by Tracey Lyons
“Yes. The thing about me, Sheriff, is I don’t like to leave things unfinished.” Chase rubbed the toe of his boot across the floorboards, continuing to look out the window. “Smitty needs to know I’m going to be keeping a close watch on him.”
Curtis moved away from the window. “Maybe. I still don’t want you causing any undue trouble.”
Chase snorted. “Lawman, I don’t think you should be worrying so much about me.”
“City boy, if I want to worry about you, it seems to me that’s my business.” He turned around slowly. “You’d best get to your packing, Malone. You’re leaving on the first train out tomorrow.”
Chase felt uneasy. He knew exactly how Hannah was going to view his abrupt departure. She’d be suspicious, pure and simple. This little jaunt to New York City would do little to endear him to her. He watched as Hannah and Julia exited the Mercantile, walking arm-in-arm up the shaded street. Hannah tilted her head back and laughed at something Julia said.
Chase hoped that this trip to the city would be the answer to his prayers. Maybe after this he would be able to tell Hannah who he was. The hell with it! He was going to tell her everything when he came back. He’d have to trust their feelings for each other would be enough to get them through the rough times ahead.
Grabbing his hat off the peg near the dresser, he went out to catch up with Hannah and Julia. By the time he reached the street they were nowhere in sight. He walked over to the Mercantile to ask Mrs. Curtis where they’d gone.
“They’ve headed over to our house. Julia is finalizing her wedding plans, and Hannah’s helping out.” Mrs. Curtis turned back to the leather-bound ledger that was opened on the countertop.
“Good day to you, Mrs. Curtis.” Chase tipped the brim of his hat politely to the top of her head.
Without looking up, she replied absently, “You have a nice day too, Mr. Malone.”
The sun had risen above the tree line and was just peeking over top of the buildings of Main Street, North Creek. Chase turned, walking with the sun warming his back in the direction of the Curtis’s white clapboard home.
He heard their voices long before he saw the two women. Chase slowed his pace. He found them sitting around a white wicker table. The contrast between the two friends never ceased to amaze him. Julia, her blond hair always styled just right, sat in a pink-striped dress. The skin on her hands was lily white, while her cheeks carried a tinge of natural color. The way she sat so prim and proper, poised on the edge of the matching wicker chair, Julia Curtis looked as if she were posing for an advertisement for peppermint candy sticks. Then there was Hannah. No matter if she was dressed in her long pants and shirts, or wearing the proper clothing of a lady, she would always look a little untamed. Rather fitting for the life of an Adirondack woman—his Adirondack woman—Chase thought, smiling to himself. Today her long black hair was swept back from her face and tied off in a blue ribbon. Unlike Julia’s fair skin, Hannah’s had turned a light shade of tan from the summer sun. She looked beautiful.
Julia spotted him walking up the pathway. “Why, Chase, what brings you here on such a glorious morning?”
Taking his hat off as he came up the porch steps, he waited until he stood before the two of them, replying, “I came to speak with Hannah. I hope you two ladies won’t mind the interruption of your little tea party?”
“It’s not a tea party.” Hannah smiled at him.
He had the sudden desire to ravish her right here. From the seductive look in her eyes, he could tell she felt much the same way. Trying his best to keep things on an even keel, he smiled at her. “I apologize for my intrusion.”
Resting his hand on the back of her chair, he leaned close to her. He could smell the scent of the lavender soap that she’d washed with so recently. Brushing his lips against her earlobe, he whispered, “It’s important.”
He felt the tremor that ran through her body. Pushing herself away from the table, Hannah stood, bumping into him.
“I suppose I could give you a few minutes of my time. Julia, if you’ll excuse me?” Hannah’s voice quavered.
“Certainly.”
Hannah led him around to the spacious back yard, where wild blackberries and strawberries grew along the split rail fence. They walked in silence, stone-cold silence, he thought.
Hannah stopped suddenly, at the end of the fence line. Turning, she faced him, her sapphire eyes studying him. When her gaze settled on his, he found that her desire was overshadowed by something else.
Hannah twisted her hands together. He supposed that being together for the first time after making love was awkward for her. He wanted to tell her he understood her feelings, but he couldn’t.
Hannah took a deep breath and then slowly blew it out. “Well, you said you had to speak to me. Go ahead.”
He reached out his hand and stroked the long silken strands of her hair. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“You haven’t so much as spoken to me or come to see me for two days, Chase!” Tears sprang into Hannah’s eyes and she swiftly wiped them away with the back of her hand.
“My God! Hannah, I am so sorry. I never meant to hurt you.” Reaching for her, he pulled her into the circle of his arms. This was not going at all the way he’d hoped. On top of all this, he’d yet to tell her he would be leaving.
Her forehead rested on his shoulder. “I don’t know how I’m supposed to act around you.”
“Hannah, you don’t have to act any differently then you did before.” He continued to rub his hands up and down her back. “It’s your spunk that attracted me to you in the first place.”
She lifted her face and looked up at him. Her eyes searched every inch of his face. He could see her doubt, and he knew that his leaving would only serve to make her distrust him even more. “I’m not sure,” she whispered.
“You’re not sure about what?” He held on to her tightly.
She sighed. “We’re different now.”
“It’s going to be better between us.” He wished with all his heart that there was something he could do to convince her of this, but he realized that Hannah was going to have to trust him. “You said there was something important you had to tell me.”
Reaching for her hand, he brought it to his lips, kissing her open palm. Again he felt a tremor run through her. Whether or not she wished it, her body responded to his touch. Chase saw no way out of this mess except to tell her the truth, and he still couldn’t do that. Not even after what they’d shared. He wouldn’t betray his confidence to Radley and the Customs Department.
Releasing her hand, he captured Hannah’s face between his hands, forcing her to look at him. “I have to go back to New York City.”
Hannah said nothing. She blinked away the tears that sparkled in her eyes, and when she looked at him again, the only thing he saw was a woman trying her damnedest to keep her pride intact.
“How long will you be gone?” she asked, her voice surprisingly calm.
That worried him.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. A week or two at the most.”
He waited for the questions that were sure to follow. Why? What did he need to do in New York that was so important? But the questions never came. Instead, Hannah did something that stunned him. Wrapping her arms about his waist, she hugged him close. He responded by kissing her lips, at first tenderly, and then crushing her to him because he couldn’t bear to let her go.
“Oh God, Chase. Just come back to me,” Hannah breathed when he finally released her.
“I’ll be back, I promise.”
Chapter Fifteen
Never one to sit idle, Hannah had risen early. After a fitful night’s sleep, she decided the best thing to do was to keep busy. Thoughts of Chase and all the reasons why he’d left her so abruptly kept churning around in her mind, until she thought she’d go crazy from it all. Working outside in the barn would be good for her. The fresh air would help to clear her foggy brain.
It was evident within the firs
t few minutes that peace and solitude were not to be found. The moment she lifted her face to be kissed by the morning sun, her thoughts were of him. As soon as she smelled the sweet summer breeze that carried the scent of honeysuckle and lavender, she was transported back to Crane Pond—back to the day she’d given herself so freely to him.
When she crossed the yard and entered the barn, she reached out to open Bonnie’s stall and found her hands were trembling. A soft moan escaped her when she realized how she longed for his touch. She wanted to feel the hot, hard planes of his chest beneath her cool hands.
Hannah brought one hand to the place on her breast where her heart lay beating. Just the thought of their lovemaking made her heart pound. Even now, she could feel her pulse racing wildly.
Pushing the stall open the rest of the way, Hannah greeted her horse’s friendly neigh by throwing her arms about Bonnie’s neck. “Bonnie, what am I going to do?” She stroked the mare’s soft hide. “I suppose I could get to work on cleaning out your stall.” The horse nuzzled the open palm of Hannah’s hand, greedily taking the sugar cube from her.
“That’s my good girl.” She patted Bonnie’s neck and moved about the stall. Checking to see that the horse had a supply of water, she went back out into the barn and, grabbing the pitchfork off the wall, tossed it into the wheelbarrow.
Back in the dim stall, Hannah proceeded to toss pitchfork full after pitchfork full into the wheelbarrow. With each thud of manure her frustration grew, until finally it became anger. What was Chase doing in the city? Didn’t he care for her enough to tell her why he had to leave?
She stopped her work and gripped the handle of the pitchfork between her gloved hands, resting her chin on the top of her knuckles. She hadn’t asked him those questions because she didn’t want to know the answers.
It was easier not to know, to go on believing that everything would work out between them. To think that Chase Malone would come back to her, telling all of his secrets. What then? Hannah wondered, what then? Would she be able to take him back into her arms once more?
She sighed. “Oh, Bonnie, when did it all get so complicated?”
Laying the pitchfork on top of the pile of manure, Hannah pushed the wheelbarrow outside. Going around the corner of the barn, she tipped the wheelbarrow on end, adding the load to the pile of steaming manure.
It wasn’t until she had finished laying the fresh straw bedding down in the stall that the idea struck her. She could use this time during Chase’s absence to find out exactly what he wasn’t telling her. She finished up, saddled Bonnie, and rode out to visit with Sallie McCleary.
As she came upon the McClearys’ property, she found herself awash in guilt. All those months ago she’d started her crusade to keep Tyler Mining from ruining the mountains. Over the past three months she’d let her feelings for Chase come between her and helping out her neighbors.
Approaching the small homestead, one would never have known what lay just beyond the next ridge of hills. The one and only physical change Hannah noticed was a service road that skirted alongside the McClearys’ yard. Even though the roadway was neatly hidden by a tall stand of pine trees, she imagined the rattle of the wagons over the rutted path all day long could begin to wear at one’s nerves.
Nudging Bonnie along, she rode into the McClearys’ yard. A child-sized wooden wagon stood near the front porch. Hannah dismounted and led Bonnie to the hitching post and, after looping the reins around the board, proceeded up the plank steps. Just as she was about to knock on the worn screen door, she was startled by a bubble of laughter coming from behind a hedge of forsythias.
Turning, she slowly walked over to the far edge of the narrow porch.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Softly Hannah chanted the childhood rhyme. A smile spread across her face when she recognized the two youngest members of the McCleary clan.
Parting the branches of the bush, the towheaded boy and his younger sister stepped up on the porch to greet Hannah, their faces and fingertips berry-stained.
Jack popped another blueberry in his mouth. Giggles came from Sara as she hid in the shelter of her brother’s back. Thrusting a small hand forward, Sara offered, “Would you like a berry?”
Taking a tentative step forward, Hannah gazed down at the mushed blueberries. Trying to be as diplomatic as she could without hurting the children’s feelings, she replied, “No, thank you. I’m still quite full from breakfast.” She looked beyond the two strawberry-blond heads. “Is your mother home?”
“She’s out back hanging up the laundry,” Jack answered. Sara ran off, yelling at the top of her little lungs, “Ma, Ma! We’ve got company.”
Taking a minute to smooth down the wrinkles of her evergreen riding skirt, Hannah listened as Sara and Sallie made their way back around to the front of the house.
“Good morning, Hannah.” Sallie McCleary, her stomach just beginning to swell with her third child, gave Hannah a quick hug.
“Sallie, I had no idea you were expecting again!” Hannah returned her neighbor’s hug affectionately.
Linking her arm through Hannah’s, Sallie led her into the small log-framed home. “The baby should arrive in the early spring. Just in time for the new house to be finished.”
Hannah’s smile froze on her face at Sallie’s announcement. “You’re moving?”
Sallie gestured for her to sit on the wooden chair at the head of the long plank table. Hannah sat with her hands clasped firmly in her lap. “Yes, we’re building a house down at the base of the ridge.” Sallie set a kettle to boil on the stovetop. Without turning around she continued, “It’s a wonderful spot along the edge of a small stream. There’s a glade where the children can run and not worry about being caught under some wagon wheel as it rolls by.”
She knew the place Sallie was referring to well. It was where she and Chase had danced in the moonlight the night of the barn dance.
“I’d hoped we could stay here and add on to this place, but Joe wants to build a new house. The glade and stream will be a fine spot to raise the children.”
“Oh, Sallie. I’m so sorry.” Hannah didn’t quite know how to reply to her neighbor who was so obviously torn about the move.
“Don’t be, Hannah.” Sallie placed a tea service on the table. “It’s for the best. We’re getting money from the mine just like Mr. Malone promised we would. “Look,” she indicated the rose-print tea cups and matching pot. “I’ve even been able to buy a few nice things, just for me.”
Hannah ran her finger around the rim of the empty cup. “I should’ve been more persistent.”
“Why? Joe made the deal with Harold Tyler while you were away at school. It really doesn’t concern you now, Hannah.” Sallie shrugged, and went to pour the boiling water over the tea leaves she’d tossed into the teapot.
One thing was certain, Sallie McCleary seemed resigned to the changes that had come about over the past year. Hannah marveled at how complacent she seemed to be. She knew she’d never, ever feel like that.
Hannah toyed with the teacup once more, hesitant to broach the subject of the mine. “I was up at the mine a couple of weeks ago. I can’t believe what they’ve done to the land.”
“I heard about how you got hurt. I’m sorry I didn’t get down to see how you were faring. I was fighting a bout of morning sickness. As a matter of fact, Joe had to stay in from the farming one morning just to help me through.” She smiled reassuringly at Hannah as she poured the tea. “That Mr. Malone seems like a nice fellow. Haven’t seen him around lately.”
“He’s been in New York City.” Hannah sipped at her tea. She hoped Sallie wasn’t going to pursue the subject of Chase Malone.
She couldn’t bear to talk about him, not now when she was trying to find out what he was keeping from her. It would be best if she could push aside her growing sense of longing for the man. She wouldn’t admit it to anyone, not even Julia, but she missed Chase so much it was like a raw ache had taken hold of her heart.
&n
bsp; Hannah hadn’t realized she’d shut out Sallie McCleary until she heard her say,“…it’ll be nice not to be awakened in the middle of the night by the sound of the wagons rolling down the hillside.”
“What did you say, Sallie?” She tried to still the tremor in her hands.
“The wagons. Sometimes they work during the night moving those darned garnets. Can you imagine?” Gazing out the small window behind Hannah’s back she added, “Although, once or twice I thought I heard the sound of a horse. Just a lone horse and rider moving through the darkness. I tried to wake Joe, but every time I did the horse would be gone and he’d try to tell me I was just hearing things.”
Trying to keep the tension out of her voice, Hannah swallowed and took a deep breath. “How often do you think you were awakened from the sound?”
“Two or three times, I’d say. No more than that.” Sallie shrugged.
Hannah finished the last of her tea. Why would anybody in their right mind work in these hills in the dead of night? Both women’s attention was diverted to the doorway of the cabin when the children came clamoring into the house.
“Ma, Ma! Jack pushed me in the dirt,” squealed Sara, who threw herself headlong into her mother’s lap.
“Now, Jack. Why did you do that?” Sallie was trying her best to suppress a grimace at the sight of her young daughter with her little cream-colored pinafore covered in barnyard filth.
Shrugging his shoulders up and down once in a swift motion, Jack replied, his face grim, “I dunno’.”
“Go wash up at the back pump and then come in and go to your room. I think perhaps you need some time to think about how to be a better brother.”
Hannah put her hand over her mouth to smoother a grin, for she had looked down at Sara just in time to catch her smiling in delight at her brother’s punishment.
Hannah rose from the table. “I could stay for a while and help out or just keep you company.” She removed the cups and saucers from the table, placing them away from the children’s reach.