Summer Moon

by Jill Marie Landis

“I don’t want her here.” A girl’s orphanage? “I don’t want him mollycoddled, either.”

  Truth be told, he wasn’t sure he wanted anything to do with Daniel. Now that his father was gone, he didn’t know what he was going to do with him.

  Sofia slowly stood. In that one graceful movement, the years seemed to roll away. He caught a whiff of lemon balm, heard the rustle of starched fabric. She had come into their lives so long ago, a servant with far too much quiet elegance and pride. Born a Spanish don’s daughter, she had overcome adversity and loss when her young husband died bankrupt. She had taken work that was beneath her after she met his father in Santa Fe, and Reed Senior had somehow convinced her that she would never be looked down upon at Lone Star.

  Reed could tell by her stance she was not going to change her mind about leaving Kate Whittington’s fate up to him.

  “Before you send her away, you should know that the proxy papers were filed and that she has nowhere else to go, Reed. I believe that you are still legally married unless you protest the forgery.”

  “Seems to me that should be your problem more than mine,” he grumbled.

  She smiled, but the expression failed to reach her eyes.

  “Kate is a problem I will leave to you to solve. You are a man long grown, Reed. Now you have a son to raise again and you cannot do it alone. She is intelligent and capable. She came here in hopes of having a home and family. Good marriages have been built on much less. I suggest you think about making this union legal, especially since you have already slept with her. Your son needs a mother. You could do far worse.” One hand rested on the back of the rocker as she let him mull over all she had said.

  “When are you coming back? I need you here.”

  She shook her head. There was enough pity on her face to make him squirm.

  “You Benton men. It is always about you, no? About what you want. What you need. I do not know when or if I will ever return.”

  The idea that this woman who had been such a part of his early life could turn her back and walk out and leave so easily, hit him harder than he would ever have guessed.

  He thought he knew her, but that was just another lie that left him vulnerable to hurt. He should have remembered that she was a woman and that a woman would always betray a man to get what she wanted.

  Determined to show indifference, to hide the hurt of betrayal, he kept his expression blank, his voice cool. “Will you send Scrappy up here? I need him to ride out to the Ranger camp and tell Jonah that I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

  Kate hid behind caring for Daniel as long as she could, but once the boy was fed, he ignored her and lay on his bed, staring out the window.

  She left him alone and escaped to her own room, tiptoeing down the hall so that Reed would not hear her moving about. Numb, she sank to the edge of the bed and folded her hands in her lap. Where her heart had been, there was nothing but a yawning, empty space in her chest. Where her dreams had been, there was only a bottomless chasm in her soul.

  The cold, hard realization of what had happened left her floundering. She could not even summon enough strength of will to offer an appeal to Saint Perpetua.

  Kate started when she heard a soft tap at the door. Half afraid it might be Reed, she hesitated until she heard Sofia call out, “Katherine, I wish to speak to you.”

  Anger returned. On her feet in an instant, Kate hurried to open the door. Sofia stood on the other side holding an old covered basket in her arms. Her face was expressionless. Drained of color, her olive skin appeared sallow. The woman’s misery did much to dampen Kate’s temper.

  “Come in.” She stepped back to admit the housekeeper to her room and for a moment the two of them stood there in silence, the tension in the air so thick it stifled conversation.

  “I am leaving for Santa Fe this afternoon,” Sofia said without preamble. “Before I go, I wanted to give you this.”

  Kate stared at the timeworn basket.

  “No, thank you.” She forced herself to meet Sofia’s eyes. In them, unspoken sadness and regret mingled with silent apology.

  “I thought that perhaps these things might help you to help Daniel.”

  “Help Daniel? I would like nothing more, but how do you expect me to help him when I’ll no doubt be leaving very shortly myself?”

  Sofia forced the basket on her. “Until Reed is on his feet, there is no one else to care for the boy. Surely you won’t abandon him.”

  Any other argument would never have moved her to stay one more hour, but how could she abandon the boy? She would just as soon take him with her as leave him here with Reed Benton.

  “I’m sure Reed will object to my staying.”

  “He has no choice at the moment but to let you stay.”

  “He said that?”

  “Not in so many words.”

  “Then he still wants me out of here.” There was no question. He had said as much.

  “He is a man. He doesn’t really know what he wants. The boy needs to be fed and tended to. So does Reed, for that matter.”

  “Surely he could send to town for someone.”

  “He may do just that, but Lone Star is a town of families. There are no single women there who would take the position, at least none of good stature. If you care about Daniel, you will find a way to stay.”

  She hated the thought of walking out on Daniel as much as she did facing Reed again. What happened last night still made her cringe.

  Kate sighed, the basket in her arms growing heavy.

  Sofia gestured toward the bed. “Set that down, and I will explain the things inside.”

  Kate sat and Sofia lifted the lid. On top was a small, neatly folded quilt made of calico fabric stars. Kate reached in and drew the piece out. Mostly navy and red, not much larger than an oversize towel, it was the perfect size for an infant. It was faded in places, well worn and puckered from many washings.

  “That was Daniel’s. He took it with him everywhere. It was found near the burned out cabin the night his mother died.”

  Holding the quilt close, Kate peered down at the rest of the basket’s contents as Sofia began to draw them out, one by one.

  “This is a wooden horse that Scrappy carved for him.” She turned a fire-scorched and scarred toy over and over and then set it aside. “This silver cup is engraved with Daniel’s name.” The tarnished cup joined the wounded toy on the bed.

  Kate realized she was hugging the quilt, and she quickly set it aside, too.

  Finally Sofia withdrew a closed silver case that fit in the palm of her hand out of the bottom of the basket. She opened it. Inside was a photograph. Without a word of explanation, Sofia handed it to Kate, who found herself staring at the image of a young woman with long brown hair and dark, unreadable eyes. The similarity in size and coloring between Kate and the woman in the picture was undeniable.

  “That is Rebecca Greene Benton, Daniel’s mother.”

  “Reed’s wife.” Kate couldn’t take her eyes off the likeness.

  “Yes.”

  “This is why Reed Senior chose me.” Sorrow welled up inside Kate again. The deception came rushing back to her.

  “He chose you out of all the others—”

  “Because I looked like her.”

  “Because you reminded him of her, but in truth, you are far lovelier. I only hope that when Daniel sees that picture, he will remember his mother.”

  Kate doubted the boy would remember. He had been so young when he was captured; besides, he had most likely seen his mother die. What child’s mind would want to be awakened to such hideous memories? What adult’s would, for that matter?

  “After Daniel was gone, I cleared out the extra nursery that was here. I stored these few things that Scrappy recovered without telling Reed or his father. This basket has been in the attic, waiting for the day Daniel returned.”

  “You never gave up hope, Sofia?”

  “I am foolish enough to believe in miracles. This is the first time one has e
ver come true.” The woman raised her chin, showing her determined willfulness. “What of you, Katherine? Do you believe in them?”

  Kate set the silver case down alongside the other silent, poignant reminders of Daniel’s past.

  Miracles? Sainthood was bestowed on those who worked proven miracles. There were more saints than anyone could name, but did she truly believe?

  “I don’t know what I believe anymore. I let myself be taken in by your scheme because I wanted something so badly that I threw caution to the wind. The only thing I am certain of is that I can’t trust my own judgment anymore.”

  Sofia reached for Kate’s hands and held on tight, even when Kate tried to pull away. “Everything you dreamed of having is still here for the taking, Katherine. If you are strong enough. If you are determined. Daniel needs you. Reed needs you, too, although he doesn’t see that right now. Here is a home for you, a family, everything you wanted, everything you believed you were getting when you signed those proxy papers.”

  “Forged papers.” Kate felt her insides clench. “I believed a lie.”

  “Make your own miracle. Make it all come true. You are a teacher. Teach Reed to love again. Teach him to love his little boy again. Bring him and Daniel together. Fight to stay. Who knows? Perhaps you will all find love.”

  Kate thought of the cold detachment in Reed’s eyes and shook her head. “Why did he do it, Sofia? Why did he sleep with me?”

  “He was feverish. He thought you were Becky.”

  I love you, wife. “What chance do I have with him now? He hates me. After what you and his father have done, how can he ever look at me and forget that deception?”

  Sofia squeezed her fingers to get her point across. “I read your responses to those letters, remember? I know what is in your heart. I know how badly you want a home and family. How much you wanted this marriage to work—”

  “Stop saying that! There is no marriage. I don’t even know that man in there.”

  “Get to know him. Fight to save your dream.”

  Without another word, Sofia let go and walked toward the door. Then she paused. “One more thing, Katherine. If it turns out that marriage to Reed is what you want, then do fight for it, but not forever. Try, señora, but do not waste your life waiting for Reed Benton to fall in love with you. Do not make the same mistake I did.”

  Shaken, Kate found herself staring down at the little quilt, the scorched wooden horse, the tarnished silver, and the silver frame spread out on the bed. Pieces of Daniel’s past. Of Reed’s, too.

  Everyone but Sofia had given up hope, but by tucking these things away, the woman had kept faith in the boy’s return.

  Now she expected Kate to make her own miracle.

  14

  Wobbly as a newborn colt, Reed sat in the rocker and studied the bed. How was he going to make it back?

  Sofia had come in once more, changed his sheets, told him good-bye, and left him the letters the spinster had written to his father. He told her he didn’t want them, but she tucked them in the bottom drawer of the dresser before she walked out.

  Scrappy had already left for the Ranger camp to let Jonah know he would be laid up for a few more days. Finally, Reed had gotten up, determined to dress.

  He made it as far as the dresser, where he found his underdrawers washed and neatly folded inside. Struggling to get them on, he felt so faint that it was all he could do to get to the chair before he hit the floor.

  There he sat, light-headed, trembling, damning his weakness, trying—by sheer force of will—to gather enough strength to walk back to the bed, when he heard someone pause outside the door.

  There was only one person left who could be hovering on the other side. He wished to God he could simply ignore her, but he was starving and cotton-headed, and as much as he hated to admit it, Kate Whittington was the only one who could help him right now.

  He didn’t try to keep the resentment out of his tone when he yelled, “Come in.”

  There was more hesitation before the door slowly opened and the woman stepped into the room. Shock registered on her delicate features when she noticed his empty bed.

  She whirled around and her warm dark eyes found him immediately. A blush crept across her cheeks and down her throat when she realized he was sitting there in his long white drawers.

  He thought for a minute she was going to bolt, but then had to give her credit when she squared her shoulders and marched across the room to where his pants lay in a wad. Ignoring him, she picked them up, shook them out with a snap and draped them over the top of the chest of drawers.

  “Are you all right?” she asked.

  “Do I look all right? I tried to get dressed and almost passed out cold. Now I can’t even get back in bed.”

  Her forehead wrinkled in a deep frown. She looked everywhere but at him and finally wound up staring hard at his bare toes.

  He glanced down and realized he had not yet done up the four buttons down the front of his damn wool drawers. There was a yawning gap in the material over his privates.

  “No need to be embarrassed,” he said as he fought the stubborn buttons with fingers that were worthless. “Nothing down there you didn’t see last night.”

  After a gasp she said, “There is no need to be crude.” The retort was issued in little more than a whisper. Except for two bright spots of color on her cheeks, her face blanched white above the high collar of a sorrowful mud-brown dress.

  A long, strained silence followed before she volunteered, “Let me help you back to bed.”

  The offer surprised him. It meant she would have to move closer, even touch him. An unwanted image flashed into his mind, one of Kate with her long hair flowing free, cascading down her back. He could almost feel it swaying to the rhythm of her movements as she straddled him, riding him to fulfillment.

  He closed his eyes, shook his head. Now surely that was no more than a fever-induced hallucination. No virgin, no untried schoolmarm would have ever been so bold her first time.

  He caught the scent of roses. When he looked up again he found her beside him, waiting to help him to the bed.

  “Can you stand up?”

  Trim, but not overly thin, she did not look strong enough to lift him to his feet. “I think so. Just steady me.”

  He hated like hell to be dependent upon anyone, but most especially her, this woman who had been his father’s choice, the bait to lure him home. Sofia had claimed Kate innocent of his father’s scheme. If she was so innocent, why the hell had she climbed into bed with him?

  Without hesitation, she reached down and slipped her arm around his waist, rose with him as he pushed himself to his feet. When the room started to whirl, Reed found himself leaning more heavily on her shoulder.

  Her strength surprised him. She bore his weight without complaint as he forced himself to shuffle toward the bed, afraid that he would black out before they made it.

  The dizzying journey seemed to take forever, but eventually she was propping him up against the pillows and tucking him beneath fresh sheets.

  From all outward appearances, Katherine Whittington was all business, from the efficient way she turned down the top sheet and smoothed it across his chest, to the careful, measured way she poured another glass of water and handed it to him without his having to ask for it.

  Their fingers touched as he took the glass, and Reed was shocked at his body’s involuntary reaction to her. An arousing warmth coursed through him after the brief connection.

  He reminded himself that they had shared a bed last night. As he sipped the water, he wished the memory of it would come back to him in more than bits and pieces of recollection. She waited in patient silence to take the glass. He was careful to avoid touching her as he handed it back.

  His empty stomach growled louder than a bobcat when the water hit it.

  Kate carefully set the glass down on the precise spot where it had been. Absently, she stroked the tabletop and then looked at her fingertips, inspecting for
dust.

  “Are you hungry?” she asked over her shoulder.

  “I’m starved.”

  Initially she was silent; then she walked over to the rocker and perched herself on the edge. With her knees pressed together beneath her skirt, ankles touching, she primly rested her folded hands on her thighs and looked him in the eye.

  “Sofia left an hour ago. The way I see it, you have three choices, Mr. Benton. You can lay there and grow weaker, you can try to get up and feed yourself and Daniel, or you can hire me to stay on and run this house until you find a suitable replacement.”

  Scrappy wouldn’t return until tomorrow night at the earliest, and the way he felt now, he might very well starve. By then his intestines would be gnawing through his backbone.

  “You surprise me, ma’am. Blackmailing a sick man with food.”

  “I have no option, I’m afraid.”

  “I told Scrappy to look for a housekeeper in Lone Star on his way back.”

  Let her chew on that.

  Her face clouded over, but rather than feeling pleased with her reaction, he felt oddly guilty.

  “What about Daniel?” She sounded confident, but her bravado had noticeably slipped a notch. There was a telltale quiver in her smoky voice.

  “What about Daniel?”

  “He can’t walk. He certainly can’t care for himself any more than you can right now. I think he’s beginning to respond to me—” She stopped abruptly, as if loath to argue too strongly.

  Reed sighed and rubbed his shoulder. His damn stomach growled again, giving him away.

  He wished she hadn’t brought up the boy. He didn’t want to think about Daniel yet. The dirty, sullen creature he had fought with all the way home wasn’t his sweet little son anymore. Daniel was exactly what Reed had feared he would become if captured. Still, the woman was right. The boy needed care, and Reed wasn’t in a position to give it.

  Kate Whittington had him over a barrel, but if she knew it, it didn’t show on her face. He left her on pins and needles, wishing he had read some of her letters as he tried to recall everything Sofia had told him about her.

  She had given up everything to come to Texas. Supposedly she believed she was his wedded wife when she climbed into his bed last night, but she could have been aware of his father’s scheme when she stepped into his hallucination as Becky. By sleeping with her, he had unwittingly fallen into their hands. Still, in his mind he had every right to send her packing as soon as help arrived.