by Regina Scott
“I’ve got potatoes on the boil for a cottage pie,” Levi told her. “Drain and mash them while I get the rest ready.”
They went to work.
The kitchen had seemed plenty big when Simon had designed and built it, but with Callie beside Levi, it felt downright cozy. Not that he minded.
“How’d you learn to make such good biscuits?” Callie asked as she plunged the wire masher into the potatoes.
“From Ma,” Levi admitted, cutting the dried venison into smaller pieces. “She had a very light hand.”
“So do you.” She gave the potatoes an extra whack. “Mine always come out hard as rocks. Adam about broke a tooth once.”
“You should have seen the first time Scout tried to make biscuits,” he said, sliding the meat into the skillet. “They came out flat as pancakes. Of course, his mother died when he was only a few years old, so he never learned to cook until his father gave him the job when he was seven.”
“He was the cook for the family at seven?” She cast him a glance, brows up.
“Not just cook. His father made him do everything—cooking, cleaning, washing. Mind you, the wash didn’t happen too often and mostly consisted of Scout throwing some clothes out the back door into the lake to soak a while.”
Callie grimaced. “And I thought lugging water from the creek was bad.”
“His father hunted and fished at first, but later he mostly bought tinned food when he didn’t spend their money on alcohol. Scout figured how to cook most anything dumped in a pan, but he never mastered biscuits.” Levi sighed, remembering the look on Scout’s face. “He loved biscuits.”
“What happened to him?” Callie asked, handing him the pot, potatoes fluffy. “Is he still on the gold fields trying to make his fortune? Or did he become a minister like you?”
Levi’s hand felt heavy on the pot. “We had a falling out. I don’t know where he is now.”
Callie’s hand came down on his. “I’m sorry. It’s hard when someone you care about leaves you behind.”
She had cause to know. Adam had gone off and never returned, leaving her with the responsibility of raising her brothers and his daughter.
He glanced her way. Heat from the stove had flushed her cheeks, and a lock of hair curled against her skin. He reached out and tucked it behind her ear. Her eyes widened, even as he felt himself leaning closer.
The door banged open.
“This better be enough,” Frisco threatened, nearly invisible behind the stack of logs in his arms.
“My turn to fill the downstairs,” Sutter said, teetering under his own stack.
“Thanks, boys,” Levi said, wiping his palms on the towel he kept handy. He could only hope Callie would think it was the hot stove and not her presence that was making him sweat. What was he thinking, leaning in for a kiss? He was only glad that Callie went to feed Mica just then, giving his pulse a moment to return to normal.
He kept his composure through dinner and the cleanup afterward, but his heart gave a painful thump as he gathered everyone on the rug. Callie sat on one of the chairs, Mica in her lap. Ma had sat like that in the evenings, first with him in her lap, then Beth while Ma read, then with her mending, a smile playing about her lips, as one of her children read. Frisco and Sutter had agreed they could start with A Christmas Carol, particularly as Levi had mentioned there were ghosts in it, so Levi offered the book to Callie.
“Would you like to read first?”
Callie shook her head so sharply he knew he’d overstepped. Perhaps only the menfolk in her family had had the privilege of reading aloud. He’d known families like that.
“It’s all right,” he encouraged her. “You have a fine voice for reading.”
She pushed his hand away. “Frisco needs the practice.”
Frisco raised his head from where he and Sutter were sprawled on the rug. “Do not.”
Sutter elbowed him. “Do, too.”
“A shame,” Levi interrupted, taking a seat closest to the lamp. “Reading aloud was an honor in my family. You knew you were important when Ma asked you to take a turn.”
Sutter rose. “I’ll read, preacher.”
Frisco shot up. “No, me.”
“How about if I start,” Levi said, mindful of Rina’s suggestions, “and the person who listens best gets the next turn?”
They both sat with a thump and gazed at him fixedly. He heard Callie smother a laugh. With a smile, he opened the book and started reading.
He didn’t have Drew’s commanding voice or James’s bright wit, but Callie and her brothers listened to him as if he were a trained thespian. The twins sat on the rug, eyes blinking, faces switching from glee to concern over the plight of Ebenezer Scrooge and his clerk. Mica sucked her thumb, smiling and frowning as she took her cue from the boys. After a little while, he passed the book to Sutter, then urged him to let Frisco take a turn. He found himself watching Callie, the change in her eyes, the delicate shading of her skin. She was enjoying the book every bit as much as her brothers.
“Why don’t you give Callie a turn?” he suggested to Frisco.
Callie shook her head again, rearing back in the seat so that Mica had to shift to keep her balance.
Frisco shrugged. “Won’t do any good. Callie can’t read.”
“Bedtime.” Callie surged to her feet, raising a surprised squeak from Mica. “Good night, boys.”
Frisco and Sutter exchanged glances, but they climbed to their feet.
“Good night, Callie,” they chorused.
“Good night, preacher,” Sutter added. They hurried obediently for the stairs, but neither surrendered the book.
He was more concerned about Callie. He rose and crossed to her side, even as she started for the bedroom. “Wait. Is Frisco right? Did you never learn to read?”
Her gaze was once more defiant. “And when did I have time? There wasn’t any schoolteacher wandering about Vital Creek with a primer, was there?”
“If there was a schoolteacher about, he had a pan in his hands,” Levi acknowledged. “But the boys learned to read.”
She shuffled on her feet. “Anna taught them. I had chores.” She shot him a glance. “But I’m not stupid.”
“Of course you aren’t,” Levi agreed. “Still, if you want to learn, Callie, now’s the perfect time.”
She snorted. “That would look real fine, someone like me sitting in Mrs. Wallin’s school.”
“Actually, I sat in Rina’s school when I was eighteen. Scout, Beth and I were supposed to be her first students, but word got around quickly that there was a schoolteacher in the area, and several loggers and miners came to learn to read.”
She shook her head. “I can’t do it. I have to take care of Mica.”
He could offer to care for the baby instead, but he had another idea. Very likely it would get him in trouble, but the thought was too delightful to forgo.
“Why don’t you let me teach you?”
Chapter Ten
Oh, but this man would be the death of her. Levi’s eyes were alight with eagerness. Very likely he was imagining sitting side by side as he opened the world to her through the books she’d often longed to read. She hated to douse his excitement.
“I can get a primer from Rina,” he continued, as if building up steam. “I’m sure if I explained the situation...”
“No,” Callie said, a shiver going through her. “I won’t have you telling the others. It’s bad enough you know.”
He stuck out his lower lip. “Callie, it’s no shame. A good many people in Seattle never learned to read or write.”
A number of the prospectors had been in the same situation, as had their wives and children. She wasn’t so odd there. But this was Wallin Landing, where everyone knew so much more.
“S
hame enough,” she said, bouncing Mica on her hip. “You don’t need to teach me to read. I told you, Levi, you do right by Frisco, Sutter and Mica, and I’ll be fine.”
“Callie.” Her name, said so soft and tender, made her sway on her feet. Mica lay her head against Callie’s shoulder with a sigh.
Levi put a hand on her arm. “Being able to read opens doors. Opportunities for employment, for learning more about our Lord through the Bible, for broadening our minds. Let me give you that.”
He wanted it so badly. She could hear it in his voice, feel it in his touch. And he made her want it, too.
“All right,” she said, fear causing the words to come out grudgingly. “But don’t get all mopey when it doesn’t work.”
“It will work,” he promised. “Thank you, Callie.” He dipped in and pecked her on the cheek. It should have been no more than a brotherly sign of affection, yet another longing rose inside her. He stepped back from her, blinking as if blinded by the sun, then turned and nearly ran for the stairs.
Callie rubbed her finger along her cheek as she turned for the bedroom. She had a feeling this teaching was going to be harder than he thought, for another reason entirely.
* * *
True to his word, Levi started the very next day. First, though, he, Callie and Mica walked Frisco and Sutter to school. Despite their bold claims to Rina, Callie’s brothers clung to her sides like mud on a gold flake as they approached the log building at the back of the main clearing.
Already a dozen children milled around the yard, girls clustered on one side, boys on the other. Most of the boys, Callie saw with relief, were dressed no better than Frisco and Sutter in their short trousers, rough calico shirts and open wool coats, and most appeared to be their age or younger. Still, they all eyed the newcomers, their games stilling, voices quieting. Frisco met their stares, head up and hands fisted.
An elegant girl with hair the color of Rina’s detached herself from the group and approached Frisco and Sutter. Though fully as tall as the twins, she looked to be a year or so younger, given the roundness in her creamy cheeks. She was the finest dressed of the children, her red wool coat boasting black jet buttons and silk trim, and a rabbit fur hat rested on her curls. Mica clapped her hands together as if applauding the little beauty.
“I am Victoria,” she announced, blinking sable lashes over midnight blue eyes. “You may stand with me if you like.” She held out both gloved hands.
Dazed, Frisco took one hand and Sutter the other, and they wandered with her toward the school. The other children fell in behind them as Rina opened the door and welcomed them inside.
“The queen has spoken,” Levi said with a smile. “Rina’s daughter runs that school as much as her mother. Frisco and Sutter will be fine.”
Callie could only hope he was right.
She wasn’t sure why Levi followed them into the school, particularly as he thought everything was going well, but he returned quickly with a book.
Callie flushed at the sight of the primer. “You promised not to tell anyone!”
“I didn’t,” he assured her, heading for the parsonage. “I asked for a primer so Frisco and Sutter can practice at home. Nothing says you can’t use it, too.”
Once back at the table, Mica propped in her chair, he sat beside Callie on the bench by the table and opened to the front of the book where letters marched proudly across the page.
“This is the alphabet,” he explained, finger running down the line. “It’s a list of letters. Letters come together to spell words. A word is a unique combination of letters. There’s a word for everything we see, everything we do, everything we feel.”
Callie nodded. “That makes sense.” Mica nodded her agreement as well.
“Every letter has a particular sound,” he continued, his gaze brushing hers as if determined to make her understand. “Where it gets tricky is that sometimes the sound changes depending on the letters around it.”
Callie frowned. “I don’t understand.”
Levi pointed to the first letter. “Take A.”
“Take a what?”
“No, no, I meant as an example. That’s the letter A. Sometimes it sounds like that, like in away or day. But sometimes it sounds like ah, the sound you make when you stick out your tongue. Bat. Cat.”
Callie threw up her hands. “Well, how are you supposed to know which is which?”
“By the letters around it. Here, let me show you.” He slid closer to her, until his trousers brushed hers. Suddenly it was very hard to focus on the letters.
“This is the letter C,” he said as if unaffected by their closeness. “It usually sounds like kuh.”
“Kuh,” she said.
“Right. And this is T. It sounds like Ti.”
“Ti,” she agreed.
Levi grinned, and she felt very clever. “Now, put them all together. What word would you have if the three letters were gathered together—c-a-t.”
“Kuh ah ti—cat.” Callie grinned. “Cat. I read a word!”
She wanted to bask in the pride shining from his eyes, perhaps lean in and press her lips to his.
Oh, no.
As he turned to next page, she edged away from him. She was here to learn to read. She didn’t want to slip into admiring his eyes, the way his lips curled when he smiled.
“Let’s try some words in a sentence,” he said. “See here? That’s the word see—s for suh, then e and e.”
“Suh ee ee,” she said dutifully.
“You know the next two words,” Levi encouraged her. “Give it a try.”
Callie focused on the letters. “Is it see a cat?”
He chuckled. “It most certainly is.”
Determination pushed her chin up. She could do this. She could learn to read. Who knew what else she might achieve?
Bake biscuits.
Sew a fine seam.
Start a music school.
Fall in love with Levi Wallin.
She nearly shivered again. All were risky. She’d never mastered cooking, had rarely taken the time to sew properly, had never confessed to anyone her fool dream of making a living with her love of music.
But the last idea was the most risky of all. If she failed at the others, she risked nothing more than her pride. If she offered Levi her love, she risked her heart. She knew the pain of loss. Was she willing to take that chance now?
* * *
When Callie put her mind to it, there was no stopping her. Levi couldn’t help admiring how she threw herself into learning to read. They spent an hour every morning and every afternoon at the table together, heads close together. She spent another hour with her brothers when they returned from school, listening to them read, asking them about words. She wasn’t afraid to admit they knew more than she did, a fact that had Frisco and Sutter jumping in to help her, as well. Still, when Beth stopped by during reading time a couple of days later, Callie snatched up the primer and hurried for the bedroom with the excuse of checking on the sleeping Mica.
Beth watched her go with a sigh. “I’m so sorry Miss Murphy has taken me in dislike. Truly, Levi, I was only trying to help.”
“I know,” he told her. “Don’t worry. Callie’s coming around. She just needs time to accustom herself to her new life.”
Beth nodded, brightening. “But, oh, Levi, just think of the fun we could have! She could help with the Christmas preparations. There’s the geese to pluck, the houses and hall to decorate, not to mention the baking, and I’m trying to decide on a present for Frisco and Sutter.”
Levi began to have an idea of why Callie had shied away from his sister. “Perhaps pick one of those things and ask her to help.”
Beth raise a brow. “Why? She’d be good at all of them.” When Levi chuckled, she shook her head. “Sorry. I had
a reason for calling. James said he heard from Mr. Paul that Old Joe has been injured.”
Levi sobered. “Bad?”
“Bad enough he’s having trouble keeping his claim. I thought we should bring him food and comfort.”
Trust his sister to think of others, even the crotchety old prospector who lived on the other side of the lake.
“I’ll gather what I can. Meet me at the barn in a quarter hour.”
The plan agreed, Beth hurried out. Callie stuck her head around the stairs.
“It’s safe,” Levi said. “She’s gone.”
Callie ventured out with a grimace. “I didn’t want her to see me reading.”
“Why? Beth would probably applaud your determination to learn.”
She rubbed at her shoulder. “Maybe. But she might realize how different we are.”
“Not that different,” Levi countered, moving to the cupboard to see what he could take to Old Joe. “You care about family. So does she.”
Callie followed him. “You fixing to cook so early?”
“Beth told me a member of the congregation has been hurt. We’re going to take him food.”
Callie pulled the jar of asparagus from his hand. “Choose things he won’t have to cook—the applesauce, pickled beets and such.”
“Good idea.” Levi exchanged the jars.
She went to the stove, pulled down the bread he’d baked that morning. “Take this, too. We can make do.”
“See?” Levi said, accepting the loaf from her. “You and Beth think the same way.”
She shook her head. “How could we? She was raised with fine things. I was raised on promises. I can’t find my footing here sometimes. You’re all so perfect.”
Levi set down the food. “Nothing of the kind. We each have our flaws.”
She eyed him. “Like what?”
“Well, take Beth, for example. She sometimes lets her enthusiasm get the best of her.”
“I noticed,” she murmured.
Levi smiled. “You haven’t met Simon yet, but you’ll find you can cut your fingers on his sharp logic. Drew forgets he doesn’t have to play the father, James never takes anything seriously and John hides himself in his books.”