by Sarah Banks
Brandon grinned and nodded. “I’d like that.”
“So would I.”
Back home, Jane helped them tend to the animals again along with their other chores and once they were all completed, they went into the tack room to play with the kittens for just a few minutes before it would be time for Jane to start supper.
They sat on the floor in the room brimming with tack supplies, each of them holding a kitten. Jane held up her kitten.
“I’ve named all of them. This one is named Gabriel.” She traced the frowning mouth of the kitten she held and Brandon and Thea began to laugh uproariously. She reached over and scratched behind the ear of the kitten Brandon held. “And this one Brandon because he’s the only other boy but look, he’s got a spot near his ear just like you,” she said, pointing to a mole near Brandon’s ear. “And this one is Thea because besides being the only female, she’s small and dainty just like you Thea.”
“Jane?” An incredulous voice sounded from behind her. Jane turned to see Gabriel standing in the doorway, confusion marring his brow as he stared down at her. He was home early. He hadn’t been home early any other day. Her stomach was fluttering with nervousness. She had been longing to see him again but dreading it all the same because she knew he might very well be angry with her.
She passed her kitten along to Thea and struggled to her feet.
“Hi Gabriel,” she said cheekily once standing, giving him a smile.
He shook his head once as if he wasn’t quite believing what he was seeing. Then he grabbed her arm and pulled her a few feet away, just outside the room.
“What are you still doing here?”
“I missed the stage.”
“You. Missed. The. Stage.”
Jane widened her eyes innocently and nodded.
“How is that even possible? I left you on a bench right in front of where the stage stops.”
“Yes I know but I went into the mercantile and got caught up looking at fabric and whatnot and when I returned outside, I realized it had already come and gone.”
Gabriel scratched his head. “I just don’t see how that’s possible.”
“It’s all true.”
He looked past her, casting a suspicious glance at the children who were still sitting on the floor of the tack room holding kittens who were trying to climb them like trees.
He probably thought they had something to do with it just like they had bringing her out here in the first place. She didn’t want them to get into any trouble on her behalf so she tried to distract him. “You’re home early.”
His eyes went back to her. “Yes well, I was worried about Thea.”
Jane wanted to hug him and actually took a step toward him before she realized what she was doing and made herself stop. “I realize it’s an inconvenience my missing the stage and all but would you mind if I stayed here until Monday? I can sleep in the hayloft.”
“No!”
She took a step back.
“I mean of course you can stay here but no you can’t sleep in the loft. You can keep my bed. Until Monday and then I’ll take you into town again and wait with you and make sure you get on the stage myself.” He eyed her suspiciously but he was not quite suspicious enough to outright call her a liar.
Jane smiled. “I really don’t mind sleeping in the hayloft,” she told him. “It would be another part of my adventure.”
“You’re not sleeping in the hayloft,” he insisted crossly. “I wouldn’t sleep a wink knowing I subjected a lady with a limp to sleeping in a hayloft.”
The smile slid from Jane’s face. “Why can’t I just be a lady Gabriel? Why do I have to be a lady with a limp?”
“Jane—”
She stepped around him. “I need to start supper if we’re going to eat at a decent time. It’s the least I can do after taking your bed for another three days.”
Chapter Eleven
Gabriel watched helplessly as Jane quickly left the barn. He didn’t know why he said what he said. Other than the first day, he barely noticed her limp anymore anyway. Although she was limping a little bit more this afternoon probably because she had made the long walk from town again. Now he had gone and stuck his own foot in his mouth. Again.
He would apologize to her at first opportunity. He had just been so surprised to see her sitting on the floor of his tack room cooing over a kitten and laughing with his siblings. He had been thinking of her the entire day. He had imagined her sitting on the stage, wondering what she saw as she stared out the window. Or was she passing the time by reading a book or sleeping? Had she eaten the lunch he had packed for her? Or was she cramped in between other people counting the miles until the next stop where she could get out and stretch her legs? Most of all, he wondered what she was thinking about as the stage took her farther and farther away from Dalton and him.
All he knew for sure was that he had to stop thinking about her! An impossible task especially now that she was staying with them for three more days.
“What did you say to her?” Thea demanded from behind him.
Gabriel turned to see Thea frowning up at him holding two kittens, one ugly one that also had a frown on its face and was trying to crawl onto her shoulder and the other, the runt of the litter, that was napping in the crook of Thea’s arm.
“Something stupid that doesn’t bear repeating but I’ll apologize to her later, I promise. First chance I get. Now I have a question for you. Did you two have something to do with Jane missing her stage?”
Thea raised her brows innocently. “No! Honest! She was there swinging on the swing underneath the big oak tree when school let out.”
He made a harrumphing sound. That sounded like something Jane would do. He could easily picture her leaning back on a swing, the breeze ruffling the hair that had escaped her pins and laughing as the swing went higher and higher. She took such innocent pleasure in the smallest of things like soaking in hot springs, sugar on her porridge and playing with kittens.
“Now Gabriel,” his sister said, “I’d like you to meet Gabriel.” She held up one of the kittens. She looked at the kitten’s mouth, then his and giggled.
He raised a brow. “Pardon me?”
“Jane named them. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that I’d already named them but that doesn’t matter anyway because I like her names better. This is Gabriel,” she said, holding up the scowling kitten that had crawled onto her shoulder. She set him down and he scampered in a zigzag back into the tack room. Then Thea nuzzled the runt still sleeping in her arms. “And this one she named after me.” She nodded over her shoulder to the kitten in her brother’s arms. “And that’s Brandon. See, he has a spot near his ear just like Brandon does.”
Gabriel looked at his brother who still sat on the floor leaning back against the wall. He seemed oblivious to the fact that a kitten was slowly crawling up his chest, his sharp little claws getting closer and closer to the bare skin of his neck. At the last moment Brandon caught the kitten and repositioned him.
He looked back at Gabriel and asked, “Gabriel, can we go fishing on Saturday? I promised Jane I would teach her how.”
Gabriel shook his head and dragged his hands down his face. How much longer was it until bed? He needed a good night’s rest. Although he doubted he’d get that in the loft, especially with Jane still here and sleeping in his bed.
“Gabriel?”
“What, oh fishing? I don’t know yet. We’ll see.” Well at least Brandon was talking to him again. But now he didn’t know if Jane was. “You two finished with your chores?” They nodded and he added, “What about schoolwork?”
“We just have a little reading to do,” Thea replied.
“Then hop to it.”
∞∞∞
Against his better judgment, Gabriel was waiting for Jane when she emerged from the house later that evening, towel in hand. She seemed surprised to see him despite him having taken her to the hot springs the past three nights, but she stepped forward anyway
and took his hand. He liked that she trusted him without hesitation even when he said stupid things.
Now he sat against the tree and waited for her to finish her soak while he dozed off now and again. He was awake when Jane finished but kept his eyes closed as she sat beside him. He could hear her brushing her hair and imagined her pulling the heavy mass over her shoulder as she did the last time and braiding it.
He kept his eyes closed, pretending sleep just so he could spend a little bit more time with her even though that was probably the last thing he should do. He warned her after the first day that the children were getting attached to her and now he wondered if he was as well.
Another half hour passed before he pretended to wake. He opened his eyes to her solemn face and he immediately remembered kissing her the night before. His eyes drifted to her lips. He jumped to his feet and pulled her up with him.
Instead of walking to his horse he gripped her arms. She stopped and looked up at him with a startled look.
“I’m sorry Jane. About what I said earlier. It was uncalled for and I didn’t mean it. I—”
“I’m sorry too,” she interrupted.
He looked at her in confusion. “What? What are you sorry for?”
She smiled. “That first day, when I took the dried fruit, butter and brown sugar from the cellar without asking. It was thoughtless of me. I know money’s tight—”
“I don’t care about that,” he insisted. “It’s true, I don’t have as much of that kind of stuff right now as I wished but it’s partly because I’m saving every penny and putting it back into the business. But I have more money than last year and the year before that. I want you, and Brandon and Thea,” he carefully added, “to have everything you want.”
She gave him a small smile. “So, you forgive me?”
He smiled back. “Yes.”
“Good, I forgive you too.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Do you have any more confessions you’d like to make?”
Her eyes widened. “Like what?”
“Like that maybe you missed the stage on purpose?” Gabriel teased.
“I told you, I was inside the mercantile. I didn’t even see the stage!” She insisted. She moved around him, walking toward Bandit.
“Really, what about hear it?” He continued, getting a kick out of teasing her. He still wasn’t sure if she had done it on purpose or not, but he wasn’t letting the chance of teasing her about it pass him by. He turned to follow her.
A twig snapped in the woods somewhere in front of them. Jane screamed and dropped the bundle she carried, turned and ran straight into his arms.
“B-bear!” She barely managed to say, shaking in his arms, practically crawling up him like the kittens had been doing to Brandon and Thea earlier than afternoon.
He held her in his arms and started to laugh.
“Stop laughing, get on that horse and get me out of here!”
He could barely stop laughing long enough to say, “It’s not a bear.”
“Then what is it?” She demanded, moving closer. If she got any closer, she’d be sharing his clothes.
He felt bad teasing her when she was so obviously frightened. “I don’t know what it is but it’s not a bear. Look at Bandit. If it was a bear, he wouldn’t just be placidly standing there.”
“What if he’s deaf?!” She practically screeched and Bandit’s ears flickered, sending Gabriel into fits of laughter again.
Jane slapped his chest. “Fine, he’s not deaf. But if it’s not a bear, then what is it?”
“I don’t know. It could be lots of things. It could be a raccoon or opossum. Or maybe bats.”
“I don’t want to make friends with any of those things. Let’s go.”
“Or I guess it could be a cougar or a coyote.”
Jane dragged him to his horse and urged him to mount. He looked past her. “What about your stuff?”
“Leave it.” She looked ready to put herself on Bandit’s back without his help and if his horse had been wearing a saddle she probably would have attempted it.
He laughed and pushed past her, retrieving her belongings now covered in dirt and pine needles before mounting Bandit. Jane took his hand and practically launched herself onto the horse in front of him. He held her tightly as they traveled back down the incline and eventually out of the thick woods. He felt her breathe a sigh of relief. He didn’t bother telling her that cougars and coyotes had been spotted here as well.
“Gabriel?”
“Hmm?” He murmured against her hair. She had practically melted back against him and their bodies fit. It felt natural to hold her close.
“I know I’ll only be here a few more days but will you teach me how to ride a horse? I probably won’t have much opportunity to ride back in Tumbury but I’d still like to learn.”
“Yes Jane, I’ll teach you how to ride a horse.”
Chapter Twelve
It was Sunday morning, Jane’s last full day here in Dalton with Gabriel, Brandon and Thea. The past two days were without a doubt the very best of her life and even though she felt bad purposefully missing the stage and especially lying about it, she couldn’t be sorry.
On Friday, Gabriel came home early again. The previous afternoon he had said it was because of Thea. This time he didn’t give an explanation but even Brandon and Thea were surprised to see him home before sunset.
After supper and dishes, they played cards again. Jane didn’t win every game this time, but she won most of them. Finally, Gabriel and Brandon decided that she had to be cheating and were checking under her chair for extra cards, made her roll up her sleeves and watched like hawks for sleight of hand. She had never laughed so much and the pair of them seemed to take great pleasure in teasing her.
When Jane went outside that night after the children were abed, Gabriel was waiting for her. She wasn’t sure what creature had been lurking in the woods the night before or even if she wanted to know. It took a few minutes of convincing for Gabriel to get her onto Bandit’s back. She kept the lantern a little brighter than normal and her soak was a little less relaxed as she searched the woods for eyes staring back at her. She finally began to relax and took the full thirty minutes before returning to Gabriel.
They sat side by side against the tree for more than an hour talking about their lives before they met each other. She learned a little more about his childhood and his love of taming horses and she told him more about her life in the small, sleepy town of Tumbury and her grandmother.
After they returned, Jane lay awake in his bed unable to sleep and replayed their conversation in her head over and over again. She was disappointed that Gabriel hadn’t tried to kiss her again, but she loved their conversation and learning everything she could about him. She was surprised how much he had opened up to her and that he listened so attentively when she spoke. She just loved being with him and would miss their nights together most after she was gone.
Saturday started with regular chores and breakfast. After the dishes were done, Gabriel gave her the requested riding lesson. It was just the two of them in the fenced pasture. Jane had sent the children out earlier with buckets in search of another blueberry bush.
Gabriel showed her how to put tack on a horse. It would be her first-time riding in a saddle. She tried not to think it would be one of the last times she’d ever be riding a horse. Servants didn’t ride horses in Tumbury. But she tucked those thoughts away for another time and focused on enjoying the day with Gabriel.
She thought she’d be riding Bandit, but he brought a different horse out for her. “Her name is Daffodil. All three of us take turns naming the new mares and Thea named her. She names all of them after flowers. I call her Daffy. Thea hates it,” he said with a grin and a wink.
Jane laughed.
Gabriel taught her how to mount, walk, start, stop and her favorite part, trot. Trotting on the back of a horse made her feel like she was flying with Gabriel
riding closely beside her on Bandit. Her leg didn’t pain her in the slightest and it was the first time since she was young that she ever remembered moving so freely. She saw Gabriel’s exhibition of skills firsthand with the horses and his patience, not only with the horses but in teaching her.
She was disappointed when it was time to stop but the children had returned lugging buckets full of blueberries, more than she could ever hope to use in the precious time that remained.
The first words out of Brandon’s mouth upon their return was a reminder that they were supposed to go fishing. Jane insisted on helping Gabriel groom, feed and water the horses before hurrying inside the house to make sandwiches with the help of Thea. They returned outside with a heavy basket in tow and Jane saw that Gabriel thoughtfully brought the wagon around and both he and Brandon were waiting for them.
Gabriel hopped down and took the basket from Jane handing it off to Brandon before helping her into her seat. He settled in beside her, thigh to thigh, and in seconds they were off to Brandon’s favorite fishing hole.
They parked near the bridge, walking along the creek until they found the perfect spot to fish and picnic. Gabriel set down the basket and Jane pulled out a blanket, spreading it on the ground with Thea’s help. They spent the afternoon eating, fishing and Jane was pretty sure Gabriel had fallen asleep on the blanket at one point but since his hat covered his head and she didn’t hear any snoring, she couldn’t be sure. As she sat near him, close enough to touch, although she didn’t, while the children fished, she too felt like she could easily doze in the shade of the afternoon sun but instead she sat up straighter. She didn’t want to miss a moment.
By the end of the afternoon Brandon had caught four trout and Thea had matched him. Gabriel had only caught two although he didn’t fish as much as the children had and Jane caught none despite multiple attempts.
“Next time,” Brandon said, patting her shoulder in an effort to console her.
Jane’s eyes caught Gabriel’s and then dropped to his slightly frowning mouth. She knew there wouldn’t be a next time and so did he.
