The West wasn't the safest place to be for a woman, especially one unaccompanied. Sleeping in the open when there were any number of predators roaming the land was stupid as well. Something quicker and stronger could have made a meal out of any of them before they had time to scream and she's damn lucky she hadn't run into the Indians that still roamed the area.
He focused on the conversation again when he noticed Morgan looking at him. "Did you say something?"
"Yeah, I said the hotel is booked. The storm trapped a stagecoach full of people in town and I'm not sure when they'll pull out again."
Noah's heart slammed against his ribcage. "There's nowhere for them, then?"
"The only place in town with an empty room is the saloon but it’s no place for a woman with kids." Morgan stared at him for long moments, the look in his eyes questioning, before he sighed and looked away. "We can make room here, I suppose." He glanced at his wife. "We can move the girls into the spare room for a while."
Keri shot to her feet, her chair toppling over in her haste. Her face bloomed red as she turned and grabbed it, sitting it back up before turning to look at them. "That isn't necessary," she said, her voice pitched low. "I appreciate your offer but we've dawdled here too long as it is. Now that the storm is over, we really need to be on our way." She took a few steps toward the doorway, the lines on her face strained. "I thank you for your hospitality but please, don't go to any trouble. It isn't necessary."
She threw a look at him and Noah saw fear cloud her eyes. She hurried past him and through the house, her voice rising above the noise of the school children as she called for Aaron and Sophie Ann.
Abigail grabbed Morgan's arm. "You can't let her leave, Morgan. It's too cold for them to be sleeping under a tree somewhere. They'll freeze to death."
Morgan stood and kissed his wife's worried cheek. "I'll not let her go. Stop frettin'." He crossed the room, gave Noah a pointed look and went after her. Noah followed, finding Keri bundling Aaron and Sophie Ann in the blankets he'd given them before picking up her own and ushering both kids toward the door.
"Mrs. Hilam, wait." Morgan caught her before she could get the door open. "I can't let you leave."
Keri turned, her eyes large and questioning. "Why?" She glanced toward Noah, her gaze darting between him and the marshal. "We've done nothing wrong."
"I know you haven't," Morgan said. "But it’s not safe for you out there alone."
Her throat moved as she swallowed. "We can't stay. I have to find my brother." Her voice was barely above a whisper and Noah noticed her eyes turn glassy, tears shining brightly before she blinked them away.
Sophie Ann stepped around Keri and looked up, her blond hair shining in the light. "I don't want to go yet," she said. "There's gonna be a Christmas party." She turned and looked into the other room where the rest of the children were gathered. "Betsy said there's candy and oranges and sometimes presents."
Keri ran her hand over Sophie Ann's head. "It's weeks yet until Christmas, love. I promise we won't miss it."
The school teacher startled Noah when she stepped up beside him. She smiled and looked down at Sophie. "We would love to have you at our party, Sophie Ann. You and your brother."
Aaron's face lit up and Noah's gaze darted to Keri's. She looked miserable in that moment. Stuck between wanting to leave and granting the quiet desires of her children.
The noisy chatter of the school kids in the other room wasn't missed even though they were no longer screaming. Aaron and Sophie Ann looked between their mother and those kids with longing in their eyes. They should be in school, Noah thought.
Keri was talking quietly to them now, her words lost as she whispered. Noah watched them, heaving a breath before glancing at the door. He should leave. Push right past Keri and those kids, jump into his wagon, and head back home. He could wash his hands of them, let them be the marshal's problem, just like he said he was going to do the day he found them.
So why wasn't he leaving? And why did he not want to, yet?
* * * *
Keri knew the moment Sophie looked up at her with tears in her eyes that leaving Willow Creek wouldn't be as easy as it had been in the past. Every small town they'd left behind had been nothing but one meaningless stop along the way. Willow Creek wasn't one of those towns. Here, they had a reason to stay. The chance at making friends, of finding a place they fit in, had them ready to plant their boot heels into the dirt. She'd felt the same way a time or two over the last week, too.
Above all else, Aaron and Sophie were tired. She could see it in their tiny faces, in the way they carried themselves. What had seemed like such a simple plan six months ago was falling apart around them.
Leaving in the middle of the night all those months ago had been impulsive and dangerous, but the alternative wasn't acceptable. She couldn't stay with John's brother another day. He'd already taken so much from her. From them. To know where his sick mind was headed still caused a shudder of disgust to fill her until she was ready to scream from it. Her setting out alone may seem idiotic to most but it saved Sophie Ann from a monster. She could take whatever cruelty he heaped upon her, and did on a daily basis, but Sophie couldn't. She wouldn't have understood. But telling them why they couldn't stay was too horrible to fathom. They'd never look at her the same if they knew, not to mention, if Marshal Avery found out, he'd throw her so far under the jail no one would even remember she existed.
Keri pushed the thought away and smiled, trying to mask her feelings, and smoothed back Sophie's curls to busy her hands. "Listen to me, love," she said, keeping her voice pitched low. "When we find Uncle Peter, we'll have the biggest Christmas party you've ever seen. We'll get a tree with all the trimmings and gifts and all the oranges you can eat. I promise."
"But we won't find him in time," Aaron said. "Christmas will be here soon."
"We've a few weeks yet until then, Aaron."
"I know but we won't make it to California by then. Why can't we just stay until after Christmas? We can leave after it's all over."
Keri looked at his stricken face. "We've nowhere to stay, Aaron. We can't live in that shack all winter with no food. Besides, Mr. Lloyd doesn't want us there, he's made that perfectly clear."
"Well, we can stay here, then," he argued. "I heard the marshal say we could."
Keri stooped down to be eye level with them and turned her back to the adults in the room. Her eyes burned with unshed tears, the quiet pleas of her children breaking her heart. "I don't want us to be a burden to anyone, Aaron." She pulled him and Sophie close so her whispered words could be heard. "There's no place for us in Willow Creek. We have to move on. The only reason we've stayed this long is because of the snow storm."
"We can stay with Mr. Lloyd."
When Aaron looked up at Noah, Keri's chest ached. She'd seen that look on the boy’s face before. It was there when his uncle strolled into their house to rescue them from the burdens left when John died. It was admiration in its most innocent form. It had been wasted on Robert, though, and giving it to Noah, a man none of them knew well enough, seemed a bit misplaced as well, especially seeing how Noah Lloyd was the most unfriendly, grumpy man, she'd ever met. "He doesn't want us there either, Aaron. That's why he brought us to town. We have to move on."
Aaron's face went red, his lips bloodless and he clenched his teeth together, his eyes filling with tears. "Uncle Peter won't want us either! Nobody does, so what difference does it make if we stay here or keep going. We should have never left." He started crying, the tears in his eyes falling so quickly, Keri had trouble brushing them away. He sniffled, and hiccupped, and tried to talk through his sobs. "You said things would be better but they're not. They're worse! You and Sophie Ann can go to California. I'm staying here."
Before she could react, Aaron threw off the blanket she'd wrapped around him and ran out the front door. She gasped and stood, rushing for the doorway as Aaron ran the length of the sidewalk and out into the snow covered road. "Aaron!"
A choked sob crawled into her throat as she watched him run away. "Aaron, come back!"
Chapter Ten
She was halfway down the walkway, running frantically toward the gate when Noah caught her. He grabbed her arm, ignored her desperate cries, and turned her back toward the house. "Go back inside," he yelled. "You've no coat on and it’s too cold to be out here without one. I'll go get him."
He didn't wait to see if she'd done as he said and took off at a run after Aaron. The kid was making a quick getaway despite the snow that still lingered on the sidewalks in town and Noah slipped twice, regaining his footing without falling, and ducked between the buildings as Aaron had.
The clearing behind the mercantile was vacant and Aaron's footprints were clearly visible. Noah followed them through a thicket of trees, snow falling from the limbs above to collect at the back of his neck when he walked under them. He growled in frustration, pushed the limbs away and came out on the other side. Aaron's footprints had disappeared.
Looking back into the thicket, Noah searched the brush, ducking to look under low lying bushes and finally saw him. He was huddled under a cluster of undergrowth, the ground underneath him void of snow. The sparse grass had been beaten down, dirt showing in most of the area, and Noah squatted and tilted his head to look in. "You plan on riding out the winter in this rabbit hole?"
The kid drew his knees in and crossed his arms over them before burying his head. "It stays dry," he said, his voice muffled.
"And how would you know that?"
"We stayed here before we found your old shack."
Noah stared in at the small clearing and shook his head. They'd stayed here? Under a thicket of trees, sleeping on frozen ground, with no way to warm themselves? His conscience pricked the moment he remembered seeing them huddled around the pitiful fire in the line shack. A shack he'd initially run them out of.
He closed his eyes, fighting back disgust at himself, and scrubbed a hand over his face before pushing the thought away and looking back up. "Your mother was pretty upset when you ran off. You can't abandon her like that. With your father gone, you're the man in the family now. It's your place to see to her and your sister."
Aaron looked up, incredulous. "I'm only ten. I'm not old enough to be the man in the family."
Noah shrugged his shoulder. "Your age doesn't matter. I was fourteen when my father died. I stepped into his role and saw to a plantation larger than this whole town and provided stability for my mother and sister when they didn't know what else to do. We aren't given what we want in life. We have to make do with what we're handed, even if we don't want it."
The boy stared at him for long minutes before shaking his head. "I can't take care of them," he said, tears once again filling his eyes.
"But you already have been."
Aaron shook his head. "No, I've not."
"Sure you have." Noah shifted, his knees aching from squatting in the same position too long. The boy was no longer crying outright but his eyes were still filled with tears. "The first time I saw you, you were chasing after Sophie Ann. Your mother trusted you to watch over your little sister, didn't she?"
"But that was just so she could find us something to eat. She wasn't gone too long."
"That's not the point. She still expected you to protect Sophie Ann. What will she do if you leave them now?"
Aaron huffed out a breath. "Same as she always did. Keep walking to California and steal what food she can find. Me being there won't make a bit of difference."
Noah knew that for a lie but didn't say so. He might not know much about Keri Hilam but he'd bet every possession he had she wouldn't leave without her children, regardless of what Aaron thought. "You're wrong about that," he said. "You being with her will make all the difference." He tilted his head, making sure he caught Aaron's eye. "If you don't want to go on, then you need to convince her to stay. You can't go on stealing every bit of food you get, nor can you sleep on frozen ground forever and you'll never make it to California on foot. You might as well put down roots here." To his horror, Aaron's eyes filled with tears again, his cheeks growing red before he let out a wail that made Noah cringe.
"It don't matter," Aaron cried. "We'll still have to sleep under the trees. The marshal was just being nice when he said we could stay with him. Only reason he said it was because you don't want us in your house no more." He looked up, misery so profound shining in his eyes, Noah felt a twinge of pain in his chest just looking at him.
Aaron swiped a hand under his nose, then wiped his eyes dry. "Uncle Robert didn't want us either. He just wanted my pa's land." He sighed and laid his head back on his knees. "No one wants us."
Noah's neck and face heated as shame and embarrassment at Aaron's words slammed into him hard enough to cause his chest to ache. No one wants us, the words echoed in his head. He knew all too well how that felt. It seemed like a lifetime ago but the pain was still there if he thought on it too much.
Looking away, he stared at the back of the mercantile, thoughts running rampant in his head. He'd spent the last week counting the minutes until he could get his unwanted house guests out from under his roof but he'd seen the look Morgan gave him when discussing what to do with them. The man had only offered a room to them because he didn't want to. Aaron may be young but he'd had to grow up in a hurry. He was more perceptive than Noah had given him credit for.
He repositioned his hat and stood, working the kinks out of his back and legs. Getting Aaron out from under those bushes was the least of his problems, he realized. The bigger issue was Keri herself. He wasn't sure why she'd tried to leave so quickly when Morgan suggested she could stay with him and his family. Was she in such a hurry to find her brother that she'd brave the cold with no protection to do it? It was idiotic. No one could withstand a Montana winter out in the elements. Only a fool would think they could.
But she'd already done it to some small degree. She was probably delusional enough to think she still could.
The blizzard that blew in wouldn't be the last of them. Noah had spent enough time in these parts to know the cold weather was brutal when it set in good. The mild winter they'd had recently wasn't normal and if Keri had been in these parts for any amount of time, she may think it was. They'd freeze to death if they tried living as they had been.
But what choice did they have? Where would they go?
No one wants us. The words whispered inside his head again. "Damn it." Irritation gnawed at him. This was the reason he avoided people and had been doing so for the better part of twelve years. He didn't want to be bothered with anything, or anyone, for any reason. Not even friendship. Those sorts of attachments only led to misery sometime down the road. Best to just not get involved, period.
But as much as he wanted to leave, to wash his hands of this whole mess, something kept his feet planted. He'd had more than enough opportunities to leave. Hell, he could go right now. Just walk away, leave the kid under the bushes and go home. He'd done his part. He'd dropped Keri and her kids off at the marshal's house like he said he was going to. They were supposed to be Morgan's responsibility now.
Yet, here he stood, freezing his ass off while talking to a kid with snot running down over his lip.
Annoyance fierce enough to scald his flesh washed over him and he looked back down at the brush Aaron was hiding under. His temper flared an instant later. "Get out from under there, Aaron. You've wasted enough of my time as it is." To his amazement, Aaron crawled out and stood, his head bowed. "Get back to the marshal's house. You've worried your mother enough for one day."
He followed the boy back, his thoughts a jumbled mess. Keri ran down the walkway when she spotted them, tears leaving wet trails down her cheeks. She grabbed Aaron when she reached him, fell to her knees there in the snow, and wrapped him in her arms and sobbed. Noah stopped at the gate, watching them. Would Keri stay with the Averys or would she try to leave at the first opportunity she had? They'd left the comfort of their home for reasons Keri had yet to
tell him about so what was to stop her from doing so again?
She looked up at him, her eyes large and filled with tears, gratitude shining so bright the sight twisted inside Noah's chest. Idiotic thoughts filled his head a moment later. Thoughts of letting her stay with him until her brother could be found. He tried to chase the notion away by reminding himself he'd slept in a chair for a solid week, but the idea nagged at his conscience until he seriously thought about it.
It was a bad idea. The words whispered inside his head until a reason it wasn't chased the doubt away. A reason he didn't want to think about, especially when Keri stood, her hands resting on Aaron's bony shoulders as she held his gaze and smiled. It was the tiniest curve at the corners of her mouth but the effect it had on him caused his entire body to jolt. The strain on her face melted away as she looked at him, her eyes, still glassy with unshed tears, locked with his own, and everything around him seemed to narrow down into a pinprick of light until nothing remained inside of it but her. This waif of a woman with eyes so soulful he felt as if he was drowning in them.
He blinked and looked away, trying to get his overactive imagination under control. The curve of her lips could barely even be called a smile, yet the effect was felt as if she bestowed him with one so blindingly brilliant he'd been dazzled by it. And maybe he had. Maybe the fact she could look at him without disgust or pity filling her eyes was enough. The fact she offered him that tiny smile to begin with. Whatever it was, Noah knew he'd been wrong about one thing. Keri Hilam wasn't the fool. It was him. A fool to even think of keeping her when every fiber of his being begged him to walk away, to forget she even existed. But the moment he looked back up and saw her captivating eyes still fixed on him, his heart gave one mighty thump in his chest hard enough to let him know he was still alive.
Willow Creek Christmas Page 7
