by Leigh, Nerys
“Don’t worry about getting up to make breakfast,” he said. “Sleep as long as you want. Whatever there is to do, it can wait.” After placing a gentle kiss on her forehead, he headed for his bed.
Sara walked to the bedroom door and looked at her own, empty bed. Then she looked back at him.
“Daniel?”
He raised his head from where he sat, in the process of removing his shoes. “Yes?”
“I’m scared. I... I don’t want to be on my own.”
He froze for a few moments, then stood and walked over to her. Taking her hand, he led her into the bedroom and without saying a word climbed beneath the covers and held them up for her to join him.
She stepped out of her shoes, extinguished the lamp, and climbed in beside him. He wrapped his arms around her and she breathed out a long sigh, closing her eyes and leaning her head against his chest.
“Can I ask you something?” she said after a few seconds.
“Anything.” So close in the dark, his low voice was like a soothing balm, stilling her fear.
“Why didn’t you stop me? When I wanted to go into the barn to fight the fire, I mean. I could tell you didn’t want me to.”
He slowly stroked her loose hair as he spoke against her forehead, his breath warming her skin. “Because I knew you wouldn’t stop. You knew you could do it, so I believed you. I will always believe in you, Sara.”
A warmth that had nothing to do with the blankets over her, or even his arms wrapped around her, blossomed in her heart. “I’ll always believe in you too.”
He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. “Goodnight.”
Safe in her husband’s arms, the soft, steady sound of his heartbeat lulled Sara into a deep, dreamless sleep.
Chapter 29
It was the warmth Sara felt first on waking; the blissful sensation of Daniel’s arm around her, his chest pressed against her back and the heat of his body radiating through the layers of clothing between them.
Keeping her eyes closed and lying perfectly still so as not to disturb him, she drank in the feeling of waking up in her husband’s arms for the first time. After the events of the night, it amazed her that she could feel so wonderfully safe and content. This was what love felt like, and she never wanted it to end.
“Good morning,” Daniel murmured behind her, his voice sending a not at all unpleasant shiver down her spine.
She couldn’t help smiling. “I thought you were still asleep. How did you know I was awake?”
“Your breathing,” he replied. “I’ve been listening to you sleep. The rhythm changed when you woke up.”
She turned over to face him and he drew her into his embrace, his fingers rubbing tiny circles on her back that sent wonderful tingles of sensation sizzling through her skin. He smelled of smoke and wood and... Daniel.
She touched her fingertips to his stubble-roughened cheek and he smiled. Even with the smoke blackened bandage still around his eyes he was so beautiful it set her heart racing.
The words she hadn’t yet said to him came almost of their own accord. “I love you.”
The movement of his hand on her back stopped and for a few moments he was completely still. “I love you too,” he said, his voice barely a whisper. “I don’t have the words to tell you how much.”
Sara’s heart pounded in her chest as she gazed at her husband. Her strong, incredible, wonderful husband. He was everything she wanted, and she wanted him completely.
So she said the words she knew would bind them indelibly together as man and wife for the rest of her life. The life she didn’t want to spend one moment of away from him.
“Then show me.”
His breath hitched, his mouth opening in surprise. “Are you saying...?”
She leaned into him until their lips touched and whispered, “Yes.”
~ ~ ~
It was after eleven when Daniel heard the sound of hooves galloping into the yard outside. Marshal Cade had already paid them a visit so he was pretty sure who it would be. His suspicion was confirmed when he heard Ginger whinny and River and Rosie return her call from the paddock.
He put down the shovel he’d been feeling for damage, walked from the small barn into the sunshine, and waited.
Running footsteps approached.
“I...” Will drew a shuddering breath. “I didn’t find out until this morning. I came straight back. Are you and Sara all right?”
“We’re fine.”
There were a few seconds of silence. “Dan, I... I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” His voice broke on the last word and he touched Daniel’s shoulder for a moment before striding away before he could answer.
He let out a long sigh. At least his brother was safe. When Will hadn’t returned by the time Daniel and Sara reluctantly left their bed at around ten, he’d been worried.
Sara’s footsteps hurried up to him and she took his hand. “Ginger’s here. Is Will home?”
“Yeah. He told me he was sorry and then ran off.”
She rested her head against his shoulder. “You should go and talk to him. I can unsaddle Ginger and put her in the paddock.”
He slipped his arm around her waist and kissed her temple. “I’m wishing we’d stayed in bed.”
She giggled and the sound shivered through him in the most wonderful way.
“Maybe tonight we can go early.” Taking his face in her hands, she gave him a kiss that set his heart thumping.
“Definitely yes,” he said. “Is after lunch too early?”
She laughed again and stepped away from him, making him long to draw her back into his arms. “Go and talk to your brother.” With one final and far too brief kiss, she was gone.
Daniel breathed out and wondered if he was glowing.
After a few moments of enjoying the lingering feeling of Sara’s lips on his, he called Bess’ name. Within seconds she was pressing against his leg, her tail thudding against his calf as he ruffled her ears. “Take me to Will, girl. Where’s Will?”
She rushed off and moments later gave a sharp bark. Daniel followed the sound to the closed door of the bunkhouse. Bess barked again and he opened the door, hearing the click of her claws on the wooden floor.
“Will?”
“I’ll be out to unsaddle Ginger in a minute,” he replied from inside.
Daniel walked in and pushed the door closed behind him. “Sara’s doing it.”
“What? No, I should be the one doing that.” The mattress squeaked as he stood.
“She told me to come and speak to you. I think we’d both be better off doing what she says.”
“I think she may be smarter than both of us,” Will said.
“You’re not wrong there.”
Will sighed and sat again. Daniel joined him on the bed and they sat in silence for a while. Bess lay her head on Daniel’s knee for an extended ear scratch and then padded off, probably to Will for more of the same.
Eventually, Will said in a quiet voice, “I should have been here.”
“I don’t think you’d have been able to put the fire out any more than Sara could.”
“That’s not the point. Anything could have happened. You or Sara could have been hurt or killed while I was passed out drunk. I should have been here.” He drew in a breath and when he spoke again there were tears in his voice. “What happened to me, Dan? How did I get like this?”
Daniel ached for his little brother. Even though four years separated them in age, they’d always been so close. When their parents asked him to take Will on in the hopes he would be a good influence on him, he hadn’t hesitated to say yes. And he’d tried, he really had, but he couldn’t help thinking he’d failed.
But maybe this was his chance. Maybe his injury could succeed where all the arguing and pleading and reasoning hadn’t.
“For that which I do I allow not: for what I would, that do I not; but what I hate, that do I.” Daniel quoted the verse from Romans easily. Every time he read it he thought of his brother. “Th
is isn’t who you are, Will. You’ve been caught up in the drinking and the women and everything else, but it’s not what you really want. You’re one of the best people I know.”
His reply was tinged with bitterness. “You wouldn’t say that if you could see me right now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I got in a fight last night. A man in the saloon said something about... well, it doesn’t matter. But I got angry and decided he needed to take it back. Turned out I was a lot drunker than he was.”
Worried, Daniel reached out and found his arm. “Are you hurt bad?”
“Just a couple of bruises, split lip, and I’ve got one whopper of a black eye. Nothing serious. I’ll live.”
“Have you been to see Doc Wilson? Are you sure you’re OK?”
“Someone patched me up. I’m just bruised and embarrassed, that’s all. No need to fret about me.”
Daniel remembered the frightened four-year-old little boy who climbed into his big brother’s bed whenever the storms raged down from the mountains, the tearful nine-year-old who broke his arm falling from a peach tree as they climbed to reach the ripe fruit, the heartbroken twelve-year-old whose first crush danced with another boy at the hoedown. He’d been there every time Will needed him. How could he not worry?
“You’re my little brother; it’s my job to fret about you.”
There was a long period of silence before Will spoke again. “I’m sorry for everything I’ve put you through.”
“I’ve never regretted you being here, not once. You know that.”
Will didn’t answer.
Daniel tried changing tack. “Can I pray for you?”
“You mean now?”
He smiled. “Yeah, now.”
There was a pause. “All right. Yes. Please.”
Daniel reached out, found an arm and followed it up to Will’s shoulder. Then he bowed his head.
“Father God, thank You for keeping Will, Sara and I safe through last night when so much could have gone worse. And thank You for pulling me up and showing me how to trust You. And I especially thank You for Will and Sara, that they didn’t give up on me even when I gave up on myself. Father, You know Will’s heart and what he really wants; please give him the strength to break away from the path he’s on and to follow You. Thank you that he’s my brother, I couldn’t ask for better. In the Name of Your Son, Jesus, Amen.”
Will’s “Amen” was barely audible and Daniel could feel him trembling. After a few moments, he sniffed.
Daniel squeezed his shoulder and lowered his hand. His sight would have been useful right then, if only to gauge how Will was feeling. He was slightly nervous that he may be crying and he wasn’t sure what he’d do if that was the case. Would he want to be held? Daniel hadn’t hugged Will since they were children.
“So, I’m...” Will stopped when his voice broke. He cleared his throat. “So I’m the best brother in the world.”
Daniel couldn’t help feeling relieved at the levity in his voice. He would do anything for his brother, but emotional moments between them felt... awkward. He knew it was ridiculous, but there it was. They were men.
“I don’t recall saying that.”
“Well, you did have a bump on the head only just over a week ago. Some memory loss is understandable.”
“Nothing wrong with my memory. You’re the one who got punched last night, must have caused hallucinations.”
“Don’t worry, I won’t tell Jimmy. Wouldn’t want him to get jealous.”
Daniel shook his head at the thought. The supremely confident eldest Raine brother didn’t get jealous of anyone. “As if Jimmy would ever consider the possibility he wasn’t both our favourites.”
“Ah, so you admit I’m your favourite,” Will said, a smile in his voice.
“Stop putting words in my mouth.”
“Hey, remember when Jimmy tried to ask Felicity to the barn dance and that pig kept trying to eat his hat?”
Daniel snorted a laugh. “It was that cologne he insisted on wearing. It smelled like swill.”
They spent some time laughing over their shared reminiscences of their growing up days on their parents’ farm, and for a while Daniel forgot his troubles and simply enjoyed spending time with his brother. It felt good.
When they emerged from the bunkhouse over an hour later, his rumbling gut was telling him it was nearing lunchtime.
Beside him, Will’s footsteps came to a halt.
“What?” Daniel said, stopping to wait for him.
“After lunch I’ll start on the barn.”
“I guess it looks bad.” For once, not being able to see didn’t feel like such a bad thing.
“It’s... yeah, it looks bad. Most of the roof is gone, the back and side walls too. I’m not sure we can repair it. Might be easier to just take the whole thing down and start again. Some of the wood should be salvageable, but we’re going to need a lot more. We’ll have to fix up some stalls in the small barn for the horses and Pea.”
“Took us an age to put it up the first time,” Daniel said, remembering the blistered hands and long hours of hard work two years before. “And I don’t know how much use I’ll be now.”
“Oh no, you’re not using your eyes as an excuse to get out of the work. As long as you stay away from any hammers, you’ll be fine.”
Daniel grinned. “It was worth a try.”
He chuckled. “Yeah.” His tone turned serious. “It’s the wood that’s the problem.”
Daniel turned his head in the direction of the small barn, seeing in his mind the timber stored there that he’d been collecting to extend the house. “There’s what I’ve got to...”
“No.” Will cut him off before he could go on. “You’ve been planning on adding those extra bedrooms ever since you started writing Sara. And once you pull yourself together and start living as man and wife, you’ll need them for all my future nieces and nephews.”
Daniel tried to stop the smile from creeping onto his face, but he wasn’t entirely successful.
“Wait,” Will said, “what is that look on your face?”
He could feel the corners of his mouth twitching with more determination. “Nothing.”
“Well, knock me down with a feather, you mean you’ve actually...?”
Daniel would have rolled his eyes if his brother could have seen it. “Shut up.”
“I’m so proud of you,” Will said, mock tears in his voice. His arm landed around Daniel’s shoulders and squeezed.
Daniel batted it away and tried not to laugh. “You are so immature.”
“I almost can’t believe it. My big brother, finally a man.”
“Stop it!”
Chapter 30
Sara drew in a deep breath and let it out in a slow, contented sigh, nestling closer into Daniel’s side. It was amazing how the space there seemed to be perfectly designed just for her.
He kissed her forehead and drew the blanket tighter around her shoulders. “Comfortable?”
“Mm hmm.”
The sun had set ten minutes earlier and the temperature outside was beginning to fall, but she wasn’t ready to leave their bench and go inside just yet. The sky was taking on a deep shade of turquoise and a handful of swallows were swooping back and forth across the yard, catching a last few insects before they returned to their nests to roost for the night. A golden glow silhouetted the distant mountains and stars were twinkling into life overhead.
The new view without the barn still seemed strange. What was left of the charred structure had been taken down two days before and it had opened up the vista to the mountains much more. Maybe when it was rebuilt she would ask Daniel to put it a bit farther to the side.
Across the yard, light glimmered from the bunkhouse window. Will was still home, as he had been every night since the fire three nights previously. It looked like he really was keeping to his word to change.
Daniel’s fingertips traced lazy circles on Sara’s upper arm, creating sensati
ons that somehow managed to be both relaxing and stimulating at the same time. Other than having him able to see the beauty of the fading sunset with her, she couldn’t imagine how the moment could have been any more perfect.
“I’ve been thinking,” he said, his voice low in the comfortable hush surrounding them.
“Mm hmm?”
“Will and I need to rebuild the barn soon. The small barn alone isn’t big enough to hold all the animals and the equipment and the harvest when it comes in.”
“I could help,” she said. “I’ve never built anything, but you could teach me.”
With all the digging and planting she’d been doing, she had to be strong enough by now. That morning she’d actually thought she could see a muscle in her arm. Her mother would have been horrified, but Sara was proud of it. She was becoming a real frontier woman.
“I’d love to teach you,” he said.
It made her smile. The old Daniel would have argued that it was his job to do the work. He truly was changing and she couldn’t have been more proud of him.
“But there’s something else you could do too, if you’re agreeable.”
The way he said it lit a spark of apprehension inside her. He sounded worried.
“Anything,” she said. “What do you need?”
He shifted next to her, his fingers stilling their movements on her arm. “Well, we need wood for the barn and the only lumber I have is what I’ve bought to extend the house, and right now I don’t have the money to buy more.”
She breathed out, relieved. “You can use that, I don’t mind at all. I love our little house and there’s plenty of room.” She smiled. “Especially now we’re sharing the bed.”
He chuckled, the vibrations in his body radiating wonderfully into hers. “So many good things about that situation.”
She couldn’t have agreed more.
“The thing is,” he continued, “it took me a long time to save the money for that and it will probably be another long time before I can do it again. And now, well, if we have children we’ll need more room. So I was thinking, if you don’t mind, that once the barn is done maybe we could use some of that money you brought with you to buy more lumber for the house. But only if you don’t mind. That’s your money to do with as you please.”