Stavewood (Stavewood Saga Book 1)

by Kinslow, Nanette

  The boys were excused from the table and Elgerson informed Rebecca that they ought to wait for the sheriff in the study. She agreed and told him she would join him shortly.

  Timothy refilled his generous glass and paced the study in aggravation, waiting for the woman to appear.

  Rebecca remained at the table for several minutes preparing herself for the inquiry, avoiding the study for fear that the man’s presence would cause her to forget herself once again. When she heard the knock at the front door she swallowed hard and joined the two men.

  “Good evening, Rebecca,” the sheriff greeted her formally, acutely aware of the tension between his long-time friend and the beautiful woman. “I’ll make this as brief as possible.”

  Rebecca sat stiffly in the chair, afraid that if she remained on her feet her resolve would evaporate.

  The sheriff wondered about the extent of her injuries. She answered his questions as clearly as she could and explained the arrival at the shack exactly as she had to Timothy earlier. He questioned her about her possible involvement with the people who had left her there. He was blunt and direct, and he seemed satisfied with her answers.

  “Rebecca, I need you to describe the woman who left you at the shack as clearly as you can recall.”

  “She was a very large woman,” Rebecca replied, struggling with her composure. “She had bright, red hair and an extremely gruff manner. She wore men’s clothing and her face was weathered and freckled. I’m sure she knew Finn quite well. She spoke to him roughly, as though he were a child.”

  The two men stared at one another in disbelief and Rebecca was confused by their reaction. She had answered as honestly as she could, but they seemed perplexed by her description.

  “Damn, Tim!” the sheriff blurted out, pacing before the fireplace.

  “It’s got to be Dianna Weintraub, but what the hell would she want Rebecca for?” Timothy was agitated as well.

  The young woman was uneasy with their reaction, unable to understand the revelation, although she had a feeling that she ought to be able to.

  “You know her?” she blurted out, her fear of discovery mounting.

  “She’s Octavia’s mother, Rebecca. None of this makes any sense.”

  She sank in the chair.

  “Rebecca, you said something earlier about Octavia being here? What happened?” Timothy spun to face her.

  “She said her mother had not been home in a few days, but had made a bank deposit recently, yesterday. She didn’t seem terribly concerned, but I believe it was the purpose of her visit. She did seem very disappointed to have missed you,” she told both men.

  “I’ll bet,” Elgerson muttered. “Nothing else, Rebecca? Was she threatening to you in any way?”

  “No,” Rebecca sighed. “I think she was being herself, but no threats.”

  “I don’t know what the woman’s up to, Tim, but I think it might be a good idea to get some of your men up here to keep an eye on the place until we find out what’s going on. I’ll get up to the Weintraub place and see what their story is up there.”

  Rebecca was sure the men did not believe her. Maybe Bedra was someone else entirely.

  “She told me her name was Bedra and she claimed she knew Timothy.” She thought about the trip to the shack.

  “You must be mistaken, Rebecca. ‘Bedra’ is a word the locals use. It’s Scandinavian, I believe. It means ‘idiot’,” Timothy mumbled, shaking his head in confusion.

  Rebecca pursed her lips in anger and humiliation and choked back her tears.

  “Sounds more like Dianna Weintraub all the time,” the sheriff remarked.

  “Tim, I’m done here. Thank you, Rebecca. I know that this was difficult for you.”

  “Let me get my horse, Ben,” Elgerson blinked to clear his head.

  “Don’t bother, Tim. I’ll get the deputies to go up with me. I think it’s best you stay here. I’m not sure why Dianna might be after the girl, but, until we find out, you had better keep an eye on her.” Ben was aware that Tim had been drinking heavily. He bid Rebecca farewell as he was leaving.

  Timothy refilled his glass and struggled with the information. Dianna Weintraub was an unpleasant woman, but he could imagine no reason why she would attack the girl.

  “Rebecca,” he barked as she rose from her chair to leave the room, puzzled and exhausted.

  “Yes?” She turned to him, embarrassed and ashamed. “Idiot,” she thought.

  “You can’t think of any reason why Octavia’s mother would want to hurt you? Anything at all? Even something outrageous?”

  “No, I cannot,” she whispered, wringing her hands.

  “There has to be an explanation, Rebecca. What else did Octavia say to you today?” Elgerson swayed slightly.

  “Nothing.” She faced him squarely. “I suppose it’s because I am an idiot.” She fled from the study quickly, her tiny feet barely touching the stairs as she ran for the safety of her room and closed the door.

  Timothy gulped his brandy and stormed out to the kitchen in search of his butler. He instructed the man to fetch a few of the farm employees and to post them around the property.

  “I’m not sure why,” he told the butler. “But there’s something fishy going on with the Weintraub group and they’re not to be anywhere around Rebecca until the sheriff gets to the bottom of it.”

  Elgerson stood in the kitchen staring up to the ceiling and, in his belief that Rebecca had more information than she was letting on, decided to question her further.

  Chapter Thirty

  Rebecca finished changing from her dress into her nightgown and curled up on the bed. She pulled the sheet up to her face and cursed under her breath with words she would never imagine using out loud.

  Timothy turned the polished brass knob to her room and found it locked. The blocked passage infuriated him. This was Corissa’s general practice and he would not tolerate it again.

  “Rebecca, unlock the door.”

  “Please, go away,” she sobbed.

  “Damn it, Rebecca, I will not! If you do not unlock this door now I swear I will break it in!” His face was red with anger.

  Rebecca was terrified that he might actually do as he had threatened, and, fully aware of the man’s physical strength, she scampered across the room, unlocking the door quickly and then stood behind the bed quivering.

  He turned the knob slowly at the sound of the freed lock and entered into the darkness, closing the door behind him. Rebecca stood silhouetted against the window, her sheer gown invisible against the filtered moonlight.

  “Please…” she whispered, concerned he might hurt her in his obviously drunken state. Having felt the sting of inebriated attacks in her dreadful marriage, she knew better than to instigate the man.

  “Rebecca, why?” his toned softened.

  “Timothy?” She had to reassure herself that this was not David swaying before her, but instead the kind and generous man that the last weeks had shown her.

  “Why do you run from me? What is it that I’ve done to you? Am I so improper in my behavior that you find me repulsive?”

  “Repulsive? Of course not,” she replied quietly. How could he imagine that she felt that way? “I think you’re wonderful,” she admitted, crying quietly in her misery. She felt so charmed by the man and terrified to have him find out what she really was.

  “Then why? You pull away. You run from me. Tell me, damn it, what have I done?”

  “It’s nothing you’ve done, Tim. It has nothing to do with you at all.”

  “What then?” She could hear his mood rising. “Damn it all, Rebecca, tell me!” he demanded.

  “You know nothing about me. You know nothing about how I came to be here. Please, Timothy. I can’t.”

  “You say that you can’t and I don’t believe you!” He stepped around the bed boldly, trapping her in the corner. “It’s that you won’t. You could tell me I disgust you and that would make sense, but you say you can’t. Why?” He took her arm firml
y and in terror she tried to crawl across the bed.

  The big man caught her efficiently by the ankle, pulling her from the bed and standing her firmly in front of him. He recalled how effectively the petite woman had dispatched him the last time he tangled with her and he eased his grip.

  Rebecca stood facing him and ceased her struggling.

  Timothy peered down to her sweet face, the tears running down her cheeks and his anger melted away.

  “Rebecca,” he whispered hoarsely, “it doesn’t matter who you are. I don’t care. I never have. I don’t care.” His deep voice trailed off as he held her before him.

  Rebecca touched his firm cheek softly and put her hands on his shoulders, as he pulled her to him. She knew him, felt his insisting need for her, and suddenly it didn’t matter who she was.

  For this moment there was nothing more in the world except his fevered kisses and his unrelenting arms holding her secure and safe from all of her fears. She was no better than a common street walker anyway and it didn’t matter how she behaved, or what anyone else thought of her. The only thing that mattered, right now, was the way she felt in his hungry arms.

  She felt him pull her tightly against him, his consuming desire pressing against her and she returned his greedy kisses with her own.

  His hands were inside of her gown, hot and firm against her back. He kissed her on her neck, her shoulders, and she felt her gown slip from her body.

  His lips tasted her, exploring her slowly, and she laid her head back in surrender.

  Timothy drank in her sweet beauty, as warm and yielding as when he had seen her lounging on the rock in the sun. He sampled the soft rise of her breasts, taking what he had watched so enticingly the night she stood beside him, beguiling in her laced emerald gown.

  He held her away from him unable to believe her compliant surrender in his arms, and looked into her usually unfathomable green eyes, yet there was nothing in her face he did not understand. Her look was inviting and filled with longing for him, and he kissed her firmly.

  He whispered her name and she returned with his own.

  She felt herself lifted gently and he laid her tenderly across the bed, placing his arms to either side of her, stopping to study her delicate face.

  Timothy was sure he was in a dream and any moment reality would interrupt him and he’d awaken alone, or worse, in an instant she would pull away. Instead, she pulled him to her and rolled him gently beside her and she began to undress him slowly.

  The enchanting ecstasy of her bold move was more exciting than any experience he’d ever had and she removed his clothing carefully, exposing his full desire for her.

  He moved to kiss her and she reclined, her kisses hungry as she pulled him into her, and she arched her back beneath him as they connected in their intimacy.

  Rebecca felt him move with her as perfectly as they had danced, each thrust of his desire fulfilling her own. As she felt his shudder she exploded with him in the warm thrill of perfect satisfaction. She moaned as she was overcome with a feeling of complete fulfillment she had never experienced before.

  The soft moonlight spread across the two of them as she kissed him feverishly. He stepped out of the bed and wrapped himself in the sheet. He gathered her easily in the blanket and into his arms, taking her down the dark hall and carrying her swiftly to his room, pushing the door closed behind him.

  He placed her tenderly on the bed.

  “This is where you belong, Rebecca,” he whispered and kissed her hungrily as he entered her again.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The sheriff mounted the steps of the Weintraub house shortly after daybreak. He hadn’t been by the residence in years and found it run down and sorely in need of a coat of paint. Finn was often about the place doing some fix-up job or another for Dianna, always her rather simple-minded brother forever at her command, but the house looked as though no one had made any sort of repair in several months. The family had never reported him missing, but his employer hadn’t seen him in weeks. In a world where men went off to hunt, sometimes for weeks, a missing person could be lost for long stretches before the sheriff’s office ever heard from the family. Ben hoped that’s all Finn was up to.

  He knocked on the door loudly and, after several minutes, Octavia appeared in her robe. Obviously none too happy to see the man, she tried to explain that she was not up to visiting at this particular moment.

  “I need to speak to you, Octavia, and it cannot wait.”

  She led him into the parlor. The house was disheveled and dark.

  “If this is about Mother you shouldn’t have bothered. She stopped home last night and said her and Uncle Finn were riding out to look at some horses and wouldn’t be back for several days.”

  “Your uncle was with her?”

  “That’s what she said.” Octavia flopped down onto the settee and appeared annoyed.

  “Do you know where they were headed?”

  “No, I have no idea.” Octavia rubbed her eyes, it was clear she wanted to return to her bed.

  “Octavia, what do you know about that girl staying out at Timothy’s place? Does Dianna know her?”

  “Rebecca?” Octavia was suddenly awake.

  “Yes.” The sheriff found it curious that Octavia would be so interested in the girl.

  “I was just out there talking to her. Strange girl, she acts as if she thinks she’s the queen or something. I don’t think it’s proper that she’s staying at Stavewood. It’s not right that she’s up there alone with Timothy.”

  “Had you or possibly your mother ever met her before?” The sheriff knew that Dianna had been pushing Octavia to marry Elgerson for years, but Octavia’s jealously of Rebecca was harmless, he thought. The sheriff was sure she could not possibly imagine herself married to the man.

  “No, I never have. I’m certain Mother never did either. She didn’t make it to the party you know. Why would Mother have anything whatsoever to do with Rebecca?”

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Rebecca is staying out at Tim’s because she met with some trouble with the train and someone took her off into the woods. There’s talk that your mother might know something about that.”

  Octavia rose suddenly and paced around the room.

  “Trouble with the train? Where exactly?”

  “Out at Hawk Bend a few weeks back.” Sheriff Carson could see Octavia was behaving oddly and continued. “Why? Does that bring anything to mind?”

  “Of course not. Don’t be silly! I’m just on edge with the robberies and all. Maybe Rebecca was trying to rob the train and she got hurt or something. Mother certainly would have nothing to do with that. Perhaps Rebecca is a train robber!”

  Ben Carson knew from experience, that when anyone he suspected started making suggestions as Octavia was now, something was wrong.

  He finished questioning the woman, certain that something wasn’t quite right, but unsure if she was involved or simply on the fringes of whatever Dianna and Finn were up to.

  He informed Octavia that he would need to speak to both Finn and her mother and decided to inquire at some of the surrounding homes to ask if any of the neighboring families had seen anything lately. He left the Weintraub house certain he needed to find Dianna and Finn as quickly as possible.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Rebecca heard activity in the kitchen downstairs and thought it best that she return to her room to dress, having nothing to wear in Timothy’s massive bedroom. She studied the room carefully, open and inviting in its magnificent warmth. Unsure of how she might explain her situation, she decided it best to do so fully clothed. If she remained they might never talk and she knew she must tell everything to Timothy. Even with his assurances that her circumstances didn’t matter, the man at least had the right to know the whole story.

  She slid his solid thigh from across her hip, wrapped herself in a sheet from the foot of the bed, tiptoed to the door, and peered out into the hall. Slipping out quickly, she reached h
er room, stepped silently inside, and closed the door behind her. Rebecca sighed. Timothy’s staff was unlikely to see her at this hour and be aware of her indiscretion, but she feared that Mark and his overnight guest might discover her and she wished to avoid embarrassing explanations.

  Rebecca sang in her morning bath, and dressed gaily. She giggled to herself, lost in the perfect memory of the previous night. She pushed her concerns away about divulging her true reasons for having found her way to Stavewood and decided that most certainly Octavia was no longer a part of the picture.

  Timothy sat up suddenly in the bed and his head pounded mercilessly. He rubbed his forehead and struggled in confusion. Ben Carson had been there, that much he clearly recalled, and he knew he had drunk far too heavily and that he and Rebecca had fought.

  He thought he remembered her running off to her room, but could not recall what had happened that had led up to that. Then he remembered seeing her in his bed, warm and compliant beneath him. Or was she? If she had actually been here and not part of his drunken imagination, where was she now? He searched the bed despite his raging headache and found nothing of hers. He did however find that the sheet was damp and cursed loudly.

  It had been a dream. In his cups and frustration over the girl it had all been a dream. After being alone all this time, desire had freed itself from him physically, but not from his mind and he threw the pillow across the room, sending it tumbling into the corner.

  “This is ridiculous!” he said loudly. That fool girl had been too much on his mind. If he could not drink away her torture of him, his obsession with her would become uncontrollable. He threw aside the wet sheet and sat painfully on the edge of the bed.