Sarah My Beloved (Little Hickman Creek Series #2) (40 page)

He gave a helpless shrug, leaned back in his chair, and folded his arms. "I'm afraid you caught me," he admitted with
a smile.

The girl heaved an impatient sigh. "Me and Seth want to
go fishin' sometime. Can you take us?"

"Fishing?"

"Yeah, Uncle Rocky. I know you gots some fishin' poles
'cause I seen 'em hangin' on the wall in one of yer sheds," Seth
confessed, his eyes big as saucers.

Rocky's gut twisted briefly when he thought about the few
times he'd taken Joseph down to Little Hickman Creek on a
fishing spree. At one time, the memories might have kept him
from such a venture, but now he marveled at how appealing
the whole idea sounded. "Fishing, huh?"

"Can we?" Seth asked.

"Yeah, can we, Uncle Rocky?"

Unsure what Sarah was thinking because she'd failed to
join in the conversation, Rocky went out on a limb. "Well now,
fishing sounds like a mighty fine way to spend the day tomorrow. What do you say, Sarah?"

At that, she whirled around to face the three of them, her
face a picture of bewilderment. She put a soapy hand to her
throat, leaving a trace of suds on her chin. "It's-awfully short
notice."

Rocky pushed back his chair and stood, the soapsuds
demanding attention. When he advanced on her, she quickly
turned her face to the sink. "Short notice?" he asked, walking
up behind her. "Did you forget about my suggestion this morning to take the day off tomorrow?" This he whispered in her
ear, drawing close enough to inhale her delicious scent. With
a quick swipe of his thumb, he removed the dab of lingering soap and didn't miss the slight shiver his touch provoked.

Oh, it pleased him that his closeness riled her, and so he
put a hand to the back of her neck and played with the fine
tendrils that had fallen from their loose chignon. He wished
she would wear her hair down as she'd done when he first met
her, even though it'd been prone to fly every which way, as
abundantly lush and curly as it was.

He leaned in closer yet, feeling her shoulders go taut. "We
could pack a lunch and eat it on the riverbank," he whispered,
"provided the weather continues its sunny, mild pattern."

"I don't..." At a loss for words, she did not finish her sentence.

"Can we go fishin' tomorrow?" Seth asked from the table.

"Shh-can't you see they're discussin' it?" Rachel issued.
"If you beg too much they won't take us."

Rocky noted a tiny smile peek through on Sarah's shapely
mouth. "I suppose we could go first thing in the morning, but
I'd need to be back by noon."

"Noon? Why so early?" Rocky asked. "I thought we'd make
a day of it." He turned her around to face him.

Even then, she avoided looking straight at him. "There
are-things-I need to tend to," she returned in a soft voice.

"Things?" He dipped his head to her level, which forced
her eyes to meet his. "What sort of things?"

"Well, I, um, need to make a trip into town, for one thing,
some errands to run. It shouldn't take me long, however. You
three could keep fishing, and once I returned we could resume
our outing, perhaps have a picnic." Her eyes went bright with
hope, as if her idea for breaking up the day was the best she'd
ever had.

Still, something in her manner didn't feel quite right. "And
I suppose you want to make this trip to town alone-again?"

When she gave a slow nod, he felt a scowl crimp his face.
Not wanting to make an issue of the matter, but puzzled by her
sudden yearning for independence, he merely tilted his head
and perused her face. "Any particular reason?" he asked.

She slanted her face upward, and the glow from a nearby
lantern mirrored itself in the flecks of her blue-green eyes.
"Reason?"

He shook his head, knowing the children had sharpened
their ears to hear every word. "Never mind. I suppose we can
work around your schedule. We'll all set out for the creek right
after breakfast and see what we can do about getting us a
bucket of fish for supper. While you're in town, ahem, running
errands, the three of us will pack a mouthwatering lunch. I
expect you'll be arriving back shortly after we've finished with
that, and then we can all go back out and find a nice shady
spot for eating our spread. How does that sound?"

"Yea! That's perfect," Rachel cheered.

"Can we play games, too?" Seth asked, jumping to his feet
and spinning circles.

Rocky glimpsed Sarah, whose face had softened withwhat was it? Relief? A smile formed on her lovely lips, and she
clapped right along with the children.

"I don't know why not," he replied, finding it hard to conceal his own eagerness.

Sarah had something up her sleeve, Rocky decided. Well,
he'd let her play her game for now, but, by gum, before the
rooster crowed day after tomorrow, he'd somehow cajole her
into sharing the big secret.

"I got me a fish!" Seth screamed early the next morning.

Everyone gathered around to observe the line on Seth's
bowed fishing pole. "Hang on to him, boy," Rocky coached.
"Nice and easy now."

"He's a big one," Seth announced, his little chest puffing
out with every twist of the spool. "Am I doing it right, Uncle
Rocky?"

Rocky smiled over the boy's head and steadied him with
both hands. "Couldn't do better if I was holding on to the rod
myself."

"Seth's catchin' a fish, Aunt Sarah," Rachel whispered.

"And a big one at that," Sarah returned.

As the reeling continued, Rocky lent encouragement.
"Don't quit," he urged, just as the fish made a giant leap from
the water. It looked to be a good foot long by Sarah's estimation.

Another five minutes passed while Seth and Rocky worked
together to haul the oversized rainbow trout onto the bank, its
body flapping and rotating to show its complete dislike for the
outside world.

"Is it gonna die?" Seth asked while staring at the slimy
creature.

Rocky chuckled. "I hope so. I'm not too fond of fish that
move around on my plate."

Seth continued gawking, hands shoved deep in his pockets. Rocky bent over the fish to remove the hook, then slipped
his index finger through the mouth and gill and lifted it up
for all to see. "Mighty fine catch."

"What are ya gonna do with it?" asked Rachel with a
somber face.

Rocky exchanged a smile with Sarah before answering the
girl. "Well, I was thinking to put him in this bucket of water.
Later, I'll show you how to scale and filet him." Both kids wrinkled their noses. "What?" Rocky asked. "You two aren't going
all soft on me, are you? Believe me, he's going to be a tasty
fellow." Rocky held the flapping critter high, forcing the kids
to examine it more closely.

Sarah giggled low in her chest, understanding their
dilemma. They'd wanted the experience of fishing, but now
questioned the notion of actually eating their catch.

"I never tasted fish before," Rachel said, her nose still
crumpled.

"Me neither," Seth exclaimed, suddenly pale. "Do we have
to eat him?"

"What?" Rocky's eyes moved from Rachel to Seth then
landed on Sarah. They seemed to dance with merriment.
"Isn't that why we got up at break of dawn?" he drilled. "So we
could catch us some supper?" Rocky put the squirmy creature
out in front of him.

"Don't we have other stuff to eat for supper?" Seth asked.

At that, Rocky let out a great peal of laughter. "So what
you're saying is you want to let this critter go."

"Well," Seth seemed to put the matter to deep thought,
"what if he has a wife?" Rocky's face flickered with interest. "If
Sarah got caught by Indians or robbers or somethin', wouldn't
you want them to let her go?"

As if understanding had suddenly dawned, Rocky bent at
the waist and peered into the boy's eyes, mouth quirking. "Put like that, it makes a great deal of sense to let this guy go." And
just like that, he walked to the river's edge and dropped the
creature into the water with a splash.

Near noontime, the foursome headed home, fishing poles
hoisted high, Rocky carrying the tackle box and empty bucket.
Along the way, a carefree kind of banter filled the air.

When they reached a wide-open clearing about half a mile
from their cozy farmhouse, Seth blurted, "Let's race to that big
tree over there." He pointed to a distant, leafless oak in the
middle of a stark meadow.

Rocky halted his steps and gave the lad a slanted gaze. "How
fair would that be? Look at everything I'm left to carry."

Sarah giggled. "But you have longer legs than we do," she
stated. More to the point, they were firm as tree trunks, she
observed when he wasn't looking. Furthermore, there was that
powerful set to his shoulders, the way the muscles strained
against his flannel shirt as he strolled along.

"Plus, you're big and strong," Rachel supplied. Sarah
looked at the child. Had she read her mind?

"And fast," Seth added.

Rocky tossed back his head and chuckled. "Why do I suddenly feel like I'm being baited just like that poor fish Seth
caught a bit ago?"

"We let him go, remember?" Seth said.

"Yeah, but you still caught him, made him look pretty silly
hanging from that fishing line."

"Come on, Uncle Rocky, let's race," Seth begged.

Rocky flashed all three of them a spirited grin then rested
his gaze on Sarah. "Are you up for a good race, Mrs. Callahan?"

Sheer giddiness coursed through her blood. "Of course.
The question is, are you?"

"Oh," he said with lowered tone, "now there's an appealing
challenge."

In a desperate attempt to escape his captivating grin,
Sarah put one bent leg in front of the other, lifted her skirts a
few inches from the ground and, with no warning, screamed,
"Ready, set, go!" taking off on a run well ahead of everyone
else.

"Hey, wait for me!" Seth yowled. But all Sarah could do was
focus on the large oak yards away, her utter resolve to outrun
everyone transporting a rush of adrenaline through her veins.

She ran as fast as her legs would carry her, Rocky's thundering footsteps trailing close behind, gathering momentum
the closer she came to her goal.

Still, she reached the tree ahead of him, huffing and puffing. When she bent over to catch her breath, hand on the
trunk to prove she'd won, she sensed his nearness, heard his
own jagged breathing and quiet ripple of laughter. "You think
you're pretty smart, don't you?" he said, placing his hand on
hers. She tried to slip it out, but he wouldn't let her go. Instead,
he drew in close, caressing her face and neck with his hot
breath, his massive body blanketing her from behind. "I didn't
know I married a runner."

She stood frozen in place despite the beads of sweat that
formed on her forehead. Out of the corner of one eye, she
glimpsed Rachel and Seth. Both had slowed to a walk, their
faces sagging with fatigue. Feeling a little guilty for having
tricked them, she managed a weak smile for Rocky. "You let
me win.

"Is that what you think?" he asked, his mouth coming ever
closer.

"You could have easily caught up."

"But I was enjoying the view from my vantage point." At
that, she drew back from him to see into his eyes. He was teasing her, and the gentle sparring made her blush.

"Aunt Sarah, you didn't give us a chance," Rachel said.

"I know, and I apologize. I don't know what got into me,"
she declared with as much innocence as she could muster.

"Can we have another race that's fair?" Seth asked.

Sarah laughed. "I don't think I'm up for it, but maybe you
two could race each other home. I can see the smoke rising
from our chimney up ahead."

Seth squinted to get a better view. The little house and
the hodgepodge of storage sheds, chicken yard, and fenced-in
corrals looked warm and inviting nestled amidst an assortment of trees and shrubbery. Horses and cows roamed freely
on the hillside, nibbling at new grass. "I see it. Want to race,
Rachel?"

"Sure," she said, suddenly all full of enthusiasm. "Tell us
when-um, not you, Aunt Sarah. This time Uncle Rocky will
say, `Ready, set, go."'

"That seems only right," Rocky said with a wink.

Once the children set off, Rocky surprised Sarah by taking
her hand. For a time neither spoke. They just strolled and
watched as the children ran through the open field.

"They seem happy as two larks."

"Don't they?" Sarah said.

"You've made it so, you know," Rocky said, giving her hand
an extra squeeze. She sensed his eyes moving over her face but kept her own gaze on the children.

"You've played a bigger part than I. They love you very
much."

"You made a home for them-for all of us," he said, ignoring her attempt to give him equal praise. "I don't know as I've
ever thanked you for that."

She dared to look at him then and found his eyes full of
warmth. "No need," she said simply. "I should be thanking
you.

"Me?" He pulled her to a stop. "Why me?"