Tim took the book from her. “Thank you.” A moment later he added tentatively, “It’s my love of reading that got me into this quandary.”
Charlotte eyed him with surprise. “How? I’ve never heard of reading causing problems, only the lack of it.”
Tim drew a deep breath. “There’s a book club in town. I’ve been attending for over a year.”
“That sounds like good fun,” Charlotte said.
“It was, until I got it into my head to take an exam offered by a recruiter who attended. It was to test my readiness for college, which I’d never intended on going to. I took the test for the heck of it, but I ended up scoring very high. Higher than everyone else, and I was offered a scholarship. The first to find out was me, the second was Simon.”
“That’s impressive, Tim! What did Max say? He must be very proud.”
“That’s the thing, Miss Rose. He doesn’t know, and I don’t want him to. I want to stay with Max and be a blacksmith, not go off to some fancy college. Not that it would happen even if I wanted it to. The scholarship money would be placed in the hands of Simon, since I’m not yet eighteen. Simon knows this and has told me he intends to keep it for himself. I wouldn’t see a penny.”
Charlotte felt surprised that Simon had threatened something so dubious, but also skeptical about its likelihood for success. “The college would know the money had been stolen when you didn’t attend. There’s no way your father could get away with that.”
“He’s already figured out a way. If he bullies me into leaving town, he’ll be able to say he gave the money to me and I skipped out with it. No one would be suspicious of him.”
Charlotte took in a sharp breath and felt angry on the boy’s behalf. His own father wanted to frame him for theft. “So, from what I understand, you’re refusing to accept the scholarship and leave town, and Simon is angry because that means he won’t be paid. But why and how would he hurt Max?”
“Simon knows that the best way to make me do what he says is to threaten harm on the one person I care about. He’d find a way to take away everything Max holds dear.” Tim gave Charlotte a sidelong glance. “That might include you, since Max is sweet on you. You should stay away from Simon. He wouldn’t think twice about hurting you if it suited his purposes.”
Charlotte rubbed her forehead. “Yes, I’ve already been warned. I don’t know what to say, Tim. There must be a way out of it, surely.”
“I keep trying to think of something. The way I see it, either way, Max gets burned. If I do Simon’s bidding and leave, Max will lose his apprentice. If I stay and incur Simon’s wrath, Max will keep me as his apprentice but might lose a whole lot more.”
Max’s cabin appeared ahead of them, and the two walked in silence a few paces. Finally Charlotte said, “I’m glad you told me. No one should deal with this kind of problem alone. I will try to think of something.”
“Thank you, Miss Rose, but please don’t tell Max.”
Charlotte sighed. “It’s not for me to tell him, but I think you should. He’s good at fixing things. He might be able to fix this.”
Tim stopped suddenly, bringing Charlotte’s steps to a halt as well. “Miss Rose, perhaps I don’t need to tell you this, but as tough as Max is, he’s also very kind. He wouldn’t think twice about sacrificing himself for me. He already has, you know. He’s paying Simon for my work, despite also providing my room and board and spending countless hours teaching me everything he knows. He has protected me ever since he knew me, to his detriment. I don’t want him to do that in this situation. I won’t let Simon win here, and I’m determined to figure out a way out of this so that Max doesn’t get the short end of the stick. If I tell Max, he will set in motion a plan to my benefit, not to his own. He still thinks of me as a child, a child he needs to protect, and I want to be the man here and finally do right by him.”
Charlotte listened without interrupting, a lump growing in her throat as she did. The love between Max and Tim was apparent. When she reflected on Max’s gentle and protective treatment of the abused boy, she saw that it resembled his care toward her. Tim and Charlotte were also alike in their need to prove something to Max. Tim wanted to prove he was a strong man, not a scared boy, and Charlotte wanted to prove she was a capable woman, not a foolish girl. She fully understood Tim’s reticence to involve Max in his troubles.
“I won’t tell him, Tim, and I’ll help you however I can.”
Chapter Seven: Charlotte’s Secret
Charlotte’s classes began. The children sat on sturdy new benches and wrote on desks without splinters. Max was able to finish all the work before school started. He even surprised Charlotte by building a brand new desk for her using rich mahogany wood. She entered the schoolhouse an hour before the children showed up on the first day. Her eyes immediately fell on the beautiful desk in the front. She ran to it and opened the top drawer, which contained a pink rose and a note.
Good luck on your first day, Miss Rose. I wanted you to have a little something extra. Love, Max
The gesture was practical and sweet, just like Max, and it brought a huge smile to her face that lasted the entire day, which was a difficult one. She learned that most of the children were a couple of years behind in their education and required more attention than she’d thought they would. Still, she enjoyed the work more and more as the days passed, and she adored the children, most of whom were eager to please and studious in their homework.
After a couple of weeks of teaching, she received her first paycheck, which gave her a sense of pride and accomplishment. Sitting at her desk in her room at the boardinghouse, she struggled to write out a spending plan for the next two weeks. Teaching came naturally to Charlotte, but budgeting did not. She chewed her pencil and wrote down each expense she could think of. Her rent at the boardinghouse cost the most, but she would receive another check before the rent was due and so could use her first check to buy food and other necessities. She also had a little money in savings to fall back on.
It was during this budgeting session that she heard a knock at her door. Upon opening it, she found a lad holding a telegram. “From Tucson, miss,” the boy said.
Charlotte thanked him and returned to her desk to read it. Her heart sank and her breathing became labored upon reading its contents. It was a message from the superintendent.
Miss Charlotte Rose
Charlotte stared at the note for some time, overcome with multiple feelings—anger at the superintendent for denying such a basic need, anger at herself for assuming the need would be met, followed by guilt and embarrassment over asking Max to perform such a large task without verifying the funding to back it up.
She felt terribly foolish. How could she have been so naïve? She imagined the conversation she might have with Max, telling him she’d been wrong about the money. She groaned. She loathed the thought of telling him. Charlotte paced the room, furious at herself and furious at Max too. He would be understanding. He would tell her not to worry about it. But it would be another foolish mistake he’d have against her. Damn him. She knew her anger toward him was illogical, but she worked herself up to such a state of dismay over her error that she became determined to save her pride. Above all else, Max could not know about this.
She came to a decision. Sitting back at her desk, she made hasty calculations and rushed to the bank to exchange her check for money. Following that, she walked to Max’s shop. He smiled upon seeing her and set down the metal file he held.
“Hello, darlin’,” he drawled.
Tim greeted her from the other side of the room.
Charlotte walked to where Max stood by the forge and handed him the money, all of her income for two weeks of teaching. “I got the money from Tucson for the furniture today. Is that enough?”
Max rifled through the bills and counted the money quickly. “This is just fine. It
pays for all the supplies.”
Charlotte let out a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. She would use her savings to buy food, and two weeks later when she received her next paycheck, she would pay rent. Max never need know about her foolish mistake. It was a good plan, and she couldn’t find fault in it; that is, until the day it shattered into pieces and led to the scariest moment of her life.
* * *
Charlotte’s bare feet sprinted along the dirt path, lit only by a sliver of a moon. She inhaled loudly to fill her strangled lungs, bereft of oxygen from exertion and terror. The sounds of her breathing didn’t drown out the pounding steps that fell heavily and grew louder as they gained distance behind her. She heard a shriek exit her lips as her feet tripped over her long skirt. She scrambled in a panic to find her balance, realizing that a fall would give her pursuer all the time he needed to catch up. She gathered the calico material into both of her fists and surged ahead, adrenaline masking any pain from the bruises and cuts forming on the bottom of her feet.
She could see Max’s house in the distance and the soft glow of a lamp behind the window. He was awake. All she needed to do was get to him in time. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else had ever been so important. She tried to yell his name, but it came out as a harsh whisper to no one’s ears but her own.
Time passed in a sudden flash. She found herself in a heap at Max’s doorstep, hitting the bottom part of door in front of her with her palm and looking over her shoulder for the first time. She didn’t see her pursuer. The door swung open, causing her upper body, which was leaning into it, to spill forward into the cabin. Max appeared in front of her, and his presence brought forth the sobs hovering just below her throat.
“Charlie!” he exclaimed. He bent and grasped her arms, hauling her the rest of the way inside.
Max looked around outside briefly before he closed the door and locked it.
“Oh, Max,” she cried when he swept her into his arms off the floor.
“What happened?” He carried her to the sofa and set her down. His brow creased into a million worried lines as he examined her. “Why aren’t you wearing shoes? You’re bleeding!”
“I-I had to run. I didn’t have time… He was trying to…” Charlotte couldn’t spit out a sentence. She still gasped for air.
“Never mind. Hush. Don’t try to speak until you’ve calmed down. My God, you’re trembling all over. Take a deep breath, honey, and let it out slowly. You’re going to be just fine.”
Charlotte sucked in a shaky breath and let it out slowly as instructed.
“Good girl. Breathe like that again and keep on doing it.”
Charlotte focused on her breathing as Max cleaned the cuts on the bottom of her feet with a wet rag. Tim walked out from his bedroom. He stared at her in horror. “Miss Rose, are you all right?”
Charlotte nodded. She sobbed with relief as the terror receded. She had made it to Max. She would live.
“Find her a handkerchief, Tim. And find a quilt too.”
Max finished cleaning her bruised and bloodied feet and set the rag aside. Charlotte blew her nose using the handkerchief Tim provided while Max placed the quilt on the sofa. He lifted Charlotte into it and folded it around her snugly. Sitting next to her, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her to his side. He kissed her forehead and said with a modicum of humor, “Which would you prefer, darlin’, tea or whiskey?”
Charlotte could tell Max was trying to help her feel better by lightening the mood, though his voice still sounded worried. “Tea,” she whimpered.
“Aren’t you a good girl?” He gave her an affectionate squeeze and another kiss. He glanced at Tim, who was standing by the sofa with the same scared expression he’d been wearing since first seeing her. “Tim, would you mind brewing some tea for Charlotte? But bring whiskey for me, and for you too if you like. Looks like you could use some.”
Tim nodded and walked to the kitchen. Charlotte’s tears stopped falling and her heartbeat slowed as Max stroked her arms and back and brushed the hair away from her wet face.
“So, sweetheart, who do I need to kill for causing you such distress?”
Charlotte wiped the tears on her cheek with the backs of her hands. She met his eyes. “Me.”
Max lifted an eyebrow. “You? Well, I don’t know that I want to kill you just yet, but it sounds like someone’s going to get a smacked bottom after a good night’s sleep. No one scares my girl like this without getting punished, not even you.” He smiled at her.
Charlotte returned a wan smile before sobering with the realization that she’d have to tell him what led her to his doorstep. She gazed into his eyes dolefully. “Max, tomorrow I was going to tell you why I’m no longer living at the boardinghouse, but then I was forced to run here before I could.”
He frowned. “What do you mean? I don’t understand. Where are you living, if not at the boardinghouse?”
“Nowhere as of today, but I planned to sleep at the schoolhouse tonight.”
Max continued to frown at her, looking very perplexed and worried.
She sighed and said wearily, “Can I tell you what happened tomorrow? I don’t feel I have the strength to tell you tonight.”
The muscles in Max’s face relaxed a bit. “Of course, honey. I think that’s a good idea. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
Tim returned and handed Charlotte her tea and Max a shot of whiskey. Max drank it, then said, “After your tea, Charlotte, you’re going to bed. I’ll sleep here on the sofa.”
Charlotte nodded. She thanked Tim for the tea and took a sip. It felt like warm comfort gliding down her throat and heating her stomach, and it helped to settle her nerves. Charlotte basked in the comfort of Max’s embrace and blushed when she became aware for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. She studied his chest. It was lighter in hue than his forearms and face, and curly brown hair wisped thinly around his nipples. She found herself wanting to touch him and stroke the hair on his chest down to his flat abs. Her eyes traveled south to his trousers and she studied the area that covered his manhood. She’d never seen a man’s member, and she found herself feeling very curious about what his looked like beneath the fabric. Her eyes traveled back up his chest and then to his face, where she found his eyes fixed on her and an eyebrow raised.
“What in the tarnation are you staring at, Charlie? You’re eyeing me like you’ve never see a man without a shirt before.”
Charlotte blushed harder. “I don’t know that I have.”
“Well, it’s nothing impressive, and I think you’ve had a good enough gawk for now. Let’s get you into bed, why don’t we?”
“All right, Max.” Charlotte took a final sip and set her teacup on the table next to the sofa. She winced upon standing on her bruised feet.
Max noticed and grabbed her into his arms. He strode to his bedroom. “Blasted woman. What am I going to do with you? You can’t even walk.”
She let out a moan. “And tomorrow I won’t be able to sit,” she said mournfully.
“Damn straight.” Max placed her on the bed gently. He bent and planted a chaste kiss on her lips, which sent her stomach aflutter. “Rest up, darlin’. You’re safe, and everything else will be made right as rain tomorrow.”
He straightened and turned to leave, but Charlotte grasped his hand. “Max, will you sleep here with me tonight? I know it’s improper, but I don’t want you to stop holding me. It comforts me, and I still feel frightened.”
Max stared at her for a moment with a conflicted expression, then climbed into bed behind her. He pulled her into his arms. “I don’t know how on earth I could say no to that, sweetheart.” He kissed the shell of her ear and then her neck, which sent a shiver of delight down her spine. Charlotte snuggled her back into his chest. She shoved her bottom into his crotch and squirmed to get comfortable, not realizing her doing so would elicit a growl from the man holding her.
“None of that, Charlie, unless you want that smacked bottom tonig
ht.” He added some space between their lower bodies.
“Maybe I do,” she said with a giggle, believing in that moment that any way Max placed his hands on her body would suit her just fine.
“Go to sleep,” he ordered in a serious voice.
Charlotte sighed, feeling both comfortable and unsatisfied. She fell asleep in Max’s arms, and the morning came much too soon. She awoke to an empty bed and the sounds of Max and Tim talking in the other room. After crossing the bedroom slowly to not cause pain to her feet, she looked in the small mirror over the dresser and smoothed her hair down as best she could. She did the same for her dress. Using the pitcher and basin on the dresser, she washed her face and drank some water before exiting the bedroom and meeting Max and Tim in the kitchen.
The mood in the room was tense, and Max and Tim ceased speaking upon her arrival. Neither was sitting at the table but instead standing next to the counter. Bacon sizzled in a pan, and the smell of it along with eggs and toast filled her nose, making her realize how hungry she was. She hadn’t eaten since the previous morning. Max looked somber when he regarded her. “Come have some breakfast, Charlotte,” he said, his voice stern.
She walked to the table gingerly and sat down. Max fixed her a plate of food in silence, then set it in front of her. Charlotte whispered her thanks and took a bite of the scrambled eggs.
Tim appeared subdued and had a guilty expression on his face. “Feeling all right, Miss Rose?” he asked.
“Much better this morning. Thanks, Tim.” She bit into a piece of bacon.
“How are your feet?” Max asked.
“Not bad. I can walk without pain if I don’t step too hard.”
Max nodded once to indicate that the news was to his liking.
Tim cleared his throat. “I’ll be going to the shop now.” His shoulders slumped as he walked to the door. He retrieved his Stetson from the hat rack and looked back at Max, who was observing his exit with a frown. “I’m sorry, Max, for not telling you sooner. I wanted to be the one to solve my own problems.”
Fetching Charlotte Rose Page 6