“Save our wedding.”
She looked up at him, astounded. “But I thought that you wanted to be with—I mean—”
The door came open as Kitty Cat entered, singing a song that Miss Hanson must have taught the youngsters. The little girl became silent when she looked at Mr. Foley. Hurrying across the room, she grasped Rachel’s skirt.
Rachel put her hand on Kitty Cat’s shoulder and said, “Good afternoon, Mr. Foley. It’s later than I thought, and I must begin preparing supper.”
Mr. Foley picked up her bonnet and hung it on the peg by the door. Again he acted as if he had already moved into her house. She banked her shudder as her mind added, and into my bed.
“We’ll have to have our carriage ride another day,” he replied with a cool smile.
As he walked out, Rachel sank to the sofa. Kitty Cat climbed into her lap. Putting her cheek against the child’s red curls, Rachel knew she should not have suggested that she would go to the Assembly of Elders about Mr. Foley’s liaison with Miss Turnbull. He had so much influence among the Assembly of Elders. She wondered how he would use it to make her comply and which of his threats he would put into action.
One thing was clear: Mr. Foley intended to stay in Miss Turnbull’s bed even after he wed her. Miss Turnbull was welcome to Mr. Foley. Rachel would be glad to be rid of him. Yet her heartache did not lessen. Merrill would be horrified, and this could tear at the very soul of River’s Haven. So many trusted Mr. Foley, and he had lied to all of them.
Just as Wyatt warned he would.
Wyatt was always honest with her, even when she did not want to hear what he had to say. He would accept no compromises and expected her to be the same.
If Mr. Foley spread his poisoned tales, all the blame would shift to Rachel. She remembered the family who had been banished from River’s Haven because they would not accept the Community’s rules. A shudder ached across her shoulders. Mr. Foley had voiced the complaints against them. When they had left, he had been given a seat on the Assembly of Elders. Had he used them to gain himself that prestige?
With a sigh, she knew she must be careful. She no longer knew whom she could trust in River’s Haven. She feared it was no one.
Nineteen
When her office door opened, Rachel whirled, her pink striped skirt swirling around her knees. Her eyes widened as Wyatt entered. Despite herself, she could not help admiring the sleek motion of his muscles beneath his cotton shirt and dark trousers. Sweat stained his collar, and she guessed he had been working hard on The Ohio Star, even though it was barely past sunrise.
He gave an appreciative whistle. “Very nice. You look like a sweet ready to be opened, honey.”
“What are you doing here?” She set down the book she had been looking at by the window. “Weren’t all the parts you ordered already picked up?”
“The parts are fine. I came here today to get K. C. to take her into Haven to finish up the decorations for the parade. I promised her that I would when I saw her in town yesterday.”
“She didn’t mention that she’d seen you.”
“No?” He shook his head with exaggerated regret as he sat on the corner of her desk. “And here I was hoping that you were all prettied up because you knew I was calling.”
“If you haven’t noticed, it’s very hot This is my coolest dress.”
His arm slipped around her waist as he drew her to her feet. “I hear there’s a pond out near Jennings’s farm where the kids go swimming.”
“I don’t own a swimming dress.”
“You wouldn’t need one if it’s just you and me.”
She closed her eyes to exult in the caress of his mouth against her neck and the image of his sleek body stroking hers in the cool water. His lips were a flame on her. Her arms curved up along his back as his mouth claimed hers. His eager fingers roamed along her when he tilted her back over his arm.
He lifted his mouth away from hers to whisper, “I’ve missed not seeing you for the past two days, honey, and I missed this.”
“Me, too.” Putting her hands on his cheeks, she brought his mouth down to hers.
He pulled her even closer. His hard body fit along her perfectly. All of her craving to love him again surged through her.
“If you keep doing that, we’re going to be late.” Kitty Cat’s voice was filled with irritation.
Rachel gasped. She had not heard the door opening again. If someone else had seen her in Wyatt’s arms … She began to laugh at the sight of the little girl standing with her arms crossed in front of her, her toe tapping impatiently. Squatting down, Rachel straightened the white bow at the waist of Kitty Cat’s dress. Its green plaid was the perfect complement for her bright red hair.
“Why didn’t you tell me you’d asked Wyatt to come and take you into Haven?” Rachel asked. “He’s very busy with The Ohio Star, you know.”
“I told you. I told you during …” Kitty Cat giggled. “I meant to tell you during dinner last night.” She glanced quickly at Wyatt and then away before scurrying out of the office.
“What was that look?” Wyatt asked. “She acted as if she’d let the cat out of the bag.”
Rachel sighed as she came to her feet. “Merrill and his new wife ate with us last night.”
“And pestered you to explain why you haven’t gotten hitched to Foley yet.”
“Among other things.” She forced a smile. “How’s the work coming on The Ohio Star?”
“Why don’t you come into Haven with us and see for yourself? Don’t give me the excuse that you’ve got too much work to steal a few hours away before the rest of River’s Haven is awake.”
“It wouldn’t be an excuse.” Her smile became more genuine. “I do have a lot of work.”
“And how are you going to concentrate on it when you’re so curious about the boat?”
She glanced out the window. His offer was so tempting. Too tempting. She should walk away. Far away. So far away that this compelling man would no longer be a part of her life or Kitty Cat’s. How much farther would she have to go until she could forget the thrill of being in his arms?
Wyatt watched Rachel’s face, which revealed every thought. She was going to turn down his invitation. He could tell that by how her smile wavered. What had her brother said to her last night that had pulled her right back into line with River’s Haven’s laws? Or had it been Browning? Maybe Foley had said something to her.
“If you aren’t coming out to The Ohio Star today, Rachel,” he asked, “will you visit during the Centennial celebration tomorrow?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know if we’ll be there.”
“On the boat or at the Centennial celebration?”
“Either.”
As she turned away, he caught her hand. “Rachel …”
“I have all this work to do. It’s going to take all day, and I want to be done so I can make Kitty Cat a good supper. She always is so hungry. Maybe because she’s growing so quickly.”
“And what of me?”
“You?”
He closed the door and stepped in front of her. As his fingers swept up along her face to tangle in her hair, he drew her so tightly to him that not even a sunbeam could slip between them. He bent so his eyes were even with hers. Her warm breath brushed his lips.
“I hunger, too,” he murmured. “I see you holding K. C. to your breast, and I envy her.”
“Wyatt, don’t say this. Please don’t say anything like that again.”
“I thought we were going to be honest with each other.”
“I thought we could, but some things need to remain unsaid.”
He brushed a strand of hair back from her cheek. The soft silk stirred the craving in his gut. A craving that was as impossible to forget as this lovely woman who had infected his life with a fever for her.
His fingers slipped through her hair and tilted her mouth beneath his. He teased her lips with the tip of his tongue. As they softened, he tasted a hint of her morning c
offee within her mouth. That was sweetened by her own dulcet flavors. As her breath pulsed, swift and eager in his mouth, he tightened his arms around her. He ached to sweep aside her pretty dress and hold her silken skin against him.
His hand brushed her breast, and she moaned against his lips. Delighting in her pleasure, which fired his own, he stroked her supple curves until she quivered with a need that tantalized him.
At the sound of footsteps in the corridor, he reluctantly released her. His fingers lingered on her cheek as he said, “I’ll make sure K. C. gets home before supper tonight.”
He thought she might ask him to join her and K. C. for the evening meal, but she replied only with, “Thank you.”
Walking out of her office, he wondered what she was hiding. K. C. must not know, for Rachel would not have allowed the little girl to go with him, knowing how K. C. liked to chatter. This was a mystery he was going to have to unravel on his own.
Rachel was startled to see Wyatt and Kitty Cat waiting in the cottage when she arrived back there at day’s end. They had opened all the windows that she had closed, fearing the heavy clouds building to the west meant rain. The clouds had passed overhead without releasing any rain, and now the sky was once again clear.
Kitty Cat ran up to her, prattling about the decorating she had done with the children in Haven and interrupting every sentence to say: “And wait until you see it, Rachel!”
“I can’t wait.”
“So,” Wyatt drawled, “does that mean you’re coming into Haven tomorrow for the parade and social?”
“Several people from River’s Haven have expressed interest in attending the celebration,” Rachel replied, hanging up her bonnet, “and Miss Hanson and the other teachers have decided that the children in River’s Haven should have a recitation like the students in Haven will. I don’t want to miss Kitty Cat’s hard work.”
Kitty Cat cheered and danced around the room.
Wyatt watched the little girl. “K. C. tells me that you play the guitar well.”
“The guitar?” She had not expected him to change the subject so abruptly.
“How about showing me after dinner?”
Rachel laughed. “You’re about as transparent as a handful of water.”
“I didn’t intend to be mysterious, too.”
She picked up a bucket of vegetables that she had asked to have delivered from the Community’s garden. Sitting at the table, she began to chop the ends off the onions and early potatoes.
He plucked the knife from her hand. “Let me while you serenade us.”
“I thought you wanted to wait until after dinner.”
“So am I invited to stay?”
Smiling, she said, “I don’t think I have much choice.”
“Honey, I’ve told you over and over that you’ve got all kinds of choices. You just have to grab the one you want.”
When he held out his hand to her, she slipped her fingers through his. Wyatt infuriated her. He was demanding, sure of himself, and yearned to remake the world to meet his expectations. In those ways, he was like her. As he ran a crooked finger along her cheek, she reveled in the thought of how different he was as well, so male and dangerous.
“There are some choices I don’t have. I can’t keep you here with Kitty Cat and me,” she whispered.
“No, but—”
“Don’t make your offer to me again.”
“Why?” he asked, looking up from the vegetables. “Because you might accept it?”
“Because we might have another argument, and I don’t want to quarrel again when you’re leaving on The Ohio Star so soon.”
When Kitty Cat bounced into the kitchen to sit next to Wyatt, she watched as the two of them teased each other during the preparations for their simple supper and throughout the meal. Kitty Cat adored Wyatt, and Rachel could understand why. He treated the little girl with a mixture of tenderness and teasing and with honesty.
As soon as the dishes were done, Wyatt sent Kitty Cat to retrieve Rachel’s guitar. The child was barely out of earshot before he asked, “Why didn’t you tell me that it was her birthday tomorrow?”
“I don’t like to think about it.”
“Why not? Don’t you celebrate birthdays in River’s Haven?”
“Of course we celebrate birthdays. It’s just that Kitty Cat is turning seven.”
“So?”
She could evade the question as she had before, but Wyatt had to know why Kitty Cat would not be coming to The Ohio Star after tomorrow. “When a child turns seven at River’s Haven, that child goes to live with the other children in a special section of the common house.”
He stared at her. His mouth opened, then closed. With a curse, he strode across the main room to look out the window. “Why didn’t you tell me this before?”
“I’ve been trying to put it out of my mind. I don’t want her to go.”
“Does she know?”
“She knows the rules, but I don’t think she’s connected them with herself.” She said nothing else as Kitty Cat came into the room, balancing the guitar with care.
“Play my favorite song first,” the little girl requested as she sat next to Rachel on the sofa.
Setting the guitar across her lap, Rachel asked, “Wyatt, are you going to join us?”
He nodded and walked back to sit on her other side. Sorrow lengthened his face, just as it had when he had fought the fire on The Ohio Star. It startled her, for she had not guessed he would care about Kitty Cat or anything or anyone else as much as he did his boat.
Rachel pretended not to see his expression as she asked quietly, “Are you set to sing?”
“Why don’t you warm up your fingers,” he replied. “Then we’ll sing K. C.’s favorite song.”
She tried to respond in a cheerful tone. “You sound as if you don’t believe I can play very well.”
“I’ve no doubts that you do everything well.” His fingers teased her nape, and she closed her eyes to bask in the fleeting caress.
“C’mon and play, Rachel.” Kitty Cat jumped up. “I want to sing and dance.”
Rachel chose a piece that required every bit of her concentration. That way, she must think of the notes and not of how Wyatt’s leg brushed hers as she bent over the guitar. The music lilted through the room, lingering even after she had played the last note.
“Lovely!” Wyatt clapped.
Kitty Cat giggled. “I told you she played very pretty music.”
“So you did.” He tapped her on the nose. “I guess I’ll have to listen more closely to you from now on, K. C.”
“She’s going to teach me to play!”
“Is that so?” His expression was somber as he turned back to Rachel. “After your birthday?”
“It’s tomorrow!” Kitty Cat spun on her toes again. “My birthday and the country’s birthday. Don’t you think it is just perfect that we both have the same birthday?”
“I think I’d like to hear you and Rachel sing.”
Rachel settled the guitar on her lap and said, “You can sing, too, Wyatt. Do you know ‘Greensleeves’?” When he nodded, she picked the first few notes on the guitar. She smiled at Kitty Cat and said, “Now.”
Wyatt started to sing, but let his voice drift away as he listened to Rachel sing with the little girl. Rachel let K. C. take the melody while she and the guitar combined to create the harmony for the haunting tune. The sad song in its minor key took on new life as they sang it together. If he had not known before, he could see now how much Rachel needed this little girl and how much K. C. needed her. It would not matter whether they lived in the middle of this silly utopian experiment or in the little village of Haven or in the biggest city in the land. They belonged together.
His arm tightened around Rachel’s waist as she swayed with the gentle rhythm her fingers drew from the strings. When she and K. C. finished the first verse, her hands remained on the strings, but she did not continue to play. His breath caught as Rachel raised her eyes to
meet his. The rhythms still swirled through him, enticing and urging him to sweep away the song’s sorrow as he brought her to the pinnacle of sensation when he was once more a part of her. The subtly passionate words touched him as never before. All he wanted was his arms around her and his mouth on hers.
K. C. throwing her arms around him halted him from giving into that temptation. He looked past her to see Rachel smiling.
When she began to play another song, he was not surprised that it was a lighthearted tune that suggested no illicit pleasures. Her voice and K. C.’s entwined again.
Wyatt looked toward the door as he heard footsteps. Neither Rachel nor K. C, who was skipping about the room in time with the music, seemed to take note of them. They were having too much fun singing.
Foley appeared in the doorway, frowning as he pulled off his hat. He walked in without waiting for an invitation. As if he already could claim Rachel for his wife.
Silencing that thought before it burst out of his mouth, Wyatt warned himself to take care. Foley could not hide his growing rage that Rachel was sitting next to another man. When Browning and his new wife appeared behind Foley, Wyatt wondered if they had come along in hopes of forcing Rachel into something she wanted to avoid or just in hopes of seeing the confrontation. They might get more of an eyeful than they had hoped for, because Foley had his arms locked tightly over his chest and wore an expression that suggested he had caught Rachel in a heinous crime.
Something must have alerted Rachel. She looked up from the guitar and paused in midnote. K. C. gave her a curious glance, then turned. She edged closer to Rachel. Leaning the guitar against the end table, Rachel put her arm around the little girl’s shoulders.
“Good evening, Mr. Foley,” said Rachel as she rose. “And Merrill! You brought Helga with you to pay a call. This is quite the surprise.”
“Apparently,” Foley growled.
“Too bad you weren’t here to join us for dinner, but you’re welcome to join us in singing. It’s a wonderful way to forget the day’s heat.”
Moonlight on Water Page 22
