Dorothy Garlock - [Annie Lash 01] (16 page)

He scooped her up in his arms as if she weighed no more than a small child. Her head drooped to his shoulder and her breath came warm and moist on his neck. Wisps of her hair clung to his rough cheeks. She smelled like warm sweetened tea, but like hickory smoke, too. Her body was soft and light and he carried her easily to the bunk at the end of the room.

“Simon . . . ?” The word came out on a breath. Her head fell back on his arm when he lowered her to the bed. She opened drowsy, green eyes. “I’m not asleep.”

He remained hunkered down beside the bunk, his arms still around her. “Playin’ possum, huh?”

“I’m sorry I called you a . . . mule’s ass.”

“Well, that’s something for a stubborn little mule to admit.” He chuckled. “That mouth of yours is going to get you in trouble someday.”

“It already has. Simon . . . ? Thanks for coming to find us. I didn’t think you would . . . didn’t think you wanted to be bothered.”

“I came as soon as I heard about your pa.” Simon felt trembly on the inside. His arms were still around her and he was terribly conscious of the thinness of her dress between them. He felt the warmth radiating from her and drank it in like a man thirsting for water in the desert. He had tried to ignore the realization earlier, but it kept coming back to him, washing over him like a wave—he was beginning to care for this woman!

“I didn’t know what the old woman was like or I’d not have brought her here.” He wanted to say something, anything, in order to be with her for a little longer.

“The old woman acted plumb queer. At least I never heard of such as she was doin’ to Rachel. The girl was pretty.” Berry’s eyes were wide open and looking directly into his. She thought she felt his arms tighten but couldn’t be sure.

“Uh-huh.”

“What’s her name?”

“Della. That’s what her pa called her.”

“Where is their homestead?”

“On down the river. They were just camping by the creek for a while. The old woman’s man was sickly. They’ll be moving on in a day or two.” Simon hoped that what he was saying was making sense because his mind was really on his desire to kiss her moist lips, now slightly parted.

“Do you think their land is anywhere near ours? Rachel will be able to travel by the end of the week. We’ve got a lot to do before winter.”

“Berry . . .” It was the first time he could remember saying her name aloud. “Forget about taking up land. You couldn’t possibly improve on a homestead enough to get title even if the land commissioners would allow it.”

“They wouldn’t even know about it, if some busybody didn’t tell them.” Her green eyes turned frosty, and the hand that rested on his chest fell away.

“The gossip would reach them. Every man within a hundred miles would know two young unmarried women were alone on a homestead,” he said in flat tones. “How do you think you’re going to protect yourself from the likes of Linc Smith back there in the back of nowhere?”

“I’ll shoot him!” Berry said staunchly.

“I can find a place for you to stay in Saint Louis. Ernest Wenst, who works for . . .”

“No!” Berry pushed against his chest to move away from him. His arms held and his hand moved to her chin to hold it in place while he glared at her.

“You stubborn little fool!” Simon raised his voice. In his anger he forgot about Rachel at the other end of the room.

“Don’t wake Rachel,” Berry hissed through clenched teeth because his fingers tightened on her chin.

“If you cared so all-fired much about Rachel you wouldn’t be so determined to drag her off to a homestead where she’ll either starve or be taken by rivermen or Indians.” He said the words as if they were curses. “You listen . . . little miss stubborn know-it-all. I’m not running after you again. I’ve got a business to look after, I’ve got my land, and I’m going to go upriver with . . .”

“Get your hands off me, you . . . mule’s ass! I never asked you to run after me! Get your hands off . . or I’ll hit you in the mouth!”

“You do and I’ll pound your butt so hard you won’t sit on it for a week! Better yet . . .”

He closed her mouth with his. His face shut out the fury in her green eyes and his arms crushed her to his chest so that there was not a hair’s breadth between them. His kiss was long and deep, and slow heat seeped into her body from her mouth to the tip of her toes. The pressure of his lips opened hers and she gave herself up to the shivers of excitement as his tongue slipped inside. She forgot to struggle, forgot Rachel at the end of the room, forgot how angry she was. She remembered only the sweetness of his last kiss and how she had yearned just for this. The fingers that left her chin closed warmly, caressingly over her breast.

Small fires began to build in that private part of her that ached to be fulfilled, and unaccustomed wetness seeped from the apex of her being. His tongue penetrated the sweet hollow of her mouth, exploring, tickling, stroking her lips, teeth, and the roof of her mouth. Berry returned the caresses freely, her inhibitions lost in the wave of longing she felt for him. Her hand moved up his arm to his shoulder and on to press against the back of his neck. Inquisitive, slender fingers combed the soft texture of his hair and circled the curve of his ear. He raised his lips a little away from hers. She opened her eyes to find him looking down at her with a hot intensity that made her heartbeat quicken even more. His eyes were so dark, so close, she could see hers reflected there. She smiled.

Simon gazed long and hard into eyes that shone like shimmering green pools, at a soft red mouth, parted and puffed from the pressure of his. His fingers were moving gently on the nape of his neck, causing feelings of possessive, rueful tenderness to wash over him. He lowered his mouth and placed small, light kisses on her lips, her cheeks, her eyes. His emotions were in an uproar. He wanted to shake her and he wanted to make love to her in a way he had never loved a woman before.

“You bullheaded, stubborn little . . . baggage!” he said through gritted teeth. “You make me so mad I want to shake your teeth out!”

“Why?” Soft giggles blew from her lips.

“You know why,” he murmured against her mouth.

She felt the quiver in his arms, the pounding of his heart against her own. Elation that she could cause this great body to tremble sliced through her, and her hand tightened at the back of his neck. She gloried in the warmth of his chest pressed against her breasts.

“I . . . did it again!” It was impossible to have coherent thoughts while he was holding her like this.

“Did what?”

“Called you a mule’s ass!”

He grinned, his nose almost touching hers, his eyes brightened by the sparkle in hers. “Sometimes I think you’re right about that.” He stood when Fain pushed open the door and came into the room.

“I heard ya ride in.” Fain’s glance took in the fact that Simon had been kneeling beside the bunk where Berry lay.

“I wasn’t trying to keep it a secret,” Simon said with a tinge of irritation in his voice. He snatched his hat off the table. “I’m hungry. Seems like I haven’t eaten since Christmas.”

“I’ll fix you . . .” Berry swung her feet off the bunk and sat up.

“Stay where you are,” he snapped. “I’ll rustle up something.” He was out the door before Berry could get to her feet.

Fain came across the room chuckling. Something was definitely eating at his friend Simon. Then he forgot everything but the picture before him—Rachel with the baby lying in the crook of her arm. “You ’n’ Faith a-makin’ out all right?”

Faith had awakened while Simon talked with Berry. Wanting to give them as much privacy as possible, Rachel had turned her back to them and put the baby to her breast. Now she flipped the cover up and over the baby’s face.

Fain sat on the edge of the bunk, leaned over, and stroked the baby’s fine, silky hair with his fingertips, but his eyes were on Rachel’s face. He seemed not to notice the faint pink color that had come up under her skin, making her cheeks seem to glow.

“You’re lookin’ better, lass.”

Rachel could think of nothing to say. Her hand fluttered up to sweep the hair back from her face. “I feel a heap better,” she finally managed. She wished he hadn’t sat down on the edge of the bed. She wished he would go and she hoped he would stay. What she really wanted was for her stupid heart to settle down so she could think before she made a fool of herself.

“Fish is fixing up some vittles.” Fain chuckled. It was beginning to be a familiar sound. “He’s cookin’ up a mess of eggs and deer meat. He’s a good hand at it. Says my cookin’ ain’t fit for the hogs. You eat all them eggs he brings ya. That’ll put some strength back.”

“Eggs? I’ve not had eggs since we left Ohio. I can’t just
eat
eggs. You’d better save them for a pie or a puddin’.”

“You eat the eggs, lass. There’ll be more for puddin’, if’n you’ll make it. I’d not want to turn Fish loose on a puddin’.” His eyes were laughing down into hers and Rachel forgot her embarrassment. “Biedy’ll be here late this evenin’. That is, if’n they got a good start. Then the fur will fly! She’s the beatin’est woman you ever did see. Beatin’est and talkin’est. Ever’time she comes she scrubs and cleans till thin’s is in such a mess I can’t find a thing. But she cooks, too. And when she goes we got pies ’n’ bread ’n’ dumplin’s a-comin’ out our ears. She’ll come loaded, too. Always brings me a crock of butter ’n’ sometimes hominy. She knows my fondness for it.”

“She sounds like a nice woman.”

“She is . . . if’n ya can stand her chatter.” From the laughter in his eyes, Rachel knew he was teasing, and that he would tease only about someone he was fond of.

“Is this your sleeping room?”

“Usually. The other part is the eatin’ room. We work on the guns in here some. I’m a gunsmith and part-time farmer ’cause I have to improve on my land. Right now I’m tryin’ to teach Fish the gunsmith trade.”

“We don’t want to misput you. We can move out to the wagons.”

“You’ll stay right here, lass. I like seein’ ya here. You ’n’ this little button here.” His voice had turned gruff and his hand cupped the baby’s small behind through the covers. “Wal . . . I’d best get on out and see to it Simon don’t eat ever’thin’ includin’ the table.”

He stood, and it seemed to Rachel that his presence filled the room. Unaware that she was doing so, her hand reached for his and was engulfed tightly. She gazed at him with soft, caring eyes. “Thank you.” The words formed on her lips but couldn’t seem to pass the large cotton ball in her throat. He understood. The words hovered between them for a moment, then he dropped her hand and walked quickly from the room.

*    *    *

A sense of elation stayed with Berry throughout the morning.

She was sure that Simon liked her, maybe even loved her. He had liked holding her and kissing her—if not, why had his heart pounded and his month drunk from hers as if he couldn’t get enough of her? Every word he had said danced through her head. Even when he called her a stubborn little baggage he had grinned afterward. No, she cautioned herself. Don’t make too much out of the fact he liked kissing you. He offered to court you once, and nothing came of that.

After breakfast Berry shut and barred the door and washed herself and Rachel. She wanted to wash her hair but had to content herself with a good brisk brushing. She put on a clean shift and dress, then bent over at the waist and worked her fingers through her hair until it hung loosely from the top of her head. She whirled it around in a coil, like a rope, and swirled it around on top of her head and fastened it with two smooth wooden pins.

“I saw a wash pot in the yard. I’ll get ever’thin’ washed before we move on.” Berry rolled the stained cloth from Rachel’s bed and the damp padding from the baby in a tight bundle. “I’ll put this in the wagon until I can wash it.”

Rachel raised herself on her elbow and peered out the open door. “It’s a beautiful, sunny day for a washing,” she said wistfully. “Fain seems fond of this woman Biedy. It’s good of her to come all this way to help us.”

“I’ll clean before she gets here. We don’t want her to think we’re slack-handed.”

Rachel lay back and sighed. “This is a nice tight cabin. My, my . . . I never expected to see glass windows way out here.”

“The room on the other side of the dogtrot is just as big as this one and there’s a window in it, too. I wonder why he built the rooms so big.”

“He’s a big man,” Rachel said shyly, and looked down at the baby to keep from looking at Berry.

“The place looks settled. He’s got chickens and a smokehouse. He’s got a garden in and fruit trees are blooming. It’s a sightly place.”

“The water is so good. It don’t taste like river water.”

“That’s because there’s a spring out back.”

“He makes guns.” Rachel smiled, and it spread a warm light into her eyes. “I thought that we were a bother, that he would want to work in here, but he says . . . not.”

Berry darted a quick look at Rachel and caught the blush on her cheeks.
Was it possible that Rachel liked Fain in . . .that way?
Berry’s eyes darted around the cozy room while she tried to get her thoughts together. “Well . . .” she said after a long pause, “it’s . . . good of him to say so, but we’ll move on soon as we can. We don’t want to wear out our welcome.”

*    *    *

It was late in the afternoon when a shout came from the direction of the river and an answering halloo issued from the homestead. Berry stepped out to the end of the dogtrot and watched two men in buckskins and a small woman walk up the steep grade toward the cabin. Fain walked out to meet them. One of the men was tall with cotton-white hair; the other was slimmer and smaller, with a drooping mustache curled down at each side of his mouth.

The woman was small and quick. Berry couldn’t see her face for the stiff-brimmed bonnet she wore tied in a jaunty bow beneath her chin, but she could hear her voice. It went on and on, interspersed with small trills of musical laughter. The men each carried a pack and a long gun, the woman something wrapped in a cloth. She shoved the bundle into Fain’s hands the instant they met.

“My, my, my, Fain! I never thought I’d be a-comin’ to a birthin’ at your place. Sakes alive! There’s somethin’ a-happenin’ all the time. Silas and the boys woulda brung me, but seein’ as how Jeff and Will was a-comin’ this way, I just come on with ’em. Lordy mercy! What a ride! I swear they was a-tryin’ to drown me. They shoved that boat this-a-way and that-a-way ’n’ ever’time I’d holler they’d laugh. Them two is wild! They need a couple good women to settle ’em. I ain’t never had me such a wild time a-comin’ downriver. Where’s that poor woman at? What you a-standin’ there that way for, Fain? Birthin’s don’t wait. Take me to the woman. Silas’ll be after me in a day or two. It’ll take that long to give that cabin of yourn a good goin’-over.”