The Lumberjack

by Kelli Ann Morgan

  With no saddle or harness to direct the animal, Cole slipped over onto the horse’s back.

  “He’s Arabian.” Alaric let go of Hannah, much to Eli’s relief, then leaned up against the fence to watch his friend.

  “True Thoroughbred stock,” Ethan said. “Charcoal took one look at him at auction and all reason was lost.”

  “I can see why. He’s beautiful.”

  “And Cole likes to show him off,” Hannah said loud enough for Cole to hear.

  He rode up next to the fence.

  “No more than you show off that Belgian of yours.”

  “Fair enough,” she relented.

  “Ethan,” Eli said without looking at the man, “thank you and Cole,” he nodded at the bareback rider, “and Alaric, for not wasting any time this afternoon once you discovered the bull was missing. I’ve, uh...grown rather fond of breathing.”

  Jameson marched up to the corral fence where they congregated. “Marty just told me the longhorn got out and was cavorting with the heifers. Any idea if we’re going to have a calf or two come summer?”

  Eli had been around Jonah long enough to know that October was late for any kind of breeding season, but he couldn’t pretend to know what that meant to their business. He glanced over at Hannah, who still looked a little disheveled from their adventures and maybe a bit dejected that her father hadn’t said anything to her.

  Just as Eli moved to get a little closer, Jameson stepped around Ethan as if seeing her for the first time and strode to where she still stood, leaning against a wooden wall near the doorway.

  “I understand you were walking in the same field where they caught him.” He put his arm around her shoulders and leaned down to kiss the top of her head. “Thank the heavens you’re safe.” He looked up at Eli, then extended a hand. “You did right by me, son. Thank you for watching out for my little girl.”

  “Dad-dy,” Hannah said with an exaggerated whine, “I’m not a little girl anymore.”

  “You will always be my little girl, my baby of the family. That’s what happens when you’re born the only girl to a family with seven boys.” He shrugged, laughed, squeezed her shoulders, then walked back to where Ethan, Cole, and Alaric waited, likely to discuss what to do with the bull.

  Eli had to agree with Hannah. She was most definitely not a little girl anymore.

  Chapter 12

  Hannah lay awake, staring at the ceiling, old feelings for Eli swirling around her insides like a one-legged duck. Thoughts of him hurling himself on top of her to protect her from that bull, evoked a battle between two emotions. She’d finally come to terms with the fact that he hadn’t been ready for any type of permanent relationship six years ago and she’d moved on. She found Gordon and a few others that had come around to call, but most had been sore replacements against her rigid measuring stick—all but Mr. Blythe. He’d been kind and handsome and smart. Any girl would be lucky to have him in her life.

  This new, more matured Eli, however, challenged everything she thought she’d let go. He seemed different somehow, in a good way since the last time they’d seen each other—like maybe he wasn’t so afraid to get close to someone anymore, like maybe there was a chance of settling down, of getting married.

  Stop it right now, Hannah Redbourne, she chastised silently, and she willed herself to think about something…anything different. The last thing she needed to do was dream of him tonight. Gordon was home and she would do well to keep him at the forefront of her mind. Gordon was the one who would propose. He was the one who…

  Her door creaked open, a small light illuminating the slit between her room and the hallway.

  “Hannah, are you awake?” Cole whispered.

  She shot up in bed. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing,” he replied as he came in and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her.

  “How’s the longhorn?” she asked, wrapping her arms around her bent knees.

  “He’s no worse for the wear, though we have no idea how he got out of his pen. Nothing was broken, the door was just open, but Marty said when he checked on him this morning, it was locked up tight.”

  “Do you think someone let him out on purpose?”

  “Maybe, but I don’t know what the point of that would be. We run a horse ranch, not a cattle ranch, so it’s not as if we would be gaining a leg up on any of the other ranchers around here—though, I suppose if we were able to cross breed our cows with the longhorn, it could prove to be profitable.”

  She thought about that for a moment. Her cousins had had great success with cattle ranching, but she still preferred the horses. There was something about them that spoke to her.

  “So,” she said, resting her chin on her knees, “Alaric is back in town.”

  “Yeah, it’s been long enough. Though he keeps going on about this girl, Abby, he met a few years ago in Silver Falls, Colorado. I think he’s actually considering going back there in the spring. To marry her.” Cole threw his hands in the air, then dropped them into his lap. “Girls ruin everything.”

  Hannah laughed. “You are twenty-three years old. I’d think you’d be over the whole ‘girls-are-gross thing.”

  “Oh, I didn’t say girls are gross. They’re wonderful. It’s just hard to choose between them. They all have something wonderful to offer. I don’t think I’ll ever get married.”

  This time, Hannah guffawed. Loudly. Then, quickly covered her mouth with both hands.

  “What about Granddad’s will?”

  “What about it?”

  “Hopefully, you’ll be ready to settle down in the next couple of years or you won’t get any of it.”

  “It would be nice to have a place of my own, but I doubt it’s enough to do much with. How much do you think it is, really?”

  Hannah shrugged. “It doesn’t matter for me. You should ask Raine. He made it seem like it’s no pittance.” She curled the blanket under her arms. “At least you have a time-limit. Granddad may have believed that unmarried men over the age of twenty-five are a menace to society, but he also believed that girls shouldn’t get married until they’ve had at least one year at university or be over twenty so they would be both mentally and physically mature enough to run a household,” she quoted the overtold portion of the will. “And, I cannot marry a man more than ten years my senior.”

  Cole held up a finger. “Unless you yourself are over thirty.”

  Hannah smacked his arm and he laughed.

  “At this rate, I will be.”

  Seven adorable, but protective older brothers would see to that.

  She blew out a long breath.

  “I didn’t make the rules, sis. I just abide by them.” He chuckled.

  “Do you?”

  He shrugged. “Mostly.”

  “I mean, most folks around here believe that getting married is one of the things that helps a girl grow into a woman.”

  “Do you?”

  “Well, no, but—”

  “I’ll bet that was actually Gran’s idea,” Cole said with a smile.

  Hannah remembered all too well the stories Gran would tell about her two sisters who got married young—one at sixteen and the other at seventeen. The younger one died in childbirth just ten months after getting married and the other married a man so old he could have been her grandfather. He died less than a month after they got married and when the twins were born, she couldn’t provide for them and they ended up being split up and living with separate relatives. That, of course, happened before the Redbournes had any money.

  “I don’t know what you’re complaining about,” Cole said, sliding onto the floor and leaning up against her bed. “You’re already twenty-two with a degree from the University of Kansas.”

  “That’s not the point.”

  “I guess not.”

  “Well, this menace is headed into Kansas City tomorrow with Alaric for a day or two to pick up an Arabian mare. Do you want to come?”

  “I can’t. I have something
in town that I can’t miss. An outing with a young gentleman.” She smiled, thinking of Archie and his sister. “And his sister to chaperone,” she added with a laugh.

  Cole turned to look up at her. “Are you meeting Gordon in town?”

  “Nope.”

  “Eustice Hollings?”

  “NO!” Hannah said as loudly as she dared.

  Cole laughed. “I didn’t think he’d last long. Who then?”

  “His name is Archibald Lowell.”

  Cole pulled back, his brows scrunching, and he glanced from one side of her room to the other as if trying to recall the name.

  Hannah giggled. “He’s one of the little orphan boys from the church.”

  “And you’re adopting him, are you?”

  “Of course, not. We’re just taking them to get fitted for some new clothes.”

  “Them? We?”

  “Archie and his little sister.”

  “Ah.” Cole nodded slowly. “And, ‘we?’”

  Hannah scratched at an imaginary itch on the side of her neck and mumbled. “Me and Eli.”

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

  “Me and Eli Whittaker,” she said as clear as a bell.

  Cole jumped to his feet. Hannah raised her nose and he brushed his back and forth across hers, before leaning down to kiss his kid sister on the head. “I heard you the first time.” He laughed as he headed for the door. “The cock crows awful early, sis. You should get some sleep.”

  Hannah threw her pillow at the door after him, shaking her head.

  What a toad. She laughed, lying back down on her bed, groaning when her head hit the mattress instead of her pillow.

  “Goodnight,” she said out loud, though quietly, then pulled her covers up over her head.

  Her door creaked back open.

  “Goodnight,” Cole whispered.

  Then, THUMP! Something soft, but dense landed on her belly. She raised her arms, the blanket still entwined in her fingertips as she sat up, uncovering her head. She once again tucked the covers beneath her arms and retrieved her pillow.

  “Thank you,” she whispered before lying back down, adjusting the pillow beneath her head.

  Eli Whittaker. With him sleeping just upstairs in the twins’ room, it was no wonder she couldn’t get him out of her head. She’d be spending a lot of time with him tomorrow when they took the children to get fitted for new clothes, and now, suddenly, those pesky butterflies returned to haunt her belly.

  She wasn’t sure why he’d agreed to go, but it had seemed so natural to have him along—especially, since the little boy, Archie, seemed quite taken with him—but now, she wasn’t so sure it had been a good idea.

  With a hand around the edge of her pillow, she tugged, pulling it on top of her face and screamed.

  “What have I done?”

  Chapter 13

  Eli wanted to be up before the cock crowed. He sat up and, to avoid nestling back down into the warm comfort of the bed, pulled back the blankets to the newly chilled morning and placed his feet on the cool hard-wood floor. Only a pinch of light spilled into the room, but with the curtains pulled back, he could see light starting to peek over the hillside.

  He was pleased to find a basin and a pitcher of water waiting for him at the edge of the room. A small pair of scissors, a razor, and a comb had been laid out nicely on the wood, with a few folded towels waiting on the shelf behind him. He glanced into the mirror and turned his head from one side to the other, raising his chin to see the extent of his beard.

  With the scissors in one hand and the comb in another, he trimmed up the straggly hairs until the beard extended just past his chin. That would have to do for now. He didn’t know if he was ready to lose it completely. Not just yet anyway.

  Jonah turned over onto his side.

  “Why in heaven’s name are you awake already?” he asked, one eye open. “Not even the birds are up yet.” He grabbed the pillow from beneath his head and clamped it over his ears.

  Eli quickly donned a freshly laundered pair of denims and one of the four work shirts he’d brought with him on the trip—the one with dark gray stripes. Then, he grabbed his socks, boots, and hat and gingerly opened the door to sneak downstairs. He groaned when one of the steps protested his weight. It was loud enough to wake the whole house.

  As he reached the bottom step, the Redbourne family cook, Lottie, rounded the corner. She jumped back, nearly dropping the large flour sack she carried and muttering something in Spanish under her breath.

  “Goodness, Mr. Eli. You startled me. What are you doing up so early this morning?”

  Eli placed his things on the landing. “May I?” he asked, taking the heavy sack from Lottie’s arms.

  “Gracias,” she said with an accent he hadn’t heard before.

  “That means, thank you, right?” he guessed. There were several Spanish-speaking lumberjacks with whom he’d worked over the years, but not closely enough to have any real understanding of the language.

  “Yes. That’s very good,” she encouraged.

  Though not really note-worthy, he stuck out his chest a little further as he carried the supplies into the kitchen.

  “Since you are already awake, would you go out to the meat-house and cut me off ten links of sausage?” the short, Spanish woman asked as she went about her morning work.

  “Of course,” he said automatically, without thinking.

  He had no idea where the meat house was or how to get in, but he strode back to the stairs, biting back the curse that rested just off his tongue when he kicked the base of the couch, sending a jolt of pain through his foot. With a deep breath, he hobbled over to the staircase and sat down, inspecting the injured toe. It had already turned a light shade of blue, but had not yet started to swell. He quickly, but warily pulled his socks on, followed by his boots, grateful he’d chosen his work pair over his riding boots.

  With a slight limp, he made his way through the kitchen, earning a generous smile from the cook and out the back door. He walked several feet away from the porch and scanned the yard for any signs as to where the meat-house might be. It would likely be set some distance from the homestead due to the smells that could often accompany such places.

  “Are you lost?”

  Eli froze. He knew that voice. Slowly, he pivoted on his good foot and turned to face a bright and smiling Hannah Redbourne, dressed in a simple pale blue dress, carrying a basket full of this morning’s eggs.

  “Guilty,” he said with a raise of his brows and a nod. “I’m looking for sausages.”

  “You couldn’t sleep either?” she asked, as she climbed the back-porch steps, opened the door, and set her load inside.

  Truth was, once he’d gotten to sleep, he’d rested well. However, he’d felt the need to clean up a little before his adventure with Hannah and the orphans today.

  “Come on,” she said, motioning for him to follow, then headed around the corral and behind the stable.

  Biting back the discomfort emanating from his foot, he hopped, skipped, and ran to catch up with her.

  To Eli’s surprise, there was a grassy knoll behind the stables that extended out past the barn and into the field. A large door had been framed and inset to the mound.

  “I think this is what you are looking for,” she directed, lifting a board from across the width of it and pulling the door open.

  When he stepped inside, he was surprised to find it nice and cool. Generally, it was difficult to keep meats and other perishables cold, but this was almost like a room-sized ice-box—though not as cold as some of the smaller contraptions he’d seen.

  “The earth helps to keep things at a cooler temperature in here. Ethan also insulated the walls with sheets of metal, lined with charcoal, saw dust from the mill, straw, and a few other things.”

  A few milk cans sat near the entrance and several slabs of meat and sausages hung from the ceiling.

  “It also doesn’t hurt that we buy a huge load of ice fr
om a man who comes in once a month with a large supply just for us. Ethan and Tag also worked together to make Lottie a refrigerator of sorts,” she said, obviously proud of her brothers. “It’s not like the mechanical refrigeration box my brother, Will, has at his home in England, but it keeps things from spoiling too quickly.”

  There were plenty of ice-boxes back home, but he was amazed at the ingenuity of the Redbournes.

  “It’s impressive.” What else could he say?

  “You probably should get what you need quickly. If Ethan sees this door open, he’s not going to be pleased.”

  Eli pulled his knife from his belt and made a quick cut through the twist separating links ten and eleven.

  “Done,” he said, holding up the string of meat, then following Hannah back outside.

  She shut the door and slid the board back across the front of it.

  COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!

  “That’s Jasper, the old rooster. The others will be getting up soon. We should probably get those sausages back to Lottie.”

  Eli nodded.

  “Your boots too tight?” Hannah asked as they approached the back door.

  “Nah.” He shook his head. “Just had words with your couch this morning. The couch won.”

  Hannah’s lips pursed in a sympathetic wince. “So glad to see you don’t give up easily,” she said with a little chuckle in her voice.

  When they opened the back door, Lottie looked relieved to see them and she waved her arms, motioning for them to come closer.

  Hannah picked up her basket of eggs and took them over to where Lottie was busily working on making breakfast. Eli handed his small load over to her, and she made quick work of slicing, chopping, and crumbling the meat into an already hot skillet over the stove. While he collected the stack of plates that sat at the edge of the counter and got to work setting the table he watched the interaction between the two women as the older of them instructed the younger in the art of pulling apart hot biscuits straight from the oven, smiling whenever she stole a glance at him only to dart her gaze away when she caught him looking.