by Judith Stacy
“Ladies, I have some wonderful news,” she said, putting on a bright smile. “The wedding fabric has been located.”
A stunned second passed before Mrs. Kendall demanded, “Where is it?”
“It’s right here, actually. In that crate.” Anna pointed. “It seems—oh!”
Mrs. Kendall lurched from the settee, the two other mothers hot on her heels. The brides squealed.
“Hold up a minute.” Cade planted himself in front of the crate. “Miss Kingsley’s got something to say.”
The women turned to Anna, their gazes boring into her.
“Well, what is it?” Mrs. Kendall demanded.
Anna drew in a breath. “The mill shorted the order. There’s not enough fabric for three dresses. Only two.”
Wails and shrieks rose from the women as they went for the crate once more. Cade jumped aside.
“There’s not enough fabric,” Mrs. Kendall declared, waving the bill of lading in the air, as the other five women dug through the crate. More groans arose.
Anna exchanged a troubled look with Cade. He leaned down and whispered, “We’d better get these women to draw straws right away, before they have time to think about it.”
“Good idea,” Anna agreed.
Cade disappeared into the kitchen as the women turned to Anna once more. Mary Sumner had started to cry, while Sarah Proctor’s face had gone white.
“How could this have happened?” Mrs. Sumner demanded of no one in particular.
“When did this fabric arrive?” Mrs. Kendall demanded. “Where has it been?”
Anna braced herself. “We’re so fortunate that the crate was finally located, safe and sound. It had been put in the storage room at the lumberyard by mistake.”
“The lumberyard?” Mrs. Proctor exclaimed.
Cade walked back into the room and all the women turned to him, riveting him with their gazes.
“When?” Mrs. Sumner asked. “When did you find it?”
“A couple of days ago,” he said.
“Days?”
The women erupted in angry chatter until Mrs. Proctor’s voice rang out above the rest.
“You intended to keep our fabric, didn’t you,” she shouted. “For when your brother marries Emma Stokes.”
A chorus of accusations rose from the women.
“That’s not true,” Anna told them, raising her voice to be heard. “Cade discovered it and immediately brought it to my attention so I could—”
“So you’re the one who wanted to keep it,” Mrs. Proctor declared. “Keep it for your own wedding dress.”
“No, of course not. I already have a—”
Shouts from the women drowned out her voice until Cade forced a piercing whistle through his teeth and the room went silent.
“Listen here. The fabric got sent to my supply room by mistake. Nobody tried to keep it from you, certainly not Miss Kingsley,” Cade told them.
A little murmur went through the group. Anna thought the women had settled down until Rachel spoke.
“If there’s not enough fabric for everyone,” she said, “why don’t we put off the weddings until we can order more?”
“No!” Mrs. Kendall screeched.
“We’ve got kinfolk coming from all over for the weddings,” Mrs. Sumner said. “Some have already arrived.”
“Oh, Mama, I can’t wait to marry Jimmy,” Mary Sumner said, crying harder now. “I can’t wait.”
“And I don’t want to wait to get married, either,” Sarah Proctor declared.
“We can’t possibly postpone,” her mother said.
Two of the brides nodded in agreement. Rachel said nothing.
“Fine, then.” Cade held out his hand. In his grip were three broom straws. “Short straw loses.”
All the women leaned closer, eyeing his hand.
“We should establish a criteria for who draws first,” Mrs. Kendall insisted.
“Everybody together,” Cade said. “It’s the only fair way.”
Mrs. Kendall looked as if fairness was the last thing that interested her, but she said nothing more. In quick succession, each of the brides drew a straw.
Rachel Kendall got the short one.
Her mother’s face went white, then flamed to red. With a scathing look at Cade and Anna, she stormed out of the house. The other women lifted the crate and followed, leaving silence in their wake.
Anna shut the door and fell back against it. “I’d better start packing.”
“You and me both.” Cade pulled back the window curtain and gazed out. “Maybe I’d better stand watch tonight in case Mrs. Kendall comes back.”
“Oh, Cade. This is just terrible.”
“They could have postponed the weddings until more fabric was ordered, but they didn’t want to,” he said. “We did the only thing we could.”
Problems always sounded less complicated and solutions so much simpler when Cade spoke.
He walked over to her. “Are you going to be all right?”
She forced a smile. “I’ll be fine. Thanks for coming, for standing up for me.”
She expected him to leave, but he didn’t. For a long moment he just stood there looking down at her. Anna’s heart warmed and she found herself wishing he would stay. Forever.
Anna got supper on the table just as Ben and Cade came through the back door. They both looked tired, oddly subdued, neither saying much as they washed up and came back into the kitchen.
“Rough day?” she asked them.
Ben glanced at Cade, then said, “The saw broke today. The big one, the one we need to get this order out for the railroad. We can’t repair it. We’re going to have to buy another one.”
Anna didn’t know anything about saws, but from the look on both their faces she figured it had to be expensive. Very expensive. Maybe more expensive than they could afford with the financial problems Cade had told her about.
“Then a hot meal just might make you both feel better,” she said, thinking it wise not to dwell on their problem. Surely the two of them had wrestled with it most of the day.
Cade held a chair for her and they all settled around the table.
“Where’s Kyle?” Cade asked, eyeing the empty chair to his left.
“I haven’t seen him since this morning,” Anna stated, hoping that meant he’d stayed in school all day.
“Talk of that wedding nonsense is all over town,” Ben said, as they all filled their plates. “I went over to see Harlan at the blacksmith shop to ask what he thought about fixing the saw, and everybody is just tickled pink about the fabric being found.”
“Everyone but Mrs. Kendall, I imagine,” Anna said.
Ben chuckled. “When Mr. Talbot heard the news, he went over to her house just to gloat. He offered to sell her some fabric from his store—at triple the price.”
“Did anyone mention how Rachel is doing?” Anna asked.
The back door opened and Kyle came inside. He stopped short at the look Cade gave him.
“You’re supposed to be home before supper,” Cade said, his voice firm but even. “Where’ve you been?”
“Nowhere.”
“What have you been doing?”
“Nothing.”
“Did you stay in school all day?”
“No, sir.”
“How am I going to send you to college back East if you don’t stay in school and do your lessons?”
Kyle didn’t answer, just drew up his shoulders and let them fall again.
“I told you what would happen if you left school again,” Cade said. “So I’m walking you to school in the morning and I’ll be there when school’s out.”
“Yes, sir. I remember.”
“And then you can spend the rest of the day cleaning out the barn stalls and the animal pens.”
“What?” Kyle’s expression turned from passive acceptance to revulsion. “I hate doing that. It stinks—”
“Go wash up and have your supper,” Cade told him.
Ky
le fumed for another few seconds, then stomped into the washroom.
Once more, Anna marveled at the patience Cade displayed with his little brother. No shouting, no threats, no intimidation. Just steady listening and discipline. Especially commendable at the end of what had certainly been a long, difficult day for Cade.
When they finished supper Ben headed off to call on Emma, and Cade went outside with a cup of coffee. Kyle sat on the stool beside the stove and talked to Anna while she washed the dishes, then he got a dishcloth and helped with the drying.
“Mama and I used to do dishes together sometimes,” Kyle said, picking up another plate to dry. “Being in the kitchen makes me think of her.”
Anna’s memories of her own mother came back to her. Pleasant recollections, just as Kyle’s were.
“Have you seen Ariel in town?” Anna asked.
The plate slipped from Kyle’s grasp, but he caught it before it hit the floor. “Yeah. Sort of.”
“How’s she doing?”
“Pretty.” Kyle looked up at her, and his cheeks turned pink. “I mean, she’s doing all right, I guess.”
“Not talking to her yet?”
“I’m working up to it,” he said, sounding more like a grown man suddenly, rather than a young boy.
They finished the dishes and Kyle went upstairs. Anna headed home.
On the back porch she paused, wondering if she’d see Cade. He liked coming outside in the evenings. It seemed to relax him and, after what he’d been through today, she thought sure she’d see him here.
But she didn’t. Nor did she see lights burning in the lumberyard office. She didn’t know where he was. A little disappointed, she went home.
If Cade hadn’t been standing outside his own home, he might feel like a low-down varmint for lurking in the shadows, watching Anna walk home. He wanted to be close to her, be with her, craved the comfort her presence brought. He needed comfort tonight. Hell, he needed a lot of things tonight. All of which Anna could provide.
And that’s why he held back in the shadows instead of going to her house. Something about that woman drew him in. He didn’t know what it was or why he felt it. He hadn’t known her long enough to figure it all out. But it was there and he didn’t want it to be. Not now. Not yet. Not until he knew her better.
Lantern light glowed yellow in the kitchen window of Anna’s house, then another lantern came to life in her bedroom.
Desire hummed in him, then grew stronger as another window glowed with lantern light. The washroom.
Images of Anna undressing, preparing for a bath, bloomed in Cade’s head. The golden light against her dewy skin. Her silky hair loose, cascading down her back.
Cade gritted his teeth and struggled to remain where he was. Minutes dragged by, his imagination and his body urging him to go to her.
Finally, he gave in.
Chapter Ten
Cade climbed the steps to Anna’s back porch, then turned, his gaze searching the outbuildings, the house next door, the lumberyard. He saw no one. He knocked on the door.
A few minutes passed and he wondered if he should leave. Want and need hummed through his veins. He couldn’t go.
The door opened and Anna peeked out at him, half-hidden by the door. Cade’s heart thundered in his chest. Her hair was gathered in a loose knot atop her head, tendrils curling around her neck. Her face was pink and moist from her bath.
“Is something wrong?” she asked.
Hell, yes. Everything was wrong. He wanted and needed her, yet something in him rebelled against that very desire. His head told him to turn and leave, but the rest of him…
“I—I don’t know why I’m here, except…”
“How do you always know?” Anna asked, tears welling in her eyes. “When I’m upset, you appear. How do you do that?”
He’d come here for selfish reasons, but seeing Anna with tears swimming in her eyes made him want to break down the door, hold her, find out what was wrong and fix it.
Anna opened the door and he stepped into the kitchen. Lantern light cast her in shadows, revealing the curve of her hips through the nightgown and wrapper she wore. Her feet were bare against the wooden floor.
Cade’s mouth went dry. Want and need surged through him. He ought to get the hell out of her house, away from her, but he couldn’t bring himself to leave. Not with her upset, on the verge of crying.
“What’s wrong?” he asked. It took some effort to keep his voice even, to let her explain things in her own way. He’d learned that with his little brother.
“Nothing serious, really.” She whisked away her tears with the back of her hand. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
He walked closer. “Tell me what’s wrong.”
She gazed up at him and sniffed. “I was feeling sorry for Rachel. And, I guess, for myself, too.”
“Rachel, because she won’t have the wedding dress she wants?” Cade asked. “And you?”
She gulped, trying to hold back more tears. “Because I have a beautiful wedding dress and—and no wedding. And it seems I never will. I still don’t have the slightest idea what it takes to be a good wife, how to make a man happy. I’ve tried to figure it out, but I just don’t understand.”
“Any man would be proud to have you as his wife.”
She drew in a ragged breath, still fighting back tears. “I’d hoped I’d have a daughter one day who would wear my wedding dress. But at this rate, I don’t see how I’ll ever get married. And the gown is so beautiful….”
“Can I see it?” Cade asked.
“Would you like to?” she asked, and seemed to perk up a bit. She headed down the hall toward the bedroom.
Cade followed her.
He stood in the doorway as she fussed with the wedding gown hanging from a peg across the room. He’d not been in here since construction had been completed on the house, when it was just walls and the essential pieces of furniture.
It looked nothing like he remembered. Anna had put a rose-colored quilt on the bed, hung curtains and scattered rugs on the floor. Pictures adorned the walls. Vases of fresh flowers sat around the room, along with books and her writing supplies. Her hairbrush, mirror and all sorts of jars and small pots were on the bureau.
The room glowed with warmth and the attention she’d put into its furnishings. Cade liked it. A man could build a house, but it took a woman to turn it into a home.
He didn’t know much about wedding dresses, but this one seemed special. White material, lace. Surely none of the brides here in Branford could make a gown as grand as this one, even with the English fabric they’d waited so long for. He couldn’t imagine a prettier bride than Anna.
She touched the sleeve of her wedding gown. This afternoon when she’d hung it here her thoughts had been consumed with Rachel Kendall. What heartbreak she must feel since losing all chance at the wedding dress she wanted. Then, in an unexpected attack of self-pity, Anna had realized she might never get to wear her own gown.
“Beautiful,” Cade said.
Anna turned, surprised to find him standing in the doorway. She’d intended to take the gown to him in the kitchen. That in itself was highly inappropriate, given her state of dress. Yet the need to be proper around Cade didn’t seem so intense at the moment.
She ran her hand down the satin fabric. “Yes, it is beautiful, isn’t it?”
“I meant you.”
Her heart beat a little faster. A rush of warmth went though her. She’d felt it before when she was around Cade, or sometimes when she saw him from a distance, or simply thought about him. She’d first experienced it that day at the train station when she’d arrived in Branford. Since then it had only grown stronger.
She’d fallen in love with him.
She knew that now, looking at him across the room. Her heart thumped harder and her spirit soared at the realization.
She realized, too, why he’d come to her room.
Cade slipped his arms around her waist and eased her against hi
m. For a long moment he gazed into her eyes. Then he searched for the pins in her hair and pulled them out.
“You are so beautiful,” he murmured, threading her long hair through his fingers.
Anna’s heart fluttered as she heard him say those words. No one had ever spoken them to her before.
He leaned down and brushed his lips against her temple, breathing in her sweet scent. One hand traveled up her back and burrowed into the hair at her nape. Anna’s knees weakened. She looped her arms around his neck and swayed against him.
His chest was hard, strong, as were his arms wrapping her in a powerful grip. A deep masculinity flowed from him, seeping inside her.
Cade lowered his head and kissed her. She parted her lips. He groaned and pulled her tighter against him. Anna rose on tiptoes and pressed herself closer, soaking up the taste, the feel of him.
He broke their kiss. “I’d better go,” he whispered. “If I stay…do you understand what that would mean?”
“Yes.” She looked away, feeling the hot flush on her cheeks. “I know what it means. Well, that is, I don’t know from personal experience, but…well, at school we talked about…it.”
He touched her chin and turned her to face him. His brows drew together. “What sort of things was Miss Purtle teaching at that academy of hers?”
Anna smiled at his gentle teasing. “Maybe I’ll tell you…someday.”
“Or maybe I’ll find out on my own,” Cade said in a low, husky voice. He kissed her again. She tasted sweet, pure. He wanted more. He wanted all of her.
He deepened their kiss, then pulled loose the sash of her wrapper and slid his hand inside. His palm burned as it settled on the curve of her hip. He moved his hand upward, cupping her breast.
Anna gasped and clenched his hair in her fist. Her heart raced as this newly discovered heat consumed her. A heat that, with Cade, felt right.
He fumbled with the buttons of her nightgown. Her flesh was hot, welcoming. He touched her bare breast and she arched forward. His knees nearly gave out.