by Linda Ellen
But once again, he backed up half a step, reached behind the seat for something, then took her hand and led her over to a tall, flat boulder. She followed willingly, enjoying the warmth and strength of his hand holding hers.
As they neared, the trees thinned and the landscape opened up into one of the most beautiful vistas she had ever seen, and she momentarily forgot her hopes of she and her husband drawing closer together.
With a light gasp, she exclaimed “Tobias! Oh, my stars, look at that view! You can see for miles!”
He just smiled indulgently as he quickly scrambled up onto the top of the slab, using footholds long ago carved into its edge, and then he reached down to help her to climb up beside him. Once again, he reached for her hand and they walked to the middle, standing side by side as they surveyed the incredible panorama.
“Oh Tobias, I can see why this is one of your favorite places,” she breathed reverently. She couldn’t take her eyes away from the expanse of the valley between the rolling hills, and the calm river in the center flowing smooth and seemingly without a ripple.
He chuckled softly. “Yeah, mine, and probably half the town. I came out here lots of times when I was growing up…but I never brought a girl out here,” he admitted.
Unbidden, an image of Tobias with another girl reared its head, causing Pauline to experience a fierce wave of uncharacteristic jealousy, so strong it took her aback. Just the thought of Tobias annulling their marriage, moving on from her, and becoming interested in another girl, made her feel sick inside. I’ve got him now…and by Jove I don’t plan on letting him go.
“Want to sit and watch the river for a while?” he asked and she answered with an eager nod.
He loosened the blanket he had retrieved from the buggy and helped her settle down on it before lowering himself quite near, but not close enough to touch.
For several moments, Pauline closed her eyes and just breathed in the tranquility of the location. It was so quiet and peaceful up there on the rock. No sounds made their way up to their perch, but in the distance, they could make out the landing and wharf of the town, as well as a steamboat that was currently docked and unloading cargo. As they watched, the ferry backed from the wharf and headed across to the Missouri side for its last trip of the evening.
“So…how is your friendship with Mary coming along?” he asked after a time.
She glanced at his profile. “Very well. She’s actually just a girl who was dealt a lousy hand and made a couple of bad choices.” She paused, wanting to share what she knew with him, but not wishing to betray Mary’s confidence, so she settled for a few details. “A month before the attack, her father died and her brother disappeared, plus, she was forced to move out of their cottage, leaving her virtually penniless and homeless.”
At her side, Tobias gave a low whistle of sympathy as she went on, “She’d only just met that…that horrible man. And you were right,” she turned her head and met his eyes. “She isn’t that kind of girl. Although that Hobbs character had intentions to turn her into one,” she ground her teeth together. After a moment, a thought occurred and her eyes opened a little wider. “You know…I think, in a way, what happened was a blessing in disguise, because from what she said, Mary might not have been able to extricate herself from his plans if their time together had gone on much longer.”
Tobias nodded thoughtfully before turning back toward the vista.
“What’s she going to do now?”
“Well, she said she doesn’t want to go back to Lincoln, so…” she waited and as he turned, mutely questioning, she saw nothing but pure concern in his eyes. “So, I was thinking that perhaps we could help her find some sort of a job in town.” In for a penny, in for a pound, she added hurriedly, “Perhaps at one of the restaurants, or maybe Iris might need some help. Mary’s willing and I’m sure she’s a hard worker. She told me today it’s driving her bats staying in bed like she’s been doing. Doc Reeves said if her stitches look good, and the wound is far enough along in its healing, he’ll let her get up tomorrow and start putting weight on the leg.”
“All right…what is she good at?”
“Well, she said she can cook, and sew, and when she lived in Lincoln, she even made extra money sometimes watching after a family’s small children.”
Her husband smiled indulgently and seemed to search her eyes for a moment, before stating casually, “You’re teaching her how to read, aren’t you.”
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Why…how did you know that? I haven’t told a soul.”
He gave a small shrug. “I don’t know. Something just told me. Getting to know you, I guess.”
Oh, the feeling those words produced! He’d said that once before, and once again a warm, satisfied glow began to permeate her entire body. Tobias is beginning to know me...and I’m beginning to know him as well…
She couldn’t drag her gaze from his, as if time was standing still. Neither one seemed to even breathe… Until a cloud drifted over and blocked the sun, bringing with it a sudden cool breeze. Despite the warm glow she’d been feeling, a bit of a chill fought to take precedence.
Tobias noticed and with a tilt of his head, he asked, “Want me to go get your shawl? It’s gonna be getting cooler now that the sun’s about to set.”
At her grateful nod, he climbed to his feet with a murmured, “Be right back,” and moved to the edge, jumping down in one move without bothering with the step holes.
Rising up a bit so she could see, she watched him stride confidently to the carriage, collect her shawl, and then turn to make his way back. With a contented sigh, she moved one hand back onto the bare stone for support and leaned back in a restful pose. Tobias is so wonderful…handsome…kind and considerate. I hope he’s feeling the same thing I’m feeling, every time we’re together…
Tobias climbed the large bounder, clambered to his feet, and looked her way as he opened his mouth to speak. Then he froze, staring at her, his eyes rounding in alarm.
“Tobias?” she asked, instantly becoming concerned. “What is it?”
Visibly swallowing, he ordered in a low voice, “Pauline…don’t move.”
“Tobias…you’re frightening me,” she whimpered, but something in the back of her mind listened and she obeyed his command. What is he doing? She managed to wonder, but before she could contemplate his actions, in the blink of an eye, he dropped her shawl and snatched his pistol out of its holster, raised it up, and pointed it directly at her! Her heart slammed, tripling its beats as she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a shriek of primal fear.
The explosive reverberation of a gunshot drowned out her voice as a split second later, a bullet hit impossibly close to the hand she had placed behind her back.
She screamed again, terrified and confused. Then Tobias was there, lifting her up into his arms.
“Ssshhh, it’s all right, honey,” he soothed, his cheek against the side of her head. “It’s all right. It’s over. I’ve got you,” he crooned as he tried to calm her down.
Having none of that, as she trembled uncontrollably, she clenched her hands and pushed back from him, her fists coming up to beat ineffectually on his chest as she yelled up into his face, “WHY DID YOU DO THAT? Are you CRAZY?”
She tried to wrench free of his grip, but he tightened his arms, refusing to release her, and motioned with his eyes toward the area where she had been sitting.
An eerie, sickening feeling of dread came over her and she slowly turned her head until she could see the bloody, disgusting body of a five-foot-long, brown, tan, and gray snake, a hole where its head used to be. Its large head had been completely blown off by the force of Tobias’ accurate shot.
“Looks like a copperhead,” he mumbled.
“Father in Heaven!” she whispered, swaying against him as the sight of the remains made her ill.
She turned her face away and pressed into his chest, shuddering as the realization hit her—if she had disobeyed him and moved that snake no doubt would hav
e attacked. Intuitively she realized that Tobias had weighed his options carefully… If he had told her what it was, she would have jumped up in a mindless, screaming panic and quite possibly have lost her balance and fallen toward the snake or off the boulder and down the steep cliff. Her husband’s quick thinking and levelheaded wisdom, not to mention his uncanny aim, had saved her from injury or worse.
She shut her eyes and said a heartfelt prayer of thanks to God.
Just then, she felt Tobias quivering and knew he was reacting to the unexpected emergency. “It almost got you,” his voice vibrated close to her ear.
Raising her head, she searched through the intense emotion clouding his gaze and something sparked in his eyes, sending her pulse careening out of control again—only this time for a completely different reason.
As if reading one another’s minds, they moved simultaneously, crashing together as Tobias’ mouth opened and covered Pauline’s in a fierce kiss. She responded wholeheartedly. It was as if they had a mutual desire to reaffirm the fact that they both were all right and very much alive.
A burst of tiny fireworks seemed to explode behind her eyelids as Tobias shifted and deepened the kiss, his warm, smooth, commanding lips skillfully caressing hers and begging for permission for more. His arms tightened as he drew her close against him, impossibly close, and she reveled in the intimacy, intensely aware of his delicious scent and the firm strength of his body. She hazily realized she had wanted him to kiss her, practically from the first night they had met. Now he was…and he tasted so good, she couldn’t get enough of him.
When he finally made as if to pull back a little, perhaps to try and gauge her reaction, she leaned into their embrace. Sliding her arms around his back, she surrendered her mouth to his again, unable to stop an ardent moan from escaping as he complied.
She felt his hand trailing up her spine and come to rest as it cradled the back of her head. Never had she been kissed like this, nor even imagined the effect. Sweet merciful heavens, her knees were shaking!
Finally, common sense began to permeate her conscience and she forced herself to pull back. His mouth immediately released her lips and, breathless, he momentarily touched his forehead to hers as if to forcefully bank the fire of his raging desires.
Then, he folded her into an affectionate embrace and they stood slightly swaying together in the center of the rock.
Oh, my goodness... Oh, my goodness… She couldn’t seem to leash her thoughts or make sense of her feelings in the aftermath of the horrific fright and her powerful response to her husband’s kiss.
When their heartbeats finally began to slow, Tobias offered with a voice low and thick, “Let’s get you down off this rock,” as he gently disengaged from her arms and drew her toward the edge, jumped down, and then held up his hands. Feeling bereft by their momentary separation, she shakily sat down on the edge and without hesitation, leaned forward and essentially let herself fall into his arms. He caught her with no problem and smoothly set her feet on the ground.
Then they stood together again, peering into one another’s eyes as the sun began to inch toward the horizon, and the pinks, purples, and oranges of the evening’s sunset began to enhance the sky over their heads.
Tobias raised his hand and gently placed two fingers under her chin. “You all right?” he murmured, his eyes searching the depths of her soul.
“Yes…thanks to you,” she whispered, glancing up at the rock, although the gruesome sight was blessedly out of view. “You saved me, Tobias. Thank you,” she added, looking up through a trace of tears and into those beautiful, blue eyes twinkling in the fading sunlight as he smiled down at her.
“My pleasure, ma’am,” he teased softly, and she knew he was attempting to defuse the grip of the tense situation.
She smiled demurely back at him, and then her brow wrinkled as a thought occurred. “Where did you learn how to shoot so accurately?”
He shrugged in characteristic humility. “My granddad. He’d tell you he’s still about a hair faster than me,” he grinned. “But he had me practice hours on end to hone my skills, because, as he always says, a half a second could someday mean the difference between life and death.” Raising his gaze to the top of her head, he caressed her hair and shut his eyes for a second, whispering, “When I saw that snake lift its head, and seemed to be eyeballing your hand…”
She gave another involuntary shudder at the image his words invoked, and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders to turn her and walk her back to the buggy.
As he handed her up into the carriage, his eyes sought hers once more. “I’ve never been so glad for all those hours of practice as I am right this minute.”
Leaning in, he sealed the declaration with another smooth, warm kiss, and then whispered, “Sit tight. I’ll be right back,” before disappearing up onto the ledge again.
Watching as he climbed, her thoughts seemed to be scattered in the wind and she couldn’t seem to string two thoughts together to make anything close to coherent sense. Placing a hand on her chest, she willed her heartbeat to slow back down to normal after the terrific shock. One realization emerged through the fog—how blessed she was to have been with Tobias on that rock and not someone else. The thought was too horrible to contemplate.
When he came back, he had her shawl and the blanket. He handed the former to her and stashed the latter behind the seat, before climbing in for the ride home.
Turning his head, he looked back at the rock, and then turned to look into her guileless eyes. “This place will never feel the same…”
All she could do was nod. He was right. But his favorite spot would forever bring memories of the first time he saved her…and the first time they kissed.
He took the reins and flicked them to get the horse moving.
This time, no thought of keeping her distance entered her mind as she snuggled up against her hero husband, and gratefully felt his arm once again come around her shoulders.
Chapter 12
T he next morning found everyone in good spirits at the breakfast table. Toby and Pauline were no exception.
They had stayed up late, sitting side by side on one of the settees in the parlor, conversing and occasionally kissing, until Pauline couldn’t seem to keep her eyes open any longer.
The thought had strongly occurred to him that they were married…and a part of him…the husband part, toyed with the idea of declaring his husbandly rights. However, being a man of his word—since he’d promised that this would be a marriage in name only, with the annulment papers already drawn up and just waiting for their signatures—he kept a double harness on his desires.
He knew it now. There was no mistaking it. He was in love. A reckless, gut wrenching, fervent, unstoppable kind of love. In a word, he was wild about his new wife.
Remembering friends in the past who’d fallen head over heels in two shakes of a lamb’s tail—and how he’d teased and made light of their predicaments—he felt like searching them out and apologizing. Now I know there ain’t a cotton pickin’ thing a man can do to stop it. It’s like bein’ tied to a tree with a prairie twister heading straight for ya and you’re helpless to do anything but stand there and watch it come. Moony-eyed, that’s what I am…
He couldn’t stop thinking about her, picturing her face, her smile, her hair, her hands…or dreaming of her voice, her laugh, or her sighs when he kissed her. He found himself adoring every tiny thing about her, bizarre things like the way she stirred her tea at mealtime, the special way she would giggle and then press two fingers to her lips, or how she unconsciously nibbled on the fingernail of her pinky when she was puzzling over something.
Shaking his head now, he almost snickered at the fact that he had lain awake the rest of the night after they’d finally dragged themselves up the steps. They’d kissed and said their goodnights, prolonging the minutes, until Monroe Haggler had opened his door farther down the hall—obviously heading to the necessary—and caught them in one another’s arms.
His ribald chuckles had made Pauline blush, and she had whispered a final goodnight and slipped into her room, shutting the door with one last tiny wave and a dreamy smile. She’s so cute when she blushes…
After Toby had dressed for bed and climbed in, he lay there picturing his bride lying in her own bed on the other side of the wall. Unable to stop himself, he’d stretched out a hand and pressed it against the cool plaster, his focus so utterly on Pauline that he barely noticed the sound of Haggler’s door closing. Was she thinking of him? What would she have done if he’d asked to share her room…and her bed? Or if he’d invited her into his room.
Neither of them had put words to their feelings as of yet…but she had to be experiencing the same emotions that he was—at least according to the passionate kisses they had shared.
But…the fact that she hadn’t said she loved him yet…that bothered him. What if she was just toying with his affections? What if she was teasing him? An unpleasant memory surfaced, of a girl he’d met his first year in Champaign…she’d flirted and kissed him, but he’d found out later it was all a ruse to make another boy jealous. That had scorched his pride, but good.
So that brought the subject back to Pauline…did she still intend to go back to Louisville once she heard from her family? Could he stop her? More to the point…should he try to stop her?
Surely, she could tell she had him wrapped around one of those delicate pinkies of hers… Heck, the very expression on his face or the heat in his eyes when he looked at her probably shouted to the world that he was smitten right down to his boots. Indeed, Sheriff Dave, never missed an opportunity to prod him about it.
Now, he sat just gazing at her with their fellow boarders’ conversations seeming like a low buzz in his ears. She turned and gave him one of those special smiles…the kind that said she might be thinking about the kisses they’d shared, and it amazed him that she could look so fresh and lovely after assuredly not getting much sleep the night before. But she did. Breathtakingly lovely. Exquisite. Beautiful…
