She was crossing the common area on her way to her office when she saw Wyatt strolling toward the common house. He must have sensed her gaze, for he looked over his shoulder. He smiled as he walked toward her. She watched every motion he made, for each was as graceful as if he moved to a melody she could not hear. Today he had dispensed with his fancy clothes. As he came closer, she saw the oil on his clothes was matched by a shiny splotch across his forehead where he must have wiped away sweat. He was carrying a small burlap bag.
“Good afternoon, Rachel,” he said.
Her heart did a somersault as his voice caressed her name the way she wished he would caress her. Clasping her hands behind her back before she could throw her arms around him and kiss him, she smiled.
“Horace must have gotten all the broken parts out of the boiler.” She continued walking in the direction of the common house. The metal shop was around the back of it on the side opposite the stables.
“Most of them.” He put his hand under the bag and jiggled it. “I swear almost every moving part connected to that boiler is in this bag. Captain Hancock should have blown his own head of steam before the boiler blew.”
“Who is Captain Hancock?”
“The man who was in charge of The Ohio Star when she went up on the sandbar.”
“I thought you or Horace had piloted the boat.”
He shook his head. “If one of us had been in the pilothouse, The Ohio Star wouldn’t be needing all these repairs now. From what I’ve seen, I’d guess that Horace can pilot a whale through a keyhole.”
“That might be a bit of an exaggeration.” She laughed.
“A riverman’s prerogative.”
“How many fish tales have you told me, Wyatt?”
He reached out to take her arm, but halted as he glanced over his shoulder at the common house. “That blasted monolith just sits there, lurking like a channel change in the river to catch anyone who doesn’t watch out.”
“I have often thought that might be why it is as big as it is.”
His brow furrowed. “You don’t like it either, do you?”
“How can one like or not like a building?” She pointed to her left. “The metal shop is that way. I need to get back to my work.”
“Back? Where have you been?”
“About my business, if you must know the truth.” She gave him a cool smile. “Everything within the borders of River’s Haven is my business, just as everything on The Ohio Star is yours.”
He motioned in the direction she had pointed. “Then tend to business. Show me the metal shop, honey.”
“Wyatt, I told you not to call me that here.”
“I heard you, and I’ll try not to call you that here again, although it’s difficult when your lips are as sweet as honey.”
Rachel turned to walk away. This man refused to see sense in any form. She faltered when he said to her back, “I want to apologize.”
“You? Apologize?” She faced him.
“It has been known to happen,” he said, walking to her.
She glanced away, for she was not prepared to confront either the longing in his eyes or the need it brought to life within her. “I should apologize to you as well. I should have believed you when you spoke about Kit—about her going to The Ohio Star. I don’t make a habit of calling visitors to River’s Haven liars to their faces.”
His roguish grin returned to match the twinkle in his eyes. “Do you make it a habit of calling visitors to River’s Haven liars behind their backs?”
Rachel stared at him, then laughed. “I guess I deserved that.”
“You deserve more than that.” His smile warmed, and that enchantment he spun threatened to engulf her again.
And she was tempted to let it. A single glance from him, and she had to fight not to press up against him, drawing his mouth to hers.
Rachel said nothing, and she was surprised when Wyatt was silent, too, while they walked toward the metal shop. As they approached it, the odors of heated metal and the clang of the tools reached out to guide them into the shop.
The shop was longer than the stable. Even though there were windows every couple of feet along the walls, the interior was dim. Dirt strained any light that tried to reach inside. The floor, tables, and every flat surface were littered with filings and ruined pieces of whatever the shopworkers had been trying to make. Machines that reached nearly to the roof obscured the workers.
“There are women working in here!” Wyatt gasped from beside her.
She laughed. “I thought you would have realized by now that we don’t do things like everyone else. I handle the finances, and these ladies run machinery.”
“It’s not—”
“Natural?” she asked.
“I was going to say, it’s not a bad idea to teach everyone to work the machines.” He grinned. “You’re as prickly as a porcupine about this Community, aren’t you?”
“Only because I’ve had to defend it too often. In my position, I meet a lot of people who do business with River’s Haven, but with about as much pleasure as if they were doing business with the devil.”
He laughed. “I’ve done business with the devil, and it’s not like this.”
Rachel wanted to ask him what he meant, but bit back her question when Mr. Dow rushed over to greet them. The man looked as if he had been stretched through one of his machines, for he was the tallest man in the metal shop and not much wider than Kitty Cat. His canvas apron had several pockets that were filled to overflowing with tools, measuring devices, and slips of paper.
Mr. Dow barely waited for her to introduce him to Wyatt before he held his hand out for the bag. “What do you have in there, son?”
Wyatt opened the bag and laid the broken parts on a nearby table. Dow mumbled to himself as he examined each piece, and Wyatt watched Rachel, who was waiting with a patience he had not guessed she had. He listened when she answered several questions for Dow. She had not been bragging when she had said that she was deeply involved with the work done at River’s Haven. Picking up a piece of paper, she shook bits of metal and dust off it. She found a bottle of ink and began to make notes as Dow continued to appraise each piece.
She was smiling when she looked up. “I’ve got good news for you, Mr. Colton.”
He was momentarily startled by what she called him, then remembered what she had said about formality in the Community. It seemed ludicrous to him, but it apparently worked for these people.
“And what good news is that, Miss Browning?” he asked in the most innocuous voice he could manage.
Her eyes glittered with laughter that she did not free as she held out the page to him. “I’m happy to be able to tell you that Mr. Dow believes he can do the job for even less than I estimated. Nearly ten dollars less.”
He tore his gaze from her smile to look at Dow who was gathering up the pieces to take to his workers. Knowing he should not risk a good thing, he had to ask, “You can make all those parts in the same grade metal for this price?”
“All our work at the River’s Haven Community is of the highest quality,” Dow said in a tone that suggested he was the schoolmaster about to rein in a much younger Wyatt.
“He didn’t mean any insult,” Rachel said quickly. “I guess I’m so accustomed to the question, Mr. Dow, that I forget you don’t hear it from our other customers.”
He harrumphed and walked away.
Wyatt shook his head. “I apparently said the wrong thing.”
“The very worst thing.” When she put her hand on his arm and steered him toward the door, he realized he had disparaged Dow even more than he had guessed. Her laugh sounded as young as K. C.’s giggle when they stepped out of the shop. “Mr. Dow is very, very proud of the work that comes out of his metal shop.”
“I guess I was luckier than I’d imagined when I tied up The Ohio Star in Haven.”
“You were.” She paused on the walkway and said, “Now I must leave you here and go to my office to finish up some wo
rk.”
“Where is it?”
She pointed to the uppermost floor. “The fourth window from the left.”
He whistled with awe. “You must have quite a view of the river from up there.”
“It’s nice, but the best one is from the bedroom window in my cottage.”
“Your bedroom? Care to let me take a gander?”
Color soared up her face as if she had come in contact with the sun. “Wyatt, please remember where you are.”
“I remember quite well. Otherwise, do you think I would have let you go so long without a kiss?”
He could not mistake the pleasure and the craving in her eyes as she said, “I appreciate your restraint.”
“You’ve got no idea how much restraint, hon—Miss Browning.” He laughed when she did. Good, he liked seeing her happy, because there was something so scintillating about her smile. “Which cottage is yours?”
“The one with the red door.”
“Red door?” He laughed harder, even as he took note of which one it was. The cottage was closer to the riverbank than he had expected. If he stole along the shore from his boat and climbed up the bank, he could slip into her house without anyone in the Community—but K. C.—being the wiser. And if he was lucky, even the little girl would not know of his call on Rachel on a starlit night when he could persuade her to forget about all the restrictions of River’s Haven and surrender to her passions.
“What’s wrong with a red door?” she asked.
“Don’t you know that a red door along the river means the same as a red light?” When she gave him a puzzled frown, he explained, “That’s like putting out a sign that you’re running a brothel.”
“A brothel?” She chuckled. “Not likely. Wyatt, I’ll send you a message when the parts are ready.”
“Before you go …” He took her hand, shifting so that no one could see that he held it. She glanced around, but he put his finger under her chin and tipped her face back toward him. “There’s a social being held in Haven for the Fourth of July.” He smiled. “Reverend Faulkner tells me it is to celebrate the Centennial as well as the children in the school finishing their term. He wants to invite the kids from the River’s Haven school, too.”
“I haven’t gotten permission yet for Kitty Cat to work on the parade decorations, so I doubt if the Assembly of Elders would be willing to let the students from River’s Haven participate in the exercises in Haven.”
“I wasn’t mentioning it because of the children. I was asking if you wanted to go.”
“With you?”
“That’s usually how it works when a man asks a woman to a social event.”
“Why are you asking me?”
“I could tell you that Reverend Faulkner suggested that I ask you.”
“He did?”
“The good reverend said it’d help your ankle get some needed exercise so it will heal.”
“Wyatt,” she said, with a pleading look on her face, “you know I should tell you no right now.”
“I know, but you haven’t.”
She dampened her lips with her tongue, which he wished was touching him. “Let me think about it.”
He tossed caution aside and let his hands frame her face. “No, don’t think about it. Then you’ll think of all the reasons why you shouldn’t go to it with me. Say yes now, because of the only reason you should go to it with me.” His thumb followed the same path her tongue had. “Say yes, honey.”
“You’re putting me in a difficult position.”
“It isn’t my intention to put you in a difficult position.” He chuckled. “I have a few other positions—very pleasant ones—I’d like to have you in.”
“You’re a rascal, Wyatt Colton.”
“I readily admit that, so why don’t you admit just as readily that you want to go with me to the social?”
“I do want to go with you,” she answered in a husky whisper that sent a tightening quiver all along him.
“Then come with me.”
“I should—”
“You should do what you want to do for once. You work hard for this Community. It’s time it let you have a night to kick up your heels.”
Happiness blossomed in her eyes. “Yes, I should.”
“Then it’s settled.”
“Wyatt,” she gasped, “I didn’t—”
He put his finger to her lips. “Let me know when the parts will be ready, and get your prettiest bonnet ready to wear to the social.” As his thumb stroked her lower lip, he whispered, “In the meantime, I’ll try not to let my lips envy my thumb too much.”
He bid her a good day and walked away before she could give him another reason why she should obey the stifling rules that she so obviously found as chafing as K. C. did. As he passed the end of the common house, he looked back over his shoulder. She was standing just where she had been when he headed back toward the river.
All alone.
As he stared across the empty river, Wyatt was sure that walking away from her had been the most difficult thing he had ever done. If he could convince her to succumb to the need he had seen in her eyes and felt in her innocent touch, she would not be spending too many more nights alone while he and Horace finished the repairs on the boat.
He was insane to want her. She was one of the fools at River’s Haven. Yet he wanted her in his bed.
Was he mad? He had made a vow a long time ago never to get mixed up heart deep with some woman. It was just inviting trouble. If he had not known that before, he was learning that now. He must keep her out of his heart, but that did not mean he had to keep her out of his bed. He began to whistle again as he strode along the riverbank. He had been lucky when he tied up the steamboat to the Haven pier, and he was going to enjoy every bit of this good fortune as long as he was here.
Nine
While drying the dishes, Rachel sang a song she had heard Kitty Cat sharing with her friends earlier in the day. It was a nonsense song, but the words suited Rachel’s mood. Agreeing to go to the Centennial social with Wyatt yesterday might have been the silliest thing she had ever done. No matter. She was going to enjoy the anticipation.
She put the final dish back onto the shelf over the table. The last social gathering at River’s Haven had been only days after Kitty Cat had been placed out with her, and Rachel had not wanted to leave the little girl alone. She had gone to the barn raising at the Sawyer farm after the spring flood, but, if there had been any dancing there, Merrill had insisted that they leave before it began. Going to Haven to the Centennial social would make up for missing those two chances to swirl about to music.
The front door opened, and she smiled as her brother walked in. She wanted to run to him and share her joyous news. She must be careful how she let him know of Wyatt’s invitation. Merrill always treated her as if she were still a child who tagged after him wherever he went, wanting to share whatever mischief he might find. He had not been pleased with how often she had to leave River’s Haven to do the Community’s business. So she teased him that he should not be so old-fashioned when the rest of the Community accepted her role in it.
Merrill was smiling even more broadly than she was. He pulled out a chair by the table and sat.
“You look to be in an uncommonly cheerful mood this morning, Merrill,” Rachel said as she poured a cup of coffee from the pot on the stove and set it in front of him.
“That’s because I am an uncommonly happy man.”
She sat beside him. “Can it be that you’re bringing me the tidings I’ve been expecting to hear all week?”
“Probably.”
“So you finally had the courage to ask Miss Page to be your next wife?” She laughed when he gave her a playful frown. Pushing the sugar bowl toward him, she added, “I know this is what you had hoped for.”
He stirred two spoonfuls of sugar into his cup, but did not take a taste. “It is.”
“Tell me what she said when you asked her.” She leaned her elbow on the table
and rested her chin on her hand. “I’m sure she wasn’t surprised.”
“No, and she was very pleased. Now that the Assembly of Elders has approved—”
“Already?”
He continued to stir his coffee, paying no attention to what he was doing. “I asked Miss Page to marry me a few days ago. I didn’t want to tell anyone until the marriage was approved.”
“Not even your sister?”
“No, because I didn’t want you to be disappointed if the marriage wasn’t approved.” He grimaced when coffee splashed out onto the table.
Rachel stood and went to get the wet rag she had been using to wash the dishes. As she dabbed up the spilled coffee, she was glad of the chance to get her thoughts in order before she answered Merrill. She did not want to ask him if he had feared that she might go to the Assembly of Elders and ask them to keep the wedding from being held. That petition was the right of every resident of River’s Haven, although she had never heard of it happening. She might not like Miss Page, but Merrill did, and that was what mattered.
After putting the cloth back into the bucket by the stove, she sat again. “Merrill, I’m happy it has worked out just as you’d hoped.”
“It has. I thought we could have a double wedding, Rachel.”
“Double wedding? You and Miss Page and who else?”
“Miss Page and me.” He smiled. “And Mr. Foley and you.”
“Mr. Foley?” She stared at him in shock. Gripping the edge of the table, she tried to think of something else to say.
He stood and squeezed her shoulders. “He asked me a couple of days ago to give him my permission for him to call on you and arrange for your marriage.”
Rachel came to her feet again as she remembered how Mr. Foley had expected that she had had a conversation with Merrill about something important. Had he greeted her in his office with the anticipation that she had come to accept his proposal?
Calvin Foley was a handsome man and well respected in the Community. In addition, he was one of the smartest people at River’s Haven. She found his conversation interesting and his ideas challenging. She would enjoy discussing most topics with him. The only problem was that she did not love him. As she imagined him holding her as Wyatt had, she hugged her arms to herself to keep her shudder hidden.
Moonlight on Water Page 10
