Lorna Seilstad - [Lake Manawa Summers 03]

by The Ride of Her Life

  Lilly stepped back and hurried to fold her hands in front of her. “No, that won’t be necessary.”

  “I don’t know about that.” Nick raised his eyebrows in Levi’s direction. “What do you think? Should your mama and I go for a ride, then let you have a turn?”

  “Yes!” Levi clapped his hands. “Go, Mama. It’ll be fun.”

  Lilly burned Nick with a glare, but he merely chuckled. “Besides, Lilly, I’ll feel safer with you next to me.”

  “You shouldn’t, because I’m gonna kill you the first chance I get,” she hissed.

  Nick grinned and motioned toward the camel. “It’ll probably be easier for you to … um … ride astride.”

  “I’ll manage to ride sidesaddle.”

  “That’s the spirit.” Mr. Tallman offered Ali Baba a treat from his coat pocket.

  “Where’s the stirrup?” Lilly looked on both sides of Ali Baba and lifted the blankets over the saddle.

  “There’s not one. You direct a camel with your toes, so a stirrup isn’t necessary.”

  Lilly’s eyes grew wide. “My toes?”

  Mr. Tallman’s belly shook when he laughed. “You won’t have to do that because I’ll be leading him on the rope.”

  “And I’ll make sure you don’t slide off.” Nick patted the saddle. “Need help getting on?”

  “I can manage.” Lilly sat down on the tack box, then tucked her legs beneath her. She stood gracefully before attempting to lift herself into place on the saddle, but she couldn’t fully get on. She slid off, her fingers running along the animal’s wiry hide. She tried three times.

  Nick chuckled, hopped on the crate, and nudged her out of the way. He grabbed the horn and pulled himself up. After swinging his leg over the side, he scooted to the back half of the saddle.

  “Maybe Levi should accompany you instead of me.” Lilly turned to find her son.

  Before she knew what Nick was doing, he’d hooked an arm around her waist and drew her upward onto the camel’s back. In one smooth motion, he deposited her on the front half of the long saddle.

  “Well done, Mr. Perrin.” Mr. Tallman stroked Ali Baba’s head. “Now, here’s what you two have to do. When Ali Baba stands, he raises his back legs first, so you’ll be tilted this way.” He demonstrated the steep inclined plane with his hand. “So you need to lean backward at that point. Then, when he raises his front legs, you both lean forward. See that horn in the front of the saddle and the one in the back? Hold on to those so you don’t fall off.”

  After making sure the two riders were ready, Mr. Tallman signaled Ali Baba to stand. The camel raised his long back legs, and because Lilly was seated sidesaddle, instead of leaning straight back, she leaned to her left. Her shoulder came into contact with Nick’s solid chest. She sucked in a breath and started to pull away. When she did, she slid forward a bit. Nick snaked his arm around her waist and secured her against him.

  He smelled of pine and outdoors, the scent stirring something deep inside her, long forgotten. The warmth in her stomach mixed with the raw fear coursing through her. How had she let herself get in this intimate of a position with a man? She was a married woman.

  Was.

  A sob stuck in her throat as the single word pulsated in her thoughts.

  No. No. No. She loved Ben. He would hate seeing her leaning against another man. She shouldn’t be here. She belonged to Ben. At the very least, she should ask Nick to remove his protective arm immediately. And she would—if she could discover any other way to stay on the camel.

  Finally, Ali Baba began to rise to his front legs. This time Lilly was ready and leaned forward when she felt the camel move beneath her. As soon as they were almost upright, Nick’s hand slipped away. Good. She wouldn’t have to ask him to remove it. That’s what she wanted, right?

  When Ali Baba reached his full height, Lilly sucked in her breath again. She had to be nearly eight feet off the ground. What if Levi fell from this height?

  “What do you think of the view?” Nick asked.

  Lilly glanced at the trees as they passed. A robin swooped in with more fodder for her nest, and a black squirrel bounded from one tree to another. Lilly peered between the branches and caught a glimpse of the lake where a couple of sailboats dotted the water.

  Levi skipped beside Mr. Tallman. “Can you see forever and ever and ever? I ain’t never been that high.”

  “You haven’t ever been this high.” Lilly gripped the pommel as the beast swayed beneath her.

  “’Course not, Mama. It’s not my turn yet.”

  Nick touched Lilly’s arm. “What do you think of Ali Baba?”

  “I think it would take me a long time to become accustomed to such a beast as my only form of transportation.”

  “Riding a camel is all about balance.” Mr. Tallman led them down the center of his zoo and around the alligator pen. “Sit confidently and stay firmly planted.”

  Lilly tried to concentrate on doing that, but inch by inch, she felt herself slipping off the side. Maybe riding sidesaddle wasn’t such a good choice. “How much farther are we gonna go?”

  “Not far. To that fence and back.”

  Nick cleared his throat. “You okay?”

  “Fine.” Lilly sat up straighter. Or as fine as I can be when I’ve been hoodwinked into riding a camel.

  “I won’t let you fall, Lilly.” Nick must have leaned close because she felt his breath on her ear. Shivers rippled along her spine. She glanced at Mr. Tallman. If he’d heard Nick, he gave no indication.

  The camel continued to sway to his own clumsy rhythm as he followed Mr. Tallman. Lilly slid a bit more and hugged the pommel. Only a few more yards. She could hold on until then.

  “Lilly?” Nick touched her arm. “Are you having trouble staying on?”

  “Heavens no. I merely need to reposition myself.” Lilly attempted to use the pommel horn to hoist herself back in place. It didn’t work well, but it should suffice. “I’m good now.”

  The last few yards, Levi bounced in front of them, declaring this had to be better than riding a horse. Lilly had her doubts. Maybe the ships of the desert sailed better on sand than on Iowa’s rich soil.

  Mr. Tallman led the camel back to the area in front of the barn and stopped. “I’m going to have Ali Baba sit down so you two can dismount, but this can be the trickiest of all. Remember, for a minute it might feel like you’re falling off. He has to fold his front feet under first, so pretend you’re going down a steep mountain.”

  Lilly glanced at Nick. He kept his gaze fixed on her as the camel began to lower himself. Her stomach jumped when his right front leg dipped. Despite her iron grip, she lurched forward on the fabric of her skirt. Her ankles showed. If this continued, who knew how much Nick would see before the camel came to a stop? But if she fell …

  The blankets beneath her slid sideways. She lost her hold and gasped.

  As if he’d been expecting it, Nick slid his arm around her waist and pulled her toward him. His muscled arm remained firmly around her, burning her skin through her shirtwaist, as the camel lowered first his front and then his hind legs to the earth.

  Nick’s hand remained in place this time. “Sidesaddle didn’t work so well, huh?”

  Mr. Tallman chuckled. “Well, it works better when I have my mounting scaffold ready. I apologize for not having it yet this year. Good thing you were there to catch her, Mr. Perrin.”

  “Hmmm. That’s twice now.” A self-satisfied grin tugged at Nick’s mouth. “What would you have done without me?”

  “Well, for starters, I wouldn’t have gotten on the creature in the first place.” She tipped her chin up, and Ali Baba made his strangled-donkey noise. Lilly quirked an eyebrow. “See, Ali agrees.”

  “He just wants us off.” Nick released her, swung his leg over, and dropped to the ground.

  Before he could assist her again, Lilly slid off the side in a most unladylike fashion, and Mr. Tallman grabbed her arm to steady her. Nick scowled.

  L
evi hugged her legs. “Was it the bestest ride ever, Mama?” He didn’t wait for a response but moved on to hugging Nick. “Do you want to go again with me, Mr. Nick?”

  Lilly shook the folds of her gored skirt back in place and flashed Nick a smile. “I’d sure appreciate it. It was awfully high.”

  The corners of Nick’s lips bowed. “In that case, sure, Chipmunk. I’ll go with you.”

  “One thing.” Levi wagged a finger at Nick. “Don’t hug me like you did Mama. That’s for girls.”

  18

  Nick marched up the stairs onto the porch of Mrs. Whitson’s boardinghouse. A few members of his work crew lounged on wicker chairs, the remainder having gone to town for the evening. One of his men exited the building, and the boardinghouse’s medicinal scent followed. Why did Mrs. Whitson’s house always reek of camphor?

  After shucking his coat, Nick tossed it on the back of a worn chair and then dropped into the chair. He shifted and the wicker creaked. “Can nothing go right?”

  Sean peeked over the top of his newspaper, and his eyebrows rose. “Trouble with the lass?”

  “All I did was ask Lilly if she’d like an escort to church services on Sunday. What was the crime in that?”

  Sean folded the newspaper and set it aside. “I take it she didn’t enjoy yer day with the beasties?”

  “Oh, I think she liked the animals fine. It’s me she doesn’t seem to want to be around.”

  “Nick, my boy, the lassie is sweet on you fer sure, but her heart is torn. Ya need to be patient.” Sean lifted the lid to a box and pulled out the wooden piece he’d been whittling. He handed Nick a second piece.

  Nick opened his pocketknife and began to peel away the wood on the toy he’d been constructing. “I keep telling myself that, but when I think she may be letting me into her life a bit, she closes me off.”

  “I hate to break this to ya, boyo, but even yer blue-eyed charm can’t open every door.”

  “Why won’t she trust me?”

  “Why should she?”

  “What do you mean by that?”

  “Don’t get your rankles up. I’m asking ya if you’ve truly thought of what yer asking her to do in taking a chance on the likes of ya.”

  Nick laughed and glanced at his friend, whose eyes were alight from the good-natured ribbing. He fingered the chunk of wood in his hand, enjoying the feel of its solid structure. “Lilly could do worse than me.”

  “Could she?” Though he kept his voice casual, seriousness swept the twinkle from Sean’s face. “She’s already lost one husband, and ya don’t exactly have a desk job. Ya want to build a business more dangerous than most anything a man could think of, and near as I can figure, ya haven’t asked God to help ya in this once.” He set his wood toy on the table. It wobbled, so he shaved off another sliver of wood.

  Nick used the tip of his knife to cut an intricate pattern on the side of the cube. “I have prayed about it.”

  “Truly? A real God-doing-the-leadin’ prayer, or a wish-list prayer?”

  Nick’s chest tightened. His knife slipped and pricked the fleshy part of his thumb. He pressed his forefinger to it to quell the flow of blood and sighed. His prayer had been more about asking God to do what Nick wanted, not necessarily to do what was best for Lilly. Had he been prideful and assumed he was the answer to her struggles?

  “Nick, my boy, she needs a friend. Love can bloom out of that—if it’s the Lord’s will. Ya know that. But make sure ya know what yer gettin’ into. A part of her heart will always belong to her deceased husband. Always.” He held up the wooden piece he was working on. “Do ya want to quit now, boyo?”

  Levi was going to love their surprise, but their project was time consuming. Yet Sean wasn’t simply talking about what they were constructing. Good old Sean always asked the hard questions, making Nick consider things he didn’t want to.

  Nick shook his head. “No. I’m not giving up.”

  Maybe he didn’t know what he was doing, but he did know he couldn’t abandon Lilly and Levi like Ruby Rawlins had abandoned him. Trust was a fragile thread and easily snapped. He’d be her friend. He’d pray for her. He’d show her she could lean on him.

  He’d be there for her until God told him something different.

  Tapping the pencil against the ledger, Lilly studied the figures before her. Thank goodness summer was coming and she could make Levi’s trousers into knee pants. If she wanted enough money for a place of her own by fall, she’d need every penny. As it stood, she already had a tidy little sum set aside.

  A chill in the air of Emily’s cabin made her shiver and reminded her of the gray clouds that seemed to be blowing in this afternoon. While her spirits had lifted with the church services, they’d sunk with the gloomy weather and the dismal figures.

  “How are things looking?” Emily draped a shawl over Lilly’s shoulders.

  “Thanks to your letting us stay here, I think I’ll have enough to get a place by the end of the summer if nothing significant happens. It’ll be close, but we should be able to buy a house before school starts in the fall. Maybe sooner, if I can find one that needs a little work.”

  Emily sat down at the parlor’s small table. “My grandmother says you’re welcome to stay here as long as you want, even after I go back to managing the team with Carter.”

  Looking up from her work, Lilly studied her friend’s face. Dark circles no longer rimmed Emily’s eyes. Since her grandmother had sent a cook/nanny over, at least Emily was getting a little more sleep, but she looked sad at the mention of her husband’s name. “Have you heard from Carter?”

  “Received a letter today.” Emily pulled an envelope from her pocket. “He is missing Katie and me terribly and thinks sending me here for the summer was a horrible idea.”

  “What do you think?”

  Emily giggled. “I think if he had to listen to Katie’s crying every night, he’d change his tune.” She traced the angular lines of the address with her fingers. “But I don’t know if I can stay here all summer without him.”

  “Think he might visit?”

  Emily withdrew the letter from the envelope and smoothed it on the table before them. She pointed to a section toward the bottom. “This is the schedule for the Bloomer Girls team. It’s packed so solid I don’t see any times he could get away. If I thought Katie …” She let her words trail off.

  “What? If you thought Katie could make the trip? Emily, are you thinking of traveling to see him?”

  “That would be hard to do with a baby just a few months old. Not to mention the girls’ games are all on the West Coast this year.” Tears filled Emily’s eyes. “But I miss him so much it hurts.”

  “I understand.” The empty feeling that had become Lilly’s constant companion tugged at her.

  “You do, don’t you?” Emily wiped her eyes. “I’m sorry. Here I am going on about missing Carter when at least I’ll see him again.”

  “My loss doesn’t make what you’re feeling any less important, Emily. But I do understand loneliness in a new way now.”

  “Tell me.”

  “At first it was crushing. I didn’t feel like I could breathe. It felt like it might swallow me whole, and I wanted it to. I didn’t know if I could go on.” Lilly closed the ledger in front of her.

  “And now?”

  “I still have days like that, but now when loneliness hits, it’s more like a cloudburst than a devastating storm. People say things like, ‘You should be over him by now.’ Does that make sense to you? Like losing Ben was nothing more than a case of influenza.”

  Emily shook her head and squeezed Lilly’s hand. “How do you deal with the loneliness now?”

  “Levi.” Lilly smiled. “He’s my life. That’s why I have to save money for a house. That’s why I’d work until my fingers fell off. Levi will have what I never did—a place with roots to call his own.”

  “Excuse me, ladies.” Rose, the new cook/nanny, stepped into the doorway with a tall, flowered hot chocolate pot o
n a tray. “Would you care for some hot chocolate?”

  “Bless you, Rose. That would be lovely.” Emily motioned for the girl to bring the service to the table. After Rose set the tray in place and departed, Emily reached for the handle of the skinny pot. “On the road, Carter and I like to have this before going to sleep as often as the hotels have it on hand. I can assure you that this is one beverage that can be made in a number of ways. Rose’s is delicious.”

  “I haven’t had hot chocolate since I lived in the Harts’ house.” The steam rose from Lilly’s porcelain cup, and she inhaled the sweetness. “It’s one of the few things I miss from there.”

  “Lilly, I know we were talking about Ben, and I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but have you given any thought to marrying again someday?”

  “Have you been talking to Marguerite?” Lilly took a drink from her cup. “Today Nick asked Levi and me to join him for church services, but it doesn’t mean a thing. He’s a friend and that’s all, and I did not accept his invitation.”

  A slow smile spread across Emily’s face. “I didn’t say anything about Nick Perrin.”

  Lilly set down her cup. “Yes you did. You were talking about me marrying again.”

  “Exactly, and you’re the one who brought his name into the conversation.” Emily pushed back from the table and stood. “I find that interesting, don’t you?”

  “Wait a minute.” Lilly took hold of Emily’s arm. “We are not done talking about this. Where are you going?”

  “To bed. I’d tell you to have sweet dreams, but I think Nick’s got that covered.”

  It was still hard for Marguerite to believe her little brother had grown into such a fine young man. The whole afternoon and evening had been spent laughing, playing games with the children, and catching up, but finally he announced he needed to head back to the city.

  Trip gathered Mark’s coat from the stand and passed it to him. “Do you have to leave so soon?”

  Mark put on his coat. “Afraid so. After all, I’m a working man now.”