Caleb

by Callie Hutton

  The cold water woke him up. He turned his head and drank greedily from the cool stream. He reached out for the kitchen towel, and when he felt nothing, pulled his shirt off to dry his hair and face.

  Tossing the shirt into the corner, he pulled out a chair, turning the back so he straddled it. “Say your piece, little brother, and make it quick. I’m not in the mood for one of your lectures.”

  “I love you, Caleb.”

  Caleb groaned and dropped his head, resting his forehead on the chair back. Lord, this was going to be even worse than he’d thought.

  “I admired you from the time we were little boys.”

  “You were never a little boy. You were born wearing a suit and carrying a Bible.”

  “I’m serious.” He took a sip of coffee. “However—“

  “Here it comes.”

  “—the last few years of your life have left me with a sense that you’re lost.”

  “Not true, preacher. I’m sitting right here.” He rose and grabbed a mug from the shelf over the stove and poured coffee. He gulped it down, enjoying the burn as it slid down his throat.

  “Look, Gideon. I know you mean well, and that’s why I’m not grabbing you by your shirt collar and tossing you out the door. But whatever sermon you’ve been practicing since this morning when you dumped me on my bed would be better saved for your next Sunday service.”

  “Why do you distrust women so much?”

  Caleb snorted and gulped more coffee. “I don’t distrust women.”

  “I think it’s because—“

  “Don’t care what you think.”

  “—you’ve always associated with women who were easy. Who fell for your lines and charming ways. Because of that, you think any woman who might have made one mistake in her youth would automatically turn into a trollop.”

  “Mind your own business, little brother. You’re treading on dangerous ground here. What happens between me and my wife is none of your business.”

  “What makes you think I was referring to Lily?” he whispered.

  “Because I know your meddling ways. I’m sure after you found me in the saloon, you sniffed around until you found Lily in the hotel, and decided to patch things up. This is my marriage, and my decision.”

  “I thought this was Lily’s marriage, too.” He slapped his thighs and stood. “I guarantee you will be sorry when she gets on that train in two days.”

  “You’re leaving, I hope?”

  Gideon shook his head in disgust and walked to the door. As he stepped into the bright sunlight, he turned. “I have one question to ask you.”

  When Caleb ignored him, he said, “Do you love her?”

  “Do you love him?” Mrs. Fraser stared directly into Lily’s eyes from across Ruby’s kitchen table.

  Gideon had brought in the big guns today. After a night of tossing and turning in the pleasant bedroom they’d given her, she cleaned her face and her teeth and headed to the kitchen to find Gideon’s mother settled in as if she planned to stay until Lily ran screaming from the room. The woman who started this whole thing.

  “That doesn’t matter. Caleb is not happy with me. He wasn’t happy with how you roped him into marriage, and . . . neither was I.” She swiped her eyes. “I deserved to have a man who actually wanted me. Not someone who was cajoled and tricked into it.”

  Mrs. Fraser’s shoulders slumped. “I’m afraid you’re right, dear. All I wanted was my sons settled and happy. I guess I hadn’t thought it all the way through, to how the brides would handle my plan. But I sincerely believe you and Caleb are a fine match.”

  Lily snorted. “I doubt Caleb thinks so.”

  Her mother-in-law took her hand. “Ruby told me what happened when you were younger and how Caleb received that news.”

  Lily gasped and tried to pull her hand away. How could Ruby do that to her?

  “Before you get upset, Ruby confided in me that she was in a family way when she arrived, and I knew Gideon was the right man for her. He is a very loving and forgiving man.”

  “Well, since he and Ruby are doing just fine, I don’t see how that helps me and Caleb. Unless Gideon wants to commit bigamy and marry another fallen woman.”

  “You are not a fallen woman. You are a fine young woman who made a mistake that others have done.”

  “Mrs. Fraser, I understand you are only trying to help, but frankly, this is between Caleb and me. He’s made his decision, and unless he has a change of heart—which I doubt—he is expecting me to be on that train tomorrow.”

  “Promise me you won’t leave. You have to give it more time. Caleb does things without thinking them through.” She blushed. “I guess he’s a bit like his mama.”

  Despite Gideon’s generous gesture and Mrs. Fraser’s obvious belief that this would all work out, letting that train pull out of the station tomorrow morning with her not on it, seemed more foolish every minute. She was finished with Caleb—and all men. She would trade her ticket in tomorrow for another place. Where no one knew her.

  No longer would she be searching for someone to take care of her. There was no reason she couldn’t take care of herself. After all, she’d been doing it for years, anyway. Marriage and a family were simply not in her future.

  She would find a job, rent a little house.

  And get a cat.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Lily left her trunk and valise on the station platform and withdrew her ticket from her reticule. The man behind the counter frowned at her when she slid the ticket across the desk. “No refunds on tickets, miss.”

  “No. I don’t want a refund. I want to exchange it for a ticket somewhere else.”

  “Where?”

  “I don’t know.” She hurried on at his frown. “Can you tell me how far the money from this ticket can get me going in the opposite direction?”

  He reluctantly pulled out a train schedule and checked it. “This will get you a ticket to Sacramento, California.”

  “Do you know anything about Sacramento?”

  “Nope. But I got a line of people behind you that’s waiting for tickets. Do you want the ticket to Sacramento or not?”

  She chewed her lip. Sacramento conjured up images of a good sized town. Would she be able to find work there? If there was no job for her in the library—if the town even had one—she could possibly work as a maid in a hotel, or even a mercantile or dress shop.

  “I’ll take it.”

  She accepted the new ticket from the clerk and stepped out of line. Her heart pounding, she checked the time on the large chalkboard hanging on the wall next to the door. The train for Sacramento didn’t leave until four o’clock. She checked her timepiece. Ten-thirty. A half hour before the eleven o’clock train to Chicago was due to leave. The train Gideon thought she was leaving on.

  Not wanting to face Mrs. Fraser’s disappointment at her not staying, she had Gideon time their departure for the train station when her mother-in-law was assisting Ruby with her bath. She’d said her goodbye to Ruby earlier while Mrs. Fraser milked the cow.

  There must have been something in her eyes that Ruby and Gideon had both seen because neither one of them tried to talk her out of it. Despite their assurances that with the extra rooms, having her there was no hardship, she refused to settle in like some spinster aunt. If she was going to be unmarried she would establish her own household and provide for herself.

  Besides, she had already suffered through weeks of disgrace and pity in North Grove, she wasn’t about to deal with all the smirks from Caleb’s former girlfriends every time she left the rectory.

  Now all she had to do was keep herself from being discovered by any of the Frasers until four o’clock. Although she’d made her decision last night to change her ticket, she hadn’t mentioned it to Gideon or Ruby. Too embarrassed to tell them why she couldn’t return to her town, it was best if they thought she was headed back to North Grove.

  It wasn’t as if Caleb would come chasing after her.

  He’
d already had almost two days to cool off and change his mind. Obviously he wasn’t going to do that. As much as she hated not being there to help Ruby since the doctor had ordered bed rest for her, Mrs. Fraser would step in. They would all get along just fine without her.

  Including Caleb. Just as she would get along just fine without him.

  She ran her palms up and down her arms. The station wasn’t very warm and it would be a long wait. Perhaps she could slip over to the coffee shop and get a bite to eat. She’d been too nervous leaving Gideon’s house this morning to eat any of the eggs and biscuits Mrs. Fraser had fixed. After Gideon had dropped her off, once again asking her to change her mind, he headed to visit with a member of his congregation who was feeling poorly. Life would go on.

  For her, too.

  Lily settled at a table with a clear view of the street, across from the train station. The area around the station bustled with activity. So many people going so many places. Surely there was somewhere she would fit in. Once she settled into her new home she would write her sister, Patty, and maybe plan a visit with her after a while.

  She ordered a bowl of oatmeal and coffee. She counted her money, but Caleb had been generous in what he’d given her to get settled in her new town. However until she was certain she’d have a paycheck coming, she needed to watch her pennies.

  Most likely a room in a boarding house would be best for her until she got a feel for the town and found employment. Again she hoped her new town was big enough to have jobs and a boarding house. Maybe she should have spent some time figuring out where she would end up instead of quickly taking a ticket to a place she knew very little about, and the train clerk knew nothing about.

  Her stomach knotted up and she pushed away the half eaten oatmeal. What in heaven’s name was she doing? All right, she would suffer embarrassment at returning to North Grove, but to go to a town she knew nothing about, and where she knew no one? Sweat beaded her forehead and she had to swallow several times to keep down the little bit she’d eaten.

  She paid her bill and left the coffee shop. A train pulled into the station. She checked her timepiece again. Ten fifty-five. That had to be the Chicago train. Should she run back and switch her ticket again? Would the man at the counter even let her do that? She remained frozen where she stood, unable to make up her mind.

  A spurt of panic moved her and she tugged her skirts up and raced across the busy street, dodging horses and carriages. Passengers were climbing aboard the train, others kissing family members goodbye before they mounted the steps. A woman leaned out the window waving a handkerchief at a man who stood below her.

  Lily flung the door of the station open and groaned at the length of the line waiting to talk to the clerk. Terrified now at being left here, she tapped her foot, casting nervous glances as more passengers boarded the train. The line moved slowly to the desk clerk. The whistle on the train blew just as her turn came. “I changed my mind. I want to switch my ticket again.”

  The man looked at her as if she had just announced herself to be Queen Victoria. “Where to this time, miss?”

  “Chicago.”

  His eyebrows rose. “The one you just turned in?”

  “Yes, please. And do hurry.”

  He shook his head. “You can’t change your ticket again. The train’s about to leave.”

  “Yes. I know that. Which is why you have to hurry.” The whistle blew again and Lily leaned in. “Please. You must hurry.”

  “Look, lady, I’m real sorry for your trouble, but if you turn around, you’ll see the train is leaving the station. Unless you’re one of them sprinters that run in them races, you ain’t gonna make that train.” He spit a stream of tobacco juice on the floor next to him.

  She turned, and the man was right. The train started off slowly, jerking as it made its way, until it turned into a smooth ride, the cars passing one after another by the window, away from Angel Springs.

  “Miss, can you please move aside, I have other passengers to deal with.”

  Her shoulders slumped, she left the line and sat on a wooden bench next to a small stove giving off heat. She rubbed her hands and tried to decide what to do next. Her brain was flat out muddled. Maybe a walk in the cool air would help.

  She left the building, into the sunshine. As she strolled along, passing the townsfolk who were busy with their lives, taking care of families and their business she tried to make a decision about her life. She clutched the ticket to Sacramento. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t come up with a plan that appealed to her.

  About a block and a half into her walk, all her thoughts ended abruptly when an explosion ripped the air, actually shaking the ground. She grabbed a post to steady herself as she turned to see a fireball rise in the sky about five miles outside of town.

  Caleb awoke disoriented again. This time he hadn’t drunk himself into a coma in town where his nosy brother would be poking into his business. He’d put in a full day on the ranch, then settled in with a bottle to drink his supper.

  Damn, he missed Lily. Who would think that feisty little woman would crawl under his skin like that? He closed his eyes and remembered her laugh, her throwing things at his head when she was mad, at her soft, smooth skin.

  The little sounds she’d made at the back of her throat when he loved her. He hung his head and realized that’s where the problem lay.

  He loved her.

  He might be stupid about a lot of things when it came to ‘forever’ women, but one thing he knew. Lily was not a woman who had occupied many men’s beds. Her innocence and hesitancy in her touch had been real. She was as untired as a virgin. If he hadn’t been so pig-headed and thought it through, he would have realized she was as inexperienced as she’d claimed to be.

  That was precisely why he’d been so surprised when he entered her and found no impediment. Every move she’d made, her kisses, her caresses, the way she touched him, her blushes. They all screamed ‘innocent.’ Despite her not being a virgin, he’d bet his entire next year’s paycheck that she had no experience in the bedroom. Lord knows he had enough himself to recognize when a woman had been around and when she hadn’t.

  She hadn’t.

  And he was an ass.

  An ass who was going to clean himself up and ride into town to bring his wife home. Even if he had to get down on his knees in front of the whole town, he would convince her he was an idiot—which she probably already knew—and wanted her forever and always.

  A quick look at the clock on his dresser yanked him off the bed. The train was due to leave in less than ten minutes. Most likely he would have to chase the damn thing all the way to the first stop.

  No matter. He would chase her all the way to Chicago if he had to. After a dunk under the water pump again, he slicked his hair back, shrugged into a shirt and grabbed his coat and hat on the way out the door.

  He hurried to the stable and readied his horse. In case it took longer to catch her than he hoped, he tied on a bedroll and stopped by the bunkhouse and grabbed some easy-to-carry food and wrapped it in a cloth.

  With confidence in his ability to find Lily and bring her back home, he set off, more lighthearted than he’d been for the past two days. What a fool he’d been. Lily was perfect for him. He complained bitterly when she’d first arrived about being stuck with a virginal librarian. The way she responded to his touch was innocent, but he also sensed a deep passion in her that he couldn’t wait to unleash.

  Thinking of all the naughty things he would do to her had him so hard it was becoming difficult to ride comfortably. Once he found her, they would check into the nearest hotel and not emerge until neither of them could walk.

  But it wasn’t just the sex. For the first time in his life he wanted more from a woman than a tumble in bed. He knew Lily could provide what it was he wanted and needed. He wanted to build a life, talk about his plans and dreams, watch her body swell with their child. Hell, he’d even stop cussing.

  Lord, he was turning in
to a besotted husband.

  And loving it.

  Halfway to Angel Springs, the road grew unusually heavy with wagon loads of people heading to town. They were a somber bunch. Others rode horses, talking with the riders, a sense of urgency in the air. He continued on, maneuvering around the groups of people, wondering what was going on that he missed.

  About two miles outside of town he was startled to see Gideon in the distance, racing toward him, the flaps of his coat streaming behind him in the wind. As he got closer, Caleb took in his pale features and his heavy breathing.

  “What’s the matter?” His gut tightened, sure his brother had brought bad news.

  “Caleb, the train Lily was on exploded,” Gideon shouted at him as he drew closer.

  Caleb’s breath caught and he grasped the pommel, feeling as though he would slide off the horse. “What?”

  Gideon stopped, gulping air as he tried to catch his breath.

  Caleb reached over and grabbed him by the collar, almost pulling him off the horse. “What the hell did you say?”

  “The train Lily is on left the station and exploded about five miles outside of town. The sheriff is asking every available person to go out to the site and help with the injured and to. . . recover bodies. I’m on my way to the ranch to get the hands to come out.”

  With a howl of agony, Caleb took off, racing around the clumps of wagons headed toward town. His thoughts in a jumble, all he could imagine was Lily lying dead or injured, and how foolish he’d been to let her go. Now there was a good chance he would never see her again, to tell her how sorry he was for the way he treated her, and that he loved her, wanted her by his side for the rest of his life.

  God, if you’re up there, please take care of Lily.

  Hell, if Lily was all right, he’d even attend one of Gideon’s services.

  He jumped over a boulder, almost losing his seat. When he reached the town, chaos reigned. They’d already started bringing in the injured, and it was a horrible sight. Screams and moans filled the air. Burns seemed to be the bulk of the injuries, although there was plenty of blood and banged up bodies.