The Halsey Brothers Series

by Paty Jager

  She wasn’t going to lie to him. “It could if you don’t keep your mind on the job and forget I’m a woman.”

  His brow furrowed and his lips pinched. “So my compromise could put you in danger. I can’t win with this.”

  Kelda grasped his cheeks and tipped his head down to make eye contact. “You’ll only put me in danger if you treat me like I’m fragile. I’m not. I know my job and can teach you, but only if you can leave your heart in camp and think like a business man in the woods.”

  His eyes softened. “Can you leave your heart in camp?”

  Her heart hiccupped and raced. “If it means keeping you from harm, ja.”

  “Then I can, too.” He slipped from her grasp and continued to the cookhouse.

  Her mind spun in a thousand directions at once. Could she leave her heart in camp? Would he be able to treat her different in the woods? What a mess. But if it worked, they could work side by side until they were too old to swing an axe.

  They entered the cookhouse and all heads turned their direction. Kelda’s face grew warm from the smiles and nods. Hank took her coat and moved her across the length of the room to two open spots next to Tobias.

  “I should help Lars.” She moved to pass Hank.

  “Kelda, sit and eat. You missed several meals yesterday.” Far’s command stalled her feet.

  She studied his stern face. The merriment of yesterday had disappeared. The man she loved and never crossed sat at the head of the table today. His disapproval darkened his face like a shadow.

  Her knees wobbled as she stepped over the bench and sat. Hank followed, squeezing her shoulder as he slipped his legs over the halved log.

  Butch, one of the older loggers, sat to her left. He handed her the plate of biscuits. She took one and passed it to Hank, keeping her eyes on her plate. Her father had never reprimanded her in front of the others before. Had her turning down Hank put her in disfavor with him?

  “Are the men going out to the woods today?” Hank asked, peering down the length of the table. Kelda followed his gaze, trying to read the expressions on the beasts’ faces. Many had finished and seemed to be hanging around as if also waiting for word from Far.

  “Karl and I are going to check it out this morning. If it has dried up enough we’ll get to work this afternoon.” Far shoved his finished plate to the center of the table and picked up his cup. “When you finish eating, Kelda, your mother wishes to see you.”

  Guilt landed like a wedge in her stomach. Avoiding Hank yesterday she’d not been by to see Mor. “I’ll go now.” She started to rise.

  Hank’s warm hand rested on her thigh. “After you eat.” He pointed to her plate. He must have added the eggs and ham to it because she hadn’t.

  She glanced at Far fearing he wouldn’t like both Hank’s hand on her thigh or his command. Far nodded and took a sip of coffee.

  Kelda settled back in her seat and ate, not really tasting anything or hearing the conversation between Hank and her family. The buzz of conversation only heightened her feeling she was losing control and not sure how or why.

  A stack of plates arrived at her spot. She piled them on hers and passed them to Hank. His hand touched hers and she peered into his eyes. He was asking with his eyes. What did he want?

  She leaned toward him and whispered, “What?”

  “Do you want me to wait until you come back to tell your father of our working relationship?”

  A quick scan of the table proved most of the men had left. Paddy and a couple others were conversing at the other end. “Now,” she said and caught Paddy’s attention. He smiled and nodded, finishing his conversation and moving up to sit across from her.

  She wanted to hold Hank’s hand for support, knowing her brothers would not like the idea. They were the ones who trained the greenhorns, only when one of them was busy did it fall to her. But she and Hank had to show they could work together without allowing their emotions to get in the way.

  Hank cleared his throat. “Mr. Nielsen and everyone,” Hank nodded to each of her brothers and Paddy, “Kelda and I have come to an agreement and I hope you’ll consent.” He glanced at her, and then back at Far. “We’d like to work together in the woods. With Kelda teaching me the jobs of a woodsman.”

  Karl reared back his eyes narrowed and angry. “I don’t—”

  “That’s a great idea,” Far and Paddy cut in at the same time.

  Karl shot to his feet, pushing the bench holding Dag and Paddy away from the table. “It’s a bad idea. They’ll be mooning over each other or doing who knows what in the woods and not carrying their load.”

  Kelda shot to her feet. “That is mean even for you. I need to prove to Hank I can handle myself in the woods, and he needs to learn the trade and how to stay alive. We have the best incentive to be safe. The other’s life.”

  Far waved them both to be seated. Hank’s hand rested on her thigh when she sat.

  “I agree. You two need this time together in the woods to understand one another.” He pointed to Hank. “All you see is the fragile woman you want her to be.” Then Far’s eyes hardened, and he stared at her. “You think working in the woods defines you. You are more than a beast. You are a woman, a daughter, a sister, and a compassionate friend. Until you see that you’ll not make a good wife.”

  Sorrow as damp and veiled as fog filled her. Far had never spoken so harshly about her. Hank squeezed her leg. She knew it was to reassure, but it only compounded her sorrow. Would she learn to be a good wife?

  “Go see your mother,” Hank said, releasing her leg and nodding toward the back room.

  Kelda nodded and stood. She couldn’t walk fast enough to leave the room. Even when she’d had to square up against new arrivals and prove her worth, she’d never felt as inadequate as her father’s words just made her feel. She slipped in the room and studied Mor.

  Her color was better and she sat in a chair, dressed. Her graying hair hung about her shoulders in a tangled mess.

  “There you are, Kelda. Could you be a good daughter and brush my hair?” She held up her hands. “Not using my hands every day they are getting stiff.” She smiled. “But it has been a wonderful relief to not get up at four to start preparing breakfast.”

  Kelda took the brush from her mother’s lap and pulled it through the thinning hair. “You look better this morning, Mor.” She noticed a bowl and cup on the table beside the bed. “Lars is feeding you well.”

  “You did good bringing him here. He has tales from home, and he makes a good bowl of porridge.” Mor twisted her neck and peered up at Kelda. “Tell me about your night with Hank.”

  Air rushed out of Kelda’s lungs, and she plopped onto her mother’s bed. “It was a long night. We’d quarreled, and I couldn’t get past my anger.”

  “And now?” Mor patted her hand. “Have you discovered the true reason for your anger?”

  She stared at Mor. “How did you know I wasn’t just being peevish?”

  Mor held up a finger and smiled. “When one is angry with someone they love it can usually be fixed by talking it out.” Her eyes twinkled. “After all, if you love someone it is only the one obstacle that must be moved to make things right.”

  Kelda hugged her mother. “You’re so right. Hank and I are working on the obstacle.” She released Mor and sat back. “But I’ve upset Far with all my childish behavior.”

  Mor shook her head. “Nei. You’re finally behaving like a woman and he doesn’t know how to handle you.” She touched the tip of Kelda’s nose. “Keep him on his toes. It’s good for the man.”

  Kelda spent most of the morning telling Mor about the pact she’d made with Hank to show him how to log and that he was courting her. In the back of her mind, she saw the two of them spending many interesting evenings enjoying the courting side of their relationship.

  Chapter 26

  Hank spent the morning on paperwork in the office, knowing he’d be out in the woods every day after today until he could convince Kelda it wasn’
t the place for her. He’d have to cut his courting time short in the evenings to do the paperwork he’d be neglecting.

  He hoped Karl and Arvid made them wait until tomorrow to go back to work. He needed the half a day to get Tobias trained to do a few of the tasks he’d no longer have time for.

  Kelda wandered into his office before noon. “Far’s back. He said we’d wait until tomorrow to start back up.”

  The disappointment lacing her words brought his full attention to her.

  “That’s good. It gives me more time to get things settled here so my mind can be fully focused on what you teach me.”

  She stood by the desk looking down at the numbers he was manipulating to make sure he wasn’t over spending until the logs were actually sold.

  “Tobias is good with numbers. You should let him do that.”

  “He does all the other numbers. These are for my eyes only. I have to stay within my budget.” He shoved the papers to the side and leaned his forearms on the desk. “What else did you come in here to say?”

  “I want to learn what you have already done in the woods so I know where to start with you tomorrow.” She sat on the corner of the desk since the only chair in the room was under him.

  Hank ran his finger along her thigh. Her eyes widened, and he couldn’t suppress a sly smile. His touch brought her to life in so many ways.

  Kelda cleared her throat. “What have you learned in the woods so far?”

  He pulled his hand back. If he wanted to keep a clear head while working with her, he’d have to make sure they didn’t touch. “I’ve set chain and gaffed logs down the chute.”

  “Have you done any axe or saw work?” The furrowing of her brow wasn’t a good sign.

  “Only chopping wood for the stove out there.” He tried to make light of the fact he couldn’t wield an axe as well as she.

  “I guess we won’t be heading to the woods tomorrow then. We’ll hang out down here around the camp and work on teaching you proper swinging and how to gauge where to fall a tree.” She stood. “I’ll go scout out some trees for you to practice on.”

  “Why do I have to practice here at camp? Wouldn’t it be more time efficient to teach me on trees that we need?” He didn’t like the idea of yet another wasted effort when they should be piling up logs.

  “To have you practice where everyone else will be could cause harm to someone other than you.” Kelda stepped around the desk. “I want to only have to watch your hide and not everyone else’s.” She bent and kissed his cheek.

  Her show of tenderness without his initiating the exchange started his heart racing. After the kiss, she straightened but didn’t move away. He snaked an arm around her middle and spun in his chair to draw her between his legs.

  “You’re growing bolder with your affections.” He peered up into her face.

  “With you agreeing to my working in the woods I feel we may have something lasting.” Her eyes sparkled.

  “We may just at that.” He stood, sliding up the front of her and pressing his lips to hers. This was a scenario they could do every day once she married him. Her arms tightened around his middle, and he deepened the kiss. The bed came into his view as if he’d searched the room just for that piece of furniture.

  Kelda pulled out of the kiss, her chest heaving and a smile curving her delightful lips. “I think I need to find somewhere else to be before…” Her sentence dwindled as she peered into his eyes.

  His desire must have shown in his eyes. Her cheeks turned a deep red, and her body pressed tighter to his at the hips.

  A light rap on the open door jolted them apart. Hank ran a hand over his face and turned to the door. Tobias stood in the doorway looking like he’d just found a hunk of gold the size of a rabbit.

  “What do you need?” Hank asked, shifting his gaze to Kelda who kept her back to her brother. He was the one who should be hiding his front side. Instead, he crossed his arms and waited for Tobias to stop smiling and find his tongue.

  “Pa’s rounding up everyone for a meeting. Thought you…two might want to attend.”

  Hank waved him away and placed a hand on Kelda’s shoulder. “Next time you enter my office it might be a good idea to close the door behind you,” he said softly in case Tobias was hanging around outside the door hoping to catch them in a compromising position, again.

  She stared up at him. Merriment danced in her green eyes and a hand covered her mouth. Kelda removed the hand and giggles burst forth followed by laughter.

  He thought she was embarrassed, but it appeared she found their getting caught funny.

  “Did you see the look on Tobias’s face before he started smirking? And you…you looked like you were caught stealing cookies.” Kelda’s comments started Hank laughing.

  Once he gained control, he grasped her shoulders and leveled his gaze on hers. “We have to make sure we only kiss and embrace in camp. If we were to kiss and forget where we are in the woods it could be disastrous.” He stared into her sobering eyes. “Promise me you’ll keep your distance and just instruct me.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “I promise. I know work comes first and everything else is kept to the camp. The beasts know you play jokes in camp not out where someone could get hurt. It’s respect for forces beyond your control.”

  Hank placed a hand on her back. “Then let’s go see what your father has to say.”

  ~*~

  The next morning after breakfast, Hank followed Kelda out with the rest of the men. Everyone else started up the path to the area they were logging at the top of the chute. Kelda led him to a small stand of pines over a hundred yards from the camp.

  “Do you know the different type of trees?” she asked, setting her axe and a crosscut saw on the ground beside a tree.

  “Yes.”

  “Then pick out the tallest, straightest pine tree in this group and tell me which direction it needs to fall to not damage other trees or the one your falling.” Kelda leaned against the tree where her tools reclined at the base.

  The vision of her smiling like a cat with cream and relaxing against the tree had his mind starting to move in the wrong direction. He mentally slapped himself and walked around, looking up each one of the pine trees in the group. When he determined which pine fit her description, he walked around the tree seeing what obstacles would hinder it when falling to the ground.

  “This one and it needs to fall that way.” He pointed in the direction of the clearest path to the ground.

  She smiled and nodded. “Now what do you need to do?”

  “Cut a wedge in the tree on the side I want it to fall and then saw this side.” Hank dropped his axe from where it rested on his shoulder and took a swing at the tree. It didn’t sound like the sharp crack he’d heard when others swung at the trees.

  Kelda sprang away from her resting spot and thunked the tree with the blunt head of a small hatchet she took from her belt.

  “Hear that. This tree is rotten in the center.” She continued tapping the tree until she was nearly standing on her tip toes. “It doesn’t sound solid until up here.” She stepped back and peered up the tree. “There’s plenty of good wood up above. We’ll go back and get some springboards, and you’ll get your first lesson on those.”

  Hank didn’t miss the gleam in her eyes as she placed her hatchet on the ground and started back toward the camp. He propped his axe against the tree and followed, wondering how he’d get through this first test of watching her work over ten feet off the ground.

  Kelda’s feet were as weightless as fall leaves striding back to camp. Not only was she back swinging an axe, she’d be on a springboard soon and be experiencing the rush she loved.

  Hank’s steps behind her were slow and heavier. Her excitement didn’t rub off on him. It almost seemed to be the opposite. The more excited she became about working, the quieter and sullen he became.

  At the supply tent, she thrust two boards six feet long and hewn to three inches thick and ten inches wide in Hank�
�s hands and picked up two for her. She’d found the exact healthy spruce tree, cut it down, cut the six foot long slabs from the center of the tree, and then planed them to the three-inch thickness. Everyone in the camp knew these were her boards. Some beasts used whatever board they could find, but she’d found by hand making her springboards they lasted, and she had less worry of one breaking forty feet in the air.

  She stopped at the base of the tree and studied the wind and the lean on the pine. Using the hatchet she tapped the trunk again surmising the extent of the rot. Could it hold two of them until they reached the solid wood fifteen feet higher? Remembering she was here to teach, Kelda handed the hatchet to Hank.

  “Tap the tree every ten inches and listen. You’ll hear the difference when you hit solid wood.” She stepped back and watched him tap the tree.

  At first he leaned his ear close to the trunk, listening. But he soon caught on that not only the sound informed but the bounce of the hatchet head off the trunk was a telltale also.

  Hank twisted his neck and peered at her a smile tipping his lips. “I can hear and feel the difference.”

  She nodded. “The next problem is to determine if the rotted bottom will hold both of us.” Kelda picked up her axe and swung it at the trunk five feet from the ground, making a wedge-sized notch to fit a springboard.

  Stepping back, she pointed to the notch. “You want the notch to be slightly larger than the springboard on the outside edges but smaller in the back.” She picked up a board, shoved it into the notch, working it back and forth until the board held firmly. With a flick of her wrist, she lodged her axe in the tree as high as she could reach and put her palms on the springboard.

  Hank’s hands gripped her waist. Kelda swatted at him.

  “I’ve been doing this for years and don’t need you hefting me too hard and making me go on over the board.” This was exactly the type of problem she foresaw with him working with her. He had to treat her like another logger.

  “Sorry.” Hank backed up, holding his hands in the air. His tone and guilt in his eyes told her he realized his mistake.