Undaunted Love (PART ONE): Banished Saga, Book 3 (30 page)

“We’ll let you know what we think of those mountains,” Gabriel said with a wink to Mr. Pickens.

CHAPTER 27

I STOOD AT THE KITCHEN SINK in Aidan’s house a few evenings later, washing the dishes after another delicious meal served by Amelia. It had been a small group tonight, with only Gabriel and me joining Amelia’s family. Amelia was busy putting Nicholas to bed, and I could hear her soft voice as she read him a bedtime story. Gabriel sat in the living room, whistling as he read the paper. Just as I recognized the song and began to hum along, he invariably switched to a different tune. I glanced out the kitchen door to see his dimple flash as he continued to whistle, his eyes meeting mine for a moment and flashing with humor at my inability to hum along.

I giggled and turned back to the dishes. After deciding to leave a large pan to soak, I turned toward the kitchen table and glanced out the side window. I saw Colin racing toward the door, and I moved to open it before he could pound on it and wake little Anne and rouse Nicholas. “Col!” I said.

He entered the kitchen, bent forward at the waist, gasping for breath. “Water, Rissa,” he gasped.

I spun, poured him a glass of water from a pitcher on the table and thrust the glass at him. I pulled on his arm and dragged him into the living room area. Gabriel’s joyous whistling had ceased with Colin’s precipitous arrival.

“Colin?” Gabriel asked in his deep baritone.

“There’s been a terrible fire at the mill,” Colin said. “Seb’s hurt.”

“Mr. Carlin?” Amelia asked from the kitchen doorway.

I spun to face her, rushing toward her as she became more ashen. “I’m sure he’ll be fine, Amelia,” I soothed.

“What happened?” Gabriel asked. “Seb’s fastidious in his desire to prevent a fire.”

“No one has any idea. At this point, they’re ensuring there’s no chance the fire can come back to life. The windy weather we’ve had lately hasn’t helped. They’ve brought him to the hospital,” Colin said.

“I’ll take you there,” Gabriel said to Amelia as he noticed her agitation. “Rissa, will you stay here with the children?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll stay here too,” Colin said. “We’ll be fine, Gabe.”

Gabriel and Amelia departed, rushing down the kitchen steps to head toward St. Patrick’s Hospital.

After checking on the children in their room and preparing a plate of cold leftovers for Colin, which I left on the dining room table, I collapsed on one of the sofas in the living room. I hugged a pillow to my chest as I sat.

Colin crouched in front of me before settling onto a foot stool in front of me. “What’s the matter, Rissa?”

“Who else was hurt in the fire, Col? I know Cameron works there now, and it seems unlikely he would be unscathed.”

Colin reached forward and clasped my hand. “Rissa, Seb went into that inferno looking to save Cameron. He was trapped inside.”

“So Cameron’s at the hospital too?”

“No, Seb couldn’t get him out. He died.”

“What?” I stared at Colin with unseeing eyes. I shook my head as though I no longer understood English. “That can’t be.”

“It is, Rissa. Cameron died tonight. It’s one of the reasons I raced here. I didn’t want you to hear it through any of the gossips. I didn’t want Mrs. Bouchard to say something vile to you when you had no idea why she would speak to you that way.”

“Someone will tell Gabriel,” I whispered.

“Most likely,” Colin said. “I should have realized that Amelia would want to go to the hospital to see after Sebastian. Even though they’re not officially courting, they sure do act like it.”

“Give them time, Col,” I murmured, my gaze distant.

“Well, in any case, I would like to have told Gabe before he raced off with Amelia.”

I sighed. “It’s fine, Col.” I blinked back tears and turned into the sofa. Colin leaned forward, wiping at my cheeks.

“Rissa, you’re not crying for Cameron,” he said with absolute surprise in his voice.

“No matter how much I loathed him, no matter how much he hurt me …” I sniffled. “No one deserves to die like that, Col.”

Colin shuddered. “I agree.”

“And I feel so guilty. I had wished him gone so many times.”

“I highly doubt you had wished him dead.”

“You have no idea.” I trembled. “After Boston, I imagined all sorts of vile things. But I never would have wanted them to come to fruition. That’s not who I am, Col.”

“You didn’t cause this accident, Rissa. You didn’t give him a job in a place any fool would have seen he was unsuitable to work in.” He stroked a hand down my head and patted my back. “I called him friend once too.”

“I know, Col,” I whispered, gripping his hand. “What a sad ending to his tale.”

***

I WOKE THE FOLLOWING MORNING in my bed, with only a vague memory of how I had returned home. I turned to snuggle into Gabriel and frowned to find his portion of the bed empty. I ran my hand over his side, noting it still held his warmth.

“Gabriel?” I called out. The privacy screen was up, and I couldn’t see into our living area. I heard something ceramic set down on wood and then his footsteps as he approached. I leaned on one elbow, watching as he poked his head around the screen.

He wore a loose pair of pants and nothing else. “Why bother putting pants on?” I asked with a teasing smile.

“I should head to the hospital soon. See how Seb is.”

At his serious statement, I blanched, and all teasing faded. “Darling, come here.” I held out my hand to him, and he moved to join me on the bed.

He crawled under the covers again, pulling me into his arms. He sighed as I nestled into him. I breathed him in, feeling safe, cherishing this early morning ritual of being held in his arms.

“How is Seb?” I whispered against his throat. I kissed him once where his pulse beat steadily, then laid my head onto the pillow of his shoulder and upper chest.

“He’ll recover. He’s a severe burn on his hip and lower back. The doctor thinks it will heal, although it’ll take time. He’ll need a lot of nursing care. And he might always have a bit of a limp with his walk.”

“But he’ll live,” I breathed. “Thank God. I don’t think Amelia could survive losing another man she loved.”

“I think she hadn’t admitted to herself how much she cared for him until last night,” Gabriel said. “And there’s still the risk of infection.”

“If he needs nursing, I’m sure Amelia will be there to see he’s well taken care of.” Gabriel’s chuckle resonated in my ear. “Did anyone speak with you about Cameron?”

“Why would they?” Gabriel asked as he nuzzled the top of my head.

“Because he’s the reason Seb went into that burning mill. He was trying to save Cameron.”

Gabriel pushed me away from him, tilting my face up so our eyes met. “Ah, so Colin told you?”

I nodded, my anxiety increasing the longer he refrained from holding me in his arms.

He brushed a finger down my cheek, rubbing it back and forth as he appeared lost in thought before focusing on me again. “Why are you so tense, love? What’s the matter?”

“What if he’s not really dead?” I bit my lip. “And then I think, what if he really did die?”

“Which would you prefer?” Gabriel brushed at the side of my head, stroking his thumb over one of my eyebrows.

“I don’t know.” I met Gabriel’s concerned glance. “And I hate that I don’t know. I should never wish that something as horrible as death should befall him.”

“It’s a normal reaction, after how you suffered at his hands, darling. I’d think it abnormal if you hadn’t at one point envisioned something miserable befalling him. He was a horrible man.”

“I know,” I whispered as I laid my head on his shoulder again. “But all I can imagine is his mother receiving the news. No matter how horrid they all were to me, believing themselves superior to me, I hate envisioning what she’ll suffer when she receives the news.”

“That’s because you are a wonderful woman, my darling,” Gabriel said huskily. I met his gaze, love shining from deep within. “You’d think of the pain she’ll suffer rather than what you endured at his hands.”

“Can I come with you to the hospital?” I asked.

“Of course, although I thought you hated the sickroom.”

“I do, but I want to see Seb. Then I’ll go over to Amelia’s and tend the children while she’s at the hospital.”

“I doubt she’ll spend much time there,” Gabriel said. “It’s a small town, and she won’t want to engender more talk than’s already circulating about the two of them.”

I sighed, leaning into Gabriel for a moment before kissing his collarbone and then moving away to rise. He grasped my hand as I sat on the edge of the bed on the verge of standing. I turned to face him, my long hair cascading over my back to my hips, brushing the top of the bed.

“After Seb is better, why don’t we finally take a small vacation together somewhere? Go to Hamilton on the train, see those Bitter Root mountains your Mr. Pickens talks about?” He brushed his fingers through the edge of my hair.

“We don’t have the money for that, darling,” I whispered.

“We’ve a little saved, and I’d like time with my wife. Time without friends and family always around us.”

I smiled and leaned toward him, intending to kiss him but for a moment, yet the kiss deepened. I broke it with a groan, smiling with chagrin. “If we keep that up, we’ll never make it to see Seb.”

“And that’s exactly why we need time away,” Gabriel said. “Although we’ll probably never see those mountains and that small town everyone is raving about.”

I blushed and pushed away, rising. I moved toward the side of the bedroom area to the closet to prepare for the day.

Gabriel rose, caressed my shoulders, kissed my nape and murmured, “I’ll make fresh tea.” He moved past me, and I soon heard him rummaging around in the kitchen.

***

WE ARRIVED AT THE HOSPITAL, and Gabriel led me through the doors, down a well-lit corridor and up a flight of stairs to the room Sebastian was in. His bed was in the middle of a rectangular room, only three of the eight beds occupied. On his side of the room, the bed to either side of his was unoccupied. On the other side of the room, only one man lay on his side, staring out the window.

Sebastian looked flushed and was sweating. I approached him and touched his face, moving my hand from his forehead to cheek to neck. “He’s no fever,” I whispered to Gabriel. “Why’s he sweating so much?”

“Pain,” Sebastian gasped as his pain-dulled eyes opened. “’Lo, ’Larissa.” He licked at his dried lips, grimacing with any movement as he inadvertently shifted in the bed.

“Don’t scare us again like this, Sebastian,” I said through tears as I gripped his hand. I eased my hold on them when I saw the white bandages and his grimace at my grip.

“I’ll try not to,” he whispered.

Gabriel picked up the chair from the other side of the bed and moved it beside where I was standing so we could both sit at Sebastian’s side and face him. “Why don’t they give you more to ease your suffering?”

“Don’t want more. Don’t want to become some addict.” He gripped his teeth as he fought a shiver of pain.

“Sebastian, if it can help you now, that’s what you need to consider,” I urged. “How can you heal well while suffering such agony?” I pulled my clean handkerchief from my purse and blotted his forehead.

“Thank you,” Sebastian said as his eyes closed. “Gabe, everyone at the mill got out all right, didn’t they?”

Gabriel shared a long glance with me. “Well, Seb, everyone but Cameron. He never emerged.”

“God dammit,” Seb hissed as he opened his eyes.

“What happened?” Gabriel asked.

“You know as well as I do, I’ve been working late. Trying to finish orders, doing paperwork. I thought the men had left for the night but turns out some of them were slow to leave. And then I heard them screaming about a fire.”

He sighed. “We could account for almost everyone. Except for Benedict and Cameron. I doused myself in water and ran in. Something landed on my back, and I must have blacked out. Next thing I knew I was outside with my men around me. Benedict had already gone home but came running at the sound of the bells.”

“Seb, you did all you could.” Gabriel reached out to grip his shoulder but stilled his hand, as though realizing any touch would lead to more pain. He patted the bed next to Sebastian instead.

“They assured me that they’d seen Cameron out, that he was fine. Are you sure he’s dead?” Sebastian demanded.

“His charred remains were found a few feet from where the falling timber hit you,” Gabriel said, meeting my shocked stare. “I spoke with Colin for a few moments this morning while Rissa changed.”

I shuddered, curling into myself at the image Gabriel painted. He placed an arm around my shoulders, and I leaned into him.

“What’s important, Sebastian, is that you will heal,” I whispered. “We didn’t lose you.”

He nodded as his eyes drifted shut. “Tell Amelia …” he whispered but was asleep before he finished his sentence.

***

GABRIEL AND I LEFT the hospital and, for one of the few times in my life, I was thankful for my corset. Its stiff binding forced me to walk upright, rather than stooped over with the weight of my concern for Sebastian. I looped my arm through Gabriel’s, and he gripped my hand.