Linda Ford (14 page)

She knew it. Accepted it. But her heart ached with an unknown pain. What was it she wanted?

Against her wishes, her gaze darted to Colton as he drove the buggy into town. They belonged in different worlds. He knew it. She knew it. His mother made it clear every chance she got, warning her that Colton had his hands full caring for them. It was his duty. And, lest Rebecca not consider that enough reason, his mother never let Rebecca forget that she was a rich, city girl who would never fit into the rural community.

A deep sorrow filled her from beginning to end. Despite it, she managed to smile at something Heidi said as they took the children to stay with Charlotte.

In their brief visit, she noticed that Charlotte laughed for no reason.

“You seem all excited. What’s going on?”

Charlotte ducked her head. “I’m in love with life.”

Rebecca shook her head and tried to look shocked, but her friend did have a new husband and daughter. “I’m glad for you.”

Once the children were settled, she let Colton hand her back into the buggy. He did it often, and each time she informed herself that the gesture was simple courtesy. Nothing more. Her heart refused to listen and skittered against her ribs each time his strong, warm hand touched hers. She tried and failed to convince herself that he didn’t hold her grasp a second or two longer than good manners required. She gave him a smile and murmured her thanks. The way his eyes lingered jolted through her.

She settled herself and forced her foolishness into submission.

Then the orphanage came into view and she forgot her own concerns. Wagons filled the street. Ladders had been positioned against the walls and men stood on each one.

“It’s a beehive of activity.” Her words were filled with awe.

Half a dozen men rushed forward to greet them.

“We’re having a work bee,” Ted Lang said. “Time to get this place closed in.”

“There are so many people here.” She couldn’t believe it.

“Time the community got behind the work.” Ted moved away, speaking to the men, pointing one place and another, organizing the tasks.

Rebecca reached for a hammer.

Colton opened his mouth. She knew from the look on his face that he meant to tell her to put it down and join the women gathered in clusters under the trees.

She spoke first. “It’s my responsibility.”

“You aren’t going up on a ladder.” The walls had reached a point that required their use. He sounded ready to do battle right here before the whole community.

He was only being stubborn, but she rather enjoyed the idea that he might want to protect her. So she smiled. “I’m sure I can do something from the ground.”

“Very well.”

She followed him to the bottom of a ladder. “Can I hand things up to you?”

He considered her until her cheeks warmed. Then he sighed. “You could get me some nails.” He handed her a leather pouch.

She trotted over and filled it. As she handed it to him, her heart again reacted to the brush of his fingers and she stepped back so quickly she jostled Ted.

He steadied her. “Careful there.”

She laughed and hoped no one else thought it high-pitched. “Thank you.”

Colton had scrambled up the ladder and now nailed in place his end of a board.

“How can I help?” she asked Ted.

He looked around. “You could gather up the bits and pieces of wood before someone falls on them, and stack them over there.”

She hurried to follow his bidding even before he finished speaking.

The stack of scraps grew as the morning passed.

Men stopped to speak to her as she scurried about, assuring her that they were behind this project. More and more she felt she was part of the venture, not simply in charge of the anonymous funds. She paused a second to consider why the money had been sent to her. Was it simply because it seemed a natural extension of her role as the agent for the orphans? But who would have chosen her?

She dropped a handful of scraps and pivoted right into a very broad chest. “Umph.” She knew that chest. Just as she knew the scent of this man. She jerked back, but only a few inches, as Colton’s hands caught her shoulders.

“Slow down, Rebecca. It makes me tired just watching you hustle about so.”

She tried to believe he meant to scold her, but his husky words felt like a blessing, and she couldn’t keep herself from smiling widely as she looked up at him. “I’m enjoying myself too much to slow down.”

“What exactly are you enjoying?” He slid his hands off her arms and stepped back, leaving her alone and cold.

She considered her answer. Suddenly she knew exactly what she felt—apart from foolish awareness of this big, handsome cowboy. “Community. I’ve never seen this kind of thing before.” She waved to indicate the men working on the building. “I thought I had to prove I could do this on my own. It was a scary thought. But having the community work with me is a wonderful feeling.”

“Like you belong?” He spoke softly, the words grave.

Belong? Was it possible? She knew it wasn’t. “I belong back in New York. My father is expecting me.” He would not approve of her abandoning the life for which he and Mother had groomed her.

Colton’s eyes turned hard. His jaw clenched and he wheeled about and climbed a ladder without so much as a backward glance in her direction.

She returned to her task. What did he expect her to say?

Women from town began to gather. Long trestle tables were erected. Charlotte came with the children.

Heidi hung back, her head lowered so her hair hid her face.

Rebecca’s throat tightened. This was such a marked contrast to the happy, confident child she saw at the ranch. She turned to Colton. He looked sad and thoughtful.

Charlotte hurried to Rebecca’s side. “If you take Gabriel, I’ll help set out the meal.”

Colton jogged to her side. “Let’s show him around. Maybe someone will say something that gives us a clue as to who his mother is.”

They strolled over to the growing crowd. Dishes of food covered a table, filling the air with the smells of fried chicken, apple pie and beans. Rebecca’s mouth flooded with saliva. Would she ever learn to cook something like this—something she’d be proud to bring to a community dinner?

“It looks like everyone is here,” she murmured, though, thankfully, she had not seen Miss Ward yet. Children raced about laughing as they played tag. No one seemed to mind the noise.

“Who would want to miss a community picnic?”

They reached the first cluster of women.

“So this is the baby someone left on the doorstep,” one woman said as she peered at Gabriel.

“He’s very sweet.”

Another said, “Tsk, I can’t imagine what sort of woman would abandon her baby.”

Others said the mother must have had a good reason.

Rebecca and Colton moved through the group, but no one seemed to know of a woman who might be Gabriel’s mother.

Pauline and Curtis approached, the latter carrying a steaming pot. Before they reached the others, he said something to Pauline that made the woman smile and give him a look Rebecca could only describe as adoring. She studied the pair as they approached. Was there something romantic going on between them?

Charlotte and Sasha joined Rebecca and Colton. Heidi took Sasha’s hand and led her away. The children sat by themselves under a tree and played.

Charlotte watched. “Heidi is so good with younger children. It’s a shame adults can’t see past her scars.”

Rebecca nodded. “I wish Heidi could forget she had them. Any word from Wyatt?”

“He wired Sheriff Mason to say he’d located some children at a mine in Colorado and was arranging for their release.”

“That’s good news. Any reports on Jakob?” He was always so protective of Heidi. Rebecca and several others assumed that when Jakob ran away, it was because he wanted to find his sister. Wyatt had even reported seeing a boy who matched Jakob’s description in Greenville, asking about the orphans. The lad had bolted before Wyatt could find out his name. If it
had
been Jakob, then he must have learned that Heidi was in Evans Grove. Rebecca hoped he would show up soon.

“Nothing certain.” She squeezed Rebecca’s arm. “I’m sorry. I know you’re anxious to locate him.”

The doctor strode over. Rebecca had met him earlier. A man in his forties with jet-black hair and snapping black eyes. Ezra Simpson struck her as a no-nonsense man. “Colton, can we talk a moment?”

“What is it?”

“How is your mother?”

Rebecca listened shamelessly.

“She’s often short of breath and her legs swell badly. She doesn’t have a lot of energy.”

“I’d like to visit her. I’ve learned of something that might ease her symptoms.”

“I’m sure Ma would welcome a visit.”

“Fine.” Dr. Simpson stepped past Colton and lifted the corner of the quilt to look at Gabriel. “He looks happy and healthy.”

Rebecca nodded. “He is, though he cries at night.”

The doctor chuckled. “Typical behavior. No word on his mother?”

“Nothing.”

“I hope she’s all right.”

Rebecca nodded agreement.

Dr. Simpson patted the baby. “How fortunate that he is with people like you and the Hayeses. I couldn’t hope for a better home for him.” He nodded and moved on to another group.

Rebecca considered his words. He thought they provided a good home for the baby. And he’d included her. Did he not realize this was temporary? If they didn’t locate the baby’s parents, what would become of Gabriel? It was all she could do not to clutch the baby too tightly.

Reverend Turner stood on a bench. She hadn’t noticed him in the crowd before. “People, if you quiet down I’ll ask the blessing on this bounty. I know if the smells are making you as hungry as they are making me, you’re ready to eat.”

Mothers drew their children to their sides as the crowd quieted and men snatched off their hats. The preacher asked the blessing, then everyone lined up to file past the food tables.

Rebecca wondered how she would fill her plate while holding Gabriel, but she didn’t have to wonder for long.

Colton picked up two plates. “I’ll do this. Trust me. It’s for your own good. I know who makes the best food. For instance, these are Pauline’s beans and they are wonderful. Those—” he indicated another pot of beans “—are best not sampled.” The sorrowful look he gave her tickled her funny bone and she giggled.

“I take it you speak from experience.”

He nodded. “Sad and bitter experience.”

She laughed again as he drew his mouth back in a grimace.

As they continued down the table, she grew alarmed at how much food he was piling on her plate. “I can’t possibly eat all that,” she said, though the crispy fried chicken looked good enough to entice her to seconds.

“I thought you could share with Heidi.” The child clung to Rebecca’s side, an empty plate dangling from her hand.

At the sound of her name, she jerked her head up to stare at Colton. Her eyes were wide with distress.

He shot a questioning look at Rebecca, but she shook her head. She didn’t know the particulars of what had upset Heidi, though she’d witnessed that look many times and it always twisted her insides.

They reached the end of the food table and Colton led them to a dining table. He sat at the end and put Heidi between himself and Rebecca, then leaned over to speak to her.

“Heidi, what’s wrong?”

She hung her head. “Nothin’.”

Colton’s quick look at Rebecca revealed that the child’s unhappiness hurt him as much as it did her. She wrapped an arm about the child’s shoulders. So did Colton. His arm pressed hers. Her heart thumped hard against her chest and she sucked in a deep breath to calm it. This was about Heidi—not Rebecca’s foolish thoughts, her hopes and dreams and useless wishes.

Colton bent again. “I know something is wrong because you’re hiding again and I’ve gotten used to seeing your lovely smile.”

Heidi shook her head. “I don’t have a nice smile. I’m ugly.”

Colton’s jaw tightened so much Rebecca feared for his teeth. “Really? Who says you’re ugly?”

“A boy.” Her words were barely a whisper.

Colton stared around the crowd. Rebecca did, too. Who was the guilty party? She glanced at Colton. The look in his eyes was hot enough to fry bacon.

She tried to smile, hoping to calm him. But failed. Most likely, her eyes revealed the same emotion. This child did not deserve to be the target of such meanness.

Colton turned back to Heidi. “Honey, remember what I said about ugly. People who are unkind are ugly on the inside and outside. You aren’t.” He tipped her chin upward and smiled at her then kissed the tip of her nose. “You are beautiful and sweet.”

Rebecca’s throat clogged at the tenderness. This was the kind of love Heidi deserved. She deserved to have parents who loved her as Colton and Rebecca did. She deserved to have Colton and Rebecca themselves as her parents.

She jerked her attention away from the Colton and Heidi.

She knew her father would find the idea utterly unacceptable. He had specifically sent Rebecca on this trip so she would get over her moping and return to resume her place in New York society.

“Miss Sterling.”

She turned toward Reverend Turner.

“The community wants to thank you for cooperating with us in placing the orphans here. Those who have taken a child are pleased with the way things are going.”

Several couples nodded.

“It is I who should thank you.”

“Everyone needs to hear it.” He helped her to her feet. “Ladies and gentlemen, Miss Sterling has something she’d like to say.”

Every pair of eyes turned her way. She looked around the crowd. These were good people who worked together, who took care of each other and helped those in need. “I want to thank you all for being so welcoming—both toward the children I brought from New York, and toward the children I hope will arrive soon, the children this orphanage is being built to serve. Charlotte tells me Wyatt has located some of the children that were put out to work.” She didn’t say
as slaves,
though that was what had happened. “They will soon be here. It will be good if the home is finished by the time they arrive. That wouldn’t be possible without all of your help.”