A Bride for Noah (32 page)

“Her husband?”

“Yeah.” He rubbed a hand across his jaw. “Guy about the size of Big Dog, only not nearly so easygoing. Took every cent I had, beat me within an inch of my life, and left me for dead.”

A righteous anger ballooned in Evie's ribcage. “Did you call the sheriff? Go after them to get your money back?”

“Yeah, but by the time I was conscious that pair was long gone. I had nothing left, not a cent to my name, so I hired on with a ship heading to Portland, meaning to make enough money to get me back to Tennessee. That's where I met Arthur and David.” He spread
his hands to indicate the forest, and then smiled at her. “And that's how I ended up here.”

Evie retrieved the cloth and continued scrubbing the plates, her mind busy trying to process what she'd learned. No wonder Noah had been so cross with her when they met at the greengrocer's in San Francisco. She had introduced herself as a businesswoman, and the only experience he had with women in business had left him beaten, penniless, and with a broken heart.

“I'm surprised you agreed to let me build my restaurant on your land.”

His hand reached into the bucket and grasped hers. Startled, she looked up and found him gazing intently at her. He lifted their hands, heedless of the soapy water that dripped off of them, and entwined his fingers with her nervous ones. The nighttime noises of the forest dimmed until the only thing Evie could hear was her own breath and her blood surging in her ears.

“I believe in you, Evie. You work hard, and you plan, and I believe you'll accomplish whatever you set out to do.”

It was back, the magnetic force that had drawn them together in the command tent that night. Evie felt herself being pulled toward him. Or was she leaning toward him willingly? A thick fog of emotion had descended on her, and she couldn't think.

“You—you do?”

Moving slowly and without releasing her gaze from his, he climbed slowly to his feet, pulling her with him. The soapy water, the dirty plates, the cloth were all forgotten in an instant, shoved away by the intensity in Noah's eyes.

“I told you about Sallie because I want there to be nothing between us. No secrets. No mistakes of the past to rise up and cause trouble in our future.”

Our future. The words rang like bells, vibrating through her mind and down her spine.

This was why I came west
. The idea sliced through her whirling thoughts like a beacon in the darkest night. She'd come looking for a future, and somehow she had found it. Right here, in Seattle. Right here, in Noah's arms.

His gaze never left her face as he raised her hand and planted a gentle kiss on her palm. A delicious shiver zipped up her arm and down her spine, robbing her of breath. Her lips ached, desperate for the feel of his. Almost of its own accord, her free hand crept up his neck and she rose on her toes. She pulled his head down.

“Evie.”

The sound of her name in his husky whisper resonated in her ears. The moment their lips touched, her eyes fluttered shut and with a swell of love that threatened to overwhelm her, she gave herself over to his kiss.

Seventeen

N
oah topped a rise in the land, pulling Evie along behind him. He loved the way her hand felt in his, small and dainty and warm with more than exertion from their walk, and the way color rose high on her cheeks when she caught him watching her. In fact, he loved everything about this amazing woman. In the week since their kiss by the stream, he had spent nearly every minute he could near her, dreaming up the flimsiest excuses to stop in the restaurant. The others no longer bothered to hide their indulgent smiles, and even Arthur had taken to making sly comments about how the food at Evie's restaurant must be extra special good for him to go back so often.

“Slow down. Your legs are longer than mine.” Though slightly out of breath, her eyes sparkled with good humor. “I have to take two steps to your one.”

“It will be worth the effort, I promise.” He slowed his pace though. “We're almost there.”

She cast a backward glance over her shoulder. “We've come a long way from the restaurant. Are you sure you want to live this far from town?”

“Not at first, of course. We have a business to run, and soon more than one, I hope.”

They spent their evenings sharing their plans for the future. It appeared as though Henry Yesler and Arthur were close to an agreement about the location of the new mill. Though Arthur had always planned to build a mill himself, Yesler possessed something neither he nor any of the other Seattle settlers did—a letter of credit for thirty thousand dollars. Arthur refused to finalize any arrangements without discussing them first with his brother, but he told Noah he would consider adjusting the boundaries of his claim to accommodate the new mill, because the move was definitely in the best interests of the fledgling town.

If the mill became a reality, and Noah suspected it would, he and Evie had planned their next move. Men and women would flock to the area, and only the loggers would stay in the work camp. The others would need lodging. As soon as the restaurant showed a profit, they would begin building a boardinghouse next door.

He climbed a ridge and came to a stop. Panting with exertion, Evie came up beside him.

“There.” He gazed at the area before them, pride swelling in his chest. “What do you think?”

The admiration on her face was everything he hoped it would be. They stood atop a hill, looking down on a lush and fertile valley covered in grass so deeply green it almost looked blue. A wide stream ran the length of the vale to one side, the water sparkling in the afternoon sun. Towering above the distant trees stood the imposing figure of Mount Rainier, its snow-covered ridges in stark contrast to the blue sky. The highest peak was veiled behind a fluffy white cloud, like a mystery waiting to be discovered.

“It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen.” Awe turned her voice into a barely more than a whisper.

“The moment I saw this valley, I knew one day I would live here. In all the acres of land I've walked since we arrived here, that clearing is the only one that felt to me like home. How can anyone look at that mountain and doubt that God exists?” Noah slipped his arms
around Evie's waist and pulled her close, her back pressed against his chest and the heady scent of her hair filling his nose. “One day I'll live here. My wife and I will raise our children in the shadow of the mountain.”

She went still. Though they had talked of building a boardinghouse together, and of their plans to be a part of Seattle's future, he had never broached the subject of marriage. He wanted to wait for the special moment when he could bring her here and share with her the place that had drawn him from the moment he first saw it.

He pointed to a level area in the valley. “I know it will be a while before we can live here, but I always pictured that would be the perfect place for a garden. We could go ahead and start now, and grow vegetables for the restaurant.”

Still she said nothing, but continued to gaze over the land, barely breathing.

“I know it seems like a long way from town, but you mark my words. Seattle will grow quickly. Before you know it, the town will come all the way up here.” He drew in a satisfied breath and tightened his arms around her waist. “But not here. This valley I intend to keep for us.”

“Noah.” She stepped away from him, turning as she did so. “We need to talk.”

Were those tears filling her eyes? A sense of apprehension descended on him, and his enthusiasm of a moment before evaporated like a mist. Had he misjudged her affections for him?

He took a backward step. “What's wrong?”

“Nothing,” she said hurriedly, “only I have—”

A distant shout interrupted her, a man's deep voice echoing through the forest. The call was picked up by another, this one closer and louder. “Ship in the bay!”

“They've returned.” Evie looked through the forest toward the bay, as though by looking she could glimpse the ship. “We should go and meet them.”

“Wait.” He stopped her with a hand on each of her forearms, and forced her to look up at him. “What do we need to talk about?”

Her features softened when her eyes met his, and her lips formed the sweet smile that haunted his dreams. She placed a hand on his cheek, and her touch was warm.

“Later. When we have more time.”

She rose onto her tiptoes and brushed her lips against his in the softest kiss.

Noah's fears were only partially stilled as he followed her through the forest toward the landing area.

The ship that sailed toward the dock was not the
Commodore,
as Evie and the other settlers had expected. This vessel was smaller, with sleek sides and crisp white sails not yet dingy from years of exposure to saltwater and storms. When she drew near enough to read the letters painted on her bow, Lucy read the name aloud.

“Olympia.”
She said the word as though testing its taste on her tongue. “Never heard of her.”

“I know her.” Cookee stood apart from the others who gathered at the landing area to welcome the ship. “Sails out of Portland. Short trips only and not much room for cargo.”

That was certainly true, judging by the look of her.

“David and Miles were going to Portland before returning.” Evie shielded her eyes with a hand, scanning the figures that lined the ship's deck. “Perhaps they hired a different ship.”

She was painfully aware of Noah's tall form beside her, close enough that she could reach out and touch him if she wished. And she did wish to, if only to feel the comforting warmth of his skin. Their conversation battered her thoughts, threatening to distract her from the here and now. His wife. He spoke of his wife as though he took it for granted that it would be her.

And Evie wanted to be his wife. She'd known that ever since their kiss beside the stream, when her hands dripped soap from the washtub and her heart pounded crazily inside her ribcage. He had opened his past to her that night, had shared the devastating circumstances that brought him to Seattle. To her.

She owed it to him to do the same, and yet every time she started to tell him about James, about her reasons for coming to Seattle, something clogged the words in her throat. This place was new, and fresh, and untainted. The same could be said of their love. Of course she would eventually tell him about her former life as his aunt's servant and as fiancée to a river dock worker. But for now she reveled in his image of her as a smart, competent business owner, proudly independent and confident of her future.

As the ship neared the small platform that served as Seattle's dock, Randall and Big Dog took up stances on the edge, ready to catch the ropes. They pulled the ship forward and secured her to the posts that had been put in place for that purpose.

Evie scanned the ship's deck, looking for Miles's familiar waistcoat or David's trim form. A dozen or more men stood at the railing, their heads held high as they scanned the tall cedars and thick, bushy fir trees that surrounded the landing area. Not a single familiar face caught her eye, until…

With an alarming stutter, her heart thudded. One figure stood out among the others. A female surrounded by men, stout and with a ridiculous feathered hat on her head. Evie blinked to clear her eyes. From this angle, with the sun slanted just so, the woman almost looked like Letitia Coffinger.

The man standing next to her bent down and said something in her ear, drawing Evie's attention to him. Now her heart really did stop, and her lungs emptied of breath. Was it her imagination? Had thoughts of him tricked her mind into conjuring his likeness? Surely that could not be James standing on the deck of the ship that was being tied up at the dock.

The man scanned the small crowd, and then his eyes fell on her. His expression brightened, and a smile evident to all on shore lit his face.

“Evangeline, my darling fiancée! I've found you at last.”

Stunned, Evie could only stare. At a choking sound beside her, she turned to find Noah's stare leveled on her. He held her gaze for a long moment and then, shaking his head slowly, whirled and walked away.