Anita gave a small laugh. “Neither did he, apparently, and he hasn’t been the same since. Ill-tempered, out of sorts, not like Andreas at all. I had no idea what had come over him until I saw how he looked at you in the infirmary with that bandage around your head—and then I knew. If he’d heard any gossip about you, it never sank in, he’s been so busy at his blacksmith shop. Only after he came face-to-face with you did he start to ask questions, but he’s never believed a word of it! He cares deeply about you, and I care about my brother and want him to be happy—and that means him taking you to the St. Valentine’s Day ball.”
Anita squeezed Sage’s hands, and then let go to wipe away a tear that had trickled down her cheek. “Can you ever forgive me for my unkindness?”
“You, unkind?” Sage felt tears well in her own eyes, and she shook her head. “There’s nothing to forgive. I only hope we’ll have a chance to become good friends. Do you know if Mayor Logan has returned yet? Molly told me last night there was still no word from him.”
Now Anita shook her head as she wound up her measuring tape and deposited it back in her pocket. “I’m sure we’ll hear something soon, you mustn’t worry. We have to pray that everything’s going to work out all right—oh, dear! I think I hear someone in the kitchen.”
Her voice fallen to a whisper, Anita waved for Sage to get back into bed as she hastened to the bedroom door, where she stopped to listen.
“It’s Molly! I can hear her humming—oh, no, I stayed too long! I think she’s preparing your lunch.”
“Over there, hide in the closet!” Sage whispered back, her heart drumming hard again as she heard the humming growing louder. While Anita ducked into the closet and quietly shut the door, Sage pulled up the covers to her chin and closed her eyes, hoping it might appear that she’d been resting.
She heard footsteps climbing the stairs—Molly’s, she was sure of it!—and opened one eye to make sure the closet door was firmly shut when she spied the chair still placed beside the bed.
Groaning to herself, Sage knew it was too late to do anything about it. She shut her eyes and tried her best to calm her breathing just as Molly entered the room.
At once she heard the clatter of a tray being set down on the bedside table, a sharp intake of breath, and then a cool hand pressed to her forehead.
“Sage, your cheeks are so pink! Are you feeling unwell?”
Sage shook her head without opening her eyes, but something in Molly’s lighthearted tone told her that she wasn’t alarmed at all…but simply teasing her.
“Anita, you can come out of your hiding place. I hope I gave you and Sage enough time to have a good visit, but she needs to eat and then Charles will be coming upstairs to check on his patient.”
Sage’s gaze flew to the closet as Anita opened the door, looking quite sheepish.
“I’m sorry, I know you said no visitors,” she began, only to have Molly wave her toward the stairs, smiling.
“I was going to send one of Caleb’s men to tell Andreas that Miss Larsen is welcome to have company again, but might you let him know instead? She’s doing so much better, but tell him only a short visit to start and he mustn’t arrive before one o’clock—Anita?”
She was already dashing out the door after an excited wave to Sage, whose heart once more was racing.
Chapter Six
“Sage, your peeking out the window isn’t going to make Andreas appear any faster.”
Sage spun around with a soft gasp. Molly had entered the drawing room without her even knowing it, she was so intent upon looking outside.
“I told him no earlier than one o’clock, and he’s been good enough to honor Charles’s and my wishes for five days now. There’s still a few minutes to go. I don’t want you to overexcite yourself, remember?”
Sage nodded and moved back to the settee where Molly had left her a short while ago to head to the kitchen. “You’re kind to check on me. You and your husband have both been so kind and I’ll always be grateful.”
“It’s the least we could do and you’re most welcome. Just to see you up and around is reward enough. It may not have been to Andreas’s liking—well, I know it wasn’t, not allowing visitors for almost a week, but all that rest has worked wonders.” Molly smiled warmly. “That color suits you. Brings out the color of your eyes.”
Sage glanced down at her dress, not her brown one that had been ruined by bloodstains, but a pretty yellow calico that looked like springtime in the midst of winter.
It seemed Molly had guessed her measurements and sent them to Mrs. McMaster, who was working on several new dresses for her. Truly, the kindness shown to her since she’d been hurt had been more than Sage would ever have imagined, considering she had felt like such a pariah before.
She longed to see Samuel and Mary again, too, but right now her thoughts were focused upon Andreas…only Andreas. She glanced from the mantel clock that read nearly one and then to the window, which made Molly laugh softly.
“I’m going to finish preparing the tea tray so you and Andreas can have a proper visit. That’s how it should be done when a gentleman comes calling. No running to the window, agreed?”
Sage gave a small nod, blushing to her roots as Molly laughed again and left the room. She tried to sit as still as a stone, but she couldn’t seem to quiet her hands as she smoothed her skirt, her excitement—yes, and some nervousness to see Andreas again—nearly overwhelming her.
He had kissed her the last time she saw him. Kissed her! An extraordinary thing considering she had never been kissed before, though Sage felt a sudden disgust sweep over her at the thought of that man nuzzling her neck just before he passed out on top of her. Thank God he had passed out!
Sickened by the memory of the smell of him, strong masculine cologne melded with sweat and whiskey, Sage could sit still no longer and rose to pace the room.
The right side of her head had begun to ache a little. She no longer needed a bandage, the wound healing nicely, another blessing among so many blessings! She prayed then and there that one day soon she would forget that night with all of its sounds and smells and horrors like it had never happened—
“Sage.”
She gasped, spinning around to see Andreas filling the archway into the drawing room.
So tall, broad-shouldered, and handsome in a dark winter coat, denims, and boots, his gaze riveted upon her…just as the clock chimed one.
With Molly busy in the kitchen and Dr. Davis tending to patients in the adjoining infirmary, he must have let himself in. Or had he knocked on the front door and she hadn’t heard him for her tortuous thoughts?
Sage felt that she might burst into tears to have this longed-for moment marred, but somehow she swallowed them back and summoned a smile. He didn’t smile back, though, but crossed the room in two strides and enveloped her in his arms to hug her tightly.
“I’m here, Sage, I’m here. Whatever you’re thinking, whatever you’re feeling, I’m telling you that everything is going to be all right, I promise you!”
She buried her face against his chest, for she couldn’t have reached his shoulder even if she had raised herself on tiptoes. How had he read her distress so clearly? They hadn’t known each other long at all, yet she felt in the comfort and safety of his embrace that she’d somehow—by a heaven-sent miracle—found home.
“Oh, Andreas, I’ve missed you so.” There, she’d said it, revealing her heart to him even as his embrace tightened around her.
She had missed him desperately, every hour, every minute, but she had trusted that he would return just as he’d said in the infirmary when last she’d seen him.
When he had kissed her so unexpectedly, making Sage wonder if he might be thinking to kiss her now. She lifted her face to him and he stared into her eyes, the intense bond she felt with him growing stronger with every heartbeat.
“I missed you…but I was never very far away,” he murmured, lifting his hand to gently sweep a brown tendril from her face. She saw
his gaze stray to where she’d been wounded, a look of distress cutting across his face, which made her gently shake her head.
“I’m fine, truly. It hurts only a little now, and you see the bruise is fading.”
He nodded, but still the somber look in his eyes told her that he blamed himself, though it had been an accident. Without thinking, she raised her hand to grasp his fingers and draw them to her lips, and kissed them ever so tenderly, her eyes never leaving his.
“It wasn’t your fault, Andreas. It wasn’t your fault…”
Sage saw at once that his somber look had faded into something else, almost wonder, which made her send a prayer of thanks heavenward that the fervent emotion in his eyes so matched her own.
How had this miracle come to be? A shared look in December that had lasted no more than a moment and then a near tragedy that finally brought them together?
“I knew that one day I’d find you,” he whispered, drawing her so close again that she felt her breath catch as he lowered his head. “I’ve waited…hoping, praying…”
She rose on tiptoe to meet him, his lips pressing against hers with such tenderness that she felt her breath stop altogether.
Her heartbeat drumming in her ears.
Her arms winding around his neck and her feet lifting from the ground as he picked her up to crush her against him—
“Ahem…Andreas, Sage. I’ve brought you some hot tea and fresh-baked oatmeal cookies.”
Sage’s feet at once touching the floor as she and Andreas whirled to face Molly, she didn’t think she had ever felt her cheeks so hot. Yet Andreas didn’t appear embarrassed at all, and he threw back his head and gave a hearty laugh that made Sage smile in spite of herself. He still held her hand, his fingers entwined with hers as if he had no intention of letting them go.
Molly, too, was smiling while she busied herself with placing the silver tray on a sideboard near the fireplace, and then she gestured to the settee.
“Please, the two of you, sit down. I’ll pour us some tea.”
Murmuring a polite, “Yes, ma’am,” Sage felt Andreas draw her along with him until they were both seated, for he hadn’t for an instant let go of her hand. As they sat there together side by side, his thumb caressing her fingers, she felt her face grow warm again at the sweet intimacy of his gesture that Molly had apparently noticed, too.
With a steaming porcelain cup in each hand, she came toward them with a knowing smile, but she sobered as she placed the tea on a table in front of them.
“I’d say you’ve made up your mind, Andreas Hagen. My Seth made up his mind about your sister Kari real quick, too, and her, him, so I can’t say I’m surprised at all. The two of you are officially courting?”
Sage felt Andreas’s fingers clasp hers more tightly, her hand looking so small wrapped in his, which made her meet his gaze.
If he’d felt any hilarity at the awkwardness of Molly walking into the room moments ago, now his blue eyes held an earnestness that made Sage’s breath seem to still.
“Not courting. I want to marry you, Sage Larsen, if you’ll have me. I’m not a rich man, but I work hard and you’ll never want for anything. I’ve loved you since the first moment I looked into your eyes…and something tells me that you might think fondly of me, too.”
“Fondly?” Sage echoed, tears of joy springing to her eyes. She had to swallow hard to continue, her voice barely above a tremulous whisper. “I love you, Andreas. Love you…”
She saw moisture in his eyes, too, and he drew her against him to kiss her with no thought that Molly stared at them as if transfixed.
The most wondrous kiss. Filled with promise and the sweetest intensity as he hugged her like he would never let her go…and for the longest moment, he didn’t.
Not until Molly gave a small cough, her eyes wet, too, as she used the hem of her apron to dab at them.
“Oh, my…I’m certain there must be something in the air in Walker Creek to bring couples together so quickly, but then again, Charles and I knew from the moment we first met that we were meant for each other.”
“So true, my darling wife.”
Sage smiled through her happy tears as Dr. Davis entered the drawing room, though he looked with some consternation from her and Andreas to Molly.
“What did I miss? I heard something about couples coming together quickly and assumed some good news might be forthcoming—so why, then, is everyone crying?”
“Oh, Charles, of course you can guess why we’re crying!” Molly went to her husband to hug him and give him a peck on the cheek, and then she waved her arm toward Sage and Andreas.
“We’re going to have another wedding!”
“Well, I think we are,” Andreas said with teasing in his voice as he squeezed Sage around the waist. “She hasn’t exactly said yes yet—”
“Yes, Andreas, yes!”
As Molly clapped her hands at Sage’s smiling pronouncement and then spun to give Charles another hug, Sage welcomed another kiss from Andreas that set her heart to racing.
Yet it didn’t last long, and when he lifted his head, his expression had grown sober.
“Remember I told you I was never far away? If you’d looked outside, you would have seen me every night out in the yard. The place looked like an encampment between myself, Sheriff Braun’s deputy, and Caleb’s hired hands. During the day I knew it would be easier for them to keep an eye on things, but nighttime was a different matter. We took turns keeping watch, Sage, anything to keep you safe.”
Stunned, Sage saw a tinge of weariness around his eyes, and she wondered if he’d managed to get any rest at all. “You slept out in the cold?”
His wry smile warmed her, and he hugged her closer. “A Texas winter has nothing on what my sisters and I faced every year in Minnesota. Snow as high as a house, your breath turning to ice crystals as soon as you exhaled. Here, it might have been springtime for all I noticed, though the rest of the men complained enough.”
Andreas gave a small chuckle, shaking his head, while Sage marveled at his hardiness, having been raised so far to the north.
“Do you miss it? Minnesota?”
“No, Walker Creek’s my home now. My two older sisters have set down roots here, married, Kari and Seth expecting their first child in a few weeks. Anita, who knows?” Andreas shrugged. “She might stay if she ever gets the notion of being an actress out of her head. We’ve indulged her too much on that score, I’m afraid. She’s talented, but enough to conquer the world? As for me, I’m going to set my roots deeper, too. Marry as soon as everything can be arranged. Double the size of my business. Start a family…”
Sage felt a burning blush race to her scalp, Andreas gazed at her so intently. Charles clearing his throat made her realize with a jolt that they had forgotten all about Molly and her husband standing there.
“Perhaps that’s enough for a visit today. Molly, what do you think?”
“I agree with you, husband. Sage, I said a short visit, remember? I think we failed altogether at the overexcitement, though. The two of you couldn’t have packed more into the past half hour if you’d tried—”
“I’m not done yet,” Andreas cut in, glancing with apology at Molly as he rose and drew Sage up from the settee to stand facing him. “Miss Sage Larsen, I’d be honored to escort you to the St. Valentine’s Day ball at the Frederick Hotel. I know Anita stole my thunder, but I’ll get to pay her back when she discovers we’ve kept a big secret from her. What do you think of us announcing that night our intent to marry? Would that please you?”
Please her? Sage could only nod at Andreas, her heart so full even though she felt a sudden niggling of dread.
Would everything be settled by then? Beatrice found and Sage’s reputation restored? No, no, she didn’t want to spoil the moment by asking him if he’d heard anything yet from Mayor Logan, though the sudden concern on his face told her that he’d discerned her racing thoughts.
“Sage, I promised you that everything’s going to b
e all right. Nothing will keep us apart. Nothing!”
He enveloped her in his arms with so reassuring an embrace that Sage closed her eyes and nodded against him, her arms flying around him to hug him tight.
“Your secret is safe with us,” came Molly’s soft voice, though a sudden pounding at the front door was followed by Charles’s footfalls moving from the drawing room out into the hall.
Sage closed her eyes all the tighter, that same sense of dread overwhelming her again as Charles called out, “Andreas, it’s word from Joshua Logan. He’s at the jailhouse with Beatrice Dubois—and he said to come at once. He’s summoned Caleb, and he wants Sage there, too.”
“Finally, let’s see this thing done,” she heard Andreas say grimly.
Molly added, “I’ll fetch her cape. Sage, you must take care to keep your hood up, it’s windy out there.”
She could say nothing, the dread filling her now enough to choke her.
Even when she was bundled up and Andreas held her hand, escorting her outside to a waiting carriage, his assurances fell on deaf ears.
She tried to summon a smile for his sake, a weak one at best, and he must have guessed her growing apprehension.
His assurances ceased and they rode side by side in silence, though he kept his arm tightly around her.
Chapter Seven
“Sage, there’s nothing she can do to hurt you. Look, Joshua has her locked up in a cell.”
Andreas saw Sage’s small nod, but she didn’t appear convinced at all as she drew the hood from her head when they entered the jailhouse together.
He tried to tell himself that she was nervous to see Beatrice again, but he sensed that it went much deeper. He hated that their happiness had been marred by having to come down here, but there was no help for it. At once Joshua came toward them, his expression grim as he glanced from Andreas to Sage and kept his voice low.
“Things aren’t going as we’d hoped. I had to travel to Dallas to find her, and the women who used to work for her have scattered to the four winds with no way to track them down. My guess is Beatrice figured we might come after her one day, so she sent everyone else packing and hired all new girls. There’s no one else for us to question but her. And she’s been saying from the moment I confronted her that Sage is lying about that night—the whole thing coming down to her word against yours, Miss Larsen.”
Sage: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Walker Creek Brides Book 5) Page 5