by Caroline Lee
“The house is beautiful.”
He grinned. “I’m glad you think so. I was a little afraid you’d think it was piddling, after growing up in the city.” She just shook her head, and he swung down, keeping Jacob tucked against one shoulder. He led both of their horses into the nearest stable, and put the boy down to run around. Tess made to dismount, but he was there before she could swing her leg around, his strong hands around her waist. He placed her on the ground, but didn’t let go right away. “I’m sorry I pushed you so hard today. I wanted to get home.” His whisper tickled the hair of her temples, and she had to tamp down on a shiver.
“I understand, and I’m glad. I was tired of traveling.”
“Then I hope you’re happy with your new home, Mrs. MacLeod.”
Oh God, why did he have to be so sexy? Just feeling his breath against her skin caused little frissions of pleasures up and down her spine. But he was still waiting on an answer, so she told him the truth.
“I grew up sharing one room with my parents, but there was so much laughter and fun that I didn’t notice how poor we were. In Montana, Jacob and I lived in the store, to protect everything at night.” She didn’t like the dark look that passed across his features, so she hurried on. “This is the grandest house I can imagine. But a house is only a home if it’s filled with happiness.”
He stared down at her for a long while, his expression inscrutable. She began to get uncomfortable. Then, finally, he nodded, and his smile looked forced. “You’re right, Tessa. Our home has been quiet, but I’m hoping you—and Jacob—will add some joy to our lives.”
She’d try, although it’d be as much for her sake as his.
Later, they walked up to the house together, and Cam took her hand like it was the most natural thing in the world. Like they’d known each other for years and were sharing an evening stroll. Tess wondered if, years from now, his casual touch would still make her warm.
They were met on the porch by an older man, obviously Cam’s father. He must have been nearly as big as her husband in his prime, but had withered slightly. His pale hair had turned lighter with age, but his green eyes were just as bright. And right now, glaring daggers at them both.
“Where’ve ye been? A full week ye’ve been gone, an’ I was only expecting five days? Tomorrow I was sendin’ out Kelley and Perkins to look for ye.”
“Sorry, Da.” Cam’s smile was unrepentant. “I had a good reason to stick around the fort.” He pulled Tess forward, and she was disconcerted to discover that she’d fallen a pace behind. She stuck out her jaw and met Ian MacLeod’s angry gaze. “I’d like you to meet my wife, Tess.”
If his son’s announcement shocked him, Ian didn’t let it show. Instead, his expression turned neutral. “Wife, eh? She’s too small. Not any bigger than Serena. She’ll never give you children.”
And as if he’d planned it, Cam smoothly continued, “…and my new step-son, Jake. Jake,” he said to the boy hiding his small face in the crook of his neck, “I’d like you to meet my father. You could call him ‘Grandda’, I guess.”
Something changed then, in Ian’s expression. A momentary softening, perhaps, before his jaw tightened mulishly once more. Trying not to let an awkward meeting discolor their relationship, Tess nodded as politely as she was able. “How do you do, Mr. MacLeod?”
“I’d do better if ye young folk learned how to be on time. An’ call me ‘Ian’. I suppose we’re gunna be livin’ on top of one another now.” He sighed and began to limp down the steps. “I’ll go get another two servin’s from the cookhouse. Yers is on the table, boy. I had a feelin’ tonight was the night ye’d show up with some sorta excuse.”
He limped by Tess without a word, and she didn’t let herself turn to watch him go. What a grumpy old man! She wondered how in the world she was supposed to stand being in the same house with him. What if he didn’t work on the range with her new husband? What if she was expected to spend all day trapped in the house with him and Jacob? She sighed. Her new life was certainly surprising her at every turn.
But Cam was standing there, holding her son and waiting for her. She put her hand back in his, and stepped up into her new home, and her new life.
CHAPTER SIX
He woke up with her lying on top of him again. One of his arms was tucked up against her pert little backside, and her lips were nuzzling that really sensitive spot on his neck. He managed not to groan aloud, but it was close. He didn’t think he’d ever been as aroused as he was at that moment. This was his third day being married, and he still hadn’t bedded his wife. Although the way things were going, when it finally happened, Cam figured he would have to call it ‘making love’… because he was going to savor every inch of her.
As it was, he couldn’t help the way his hand kneaded her rear end, but that was a mistake. In response, she made a sexy little noise and wiggled slightly, and Cam realized that he could get even more aroused. So just like the morning before, he forced himself to lie absolutely still and pray she woke up soon.
Dinner last night hadn’t gone the way he’d hoped. His father was, as usual, grumpy, and hadn’t done anything to welcome Tess. Cam hadn’t expected a welcome party, of course—he knew Da too well for that—but he’d hoped that the older man would have at least treated his new wife with politeness. He’d all but ignored Jacob, too. The only saving grace was that Tess was so exhausted, she could barely keep her eyes open. Hopefully she didn’t notice Ian’s rudeness. She went upstairs to put Jacob down to sleep while Cam explained the last days to his father. When she didn’t return, Cam said his goodnights and went to find her. She was curled around her son in the big bed in the large bedroom at the top of the stairs, the one that Cam used because he could sleep diagonally and thus fit on the bed. He’d been looking forward to sharing it with Tess, without the added sharp elbows of a two-year-old. But he’d just smiled and removed her boots for her, and climbed in as well.
And as much as he wanted to be here with her, to help his new wife get acclimated to her new home, he had to leave her this morning. After a full week away, he needed to be out on the range with his men, seeing what had changed and making sure there wasn’t anything he needed to deal with. Hopefully he’d be back by that evening, but it’d mean at least a full day away from her.
This morning, when she woke up, she didn’t scramble off him, and he took that as a good sign. She just opened her eyes and stared into his, and he felt it way down in his stomach. Her breath tickled the week’s worth of beard on his cheeks, and her fingers made little circles of awareness on his chest.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
Still whispering, knowing from yesterday that Jacob would wake up jabbering, Cam decided to explain his dilemma. “I’m sorry, Tessa, but I’ve got to ride out today. To see what’s gone wrong since I left. I feel bad leaving you here.”
Her face had shadowed slightly, but she shrugged. “I understand. Responsibilities don’t stop just because you got married. Will you be home tonight?”
“I hope so.” That hand on her backside seemed to have a mind of its own, because it pulled her tighter to him, entirely unbidden. “Will you be here?”
“Of course.” Her murmur was distracted, as if she was thinking about something else.
Their lips were only inches apart now. “You think maybe Jacob could start sleeping in his own bed soon?” Cam couldn’t help the grin that tugged at his lips at the thought, and was heartened to see her smile in response.
“Why, cowboy? You got something that needs doing?”
She was making a joke? She was always so serious, it was almost his undoing to see her teasing. He closed his eyes and groaned, burying his face in the crook of her neck, using his other arm to lock her in place on top of him. She arched, allowing him better access to her creamy skin, and he was nearly undone then. But then she took charge, lowering her lips to his, and damn but it was as good as he’d remembered.
They were both panting
when they pulled apart, and he liked the look of wonder on her face. Like she’d been as affected as he’d been. It was a good way to start a marriage.
“Mama eat man?”
They both burst into laughter, and Tess rolled off of him to tend to her son. Cam, for his part, had to lie perfectly still for a bit, until he was sure he could move without embarrassing himself.
He hoped to hell that his business on the range would be over fast, because he needed to be back here, holding his wife.
For Tess, the day was a test of patience. Jacob wanted to fully explore everything, and she didn’t want to give him a free reign to do so with Ian in the house. Obviously the older man disapproved of her, and she assumed it was because of her mixed blood. He’d been rude at their first meeting, grumpy through dinner, and today wasn’t shaping up to be any different. He barely spoke to her at all during breakfast, and when she offered to clean up, he told her that he didn’t need her help.
So in an effort not to bother him anymore, Tess did her best to keep Jacob out from under her father-in-law’s feet. It was stressful for both of them, since the boy was curious enough to poke a sleeping bear. Eventually she had no choice but to take the boy outside, and he seemed to love that. She got to meet two of Cam’s hands who’d remained behind to fix a few of the beams in the hayloft. Jacob wanted nothing more than to climb up there to see their work up close, and threw a massive temper tantrum when she told him he couldn’t.
She discovered that Ian didn’t serve lunch, since everyone was scattered at noon. The privacy suited her well enough, and she was able to feed Jacob some bread and jam before putting him down for a nap in the big bed. She made a mental note to get him used to the small bedroom down the hall, because surely Cam would want the boy to move into his own room tonight. After all, the man probably wanted the privacy of his own room back. And he seemed quite interested in… becoming intimate with her.
She pondered that fact while she kneaded dough for dinner bread. She didn’t know where Ian had gone off to, and didn’t know what he had planned for the evening meal, but wanted to help. And she was happy to have some time alone… finally.
So she was thinking about her new husband as she pulled and pushed the dough across the wooden board. If she’d been asked to describe a ‘handsome’ man, she would’ve said light hair, curling slightly because he didn’t cut it short enough, bright eyes, a crooked smile, and broad shoulders. And to her utter surprise, such a man really existed. Not only that, but he seemed to be attracted to her. He hadn’t said it again, not since he’d called her beautiful at the Newell’s dinner table. But she’d felt his arousal this morning, and yesterday, and thought that the way he kissed her meant he wanted to do more. Who would have thought it?
She realized that she was staring off into space, and mentally scoffed. He probably just kissed her like that because she was the only woman around. And he was married to her, which meant he could kiss her—and do other things—whenever he wanted. Her heart flip-flopped then, as it did whenever she thought of making love to Cam.
Joshua had been a long-time friend; she’d known him most of her childhood, since he had lived down the street. He’d worked for her father as he got older, and dreamed of owning his own store one day, bringing much-needed goods to the settlers in the wooded frontiers of the north. He’d proposed marriage to her after her parents passed away, but she knew it was because she’d inherited the store and its goods. He’d been a tolerable lover, but Tess hadn’t craved his touch.
Not the way she seemed to crave Cam’s. She hadn’t known a man’s touch in well over two years, and surely that was the only reason he could make her breath hitch just by looking at her. Surely that was why her toes curled when he kissed her.
Tess sighed, and hit the dough a little harder than necessary. Get your head out of the clouds, girl! Her mother used to tweak her nose as she said it, and it always made Tess happy to hear. She smiled slightly, and tried not to think about her new husband’s return, and what might happen that evening.
But dinner came and went with no sign of Cam. Ian grumped back into the house to make a meal; he’d explained that he normally fixed the food out in the cookhouse, and brought their meals to the house, but since most of the men were out on the range, he didn’t have to make as much. From his mutterings through the preparation—Tess did everything she could keep Jacob from bothering Ian, which was exhausting—she guessed that he expected her to do the cooking from then on. Fine by her; she just needed to know what and how much to prepare, and she’d start tomorrow.
But by the time dinner was finally prepared, and she’d sat down with Ian and Jacob, Cam still hadn’t returned. She tried not to be disappointed, even after she did the washing up… but when it came time to put Jacob to bed, and Cam still wasn’t home yet, she began to get anxious.
Jacob didn’t want to sleep in the little bedroom by himself, and she spent a further hour cajoling, convincing and finally rocking him to sleep. While normally she cherished her time with her not-so-little-baby, today her stomach was in knots. What could be keeping Cam? He told her he’d be home for dinner. What if he was hurt? What if he’d fallen off his horse or been bitten by a snake or trampled by an angry steer or… or something else horrible that she couldn’t even begin to guess? Tess knew that she was woefully ignorant when it came to the dangers of a cattle ranch, but that didn’t stop her imagination.
She found herself wandering the house after her son finally fell asleep. She’d been there only one day, but she knew the place; knew the sounds the floors made upstairs, knew the way the place smelled. It was beginning to feel like a home to her; the first real one she’d had since her parents’ death. She wondered if she’d let herself become too attached too soon. What would happen if Cam died? She’d have to find a way to travel to Cheyenne, and earn enough money somehow to pay for a ticket to San Francisco. She didn’t want to leave, now, but it would be her only choice.
But more than leaving her new home, the thought of Cam hurt or dead filled her with an intense unease. Her stomach knotted, her skin felt clammy, and her heart beat faster than normal. She’d only met him a few days before! Why would his being in danger make her feel so… so vulnerable, so empty? Was it because he was her husband, and she had come to know and admire him over the last few days traveling? Was it because she knew that he was a good man, a man who deserved to see his dreams become a reality? Or was she becoming… attached to him?
The sun had long since set, and she’d been aimlessly wandering the house in silence. The dining room was dark, as was the study off the foyer decorated in richly masculine wood. But there was a light on in the parlor; a little kerosene lamp set on a side table that cast a small pool of brightness in an otherwise shadowed and empty house. Tess slipped into the room, and was surprised to see her father-in-law sitting in one of the wing-back chairs, staring at the cold fireplace. The room was beautifully decorated, obviously a formal entertaining room, but seemed rarely used. Even after only being here a day, Tess could tell that Cam and his father spent their time in the study or the kitchen. They didn’t even take their meals in the dining room. But here was Ian, rough and stooped and looking out of place amid such elegance.
He glanced up when she came into the room, but grunted and turned back to the fireplace. “The boy’s asleep?”
It was the first time he’d started a conversation with her, and Tess wasn’t sure what to make of it. “Yes. Cam said he could have the small bedroom at the end of the hall.”
“Used to be the Selkirks’ butler’s. Their new house is much bigger.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say. She knew from her exploring today that there were three bedrooms upstairs; Cam’s was the largest and surprisingly feminine for all that it had the biggest bed, with Ian’s and the spare being more moderately sized. It sounded like the people Cam bought the home from were quite wealthy indeed.
She stood just inside the door, and he must have been able to sense
her hesitation. “What are ye mopin’ about, then?”
The question straightened her spine. “I’m not moping.”
“Ye’ve been wanderin’ around in the dark fer the last hour. Sounds like mopin’ to me.”
Tess sighed, not wanting to lie. “I guess…” she crossed to one of the other chairs grouped around the fireplace, and sunk down into it. It was surprisingly uncomfortable. “I guess I’m worried.”
“What about?”
“Cam said he’d be back tonight.” It was as much as she was willing to say. She didn’t want to say what she feared.
But Ian just shrugged, and turned back to the fireplace. “Chasin’ beeves is hard work. He probably just got too far out to make it home tonight.”
“You really think that’s all it is? He’s camping out there?”
“Why else?”
She swallowed, and then took a deep breath. “He could be hurt. Or…” her hands seemed to wring of their own accord. She couldn’t make them stop, even after she noticed Ian’s eyes drawn to the motion.
“Or what?”
“Or… There are so many things that could have gone wrong!” The panic that had been threatening to break free all evening was just barely contained, but Tess could tell that he heard it. He raised one bushy brow at her.
“Ye think he’s dead?”
“No. No.” It seemed disloyal to think that.
“He’s fine.” Ian’s voice was so sure, it drew Tess out of her anxiety.
“…how do you know?”
“Because he’s too good at what he does to die.”
His certainty calmed her. She took a deep breath. Part of her wanted to scoff at his surety, to claim that of course he wanted to believe the best of his son. But the larger part of her knew that Ian MacLeod knew cattle ranching better than she did, and if he said that Cam was just camping out on the range because he’d traveled too far to make it home, then that must be the truth.