by A. J. Goode
“Oh, Adam.” Her heart went out to him even as she felt a flash of anger toward Elise Thompson. “What a horrible thing to do to you!”
“There’s more,” he said. “She said she wouldn’t visit Rebecca as long as I lived there. Rebecca was with child again and having a bad time with it, and Elise’s visits seemed to help, so Sam asked me to go stay with Will until the baby came. But then the baby went straight to Heaven and took his mama with him.”
He glanced at his nieces once more. They were still chattering busily to each other, and he seemed satisfied that they weren’t listening to their conversation. She heard the grief in his voice and wanted to stop him but didn’t dare. Her curiosity was roused to a point where she had to know what had happened next.
“Elise kept coming ‘round to visit Sam after Rebecca’s death, and that set tongues to wagging in town. You know how people talk in a small town. He started drinking, and the two of them were carrying on in public. And then one day, she married her banker and left town, and that was that. I thought everything would get back to normal. Sam asked me to move back in and help with the girls, and life was fine for a while.
“Pretty soon, word got back to us that Elise had a baby not too long after her wedding. My brother went a little crazy when he heard the news. He said he was sure the baby was his and he started talking about God punishing him for his sins. He was drinking all the time by then, Caroline, and Sam was always a mean drunk. I came home from work at the sawmill one day just in time to see him hit Sophie so hard that she fell like a rag doll. I thought he’d killed her.” He swallowed noisily. “I’ve never been so angry in all my life. I threw him outside and told him he didn’t deserve his daughters. I ordered him to stay away until he could start thinking right. And I locked him out of his own house.”
She waited. Finally, she could bear the silence no more. “What happened next?”
Adam shrugged. “He left. The next morning, I found a letter from him and the deed to the house shoved under the door. The letter told me to raise his girls right and see to it they go to school and church, and I’ve done my best to do right by them.”
“And you’ve never heard from him since then?”
“No. Not a word.”
They continued in silence until they reached the edge of town. Adam helped them all climb down from the wagon and she thought he held onto her hand just a little bit longer than necessary.
“Thank you for telling me all of it,” she told him. “I know that wasn’t easy for you.”
He smiled at her before taking her elbow and guiding her into the church. She tried to stifle the shiver that ran through her at his touch.
It was hard to focus on the sermon that day with the new information swirling about in her mind. It didn’t help matters that the entire congregation seemed jittery about the winds pounding at the little building.
“It sounds as though we may about to get the rain that we’ve been praying for,” the minister observed drily, “and it would seem that rain is much more interesting than anything I have to say up here.” A ripple of self-conscious laughter went through the room. He dismissed them then, but not before giving a quick reminder that the new bell would be used as a warning in case of fire.
Outside once again, Caroline nearly stumbled as a gust of wind tried to sweep away her hat. Dirt peppered her skin and swirling leaves hit her face. Emily squealed as the same gust threatened to lift her skirts, but Natalie just laughed. She didn’t care if anyone saw her ankles.
Adam took Caroline’s arm again and escorted her to their wagon. “I think we should get home soon,” he shouted over the wind. “Something doesn’t feel right about this storm. I want to get you all home and safe before it hits.
He smiled down at her. Her heart began to beat wildly and she couldn’t tear herself away from his gaze. “You’re easy to talk to,” he murmured. “I feel safe with you, like I could tell you any--say, what’s all this?” He broke off suddenly at the same moment that Caroline felt a hand clamp down on her shoulder.
She grimaced at the familiar feeling of strong fingers digging into her flesh through the fabric of her dress.
“I’ll thank you to take your hands off my wife,” Adam said, his voice deadly calm.
“Your wife?” Roger Morgan’s laughter rang out from behind her. “You’re mistaken, fella. This is my niece, and I’m here to take her home to the man she promised to marry.”
Chapter 14
Adam watched the color drain from Caroline’s face. “Is this true?” he demanded.
She opened and closed her mouth several times. Tears welled up in her golden-brown eyes as she struggled to find the words.
“Caroline. I asked you a question. Is it true?” he repeated. “Are you betrothed to another man?”
“Of course she is!” the man standing behind her announced. He was a big man with a florid face and thinning sandy hair. He had beady eyes that peered out from between folds of fat, and his thin lips curled up in a smug smile. He smelled of sweat and stale whiskey. Adam disliked him immediately.
Another man stood just behind the man who still hadn’t released his grip on Caroline’s arm. This one was shorter and a bit stocky, dressed in a suit that looked expensive even to Adam’s untrained eye. He was good-looking enough, Adam supposed, in a flashy sort of way. Was this the man she was supposed to marry?
“Uncle Roger, please,” Caroline gasped. “You’re hurting me.”
“I ought to do more than that, you little hussy,” the man growled. “Do you have any idea how much it cost me to come out here after you?”
Caroline cried out as he yanked on her arm and jerked her away from Adam.
“Father, don’t --” the other stranger began, but hushed when his father sent him a withering look.
Adam stepped forward once more, keeping his voice as level as he could. “I won’t ask you politely again,” he said. “Get your hands off my wife and give me a chance to find out just exactly what the blazes is going on here. Caroline, who are these men?”
She almost fell when the man released his grip on her. “This is my uncle, Roger Morgan. And this my cousin, Stanley.”
“Is it true? Are you -- do you belong to another man?”
“I belong to no one!” she declared.
Her uncle snorted. “You’re a woman,” he spat out the word with contempt ringing in his voice. “You belong to whatever man is fool enough to have you. I am your legal guardian, little lady, until the moment you say ‘I do’ to Tom Little.”
Not again. Adam’s mind reeled. It’s Elise all over again.
“I’ve already spoken my vows with Adam,” she said, raising her chin defiantly. “I am already married, Uncle. You’re too late.”
Roger Morgan’s face darkened with fury and he raised a hand to strike his niece. Stanley stepped in between them and caught his hand. “Don’t, Father,” he said quietly. “It’s over. Let her alone.”
Caroline stumbled backward against Adam’s chest as she was released. Instinctively, he caught her and kept an arm around her as she regained her balance. He felt the warmth of her body pressed against him and fought down the desire to spin her around and claim her lips with his own, if only to prove to the world that Caroline was indeed his. At the same time, he wanted to shrink from her touch and send her off with her relatives.
More than anything, he wanted to be alone with her somewhere so he could ask her Why? How could you lie to me like this?
“I won’t let her alone,” Morgan told his son. “And neither will you. She’s going home to Big Tom one way or another. If she can’t be his wife, she can be one of his whores.”
Caroline gasped.
“Father, you’ve said your piece,” Stanley said. He looked up at Adam. “We’ve got a room at the tavern,” he said. “Once father sobers up, we can sit down and discuss in private.”
For the first time, Adam became aware of the curious crowd watching the ugly scene. He heard whispers and a few ug
ly laughs. Grace Anderson was beaming triumphantly. He saw her lean over to whisper something to JohannaVanDam, causing the Dutch woman to clap a hand over her mouth in horror.
“Good idea,” he ground out. He said nothing more as Stanley Morgan led his inebriated father away toward the town’s only saloon. Roger raged and shouted horrible epithets in Caroline’s direction, and he felt the tremors run through her body with each hurtful word.
“Adam, I can explain --”
“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.” He released her and stepped away. “I could forgive anything else, Caroline, but not this.”
She recoiled as though slapped.
“I’ll take you back to my home to get your things,” he said. “And then I don’t care where you go. Stay with the Browns or go home with your family. It doesn’t matter to me.”
“But -- but I’m your wife,” she said tremulously.
“Only on paper,” he snapped. “It was nothing but a business arrangement, remember?”
Chapter 15
Those were the last words Adam spoke to her until they arrived home. “Gather your things together,” he said shortly. “You may stay until morning.”
She watched him stride to the barn without so much as a look back.
Stubborn man! She wanted to run after him and beg him for a chance to explain, but pride made her hold back. I was a fool to think I could love him. Pig-headed, stubborn fool!
She wasn’t sure whether those last words were aimed at Adam or at herself.
The twins avoided her for the rest of the day, tiptoeing out of her way and whispering to each other. Their uncle came in from the barn long enough to eat supper with them and then returned to his workshop.
The storm that had been threatening all still hadn’t hit by the time she had finished cleaning up after supper. The winds had continued to gain intensity, although they seemed to shift direction from time to time. Dark clouds piled up in the southwest, and Caroline thought she heard thunder.
She stepped outside on the porch in search of fresh air after washing the dishes. It was positively stifling inside the little house, but the breeze out here didn’t seem any better. In fact, the strong gusts of wind felt heated as they touched her warm skin. It felt like taking bread from the oven and staying in front of the oven door to soak up the heat.
Propriety be hanged! She undid the button at the neck of her dress and leaned against the pillar. She could see the red glow of the sunset off to the west, and hoped that Adam was right when he said that a red sunset foretold rain the next day.
“Lord, please let that mean rain!” she prayed fervently.
Michigan was a horrible place, she decided. It was supposed to be a great forested wilderness with tall trees and rich soil, but it had turned out to be nothing more than an arid wasteland of tree stumps and sun-burnt grass. She was hot and tired and longed for the cool, moist ocean air of home. She ached to strip off her shoes and walk barefoot through grass that glistened with morning dew.
Sighing, she glanced more at the red glow along the horizon. That’s odd, she thought. It’s getting brighter. And isn’t it a bit early for sunset?
Realization hit with such force that a wave of icy terror washed over her.
Fire.
# # #
Adam ran his hand over the back of the finished rocking chair. He knew now with perfect clarity that he had had been building it for Caroline all along. If he closed his eyes, he could picture her sitting in it beside the fireplace, her soft brown hair cascading over her shoulders and her golden brown eyes shining. How had he ever thought she wasn’t beautiful?
He shook his head to clear it. The image in his mind was so clear that he even imagined he smelled the wood smoke emanating from the fireplace.
Opening his eyes, he sniffed the air. It wasn’t his imagination; he could definitely smell smoke.
“Fire!”
Caroline’s anguished voice rang out across the yard.
He wrenched open the door of the barn and saw her running toward him, hurrying the twins in front of her. Caroline gestured wildly toward the west.
Heart in his throat, he knew what he would see even before he looked. The entire horizon was a harsh orange-red, and he swore he could almost see tongues of flame licking at the dry fields and tree stumps of his neighbor’s land. It was so immense that he almost couldn’t comprehend it, and it was getting closer by the second.
He thought about hitching the horses to the wagon, but dismissed the thought immediately. There was no time.
“Caroline, can you ride bareback?” he demanded.
“Yes, but--”
He dashed back into the barn before she could finish. Moments later, he returned with Dumplin, Max and Mae. “I want you all to ride to Saddle Lake,” he ordered them. “If the fire gets that far, go into the water as deep as you can. Don’t come out until it’s over. Do you understand me?”
“Like the little bears?” Sophie asked.
He stroked her cheek. “Yes, Sweetheart, just like the little bears. But that was just a story. You won’t go deep enough to drown. Just deep enough to stay away from the fire.
“What about you, Uncle Adam?” Emily clutched at his arm. “Aren’t you coming with us?”
He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. “I’ve got to ring the bell and warn the others. I’ll be right behind you,” he promised.
“But--”
“Don’t argue, Sophie,” Emily said. Her face was pale, but her lips were pressed together with determination. “Come on.”
Adam pulled both girls together in a hug. Then he helped Emily scramble up onto Mae’s back while Sophie hiked her skirts and seated herself astride the little pony. He glanced off to the west once more before turning to Caroline.
“Adam,” was all she said.
“I’ll be all right,” he told her. “Keep them safe, Caroline.”
She nodded.
He turned to help her onto the mare’s back, but instead suddenly found himself holding her close in his arms and kissing her as though his very life depended on tasting her lips once more. She stiffened and then melted against him.
Heat surged through him. For a moment, he forgot about the fire and the watchful eyes of his brother’s children. All he knew was Caroline in his arms, kissing him back with a passion that left him breathless and reeling.
Suddenly, he came to his senses and broke away from her. Neither spoke as he helped her climb up in front of Emily. All propriety was cast aside as she seated herself astride just like the girls.
“Please be careful, Adam,” she whispered.
He nodded. “Sophie, you lead the way. Don’t stop for anything, and don’t get out of the water until the fire is out. Now go!”
Adam couldn’t watch them go. He told himself it was because he didn’t have time to stand there watching his entire world ride away, but somewhere deep inside his soul there was a voice telling him that this might be the last time he saw any of them.
Chapter 16
Adam thundered along the dirt road toward Serenity, shouting out as he passed homes along the way. When he rode past the Anderson farm, he saw to his horror that the roof of the farmhouse was already smoldering.
He leapt from Max’s back and ran to the door, shouting for Rich and Grace. Desperately, he pounded on the wood. “Fire!” he bellowed. “Your house in on fire!”
The door jerked open, and he found himself face-to-face with Rich. “How bad is it?”
Adam stepped back and gestured to the west. Rich’s eyes widened. He looked up at the roof, uttering a few choice words that Adam hadn’t even realized the other man knew.
Grace Anderson bustled through the doorway with a haughty expression on her face.
“All this shouting is giving me Migraine,” she scolded them.
“We need to leave now,” her husband said. He clutched at her arm and began pulling her after him. “We’ve got to get to Saddle Lake.”
“I wil
l do no such thing, Richard. It’s highly inappropriate.”
There was a great whooshing sound as the smoldering roof suddenly burst into flame. Grace let out a shriek.
Adam held her back while Rich raced to the barn to free his animals. He returned riding bareback on a gray gelding, and Adam lifted Grace up to sit in front of her husband. She was sobbing hysterically by this point.
“Godspeed,” said Adam.
Rich paused to clasp his hand for a quick moment. “And to you,” he replied.
Adam didn’t stay to watch them ride toward the lake. He urged Max into a gallop toward Serenity, determined not to turn and gaze at the red glow that was growing larger and getting closer off to the west.
He soon reached the wooden plank road and rode directly through town to the home of Reverend Brown, where he leaped from the horse’s back once more and banged on the door until the minister finally opened it.
“Adam? What is it? Is someone hurt?”
“Fire!” Adam panted, pointing at the horizon.
Brown’s eyes widened. “Dear Lord,” he murmured.
“I need the key . . . to the church,” Adam told him, still struggling for breath. The very air around him was heated and smoke-filled, and his throat burned from all the shouting. He ached for a drink of cool water, but there was no time. “The bell. We need to ring the bell.”
“Of course.” Brown stepped back inside and returned seconds later with a heavy brass key. “Should I --”
“I’ll do it,” Adam assured him.
“Can we fight this?”
“Reverend, there’s not enough water in the world to fight that monster.” Adam bounded down the walk and raced across the churchyard to the heavy oak door of the sturdy building. He fumbled with the key, and for one terrible moment he thought about giving up and just throwing a rock through the window to let himself in. Finally shoving the door open, he stumbled into the cool darkness.