Bertie (Pendleton Petticoats Book 6)

by Shanna Hatfield

  For reasons he couldn’t explain, the notion of anyone taking a shine to her set his teeth on edge.

  He couldn’t and wouldn’t lay claim to her as his own, but he sure didn’t want to stand by and watch anyone else steal her fragile heart.

  Peeved and aching, Riley turned away and got back to work.

  “Doesn’t your motorcycle have four horsepower, Nik? It’s the new model, isn’t it?” Garrett asked as they sat around the kitchen table that evening, enjoying the meal Bertie prepared.

  Earlier that afternoon, Aundy stood beside her and shared step-by-step directions for making lefse, a traditional Norwegian staple that happened to be a favorite of Nik’s. They worked together to prepare steak and mashed potatoes with gravy, creamed peas, fresh greens with tomatoes from the garden, and strawberry shortcake for dessert.

  Bertie glanced over at Garrett as he smeared jam on the lefse in his hand and deftly rolled it up before taking a bite.

  Nik sprinkled sugar and cinnamon on his, giving Bertie an appreciative nod as he bit into it before replying to Garrett’s questions.

  “Yep. I heard they were increasing the horsepower from three to four and decided I had to get one of the motorcycles to try. The bike also has a new front-end spring suspension system. It’s supposed to reach up to forty miles per hour, although I haven’t had a chance to see if that claim is true.”

  “Goodness sakes, Nik. You’ll break your neck.” Aundy set down her fork and gave him a worried look. “What if you hit a bump or a hole? It would send you flying.”

  Nik shrugged and cut into his steak, took a bite, and barely suppressed a moan of pleasure. When he swallowed, he turned a charming smile to his mother. “I promise to be careful. Besides, the bike will come in handy when I return to New York. I’ll start working shifts at the hospital this fall and I still need to work at the Campanelli’s store to cover my rent.”

  “Nik, if you need money, we’re more than…”

  “No.” Nik shook his head as he cut another bite of steak. “You paid my college admission and that’s more than enough. I’ll handle the rest.” He ate the bite and winked at Bertie. “You’re a good cook, Miss Bertie Hawkins. I didn’t think anyone could make lefse as good as Mom’s, but this is darn close.”

  Bertie smiled at Nik and dropped her gaze to her plate. As the conversation continued to float around her, her thoughts drifted to Nik and Riley then Riley and Nik.

  When she and Aundy arrived at the house to see Riley riding the bucking horse in the corral, her heart caught in her chest. The moment he went airborne, her heart stopped completely. Sure he’d broken something, or worse, relief washed over her when he moved, indicating he hadn’t met his demise.

  She’d been mad at Nik for scaring the horse with his motorbike, and annoyed at Riley for getting back on the horse that tried to kill him in the first place.

  Yet, as irritated as she was at them both, she kept thinking about Nik’s charming smiles that made her stomach feel light and airy. Her mind wandered to the way Riley’s touch made tingles spread through her body with a delightful foreignness.

  In a week’s time, she’d gone from actively avoiding contact with all males to being wholly entranced by two very different men. Surely, something was wrong with her. How could she be attracted to two men at the same time?

  As she picked at her food, her thoughts teetered back and forth between the two men. Riley was probably a few years older than Nik, but acted much older than his years. There was an air of mystery about him that reeled Bertie in as if he’d snagged her on a fishing line. Ruggedly handsome, Riley’s appeal came, in part, from that silent, wounded side she wanted to explore. He always smelled of sunshine and leather, and something utterly masculine that beckoned every one of her senses to stand at attention.

  Nik, on the other hand, held no secrets. His easily readable face bore an intense love of life combined with an appreciation of his blessings and a healthy dose of humor. Handsome, teasing, and fun, Nik reminded Bertie of the happy times in her past and made her wish for such lighthearted moments for her future. She’d had a crush on Nik from the first time she saw him, shortly after he moved to Nash’s Folly. Four long years, she yearned after Nik as an infatuated schoolgirl. Discomfited by their intensity, she’d carefully hidden her feelings for him. After he went away to school, her interest in him waned.

  However, sitting across the table from him, watching him interact so lovingly with Aundy and Garrett, caused some of the old feelings she’d held for him to resurface.

  Consumed with her musings, Bertie paid no attention to her actions as she buttered a piece of lefse, sprinkled it with cinnamon, and added a spoon of white crystals. She rolled it up and took a bite.

  Lefse was the nastiest thing she’d ever tasted or she’d mistakenly sprinkled salt on it instead of the sugar she intended. Since the saltcellar sat close to her plate, she realized her error too late.

  Aware of how impolite it would be to spit out the bite, she forced herself to swallow. The salt burned a trail from her tongue to her stomach and left her choking and coughing. Frantically reaching for her water glass, she knocked it over in her haste to wash away the overpowering taste.

  At the sight of her red face and watering eyes, Garrett jumped to his feet and filled her glass while Nik hurried around the table and gently patted her back as she spluttered and coughed.

  “Take a drink,” Nik said, holding the glass to her mouth. Bertie gulped it down and cringed as the salty taste failed to diminish.

  The other occupants at the table had been so involved in their conversation about plans for the remainder of the summer that they failed to notice her liberal use of salt.

  While Garrett refilled her water glass, Nik took a nibble of her lefse then spit it into his hand and threw it away.

  “Are you trying to brine your innards?” Nik asked with a teasing smile as Bertie coughed again. He leaned down until his nose almost touched hers. “Is the handsome face across the table causing too much of a distraction for you? Is that the problem?”

  “No... I… um, it was…” Bertie took another sip of water, flustered by Nik’s spicy scent, the warmth of his presence, and the mischief dancing in his deep brown eyes.

  “Quit teasing her so, Nik.” Aundy tried to hide her grin and failed. She stepped outside and returned with a sprig of mint from her herb garden. “Chew on this, Bertie. It should help.”

  Bertie placed the mint leaf in her mouth and chewed. Slowly, the salty taste dissipated, replaced by the pleasant mint flavor.

  “Next time, spit it out,” Nik whispered in her ear before he returned to his seat across from her.

  Embarrassed and slightly nauseous, Bertie excused herself from the table and walked outside. She wandered around the yard, admiring Aundy’s profusion of flowers, stopping to smell a rose and inhale a whiff of fragrant pinks.

  A grouping of daisies drew her interest. She plucked a stem and walked out to where a swing hung in a tree halfway to the barn.

  After settling on the wooden seat, she lifted her feet and let it leisurely swing back and forth while she plucked every stem off the flower. As each petal fell to the ground, she alternated between muttering “he loves me” and “he loves me not.” The game ended on “he loves me.”

  Bertie sighed. She just needed to figure out if the “he” was Riley or Nik.

  Chapter Nine

  “You missed one.”

  Startled, Bertie sat back on her heels as a male voice spoke above her. She glanced up into the brooding face of Riley.

  He pointed behind her. “You missed a weed, right there.”

  Bertie had spent a good part of the morning in Aundy’s garden, crawling up and down the rows, pulling weeds from around the growing plants. Sure enough, a weed hid between the feathery green tops of two carrots. She reached back and tugged out the weed, casting it into the bucket she’d placed in the next row over.

  Riley hunkered down and pulled a few weeds, tossing the
m into the bucket before he pushed back his hat and gave her a long glance.

  Maybe he’d spent too much time out in the sun already that day, but Bertie seemed to get prettier every time he saw her.

  Dirt streaked her face and perspiration dripped off her brow, but Riley couldn’t recall when he’d seen a woman more enchanting or beautiful. A deep breath filled his nose with her unique fragrance along with the loamy scent of earth.

  The humid air in the garden caused her curls to wage a battle against the pins that held them up off her neck. Several floated around her oval face. Absently, she blew one away from her eye then scrubbed a hand across her cheek, leaving behind a smudge.

  Riley reached out and gently brushed the dirt away then took the errant curl between his fingers, letting the silky blond ribbon slide over his calluses before carefully tucking it behind her ear.

  He shifted his gaze from her hair to her eyes and marveled at the incredible blue depths. The same vibrant hue as a mountain lake he’d once seen, Riley could willingly fall into them and drown with a smile on his face.

  Without a thought to his actions, he traced his thumb across the smooth curve of Bertie’s cheek and over her full pink lips.

  Her eyes widened and she parted her lips. Riley licked his, wondering if the flavor of Bertie’s mouth would be as sweet and succulent as he imagined.

  He leaned forward slightly before coming to his senses and drawing back. Confusion and hurt filled Bertie’s eyes and she sighed, swiping her forehead across her sleeve, leaving behind another smudge of dirt.

  “At the rate you’re going, Roberta Elizabeth, you’re going to be coated with more dirt than Aundy’s vegetables.”

  Riley watched as she brushed at her palms and glared at him. “Is there something you need, other than an opportunity to torment me?”

  The intensity of her gaze seared through him. He gave one more thought to tossing caution in the weed bucket and taking Bertie in his arms right there in the garden before he reined in his longings.

  Resigned, he rose to his feet and held out a hand to her, drawing her up beside him. Dirt covered her from head to toe and the sight of her disheveled state drew a chuckle from Riley. “You might start to sprout something soon if you aren’t careful.”

  Bertie huffed and settled her fisted hands at her hips. “Thank you for that observation, Mr. Walsh. Now, is there something I may do to provide assistance?”

  “Yes, Miss Hawkins, there is.” Riley frowned as he used a formal tone with her. He didn’t know what suddenly had her so worked up but he was fairly certain he didn’t want to find out. He was much more interested in stealing a kiss and satisfying the growing hunger he felt to sample her lips. They looked so cool and sweet, so inviting.

  He didn’t know what it was about Bertie, but every time he saw her — every time he even thought about her — heat coursed through his veins and he wondered how perfect she’d feel in his arms.

  Since he’d vowed to never hold or kiss another woman in his lifetime, he forced his thoughts back to the matter at hand.

  “Garrett asked me to go into town to pick up a few things. When Aundy found out I was going, she asked if I’d take you along to fill her list at the mercantile and run a few errands.” Riley let his gaze travel slowly from the top of Bertie’s head to her dirty shoes. “Assuming you’d like to wash off that dirt before we go, I’ll meet you in front of the house in twenty minutes.”

  Faster than Bertie could utter a word of protest, he turned and walked across the garden rows, disappearing around the side of the house.

  “Oh! That man is an insufferable boar!” Bertie stamped her foot and inadvertently squished a tomato, which only served to infuriate her further. First, Riley caught her by surprise by showing up in the garden then she’d mistakenly thought he intended to kiss her.

  The husky tone in his voice as he said her name left her weak in the knees while her mouth flooded with moisture. Her skin felt like he’d branded her everywhere he touched it and her lips tingled from the want of his knowing his, of having them pressed against her own.

  If that wasn’t bad enough, he possessed the audacity to tease her about her disheveled state and walked off without waiting for her response.

  His behavior was unsettling, infuriating, and downright rude.

  Marching to the end of the row, Bertie lifted her filthy skirts and ran to the house, up the back steps, and into the kitchen.

  The house was empty, so she raced into the bathroom and gave herself a quick sponge bath. She unpinned her hair and ruthlessly brushed it then quickly pinned it up, leaving a few tendrils to fall around her face and down her neck.

  Disinclined to put her soiled clothes back on to walk to her room, Bertie wrapped them in the towel she’d used to wipe away the dirt and sweat then picked up a large bath towel. She wrapped it around herself, picked up the bundle of dirty clothes, and cautiously opened the bathroom door.

  The house remained silent, so she turned to scurry down the hall and ran into a solid, muscular chest.

  “My stars and garters!” Bertie looked up into Nik’s bemused face and took a hasty step back. His hands settled on her exposed shoulders, keeping her from falling over.

  The warmth of his palms against her bare skin fired her blood and she struggled to gather a coherent thought. Clearly befuddled, she clutched the towel tightly against her chest and stared at him.

  An odd light glowed in his eyes and a smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “Mom sent me in to give you her shopping list. She’s out with Dad working on the tractor in the machine shed.” Nik looked her over from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. “If I’d known you were prancing around the house nearly naked, I’d have run in sooner. Since you don’t have a pocket, shall I tuck this list into…”

  Bertie missed the amused look on Nik’s face as she yelled, “Men!” She grabbed the scrap of paper from his hand, raced down the hall to her room, and slammed the door behind her for good measure.

  His laughter only added fuel to her fiery anger at the male population in general, Nik and Riley in particular.

  By the time she’d dressed in clean clothes, viciously jabbed a pin into her hat to hold it on her head, and gathered her reticule, she peered into the mirror, surprised steam didn’t boil out her ears.

  Livid, she jerked open her bedroom door and didn’t wait to see if Nik lingered in the house. She gave the screen door such a forceful push on her way outside, she had to scramble to grab the edge of it before it smacked into the side of the house.

  Anger radiated from every footstep she took down the porch steps, along the walk, and out the gate to where Riley waited in the wagon.

  He jumped down and started to say something then thought better of it when Bertie glowered at him. A glimpse of something flashing in her eyes made him both wary and intrigued.

  Gently grasping her around the waist, he swung her up on the wagon then held back a smile at her indignant splutters.

  “Good gracious, Mr. Walsh. I do believe the gentlemanly thing to do would be to ask a lady if she requires assistance.”

  Riley sat beside her, picked up the reins then released the brake. “I never once said I was a gentleman.”

  “Humph!” Bertie fussed with her skirts and poked in a few hairpins threatening to slip out of her hastily constructed hairstyle.

  Riley remained silent as he guided the team down the lane and turned south on the main road, heading into town. He chanced a few furtive glances at Bertie, admiring the high color in her cheeks and the barely contained emotions simmering beneath the surface.

  He’d been entirely fascinated with the Bertie he met a few weeks ago. She was sweet and lovely, kind and interesting. She’d also seemed frightened, unsure of herself, and a little lost and broken.

  However, this Bertie left him completely captivated. He could almost feel the life and excitement, passion and playfulness pulsing through her with every beat of her heart. The electric current that sizzled
between them whenever he got within five feet of the woman was enough to enchant him. Inexplicably drawn to the vibrancy of her spirit, his attraction to the girl rendered him helpless to focus on anything other than her.

  Something had her hopping mad, that much was certain. However, Riley had a notion she wasn’t nearly as angry as she’d convinced herself she ought to be. In fact, he’d say she hadn’t enjoyed herself more for a very long time.

  At the sight of the feisty sparks shooting from her eyes, Riley battled the urge to stop the wagon right there in the middle of the road, tug Bertie onto his lap, and kiss her until they both were breathless.

  Mindful that the nature of his thoughts would only lead to trouble, he took a deep breath and studied the horses as they plodded toward Pendleton.

  A wealth of memories lingered at the back of his mind that would chase all thoughts of Bertie and sunshine and plucking daisies right out of his head, but he couldn’t muster the energy to dredge up the sadness. Not on such a pleasant summer day with a beautiful girl beside him.

  After another five minutes of deafening silence, he looked over at Bertie. If she sat any more prim and proper on the seat, she might hyperventilate. He nudged her arm with his elbow.

  “Whatever I did to upset you, I’m sorry. Can we go back to being friends?” Riley hoped his look was earnest as he held her gaze.

  Bertie seemed to relax a little. “It wasn’t exactly all your fault. I, um…” She couldn’t tell Riley she’d ran into Nik wearing nothing more than a bath towel. Just thinking about it made her cheeks burn all over again. “You and Nik both left me a little rattled today, that’s all.”

  At the mention of Nik’s name, Riley’s brow crinkled while his mouth turned downward in a frown. He looked back at the horses to hide his feelings from Bertie. Although he knew he shouldn’t care, it bothered him that Nik seemed quite taken with her and she appeared to welcome his interest.