Grayson Brothers Series Boxed Set (4 books in 1) (91 page)

“What’s that?” the boy asked, looking confused as he sat on a barrel at the end of the table.

“It’s a little platform you put in a tree. You nail a few boards together and secure it in a tree so you can sit up there and watch for deer.” Duke accepted a bowl of soup from Iris. “Thank you,” he said, purposely keeping his eyes off Faith while placing the full bowl in front of him. “I was your age when I made my first tree stand,” he said to Adam. “It was dead winter, and I was sitting in that stand when I heard this cracking noise. I couldn’t figure out what it was. Just then I spotted a brown bear twenty feet away walking right toward me. I thought he was snapping twigs beneath the snow.”

Adam’s spoon paused halfway to his mouth. “Did you shoot him?”

Duke shook his head and dipped his spoon into his soup. “That cracking noise was coming from the boards I was sitting on. They snapped in half and I fell. When I hit the ground, my rifle discharged and blew the stand right out of the tree.”

Adam laughed, and Duke congratulated himself for the small achievement. Faith’s aunts were smiling, but he still wouldn’t allow himself to look at Faith. He took a bite of his soup. It was tasty but meatless, and he was certain the lack of meat wasn’t from choice. Maybe this is why Iris had encouraged him to stay, so he could see how poorly they were living. Maybe he wasn’t the only one making judgments. Iris didn’t strike him as a woman who would seek sympathy or charity. Maybe she just wanted to see if he was the kind of man who could love a woman who had nothing but herself to offer.

“Did the bear get you?” Cora asked, her eyes bugging with fear.

“Naw,” he said. “The gunshot scared him away. But I remembered to use a good, thick piece of hardwood after that.”

“I saw a bear behind our house once,” Adam said. “He was trying to crawl in our window. When I asked what he was doing, he said he was looking for Cora.”

Duke felt his mouth quirk, but Adam took a spoonful of soup with a straight face.

“That’s me.” Cora tapped her spoon against her chest. “He was coming to see me.”

Adam backhanded his mouth, and Duke suspected the boy was wiping away a smile. “The bear said he wanted to take you for a ride, Cora, but I told him you would only ride ponies.”

Cora looked at Duke, her eyes wide and serious. “Would the bear bite me if I rode him?”

Thankfully he’d played these games with Rebecca and his nephews, so he answered with care. “A real bear probably would, so I wouldn’t be too friendly with one. But a storybook bear might give you a ride on his back.” He shrugged. “It’s probably safer to ride a pony”

“I’m going to ride my pony to church someday,” she said, her voice so wistful he wanted to go right to Radford and Evelyn’s livery and buy her that pony she longed for.

He looked at Faith and saw that same desire reflected in her face. She lowered her lashes and dipped her spoon in her soup bowl.

“Is a bear bigger than a pony?” Cora asked.

“I think it weighs more,” Adam answered, and the meal progressed with Cora asking questions and making them forget they were eating meatless soup and sitting on barrels and planks.

When they finished, Faith kissed the top of Cora’s head. “Sheriff Grayson and I are going to the greenhouse so I can put some balm on his shoulder. Help clear the table, and maybe Aunt Dahlia will read with you until I come back.”

Duke followed Faith outside, but stopped her near the door. “You don’t have to bother with my shoulder tonight. You must be exhausted.”

“It’s been a week since I’ve stretched your muscles.”

“I’ve been doing it myself.”

“Are you getting the same amount of stretch?”

“No.”

“Then we’d better do it tonight before we lose the progress we made last week.”

Even though he’d been stretching each night until he howled from pain, he could feel the muscles tightening up again. Faith’s treatment might have felt like torture, but he’d started seeing some results before he’d left for Mayville.

They crossed the yard and entered the humid world of her greenhouse. When she reached for a stack of linens on the shelf, he caught her hand. “I’ll skip the bath tonight.” He couldn’t strip and soak in that tub without craving her in there with him, naked and willing to do all the things that had circled his mind all week.

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely,” he said then followed her back to the bathhouse. He sat on the table and removed his shirt, but his eyes shifted to the bath and he thought of Faith standing in the tub, dripping wet with her dark-nippled breasts peeping through the wet loose strands of her waist-length hair, and those deep gulping sobs wracking her body. He wanted to take her in his arms and protect her from everything that had ever hurt her.

She stood behind him, slathering an herb-scented oil over his shoulders and back. “I can do this better when you’re lying down.”

He stretched out on the towels she’d spread on the table. They were both silent, listening to the condensation drip off the water faucet while she massaged the muscles in his neck and shoulders. Sighing, he forced his thoughts from all the sensual ways he wanted to hold and kiss her, and remembered Adam’s scuffle with the Archer children last week. He debated telling her. She had more worries than she deserved, but she was Adam’s guardian and should be aware of a situation that could grow worse if not dealt with.

“Has Adam mentioned having any trouble at school?” he asked, hoping the boy had told her.

Her fingers clamped on his shoulders. “No. Why?”

“It seems he got in a scuffle with a couple other children last week.” Duke pushed to his elbows and turned so he could see her. “One of those men I was talking with after church this morning was Ike MacEnroy, Adam’s teacher. MacEnroy broke up a commotion in the school yard last Monday, and said Adam was disrespectful to him.”

“He’s never been disrespectful to anyone, including me.”

“I’m repeating what MacEnroy told me,” he said. “He didn’t seem that upset over the incident, and I suspect the man admires Adam’s intelligence. Archer was the one demanding that I punish Adam for attacking his children, Melissa and Nicholas.”

Faith gasped. “Adam would never attack a person unless they were threatening to harm one of us.”

Duke couldn’t picture Adam attacking anyone either. Especially if unprovoked. Those scratch marks on Nicholas’s neck didn’t come from Adam. “Archer’s story is one-sided. Since Adam hasn’t told you about this, don’t mention it to him just yet. I want to confirm the story with my niece Rebecca, who was also involved then I’ll talk to Adam.”

Faith leaned her hip against the table. “So this is why Adam avoided you today.” She buried her face in her hands. “What next? I can’t handle another problem.”

She looked exhausted. And scared. Duke pushed to his hip and swung his legs off the table so he was sitting. He put his arms around her and made her sit beside him. “Let me handle it with Adam. I’ll be fair. You know that.”

She sighed and lowered her forehead to his shoulder. “I could get used to having you around.”

And he could get used to holding her in his arms. He liked the feel of her body against him, the warmth of her breath on his bare chest. He stroked his fingertips over her back, and she melted against him. He knew how good it felt to have the tension rubbed from his sore body, and he wanted to give her that pleasure. With light pressure, he kneaded the muscles in her neck and down between her shoulder blades.

“Mmm... that’s nice,” she said, relaxing her breasts into his chest, and sending a fire bolt of lust burning through him. He could make her feel so much better if she would get in that tub with him, if she would let him make love to her.

He wanted to keep her in his arms, but she deserved better than his selfish fondling. “Lie down and let me rub your back.”

“I’m supposed to be doing that for you right now,” she said, her voice so slow and dreamy it kicked his lust up another notch.

“But you need it more than I do.” He kissed her forehead. “Lie down.”

“I won’t get back up if I do.”

It was easy to angle his shoulders and pull her down onto the table with him. He lay on his back on the cool wood, with her lying on her side, half on his stomach, staring down at him with shock in her eyes. She braced her hand on his bare chest.

“What are you doing?”

“Making it easier to rub your back,” he answered, demonstrating by rubbing his palm down her spine.

She lay against him, her knee braced on his thigh, her breasts pressed to his chest, her mouth inches from his, and her eyes full of suspicion. “I think you’re taking liberties with me because I let you kiss me.”

Her accusation stung. “I think someone in your past made you distrustful of men, and I’d like to beat the heck out of whoever did it. I won’t deny having a hundred thoughts about making love to you on this table and in that bathtub, but I won’t force you into anything, Faith. Not ever.”

She perched against his side, looking ready to bolt.

“You’re fully clothed, and so am I in every way that counts.”

“We’re not married.”

“We’re courting.”

“And unchaperoned.”

“A widow doesn’t need a chaperone,” he countered.

“Because she knows where this situation can take her.”

“It won’t.” He held her chin and forced her to look in his eyes. “You can trust me.”

“Then let me up.”

He sighed and lifted her off him, bringing them both back to a sitting position.

He expected her to move away, but she stood and faced him. “I trust you,” she said softly. “But I’m afraid we’ll get carried away again and I can’t... It’s improper for us to... I like your kisses too much.”

Her confession warmed him. He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her between his knees. “It was my fault that we got carried away. I won’t let it happen again.”

Down went her lashes, and she leaned her forehead against his chest. “Duke?” He liked the sleepy softness of her voice. “I changed my mind about the sword swallower being the best show.”

He’d forgotten the circus.

“The clowns were the best.”

He stroked her back, pleased that the clowns had made Cora and Adam laugh, but even more pleased that they’d made Faith forget her troubles for a while.

“Thank you for taking us to the circus today,” she said.

“I should be thanking you,” he replied sincerely. “This is the best day I’ve had in... I don’t know how long.”

She lifted her head. “Truly?”

“Truly,” he said, liking the way her gaze roved across his face and lowered to his mouth. Their eyes met, and his heart pounded while he waited for her to decide on their next step. Would she kiss him or torture him by starting his shoulder treatment?

Her lips parted and she lifted her mouth to his. The kiss was soft, tentative, lingering, and it drove him wild and made him want to take it slower and deeper until they were naked and making love. But he clenched his fists and ordered his body to settle down, letting her decide where the kiss would lead, knowing it wouldn’t lead far enough, but craving every second of what she was giving him.

* * *

Faith thought her heart would explode from the pressure building inside it. She had never initiated a kiss before, but oh! She liked kissing this man.

Three men at the brothel had stolen kisses, once when she was thirteen, twice when she was eighteen; and Jarvis had romanced her into accepting his kisses then misled and pressured her into forfeiting her virginity. Never had she felt free to pursue a man at her own exploratory pace. She liked being able to take her time now, to feel the texture of Duke’s lips with the tip of her tongue, to hold her mouth an inch from his and feel his warm breath caress her lips.

His hard chest muscles bunched beneath her palms, both exciting and scaring her. He could easily take what he wanted, and his shaky breathing and dark, intense eyes said he wanted more than her kiss. But she drank in the masculine beauty of his face, feeling a deep urge to give him more.

He nibbled at her lips, drawing her mouth to his, softly at first then deeper and slower, sweeping his tongue into her mouth in a seductive rhythm that melted her against his hard body. The birds in her stomach soared to the sky and dove to the sea in a mad, repetitive rush that stole her breath. Her nipples hardened and she longed for the caress of his hands in all the places he was making her ache. But she forced herself to break the kiss. Widow or not, he would expect her to retain some shred of respectability, which she must do at all cost.

He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers, his arms encircling but not imprisoning her. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“For the kiss?” she asked, as shaken and breathless as he appeared.

“For stopping before you drove me insane.” He opened his eyes and winked at her.

Nothing could have pleased her more than that teasing wink. To know he could enjoy kissing her like this, and could stop without growing petulant or angry as Jarvis had, told her everything she needed to know about Duke Grayson. He was a man worthy of a better woman than a prostitute’s daughter, but Faith was going to claim him for herself. And she would do whatever it took to make sure he never regretted it.

Faith was in the house folding clothes with Iris when someone knocked on the door.

“If that’s Adam or Cora clowning with us, I’ll hang them on the clothesline,” Iris said, heading to the door.

Faith smiled and shook her head. If it was one of the children, Iris would wrangle a kiss or a hug from them before sending them back to play. For all her starch, Iris was a softie.

When she opened the door, a man nearly as tall and wide-shouldered as Duke stood on the doorstep, looking like an overgrown farm boy in denim jeans and a blue cambric shirt. He wasn’t catch-your-breath handsome like Duke or his brothers, but his boyish good looks brought a spark to Iris’s eyes that put Faith on guard.

“Well, well, well.” Iris smiled and leaned against the door frame. “Are you lost, farm boy?”

His gaze swept down her body and back to her face in a slow, seductive appraisal that said he’d rather be inspecting Iris with his big hands. Faith and Iris were used to being ogled, and at the brothel they knew exactly why the oglers came knocking. But this handsome, overgrown farm boy wasn’t looking to buy anything; he was here to sell. To Iris.

He braced his muscled forearm against the door frame and gave her a wolfish smile. “I’ve been waiting all my life to knock on a door and find you on the other side.” he said.

In all the years Faith had known Iris, no man had ever left her speechless. Until now. Until this stranger brazenly leaned in her door with that honest face and those blue eyes that declared Iris his even before asking her name.

He tilted his head. “Are you not telling me your name for any particular reason?”

Iris lifted her chin, but Faith could see her aunt was rattled. “I’m Iris Wilde—with an ‘e’.”

He chuckled, “Well, Iris Wilde with an ‘e’, are you married?”

“I’ve never found a man worth marrying.”

“Well, you’ve found him now, Miss Wilde. I’m Patrick Lyons. I suppose you’ll want to be courted before we marry?”

Faith nearly gasped aloud. What a rascal!

But Iris seemed to like his too-forward outrageous manner, because she laughed. “Mr. Lyons, what are you delivering to my door other than blarney?”

He glanced at Faith then leaned closer. “It’s Pat, or Patrick, if you prefer. I have a delivery for Faith Wilkins.”

Faith lowered her lashes, embarrassed that she’d been shamelessly eavesdropping. But with that heated introduction, how could she not?

“Oh... of course,” Iris said, but Faith heard the disappointment in her voice. She obviously liked the man and enjoyed his flirting. Too much, by Faith’s measure. Iris had promised to behave herself, but that promise had flown on the wind the minute Patrick Lyons had come knocking.

Faith waited for someone to speak to her, but the odd silence made her lift her head. Both Iris and Patrick were gone.

Ridiculously curious, she went to the door. To her shock, a wagon stacked five feet high with lumber was being backed toward the house by a team of the biggest horses she’d ever seen. When the driver stopped the wagon near the door, she ducked back inside.

Patrick came in carrying an armload of planks, followed by Iris, who was swinging her hips like she used to do at the brothel.

“Afternoon, ma’am,” Patrick said with a nod at Faith. “Mind if I use this empty corner?”

“I’m Mrs. Wilkins, and I didn’t order lumber,” Faith said.

“Pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Wilkins, but Sheriff Grayson said to deliver it here.”

“You know the sheriff?”

“He and his brothers are my best friends.” Patrick nodded to the corner. “Mind if I put this down before I strain something important?”

Iris laughed. “Go ahead. That corner has been lacking something from the day we moved in.”

He gave her a crooked grin. “I like you, Iris Wilde with an ‘e’.”

“Likewise, Mr. Lyons.” She gave him a flirtatious smile that made Faith’s heart hammer with fear. What on earth was Iris thinking? Flirting with a stranger, especially a man who knew the sheriff, was appallingly inappropriate.

Another similarly dressed man carried in an armload of fresh-smelling wood. He stood three inches shorter than Patrick, who Faith estimated at nearly six feet, and was lean with sinewy forearms and a weathered face that suggested he was at least forty.

“This is Cyrus Darling,” Patrick said, pausing to introduce him to Faith and Iris.

The man set down the wood then tipped his cap to greet them.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Darling,” Faith said.

Iris gave a pleasant nod, but a smile broke across her red lips and she winked at Faith. “I can just hear Tansy greeting Mr. Daaahlin’.”

“Awful name for a man to be stuck with,” Cyrus said, “but I’ve owned it for forty-five years and suppose I can survive a few more years of taunts and grins.” The man radiated kindness and a quiet serenity that told Faith he was not only comfortable being alone, he preferred it.

“Why, Mista Daaahlin’ sounds like a perfectly handy name to me,” Iris said, mimicking Tansy’s southern drawl, and horrifying Faith. “Cyrus, dahlin’, thank you for carrying in that wood. If I were your wife, dahlin’, I’d tell you to forget the wood and give me some sugar.”

Pat’s hoot, and Cyrus’s chuckle, interrupted Iris’s performance, but Faith stewed. Her aunt had promised to act like a lady, but here she was flirting like a prostitute with not one but two men!

“Thank you, Miss Wilde,” Cyrus said. “That sweet southern touch makes it a handy name indeed. Guess I need a southern gal who can appreciate it.”

“Then you must meet Tansy.” Iris headed for the door, but turned back, her dark eyes lit with mischief. “Mr. Darling, do you sing by chance?”

Patrick’s laughter boomed through the building, and he clapped a hand on Cyrus’s shoulder. “I’d be careful how you answer that, Cyrus. That’s one of those tricky female questions that can trip a man right into marriage.”

“I’ve avoided marriage this many years, I don’t see how my worst vice could hook me into it.”

Iris clasped her hands together in front of her chest. “Mista Dahlin’, if singing is your worst vice, Tansy is going to adore you.” With a laugh, she ducked outside leaving Faith with two strangers and a fury she could barely control.

* * *

“Faith isn’t going to like this,” Adam said, holding a stud in place while Duke nailed it into the wall.

“I don’t suppose she will.” Duke had meant to stop and tell Faith his plan after the lumber was delivered and it was too late for her to argue with him. But he’d gotten tied up with Henry Oakley, a local farmer who’d been swindled by a wily salesman who’d asked him to sign a receipt for his employer. The receipt was rigged so that Henry’s signature appeared on the bottom page, which happened to be a note for a hundred dollars—enough to buy a team of horses, a house, and feed a family for years.

Adam moved his hands lower on the stud so Duke could continue nailing it into the wall. “She won’t like all these people in here seeing how we live. You saw how upset she was when Aunt Iris asked you to stay for supper last night.”

He’d noticed all right. She’d been near tears until Adam teased Cora about the bear climbing in her window. Faith would be furious to find him in her house putting up walls. He couldn’t imagine what she would do when she found him here with his brothers and some of their mill hands.

“Any idea how I can keep myself out of hot water?”

“She’ll just singe your ears some. If she’s really upset, she’ll act disappointed and start crying. That’s the worst.”

“I think I’d rather get my ears singed,” Duke said.

“Me too.”

“Looks like we’re both in hot water then.” And he’d best take care of his business with Adam before Faith came in from the greenhouse. “She knows about your scuffle at school last week.”

Shock flashed in Adam’s eyes, but he didn’t try to defend himself.

“I talked to Rebecca, and she told me what happened. Sometimes trouble finds us even when we’re minding our own business.”

“Melissa ARCHER is a troublemaker,” Adam said, his voice squawking.

So was her father Wayne, but Duke kept the information to himself. “Rebecca says you walk her to school and back, but you don’t attend. Where have you been going each day while your sister thinks you’re in school?”

Adam cast a nervous glance at Radford who was working close by. “To the gorge.”

Duke drove the last nail home and reached for another stud. “So you’ve been lying each day about going to school, dawdling in the gorge while your sister does your work in the greenhouse.”

“I can’t go back or I’ll end up in a real fight,” he said, defending his actions. “Nicholas doesn’t like it that I’m friends with Rebecca.”

Duke set his hammer down. “I don’t like it that my niece is friends with a boy who would lie to his own sister.”

Adam’s face drained of color, and Duke knew he’d gotten the boy’s attention. He disliked being harsh, but Faith’s brother needed to develop his character to a higher standard.

“You’re a smart boy, Adam. You could teach Rebecca all kinds of useful things from those books you read. Rebecca is a good, honest girl, and she’s been raised to speak only the truth and to accept the consequences. I wouldn’t want you to influence her to start lying.”

“I’d never do that.”

“Rebecca admires you, and she may think it’s all right for her to stretch the truth like you’ve been doing.”

Adam’s cheeks flamed and, near tears, he faced the wall.

Duke put his hand on Adam’s shoulder, sorry to embarrass the boy, but knowing he’d done the right thing. “Everyone deserves a chance to prove himself, Adam. Since this is the last week of school, I want you to stay home and help your sister when you’re not working at the store.”

“Yes, sir,” the boy said, his youthful jaw clenched.

“You owe her an apology.”

“I know.”

“All right then. I’m trusting you to be a good friend to Rebecca.”

The boy shot a worried look at Radford, who’d moved to work on the opposite side of the room. “Did Rebecca get in trouble because of me?”

“Her father wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t punish her for trying to right a wrong.” Duke made a big show of squaring up the stud to let Adam know the lecture was over. Then he said, “Steady this while I drive in this first nail.”

* * *

Faith was the last one to leave the greenhouse for the evening.  The place had been teeming with customers when she sought Iris earlier, so her aunt had avoided her thus far. But their workday was over, and Faith was going to have a talk with her aunt.

Outside, she massaged her lower back and gazed with longing at the Colburn house across the street. How lovely it would be to sit in a real parlor on a sofa instead of planks and barrels.

The staccato sound of hammers whacking wood echoed through the neighborhood as she walked to the barren building she was living in. She’d heard the muted sound from inside the greenhouse, but didn’t realize until reaching her front door that the banging was coming from her own house. Startled, she opened the door and stared in shock.

Eight men carrying hammers, saws, and nails swarmed like carpenter ants from the front door to the back, framing up walls as fast as they could measure and saw the boards. Adam worked with Duke. Iris and Tansy flitted around like butterflies, pouring and serving beverages to the men. Cora, in a green pinafore, helped.

Duke shouldn’t have sent the lumber so soon. She hadn’t earned it yet. He’d never mentioned bringing his family and crew to work on her house, or even his intention of doing so. If he had, she would have told him no. She could never pay for this. And she hated for these people to see her family camped out in a vacant building like a band of gypsies.

If Iris had instigated this, Faith would strangle her. She waved from the doorway, wanting a word with her outrageous aunt, but Iris was too busy flirting with Patrick to notice.

“Faith!” Evelyn Grayson beckoned her to the kitchen corner where she and Amelia were working at Faith’s makeshift counter. “I’m afraid we’ve taken over your kitchen, and borrowed some plates from that crate,” Evelyn said cheerfully

Heaping plates of food covered Faith’s plank counters. Had they known she couldn’t feed these men? That she couldn’t offer anything but cold glasses of water? Were they here to make sure their husbands didn’t go without supper?

Faith looked at her dented metal dishpans and the mountain of pots and plates stacked in crates on the floor, and her face burned. She forced herself to face the ladies. “How kind of you to bring supper.” Several plates were laden with quartered potatoes that looked as if they’d been cooked in the same pot as the thick slabs of roast pork. The aroma made Faith’s mouth water. “I’m afraid I have nothing to contribute. I can’t even offer you ladies a chair, because I don’t have one.” Aster and Dahlia had moved the table aside, and tucked the barrels and planks underneath to keep them out of the way. Now they were piling their pallets and blankets on top of the table in an embarrassing heap.

“Well, you just moved to town.” Evelyn placed fat, cooked carrots on the plates. “It makes perfect sense that you dedicated your time and efforts to your business first. I don’t know of a place that can compare to your Evergreen House.”

Her greenhouse was special, with its hearty plants and unique herbs, and the pleasure of her bathhouse was unmatched by any business in the area, but that didn’t lessen Faith’s embarrassment over her makeshift furnishings.

“Everyone has raved about the bath,” Amelia said with a warm smile. “My mother-in-law and I are hoping to schedule a visit later this week, and I honestly can’t wait.”

“That will give me an opportunity to repay you for bringing all this lovely food,” Faith replied.

“Absolutely not!” Amelia and Evelyn said in unison. Evelyn pushed a plate into Faith’s hands. “Neighbors help each other. Now eat. You look tired and hungry. I’ll tell the men to stop for supper.”

She left Faith standing with Amelia, whose eyes were filled with compassion. “I used to teach in Laona several years ago,” she said. “My stipend was so scant it took me three months to afford fabric for a dress. I lived in a tiny room attached to the schoolhouse, and my worldly possessions consisted of a dry sink, a too-small stove, one rickety table, and an old bed. There’s no reason for you to feel ashamed of this building, Faith. It may be empty of furnishings at the moment, but it will make a fine home.”