. Elise and Penny sat near him, and Elise unpacked the basket.

“I hope you like hard-boiled eggs.”

He reached for one. “I like them okay.” He peeled off the shell and ate half the egg with one bite.

“Good.” Elise watched in amazement as he finished off the egg with one more huge bite. “And here’s some bread, and a jug of water. I bet you’re thirsty.” She glanced toward the mules. “Should we water the animals, too?”

“I watered them earlier. They’re fine.”

“What are you planting out here?”

He looked at her with a measure of surprise. “Nothing. It’s too early to plant.”

“Then what are you doing?”

“Plowing. I’m harrowing under the winter wheat and getting the ground ready for planting.” He peeled the brown shell off another egg, glancing at her through his thick, inky lashes. “You know about as much about farming as a hog does about hip pockets on work pants.”

Elise gave him a scathing glare. “I never suggested that I was familiar with farming. Penny, would you like a boiled egg?”

“No, thank you.” Penny looked toward the mules, then placed a hand on Blade’s bent knee. “Can I pet the ponies?”

Blade looked around. “The ponies? Oh, you mean the mules?”

“Uh-huh. Will they bite?”

“If they bite you, I’ll bite them back. Go ahead. You can pet them all you want.”

Penny laughed and scampered toward the big-eared mules. The soft sunlight played over their shiny hides, picking out red hairs among the dark brown and black.

“How much land do you own?”

“Sixty acres, but I use twenty of it for grazing.”

“You have livestock?”

“I have a few cows and a couple of horses.”

“I saw one horse in that corral by the barn.”

He nodded. “The gray? That’s Janie. She’s ready to foal, so I’m keeping an eye on her.”

“That’s why she looked so heavy! I thought you’d overfed her.”

He shifted his eyes sideways to deliver a dubious glance. The simple gesture made Elise feel like the class dunce. “The sire is out to pasture,” he said.

“And what is his name?”

“Bob.”

“Just Bob?” Elise asked, tickled by the no-nonsense name. “Not Prancer or Black Magic? Just Bob?”

He shrugged, finishing off the last of the egg. “Bob’s good enough for him. He seems to like it.”

Blade drank deeply from the jug of water, and Elise watched his Adam’s apple slide up and down his strong brown throat. A drop of sweat rolled down his face and splashed onto his shoulder, making a darker blue dot on his light blue shirt. He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped his face. His scent drifted to her again—earthy, warm and, well, male.

She closed her eyes, privately amused at her thoughts. How did she know what maleness smelled like? Why, she’d been kissed on the mouth only four times in her whole life, and two of those times had been most disappointing. The other two had been pleasant—one of them had even released a little thrill in her. Of course, she’d heard from the other debutantes that Darby Rourke of the Nelson Rourkes was quite a ladies’ man, and he’d proved to be the most experienced of her beaux. Darby was the kind of gentleman who forgot his manners if a lady didn’t keep reminding him of them.

Suddenly she felt the power of Blade’s stare. She lowered her lashes and peeked at him. He studied her intently.

“What were you thinking about just then?” he asked.

“Home,” she admitted, but didn’t elaborate. “Why?”

“You looked kind of dreamy. I thought … oh, never mind.” He leaned his head back and stared at the sky. “You could go back to Baltimore. I’ll see to it that your sister is raised right.”

“You don’t understand. Where Penny and Adam are,
that’s
my home. All I have in Baltimore are memories.”

“And family. You have family there.”

“None that matter.” She watched as he peeled another egg. She wished she had more food to offer him, and hated her feelings of inadequacy. “Blade, do you think we could visit Adam tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow? I’ll be busy tomorrow.” He put the whole egg in his mouth, much to Elise’s astonishment.

“When, then? When can we visit?”

He took his time chewing and swallowing. “In a few days,” he said finally. “Give him a chance to settle in.”

A few days? Did that mean there was hope? She sent up a quick prayer. “So you’ve decided I can stay? Without a fight, I mean.”

He gave a short laugh. “Wouldn’t be much of a fight.” Directing his attention away from her, he stared moodily at the horizon. “You may stay for as long as you want—which won’t be long, I reckon.”

“Are you so hard to live with?”

He glanced at the tablecloth and the basket. “I’m no picnic and my life here is no party.”

“Perhaps I can make life easier for you.”

“How?”

“Oh, by cooking your meals and—”

“When you learn how,” he interrupted.

“Last night’s supper wasn’t so terrible, was it? You cleaned your plate.”

He met her gaze. His wide mouth dipped at the corners. “You’re still holding to the story that you cooked those vittles?”

Everything in her went still for a few seconds;
then her heart kicked and sent blood flooding to her face and neck. “Wh-what do you mean … story?”

“I mean you’re lying through your teeth—as usual.”

“As usual!”

He sprang to his feet and took a final long pull from the water jug, emptying it. “Airy Peppers cooked that meal, and she’s probably heading over here right about now to cook tonight’s meal.” He corked the crock jug and dropped it onto the tablecloth. Reaching into the basket, he withdrew three hard biscuits and shoved them into his pant pockets. “Lying to me isn’t going to make my life any easier.”

Elise wrestled with guilt and decided to plead for understanding. “I’m sorry. I don’t like to lie, but I—”

“For someone who doesn’t like it, you sure do it a lot.” He started to walk off and leave her with her stinging feelings and mounting frustration.

“Stop right there, Blade Lonewolf!”

Blade turned back to Elise, one black brow raised in inquiry. “What is it? I’ve got work to do.”

From the corner of her eye she saw Penny glance toward them with a worried frown. “Penny, go pick a bouquet of flowers for our supper table tonight,” Elise said, never taking her gaze off Blade. When Penny wandered over to a cluster of butter-colored wildflowers, Elise moved a few steps closer to Blade. “Any lies I have told I’m sorry for, but you don’t go out of your way to be helpful. I’ve been trying to be pleasant and generous, and all I’ve gotten from you are frowns and threats.”

“Threats? What threats?”

“You’ve told me that you want me to leave here
and find work in town!” she reminded him hotly.

“That’s not a threat. That’s a suggestion, and a damned good one, if you ask me.”

“Nobody asked, and I happen to think it’s a stupid suggestion. My place is here.”

He rubbed his hands together slowly, as if testing the calluses. The flowers tucked under his hatband seemed out of place, and Elise captured her lower lip between her teeth to keep from grinning.

“You can stay. Nobody will be making you leave.”

Relief flooded through her. She reached out in a gesture of pure instinct and laid a hand on his warm arm.

“Thank you,” she said, sincerity ringing in her voice. “Thank you so much. I couldn’t bear being separated from Penny. She … we’ve been through so much lately …” Tears pricked her eyes and wet her lashes as long-denied emotions welled up inside her. “I’ve been so distraught, so frantic, trying to keep Penny and Adam close to me that I—well, I haven’t even had time to mourn Mama and Papa’s passing. Sometimes I forget that they’re gone, and then I remember and I … oh … it’s been quite … that is, they’re dead. I know that. I’ll never see them again, never again hear Mama’s laugh or Papa’s loud snoring at night. I swear, he could lift the roof off—”

The overwhelming pain and explosive grief hit her like a cannonball in the chest. She clutched at Blade’s arm as her knees trembled and tears spilled onto her cheeks. Her throat thickened, allowing only a groan to escape her.

And then he opened his arms and Elise collapsed against him, sobs overtaking her as the finality of death swept over her like a black ocean wave. She
buried her face against his chest and knotted her hands into fists, crumpling his shirt between her fingers. Moments might have passed; minutes might have expired; time might have stood still. She didn’t know, didn’t care. The dreadful days that had followed her parents’ fatal accident shook her very soul, and she could only hold onto the rock that was Blade Lonewolf. She breathed in, catching the aroma of sun and sweat.

His hands moved across her back and then one cupped the back of her head. Blunt-tipped fingers pushed through her hair. A weakness spread from her heart to her knees. She knew she should stand on her own two feet again, but she liked the feel of his hands on her and the solid comfort of his body against hers. For a few moments she held her breath and wished that time would stop.

“Elise, what is it?” Penny asked, setting time in motion again.

“She is sad about your mama and papa dying,” Blade explained, before Elise could fathom an answer. “She’ll be done crying in a few moments. You go ahead and pick that bouquet. That will make her smile again.”

His explanation, so simple and so true, went straight to Elise’s heart. She raised her head to look up into his face and bask in his gentle smile.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know what … I haven’t cried like that since the night I heard of their deaths.”

He placed a hand alongside her face and his thumb stroked beneath her eye, wiping aside her tears. “Saying good-bye is hard.”

“Yes, so very hard.”
He knows. He knows about this pain, this horrific loss. His parents. His wife. So much loss in his life
. She glanced toward Penny and
offered a shaky smile when her sister held up a clutch of dandelions. “Those are pretty, honey.”

Reluctantly, Elise opened her fists, releasing Blade’s shirt. She tried to iron the wrinkles from it with the flat of her hand, and in doing so discovered the interesting contours of his chest muscles. His smile was no longer gentle. Now his mouth curved in a knowing grin and his eyes darkened to cinnamon.

The intimacy of what they’d just shared caught up with her, and Elise felt her face and throat grow even warmer. She brushed her hands across his chest once more, something wanton within her demanding one last contact, and then edged away from him. As his arms released her, she knew a moment when she wanted them back around her, holding her, shielding her from a world that had been cruel of late.

“I’m not given to hysterics,” she said with an embarrassed laugh as she wiped away the vestiges of her tears. “You were kind to allow me to dampen your shirt.” Now that her composure had slipped back into place, she felt awkward, so she scooped up the basket and tablecloth. “Come along, Penny. We’ve taken up enough of Blade’s time.” She directed a mischievous smile his way. “Besides, Airy Peppers will be at the house soon.”