Rocky Mountain Oasis (13 page)

It had been two weeks since the morning of her last nightmare about Hank. Brooke was very thankful for the reprieve in her nighttime torment. The days began to fall into a pattern. Waking up with the call of the cock she would get up, make the bed, start the coffee, then head for the hen house to collect the eggs, always finding an empty bucket on which to stand.

By the time Sky finished the morning chores and came into the house to wash up, she had a sumptuous breakfast on the table. This day wasn’t any different than the others. Watching as he heaped hot cakes onto his plate, Brooke smiled. It never ceased to amaze her how much he could eat.

She was beginning to feel more and more relaxed in his presence. She still didn’t understand why, but this man had not mistreated her in any way and somehow, after having known and watched him for the last two weeks, she couldn’t envision him doing any such thing. He was always gentle and thoughtful. What made him different she wasn’t sure. He said it was Jesus in his life, but whatever the reason, she was very thankful for his kindness.

Her mind wandered to what he’d said, about letting Jesus bring her to a place of rest and peace. Was that even possible? Sky didn’t know about her past improprieties. Maybe God sent all the hard things in her life to punish her for the way she’d lived. Maybe God wanted her to suffer.
If I weren’t so bad, maybe my baby...

“How is Old Bess’s leg this morning?” she asked, refusing to allow herself to continue the thought.

Sky frowned as he swallowed a mouthful. “Not good, I’m afraid. I have tried every trick I know to get the swelling in that leg down, but nothing seems to be working.” He shook his head. “I might have to take her down to Orofino and have Doctor James look at her.”

Brooke nodded. She wanted to ask if he would mind if she looked at the cow’s leg but didn’t know what he would think of a woman working over an animal. Uncle Jackson would have punished her just for asking.

When he finally pushed his plate back and leaned into his chair, she said, “What? Only twenty pancakes?” She deliberately exaggerated. “There are still five on the platter. Won’t you have some more?”

He groaned and put one hand to his stomach. “Woman, you are going to be the death of me.” Then he winked at her. “You better quit cooking so well, or you are going to have the fattest husband this side of the Mississippi.”

She eyed his trim form as he got up to pour himself a cup of coffee and gave a snort of derision. “I can see. You’ve really put on weight since I got here.”

He froze, quickly looking down at his stomach. Then he laughed, shaking a finger at her. “You had me there for a second.” He took a sip of coffee, his eyes smiling at her over the top of the mug.

She gave him a cheeky grin, and his gaze suddenly turned thoughtful but did not leave her face.

At his serious, thoughtful look Brooke’s smile faded.
I have become far too comfortable with him
. Staring down at her plate, she moved a piece of pancake back and forth with her fork. She couldn’t look into those deep brown eyes and keep her thoughts straight. She vowed, yet again, not to let her guard down so easily.

Setting his cup on the table he reached for the door. She could feel his dark eyes still on her face when he said, “I’ll see you later.”

He was almost out the door when she blurted, “Do you mind if I look at her?”

“What?” He turned back.

“Would you mind if I looked at Bess’s leg?”

He shrugged. “Sure, I don’t mind. Do you want to come out right now?”

“No. I’ll come out as soon as I’ve finished with the dishes.”

“That’s fine. I’m going to be working in the south field today, so I won’t be around, but if you think you need my help, just ring the triangle hanging on the porch.”

“Thank you.” She was pleased he was willing to let her look at the animal and hoped there would be something she could do for the lame cow.

She rushed through the dishes, looking forward to getting out of the house for a while. The days during the past weeks had begun to be a bit monotonous. Once she had thoroughly cleaned the cabin, she had to search for things to fill her long days, so the prospect of caring for the cow was a welcome distraction.

Setting the last of the dishes on the shelf above the counter, she removed her apron and headed out to the barn with a song in her heart. The sun felt pleasantly warm as it beat down on her shoulders. A large bee rumbled by on its quest for flowers, and a fat squirrel, stocking up for winter, busily dug a hole in the ground a few yards away.

She pushed the squeaky barn door open and stepped into the dim interior. Old Bess lowed a welcome. Brooke loved taking care of animals. Uncle Jackson had owned a ranch and she had always wanted to be out in the barn, but he had deemed it an “unladylike” place and had forbidden her from ever stepping foot there. Often when he had gone away on business trips, she had ventured there, though, and Solomon, the old black stable hand, had welcomed her. He had shown her many different cures for sick animals, and she now hoped one of them would come in handy.

Stooping, she ran her hand softly over Bess’s injured leg. “Hey, girl,” she crooned, “do you have a sore leg? Let’s take a look at that and see if we can’t fix it.”

Her soothing words set the cow at ease as she checked over the leg. She began to sing as she examined the leg, probing here and there, trying to see exactly what the problem might be. Deciding on a warm poultice, she headed back to the house to mix it.

Within ten minutes she had the poultice mixed and plastered on the animal’s leg, and found that she was once again left with trying to find something to fill the rest of the day.

He lay on his belly in a thicket of brush, binoculars pressed to his eyes. As Brooke crossed the barnyard, he followed her with the glasses. “Mmm...Mhhh!” His gaze roved up and down her slender form. “She looks better today than she did last time. Mmm...Mhhh!” he exclaimed again. “That is quite the little tart. Maybe I have time for a bit of a diversion today.”

Turning the glasses, he scanned the surrounding fields. There was no one in sight.

Satisfaction curled through his belly. “Yes, I think I do have time for a little diversion today,” he said cheerfully. He started to move toward the house but saw Brooke pick up a pail and head into the forest.

Moving quietly, he followed.

8

Deciding that the day was too beautiful to waste indoors, Brooke picked up a pail and went in search of a berry patch. She really had no faith that she would find one, so was quite pleased when, a short way from the house, she came upon a large patch of blackberries at their peak of ripeness. Humming to herself she happily plopped the juicy purple berries into her bucket.

When she heard a horse approaching a moment later, apprehension crept across her spine. Should she have come out here on her own without telling Sky where she was going? What if she met Jason out here by herself? What would she do if he chose to get nasty again—with Sky nowhere around to come to her rescue?

Suddenly she noted how still the forest had become. There were none of the natural sounds that one normally heard in the woods, except for the wind rustling the tree tops.

Somewhere a twig snapped, and Brooke’s heart lodged in her throat. Her pulse raced, and she dropped into a crouch.

She looked around frantically for a place to hide but saw nothing. She was turning to flee when she noticed a Chinese woman riding her way. Brooke stopped, her heart rate slowly returning to normal.

The woman had jet black hair that was pulled away rather severely from her round face, accentuating the slant of her eyes. Her full, plump figure stretched a bright red dress adorned with gold, fire-breathing dragons at the hem and cuffs. Some Chinese characters were also embroidered down the front of the dress.

When the woman saw Brooke, she reined in her horse. As she swung down from the saddle, she eyed the brush behind Brooke as if to make sure she was alone. Her dark eyes then turned back to Brooke and she smiled pleasantly, her face lighting up. “Hello.” Her voice, low and melodic, held a heavy Chinese accent. “You come heeya by yourself?”

Brooke nodded.

“You no should come out by yourself in these woods. Many bad men.” Brooke felt a chill run up her spine but wasn’t about to admit that she had been thinking that exact same thing. Instead she noted practically, “You are out by yourself.” Her tone was not defensive, merely observing.

Again the woman smiled. “Men know my husband. He kill them if they touch me.” With a meaningful pat to the butt of a rifle in the scabbard of her saddle, she continued, “I haf protection.” She paused meaningfully. “And I not beautiful, like you.” Her eyes took in Brooke’s hair and form in one sweeping gaze, but Brooke saw no animosity there.

Holding out her hand, Brooke smiled. “I am Brooke Ba—, Jordan.” Taking her hand the plump woman replied, “I Jenny Chang.”

“Did you come to pick berries?”

She nodded. “I bake pies. Sell in town.” She grinned. “Men not say no to blackberry pie.”

Brooke giggled, imagining the profits this woman could make from selling pies to a bunch of bachelor miners.

They chatted freely as they continued to pick and Brooke realized for the first time how much she had missed female company in the last couple of weeks. She shared how she had come to be in the area, about her marriage to Sky, and some about her past.

She found Jenny’s story fascinating. She and her husband had emigrated from China many years before and made their way west. When gold was found in Pierce City in the early 1860s she and Lee, her husband, had moved here. The gold had not lasted long, but they liked the area and so had stayed, opening a Mercantile in town.

Brooke saw a sad light come into Jenny’s eyes as she said, “Lee, he hard man. But—” she shrugged—“he know how to make money. So we do good.”

“Do you like living in America?”

Jenny shrugged again. “I stay with husband.”

By this time both women had filled their buckets, so they seated themselves in the warm August sunshine on a fallen log as they talked. Brooke completely forgot about the time until she heard another horse approaching through the brush. When she looked up and saw Sky riding toward her, she flew to her feet and looked up through the trees, trying to see where the sun was.
How late is it?

Hiding in the bushes close enough to the women to hear their conversation, he cursed his bad luck. First, Chang’s wife had come on the scene and now this. He clenched his fist in frustration and eased back through the trees toward his waiting horse.

“There will be another day,” he promised himself. “Another wonderful day—with no interruptions.”

Sky reined to a stop a few paces away and slid to the ground.

“Sky, I am so sorry. We got to talking, and I lost track of the time.”

He nodded his acceptance of her apology even as he smiled at her companion. “Hello, Jenny. How are you today?”

“Fine.” She gave him a charming curtsy. “I thank you for letting Brooke keep company with me. She has made my birthday very enjoyable.”

“Well! Happy Birthday!”

Jenny nodded. “Thank you.”