A Quiet Life

by Charlotte Thorpe

  “With Anna inside?” Jack protested.

  Caroline held up her hand. “Don’t worry. Jack,” she pointed at him, “is ready just outside a window. When the smoke starts coming in and the outlaws scramble to put out the fire, he is able to climb through the window and pull Anna to safety. Unfortunately, one of the men sees Sam running away and shoots at him several times. One of the bullets pierces his side and he falls to the ground.”

  “Ouch.” Sam gave his sister a look of mock annoyance. He rarely commented on her stories but when he did, it was almost always a complaint about being injured in so many of them.

  Caroline waved him off. “Oh, hush,” she said. “You’re gonna be fine. Jack quickly runs around the small cabin firing shots into the air and this tricks the outlaws into thinking they’ve been surrounded. They head back inside for cover, giving Jack time to lift Sam over his shoulder and escort Anna home.”

  Jack tried to picture trees thick enough that a man could run through them and not be seen and yet still move fast enough and quietly enough not to give away that he was one man. Caroline picked up her tale before he could ask her to clarify.

  “Word of Anna’s kidnapping and of her safe return travels to the Circle R and to her secret admirer.” Her face changed, something like an actor breaking character. “I just can’t decide what his name should be. I thought maybe Caleb?”

  She aimed the question at Ruth, who nodded approvingly.

  “Maybe.” Caroline didn’t look convinced. “Tonight he’ll still have to be the secret admirer. So…” She looked more serious again. “When he learns about the escapade, he feels responsible. He comes here to reveal himself to Anna and ask her forgiveness for not telling her his identity sooner. Anna knows his letters so well she recognizes him as the author before he has a chance to admit it.”

  “Wait a minute.” Jack was trying to be patient with Caroline because of their personal struggle but her story was making less sense even than usual. As if there was any chance he and Sam wouldn’t notice a stranger skulking about the place. It almost felt as though she was baiting him and he couldn’t resist. “How does she recognize him?”

  “His general manners.”

  “Did he describe himself in the letters?”

  “Not physically. But he had revealed his soul… and she knew it.” At first, Caroline said this with so much conviction that Jack didn’t want to argue. A twitch of a smile gave her away though.

  “So Anna recognized this man on sight because of his words on paper?” he asked. “But she didn’t know that last letter came from someone else?”

  “It was short.”

  Ruth let out a burst of laughter and then covered her face with her hand as she tried to straighten it.

  It was less fun to poke holes when Caroline already saw them. “Is that the end?” Jack asked.

  “Mostly. Even though Anna knows he’s the one who’s been writing to her, she still has to wait for him to declare himself. He’s rather nervous and they sit on the porch for a while over glasses of lemonade. By the time he told her how he felt about her, she was dying to fall into his arms so the embrace was truly sweet.” Caroline gave a slight bow before she took her seat. As she did so, she met Jack’s eyes with a warm expression; one that he would swear was inviting a similarly sweet embrace.

  He immediately revised his plan. The summer was always a fine time for a wedding. As long as it wasn’t too hot. He shouldn’t wait past June to ask her again.

  ~~ ~~

  It appeared that a woman could only refuse a man so many times before he stopped asking. And that Jack had reached his limit. Unfortunately, Caroline had convinced herself that she wanted to say yes almost as soon as she’d convinced Jack to accept her no. Now it was proving just as difficult to get him to propose as it had been to avoid it.

  She was staying up later in the evenings than she was accustomed to give Jack a chance to catch her alone and say something. He was turning in earlier. She started bringing hot coffee to the barn while he was working. She also looked for excuses to stand close.

  The man was honorable to the core. She hoped that if she could tempt him into kissing her, he’d feel the need to make an offer even if he expected it to be rejected. She’d spent nearly two weeks chasing opportunities to hand him things or otherwise be near, particularly if they were alone, and to no avail. Soon he would be able to run again and that was unlikely to help.

  Caroline tried to be content knowing that they loved each other. Each day she got up early and lived a life that was satisfying in most ways. She believed that God would put them together when the time was right. She simply made sure her eyes were open to see that time when it happened.

  Her best chance to catch him alone was at midday. He’d taken to coming in for a noon meal since he was mostly staying close to the house. Ruth had taken to finding excuses to leave the kitchen while he was there. Jack would not cooperate though. He stayed seated until he was on his way out and that large, solid table was a barrier to subtle closeness.

  They had sandwiches that day, with bacon. Ruth had mentioned as soon as she sat down that she was anxious to get back to her book. She returned to the sitting room after eating very little, presumably because she knew how fast Jack ate and that gave her little time.

  “Any bacon left?” he asked Caroline.

  She nodded and got up to empty the pan onto his plate.

  “Thank you. This’ll fill me up.”

  Caroline put the pan aside to soak and decided to clean up the kitchen later. She was thinking of a quick nap as she reached back to untie her apron. Jack got up at the same time to retrieve his coat. Her strings caught and she slipped the top over her head to spin it around and work on the knot.

  A sudden idea caused her to pull it tighter instead. “Jack,” she called.

  He turned in the middle of buttoning up his coat.

  “Can you give me a hand with this knot?”

  Jack took a step towards her and then stopped abruptly. “You’re fingers are smaller than mine.”

  “I know. My eyes are too tired to see it clearly.”

  “All right.” He took a few slow steps. The crutch he was supposed to be using sat by the door, waiting for a less stubborn owner.

  Caroline held out the apron strings and let Jack take them in his hand. His coat smelled like hay, a scent she’d come to love in her time on the ranch. He bent his head and squinted at the knot. She only glanced at the strings before she looked up at the stubbly whiskers on Jack’s face. She wondered if it was still rough or if it had been long enough since his last shave to feel gentle against her cheek.

  The apron loosened. It felt as though Jack was no longer pulling the strings away from her waist. Her eyes traced the line of his jaw until they found his darker eyes waiting for her. She let his gaze envelope her with love and hoped he could tell how much she returned it and how much her eyes were pleading with his to come closer. He must have sensed that she was open to a kiss because he began to slowly lean forward as the heat from his eyes focused on her lips.

  She prepared herself for the sweetness. He stopped instead and shook his head. He winced as he began to turn away from her and she was fairly sure the pain wasn’t coming from his healing leg. He walked out as fast as it would let him.

  Caroline never would have guessed she’d think a man had too much honor. The thought occurred to her in her disappointment though. She nearly stamped her foot like a child in the frustration Jack had left behind. But then a perfectly brilliant idea slapped a smile onto her face. She couldn’t be forward enough to tell him to propose but she knew how to tell him without telling him.

  She enlisted Ruth’s help while they were making supper that night. They giggled like schoolgirls while kneading the bread and sighed at some of Caroline’s imagined details. Ruth tried to appear tired during the meal. She spoiled the attempt with occasional winks to Caroline. Neither of the men seemed to notice. They hardly looked up while they stuffed the food
into their mouths. Caroline always felt needed by their healthy appetites but she was a little unsure if they could taste anything when it went down so fast.

  When the dishes were washed, Caroline moved to the sitting room. Jack and Sam were laughing over something one of the hands had said earlier in the day. A bible was sitting in one of the wooden chairs and Caroline picked it up to claim the seat. She flipped the book open to a random page and tried to see the words. She was suddenly feeling nervous.

  Ruth entered a minute later to act out her part of the plan.

  Sam held up the book they’d been reading together.

  “I’m feeling plumb worn out today.” Ruth patted her growing baby as though that was his fault. “Would you mind coming upstairs to read so I can lie down?”

  Caroline tried to keep her eyes on the page to appear as though she didn’t care one way or the other if Sam was going to leave the room. She sensed movement in his direction.

  “You’re not feeling poorly, are you?” Sam asked. “Only tired?” He took his wife’s hand as he led her to the stairs and she assured him she only needed a bit of rest.

  Caroline prayed for the baby and for forgiveness. She should have considered that her idea would cause Sam to worry for the baby. That was careless of her. She looked up as they said goodnight to her from the stairs and to peek at Jack. He also said goodnight and then tipped his chair back to lean against the wall. His long legs stretched out in front of him. It was possible he was displaying an excuse to turn in early himself.

  Caroline seized the moment while she could. She snapped the bible shut and said, “Jack?”

  He only grunted a response. He was still looking at the ceiling.

  “I thought of a story today that I’d like to tell you. But I’d like you to try not to interrupt.”

  Jack let his chair fall to the floor and gave her a small crooked smile. “I always try not to interrupt.”

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “It’s true,” he said. “What kind of trouble has Anna attracted today?”

  “Anna isn’t in this story. It’s about a man and… I haven’t given him a name.”

  “Is this one your usual outlaws?”

  “No. And you’re not trying very hard not to interrupt.”

  “I didn’t know you’d started.” He tipped his chair back again as though it might be easier to only listen if he was relaxed.

  “This man… he’s a good man. Works hard. Takes care of the people in his life. He has a strong faith and well, he’s good-looking, too. But he also has a tendency to eat too fast and he amuses himself by being difficult on purpose.” Caroline paused for a moment. Jack’s face was impassive so she couldn’t tell if he knew she was describing him. “There’s also a woman. She loves the man. For some reason she can’t fathom, she finds that last trait the most appealing. The man must love the woman as well because he asked her to marry him. And this is where the story takes a sad turn. His proposal is rejected… more than once.”

  Sure that Jack now recognized her plot, Caroline began speaking a bit faster. “The woman wants to marry him but… she’s afraid. Not of him but of… of how badly she wants to have his children.” She watched her hands absently opening and closing the bible in her lap because she was also afraid to look at Jack. “The women… she tried to tell herself – and the man as well – that she doesn’t want to try again because it might be painful. But the desire won’t go away and she comes to realize that wanting children and not getting married is about as foolish as… as rejecting the man who’s love would make her happier than she’s ever been. She wants to tell him yes but he won’t ask again because he’s stubborn or… But you know I like happy endings. So eventually the man does ask her again to be his wife and of course they are very happy together. Except when the man finds fault with perfectly good stories.”

  The bible’s cover was worn and flexible and Caroline focused on the feel of it in the quiet after she finished talking. It was Jack’s turn if he had anything to say. He likely needed a bit of time to process her rapid change of heart. He was sitting so still she thought he might have fallen asleep.

  She allowed the bible to reclaim the chair as she stood. “I think I’ll turn in now,” she said. Her fingers came up to cool her warm cheeks as she began walking.

  Jack pulled his feet under himself and cleared his throat. “Uh, Caroline?”

  She was standing on the bottom step when she heard her name. She resisted the impulse to run back to her chair and simply grabbed the railing to turn enough to face Jack.

  He’d already closed the gap between them with a few long, though still slightly uncooperative, strides. She was momentarily confused that he seemed closer than usual until she realized the step was making her taller. Her eyes nearly lined up with his mouth. She tried to step down but his arm came around her waist to stop her and his lips more thoroughly stopped her by landing on hers. She hadn’t noticed she was cold until his embrace warmed her right down to her toes. The kiss had plenty of heat as well.

  Jack pulled back after a minute and shook his head at her with a strange expression. “You’ve been driving me crazy for days and days,” he said. “I thought it was my imagination that you were always close at hand and now from that story I’m beginning to think you’ve been tempting me on purpose.” He looked as though he couldn’t decide whether to strangle her or keep kissing her. The latter impulse must have won out because he bent his head and kissed her again and again until…

  Crack!

  They jerked apart at the noise and Caroline looked behind her to see Sam at the top of the stairs. He was leaning over to pick up a book on the floor in front of him. “I seem to have dropped my book,” he said. “I sincerely hope it didn’t disturb anything improper going on with my sister.”

  Caroline felt color creeping into her face. It wasn’t improper yet but it might have looked dangerously close.

  “Not at all,” Jack said. “I’m just going to ask her a question and then she’s going up to her room.”

  Sam tried to give his friend a stern look. He couldn’t make it truly menacing because they knew he trusted them. “Just know that I’ll be back to check in a few minutes, Mr. Spencer. I expect to find you alone then.”

  Caroline watched her brother disappear before she faced Jack.

  “That story you were just telling,” Jack said, “was that a true story?”

  She smiled in spite of herself. “It was a true story if that isn’t your only question.”

  “I did have another. Why couldn’t you have told me it earlier in the day… when we might have had time to find a preacher?”

  Caroline tipped her head in a way that she hoped made her look annoyed. “I’m going to amend the story to say that the woman only occasionally found a certain trait endearing.”

  Jack flashed a smile and then immediately dropped his teasing expression and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Will you, Caroline? Will you marry me?”

  Her voice came out low to match his. She said, “Yes.”

  ~~The End~~

  Thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed all four novellas. For a contemporary romance fix, you may want to try one of these titles:

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  PIZZA HEAVEN – Pizza Heaven has mouthwatering food and a fun atmosphere. It’s a dream job for most of the college students who work there. Kara in particular doesn’t want to leave and she’s attached to something besides the pizza. The problem? She doesn’t have the courage to tell him.

  WHERE’S THE LOVE – This bonus Meet Cute is not in the book. Can you find it? And could a couple really meet on a discussion forum?

  The 4th Floor Lounge (September 2012)

  Where does an extreme introvert draw the line between being lonely and being left alone? One quirky college student is looking for the answer in the 4th floor lounge.

  Her goals are simple: make one or two good friends and avoid talking to everyone else. Achieving those goals will not be easy for this gorgeous yet socially awkward heroine. She’s constantly approached by guys who are not interested in friendship. And when she finally forms some solid bonds it’s her own romantic feelings that get in the way.

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