Levi pulled his hat from his head, and ran a hand through his hair. He glanced at her, looking rather apologetic. “You fell in front of my horse the other day in town, remember?”
Grace took her crutch from him, and leaned on it. She moved a few steps away from the horse, and Levi.
“You had nothing to do with the leg.” She glanced at a tuft of grass at her feet that poked out through the snow.
“Then what happened?” he prodded, reaching for the cinch on his horse’s saddle. He made quick work of getting the animal untacked. When he peeled the saddle from the gelding’s back, he turned to look at her again. “And why are you hiding out in the high country with a couple of runaway orphans?”
Grace’s heart began to hammer in her chest. She couldn’t tell him the truth, at least not all of it. He was going to return them to Elk Lodge at the first opportunity. If he knew about her, he might alert Harlan Randall.
“Rose is my sister. I’ve been looking for her for a long time, after we were separated. I finally found her again in Elk Lodge, and took her to come and live with me. The children’s charity would never let me take her, since I’m not considered a suitable home.” She raised her chin and looked him in the eye, then continued, “That’s why we ran away.”
That part, at least, wasn’t a lie. Although there was little oversight of who adopted the orphan children, even if they said they checked on potential homes, Grace would have never been granted guardianship of her sister. She had no home of her own, and besides, she needed to avoid the authorities. She’d killed a man.
Levi Colter’s eyes roamed her face. “You’re an orphan?”
Grace stood straighter. “I suppose I’m no longer considered an orphan at my age,” she answered. “I was . . . adopted out years before my sister. I’ve been looking for her ever since.”
Levi frowned. “What about the boy?”
Grace smiled. “He followed us.” Her gaze remained fixed on Levi’s. “I couldn’t tell him to go back.”
Levi broke eye contact first. Grace kept her eyes on him as he draped his saddle over the corral rail, opened the gate, and turned his horse loose. He hadn’t looked at all happy with her answers, as if something troubled him about what she’d told him.
He continued talking while he moved around. “Your sister . . . I was told she was supposed to get adopted the day she disappeared,” he said slowly, his words almost calculated. “What are your plans? Seems you ain’t got much to offer in the way of a home.”
Grace smirked. “At least we’ll be together,” she hissed. She opened her mouth, but closed it again before adding that Rose would not have gone to a good home. It didn’t matter that she had no plans. Anything would be better than the life Rose would have been subjected to otherwise.
You’d still be there if you hadn’t done what needed to be done, and then run away.
Levi’s eyes were on her again, studying her intently. Grace leaned more heavily on her crutch in response to the weight of his stare.
“There’s a reward out for her return.”
Her heart skipped a beat at his words. Any shred of doubt about the couple that had looked to adopt Rose vanished instantly. They had to be working for Harlan Randall. Grace shivered. She ran her right hand up and down her left arm to dispel the feeling. If Randall had bounty hunters looking for Rose, it would make it more difficult for them to disappear.
Levi latched the corral gate. He turned toward the cabin, and took several steps in that direction before he glanced over his shoulder. Grace stood rooted to the spot. Her mind raced with turmoil. Every part of her screamed to run from this place, but she was trapped, just as she’d been trapped by Randall. Her hand itched to wrap around her pistol.
“You comin’ inside?” Levi’s brows rose with his question. “You’re looking a bit cold.”
Grace pressed her lips together. She leaned on her walking stick, and moved toward him. She glared at the woodsman. The feelings that usually surfaced of distaste and even hatred for men didn’t materialize. He stood patiently, a quizzical look in his eyes. Grace groped for words. Should she beg him not to take her and Rose back to Elk Lodge? Would pleas or demands fall on deaf ears? Before she had a chance to speak, Levi pointed at her leg.
“You didn’t tell me what happened to your leg.”
Grace glanced down, his words taking her off guard. She shook her head slightly.
“It’s an old injury,” she stammered. “A wagon wheel ran over my leg when I was younger. It was never set properly.”
The corners of Levi’s eyes twitched as they narrowed. He looked unsure, as if he wanted to say something, but couldn’t bring himself to say any more than was necessary.
When he finally spoke, it was a low grumble. “I rode the orphan train, too.”
Grace’s eyes widened, and she stared up at him. The cold air around her vanished. Their eyes connected and held, as if some invisible string suddenly wound itself around them, and neither could look away. She shared a connection with this man through the orphan train?
“How’d you and your sister end up in Montana Territory?”
He asked his question before she could open her mouth to find out how he’d ended up in a remote cabin in the mountains. Grace swallowed back the constricting feeling in her throat. How much should she tell him? Not that it mattered. She and Rose were two of so many who had faced a similar plight.
“I only have vague memories of my life on the streets of New York,” she began. “My family was too poor to properly care for me and Rose. To bring home food, I was sent to beg in the streets.” She sniffed, and wiped the back of her hand under her cold nose, and laughed scornfully. “When a vegetable vendor accidentally ran over my leg with his cart, my father had thought it a lucky turn of events. He said that folks would take pity on me, and give me more money.”
“He never took you to get your leg set by a doctor?” A spark of anger blazed in Levi’s eyes.
Grace laughed again. “He would rather spend any money we received on liquor than getting me seen by a doctor.” She sucked in a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, letting the mist swirl around her face.
“My mother died in childbirth, along with my baby brother when I was about ten. Soon after, Pa left one morning and never came back. I took care of Rose on my own, until an Alms House picked us up. Years later, we were put on a train and sent out west.” She shrugged to hide her pain, and gazed off into the distance as old memories resurfaced.
How would her life have turned out if she’d stayed in New York? Her hope for a future there had been just as bleak as it had been on the journey west. No one wanted a cripple. No one, until Harlan Randall took a look at her during one of the adoption stops. Why her sister kept getting passed over time and again remained a mystery, but then again, many of the orphans rode the train for years, with no hope of finding a family willing to take them in.
The hard look on Levi’s face brought Grace back to the present.
“Let’s go inside and warm up,” he finally said.
He led the way to the cabin. Grace followed. She’d weathered everything life had thrown at her so far, and had figured out how to survive. She’d finally found Rose, and she’d follow her dream of making a life with her sister. No one, not even Levi Colter, would stand in her way.
Chapter Nine
Levi sat on the stump of a long-ago felled tree, overlooking the clearing from a rise behind his cabin. This had always been one of his favorite places to come to think and reflect on things. The spot offered a nice view of the valley far below, as well as the cabin he called home.
He held his knife in his left hand, but rested it against his knee, and gazed at his surroundings. His horse and the mule foraged off in the trees somewhere. Levi swiped a hand along his brow. The weather was finally warming up again, and the sun felt good on his skin.
Another storm had blown through the mountains after bringing Grace and the kids back to his cabin, before the first snow had even m
elted. This one had lasted several days, forcing everyone to remain inside for more than a week.
He’d spent long hours showing Andy how to whittle a stick into the shape of an animal to pass the time, while Grace and her sister had utilized whatever fabrics they’d found in the cabin, mainly from Buck’s old clothes, to sew anything from tablecloths, to curtains for the window, and even a new shirt for the boy. Levi barely recognized his old cabin.
The snow was finally melting away, making passage down the mountain possible again. Levi drew in a long breath, filling his lungs with crisp mountain air, and savoring the quiet. A soft breeze rushed through the canopies of some of the pines that dotted the landscape.
Faint laughter drifted from where his cabin stood. The door opened, and Andy rushed out, followed closely by Rose. The boy swung a wooden bucket in his hand, and headed for the spring on the other side of the corral. The girl followed, her steps light as she skipped along, her braided hair bouncing down her back.
Levi’s lips twitched in a smile, and he sat up straighter. His forehead wrinkled at the unexpected content feeling that rushed through him. His annoyance with his temporary guests had lasted about a day. It had taken some time to iron out their living arrangements, but he’d won the argument with Grace in the end, that he’d make himself a pallet on the floor in the back room so that Andy could have the bed.
“Three of you can’t share that bunk,” he’d said, pointing at the bed in the corner of the main room, while Grace fixed some supper the day they all returned to the cabin.
“We don’t want to do anything to inconvenience you while we’re here, anymore than we already have.”
She’d set a bowl of stew in front of him with more force than she’d probably intended, and some of the gravy had spilled over the edge.
“I ain’t gonna argue anymore,” he’d said, trying to keep his voice even. “Andy and I will bunk in the back room.” To his great surprise, she’d backed off, and simply nodded, a hint of fear in her eyes.
It didn’t sit well that Grace was afraid of him. She had no cause to fear him. The distress in her eyes had left him without words or knowing what to do. His hand squeezed around the handle of his knife. She was a spirited woman, but why did she act like a flighty deer in his presence? She set his heart to beating faster whenever he looked at her, but he didn’t like the haunted fear in her eyes. If ever there was a time when he wished he knew how to talk to a woman, the last few days had been it.
“Grace.”
The name escaped his lips before he was even aware he’d spoken it into the breeze. The warm feeling from a moment ago grew stronger, and his heart sped up, as if she stood in front of him. It had been nearly two weeks since he’d brought her and the kids back to his cabin. Two weeks, and she was still leery of him, judging by the glimpses of mistrust he’d caught in her eyes.
She hadn’t told him any more about herself or what she’d planned to do from hereon. He hadn’t asked, either. In his experience, a man didn’t pry into other people’s business, and he’d been grateful that she hadn’t pressed him for information about his own past. Telling her he'd been on the orphan train himself was already more than he’d ever told a stranger.
His smile widened, and he shook his head. He really didn’t think of Grace as a stranger, perhaps because she was a woman, and he could hardly relate to her as a man. Communication with her was difficult at best. Buck had always told him that understanding a woman was sometimes impossible, but so was talking to one. That had become crystal clear when she’d misinterpreted his intentions that first night. He’d chosen his words carefully from then on, but the looks she shot him often made him wonder if he didn’t continue to say the wrong things.
The smile left his face. She occupied his mind more and more with each passing day. Visions of her chased him into his dreams at night, sometimes so strongly, he’d woken up to his skin tingling where she’d touched him that first night and offered herself to him.
Not since he’d been a young boy, after Buck had taken him in and started teaching him about living in the mountains, had he wanted to please someone as much as he wanted to please this woman. He smirked, and shook his head. The more he tried not to think about her, the more she was on his mind.
He hadn’t ever eaten the kind of food she prepared from his limited staples. It would be all too easy to get used to her meals, and her tending to the domestic duties at the cabin. When she’d prodded him about his clothing, that his shirts could use mending, he’d finally relented. She needed to feel useful, and believe that she was repaying him somehow for her and the kids’ upkeep, and he admired her for it. She managed to get around on her crippled leg with surprising ease, although she clearly hid the pain she was in at times, especially when she accidentally bore full weight on her lame leg.
Levi studied the long branch he held in his hand. He raised his knife, and continued the job he’d started when he’d come to his favorite spot, smoothing out a few more rough areas on the wood. The staff was a bit thicker, and a lot straighter than the one Grace used. He’d found a suitable branch to make her a new crutch, and the task was nearly complete. He reached for the piece of rabbit hide he’d brought along, and wrapped it around the fork at one end of the crutch, tying it on with some strips of rawhide.
He stood, and tested it by positioning it under his arm. He had to bend down in order to lean his weight into it. Hopefully he’d guessed the height correctly. He’d left it a tad long so he could shorten the stick, if needed, after Grace tried it out.
His smile returned. She wouldn’t be happy with his gift. She’d made it clear that she wanted no handouts, and didn’t like to be beholden to anyone. He was going to be ready for her argument. He gave the fur and leather padding a final squeeze to make sure it was good and comfortable, and made his way down the hill.
Andy and Rose laughed and chattered from somewhere near the spring. Levi stopped in his tracks, and his forehead scrunched. The sound of kids echoing through the trees was foreign to his ears. He’d grown up listening to the wind rushing through the canopies, and the call of eagles overhead. Buck would have chastised him for making so much unnecessary noise. It sounded rather pleasant, bringing back memories of his own childhood. Except, there hadn’t been much laughter after his folks died and he’d been separated from Maggie.
Levi glanced toward the spring. He wasn’t going to deny these kids a few moments of happiness. His pace increased, and he headed for the cabin. What would it take to make Grace smile, or even laugh, and take away some of that mistrust on her face?
He opened the door, which creaked loudly on its hinges. Warm air surrounded him instantly, as if someone had been waiting for him and had draped a cozy blanket around his shoulders. The smell of food cooking made his mouth water.
A man could sure get used to this.
Levi’s chest tightened at the thought. He was a loner. It’s how he chose to live his life. Attachments to a family only ended in grief. He shook off the silly feelings making his head spin.
Grace sat at the kitchen table. She glanced up when he entered, and her features softened slightly. Her lips even twitched in an almost smile. In her lap was one of his shirts, and in one hand she held a needle and thread that he’d given her from Buck’s old supplies.
“This shirt won’t be worth saving much longer,” she said, holding it up. All the holes and tears had been mended, but it looked tattered and old.
Levi shrugged. “It’ll do until it falls apart completely.”
Grace’s lips tightened in a firm line, a gesture he’d learned meant that she wanted to say something, but refrained from doing so. She set the shirt on the table and stood, the palm of her right hand on the table for leverage. She reached for her stick, and hobbled to the hearth to check the pot hanging over the fire.
“This meat has to cook all day, so it’ll be soft for supper,” she said. “A lot of the dried-out meat you have is too tough to chew otherwise.”
Levi ra
n a hand through his hair, and forced his face to remain impassive. Right now, Grace reminded him of the stories Buck used to tell of domestic life with his wife. He’d grumbled about how she’d complained all the time, but he’d said it with a smile on his face. He’d never admitted it, but her nagging was one of those qualities he liked about his wife.
Maybe, now that Grace was complaining about his food supplies, she was beginning to trust him more. Coupled with her chastising about his shirt, she had to be feeling more comfortable around him.
“I’ve been meaning to go on a hunting trip soon, now that the weather’s finally cleared. We’ll have fresh meat, something that ain’t tough, then.” His lips twitched.
Grace turned to face him. A puzzled look came over her face. Levi stepped further into the cabin toward her.
“I . . . ah, made this for you.” He thrust the crutch out to her.
His heart sped up the moment Grace’s eyes widened in disbelief. She looked at the gift he offered, then up at him. Something tightened in his chest when the light from the lantern shimmered in her moisture-filled eyes. Levi took another step closer when she didn’t take the crutch. He cleared his throat.
“You’d best try it out. I think I got the height right, but it can always be shortened.”
She reached for it, slowly, but her eyes remained on him.
“Why would you do this?” she whispered.
Levi frowned. That was the last thing he’d expected her to say. Why had he made a new crutch? She got around fine on the one she had. He shrugged.
“Figured you could use something a little more suitable than what you have now.” He pointed at her old stick.
Grace took the crutch from him. She fingered the rabbit fur lining the fork that would support her under her arm. She handed him the old stick, and leaned on his gift.
Levi smiled the moment her lips widened. Her face transformed instantly in front of him when her features softened. The tightness in his chest increased, and a warm sensation spread throughout his core and into his limbs. He restrained from touching her at that moment, and took a step back, gripping tightly to the wooden stick in his hand.
In His Arms: Blemished Brides Book 3 Page 7