by Regina Scott
They moved about the tasks, a team now—cooking oats for breakfast, striking the tents, balancing the packs. They’d eaten enough, used enough fuel, that the things were lighter now. Cora carried her alpenstock like a trophy as they made their way across the valley for the forested path to Longmire’s.
They followed the same order—him first, on the lookout for potential difficulties; Winston behind, where Nathan could keep an ear on the older man’s breathing; then Cora and Waldo at the back. He’d had little trouble with the order before. Now all his senses seemed trained on her.
When she stopped to watch a jay take flight through the trees and sunlight anointed her cheek.
How the mist from Cushman Falls sparkled in her hair like diamonds.
The way she hurried to assist her stepfather over a tree that crossed their path, hands gentle, look kind. Oh, for such a look directed at him.
What was he thinking! He had to get ahold of himself.
They came out at Longmire’s meadow midmorning. Another group had arrived, their presence evident in the tents set up near one of the springs, the horses grazing on the marshy grass. A half dozen women were lounging in front, some with fans to swat at mosquitoes. All movement stopped when they must have spotted Cora.
Martha Longmire greeted them as they came into the hotel. “Miss Cora and Mr. Winston! Mrs. Winston will be so glad to hear you’ve returned.” She nodded to her daughter Mary, who scrambled off to deliver the news. “Triumphant, I hope.” Her dark eyes brightened.
“Triumphant, indeed,” Cora assured her. “And I left Susan’s crochet needle to prove it.”
She beamed. “A shame Len isn’t around at the moment to hear it. He’s off with Mr. Kincaid to see the Nisqually ice caves. I expect them back shortly.”
“Coraline, Winston.” Cora’s mother glided up to them, then stopped a few feet away and wrinkled her nose. “My, but your travails are apparent. Mrs. Longmire, might we see to a room and a bath for my husband and daughter?”
“But dearest, don’t you want to hear of our adventures?” Winston asked as Mrs. Longmire whispered to her daughter, who had returned with Mrs. Winston.
“Certainly,” her mother told him. “As soon as you are presentable.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Nathan put in before Martha could send her daughter running once more. “I hadn’t intended to spend the night. We’ll make our cabin before dark if we leave now.”
“Ah,” Martha said. “Well, we’ll be sad to see you go, but you know you’re always welcome back.”
Mrs. Winston inclined her regal head before turning to Nathan. “I thought you might insist on departing, sir. While you were gone, I had Mr. Longmire send word to the Ashfords. We will be staying with them this evening. Mr. Kincaid will escort us to Tacoma. So, you are no longer required, Mr. Hardee. Mr. Winston will send you what we owe. Good day.”
21
The steam rising from Rainier’s crater was nothing to the heat surging up inside Cora. How dare her mother order Nathan about! As if they thought the same, Waldo was glaring at her mother and Winston was turning red.
Nathan merely gazed down at her mother, face stoic. “My agreement is with your daughter, Mrs. Winston. She’s the only one who can discharge me.”
She thought Winston might argue, but he nodded. Cora drew in a breath. “I would very much like your escort to Tacoma, Mr. Hardee. You saved my life on the mountain when you rescued me from the rockslide, not to mention the fall in the river earlier. And I believe you were planning to visit your mother as well.”
“I was,” Nathan agreed. “I’ll see you home, then, Miss Baxter.”
Winston nodded again. Her mother shifted on her feet as if she had grown uncomfortable. Good. She needed to remember who Nathan was and what he had done.
As if he suspected what Cora was doing, Nathan arched his brows, but he said nothing more on the matter.
Her mother turned to the innkeeper. “Mrs. Longmire, if you would be so kind as to have my horse saddled. It appears I will be leaving as soon as Mr. Kincaid returns. Coraline, will you assist me in changing into my riding habit?”
Cora knew how to accept a win graciously. “Certainly, Mother.” Leaving her pack and alpenstock in the main room of the hotel, she followed her mother upstairs as Nathan enquired about having the other horses saddled.
She thought she might have to gather her mother’s things as well, but most were already in her horse’s pack, sitting in one corner of the room. She also thought she might have to endure a scold, but her mother was uncharacteristically tight-lipped as Cora assisted her out of her fine wool gown and into her riding habit. As the heavy folds passed her face, her mother wrinkled her nose once more.
“We’ll have to burn this when we get home,” she said as she started fastening the jet buttons on the bodice. “And we’ll burn everything you wore on this trip. I don’t see how any of it can be saved.”
“A good brushing and some air should do wonders,” Cora said, folding the gown. “Besides, what I wore to climb belongs to Miss Fuller.”
Her mother looked up to frown at her. “What do you mean? What did you wear?”
Oh dear. Well, if admitting what she’d worn would save Miss Fuller’s suit from being burned before Cora could rescue the outfit from Lily, then so be it.
“A pair of bloomers and a long coat,” she said, bending to put the gown in the pack.
She glanced up to find her mother staring at her, face paling. “Coraline, you didn’t!”
Cora straightened. “I did. It was the only way to be safe, Mother. I certainly couldn’t have crossed the crevasses, climbed some of the rocks, or waded through snow in skirts.”
“Then perhaps you should not have been doing any of those things.” She sucked in a breath is if trying to still her temper. “Please tell me no one saw you.”
“Only Mr. Hardee, Mr. Vance, and Winston.” She cinched the pack shut.
Her mother nodded. “Good. Mr. Winston will say nothing of the matter, and the other two are of no import. Still, I cannot like the way you allow Mr. Hardee to influence you.” She started for the door as if assuming someone would follow with her belongings. “It was one thing when you had to rely on his instruction to make this climb. I see no need for further association now.”
“So you’ve made abundantly clear,” Cora replied, hefting the pack. “I like him, Mother. He stands by his principles. He helps those in need. You should have seen the deference to which he held Winston.”
“And well he should,” her mother said with a sniff as she opened the door. “Winston is a prosperous banker, a pillar of the community, and worthy of respect. And, if I may point out, he is paying Mr. Hardee’s fee.”
“Those men who came to his cabin didn’t pay him for treating their friend,” she reminded her mother as they stepped out into the hallway. “He did what he could for them nonetheless.”
She sniffed again. “Perhaps he does have a generous nature. I am still not convinced he is a fit associate for a young lady of your considerable accomplishments.”
“He attended college, I attended college,” Cora countered as they started for the stairs. “He’s making his own way in the world, and so am I.”
Her mother tsked. “Because of Winston’s kindness. You cannot repay that kindness by turning your back on everything I taught you.”
Perhaps not, though she had to admit the urge was greater than ever before.
And never more so than when they reached the bottom of the stairs and found Cash Kincaid waiting in the main room of the hotel.
He was dressed in clothes she now recognized would have little use out here—tailored black trousers that would make it hard to climb and which already showed the gray splattering of mud; a satin waistcoat of a muted gold that would likely never endure a good washing; and a silk tie that had crumpled from his exertions. Martha, who was wiping down the dining table, cast him a glance and shook her head. Her husband, Elcaine, stayed near the
hearth, but his black beard looked even more bristly than usual.
“Mrs. Winston and Miss Baxter,” Kincaid said with a bow. “A vision as always.”
“You are too kind, Mr. Kincaid,” her mother said.
“No indeed,” he assured her. “Why, your daughter appears so refreshed, I might never have guessed she’d been to the summit and back.”
“Then look closer, sir,” Cora told him before her mother could answer. “I have the chapped lips to prove it.”
Her mother tsked again, but he made a show of looking her up and down. “You seem perfection to me. It is as if you merely strolled to Paradise Park, camped a few days, and returned.”
Such flattery. Did he think she’d believe him sincere?
“Alas, if only it was as easy as a stroll,” she said, setting down the pack. “Winston nearly lost his breath. Mr. Hardee saved us all from a rockslide. I’m not sure how we made it safely to the summit to stand beside Mr. Van Trump’s mirror. The mountain is far more treacherous than I expected. But then, I am becoming accustomed to dealing with treachery.”
Her mother and Kincaid were saved a response by the opening of the door to the meadow. Nathan came in. He must have dipped his head in the springs, for his hair was wet and dripping against his collar. His gaze went straight to Cora, as if there were no others in the room. “Ready to leave?”
“Ah, Hardee,” Kincaid greeted him before she could answer. “Miss Baxter was just telling me how she made it to the summit. A shame I wasn’t there to see it. I might have been able to verify the fact for the papers.”
As if she needed his word.
Nathan cast him a quick glance. “Not everyone has what it takes to reach the top.”
Kincaid’s face darkened. “Or remain in society after a setback.”
For a moment they stood, gaze to gaze, frown to frown. Heat rolled from them. Even her mother took a step back.
Elcaine Longmire pushed off the hearth and strolled closer. “Is there a problem, gentlemen?”
“No,” Nathan said.
Time to keep moving. Cora turned to Nathan. “You asked me a question, Mr. Hardee, and I regret that I could not answer until now. I am quite ready to leave. I can’t wait to reach Tacoma and tell everyone the good news.”
That smile was all triumph.
Nathan bent his head closer to hers. “You’re never going to let Kincaid forget what you did, are you.”
“Not in the slightest,” she murmured back. “Nor any fellow who needs proof about a woman’s abilities. Give me a moment to say goodbye to Martha and Susan, then I’ll join you.”
“Allow me to escort you to your mount, dear lady,” Kincaid said, sweeping Mrs. Winston a bow.
She inclined her head with a queenly look and suffered herself to go with him and Winston to where Len waited with the horses.
Nathan took out Mrs. Winston’s pack and secured it to her horse. She didn’t so much as acknowledge him. When he returned to the hotel for Cora, he found her and Susan searching the main room.
“What are you looking for?” he asked them.
Susan paused, but Cora continued casting about, face tight. “My alpenstock. I don’t see it on Blaze. It was right by my pack.”
“It’s out there,” Nathan promised her. “I strapped it to the other side of your horse. I thought you might want it.”
She stopped and drew in a breath. “Thank you. I do. And thank you, Susan, for looking.”
“Any time,” Susan told her with a smile. “Safe travels back, and watch those crossings!”
They finally made it out the door, and Nathan assisted Cora in mounting. Kincaid’s eyes narrowed as if he begrudged Nathan the honor. Maybe that was why the businessman insisted on taking the lead, as if determined to show he had pride of place.
“So delighted you could journey with us this time, Mr. Kincaid,” Mrs. Winston said beside him as they followed the path down the river.
Nathan almost regretted riding behind the pair, but he’d wanted to accompany Cora. She rolled her eyes at her mother’s praise now, as Winston and Waldo brought up the rear.
“The pleasure is mine, ma’am,” Kincaid assured Mrs. Winston. “Though I might suggest a change in route. I understand some of the places you stayed were a bit rustic.”
She cast a glance back at Nathan before answering. “Yes, they were. I took the liberty of securing rooms with the Ashfords tonight.”
“Are they good people?” Cora whispered to Nathan.
“The best,” he told her.
Kincaid appeared to agree, though Nathan had never heard of him staying in the area before. “Ah, you will find Mr. Ashford and his charming wife a delight,” he was saying to Mrs. Winston. “The husband originates from England, so you know there’s breeding there.”
As if every Englishman was a duke. Nathan smothered a snort. Cora rolled her eyes again.
“How pleasant,” Mrs. Winston said. “And have you any suggestions for the next night?”
“The Pioneer Hotel in Eatonville,” he answered readily. “It’s finer than the hovel at Longmire’s. Larger too. And then back home through Lake Park to retrieve your carriage.”
“Jim and Elcaine might have something to say about calling their hotel a hovel,” Nathan murmured.
“Martha too,” Cora agreed.
“That sounds divine,” her mother said to Kincaid. She glanced back. “You see, Coraline? There’s no need to inconvenience Mr. Hardee. Mr. Kincaid has a sensible plan to return us home.”
“It’s no inconvenience,” Nathan said as Cora looked to him. “Though I’ll stay at my place near Ashford’s tonight and Henry’s while you’re at the Pioneer Hotel.”
“My, but you’ve embraced this rough life, Hardee,” Kincaid tossed back over his shoulder. “I can only hope it will continue to offer you comfort.”
“More than I had imagined, Mr. Kincaid,” Cora put in.
Nathan was only glad her mother and Kincaid grew silent for a while then.
Winston had also been largely quiet during the ride. Waldo kept commenting—on the weather, on the journey, even on the bank—but Winston made only polite replies. Cora must have noticed too, for she glanced back. So did Nathan.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
“Fine, dearest,” Winston said, his face a reasonable shade of pink over his white mustache, his breath easy. “Just a great deal on my mind.”
And it seemed he wanted to share it with Nathan, for when they stopped to rest the horses before starting the river crossings, the banker drew away from his wife and Kincaid and beckoned Nathan closer.
“I haven’t had an opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks for all you’ve done for us, my boy,” he said, eyes dipping down at the corners, as he led Nathan farther from the others in the little clearing. “Even discounting your gallantry at Camp Muir, don’t think I didn’t notice the number of times you or Mr. Vance had to come to my aid. You are gentlemen of the highest order, and so I shall tell any who ask.”
Nathan glanced to where Kincaid was laughing over something Mrs. Winston had said. “Except perhaps Cash Kincaid.”
“Ah, best to go carefully there,” Winston admitted. “I will rest easier when I know he no longer pursues Coraline.”
Nathan frowned. “Your wife’s ultimatum was satisfied once Cora reached the summit. She can’t force Cora to marry him.”
Winston stroked his mustache with one finger. “True, but she won’t give up without a fight. And I begin to fear what that may mean for Coraline. Kincaid’s aim from the beginning has been to possess her, through marriage, if he must.”
The icy wind at the summit was nothing to the cold that pushed through him now. “Can’t you protect her?”
“With all my being,” Winston vowed. “But that may not be enough. You see how her mother has fixated on him. He’s taken her measure and Coraline’s. He knows that if Mrs. Winston pressures her sufficiently, she may give in.”
She might at that.
It was her only weakness, that Nathan could see. Her devotion to her mother led her to say and do things she might not have otherwise.
The banker took a step closer. “My advice may not be enough to turn the tide. Which is why I must ask: Have you ever considered taking up your place in society again?”
Nathan stared at him. “No. I haven’t missed it.”
Winston peered at him. “Truly? How extraordinary. You must know you’d be welcomed back.”
Eugene had said the same. “That I doubt. And it wouldn’t matter. I’m a better man out here. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”
Winston cocked his head. “Even for the opportunity to marry Coraline?”
Why did his heart reach for those words like a drowning man a rope? Nathan took a step back. “You can’t mean that. Even if Cora were willing, her mother would never allow it.”
Winston straightened. “She might. My wife loves Coraline and wants the best for her.”
“That I believe, but I won’t believe she’ll ever see me as the best.”
Winston put a hand on his arm. “But I begin to believe, my boy. These are challenging times. Coraline will weather them because she is who she is, but I prefer that she have someone at her side she can trust, who has her best interests at heart. You have more than proven yourself that person. And I can see you care for her. If I’m not mistaken, she cares about you too.”
He could not know what he offered, or the price he asked. “And so I must rejoin society, take a chance that it will not corrupt me, for her sake.”
Winston’s eyes were bright in the sunlight. “I can offer you a job at the bank. Associate director. The title alone will give you entrée into the finest circles. The salary wouldn’t be as much as I’d like until we come out of these turbulent times, but you and Coraline could live with us until then.”
Nathan tried not to shudder at the idea of living with Cora’s mother. “I know nothing about banking.”
“But you know people, my boy, and that’s half the battle. Coraline mentioned the incident with the men outside the church. Together, you and I might be able to find a way to help those who are struggling, perhaps connect them with the right position. We’ll know who is planning to invest in new lines of business, after all.” He patted Nathan’s arm. “Think on it. We have all the journey to Tacoma for you to give me your answer.”
