Stealing Jake (16 page)

After pouring coffee for everyone, she placed a hand on Mrs. Brooks’s shoulder. “I need to go check on the children. They’ve been awfully quiet the last hour or so.”

“Oh, Livy, I’ll do that and you visit with our guests.” Mrs. Brooks folded her napkin and threw a glance at Jake. “I’m sure Jake would much prefer your company to mine.”

Livy resisted the urge to look at him. “That’s all right, ma’am. I’ll get the younger ones down for naps, and the older ones can color with some of that charcoal and old paper we salvaged from the newspaper.”

“All right. Thank you, dear.”

* * *

With effort, Jake forced his attention away from Livy’s retreating form and found Mrs. Warren eyeing him with speculation.

“That girl is going to make some lucky man a good wife one day,” she said, smirking.

Heat climbed the back of his neck. Mrs. Warren might be a godly woman, but she could spill a bucket of coal faster than anybody he’d ever seen. Mrs. Brooks needed Livy here. She didn’t have any business gallivanting off somewhere and marrying some sodbuster or coal miner.

“She’s been a godsend, I tell you. I don’t know what I would have done without her.” Mrs. Brooks sighed. “My husband died several years ago, and my health isn’t what it used to be. But there are always little ones who need care. I reckon as long as I have breath in my body and older girls like Livy and Mary to come alongside me and help, I’ll keep taking in strays.”

“What a blessing,” Jake’s mother said.

Jake agreed. Even in the midst of taking care of a houseful of children, Livy took the time to think of Mrs. Brooks, make a pot of coffee, and offer their guests tea cakes. Something simmered on the stove for the evening meal, the aroma making his mouth water. Probably Livy’s handiwork as well. She reminded him of that woman in the Bible, the one who always worked in the kitchen to feed Jesus and the rest of the disciples. Which one? Martha? Mary? He always got those two mixed up but figured Livy must be the one always cooking and cleaning. Never still.

“Both girls have worked awful hard the last few days. They haven’t enjoyed a minute’s rest. Poor Mary is looking a mite peaked.”

Jake’s mother laid a hand on Mrs. Brooks’s arm. “I have a wonderful idea. Sunday is Jake’s birthday, and I’m cooking dinner for him. I’d love for Livy and Mary to come visit. They can ride out with Jake. My girls have missed Mary at school, and the fresh air will do them good.” She glanced at him. “You don’t mind, do you, Jake?”

“I reckon—”

“Oh, I don’t know—” Mrs. Brooks shook her head.

“Don’t worry about a thing,” Mrs. Warren chimed in. “I’ll come over and help you with the children. We’ll have a regular little Sunday school since Reverend Warren will be away preaching on the circuit.”

“Thank you both. I’m sure the girls will enjoy a break.”

The ladies sat back, looking extremely pleased with themselves.

Jake eyed his mother and Mrs. Warren. What were those two up to? Seemed like they were determined to throw him and Livy together. Not that he intended to complain, but he could find ways to see Livy without the two of them sticking their noses into his business.

That was, if he wanted to.

Chapter Twelve

“Mary’s too sick to go. I’d better stay here too.”

“Stuff and nonsense. It’s just a little cold. A day or two and she’ll be fit as a fiddle. Besides, Mrs. Warren will be here any minute. We’ll be fine.”

Livy twisted her hands in her apron. “Mrs. Brooks—”

“Hush, child. Mrs. Russell is looking forward to your visit. You can’t disappoint her.” The woman gave her a little shove. “Now, go get dressed.”

Livy trudged down the hall to the bedroom she shared with Mary. Butterflies fluttered in her stomach at the thought of riding alone all the way to the Russell homestead with Jake, spending the day with his family, and making the return trip.

She couldn’t let herself get close to him. She couldn’t let herself care or entertain thoughts of a future with him. She was a nobody from Chicago, a former pickpocket. He was a good Christian man, raised in Chestnut, where everybody knew and respected him and his family. They’d never accept her as one of their own.

She closed her eyes.

God, forgive me for such thoughts, but people would reject me if they learned the truth. I can’t bear to get close to Jake or his family only to have them spurn me because of my past.

The butterflies magnified, their wings beating so fast Livy thought she’d be sick right there on the spot. But she didn’t have time to calm herself or figure out some way not to go.

Jake arrived at that moment.

Livy wished him a happy birthday, blushing slightly with the familiarity, and accepted his hand as he helped her into the wagon. She appreciated his running commentary on his family all the way to the farm. As long as he talked, she didn’t have to.

“My parents were some of the first to settle this part of the country. They came in the forties, a few years after the incident with Black Hawk.” Jake paused and glanced at her. “Are you cold?”

She burrowed deeper into the thick coat Mrs. Brooks had insisted she wear under her threadbare cloak. “No.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Well, it’s a nice kind of cold if that makes you feel better.” She smiled, gritting her teeth to keep them from chattering. Surrounded by buildings all her life, she hadn’t realized how the wind could slice through even the thickest of coats out in the open countryside.

He laughed. “Okay, I’ll accept that. Am I boring you with tales of my family? I figured you’d want to know a little about them before you met everybody.”

“I enjoy hearing about your family. You were telling me about your parents.”

Jake rested his boot against the footboard on the wagon, looking relaxed and not the least bit cold. “My father died two years ago. I think Miss Maisie mentioned it the other night, didn’t she?”

Livy nodded, not wanting to interrupt him.

Jake told her a little more about each of his siblings. “My oldest sister and her husband are expecting their first child any day now.”

A pang hit Livy in the stomach. Why did the mention of an impending birth bring the memories back so suddenly? Thoughts of the tattered rags she’d used, the filthy water, the screams of pain and terror, then silence as her sister and the babe both perished. She bit her lip to keep from crying out.

“Are you all right?” Jake placed a gloved hand on her arm. “What’d I say?”

Livy shook her head. How much could she tell him without dredging up more memories? Without revealing the utter horror of her life in Chicago?

“I . . . I lost a sister in childbirth.” She looked away.

He squeezed her arm just enough that she felt the pressure through the sheepskin coat. “I’m sorry. You must have been close.”

“She was my only family.”

“I should have mentioned it sooner.” He slapped the reins against the horse’s backs and cleared his throat. “My sister and her husband will be at Ma’s today. Will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.” Livy attempted a smile.

But would she?

* * *

“I wonder where they are.” Jake’s mother busied herself at the stove, then peered out the kitchen window for the umpteenth time. She threw an apologetic look at Livy. “I’m sorry to be such a worrywart, Livy, but when you have children of your own, you’ll understand.”

“Oh, Mrs. Russell, I understand. I worry plenty about the younger children at the orphanage.”

Jake took a sip of coffee and grinned at Livy. “Ma takes the art of worrying to a higher level. There’s nothing she can’t worry to the bone. Like whether or not Tommy’s socks match, or if one braid is higher than the other one, or—”

“Oh, hush, Jake.”

He laughed and dodged the kitchen towel his mother snapped at him, happy he’d brought a smile to her face. Livy’s wide-eyed gaze had him wondering if she and Mrs. Brooks ever teased each other.

“Let’s eat.” His mother turned to the stove. “They’ll be here soon enough, I guess.”

Jake sat at the head of the table in his father’s place, his mother at the other end, close to the stove, where she could hop up and grab the coffeepot or dessert. He sniffed. Peach cobbler if he didn’t miss his guess. One of his favorites. Next to brown sugar cake.

He groaned as a familiar face came to mind. Not the best thing to be thinking right now. He glanced at Livy. Now if she could bake a brown sugar cake, he’d be a happy man.

“I’m sorry Mary couldn’t come today, Mrs. Russell. She really wanted to but didn’t feel up to getting out in the cold.”

“I understand. We’ll do this again, as soon as she can come.” Mrs. Russell glanced at Tommy and the girls. “When everyone’s feeling better, all the children could come out, and we could enjoy a day of sledding. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Tommy?”

Tommy shoved a spoonful of peas in his mouth and grinned. “Yes, ma’am. I ain’t seen Georgie in
forever
.” He chewed and swallowed before muttering, “It’s all that ol’ Vulture ’Vinia’s fault.”

Jake almost spewed coffee across the entire table but managed to swallow it instead. Livy hid a snicker behind her hand. Her eyes met his, and they were filled with hysterical laughter.

“Tommy!” His mother frowned. “I won’t have that kind of talk at my table. Hear me?”

“Sorry,” Tommy mumbled around his next mouthful, not sounding the least bit repentant.

Jake’s mother cast him a beseeching look. He turned to his little brother, wincing at the bulge in the child’s jaw. “Tommy, quit talking with your mouth full or Ma’s going to make you leave the table. And if she doesn’t, I will. Is that understood?”

Tommy’s eyes grew wide and he opened his mouth. Jake shook his head, and Tommy remembered to swallow before answering. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Jake nodded.

“Livy, would you like some more pota—” His mother’s eyes grew wide at the sound of pounding hooves and a jingling harness careening into the side yard. “What in the world?”

“Mrs. Russell! Mrs. Russell!”

At the sound of his brother-in-law’s frantic voice, Jake jumped up, his chair crashing to the floor behind him. The door flew open, and Charlie rushed inside, eyes terrified, hair wild. “It’s Susie. She’s . . . she’s having the baby. I don’t know what to do.”

Jake’s gaze locked with Livy’s. She looked like she’d seen a ghost. Her hands gripped the table, turning her knuckles white. Her sister had died in childbirth. Suddenly, birthing babies didn’t seem so simple after all. A full-fledged panic hit him square in the chest. What were they going to do? Both girls started crying, and even Tommy looked like he might burst into tears. Jake turned to his mother. “Ma?”

“How far apart are her pains, Charlie?” His mother, who made worry into an art, calmly took off her apron and reached for her coat, looking as if she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Uh, five minutes. No. Ten.” Charlie ran both hands through his hair, making it stand up on end. The man, crazy with fear, didn’t even have a hat. “I don’t know. They’re close though. It’s too soon, isn’t it?”

“No. This baby is right on time.” She hugged the girls. “Hush, now. It’ll be fine. Remember what I told you? Clean up the kitchen and keep Tommy occupied. Before you know it, you’ll have a little niece or nephew. Charlie will come and tell you as soon as he can, okay?”

The girls sniffed and wiped their tears. “Yes, ma’am.”

“Mrs. Russell?” Charlie stood in the open doorway, letting in the bitter cold, but nobody seemed to pay him any attention, least of all Jake’s mother.

She turned to Livy and gave her a quick hug and a tremulous smile. “I’m sorry to leave like this, Livy, but I’m sure you understand.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll . . . I’ll be praying,” Livy whispered.

“Livy?” Jake moved to her side, reaching out to hold her upright. Her face looked as pale as his mother’s biscuit dough rising in the morning. She gripped his forearm and leaned against him.

Shell-shocked blue eyes met his before ricocheting toward his mother. She shook her head. “I’ll be okay. Take care of everybody else.”

One last hug and his mother hurried out the door.

Livy insisted on helping the girls clean up the kitchen, but Jake knew her heart wasn’t in it. She tried to act cheerful, but he could tell the news of the baby’s impending birth upset her.

An hour later he bundled her up and headed to town, promising the girls he’d be back as soon as he could to help them with evening chores.

Halfway to town, he cleared his throat and addressed the matter at hand. “Susie and the baby will be fine; you’ll see.”

“How can you be sure?” Her hands fluttered until she clasped them tight in her lap.

“I’m not.” He squeezed her fingers. “I just have to believe.”

“I believed, but it didn’t do any good.”

His heart lurched at the anguish on her face. Tears shimmered on her lashes. He stopped the team and pulled her into his arms, tucking her head under his chin.

“I did everything I could for my sister, and she still died. The baby was so tiny. A little girl. She . . . she never even took her first breath. There was nothing I could do.”

Jake held her at arm’s length and searched her face. “You attended her? Alone?”

She nodded. Her blue gaze searched his; her tears spilled over. “I must have done something wrong. What if it was my fault they died?”

“Shh.” Jake used his gloved thumbs to wipe her tears away and pulled her to him again, cradling her against him. “Please don’t cry. I know you did everything humanly possible to save her. It wasn’t your fault.”

Jake held her as she cried. He closed his eyes and breathed in the flowery scent of her hair, relishing the way she fit perfectly in his arms as if she was made for him and him only.

Never anyone else.

The intensity of his raw emotion shocked him, and he tightened his hold.

A long while later, she pulled away, her cheeks blooming. “I’m all right now.” She took a deep shuddering breath and reached to smooth her hair back. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset.”