by Fools Gold
“I’ve never let a man see me naked before,” she said, turning away in embarrassment.
“Never? And you’ve been married how many years?”
“Hugh always respected my delicacy in such matters,” she said primly. “He always changed in his dressing room and I in mine.”
“How very boring,” Gabe said with a chuckle. “But the human body is nothing to be ashamed of, especially when it looks like yours, my dear.” He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. “Why hide something that gives so much pleasure?” and he ran the tip of his finger around her nipple. Libby was unprepared for the jolt of desire at the pit of her stomach. Gabe was already unbuckling his belt. “And now you’ll have to excuse me if I’m a trifle impatient, because I don’t think I can wait much longer,” he said. “Later tonight we’ll have all the time in the world for play.” He swept her up in his arms as if she weighed nothing and carried her over to the bed, swiftly removing the last of their garments before he lowered himself onto her.
Libby had not known that such passion existed before. Her whole body was on fire, she was moving urgently with him, arching her back to feel her naked breasts against the coarse hair of his chest, her mouth seeking out his chin, his neck, his ear as he nibbled at her neck and shoulder. She heard herself cry out, though she was not sure whether it was from pain or pleasure. Then she was lost in a red whirl of desire, her head ready to explode. She was laughing deep in her throat as she felt the world break apart into glittering shards. Gabe gave a shuddering sigh and collapsed onto her.
For a while they lay there, holding each other tightly, breathing as one. Then Gabe propped himself up on one elbow, looking down into her eyes with tenderness. “Do you always laugh when you make love?” he asked.
“It’s never been like this before,” she said.
“Never? Not even with . . .”
“Never,” she cut him off. “I didn’t know it was possible to feel like that.”
“Ah, well, it takes a master,” he said, grinning wickedly, “although you weren’t bad, for a beginner. Next time we’ll be much better.”
“I don’t see how it could be.”
“You’d be surprised at all the things you don’t know and I will be delighted to teach you,” he said, stroking back a damp curl that had fallen across her forehead. “What I have to teach you could last a lifetime.” He rolled away from her, onto his back, lying with hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling. “What a sweet life we could have together, Libby. I’m going to be very rich, you know. I can give up gambling soon and build a fine house on a hill in San Francisco. We’ll own property. We can travel. Doesn’t that sound fine to you?”
“Very fine,” she said, “but I can’t commit to you until I’ve done that final search for Hugh.”
“But you love me,” Gabe said, leaning over her again. “You never loved Hugh the way you love me. Admit it. Hugh never made you feel the way you do with me.”
“I admit it,” she said. “I feel as if I’ve been asleep all my life and I’ve just woken up. You told me once that I would know real love if I’d ever experienced it, and you were right.”
He bent to kiss her forehead. “I’ve told many women that I loved them, but it’s never been true until now. I love you, Libby Grenville. I don’t ever want to be parted from you. In the morning I’m going up to the cabin for your things and I’m going to bring you down here, where I can watch over you. Then we can decide whether we move to . . .”
Libby put her fingers on his lips. “Let’s not talk about the future anymore,” she said. “Let’s make the most of now. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?”
“But you’ll let me bring you down to town where I can keep you safe?” he asked.
“But what about my potatoes?” Libby demanded.
“Potatoes?”
“I’m planning to make my fortune growing potatoes. That old rogue at the store sells them for a dollar each.”
Gabe laughed. “A fortune growing potatoes. I love it. Who but my sweet, crazy Libby would dream up a scheme like that. I tell you what—we’ll ask your devoted Chinese to live up there and guard your potatoes, if that makes you happy.”
“Being with you makes me happy,” she said. She snuggled up to his chest and he wrapped an arm around her.
“Then I’ll never leave you again,” he said.
CHAPTER 24
LlBBY OPENED HER eyes to slatted sunlight shining on a white-painted wall. The clean sterility of her surroundings was in such contrast to the peeling logs and flapping canvas she was used to that for a moment she had no idea where she was. Then, as it gradually came back to her, she reached out to her left and touched only cold sheets. She was alone in the big brass bed.
“Gabe?” she called softly. The events of last night were still cloaked in unreality. Had she really lain in his arms and heard him say that he would never leave her? Already her body ached for him again. If I hadn’t stayed last night, I’d never have known, she thought in wonder. I’d have lived my whole life without knowing what it means to be truly, wonderfully happy and fulfilled. He really is the most remarkable man.
She let her gaze move around the empty rooms. Someone had cleared away the remains of last night’s dinner and her clothes were now neatly hanging over the back of a chair. Gabe’s clothes were gone. She sat up, remembering how Hugh had run off without a word of goodbye. Had all those things Gabe said last night been just words? Was he the sort of man who lost interest once he got her into bed? She smiled at her own thoughts and shook her head firmly. Gabe might be a scoundrel and he might have no conscience in some things, but he was not a coward. He was not the sort of person who would ever slink away without saying goodbye. That was one of the things she liked so much about him. She knew where she stood with him. He made it perfectly obvious what he liked and disliked, what he wanted and did not want—and she knew that he wanted her. It made her feel warm inside. If any nagging thoughts of the future came into her mind, she pushed them away to a safe compartment at the back where they could not intrude on her happiness.
She had just finished her inspection of the room and lain back again on the soft feather pillows when the door opened and Gabe came in, carrying a tray.
“You’re awake,” he said. “I had planned to wake you gently with a kiss. Now you’ve deprived me of one pleasure.”
“I’ll go back to sleep again if you wish,” she said, smiling at him. She lay back on the pillow and closed her eyes. “There. I’m sound asleep.”
He put down the tray and tiptoed over to her, bending to give her the most delicate of kisses on the forehead. She opened her eyes to look into his warm, brown ones and his lips moved to fasten onto her own.
“Whoa, steady there,” he said, breaking away as she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I’ve got breakfast waiting on a tray. Don’t get me excited now or the eggs and bacon will be cold before we get to them. Besides,” he went on, playfully pulling her upright, “it’s never done before breakfast in the best of households. Surely you remember that from Boston?”
He took her hand to lift her up from the pillow.
“Gabe, I’m naked. I can’t get up,” Libby protested. Gabe laughed and fetched his own silk gown for her, easing her into it like a little child. Still holding her hand he took her through to the table in the sitting room and seated her as if he were a head waiter at a good restaurant. “I hope this is to your liking, ma-dame,” he said.
Libby shook her head as if he had produced a miracle. “Do you know how long it’s been since I had either eggs or bacon?” she asked. “After beans everything looks wonderful.”
“No more beans,” Gabe said firmly. “As soon as you’re dressed, we’re going to rent you a horse and go up to bring down the children and your things to the hotel.” She opened her mouth to speak but he put a finger on her lips. “No ifs or buts, that’s an order. I leave you alone for a few minutes and you start shooting people and getting yourself h
anged, so it’s clear to me that you ought not to be left alone. You are dangerous to yourself and to the population at large. Therefore I’m going to keep you under my wing until we can make more permanent plans.” She went to say something again but again he cut her off. “And don’t say what will people think. People can think what they like. You’re a damned sight safer in my care than you are being prim and proper out at that cabin.”
Libby stuck a generous strip of bacon on her fork. “I hope you’re not always going to be this bossy.”
Gabe laughed. “Just where your safety is concerned,” he said. “You’ve been let loose too long. I aim to take good care of you.”
She laughed and pretended to be busy with her breakfast, but inside she still could not shake off the sense of wonder. He really loves me, she thought. He wants to take care of me. And she felt like crying.
After breakfast she washed and dressed, enjoying the luxury of hot water and real soap and soft towels. She wished she had something prettier to put on, very conscious of her homemade dress and its lack of style. I’ll have to get some better clothes if we’re coming to live in town, she thought and was amazed at the calm way she was accepting this radical step in her life. It was as if her near brush with death had eradicated all of her past and she was now a newborn person, planning a future completely free from past restraints. She brushed her hair and tied it back with a ribbon, noting in the mirror how girlish she still looked with her freckled nose and her long red curls. Her eyes were still the wide, hopeful eyes that had looked back from her mirror before she married Hugh.
Gabe had gone to see about the horses and told her to join him at the stable when she was ready. With a last look around the room she went down to meet him. As she crossed the lobby of the hotel, two miners came out of the dining room, their saddlebags slung over their shoulders. They nodded respectfully to her as she swept past, then one of them ran to catch up with her.
“Pardon me, ma’am,” he said, touching her arm lightly, “but wasn’t you the lady riding around the camps last fall, looking for an Englishman?”
“Yes, I was,” she said, blushing and wondering if this man had seen her go up to Gabe’s room.
“And you never found him?”
She shook her head.
A big smile crossed his unshaven face. “Then I think I might have news for you,” he said. “I was coming up from Sonora and the southern mines. I spent the night in a place called Angel’s Camp and I heard about this young English guy who bust his leg up pretty bad. Seems he’s been laid up all winter after a bad fall. They said he was a real gentleman and he spoke real refined. Looked as if the wind would blow him away, one of the guys said. They call him Gentleman Jim. That sound like him?”
Libby’s heart was beating so fast that she could hardly breathe, let alone speak. All she could do was nod. “Yes,” she said at last, “that sounds like him.”
“Then I think you’ll find him at the hotel down in Angel’s Camp,” the miner said.
“Thank you,” she mumbled.
The miner tipped his hat. “I’m very glad to have been of service, ma’am. I bet he’ll be mighty glad to see you.”
“Yes,” she said, “I’m sure he will.”
She managed to walk out, past the other miners, keeping her face composed. Once outside, however, she ran down the street to the stable. Gabe was just coming out leading two good-looking bays. He saw from her face immediately that something was wrong.
“What is it?” he asked, catching her as she almost stumbled.
“I’ve just met a man who’s seen Hugh,” she gasped.
“You’re sure it was him?”
“It sounds very like him,” she said. “The man said he had broken his leg and been laid up all winter.”
“Where is he?”
“At a place called Angel’s Camp, down south of here.”
“Angel’s Camp? Yes, I know it,” Gabe said. “Good gambling place.”
There was a pause as they stood looking at each other. Then Gabe said, “So what are you going to do?” at the same time as Libby said, “Gabe, I’ve got to go to him.”
Gabe nodded. “Yes, I guess you’d have to.”
She turned her head away, afraid to look at him anymore. “It was like a dream, wasn’t it?” she asked. “Too good to be true.”
“Maybe it’s not him,” Gabe said.
“Yes, maybe. But I’ve got to go anyway.”
“I understand,” he said. “I’ve just rented you a horse. Wasn’t that lucky.”
“Very lucky,” she said mechanically.
“So you’ll go right away?”
“I have to know,” she said. “Can we send word out to the children? I know Ah Fong can take care of them for a couple of days.”
“I’ll go out there myself, if you’d like,” Gabe said.
Libby drew a circle with her toe in the dust. “I was wondering if you’d come with me.”
“You want me to come with you?” Gabe asked, his eyes narrowing.
“I’d like you to. It’s a long way to go on my own.”
“You’re asking a lot of me, Libby,” he said flatly. “It’s not in my nature to be that generous and deliver a woman I love back to her husband.”
“I know I’m asking a lot,” she said, blinking back the tears. “It’s just that I want to be with you for as long as possible, but if it’s too hard for you, I understand.”
He looked at her with longing. “You know I’d do anything for you,” he said. “We’ve got the horses. We’d better get going. It will take us a couple of days. I’ll just let them know at the hotel and have someone go out to your cabin. . . .”
He handed her the bridle and strode up the street. Libby watched him go, noting every little detail about him, the way his coat hung well from his broad shoulders, the way he walked with fluid grace, the way the hair curled over his collar. She didn’t know how she could ever live without him.
It was a perfect spring day as they set out, the colors clear and bright, the soft green curve of the hills etched against a clear blue sky. It seemed as if all nature was conspiring to mock their despair; bright carpets of orange poppies and purple lupines decked the sunny slopes, giant gold and black butterflies flittered around them, bird song resounded through the tall pines and old oaks. The horses hooves made a muffled thud on the soft yellow earth of the trail as they rode side by side and the warm sun threw black shadows beside them, shadows of a man and a woman that merged as the horses walked together. Neither of them spoke. When Libby glanced across to Gabe, he was staring straight ahead, his eyes focussed on the path. She knew she shouldn’t have asked him to come, but she couldn’t bear to let him go.
This was a gentler country than Libby had seen so far with none of the steep ravines they had encountered on their first journey or the rocky hills around Hangtown. At times it seemed that all it lacked to make it like the familiar New England countryside was some cows or sheep in the rich grass and little white churches nestled in the hollows.
The trail wound up and down hillsides, crossed over foaming streams on frail-looking wooden bridges and forded gentler streams where bare-chested miners were back at work and where dragonflies darted in flashes of green and red. From time to time they passed through settlements, some no better than tent cities, some already turning into real towns: Diamond Springs, Eldorado, and then Plymouth and Amador City. Some were deserted, while in others men still lounged idly on the hotel porches or even dug hopefully in the town streets. Nobody showed much curiosity as they passed. They were a couple out for a visit and, as such, nothing out of the ordinary.
Libby noted that there were already women in some of the towns. Tired-looking, sun-browned faces peered from the occasional tent and once several ragged children ran out. A sign tacked to a large tent read: Ma White’s Boarding House. All The Comforts Of Home. Reasonable Rates. Inside, bunks were stacked to cram in as many miners as possible and an awning covered a kitchen table and stove wher
e a scrawny middle-aged woman was kneading dough. She looked up at them and gave Libby a weary smile as she wiped a streak of flour across her forehead.
By late afternoon they had reached the town of Sutter Creek. Gabe looked critically at the line of hotels and saloons.
“Which do you fancy?” he asked. “I’m no expert on this region, so take your pick.”
Libby took in the shaded sidewalks and the aura of civilization most places still lacked, then she turned to Gabe. “Would you mind very much if we just had something to eat and then we went on?”
Gabe’s face clouded. “You are so anxious to complete the journey?” he asked. “We won’t do it tonight, however hard we press the horses.”
Libby smiled at him. “No, it’s not that,” she said. “It’s just that I don’t feel that I could face hotels and strangers and noisy saloons. The weather’s really mild—couldn’t we just camp for the night away from everyone and everything? I’d like to remember those nights on the trail together.”
“As you wish,” Gabe said stiffly, then he grinned as if aware of the black humor in their situation. “If you hadn’t been so stubbornly self-righteous in those days, think of the wonderful time we could have had together.”
“Hardly, with all those men looking on.”
“I don’t know,” Gabe said speculatively. “We could have crept away often enough. Still, it doesn’t do any good dwelling on what might have been, does it?”
“I’m afraid it doesn’t,” Libby said.
They stopped just long enough to get a meal, then mounted again, riding on until the sun began to sink across the plains, which could now be glimpsed stretching out as far as the eye could see, glowing pink in the setting sun. They brought the horses to a halt as Libby stared out to the west.
“I suppose Sacramento must be down there,” she said.
“A little farther north,” Gabe answered, putting up his hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “And Stockton’s farther south. There’s nothing in between.”