Mary Connealy (61 page)

“I could go in and out quickly just as well as you could,” Grace said in exasperation. “And I could be cooking while you’re doing chores. It’ll save us time starting on the house.”

“No, it won’t,” Daniel said flatly.

“Yes, it will. How can you say it won’t?”

“’Cause it’ll slow us down trying to chew on those burned biscuits of yours.”

Grace gasped and looked up at him, her feelings hurt.

He laughed in her face.

“You’re just lucky I’m in a hurry, then.” Grace spun around before she could smile back at him. His handsome smile did strange things to her insides—made parts of her melt while the rest of her shivered. She didn’t understand it. She only knew that she’d felt this way yesterday, right before he’d gotten surly as an old grizzly bear. She decided she didn’t want to risk that again. Odd that her being happy seemed to make him decidedly unhappy.

She said over her shoulder as she walked away, “Well, if you have to do it yourself, then I suggest you get a hustle on, Mr. Reeves. The sun’s already lifting high into the sky.” She marched away then stopped short and turned back to him. “I thought you said the boys were racing to the outhouse.” She pointed to the little building, standing alone.

Daniel snorted. “No, Ike said Mark was getting first turn at the outhouse. The other boys just—” Daniel stopped talking.

Grace watched his cheeks turn red on his fair-skinned face. His blond hair, badly in need of a trim, hung down his forehead and to his collar from under the Stetson he always clamped on his head.

“What’s the matter?” She took a curious step toward him, amazed at the blush that colored his whole face.

Staring at the ground, he said, “Um…nothin’. It’s just…well…uh…boys can, well they can use an outhouse or not.” Daniel peeked up at her for one second, then turned and headed for the cave at a near run—a handy place to hide until he quit blushing.

Grace looked around. None of the boys was visible. It finally dawned on her what he meant. She turned and headed for the outhouse at a near run—a handy place to hide until she quit blushing.

G
ood news. They’ve hired a new teacher in Mosqueros.” Clay rode in from his trip to town.

Adam paused with his load of sloshing water buckets.

“Wash day?” Clay nodded at the bucket.

When had Clay gotten to be so long-winded? They were water buckets. What else could they be for? Adam shook his head in disgust and didn’t comment further on the obvious. “A teacher already? That was fast. Last I heard, they figured to close the school down until spring at least, while they hunted up a new instructor.”

“A guy came through figuring to settle in for the winter. He’s educated, so Royce convinced him to take over the school.”

Adam lowered the buckets to the ground. This was his fifth trip back and forth to the spring on this cold winter afternoon. He was keeping ahead of Sophie, so a break wouldn’t hurt a thing. “They just hired some drifter?”

Clay shrugged. “Surely the school board checked him out.”

“How?” Adam crossed his arms.

Clay jerked one shoulder. “I’d like to talk to him myself before I let him take charge of all those children. I’ll ask Royce about it at church.”

Adam nodded and picked up the buckets. “If he don’t shape up, we could just turn the girls loose on him.”

Clay’s hearty laughter followed Adam into the house.

The door swung open before Adam had to set the buckets down to grab the knob. Tillie greeted him with her shy smile and downcast eyes. She sure was a pretty thing.

He tore his eyes away from her and saw Sophie at the cookstove hoisting a steaming pail of water with a thick towel protecting her hands. Sophie was busy, but she still found time to smirk at him. He rushed over and relieved her of the pail.

“I can get it, Adam. It doesn’t weigh a thing.”

“Just behave yourself. I’d leave you to it if I wasn’t here, but as long as I’m nearby, let me do some lifting for you.”

Sophie sniffed in disdain, but she let him have his way.

Mandy knelt in front of the fire with a wooden tub and the washboard, scrubbing away to the sound of splashing water. Her fine blond hair escaped from its braid and hung bedraggled around her damp brow.

Beth hefted a basket, woven out of slender branches, off of the kitchen table. It was filled with damp clothes to take out in the cold to line dry.

Sally stood by the table, wielding a hot flatiron on the stack of clothes Beth must have just brought in. A steaming tub of water took up the rest of the table.

Beth went out the door.

Laura giggled as she dashed around them all; then she toddled her way toward the fireplace. Adam set the pail on the floor and rushed to grab the baby. Sophie would have gotten to her in plenty of time, but maybe she’d worry and that’d wipe the smirk off her face.

He caught Laura high against his chest and bounced her until she started shrieking with joy. “Clay just came home from town and said the school will be starting up again right away. They found a new teacher.”

The girls all groaned. “Ma, we don’t want…” All three of them set to whining until Adam thought his ears would bleed.

“They found someone already?” Sophie, despite a belly that looked far bigger than normal to Adam, took Laura and walked to the hearth to scold the little girl about the danger of fire.

Between the whining and the scolding, Adam almost had Tillie to himself. He stepped up close to her and whispered, “I’d like to go riding with you, Tillie.”

She’d been staring at the girls and him in the way she had, as if the whole family struck her with a sense of awe. When he spoke, she lifted her chin and started shaking her head.

Before she could say a word, he added, “I’d like to talk to you about my life here and the changes this country has seen since the war ended.”

A quick glance around the room told him no one was paying attention. “I think I can put your mind at ease about someone coming after you and taking you back as his property. There are decent men hereabouts. None of them would stand by while someone abused a woman or took her somewhere against her will, no matter the color of her skin.”

Her eyes widened, and her expression was equal parts doubt and hope. “Oh, if only that were true.”

“Come riding. There is a lot you’ve missed and maybe a lot you need to say, especially to a man who knows some of what you’ve been through. Anything we talk about would be private. You have my word on that.”

Tillie hesitated until Adam was sure she’d say no. Then her shoulders squared and her chin lifted. Adam had seen her do that before, as if she was having a talk with herself and reminding herself to be brave.

“I’d like that. Yes. You look cold. We could do it another time.”

“I’ve been carrying water buckets for a couple of hours. I’m warm from all the exercise. There’s no need to wait.”

“Right now I need to rinse the next load of clothes.”

Sophie came up beside them, stomach first. “No, you go ahead, Tillie. The girls and I can finish. Having all your help has put us hours ahead.”

Adam looked at Sophie, and there was no teasing smirk this time.

Only the kind eyes of a woman who was like a daughter to him.

Tillie insisted on staying. She could have stood up to him, but Adam knew she didn’t have a hope of changing Sophie’s mind once it was made up.

Sophie had her convinced in no time. She patted Tillie on the arm. “Take my coat.”

Adam was careful not to look Sophie in the eye as he held the door for Tillie. He never could abide a gloating woman.

Adam led the way toward the barn, with Tillie fussing with the fur bonnet Sophie had provided.

Finally, as they entered the barn, Tillie looked up. A black woman couldn’t blush so anyone would notice it. But Adam was sure Tillie had pink under those dark cheeks by the wariness in her eyes.

“I’m really sorry I beat you up, Adam. I hope you’re feeling better.”

His pride pricked at his temper. “You only got a hit in because I was being careful of you.”

“But your eye was barely open.”

“You didn’t hurt me a bit.” Adam stalked into the first stall and threw a bridle on the gentle mare the girls sometimes rode.

“And there was a bruise as clear as day on your—”

“I’m fine!” Adam forced himself to unclench his jaw before his teeth broke.

The mare widened its eyes and danced sideways. He worked on getting both horses ready then went to boost Tillie into the saddle.

She swung herself up so effortlessly he had to reassess everything he’d thought of her. Except he hadn’t thought of her…much. Well, some. A lot, honestly. Constantly.

They rode single file out of the wide barn door and headed up the trail.

“I’ve got something I’d like to show you.” Adam set a brisk pace, hoping the woman wouldn’t have enough breath to spare to apologize yet again. He skirted along the bluffs north of the house, right along the tree line in the general direction of Reeves Canyon.

When he came to an arroyo that cut down out of the hills, he followed it, noticing with relief that it hadn’t filled in with snow like Reeves Canyon had. He hadn’t been up this way in the winter before. He wasn’t sure just what to expect.

They rode up the mountainside through the gap, smoothed by runoff water, and entered a pretty valley slanting upward for several miles.

Adam stopped and stared at the snow-covered beauty. He still slept in Clay’s bunkhouse, but come spring this would be his home.

“I’ve homesteaded this land.” He swept his arm to encompass the whole valley.

Tillie gasped. “They let a black man homestead?”

Adam looked away from the site of his dream for the future. His own land, near his beloved family, the McClellens. “Yes, they did.”

“I can’t imagine.” Tillie looked from the land to Adam and back.

“There’s a lot you’ve yet to imagine, Till.” Adam turned his horse so he faced her, their legs nearly touching. “You’re not the first slave that wasn’t set free when the war ended.”

Tillie’s gaze locked on his. “I never said such a thing.”

“They can’t take you back. The law is on your side. But the best protection you’ve got is to tell me about it. What if they did try and take you—”

“They will.”

Adam ached when he heard the fear in her voice. “If they did, I’d come and get you. I’d bring a posse along. Clay would come—a lot of men would. You’d better tell me about it so I know where to come look.”

“If no one knows I’m here, Master Virgil—” She lifted her head, her neck stretched as elegantly as a swan. “I mean
Virgil
.” She spat the name. “I won’t call that man master ever again. He can’t find me.”

Adam nodded. “I think you’ll be safer if I know, but that’s your decision. When you trust me enough, you’ll tell me.”

“I…I do trust you, Adam. It’s not that.”

“It’s just a habit to keep things to yourself. And it’s a habit not to make yourself vulnerable. I know the feeling.” Adam nodded. “But maybe someday you’ll be ready. And in the meantime, if something happens to you, even if you don’t tell me where to hunt, we’ll still find you. There are some first-rate trackers at the McClellen place, so we’ll find you.”

Adam leaned closer to her. “You’re safe, Till. You’re free. I’ve never been a slave, but my best friends in the world were. I ranched with them for ten years. I know the difference between slave and free. Once you begin to trust it, you won’t believe how sweet the air smells.”

Tillie’s mouth curled down, and a breath caught in her throat. “Free. I’ve never really thought about it. I only knew about a month ago that the war had ended. He always kept me chained. I knew that the chain wasn’t strong. I was sure with work I could break one of the rustier links. But I could never figure out what the point of running was. Run where? To what? Then he told me about the war.” Tillie’s hand went to her face.

Adam could still see the slight swelling.

“He needed to hurt more than my body for once, and Mas—I mean Virgil—gloated about it. I bided my time; then I broke a link in my chains and ran. I hid out in a baggage car on a train and rode a long, long way. I had as much food as I could carry, no money, and only the clothes on my back. I just found a spot and tucked myself away. Then they found me and threw me off. I walked until I found a wagon train with a big line of supply wagons and hid in there for days on end. They found me, too, and threw me off again. I’ve been walking ever since. I’ve been out of food for days. I…You saved me, Adam. I wouldn’t have lasted through the night in that storm. And I thanked you for that by giving you a beating.”

“You didn’t give me a—”

“I’m so sorry.”

Her apology was so kind Adam decided to let her have her way. For now. “Apology accepted then. Just don’t make a habit of pounding on me, okay?”

Adam smiled, and Tillie smiled back. A glorious smile that lit up her whole face.

“How do you like my valley?”

“I love it.”

“What do you like best about it?”

Tillie’s smile widened, and Adam could sense that she was really having the first moment of understanding what it meant to be free.

“I love that it’s yours.”

And that about summed it up for Adam, too. “Let’s head for the ranch.”