Tobias squeezed his daughter’s hand. “Thank you, Jane. I’ll find Alvira and talk with her. Explain somehow.” He scratched at his head before focusing on her. “Now, what’s your news?”
She flushed and then beamed at him. “Come summer, you’ll be a grandfather.”
He sat in stunned silence a moment, before rising and tugging her in his arms. “Oh, my darling girl.” Rocking them side to side, he whispered, “Your child is blessed to have you as his mother. You’ll be such a wonderful mother. Like your mother, Ada.”
Battling tears again, she pressed her cheek against his chest. “Thank you, Father. I fear I’ll do as awful a job as I did with Duncan. That he or she will be spoiled and willful and a menace.”
“None of that talk,” he whispered. “You’re not alone this time. You have all of us now. Imagine Ben as a father. Would he have allowed any of Duncan’s misconduct?” He shook his head, as he cupped her cheeks. “You have nothing to worry about, my darling girl.” Kissing her head, he released her. “We must have a family gathering to celebrate.”
She beamed at him. “I’d love one, but so many are at the ranch.”
“Then we’ll go to the ranch. I know Frederick and Sorcha wouldn’t mind. Besides, I could benefit from Harold’s advice.”
“Let me speak with Ben, and we’ll determine a time.”
Chapter 9
Saturday dawned sunny, with a brilliantly blue sky. The day seemed even brighter, due to the sunlight glinting off the fresh snow. Although cold, the temperature was above freezing, and Alvira determined that she would wander outside a short distance, rather than spend the entire day inside, cooped up with her thoughts.
After pulling on warm clothing, she tied a purple scarf around her neck, fastened her evergreen wool cloak, and tugged on mittens. She trudged away from town, following the path in the road from a recent sleigh that had come or gone from town.
She forced herself to think of anything but Tobias. Anything but the way her soul had called out to his when she saw him two days ago in his store. She had yearned to join him in the back. Have a cup of tea. Talk with him. Fear of looking like a fool had kept her resolute in her determination to let him go.
As she stared up at the cloudless sky, marveling that she’d never seen a sky so blue before, she wished everything were different. That she had the courage to risk everything for him. However, without her reputation, she had nothing. She’d worked too hard to become self-reliant to throw it all away on a dalliance.
Her heart couldn’t take the rejection she feared either.
Looking around, she realized she’d barely walked half the distance to the sawmill, although it felt as though she’d trudged twenty miles in the snow. With a sigh, she decided to return home, as she couldn’t escape her thoughts outside either. A sudden burst of wind dislodged the scarf she’d loosened around her neck, sending it flying a few feet away.
Muttering, she chased after it, but the mischievous wind played with it, blowing it just out of reach when she lunged for it. As she almost grasped it—in ankle-high snow rather than the knee-high snow she’d struggled through—she belatedly realized that she stood on ice and shrieked.
With sudden horror, she heard a crack, and she felt the ice give way beneath her. Screaming at the freezing water on her legs, she grasped at anything that could keep her above water. Her long sodden skirts weighed her down, and she felt the subtle persistent current of a creek tugging at her.
“Help me, please!” she screamed. “Help!” Reaching with all her might, she grabbed onto a willow branch, pulling at it, as she attempted to heave herself from the icy water. Kicking with her legs, she finally hauled herself out, landing on her side, gasping for breath.
Her teeth chattered, and she shivered uncontrollably from the cold. Although a warm day in November, she knew she could freeze to death if she didn’t return to town immediately. With a groan, she pushed herself up, immediately stumbling to her knees, as she couldn’t feel her feet or legs.
In the distance, she heard the bells of a sleigh. “Help me!” she screamed. She waved her arms in the air, knowing this was the last bit of energy she had. “Help me!”
When the sleigh drove past without slowing, she screamed in despair, falling forward as a sob burst forth. Was this the way she would die? Unmourned and frozen to death in the wilds of Montana? She succumbed to her overwhelming fatigue, her last thought that she wished she’d fought harder for Tobias.
* * *
“Are you sure you didn’t hear someone yelling?” Shorty asked, as he sat beside his best friend, Slims, on the sleigh, heading out of town. These men were two of Frederick Tompkins’s best ranch hands, who had worked on the Mountain Bluebird Ranch for years. Slims had married Sorcha Tompkins’s cousin, Davina, so he was now officially family. Shorty still held out hope he’d find a woman to love, somehow, even though they lived out on the ranch, far from much contact with unmarried women. Today they’d left the ranch at first light to make it into and out of town, before the next storm hit, in an attempt to stock up on supplies.
“Short, you’re always imagining that you’re hearing a damsel in distress,” Slims said, with a wry smile. A giant of a man, he was nearly a foot-and-a-half taller than his five-foot-tall best friend. Although they were an incongruous pair, they had been best friends for years.
“Just because you already have your damsel,” Shorty muttered.
When a haunting scream echoed around them, Slims jerked on the reins. “Now that I did hear. Whoa,” he murmured to the horses. “Who would be out here?”
Shorty looked around and nodded to the side of the sleigh and to the visible footprints. “Those look fresh.”
After tying up the reins, Slims hopped out to join Shorty, following the tracks. “Who’d be foolish enough to leave the road?”
Shorty shrugged. “Someone not from these parts. They’d not know a creek’s over there, and it’s not been cold enough to freeze over yet.” Shorty waved in the direction the tracks traveled.
“Who’d go on a walk this time of year?” Slims asked. He saw the purple scarf in the distance. “Look.” He strode in that direction, frowning, as he saw the snow was already churned up. “Jesus and all the saints,” he murmured, when he saw the body in the snow. “Short!”
Hefting her in his arms, he grunted at the extra weight from her sodden clothes. “Gather the blankets. We’ll put her between us and bring her to Cailean’s and then get Helen.” He spoke of his plan, as he strode to the sleigh, setting her inside, sitting beside her. Shorty covered her in a mound of blankets and sat on the other side her.
“She’s not shiverin’, Slims,” Shorty whispered.
“I know. It’s bad. Let’s go.” He clicked to the horses and gave a flick of his wrists, urging them into motion. Soon he had turned around the sleigh, and they were back in town, pulling up at Cailean’s house beside the large livery. Slims watched as Shorty raced to inform Cailean of their arrival, before he ran to find Helen or the doctor.
Slims hefted the unconscious woman and carried her into Cailean’s house. “Where’s the warmest place? Here or the living room?” he asked, as he stood in the kitchen.
“Here,” Annabelle said, as she gasped. “It’s Miss Damon. What happened to her?”
Slims shook his head. “I don’t know. Short and I found her unconscious a way off the road. I think she was chasing after her scarf, and the creek wasn’t as frozen over as she thought. It’s been warm these past few days.”
Annabelle smiled gratefully at Cailean, who entered with a pile of blankets in his arms. He quickly made a pallet by the stove pumping out heat. While he did that, Slims sat her in a chair and shucked off her wet cloak.
“Leave her here with me. She wouldn’t want men here as I undress her,” Annabelle said.
Slims nodded, as he rested Alvira on the pallet. “I’ll wait in the living room.” When Annabelle clutched at his hand, he paused.
“Tell Tobias.” At Slims�
�s curious gaze, she whispered, “He’s sweet on her. He should know from you, not the town gossips.”
Slims nodded, moving to the living room to join Cailean for a moment. “Will you look after the horses? I’d hoped to make it in and out of town before the next storm, but I hadn’t expected to find Miss Damon.”
Cailean nodded. “You know you can stay in the small cabin, if need be. Thank you, Slims.”
With another deferential nod, Slims strode toward the Merc, which was nearly across the street from the livery. He entered, noting the other customers. After sharing an intense look with Tobias, he moved to the back room to wait for the man.
While he waited, Slims brewed a pot of coffee and sat near the stove, as he attempted to warm his feet and legs. “Dammit,” he muttered to himself. He hadn’t expected to traipse through the snow today. However, he knew he’d do it all over again—one hundred times even—if it meant Miss Damon would be all right.
“Slims,” Tobias said. “I don’t have long. Today is my busy day.”
“It’s good to see you, Tobias,” Slims said. “Shorty and I had a bit of an adventure on our ride out of town today. We came across an unconscious woman, although she wasn’t unconscious long ’cause we heard her call out to us.”
“Jane?” Tobias gasped, as he took a step toward the back door to race to his daughter.
Shaking his head, Slims stared at the man who’d been like a brother to him, when he had lived at the ranch all those years ago. He shook his head again, clearing it of the bittersweet memories of sitting beside Tobias, sharing a cigar, as they sat on the back stoop, staring at the stars. Talking about the ranch or nothing at all. He’d missed his friend. Clearing his throat, he said, “No, Tobias. Annabelle called her Miss Damon.”
“Alvira?” Tobias whispered, paling. “Vera was harmed?”
Slims rose, placing a hand on Tobias’s shoulder, for support but also to prevent him from falling. “Yes. She didn’t realize she’d stepped onto the creek, and she fell into the water. It hasn’t been cold enough for long enough for it to freeze well.”
“I have to go to her,” Tobias said, taking a frantic step toward the door, before stilling his motion. “I doubt she’d want to see me.” He glanced up at Slims, his gaze filled with shame and yearning.
Patting Tobias on the shoulder, Slims murmured, “Go to her. Let her know how much you care. I realized I couldn’t let Davina go last winter after our misadventure during the snowstorm, when she kept me from freezing to death.” He paused. “Be brave, Tobias. Be the man you were, before Katrina.”
Tobias stared at him for a long moment, his sorrowful gaze filled with self-loathing. “She’s been told about my past.”
Slims squinted, as he stared at his former friend. “By you?” At Tobias’s shake of his head, Slims murmured, “She should hear the unvarnished truth from you. Not the lies and innuendos of those who don’t know or understand.”
Taking a deep breath, Tobias asked, “Will we ever be friends again, Slims?”
“We already are.”
* * *
Tobias stood on Cailean’s front porch, thankful that he’d been accepted into the family due to Jane. That was one battle he didn’t have the energy to fight today. He took a deep breath and then pounded on the door. At the swift footsteps, he firmed his shoulders. When the door burst open to Cailean, he said, “I know you weren’t expecting me—”
Whatever more he would have said was cut off as Cailean gripped him in a fierce hug and tugged him inside to the warm living room. “You eejit, of course we were. I’ve been about to race to the Merc to shut down the damn thing myself. What took so long?”
Tobias swayed in stunned silence a moment, clearing his voice. “I—You want me here? Not just when you have Jane and Ben here for family dinners?” At Cailean’s swift nod, Tobias sat on the arm of a settee. “A few ladies came in, and I had to tend to them before I could close. They debated forever between lilac and lavender.” He raised a shaking hand to his chest, as the reality he truly was welcomed here—him, by himself—nearly overwhelmed him.
At Cailean’s amused grunt, Tobias tried to smile. “Tell me that you’ll let me see her,” he pleaded.
“Of course we will. She’s getting settled in a bedroom upstairs.” Cailean sighed and rubbed at his head. After a moment he moved to the interior living room door to shut it off from the rest of the house. Although he was a decade younger than Tobias, he had an air of authority about him, and he was the unofficial patriarch of the MacKinnon family. “You know you’re part of our clan?”
Tobias stared at him in confusion. “A rather distant part. The part you only wish to acknowledge under duress.”
“Nay,” Cailean muttered, rising to pace as Tobias’s words upset him. When upset, his control over his Scottish accent faded, and it became more pronounced. “Ye ken we consider ye family?”
“I’ve hoped,” Tobias whispered, his voice thickened by tears and yearning. “I’ve rarely thought myself worthy of such consideration.”
“Well, we consider ye worthy, an’ we refuse to be called a bunch of dunderheads, aye?” Cailean glowered at him, although a glint of humor flashed in his eyes. “That woman upstairs is nursin’ a broken heart. Did ye hurt her?”
Shaking his head, Tobias gripped his hands together, before bowing his head. “Not directly, no.” When the silence became pronounced, he murmured, “She was apprised of my past and determined she wanted nothing more to do with me.”
Cailean made a sound of disgust in his throat and began to pace again. “Ye told her that ye were a right bastard afore a few years ago, an’ she dinna like what she heard?”
“No, someone else told her about me.” His gaze was filled with sorrow. “She’s wanted nothing to do with me since.”
Cailean paused his pacing, pulling out a chair so he could sit eye to eye with Tobias. “Fight for your lass. Be with her when she wakes up, cold an’ terrified an’ alone in a strange bed.” He waited. “Fight for yerself, Tobias. So much has already been stolen from ye. Dinna let lies an’ half-truths steal what you could have now.” His hazel eyes shone with sincerity and concern. After a moment, he half smiled. “I’ve found the best way to warm a lass after she’s received such a shock is to cuddle her close.”
“That would be …” Tobias exhaled and sputtered to a stop as to what else he would have said. “I refuse to bring shame to her. To ruin her reputation.”
“No one kens what occurs in my house, Tobias. We dinna gossip.” Cailean squeezed Tobias’s shoulder. “A wee cuddle is acceptable, aye, but no’ more until ye’re married.” He raised his eyebrow, and Tobias jerked his head in acknowledgment. Cailean slapped him on his shoulder and motioned for him to rise. “Come.”
Following Cailean upstairs, they paused outside a door to the left at the top of the stairway. The door was ajar, and Annabelle sat on a chair, while their daughter, Skye, played with dolls on the floor. Skye looked up, saw Cailean, and immediately abandoned her dolls to be pulled into her father’s arms. “There’s a love,” he murmured, kissing her head.
Tobias watched the easy affection, and he fought a deep remorse for all he had lost with Jane. He yearned to have had such moments with her when she was a girl and reminded himself to be thankful for all he had now.
“You’ll have times like this with Jane’s child,” Annabelle murmured, astutely understanding his silent torment. She reached out, clasping his hand, giving it a squeeze. “Come. Take my seat. It’s time I started on supper. I have a feeling we’ll have a large gathering tonight.”
Tobias paled. “I’m not certain I’m up for a gathering.”
Cailean chuckled, as he kissed Skye’s brow, calmer now that he had his daughter in his arms. “We’ll bring you food and ensure you’re well. The gathering’s for us. Besides, if the townsfolk see us having a party, they have no reason to wonder why you are here, for they know you are always welcome.”
Tobias watched as the couple departed the ro
om with their daughter, quietly shutting the door behind them. Never had he thought to be shown such consideration again. He had believed all such esteem for him had long been lost.
With a sigh, he sat on the chair and focused on Alvira—ashen, with none of the customary bloom in her cheeks. He reached forward to touch her head. She felt chilled, and, when he dug under the blankets for her hand, that was ice-cold too. He recalled Cailean’s words about a cuddle, and he tugged off his boots, yanked off his coat and waistcoat, and crawled under the covers with her.
Rather than sighing with relief from so many blankets, he recoiled at how cold she remained. “Vera, love,” he murmured. Hadn’t they realized she was freezing? He pressed against her side, his legs rubbing hers and shivering at the coldness of her body. Her feet felt like ice blocks, although she wore more than one pair of socks, and he moved the heating bricks closer to her feet.
A shudder ran through her, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tight against his chest, gifting her with as much of his heat as possible, while they cocooned under the blankets. “Vera, you’ll be warm again. You’ll be well.”
“I know I’m dying,” she whispered in a barely audible voice.
“No,” he choked out. “No, you can’t die. I can’t lose you too.”
“I wish Tobias and I had been so much more before I died.”
“Vera,” Tobias said. “Vera!” he yelled. He watched as her breathing continued. However, now that he felt her forehead again, a warm flush seemed to have spread on her face, but this wasn’t the healthy flush of a woman warming from a misadventure. This was the flush of illness.
“Annabelle! Cailean!” he roared, holding a now-shaking Alvira in his arms. He kept the blankets tight around them, as he whispered sweet words in her ear, praying she would hear them. Praying she would understand how much she was adored.
Substitute Montana Bride: Bear Grass Springs, Book Thirteen Page 10