LeClerc 03 - Wild Savage Heart (22 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

“When I went to town the other day to sell the team, I saw several families arriving,” Hawk said quietly as he finished his meal.

“Aren’t they getting here kind of late? They’ll never get a cabin erected before it snows.”

“They had some kind of trouble on the trail,” he replied with a shrug. “Most of them will winter wherever they can and will start building and planting before the last snow has melted.”

Molly chased the hominy stew around on her plate with a golden-brown biscuit. Once again dressed in his buckskins, Hawk had returned to the cabin after putting his horse out to graze. He had yet to mention her father or the decisions to be made but she began to feel that this was the beginning.

“What are you suggesting?” she asked, hoping to get the conversation started. The sooner started, the sooner finished, she decided, knowing that the decisions had already been made in his mind and she had only to agree with them.

Which didn’t mean she had to agree readily, she decided.

“One of them might have the money to buy you out,” he stated.

Giving up all pretense of eating, Molly pushed her plate away before sliding off the bench seat. She walked to the open door and leaned against the frame.

The first stars were beginning to glitter in the rapidly darkening sky. As the sun disappeared, the air quickly began to cool. Molly shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist. The decision to leave had already been made in her mind, but her heart ached at the thought of leaving the cabin.

In the short time she had lived in it, the cabin had become a home, a place of laughter and security. The stumps of many of the trees used in its building stood eerily in the growing darkness, waiting for their turn to be wrestled from the ground.

If she tried hard enough she could almost hear the sounds of the axes chopping rhythmically as the two men had brought down one giant tree after another. Their voices and masculine exhilaration were overpowered by the cracking thunder of the towering goliath as it gave up its life with an earth-shaking collision against the ground.

If she breathed deeply enough she could detect the rich aroma of the earth as it had smelled when it was plowed with the steel blade and exposed to the sunlight for the first time in eons. She could feel the weight and silky texture of the dirt that had provided sustenance for her first garden.

Memories piled one upon another in such rapid succession that she had only a brief time to feel each; the laughter and tears, the joy and pain; the long, hard days, the even longer, lonely nights; the sweat of honest labor and the taste of rain on her tongue; burnt stew and sweet berries ripe from the bush; poison ivy, mosquito bites and love bites.

The memories came to a brief, bittersweet halt as the love she had felt for Adam floated gently around her. She knew now that it would always be there, her tender feelings for the man who had given her so much. But it no longer caused her pain to remember him.

Someday, when his child was old enough to understand, Molly would tell him of the man who had given him life. But by then the child would know another man as father, another man who would provide both love and protection.

Molly placed her open hand on her growing stomach and felt no guilt or remorse for admitting to herself that she had fallen in love with the man her child would call father.

Hawk watched her from his place at the table, knowing that it wouldn’t be easy for her to leave this place. She had made it a home and he was aware of her attachment to it. He also reluctantly admitted to himself that it would be difficult for her to leave Adam, particularly with his child growing in her.

It struck him as ironic that the only woman he had ever wanted to claim for his own had first belonged to another man; another man who had happened to be his best friend.

“How long do you think it will take to sell this place?” Molly turned and walked back into the room, closing the door behind her.

“1 can go into town tomorrow and ask around,” Hawk replied. “If there’s someone interested, it shouldn’t take more than a day or two.”

“A day or two,” Molly whispered. “So quickly …”

“I can’t stay here, Molly.” Hawk stood and walked to her. “My home is to the north, in a place called Shawnee Town. I’ve been gone far too long.”

“How long will it take us to get there?”

“Six, eight weeks, depending on the weather and how well you travel.”

“I traveled here without problems,” she defended herself.

“You rode a horse or in the wagon. We’ll only be able to take the horses part of the way before the trail gets too rough. From there it’s on foot or by canoe.” Seeing the lingering sadness in her face, Hawk could no longer resist touching her. His fingers were gentle as he cradled her cheek.

“And you weren’t pregnant then, Molly,” he reminded her needlessly. “You carry a precious bundle beneath your heart. I won’t do anything to endanger him.”

Touched by his words, Molly rested her hand against his. “Do you care for my baby so much?”

“Our son.” He lowered his hand to her stomach, lightly caressing the slight mound.

The decision wasn’t difficult to make, she realized, as she said the words that would change the course of her life.

“Find a buyer, Hawk. But be sure it’s someone who wants a furnished cabin. I don’t think we’ll be taking much with us on the backs of our horses.” He drew her into his arms, holding her with infinite care. “You won’t regret your decision, sweet Molly. A whole bunch of loving people are just waiting to make you a part of their family.” Doubt, of a different kind, clouded her thoughts. “Maybe they won’t like me,” she mumbled, burying her face in his shirt.

Hawk’s shout of laughter brought her face up. “Molly, they’re going to be so delighted with you that you’ll wonder why you ever worried. Linsey has said for years that I needed a good wife to keep me in line. And Kaleb will be rubbing his hands in glee that there is a new generation of babies he can spoil.”

“What about your father? Your Indian father?” she asked.

“Limping Wolf will accept you and welcome you — if for no other reason — because you are my choice.” He gently pushed the hair from her eyes, his hand remaining at the side of her head. “My people are little different from what you know of white families. They squabble with each other at times. They tease and argue and help each other. Their ways will seem strange to you, at first, but you’ll quickly accept them as they’ll quickly accept you.” Her honey eyes showed her apprehension even as she squared her shoulders. “And my baby? Will he accept my baby?”

“Our baby, Molly,” he corrected firmly. “Our baby will be so spoiled by all of his grandparents that we may have to move to Canada to keep him away from them.”

“Too cold.” Molly smiled as she pulled away from him.

“Then we’ll just have to give them a bunch of babies to spoil so that no single child gets all of the attention.”

Molly’s breath caught in her throat at the thought of conceiving Hawk’s child.

“Would you like that, sweet Molly?” His voice deepened and his eyes burned with question. “Would you have my children?”

He slowly pulled her toward him until she rested lightly against his chest. His head lowered until she could feel his warm breath on her face.

“Can I plant my seed in the warmth of your body and watch you swell with my child? Will you let me feel him as he moves in the crowded space of your body? Does the thought of having my baby, a halfbreed child, disgust you or thrill you?”

“Hawk …” Mesmerized by his voice, as well as by the thought of his children, Molly had to struggle to speak in a whisper and then all she could say was his name.

It may not have been an invitation, but Hawk chose to take it as such. His eyes gleamed with earthy sensuality as his mouth closed over hers.

It was delicious, like the first soft breeze of spring. It was sweet, berries and cream on a warm summer day. It was distant thunder warning of a building storm. It was over far too soon but a moment too late. Molly began to crave more just as his mouth lifted from hers.

Slowly, slowly, Hawk reminded himself. His friends at the university had told him that ladies did not like any form of sex and submitted because it was a wifely duty. They had advised him to visit the women in taverns if he wanted to satisfy his needs.

Even though Hawk had met several ladies who had proven his friends wrong, he was concerned that Molly might have definite ideas about such intimacies. He was determined to take it slowly, to teach her the pleasures of her own body and of his.

He gritted his teeth as desire speared through him. Because of her pregnancy he realized it might be several months before he shared her bed. He studied the look in her eyes and knew he could wait. Gentle caresses and soft kisses could be liberally, and frequently, given to shorten the waiting and strengthen the desire.

Molly wondered why Hawk had drawn away so quickly. With the experience of a married woman, in spite of the short duration of the marriage, she knew what to expect. And the thought of sharing that with him made her toes twitch.

Deciding she might have to encourage him, Molly smiled softly and turned away. She couldn’t believe that the intimidating warrior was bashful about sharing a bed, but her eyes didn’t lie. It would be fun to be the teacher, she decided, instead of the student. She had no doubt that with a few lessons Hawk would quickly catch on.

Molly paced the limited confines of the cabin, waiting impatiently. In a corner, piled neatly in small bundles, were the things she had decided were necessary to take on their trip.

After he had returned from town yesterday, Hawk had gone through the stack, pleased to note that she had selected carefully. It was a pitifully small bundle, but he had assured her that everything they would need to set up housekeeping was waiting in Shawnee Town.

Molly hated to appear like a beggar, without even the smallest household item, but right at this moment her concerns were centered on something else.

Hawk had ridden into town early the previous morning and he had returned well before dark. He had found a family who were very interested in buying the land and cabin. They had just arrived in Rutherford Town and were afraid that their late arrival would prevent them from settling in before winter.

Hawk had given them directions on finding the cabin and now Molly paced impatiently, waiting for them to come and look over her home and decide if it was good enough for them.

The rattling of wagon wheels just outside the door alerted her to the arrival of her guests, and Molly carefully smoothed her hair into place and tried to shake some of the wrinkles from her dress as she approached the door. She tried to remind herself that it didn’t matter if they liked her or not, it was the cabin and land they had come to see.

Opening the door, Molly was greeted by the couple and their five children. Abel and Mabel Harris climbed from the wagon and walked to the door. Wondering where Hawk had disappeared to, Molly was forced to introduce herself.

“Yore hired hand told us yore place were fer sale,” Abel said in way of greeting. “Done told Ma that I ain’t sure but what we’ve wasted our time, him bein’ an Injun and all. Never did trust me no Injuns.” Molly felt the first flash of anger begin to simmer at the man’s attitude. “Yes, Mr. Harris, my place is for sale. Mr. Hawk made the trip to town on my behalf and I assure you, I trust Mr. Hawk beyond all else.”

Mabel Harris walked into the room and her nose immediately elevated several degrees. “Why, there ain’t no floor. Why, I’ve never …”

“Sure you have, Ma,” Abel interrupted. “The cabin back in ‘Ginie din’t have no floor either.”

If looks could kill, Abel would have been withering in agony on the floor from the scathing look his wife sent his way. Noting that he ignored the look, Molly tried to smother her own escalating temper.

“Our home in Virginia was temporary,” Mabel explained needlessly to Molly. “I intend for this move to be permanent and I ain’t livin’ in no cabin without a floor.”

“With winter breathin’ down yore neck, you’d better be happy with a roof over yore head!” Abel commented firmly. “A floor ain’t gonna do you no good iffen yore freeze yore unders off.”

“Really!” Mabel exclaimed in an appalled voice, her hand placed dramatically over her chest.

“You be excusin’ my wife, ma’am,” Abel said with disgust. “She met a real lady on the trip out here and now she’s athinkin’ she’s better than everlDody else. Kinda embarrassin’ but she’s the ma of them kids out there in the wagon and I guess I’ll just have to live with her til she gets this bee outta her bonnet.” He looked at his wife as if daring her to make another comment. “Now, by my way of thinkin’y’all done a lot of work gettin’ this place ready fer winter. I seed there ain’t no barn fer the animals?”

His tone of voice was halfway between a statement and a question, and Molly chose to answer with an explanation. “We ran out of time, Mr. Harris. The barn was the next thing to be built, but my husband was killed before the cabin was finished and Mr. Hawk completed the work mostly by himself.”

“He done a good job.”

“You poor thing,” Mabel murmured sympathetically. “Now you’ll be returning to your family.”