Shelter from the Storm

by Patricia Rice

  Laura knew that was what was on his mind. Odd, how she had really known Cash only in passing, but she knew how his mind worked. She smiled as he threw off his fancy coat and sat down at the kitchen table as if he were the family she had just claimed not to have. She had forgotten this had been his home for some years. Jonathan had always had a tendency to collect strays.

  “I didn’t want to intrude, but I’ll be there afterward,” he said. “I reckon Steve will be more than ready for me to come along and take her off his hands. He and Sallie aren’t getting along too well these days.”

  Laura laughed at this understatement. Settling at the table across from him with her tea, she tried not to study the intensity of Cash’s gaze or the strength of his rough fingers as they lifted the glass. This was Jonathan’s friend, no more. She had to keep telling herself that, even as she felt the queasiness rise in her stomach. It had taken her some time to recognize it for what it was, and she hadn’t had much time to contemplate what she would do about it, but she knew better now than to rely on anyone but herself. So she answered Cash lightly, in the same vein as his words.

  “It doesn’t take much to please Sallie. I must say, I thought Stephen a better gentleman than that. All he need do is tell her how pretty she looks and why doesn’t she wear that charming gray gown he remembers. Just offering her the excuse to discard black would make her deliriously happy for a few weeks, at least. Then he could offer to send her to Lexington to stay with the cousins for a while, and before anyone knew it, it would be spring. Stephen has grown greedy and blind with age.”

  Cash leaned his elbow over his chair back and shook his head over such cynicism. “You have a naughty tongue, Miss Laura. Sallie isn’t quite that weak between the ears. She’s shrewd, and she knows what she wants, and she knows how to get it. Honesty and directness are seldom the best policy when you’re not in a position to wield them. And don’t give me that disapproving look, Miss Kincaid. You know as well as I do that you’ve played the part of docile, obedient cousin for years, when what you really are is a sharp-tongued rebel. Now, don’t let’s quarrel. I’ve brought you a bribe to keep you docile and obedient for just a little while longer.”

  Despite the painful accuracy of his accusation, Laura couldn’t help but laugh at Cash’s wheedling tone. She took the small box he offered and with a smile stroked the pretty satin ribbon binding it. Cash looked more eager boy than bitter man as he sat there watching her expectantly, and it was much easier to fall into the spirit of Christmas than to brood over the dismal future ahead.

  “I ought to save this for tomorrow,” she teased, just to watch his black eyebrows draw down in a forbidding frown. How was it possible to know just precisely what it took to draw his ire? “But I won’t.”

  “I should have brought you something shameful just for that,” Cash warned, but the sight of the teasing glints in her eyes took any sting from his words.

  “Oh, Cash, they’re so lovely!” she cried, opening the box. “You shouldn’t have. Just look, they have the most exquisite little roses carved in the corner! I’ve never seen the like. Oh, Cash, I’m so ashamed I haven’t got anything half so nice for you.”

  Leaning over the table, he dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief. “Lord only knows, Laura, if I’d known you would get all teary-eyed over a couple of combs, I would have just brought you a box of pretty pine cones and counted myself generous. If Doc were here, he would have seen you had a lot more than that, but I didn’t think I had the right to act in his place, as much fun as it might be. I just wanted to thank you some for always making me feel welcome. There aren’t many in these parts who will do that.”

  That sobered her instantly. Laura squeezed the long brown hand holding the handkerchief, then twisted one of the lovely combs into the hair behind her ears. “I don’t know why you came back to a place like this, Cash, when you obviously have all the world at your feet. But that’s not my business. I made a little something for you. Let me get it.”

  Touching the lovely ornate comb to be certain it was in place, Laura hurried from the kitchen and came back bearing a neatly wrapped box. There had been few with whom she exchanged gifts in these last years, and she never had money for store-bought parcels, but it seemed only natural to prepare some things for those who meant so much to her.

  Knowing that Cash, despite his wealth, had never experienced the truly lavish holidays she had known in her uncle’s home, Laura wished she could have come up with something a little more elaborate, but anything else would have been inappropriate. She handed him the package wrapped in a scrap of muslin and adorned with bits of ribbon and lace from her sewing box.

  “It’s not so glamorous, but if you encounter many teary-eyed ladies, it might be useful.”

  Not having expected any gift at all, Cash looked both surprised and tickled at being remembered. “You didn’t have to give me anything, pequeña . You’ve given me more than I can possibly repay, as it is.”

  Perhaps she really ought to tell him how much he had given her, but Laura didn’t think he would be appreciative of the news. Perhaps the time would come, but that time wasn’t now. She simply shook her head in disagreement with his platitudes and watched as he opened her meager gift.

  The hand-sewn and neatly monogrammed handkerchiefs brought an arrested expression of longing and something else, some deep memory that stirred in the back of Cash’s dark-lashed eyes as he gazed at the fine handwork. Not expecting such a reaction to her small token, Laura watched his expression with surprise and the threat of more tears. She had never been one overly given to expressing emotion, but lately she seemed capable of crying at the slightest whim.

  She shook off the notion and inquired quietly, “Is there something wrong, Cash? I didn’t mean to offend you. That was all I could think of.”

  Cash shook himself from his reverie and touched the elegant monogramming. “You couldn’t have found a better present, Laura. My mother used to make handkerchiefs like these for me when I was a boy. I haven’t had any quite the same since. I probably wasn’t as appreciative of them as I am now. Thank you for reminding me of so many things that I was in danger of forgetting.”

  Laura poured him another splash of bourbon and returned to her seat. “I shouldn’t think I deserve thanks for disturbing old memories. The past is over and done and best forgotten. It is the future we must consider now.”

  “You’re wrong, Laura.” Cash glanced past her head to the narrow stairs leading to the unheated loft above. “I used to sleep up there. It was hot as hell in summer, and in the winter it was cold enough to give me chilblains. But every morning I’d get up to the smell of coffee and know I could come down and eat until I was full. I’d know Kate would be smiling and Jonathan would be waiting for me with whatever chore or expedition he had in mind that day, and I’d be so damned grateful not to have to chop tobacco or drag my father from the tavern that I would have done handstands and cartwheels if they had asked it of me. I have no intention of forgetting one minute of my past, Laura. The past is what the future is built on.”

  There was probably a good deal of truth to that, but her past was so negligible that it didn’t sound substantial enough to support any kind of a future. She had not thought about Cash spending years of his life in that drafty loft. It gave her an odd feeling to be thinking about it now. Looking at the man, knowing what they had done together, remembering the man to whom they owed more than loyalty, Laura felt the queasiness in her stomach grow stronger, as if the intruder there protested the shallowness of its protector, and she gave her cold tea a wry look.

  “That is a solemn subject for a holiday eve. I don’t think I wish to contemplate it right now. Will you be attending Christmas Eve services?”

  Cash laughed at this change of subject and carefully tucked one of his new handkerchiefs into his pocket. “The good folk of Stone Creek would fall flat on their faces if I walked through that door. Are you intending to persuade Jonathan to give up his agnostic ways to accomp
any you to church when he returns?”

  Laura watched Cash’s expression consideringly. “I’ll not ask him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. I’m quite capable of attending church on my own. Don’t change the subject. I asked if you wished to go. Sallie usually attends Sunday-morning services. She’s not given to coming into town at night. I rather enjoy the candles and songs on Christmas Eve. If you would like to go, I’d be happy to go with you. I really don’t think anyone will rise up and stone you.”

  Cash scowled and rocked back on his chair legs. “I haven’t been to church since I attended the colored services with my mother. They tolerated me because of my mother, but I was as out-of-place there as I will be in your holy heaven. Let’s not push the good townspeople too far.”

  Exasperated, Laura clanked down her cup and rose from the table. “You’re about as colored as I am French. If you don’t want to go, just say so. I’m not going to pull your hair and drag you. But if you want to go, don’t give me such idiotic excuses!”

  A slow grin turned the corners of Cash’s mouth as he unfolded from the chair to tower over her. “You’re one hell of a lot more French than I am colored. I understand the French have terrible tempers and wicked tongues, and it’s a damn sight for sure you didn’t inherit yours from the Kincaids.”

  Laura had half a mind to punch him, but she had never done such a thing in her life and her reasons for wanting to do so now were mixed. Instead, she let herself be seduced by the shadow of his smile. “And it’s a damn sight for sure that you didn’t learn your language from your mother. It’s your reprehensible behavior that earns you your reputation, Cash Wickliffe, not your lovely mother’s antecedents. So quit hiding behind her skirts. Kincaids attend church. If you’re going to court Sallie, you’ll have to accompany her to church. Wouldn’t it be a sight easier all around if the good folk of Stone Creek were accustomed to seeing you within hallowed walls before then?”

  Cash’s grin faded as he studied her serious face. “You mean that, don’t you? You expect me to walk into that church filled with the pious citizens of this county and let you take the bricks and arrows they’d like to sling at me.”

  “I think you’ve got that quotation a little confused, but no matter. If anyone slings anything, it’s much more likely to hit you than me. You’re a bigger target. Quit being a fool, Cash. The past is gone, whatever you say. The war destroyed it all. Reverend Hammond will be thrilled to welcome a wealthy parishioner. The church roof is starting to leak over the sacristy. Christmas is the perfect time for people to forgive and forget. Generosity abounds, Come with me.”

  And at the end, Cash couldn’t say no. Odd, how those great green eyes could trap him, making him act against his better judgment. He remembered a long-ago day when he had followed this insistent creature rather than stealing a horse and running. Even then, she’d had the power to command him.

  Looking down at the petite package in dull plumage who dared challenge him as no other would, Cash grinned and gave in. He could toss her into the air as easily as a feather. Actually, he could toss her into bed without much more effort. Never had he a better awareness of how easily he could overpower a woman as well as he did this one, and it wasn’t just physical strength that gave him the advantage. He knew if he held out his hand, she would take it. He satisfied himself with just the knowledge, however; he didn’t need to experiment.

  But despite his strength, in the end Cash fell victim to a conviction greater than his own, never quite understanding how she did it.

  Chapter 14

  By mid-January the morning sickness had subsided sufficiently for Laura to feel normal, if ever she could feel normal again. At the moment, resentment tinged any effort at rational thought. Why was it that she could spend all of her entire life in obedience and propriety, only to be caught the few times she slipped and made a mistake? How could life be so cruel as to punish her like this when all she had intended was good?

  She resented the creature growing inside her, already rounding her stomach and causing her to let out the seams of her bodice. She resented Cash for planting it there. She resented Sallie for being the only woman Cash could really see. She resented Jonathan for leaving her to deal with this problem alone.

  It was far easier to cast resentment far and wide than to sit down and deal with the problem directly.

  She was pregnant and unmarried. The baby’s father had his heart set on another, and her own intended husband was two thousand miles away basking in the Arizona sun. She had no money and nowhere to go. Hell couldn’t be any worse than this.

  Yet when Cash came whistling merrily up the walk one sunny morn, Laura merely wiped her hands on her apron and went out on the porch to meet him.

  “You’re supposed to smile in the sunshine, pequeña ,” Cash declared as his boots hit the wooden steps. “It’s a glorious day. Shall we sit out here and enjoy it?”

  Laura knew in her bones what came next, and she gratefully took the cane-backed porch chair he offered her. Now was the time. If she were to say anything, it would be now. But she had only to look into the joy dancing in his dark eyes to know her lips would remain sealed.

  “You’ve brought good news?” she asked as Cash chose the porch rail for his seat and propped his boot against the post in a graceful, if wholly ungentlemanly manner.

  Cash sent her a winning smile. “All the cards are mine, Laura. Full house, flush deck. I suggested a quiet ceremony in Lexington and an extended honeymoon trip to New York, and Sallie has agreed without reservation. Will you come and stand up with us? I’ll make certain there’s someone to accompany you home.”

  Even though Laura had known it was coming, Cash’s casual verification of her fears cut painfully to her very core. Even the tiny being within her fluttered as if in protest, and her hand went unwisely to her waist to capture that brief movement.

  Cash reacted swiftly to her shock, swinging his legs down and grasping her cold hand. “I’m sorry, Laura. Was I too callous presenting it to you that way? I thought you understood . . .” He stiffened. “You do understand? Sallie has accepted my proposal of marriage, despite my background, despite everyone’s objections. Did you think she wouldn’t?”

  She heard his pain and hidden anger and forced a smile. “I didn’t think Sallie that great a fool, no. You just caught me a bit by surprise. Ward’s scarce been buried four months. I didn’t think even Sallie would be that hasty. A long engagement, perhaps, but I can see you’re right. She’d be happier away from here.” She finally raised the courage to meet his eyes. “I know it’s what you always wanted, Cash. I’m happy for you, I really am. I know you’ll take care of her.”

  “And who will take care of you, Laura?” Cash brushed the back of his hand against her cheek. “What have you heard from Jonathan? Is he ready to send for you yet?”

  “The last I heard, he’d been in Arizona about a month. He said the railroads didn’t go all the way out there yet, and the journey is a rough one. He says he’s never seen anything quite like western lands; it’s the exact opposite of Kentucky and he’s not at all certain I’d like it. I think he’s hoping for an instant cure so he can come home.”

  They both knew that wasn’t possible, but it wasn’t something that could be said out loud. Cash sat back down and braced his weight on his legs, swinging her hand loosely between them. “Anytime you decide to join the rascal, I’ll be happy to give you the money. I don’t suffer Jonathan’s illusions about your fragility. In the meantime, will you be coming to the wedding?”

  He had given her enough time to think and decide, and Laura knew she could not stand at the altar while her cousin bound herself to the father of this child growing within her. She might be strong, but she wasn’t that strong. Yet. She had better things to expend her limited energy on.

  “No, Cash, I don’t think so. I understand why you’re leaving Stone Creek to do this. I think it best if you leave me behind too. Sallie won’t miss me. She’ll resent having to make excuses to me i
f I were there. You’ve chosen the best way. Go quietly and with my blessings, and by the time you return, you’ll be awaited eagerly.”

  “If just for the gossip of it,” Cash acknowledged wryly. “Well, if I can’t persuade you to the wedding, let me persuade you to return to the farm. I’ll bring over my servants to begin setting things to rights, and I need someone to oversee the renovations. You would be doing us a favor if you could keep an eye on the house.”

  It was tempting, very tempting. She could hide out at the farm, where no one but the servants would notice her growing girth, and she wouldn’t have to make all the awful explanations she knew were coming. But she had hidden from herself and her home for four awful years in Cairo, and she knew that wasn’t any solution.

  Besides, the idea of living in the house that Cash meant to restore for Sallie poisoned her insides. Somehow she had managed not to hate Sallie through all these years. She didn’t think it would be possible to be so objective when confronted daily with the proof of Cash’s preference for her beautiful cousin. It wouldn’t be a healthy situation at all, and Laura shook her head.

  “I’m sorry, Cash, I enjoy my independence too much. I would feel like a child again to return there. I hope you’ll understand.”

  “I understand, brat,” Cash said reluctantly. “But if I leave a driver at your disposal, will you ride out to keep an eye on things? I’ll have men there to protect the property, so you’ll be safe enough. I just figure you know better than anyone what needs to be done and how. I’ll put you in charge of a bank account with sufficient funds to pay any workmen, and you need to pay yourself a salary for services rendered too.”

  Laura stared past him at the street and contemplated his offer. Sallie had little or no interest in refurbishing the house she had called home all these years. She just expected it to be there as it always was, without being reminded of the tedious details for its upkeep. And Laura knew the men who would love the job of repairing the house, men who desperately needed the money to support their wives and children. And she certainly couldn’t complain of a little extra income for herself either. Sewing wasn’t the most profitable business around.