“Uncle Lee can help him adjust.” Adam didn’t sound sure of that.
“Of course he will, but it took him several years to do that, by his own admission.” Elias shook his head. “Jake is going to need the whole family to get through this.”
Eve was certain if anyone could help the kind red-haired man through this, it was his family. They were a group unlike she’d ever encountered.
“I know this isn’t the best time, but I understand congratulations are in order.” The doctor got to his feet. “You two have a wonderful marriage ahead. Adam, you did well. She’s a keeper.”
Eve had pushed aside thoughts of her wedding night until now. How could they focus on their own pleasure when his father was in such a state?
* * * * *
Adam wondered if his gut would ever unknot. He was tied up so tight it would be a miracle if he managed to sleep again.
He sat up all night with Pa. Eve and Mama were there too. They managed to take care of Pa’s needs, changed bandages and gave him more laudanum so he could sleep. His cousin Elias had done an amazing job with Pa and he couldn’t be more grateful to him. Elias’s father, Gideon, must be so proud of him.
Adam, on the other hand, was useless. He sat there and watched, his soul aching from the pain his father was enduring. Knowing Pa might not ever use his arm again was difficult to accept. He was a strong, proud man who’d spent his life working. While it was true Uncle Lee managed just fine with one arm, that didn’t mean Pa would.
Life had turned upside down and sideways in a matter of less than a week. Adam was married. Pa was crippled. What would happen next? If only Adam hadn’t crashed the wagon of flour—then life would be normal. Boring, but normal.
Guilt gnawed at him. He had to be the man of the house, to take care of the mill, his mother and his sisters. And now Eve too. If there was ever a time to step forward and be the man his father hoped he would be, it was now.
Adam stood, easing the cramped muscles in his legs. Mama raised her head and looked at him, her brown eyes swollen from crying. She tried to smile and his heart broke all over again.
“I’m sorry.” They were just words, never meaning more than the air they occupied. How could he express what he was feeling when it was too big for his heart to hold? He would make it up to his parents somehow.
“You’ve nothing to be sorry for. It was an accident.” Mama shook her head. “The mill can be dangerous work. Your father knew that.”
“He wouldn’t have been there if—” He stopped and looked at Eve, who watched them with wide eyes. Her dress was still stained with blood, her hair in wild disarray and her expression grave. It wasn’t her fault. None of it was. “I let my unhappy foolishness and my temper get us into this. Pa wouldn’t have been checking those stones alone.”
“You’re not responsible for your father’s actions. He took a chance going there near dark with no one else around. He knew better.” Mama looked at Pa with more emotion than Adam could identify, so deep, so intense. He wanted that kind of relationship with his wife. He and Eve were on the opposite end of the world from that right now. Perhaps if they worked at it, they could find something that resembled how much his parents loved each other.
It was a pipe dream, but something he could damn well try for. There was so much to be done; he couldn’t sit on his ass and wait for someone else to do it.
“I’ll go make some coffee and rustle up some food.” Adam looked at his mother and then Eve. “Why don’t you go wash up and put on some clean clothes?”
“Are you sure?” Eve’s eyes shimmered in the lamplight, like the evening sky.
“I need to take care of everyone in this house, including you.” He pulled Eve to her feet, her hand strong, the callouses from hard work evident on her small fingers. “You’ll feel better in clean clothes. I’ll have the girls clean the laundry tomorrow and try to get the stains out.”
“You go ahead, Eve.” Mama made a shooing motion with her hands. “You’ve been a lifesaver, but Adam is right. Cleaning up and getting something to eat will make all of us feel better.”
Adam led Eve from the room and down the hallway to the room she’d been staying in. The bed was made, but the bedroom was empty. Her things had been moved in anticipation of the wedding night.
At the sight of the emptiness, they both stopped and turned to look at each other. He found a small smile, although a tired one. “I’ll go get some warm water and your clean clothes.”
He left before she could protest. Adam went down the stairs and found Rose and Bella sitting at the table, whispering. They both got to their feet, fear exuding from every pore of their young faces.
He opened his arms and they ran to him, their small bodies warm and shaking against him. Adam held his sisters close and murmured nonsense words, same as his parents had done for him countless times. Their tears wet his shirt while they shook with grief and confusion.
“Is Pa dead?” Rose asked, her voice broken.
“No, honey, he’s not dead. Elias and Eve patched him up. He’s sleeping now, and if we take care of him, we can help him get better.” He patted their backs. “I need your help to make coffee, ready some food and heat more water so Mama and Eve can get cleaned up and eat.”
The suggestion turned the girls into an army of two. They jumped into action, wiping their eyes and splitting up the chores between them. Adam took a breath and watched his sisters act more grown up than they should have needed to be. Bella was fifteen and Rose thirteen. They were still schoolgirls, and should have remained innocent of violence and heartache.
Life in Texas wasn’t easy though, and girls younger than them had overcome worse tragedies. He knew that Uncle Gideon’s wife, Chloe, had driven a wagon alone with her grandmother and two orphans. The fierce woman had not only survived, she’d protected her family through force of will. Another reason why Elias was such a good doctor at a young age—he had his mother’s tenacity and his father’s strength.
Rose and Bella would be strong and survive. As he ladled water into two pitchers, from the reservoir on the side of the stove, he watched Rose start putting together food on a plate while Bella made coffee. They both looked at him, their brown eyes so like Mama’s; he felt a surge of pride.
“I’m going to bring these to Eve and Mama. When you get the food ready, come up and make sure Mama comes downstairs. She needs to take a short break from watching Pa.” He waited while they nodded in agreement and then left the kitchen.
Everything seemed unreal, as though he hadn’t woken up that morning and decided to marry Eve. That his father hadn’t nearly died beneath the very grinding wheels he used every day without incident. That Pa wasn’t hovering with one foot in life and the other in death.
No matter what happened from this moment on, Adam wasn’t going to be the same person. Life would never be as it was. Whether that was a good or bad thing remained to be seen.
He set a pitcher in his parents’ room. Mama was murmuring to his father, her head beside his on the pillow. It was such a private, painful moment Adam left the room as quickly as he could. He went into his own room and found Eve’s clothing hung beside his. He picked up the blouse and skirt, then pressed the soft fabric to his nose.
Her scent enveloped him. Eve was a mixture of exotic spice, magnolias and sage. His body heated at the sensation and the memory of kissing her raced through his brain. They wouldn’t have a wedding night today, but they would have one. And soon.
He returned to her room with the clothes draped over his arm and the pitcher in hand. He knocked and waited for her to bid him enter. When he opened the door, he found her wrapped in a quilt, her long, beautiful hair unbound.
He held up the clothes and the pitcher. “I brought you what you need to clean up.”
She smiled and waited while he set everything down. Adam wished, just for a moment, that they were truly man
and wife, that she was his, and they would live happily ever after. For now, though, they were two strangers who happened to be married.
Chapter Seven
While she took a turn watching Mr. Sheridan, Eve nodded off in the middle of the night, despite numerous cups of coffee the girls had brought to her. Exhaustion had taken hold of her with cold, bony fingers, pulling her down into a dream she didn’t want to have. She fought against the darkness that threatened, unwilling to let herself move farther into the memory.
She tried to speak, to warn away the younger version of herself as she walked toward the hospital bed. There were many such occurrences when she’d worked in the ward. Horrors filled with blood, pain and confusion. Patients reached for anything, anyone that might save them from the pain and death that threatened.
Eve was the same height she was now, short but solid from all the hard work she did each day. She continued to walk toward the bloodstained sheet, the shape beneath it inhuman yet still a body. Eve tried once again to stop herself, but couldn’t.
She whimpered, expecting the pain and terror to overwhelm her in moments. Her hands reached for the corner of the sheet and she screamed.
Adam was there, pulling her into his strong arms. Her red giant had come to her rescue. She snuggled into his shoulder and breathed in his warm scent. She wasn’t one to let a dream bother her, but this was different. Her life had been a series of unexpected occurrences, but only a few had been pure horror.
The best part of having him hold her was he took her burdens. If only for a short time, she was free of everything. His hand ran up and down her back until she finally pushed herself into a sitting position. She met his concerned gaze.
“I’m sorry.”
He shrugged. “Nothing for you to be sorry for. Our wedding day turned into a nightmare for all of us. I’m sorry you got caught up in this.”
She wasn’t caught up in anything. She had willingly stepped into the role of wife. It was just another performance, wasn’t it? It was one she hadn’t tried before and so far, she hadn’t even kissed her husband since the wedding.
Eve leaned in and closed her eyes, and to her delight, his lips covered hers. In the shadows of the room, he moved his mouth over hers, back and forth, with light touches. She sighed into his mouth as tingles raced down her skin.
She liked kissing him. More than she’d expected.
“I can stay with your pa. You two should enjoy your wedding night.” Mrs. Sheridan’s voice startled both of them.
Eve scrambled away from Adam, slipped off the chair and landed on the floor. The impact slammed her teeth together with an audible clack and sent a lightning bolt of pain up her spine.
“Oh, piccola, I’m sorry!” Mrs. Sheridan was there before Adam moved. She helped Eve to her feet and pulled her into a hug.
Eve hadn’t been hugged by a woman. Ever. There hadn’t been any affection from the women in her life. Eve hadn’t known what she had missed; therefore she’d never bemoaned her situation.
Until now.
Mrs. Sheridan smelled of flowers and clean soap; her arms and body enveloped Eve in warmth. Hugging was as foreign to her as grinding wheat into flour.
Yet tears burned Eve’s eyes and her throat tightened to the point she could hardly swallow. This was different than Adam soothing her nightmare. He was being sweet, but his mother was something else.
She held Eve as though she was precious. And she called her piccola. A nickname! It was apparent the older woman’s attitude toward Eve had changed because of her role in saving Mr. Sheridan. Circumstance and happenstance had made Eve’s job easier. She didn’t have to work to convince anyone. She wasn’t sure if she felt better about that or worse.
“You’ve saved my husband’s life, married my son and kept our family together. The last thing I want to do is hurt you.” Mrs. Sheridan kissed the top of Eve’s head.
A tear snuck out and meandered down Eve’s cheek and she didn’t know if it was genuine or not. She was so far out of her experience she didn’t know whether to wipe it away or let more join it. Adam spoke and saved her from making the choice.
“Mama, you’re smothering her. Let her catch her breath.”
Mrs. Sheridan pulled back. “I’m sorry, Eve. I forget that not everyone is as affectionate as we are.”
“I, uh, didn’t mind.” Eve crossed her arms. “I’m not used to it, though.”
Concern flitted through the older woman’s eyes. “Then we’ll try not to overwhelm you.” She moved back to her perch on the chair beside the bed. “Why don’t you two go get some sleep? I’ll wake you in a few hours.”
Adam took Eve’s arm in his big hand. “That’s a good idea, Mama. It’s been a long day and it’s already tomorrow.”
Eve didn’t protest as he led her from the room. The darkened hallway was only lit by the golden light behind them from the lamp and the moonlight streaming in through the window nearby.
If she wasn’t mistaken, she was about to have her wedding night.
* * * * *
While Eve got ready for bed, Adam walked outside for some air. The velvet-black sky was awash in twinkling pinpoints, while the nearly full moon hung low in the sky. The air was cool, but not cold. He took a deep breath, the peace of the night invading his bones.
Tanger was quiet, with only a few lights on here and there. He sat on a chair on the front porch and rocked back and forth slowly, struggling with what he was doing and what he was feeling.
He wasn’t ready to make love to his wife. The very real possibility that his father would die had put an end to the idea of a wedding night. It wasn’t as if he didn’t want her. If he wanted her any more, he would bust a few stitches on his trousers.
No, it wasn’t physical want that stopped him. It was guilt. The scrabbling, fanged monster that sat on his shoulder and weighed him down. No matter what anyone said, he was responsible for his father’s accident. Adam had been fighting his father’s expectations all his life. Marrying Eve had been the pinnacle of doing what his father didn’t want.
Adam leaned forward and put his head in his hands. Fixing the situation was impossible. Done was done. He had to do right by Eve and his family.
“I wondered where you went.” Eve’s soft voice interrupted his self-loathing foolishness.
“I needed some air.” He gestured to the chair beside him. “Care to join me?”
She sat down, tucking her feet beneath her. She wore the quilt around her shoulders, but he couldn’t see what she had on beneath it. The night’s shadows hid her form but he knew how it felt, even though he’d held her only a few times. Lush curves and sweet, plump lips were burned into his memory.
“It’s not your fault.”
He chuffed a laugh with no humor. “You too, hm?”
“Your mother is right. Every person makes a choice and the consequences are on them.” Eve sounded wise beyond her years. He wondered what choices and consequences she’d dealt with. Of course, they barely knew each other. There were many secrets yet unspoken.
“If I hadn’t disappointed my pa, he wouldn’t have been in the mill by himself.” Adam had a hard time believing it wasn’t his fault.
She was quiet for a few minutes. “Do you believe if you told your father not to do something, he wouldn’t do it?”
Adam snorted. “Nobody tells Pa not to do something, except Mama.”
“Then what makes you think you could have stopped him?”
He stopped rocking and stared at her. “I couldn’t have.”
“Then why do you feel guilty? He’s a strong man with a strong will.” Eve brushed the hair back from her eyes. “I expect you’re a lot like him.”
Adam absorbed the impact of her words and tried to push the guilt from his shoulders. “I married a smart woman.”
“I married a good man with a good family.”
&n
bsp; He ran his hand down his face. “Thank you for being here. For helping my pa. For helping me.”
“That’s what wives do.”
Adam shook his head. “I almost forgot how lucky I am. A wife like you? Worth a million dollars.”
She looked away, her face hidden by the shadows around them. “Lucky isn’t the word I’d use. Stuck, maybe.”
“I forgot to give this to you earlier.” He placed a rock in her palm, this one a deep-blue color, although she couldn’t tell that in the dark. “A wedding gift.”
She closed her hand around it. “Thank you. I don’t get gifts often.”
He knew a bit about her past, from what she’d confessed to Uncle Zeke, but it was only a thimbleful of information. Hell, he didn’t know her age, when her birthday was or if her second toe was longer than her first.
“How old are you?” He hadn’t expected that to pop out of his mouth but it did anyway.
“Twenty, or thereabouts. Remember, I told you I was found by a rancher when I was about five.” She pulled her knees closer, curling herself into a ball. “I count forward from then.”
He almost didn’t ask her. “Does that day count as your birthday?”
She turned her head to look at him. “April Fool’s Day.”
“Easy to remember.” He moved the rocking chair closer to her, his fascination growing again. Eve was the most unique woman he’d ever met, and, lucky him, she was already his wife. “What did you do when you left the orphanage?”
She let out an audible sigh. “Lots of things. I learned to survive, mostly.”
Adam had never considered himself privileged or wealthy, but he had something she never did: a family, a home, a place to feel safe. Shame over his behavior replaced the resentment at being expected to work in the mill. He didn’t hate flour. He had no reason to whine or complain.
Not a single one.
“I’m glad I crashed that wagon.”
He saw a flash of white and realized she’d smiled. He found himself smiling back. Unusual, given the craziness of the day, the uncertainty of Pa’s condition and the unknown marriage they’d build from here on out.
Adam, Devils on Horseback: Generations, Book 1 Page 8
