Kaki Warner (14 page)

She looked over at Tom and Harvey, toasting their toes by the fire. Apparently, once they’d brought in the tree, they figured their work was done.

Another scratch.

“Did you hear that?” she asked.

Harvey yawned. “Hear what?”

A sudden sense of peril gripped Lacy, a wave of fear so intense it made her slightly light-headed. “Something’s happened.” On shaky legs, she stepped from the crate, but could go no farther. “Open the door.”

Tom glanced over at her. “What’s wrong?”

“There’s someone on the porch.”

Both brothers rose and headed for the door. Tom reached it first. As soon as he opened it, an animal rushed inside in a swirl of snowflakes. “What the hell?”

Lacy stumbled back, then blinked in astonishment at the snow-covered dog whining and circling at her feet. “That’s Roscoe. Daniel’s dog.” Shoving the hound aside, she rushed after her brothers onto the porch. “Is he here?”

“Go inside, Lacy.” Without waiting to see if she obeyed, Tom started down the steps, Harvey close on his heels.

In the yard, a figure sat on a weary horse. Both were coated with snow. The man was slumped in the saddle, his head sagging to his chest, one arm locked over his bulky midsection, the other hand holding the reins.

Daniel.

***

He was dimly aware of motion around him, then a voice calling his name. Blinking snow-coated lashes, he lifted his head and saw Tom Jackson and his brother walking toward him. Tom was saying something, but Daniel couldn’t make out the words over the roaring in his ears.

“Coat,” he mumbled through cracked lips. He fumbled with the canvas poncho draped over his chest, but his gloved hands wouldn’t bend and nothing seemed to work right. Finally, he shoved it aside and jabbed his numb fingers at the buttons on his duster.

“Unbutton.”

He had to say it three times before Jackson understood and reached up to loosen the buttons.

As soon as the top was freed, Daniel reached inside. “Wake up,” he croaked, and nudged the small body curled against his chest. “We’re home.”

Hannah squirmed, shoved the coat aside and looked out.

“Jesus, it’s Hannah!”

Harvey started shouting as Tom lifted her away, loosening a blast of cold air across Daniel’s chest where her warmth had been. Pain rolled over him, and he sagged, struggling to maintain balance.

Darkness pressed against him, but he held on, needing to see her face.

As if from a great distance, he watched Tom carry Hannah toward the house, Harvey crowding his heels. Saw Lacy run down the steps, sobbing, her arms outstretched. Watched her take her daughter in her arms. Then, weeping, she lifted her gaze to meet his.

And there it was—that connection he craved—the look of joy he’d been waiting to see.

He let out a shuddering breath.

It was done. Hannah was safe.

He hadn’t failed this time.

The world narrowed to a pinprick of light, then he began to slide.

***

He broke through the blackness on a wave of terror.
Hannah!

With a gasp, he started up, then fell back, twisting in pain.

Warm breath fanned his eyelashes as a voice murmured beside his good ear. Instinctively, he turned toward it, felt something warm drip on his face, slide down.

“Don’t you die on me, Daniel. Don’t you dare leave me.”

A hand stroked his forehead, sent the terrors away.

He lay shivering, his side burning like fire, until darkness pulled him down to where Hannah danced with a one-eyed rag doll and a calico cat.

***

Sunlight awoke him in an unfamiliar room. A woman’s room. He licked chapped lips and thought of water.

Then an image burst into his mind.
Hannah!

Grabbing for the brass head rail, he struggled to sit up. Pain drove him back down. Once he caught his breath, he tried again. This time he made it. Looking down, he saw a bandage wrapped around his middle.

Clean. No blood.

Below it, he wore wool unions he didn’t recognize, and nothing else. He dimly remembered being shot. Riding through a blizzard with Hannah wrapped against his chest. Did she make it? Was she safe?

Teeth clenched, he pulled himself to his feet, then clung to the rail with both hands until the spinning slowed. Then he shuffled over to the door and flung it open.

The Jacksons and Lacy gaped in surprise from their chairs around a dining table. No Hannah.

“Where is she?” His throat was so dry it came out a croak.

“You’re awake!” Lacy lurched from her chair and threw herself against him.

He clung to the door frame for balance, his legs wobbling beneath him. “Is Hannah all right?” He felt disoriented, his mind slow to take it all in.

“Yes. She’s perfect.” Lacy pulled back, her eyes wet despite the smile lighting her face. “Daniel, you did it. You found her. You brought her back to me like you said you would. Thank you, thank you.” Kisses on his cheeks, his chin, his nose and eyes. He swayed, starting to feel dizzy again.

“She’s all right? You’re sure?”

“She’s fine. You kept her safe, Daniel.”

“Thank God.” Weak with relief, he took one hand from the door frame and pulled her hard against his chest, as much for balance as the need to hold her. “And you? Are you all right?”

“I am now.” Another kiss sent new strength singing through his veins.

Tom Jackson muttered something.

“Jesus, you two,” Harvey scolded. “We’re trying to eat here.”

Laughing, Lacy stepped back, her cheeks pink. “Are you hungry? You can eat at the table or I can fix—”

“Maybe later.” He looked down at his state of undress and felt his own cheeks grow hot when he saw his body’s reaction to her kisses. “I’m kind of dizzy right now.”

“I’ll help you.” Her arm slid around his back just above the bandage.

They barely made it to the bed before his mind spiraled away.

The next time he awoke, light was fading behind the curtained window. Muted voices came from the other room. The smell of cooking food made his stomach rumble. He struggled up, banged into the night table as he flailed for balance, then winced when a book thudded to the floor.

The door flew open. “Wait. I’ll help you.” Lacy rushed in, a calico cyclone, and wrapped herself around him again, like she could actually keep him from falling if he started down. He hung onto her anyway, because he could. Had she really kissed his entire face?

“I washed your clothes.” She carefully eased him back onto the side of the bed. “They’re on the chest at the foot of the bed. Shall I help you put them on?”

“For crissakes,” Jackson called from the other room.

Daniel looked back, saw her brother scowling from his chair, and couldn’t help but grin. “Sure.”

“Like hell. The man can dress himself.”

Sadly, he could, and a few minutes later, he shuffled into the dining room, wearing his own clothing and a strained smile—even the small amount of energy he’d expended in dressing had left him exhausted, his side throbbing with a pulse all its own.

Apparently, Tom and Harvey had finished eating; the only things left on the table were coffee cups and empty dessert bowls. In the adjoining kitchen, Lacy stirred pots on a stove. He gingerly lowered himself into the chair across from Tom and Harvey, then slumped back, breathing hard.

“You look like hell,” Tom said.

“I feel like hell. Where’s Hannah?”

“Gathering eggs.”

Lacy came in with an overflowing plate. Ham, potatoes, carrots, pickled beets, three biscuits. In her other hand was a bowl of stewed apples. She set it before him. Not sure he could eat all that but willing to give it a try, he waited for her to take the seat beside him, then picked up his fork and gave it his best.

“Who shot you?” Harvey asked.

“Crazy lady. Thought I was stealing her daughter.” Between bites, he told them about the Reinhardts and their own child drowning. “They either took Hannah to replace the one they lost, or it happened like we thought, and she stowed away on their wagon by mistake and they decided to keep her. I didn’t stay around to find out.”

He ate in silence for a time, then Tom said, “I suppose you think we owe you an apology.”

Forking up a bite of ham, Daniel fixed his gaze on the man across from him, chewed, and waited.

“But you can hardly blame us for not believing you,” Tom went on, his face showing color. “Hell, it still doesn’t make any sense.”

Daniel agreed. And realizing it would probably kill Tom to say the words, he took pity and changed the subject. “How long have I been here?”

“Three days. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve.”

Daniel’s surprise must have shown.

“You were fevered.” Harvey explained that once Doc removed the bullet, Lacy kept applying poultices to draw out the infection until finally the fever broke yesterday. “You owe her your life.”

Daniel met her eyes, and what he saw in them made his mind leap to all sorts of possibilities. “I’ll be sure to thank her. Properly.” Rewarded with a blush, he turned back to Harvey. “What about my horse?”

“In the barn.”

“He staying there?”

“When he feels like it. Your dog prefers Hannah’s room.”

A cry came from behind the house.

Lacy grinned. “She must have realized you’re awake. She’s been very worried about you. I’d better get the eggs before she breaks them.”

As soon as Lacy left the room, Daniel looked across at her brothers. “Just so you know, I’m marrying your sister.”

Tom showed no reaction.

Harvey did. “You asking or telling?”

“Asking her. Telling you.”

Pushing aside his coffee cup, Tom sat back and studied Daniel. He made an offhand gesture at the knickknacks on the shelves and the pictures on the walls. “She won’t come cheap. How you plan to support her?”

“I’ve got money.”

Harvey snorted. “From what? Far as we know, you don’t earn a wage. You rob a bank or something?”

“I worked for the railroads a while back.”

“And now?”

Daniel shrugged. “And now I make furniture.”

“What kind of furniture?”

“The kind rich folks pay a lot for.”

“Rich folks? Around here?”

“Around the country.” Daniel leveled his gaze at the brothers. “And what do you do? When you’re not living with your sister, that is.”

The barb hit home. “We used to work at a lumber mill up north,” Harvey defended. “But after Hannah went missing, Lacy needed us here.”

“That was brotherly of you,” Daniel allowed. “But she won’t be needing you much longer.”

“The hell you say.”

“Relax, Harvey,” Tom cut in before Daniel said something he might regret. “She’s kicking us out after the first, anyway.”

“She is?”

If Daniel hadn’t been so sore, he might have danced a jig across the floor. “I guess my plans can wait until then.”

“What plans?” Lacy asked, coming into the room with Hannah in her arms. “If you’re talking about courting,” she said, rubbing noses with her daughter, “we’ve decided against it, haven’t we, sweetie?”

Hannah giggled.

Harvey snickered.

Daniel felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach.

Lacy set her wiggling daughter onto the floor. Immediately the child ran to Daniel and climbed into his lap, unmindful of his groan when she bumped his bandaged side.

“Yes, Hannah and I have decided to forgo the courtship,” Lacy went on as she began clearing the table, “and get married now.”

Daniel choked on a piece of potato.

“Now?” her brothers said in unison.

“Since we’re in love with him, we think that would be best, don’t you? But he’ll have to ask us first, of course.”

Tom and Harvey gaped at her.

Daniel’s heart bounced back into place. “You love me?”

“Of course.” She gave a saucy grin he didn’t remember ever seeing on her face before. It perked him up all over. “I don’t let just any man recuperate in my bed.” Turning back to her brothers, she went on: “Hannah can be my bridesmaid, and unless Daniel has objections, you can be best man, Tom. Harvey can give me away. How’s that?”

Harvey gawked from one to the other. “You’re serious?”

“I am.”

Daniel was too stunned to respond. The part of him capable of thought couldn’t believe she could love a scarred, damaged recluse when she could have any man she wanted. But the part of him that didn’t think at all, didn’t care. Gratitude, pity, loneliness, his bank account—it didn’t matter what brought her to him, as long as she came.

“I accept,” he said, overwhelmed by such an onslaught of emotion the word caught in his throat. “All that about your brothers, too.” He would even let them live in the house if that’s what she wanted. For a while, anyway.

“I believe you’re supposed to ask
me.
Not the other way around.”

“Do I have to go down on my knees?”

“Maybe later.”

“Jesus, Sis.”

“Will you marry me, Lacy Ellis?” A sharp elbow dug into his stomach. “And you, too, Hannah Ellis?” he quickly added.

“I’d be honored, Daniel Hobart.”

“Me, too. What’s honored mean, Mama?”

Daniel’s heart pounded so hard he grew dizzy again. “When?”

“Hannah and I thought Christmas evening would be best. Something small, here at the house. How does that sound?”

Daniel thought it sounded grand.

***

The next morning, dawn was barely peeking through the lace curtains by the bed when Daniel awoke to a little girl’s knee poking into his side and the woman of his latest lurid dream smiling down at him. Only she was fully dressed and sitting on the edge of the bed, rather than on top of him.

“Morning,” she said, reaching out to brush the hair from his forehead. Her skin was soft and smooth against his, and the love he saw in her beautiful eyes made him wonder if he was still dreaming.

To find out, he pulled her down onto his chest and kissed her until they both ran out of air. “You know I love you, don’t you, Lacy Ellis?” he whispered against her lips. “And have, even before I knew your name.”

“I do, Daniel Hobart,” she whispered. “And I’m so grateful for it.”

He noticed she didn’t say the words back, and that troubled him.