She perched on the edge of the chair and leaned forward to hold her hand out, palm down, as he slowly raised his stockinged toes up to touch her palm. “The church service is canceled due both to the snow and because so many in town are recovering from sickness. That’s why I’m going up to the cave to check on Bright Star and her grandfather.” She shot a glance at the strained contortion on Aaron’s face as he forced his limb up the last few inches to reach her palm.
“Good.” She added a cheery note as he dropped his heel back to the floor. “Now, again.”
Concentration lined his brow as he worked to perform the feat a second time. His leg was healing, little by little. While she’d lain in bed for day after miserable day, she’d realized that Aaron’s personality was such that he probably wouldn’t perform his best without someone goading him, or maybe even a little competition. A challenge to drive him into putting forth that extra effort he needed in order to walk again.
She hadn’t decided on a challenge yet, but she could be his drillmaster for now.
“You’re going to see my brother, then.” Aaron didn’t look at her as he spoke, just focused on lifting his leg. But something in his tone told her his statement held more import than casual conversation.
“I suspect I’ll see him.” She tried to keep her own voice nonchalant, despite the ache of longing in her chest as she thought of meeting Nate at the cave.
“You’ve fallen for him, haven’t you?” Aaron’s words pierced her thoughts like a needle.
She jerked her eyes back up to his face as his toe reached her hand and dropped down to the floor. “Why would you say that?”
“He’s pretty smitten over you, too.” Aaron didn’t meet her gaze, just began the toe stretches that always came after ten leg lifts. “He’d clobber me good if he knew I told you.” Then his eyes rose as he gave her an assessing squint. “I suspect he’ll tell you himself soon. If he hasn’t already.”
Memories of their kiss flooded her entire body, warming her all the way up to her ears. She tried to cover her reaction by easing back in her chair and looking as though she were counting his stretches. In truth, her mind swam with image after image of Nate. Riding beside her on their way to the cave. His off-kilter smile that showed his dimple. That smile had the power to make her follow him like a puppy tagging along behind its favorite boy.
And maybe this walk to the cave had more to do with his smile than she’d let herself believe. She did desperately need to get out of the clinic for a few hours, especially since the sun was already setting fire to the snow crystals cloaking the ground.
This was the perfect chance for a walk, and what better place to go than to visit her friends? And Nate.
Aaron had become silent, maybe because he focused on the effort required for each stretch. Or maybe he was waiting for her to comment on what he’d said about Nate’s affections.
She wouldn’t. Her feelings about Nate were not his brother’s concern. At least . . . not for now. If anything ever came of them, maybe.
Another wave of heat surged to her ears. She’d not really let herself think of a future with Nate.
“There.” Aaron relaxed his foot, letting it rest at a slight angle. “Run along now. Tell my brother I said to enjoy himself. He deserves it after all I’ve put him through.”
She jerked her face up to study Aaron’s. Was he acknowledging how hard he’d made life for Nate these past years? His expression lacked the sullenness that usually turned down the corners of his mouth. His eyes held an alert look she’d only started seeing since she recovered from her illness. His craving for laudanum must have finally loosed its hold.
Yet the new quality his expression wore now was an earnestness that hadn’t been there moments before. His brown eyes fixed on her. “I know Nate only stayed in the gang because I wanted to. Ten years ago, when Isaac quit us, Nate tried to talk me into stopping. He wanted to do something honest where we didn’t have to always be on the run.”
His tone never flinched, just kept its solid gravity. “He sacrificed every day after that to keep us together. Did things I know he hated. I didn’t always realize it back then, but I do now. I’ve had a lot of time to think, lying in this bed.”
Now Aaron’s mouth curved in a sad look that could almost have been a smile. Almost. “I want my brother to be happy. I’m not convinced you’re the one who can help him get there, but I want him to have the chance to decide.”
Emotion clumped in her throat. Aaron’s words weren’t the most eloquent blessing, but she’d not thought he’d ever voice even this. She could only manage a nod.
He waved her off like he was shooing a pesky servant. “Go on now. We’re done here, and you’d rather see him more than me anyway.”
“You may be right about that.” She managed a teasing tone and sent him a shaky smile, then stood and strode to the door. Somewhere deep inside a mountain was where she wanted to be just now, with the man who she could now admit had won her heart.
Twenty-Three
Nate couldn’t seem to get through his list of catch-up chores. His spirit craved a trip to town. Namely to the clinic to visit Aaron and see if Laura was still recovering the way the doctor hoped she would.
He’d had to hunt to replenish food stores the night before instead of his usual Saturday night visit, and taking down the bull elk had been a blessing. But now that meant hours of preparing the meat and hide for curing. Bright Sun was helping, of course. Still, as mature as she was for a child of seven or eight years, he couldn’t expect her to manage adult tasks with the experience needed to do thorough work.
She’d been roasting meat inside the cave—under her grandfather’s watchful guidance—when Nate left to head back out to the grassy area to scrape the hide. As he stepped off the stone ledge onto the rock-strewn grass, a motion in the trees down the hillside caught his eye.
He stopped and honed his focus. A woman stepped from the woods onto the snowy open hillside. His heart leapt in his chest, and his feet turned to stride toward Laura before he realized he was even moving.
Since he was walking downhill—nearly running, actually—he reached her not far above the tree line. It took everything in him to stop a few steps in front of her, not to close the distance and take her in his arms, hold her tight, and breathe in the fact that she was well. Whole.
Heavy breaths raised her chest as she slowed to a stop, but he forced his gaze not to linger there. Her face still lacked color except for rosy patches at her cheeks and nose. She looked like she wasn’t completely recovered, and probably shouldn’t be out here. Had the doctor even allowed her to come this far? But the sight of her in all her beauty stole not just his breath but also his words.
“Hello.” Laura’s soft greeting tugged him from his reverie.
A silly grin pulled at his mouth. “You’re better.”
“Much.” She offered her own smile, but her eyes lacked their normal sparkle. He needed to get her to a place where she could sit and rest.
Stepping to the side, he motioned toward the path he’d just traversed. “I was about to scrape an elk hide from last night’s hunt. But you probably want to see Bright Sun and Eagle Soaring.”
“I do, but then I can come back out and help with the hide.” Her less-than-enthusiastic tone brought a chuckle from him as he fell into step beside her.
“After what you’ve been through this week, working with that mess is the last thing you need. I’ve plenty of time to get it done.” Maybe he could talk her into sitting with him while he worked. He still couldn’t believe how much he craved her presence. But not at the cost of her health.
He couldn’t let her wear herself out and suffer a relapse.
As they retraced his many tracks through the snow, Laura seemed to slow and her breathing grew thick, probably from the steepness of the hill. He moved closer and offered his elbow. She might decline, but he couldn’t watch her suffer without trying to help.
She took his arm without a word, and the pr
essure of her touch—even through her gloves and his coat—sent a flood of heat up his arm.
He led her past the hide he should be working on, then stayed close behind her as they navigated the stone ledge. “I cleared a path through the ice so it’s not too slippery for Bright Sun.”
“That’s good for you, too. We can’t have you dislocating that shoulder joint again.”
He grimaced. “That too.”
When they reached the cave opening, he touched her arm. “Let me light the lantern first.”
He was half surprised when she obliged without argument. Clearly, she wasn’t her usual independent self.
When they’d both ducked into the cavern and paused to adjust their vision to the darkness inside, Laura’s gaze wandered to the place where the crates had sat against the wall. “Any sign of the men with the boxes?”
“Not since the two took the big powder in the middle of the night. I asked Bright Sun more about the men who delivered them, and from her descriptions, I think those were different men than those who picked them up. It seems like this cave is being used as a holding place for freight, maybe goods that are being sold.”
She turned to study him, and he soaked in the way her luminous brown eyes glimmered in the lantern light. “You think they’re being sold unlawfully?”
He shrugged. “That’s what my instinct says, but I can’t prove it.”
She was so pretty, even with shadows cloaking part of her features. Her sickness this week had shaken him, especially when Doc Bradley admitted three people had died from the illness. Thank you, God, for saving her.
Maybe he should feel more sorrow for the other families who mourned lost loved ones, and he did feel badly for them. But relief eclipsed every other thought as he stood here with Laura.
She was still watching him, and the softness in her expression drew him. He reached out for her before he could stop himself, taking her arm and drawing her near.
She came to him, nestling into his chest as though she craved his touch as much as his body needed to hold her. To feel for himself that she was whole and very much alive.
He wrapped his arms around her, careful not to let the lantern bump against her. Raising his free hand to cup the back of her head, he pressed his face into her hair and breathed in her softness. The sweet essence of her.
This woman brought him alive like nothing ever had. He could fill himself with her every day for the rest of his life and still not get enough.
Too soon, she shifted in his arms. He had to let her go, had to put some distance between them. He certainly couldn’t kiss her again, no matter how much his body craved that deeper connection.
He forced himself to loosen his grip and slide his hands to her upper arms so she could pull back if she wanted to.
She did, though only enough to look up into his face. Her eyes shimmered with a glaze that almost looked like the sheen of tears. Her lips parted and her mouth turned up the tiniest bit. “I’ve missed you.”
He focused on her words, tearing his attention from her mouth back up to her eyes. “I’m just glad to see you well. You have no idea what a scare you gave us.” He should have said me instead of us. He’d meant to say me, but lost his courage at the last minute.
Stroking his thumb over her coat as he still held her upper arms, he offered a sheepish smile. “You probably scared the others, too, but I’m really talking about me. When the doctor said three people had already died from what you had, I nearly lost my meal then and there. I can’t imagine what I’d do if something happened to you.” He frowned as one of his earlier thoughts slipped back. “Don’t you think it would be better for you to give a wider berth to patients who are so sick?”
Her mouth flattened a little and she shook her head. “If I hadn’t gone, who would have? Ingrid’s health is already so fragile with the coming baby. And the last thing she needs is for Doc Micah to bring an illness back to her, although he goes out to help the sick every time they come, regardless. I suppose he’s learned how to be more careful than I have.”
Then her eyes grew round and a little pleading. “I want to help people, Nate. More than just organizing the doctor’s supplies and cleaning up the clinic. I want to do something important with my life.”
The delicate lines in her neck worked. “My growing-up days were always such a struggle. Hard and frightening, and worry always hung over me like a smothering blanket. That’s behind me now, and I don’t want to waste time. Surely God has something meaningful for me. Work that will actually help others. I need to find that, even if it involves risking a bit of sickness.”
His gut churned, both at the thought of Laura putting herself in the path of even greater risk, but also with pride and love for this woman.
Did she even know how remarkable she was? From her beauty to her passion for helping others, no matter the cost to herself. From the very first time he saw her during the kidnapping, when she’d done everything she could to protect little Samuel, putting herself in harm’s way so he would be safe, it’d been impossible not to admire her. The more he came to know her, the more certain he was that he couldn’t imagine a life without her.
At least not a happy life.
As the thoughts spun inside him, the sudden urge to tell her what he’d finally allowed himself to realize nearly burst inside him.
Before he could speak, she pulled away. Disappointment washed through him as she turned her back to him. “Bright Sun?”
The girl stood only a few paces behind them. Laura must have heard her, but he’d been so focused on his thoughts, he’d missed all other sounds. Not only was he losing his finely honed instincts, he must be losing his mind to let a woman—even this woman—affect him so.
Laura moved to the girl’s side and hugged her. When she pulled back, the child’s face shone in a smile. A real grin that flashed white teeth, the first he’d seen from Bright Sun.
He couldn’t help a matching grin. No one would be able to resist that sweet smile. And no wonder a hug from Laura had been the cause. She’d had that same effect on him only moments before.
“Tell me, how is your grandfather?” Laura brushed the black strands that hung in front of the girl’s eyes.
“He’s better. Right now he’s watching the meat cook so I could come see you.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Laura’s voice was rich and warm, so motherly that the sweet sound tightened something in his chest. “Shall we go visit with him, too?”
Laura sent a smile over her shoulder as she turned Bright Sun toward the cave’s interior.
He nodded and motioned for her to go ahead. As he followed near enough that light from his lantern would guide their way, he couldn’t help the thought that his chance for happiness strode just ahead of him, almost within his grasp.
If he didn’t step forward and claim it soon, his opportunity might disappear forever.
Nate crouched in front of the hole he’d hacked in the stone, smoothing the explosive powder so it filled each crack. His heart pulsed hard in his chest as he rose to his feet and studied his work. Was he missing anything?
Setting a blast without Barlow or one of the others to oversee still made his palms clammy, but this was only a small charge. And he’d gone through all the steps they’d taught him.
“You down here, Long?”
Nate spun at the voice calling from the other end of the tunnel. “I’m here.” That was Marson, if he wasn’t mistaken.
“I’m comin’ through. Don’t blow me up.”
The words pulled a half-smile from him as boot thuds echoed off the mine walls. Yep, that was Marson’s measured drawl. He brushed his sleeve over his face to wipe away any powder that might be smudged there. The act might only make him look worse, depending on how much black powder clung to his shirt and how grimy his face was.
At least he looked the same as everyone else working in the place.
The glow of a candle bobbed in the distance, illuminating a felt hat, then the craggy face
of the man wearing it. “Propst said you wanted to see me.”
“I do.” Nate’s throat went dry as he thought through what he needed to share. Better to be straightforward. Just state the facts. “I saw something I think you should know about. This might not be my place—might not be anything at all—but it’s bothered me enough I need to tell you. After that, you can do with it what you think best.”
Marson studied him, his expression not giving a hint of his thoughts.
“There’s a cave in the mountain about five minutes’ walk north of here. The cave’s not easy to find, but I go there a good bit.” He wouldn’t say he slept there unless the man asked questions. “Twice now, crates have been dropped off there and stacked against the cave wall. Then, a few days later, they disappear. It’s almost always at night when they come and when they’re taken. The boxes have always been nailed shut, but the first time they were marked as different things—peaches, notions, knives. The second time, they were marked as blasting powder.”
Marson blinked at that. Just a single quick reaction, and nothing else in his expression changed. But Nate had caught his full attention.
“When was this?” His voice held the rasp of a man who’d worked many years amidst the dust of a mine.
“They took the second load away two nights ago.”
A line in Marson’s brow deepened. “And they brought that load when?”
“Three nights before that.”
“Who’s bringing these boxes?” His tone didn’t change, just stayed matter of fact.
“I haven’t seen them, but my . . . friend said there have always been two men.” He’d not meant to mention Bright Sun, and Marson’s brows rose at the word. “You and your friend spend a lot of time in this cave?” The man’s interest was definitely piqued—and probably his suspicion, too.
No matter what, Nate had to prove his innocence in this. And to do that, he’d need to tell all. If Marson suspected he was holding back, he’d assume a devious motive.
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