Cole drew one of the chairs into position in front of the stove. Standing behind it he tapped on the back of the chair with both hands and looked at Victoria. "Sit here," he ordered.
Victoria hesitated. "Really Cole, I'm fine." Glancing down at her damp dress she shook her head. "This'll dry off quickly enough," she reiterated.
Cole frowned. "Victoria, I need you to come and sit here. No woman is going to get sick while on my ranch and in my safekeeping," he asserted.
"Who says I'm in your safekeeping?" she demanded.
Cole's mouth tightened and he gave Victoria a firm look. "I say. This is my land and you're my guest."
He ran his gaze up and down Victoria's defiant figure. "If you're not going to dry yourself off completely, then at least take your boots off and dry your feet," he said looking down at Victoria's feet.
Victoria shifted on her heels and felt the damp squelch of her soaking feet inside her boots.
Cole glanced over at the bed. He went across and lifted the blanket that covered the single bed. Coming back to the stove he looked up at the wooden beam which stretched above his head.
"If you insist on maintaining at least a semblance of decency I'll hang this blanket from the beam. That way you can dry your feet off in privacy. How does that sound?"
Victoria looked at the blanket draped over his arm and nodded. "That's a fine idea, Cole," she agreed.
Cole rose up on his toes and slung the blanket over the beam. The blanket was long enough so that it stretched down and created a narrow barrier alongside the stove.
Victoria went across and sat down on the wooden chair in front of the stove. The heat from the small fire made a surprisingly large difference to how she felt. She stretched out a hand and felt the warmth spread along her fingers and up into her arms.
She turned and saw Cole peer around the side of the drooping blanket. "How does that feel?" he asked.
Victoria smiled. "That's much better," she answered.
"See? I told you," Cole said with a grin. "Now lets get your boots off," he said moving around the blanket. Victoria felt herself stiffen.
Cole paused. "What? You want to take your boots of by yourself?"
Victoria reached down and tried to tug on her right boot. The damp leather slipped in her fingers. The boot refused to respond to even the strongest force that Victoria could muster.
"I thought so," Cole said kneeling down and grasping her booted foot.
Victoria tried to pull her foot away from Cole but he held on tight. "I can do it myself," she asserted.
"I don't think so," Cole stated, reaching over to take her foot in his hand.
"Really, Cole I can do it myself," Victoria tried to state again, but for the last time, and this time more insistently, Cole took her foot in both of his large, rugged hands and started to tug. Hard.
Victoria grasped onto the side of the chair and with a final wrench the boot slid off her foot. Cole staggered back and landed on his rear with a surprised thump.
Victoria tried to contain the smile that immediately leapt to her face, but she completely failed. Looking at Cole, and the expression on his face, she let out a loud peel of laughter. Cole ran a hand through his hair and smiled back at her. "Now the other one," he said reaching out both hands and kneeling once again at her feet. In a moment the other boot was removed, this time without Cole ending up on his rear.
Victoria saw her damp white cotton stockings cling to her feet. She reached down to start to remove them, but after a moment she paused and glanced at Cole. His gaze was fixed on her, his eyes narrow with appreciation and a pleased expression on his face.
Seeing Victoria looking at him Cole quickly pulled himself back to the moment. "I'll get behind the blanket. Give you some privacy," he said.
Victoria smiled. "I'll be fine, once I get these off," she said rubbing her stockings. Cole paused and she saw his face pale slightly. Then he quickly stood and, just as rapidly, made his way to the other side of the barrier he'd erected to ensure she had all the privacy she needed.
Victoria took off the stockings and laid them down on the wooden floor. She heard a gust of wind and the boarded window shook.
"Don't worry about that," Cole reassured her. "That window will hold. It's bolted down strong."
The heat from the stove was starting to really warm Victoria up. She heard Cole milling about behind the barrier. Victoria heard the saddle bag open. "Aren't you feeling the damp, Cole?" she asked.
There was a pause and then Cole replied. "I'm fine Victoria. Just a little bit a rain. Won't do me no harm," he said.
Victoria frowned. He didn't sound too sure. "I feel bad keeping you away from this warm stove," she said.
"No need to feel bad on my account," he answered. Once again there was a long, awkward pause. Victoria continued to rub her toes and she felt her feet begin to warm up nicely. It didn't feel right that he'd gone to so much trouble to make sure she was fine. She recalled the many occasions during their time together when nothing had seemed to be too much trouble for Cole, if it had meant that Victoria was safe and comfortable and secure. It looked like some things hadn't changed.
Victoria suddenly felt foolish about the fact that when they'd been out in the rain she'd even doubted Cole for one moment. She felt a mild shame that thoughts of whether she could trust him had even passed through her mind.
"I'd feel a whole lot better if you were to come around here and take a seat next to me, Cole," she said at last.
"I can't do that, Victoria," she heard him say.
"Why not, Cole. I'm only warming my bare feet."
There was another long pause and she wondered how he was going to respond to what she'd said. She was sure she could hear the sound of his breathing and she asked herself just where he was on the other side of the blanket.
"I'll let you warm yourself, Victoria. I'm fine on this side for the moment."
"But, aren't you cold?"
She heard Cole cough slightly and then she heard him try hard to contain the spasm brought on by the cough. That was enough for her to stand up and peer around the hanging blanket.
Cole was seated at the table, his hand over his mouth, and he was trying to stifle a cough. "Cole MacAllan. You get right on over here!" she exclaimed.
Cole's eyes brightened and he peered at Victoria with a querying intensity.
"I mean it," she said, raising her voice slightly.
Cole stiffened and reached into his saddle bag. "Are you hungry?"
"What?" she demanded, suddenly thrown off by his question.
"I've got some jerky and biscuits, if you're hungry," he offered, drawing out a small wrap of paper from inside.
"I'm not really hungry. Especially for jerky. I haven't had that in years," she explained.
"You've probably forgot how nice it tastes," he said with a sudden grin. He opened the paper and drew out some strips of the dried meat. He lifted it to his nose and inhaled deeply, making a show of doing so.
"Smells delicious," he stated with a mischievous grin. "Got some biscuits too," he said pulling another wrap out from inside the saddle bag. She knew he was joking with her, trying to help her feel more comfortable.
It occurred to her that he seemed to be trying real hard to get her to put any thoughts of doubting his intentions well and truly aside. And she realized he was partly succeeding. That gave her pause and she smiled at him. "I might be tempted by a biscuit," she suggested.
Cole's eyes widened and he stood. "That's the nicest thing I've heard in a long while," he said brightly.
He came over to her, the two wraps containing the food in one hand, and the chair hooked over his other arm. He set the chair down next to her own.
Victoria was abruptly aware of how tall he was now that she was standing next to him in her bare feet. She'd forgotten Cole's stature, his sheer presence and the realization of it caught her off guard for a moment. She looked up at him as he arranged the chairs next to each other. When he turned and looked down at her there
was a questioning look in his eyes. He glanced down at her bare feet. "You shouldn't be standing on those bare feet like that. These wooden floors are lethal cold," he said.
The truth was Victoria had hardly noticed how cold her feet were, so intent was she on taking in the imposing bulk of the man who, she had once told herself, she'd once loved such a long time ago. She thought it must the isolation of being in this cabin with him, the wildness of the rain hammering against the wooden walls protecting them from the Montana elements.
Cole went over to the single bed once more. He pulled the remaining sheet free from the bed and folded it into a neat pile, small enough to fit on his hand.
He came over to Victoria and wordlessly gestured for her to sit on the chair. She did so and watched, enraptured, as he kneeled down and gently took both her feet and placed the folded sheet on the wooden floor. He softly rested the base of her feet onto the thick, folded sheet and glanced up at her.
"Your little toes are like ice," he said with a quirk of his brows. He glanced down at her feet and then back at her. "That feel better?" he asked. Victoria swallowed and nodded, saying nothing, because there was nothing she could utter that would express how she felt at his sudden kindness, the gentle touch of his warm hands on her cool skin.
Cole took his place next to her on his chair. He opened up the wrapping and offered her a biscuit. "These are Mrs. Stone's special recipe. I think it's a secret. So don't ask her when we get back to the ranch house," he said.
Victoria took one of the small biscuits and examined it. "They look delicious," she said.
Cole took one for himself and quickly bit into it. His eyes lit up. "I can vouch for that," he said.
Victoria tentatively raised the biscuit to her mouth and took a small bite. She glanced over at Cole and saw that he was watching her every move. Some loose biscuit crumbs tumbled down the front of her chin. Victoria tried to stop them, but not before Cole had reached over and caught some of them in the palm of his hand.
"Don't want to make a mess of the cabin," he joked.
Victoria smiled and continued to savor the taste of the biscuit. Once her mouth was empty she spoke. "You were right," she said.
Cole lifted a brow. "About what?"
"Mrs. Stone's recipe is in danger. Once I get back to the ranch I'm going to insist she give it to me," she said.
"Good luck with that," Cole answered.
For a few minutes they sat side by side and just stared into the small glowing flame inside the stove. The rain still hammered against the outside of the cabin. Victoria felt a curious sense of safety sitting here with Cole. The warmth of the stove, the taste of the food, the feel of his presence next to her, all conspired to make her feel a singular comfort that she hadn't felt in a very long time. Her professional, orderly life in Helena seemed like something that existed in another world. And here, with Cole by her side again, Victoria had a strong sense that this was a world she had missed without ever admitting that fact to herself.
For a while all she could hear was the flickering flame, the rain outside and Cole's soft breathing. They both seemed to be lost in a moment that couldn't have been planned, but which was satisfying nonetheless.
Then the peace of the moment was rudely shattered by one simple question. One that Victoria had been secretly hoping Cole wouldn't ask. Because asking it would inevitably break the moment, force them both to think of things they'd spent the whole day so far avoiding as best they could.
Cole's voice was quiet but there was a determined edge to it as he spoke. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" he said.
After a long pause he finally spoke in a quiet but direct tone of voice. "Can you tell me why you left?"
CHAPTER SEVEN
He'd finally asked. And all Victoria could do, momentarily, was make sure that she didn't look Cole in the eye. She didn't dare look at the determination she was certain would inevitably be burning in his gaze. She knew this was the chance he'd been waiting for. He wouldn't pass up this opportunity, now that it had fallen into his lap, courtesy of the Montana climate.
Victoria paused and fixed her gaze on the flames inside the stove. The silence in the room was heavy with anticipation.
What could she tell him? Could she say that her decision to leave Billings had been made almost on impulse? Would he possibly understand what had driven her to pack her bags and head for another town to start a new life, with her own destiny in her hands? Could he understand how much it had taken for her to make the decision to try and strike out on her own?
Maybe she could tell him that her decision hadn't been the result of anything he had done, but had been caused by her own youthful, rash impatience to start a new life. Would he understand? She wasn't sure. Perhaps the best thing she could do would be to spare him the truth. But didn't he deserve the truth? Didn't he have a right to ask her that one, crucial question? The one question she wasn't sure she dare answer.
Looking up at last, she peered into his burning, hopeful gaze.
Victoria sighed. "I don't know how to answer that, Cole."
"Try," he said simply and quietly.
Victoria shook her head. "I don't know that I can."
Cole ran a hand through his dark hair. He straightened in his chair, the seat suddenly looking small, as if it wouldn't contain the sheer, pent up strength in his body. Victoria could sense the impatience in him, a restlessness for answers which had been building up inside Cole for years. She didn't fear what she saw in him. She merely noted it and tried to figure out how she could tell him about the choice she'd made. Finally she realized that one of the things he was asking from her was an account of her past. Maybe he just wanted to know what her life had been like all these years.
"Life has been..." she hesitated and glanced again at him. Cole had leaned forward, realizing that, at last, she was about to open up to him. His eyes were locked on her. "Different from what I expected," she said after a pause.
Cole's gaze didn't shift from her for a second. His attention was rapt and focused. Victoria looked away from Cole, feeling a sudden need to break that contact.
Victoria lifted her chin up and turned to him again. "Life as a matchmaker has, of course, been very interesting. I've had the opportunity to meet some very fine people, and had the chance to bring some happiness into those people's lives. I think that's quite an achievement."
Cole's mouth twisted at the corner, then he said: "But has all that business made you happy, Victoria?"
She leaned her head to one side and scrutinized him for a moment. "I thought that it would. When I left Billings and arrived in Helena, it seemed like the easiest thing in the world to find a little office and advertise my service. I was filled with such excitement and hope for the future. I soon had a few clients and I threw myself into everything that was involved in being a matchmaker. People seemed to be happy with what I did for them."
"Did you forget about me so quickly?" Cole asked suddenly.
Victoria squinted at Cole. "How could I have forgotten about you at all, Cole. After what we'd had together. How could I possibly have forgotten any of that?"
Cole shook his head, wordless, and turned to gaze toward the stove.
Victoria shifted in her chair, feeling a chill sweep across her bare feet and legs. Cole seemed to notice her discomfort. "Are you feeling the cold?"
Victoria pressed her feet into the soft material of the folded sheet. "No. I'm fine."
Cole went down on his knees and wrapped the corners of the sheet over her feet. Victoria smiled at him as he looked up at her. Cole sat back down on his chair.
"I'm getting the impression that life in Helena wasn't quite what you'd hoped it would be," Cole said.
Victoria shook her head. "Being an unattached woman who finds wives and husbands seems to attract the wrong kind of interest from certain types," she said.
"I can believe that,"Cole agreed.
"Let's say that for every genuine man looking for a wife, there are at least t
wo more who seem to think that matchmaking agencies offer something altogether quite different," Victoria said with a frown.
Cole's brows rose. "Are you saying that they thought you were running some kind of bawdy service?"
Victoria sighed. "Some of them did. At times I had to involve the sheriff. Being a matchmaker showed me something I didn't expect. People can be real desperate when it comes to finding someone they will spend the rest of their life with."
Cole nodded. "They can end up even more desperate when they lose the one person they thought they'd live with for the rest of their life. I can tell you that for a fact." His voice had a firm, even tone.
Victoria peered at Cole and gave him a soft smile of understanding. She could see the pain in his eyes now, feel the sense of relief that they were talking about these things. It seemed to have relaxed his large frame. He'd settled back against the back of the seat and had folded his arms across his chest. His chin settled on his chest and he gazed once again at the fire in the stove.
Victoria supposed she'd deserved that last remark from Cole. It was inevitable that he felt that way about her leaving. But she also wondered what he was making of her description of life on her own. And that was the actual truth of the matter that cut most deeply into her. It had, in fact, been a life spent largely on her own.
Of course there had been the occasional suitor, but she'd been determined that she wouldn't exchange one lost love for another uncertain one. So she had rebuffed the various advances that had come her way during the course of her matchmaking activities. The decision had ensured her independence but it had also guaranteed her a loneliness which had driven her to often think of the one man who had given her hope of a future. One that included love and family.
And now she was sitting next to that same man again, and she found she still couldn't completely open up to him, still wouldn't tell him the whole story of her past few years.
"Are you saying that life in Helena isn't something you think will last?" Cole asked softly.
"I don't know what to say about that life," she answered. "I've been so busy with the matchmaking that I've hardly been able to reflect on my options. The business is a success. It keeps me occupied and I still meet good hearted people. That makes it worth all the difficulty."
Cole's Montana Bride (Sweet,clean Western Historical Romance)(Montana Ranchers and Brides Series Book 7) Page 6