Linda Ford (19 page)

Grady tumbled off the toboggan as they slowed to a stop and ran to Linette, squealing delight. “It’s fun. You come again?”

“I think I’ll stay here.” She bent and hugged Grady. “I’m glad you’re having fun.” She smiled at Eddie. “The toboggan was a good idea.”

He couldn’t help noticing her smile didn’t reach her eyes. Any more than he could miss the coolness in her voice. “Glad it’s working out.”

Only, he didn’t feel as pleased about Grady’s progress as he should.

* * *

Linette watched Grady return up the hill with Eddie. The boy was losing his fear of Eddie thanks to Eddie’s efforts.

He’d be able to face life with a lot more confidence. Enjoy the fun parts of ranch life rather than clinging to the womenfolk indoors.

The smile curving her mouth at acknowledging these things did not reach her heart.

She’d known from the start she shouldn’t get on the toboggan with Eddie. It was far too intimate. His arms about her, the feel of his breath on the side of her face, the tangle of arms as they rolled in the snow...

She swallowed hard against the tightness in her throat.

Freed by the moment, unexpected feelings had surfaced, only for a flash, but long enough for her to picture herself in the big house, filling it with dreams and life and—she gulped—love. Her unguarded eyes had surely revealed the overflow of her heart.

Eddie had read her growing regard for him. He’d jerked away as if stung. He did not return her feelings. Resisted the possibility.

Her insides twisted and she shifted her attention from the pair at the top of the hill. Feelings didn’t enter into her plan. She only wanted him to see her as a partner. Capable. Suitable. She expected no less and wanted no more.

There was plenty enough time for the good Lord to change things, make Eddie see that she would make a better wife than Margaret any old day.

She didn’t need any silly wishes for more. Such feelings left her vulnerable, uncertain of herself.

She shivered as Grady and Eddie sped past her on their downward journey. They tumbled from the toboggan, laughing together.

Eddie pulled the toboggan to her side.

She kept her gaze on the hilltop. But the sight of the track they’d recently sped down mocked her. Made it impossible to forget that moment in the snow when his eyes flew open and he looked deep into her gaze. His look had slipped past her reservations, past her control, past her pain, straight to a tender, aching spot in her heart that cried silently for his touch.

With the same stubborn determination she’d claimed as she crossed the rugged, unsettled continent, she pushed aside the foolish thought.

The pair climbed the hill. The toboggan raced past her again. Grady’s giggles tickled her ears. Eddie had taken the boy from fearful to joyful. He would no longer need Linette to shield him from Eddie. The boy could accompany Eddie to the barn alone.

“I’m going indoors.” She started for the cabin.

Grady scrambled after her. “I go with you.”

She reached for his hand. Maybe he wasn’t quite ready to move on without her. Shouldn’t she regret the fact? But she didn’t.

Eddie fell in step at her side. “It’s a beginning.”

A beginning for Grady, but was it the beginning of the end for her? Would she wind up trudging away from the ranch as dejectedly as she left the hill?

Right then and there she vowed she must protect her heart from wayward emotions and keep her eyes on the goal of getting Eddie to agree to a marriage based on rational decisions. She was surely the best woman for the job of being his wife in this appealing frontier.

Feelings did not enter into the situation.

When they reached the cabin, Eddie stayed outside.

“I’ll take the toboggan to the barn,” he said.

Linette hadn’t spoken as they crossed the yard, but she couldn’t let him leave without acknowledging her gratitude for what he’d done for Grady. She faced him, her emotions hidden behind solid walls of determination. “Thank you for doing this.”

“My pleasure.”

She wouldn’t read more into the words than a polite response.

“Grady, thank Eddie for the toboggan ride.”

The boy hesitated.

Linette nudged Grady to reply.

“Thank you.” His words were barely audible.

She realized the boy and man were much alike—hurt by fathers, uncertain about trusting. Perhaps she also shared the similarity. She silently prayed for God’s healing for all of them.

* * *

Two days later, Eddie bit into a slice of fresh bread. “I could get used to this.” She’d learned to make bread that gladdened a man’s heart.

Linette grinned. “I could get used to success.”

He concentrated on the meal before him. Success. What did that mean to her? Becoming his wife as she had said from their first meeting.

There had been no letters from home yet. Likely a number waited at Edendale. He and the men had been too busy to ride to town. Plus, the snow continued to build up. But when the letters did arrive, he was certain there’d be a reply from Margaret. She would come. He knew it. After all, he’d built the house to please her. Little did she know he’d taken note of the preferences she’d stated and incorporated many of them into the plans he and his father drew up. Margaret belonged here.

She would sit in the wingback chair near the window as she did needlework or cradled a child. She would serenely tell the cook what to prepare for dinner.

Would she struggle to learn how to cook bacon? Or to learn to bake bread?

Would she exclaim over the view? Want to capture it on canvas? Sketch it?

He shook his head. He would not picture Linette in the room. She simply did not fit. He would not tell her so, but his father never mentioned the Edwards name without getting a sour look on his face, as if he’d bitten into a fresh lemon.

He finished his meal and pushed from the table. But before he could leave the cabin, a call came from outside.

“Hello, the house.”

“Company,” Cassie announced from the window. “A cowboy.”

Eddie reached the door before the man could knock and threw it open. “Clyde, howdy.” He shook hands with the cowhand from the OK Ranch. “Everything all right?”

“Dandy as can be. I’m not here looking for help but to invite you all to a Christmas party next week at the ranch.” He glanced beyond Eddie to the womenfolk.

“Come in.” Eddie introduced everyone as soon as Clyde shed his heavy winter wear.

“The boss figures this is a chance to get together.”

Eddie nodded. “Good idea.” He’d plan a similar event when the house was finished.

Clyde had coffee and they shared more conversation. As soon as he departed, Cassie and Linette peppered Eddie with a string of questions about the upcoming party. He couldn’t blame them for being excited. They’d not been off the ranch for weeks.

* * *

They were ready to go. Linette tried not to wriggle and squeal with anticipation like Grady, but the idea of a party at the neighboring ranch thrilled her. The cowboys sat astride their horses, but Eddie had hitched horses to a wagon to carry the women and Grady. Cookie, Bertie and Cassie crowded together on the back bench. Grady and Linette sat beside Eddie on the front. The air shimmered with excited talk.

This was a chance for her to be with Eddie at a social, fun occasion. She intended to make the most of the opportunity.

Things between them had shifted though she couldn’t say if was for the better. On one hand, he seemed to enjoy the evenings they spent together, sometimes with Cassie there, more often with her gone to bed with Grady. They often played chess. Just as often they simply sat and chatted. They liked to talk about the same places they’d visited in England.

“Seems odd we never bumped into each other,” she’d once said and immediately wished she could suck the words back into her mouth when he grew serious.

“Not so odd, I suppose.”

She heard what he didn’t say—that his father would never knowingly, willingly cross paths with her father. Knowing she didn’t fit into the well-planned life laid out for Eddie seemed an impossible barrier. It was up to her to prove otherwise. Make him see she could be accepted on her own merits. Tonight the social gathering and party atmosphere would hopefully provide a chance for him to see her in a different environment and to appreciate her.

She joined the conversation of the others in the wagon as they made the journey to the OK Ranch, but her mind hummed with possibilities. She’d primed Cassie to mention how well Linette had adjusted. Linette would tell the others how much she liked the country and not one word of it would be false. She fit here and Eddie needed to see it. To admit it.

They arrived at the ranch house—a long, low building alight with candles in every window and along the veranda.

Grady sucked in air and held it. He squirmed forward, reached out as if to touch the glow.

In the low light, Linette’s and Eddie’s gazes met and held. One thing they shared openly was a desire to make life good for Grady and they smiled at the boy’s excitement. The look in Eddie’s eyes, the glow in her heart shifted from Grady and Christmas to something beyond reason—a silent hunger she had no wish to acknowledge, much less name.

She tore her gaze away and turned to the open door where a man waited to welcome them.

Roper dismounted from his horse and hurried over to help Cassie down from the wagon. Linette watched the pair out of the corner of her eye. Roper had shown his interest at every opportunity, rushing to greet Cassie when they went to the cookhouse for coffee, escorting her across the yard, asking her to walk with him. He’d visited at the cabin several times both with and without Ward. Cassie was always polite but uninterested. She said she would never belong to another man.

“What happened to your plans to marry so you can have a man’s protection?” Linette had asked her.

“I changed my mind. I see now I can make it on my own and I intend to.”

Linette had understood and shared the sentiment. But if she didn’t belong to Eddie and the ranch, her father would insist she belong to Lyle Williamson. It was a fate worse than imprisonment. At least on the ranch she could do something of value.

“Linette?”

Shaken from her thoughts, she realized Eddie waited to help her down. She sucked in raw air and rested her fingers in his palm. The cold air nipped at her cheeks. Her hands had cooled considerably on the trip, yet heat seared up her arm from his touch. Only nervousness, she informed her confused brain. If they married, touches would be common. She understood that. It did not need to set her heart to fluttering like a handkerchief held out in a brisk wind. Having so informed herself, she concentrated on the magic of the candlelight from the house and withdrew her hand as soon as she stood solidly on her feet.

Eddie waved to indicate they should all proceed to the house.

Linette followed the others, glad of the chance to shift her nervous reaction to excitement, though she was still acutely aware of Eddie beside her.

He led her forward. “This is Sam Stone, owner of the OK Ranch.”

Mr. Stone welcomed them into the house. “Merry Christmas.”

“Oh,” Grady said, his one word full of wonder.

Linette’s thoughts echoed his amazement. A huge tree stood in the far corner, adorned with red bows and white candles. Red bows swung from every doorway, every bookshelf. In the midst of the long room a U-shaped table stood draped in white, with a mixture of china dishes. The aroma of roast turkey and cinnamon filled the room. “It’s beautiful.”

“The credit goes to Miss Amanda Oake, my foreman’s sister.” He waved the pair forward to be introduced.

Linette immediately liked Amanda. Her eyes were clear and caring, her lips full and merry.

“Thank you. I love Christmas and have planned this for weeks.”

Amanda and a shy-looking woman with very dark eyes and black hair were the only women, apart from those from Eden Valley Ranch. Amanda introduced the other woman as Mary, her kitchen helper. Linette guessed her to be Indian or Métis.

They circled the room, meeting and greeting the others, then settled at the table. Eddie held a chair for Linette and she sat at his side. Roper made sure he did likewise for Cassie as she grabbed a place beside Linette. Grady was escorted to the kitchen to join Mary’s little brother.

“You could do worse than Roper,” Linette whispered to Cassie as she half turned away from Roper.

“You think marriage is an escape, but you don’t realize it’s only a form of control.” Cassie’s low whisper was harsh with disapproval.

Linette leaned closer. “Not if you don’t give your heart.”

Cassie studied Linette a moment, her expression disbelieving. Her gaze shifted past Linette to Eddie and back and her mouth twitched. “No doubt you believe you can achieve that.”

“Certainly.” She flicked her napkin to her lap. All she had to do was ignore the way her skin itched at his nearness, pretend she didn’t jolt when he accidently brushed her elbow, convince herself all she wanted was an escape as Cassie said. “I will not be chained by emotions.”

Cassie snorted.

Sam Stone rose to ask the blessing, making impossible any further conversation on the matter.

With Mary’s help Amanda served mounds of creamy mashed potatoes, pitchers of succulent gravy, platters of tender turkey and a wide variety of vegetables.

Conversation buzzed around the table. For the most part, the men talked about the weather, the cows and the country until the food had all been placed on the table, then Amanda clapped her hands to get their attention. “Let’s talk about Christmas. I want everyone to tell us a favorite memory of the season. I’ll begin. I was a teacher at a girls’ school and I enjoyed seeing the girls dress in their finest and be on their best behavior. I do believe if they’d acted more like that every day I would not have been so ready to give up my position.” She laughed merrily and the others joined in.

She turned to the cowboy next to her.

He spoke in a soft voice, as if his memories were sweet. “I remember plum pudding and roast goose.”

One by one, others shared memories. Then it was Roper’s turn. “I grew up in an orphanage, so we didn’t do anything very special, but every year some kind benefactor gave us each an orange for Christmas. Nothing has ever tasted better.”