by Paty Jager
She unpinned her hair and dragged her fingers through the disheveled mass.
A knock on the door echoed above the clacking of the train wheels rolling over the tracks.
“Rachel? Are you all right?”
She didn’t answer. Wasn’t ready to face anyone, even Clay.
The door opened. “Rachel?” Clay stood in the threshold, his brow creased.
“I’ll be out in a moment.” She couldn’t hold back the slight tremor in her voice.
“What’s wrong? Are you alone?” He stepped into the small area. His presence bolstered her courage.
“I’m alone. I-I’m…My makeup smeared last night, and I had to take it off. I need my bonnet, but that won’t hide it completely. I don’t want my hideous face to be my first impression on your brother.” She sounded so shallow, so like her sister. Ugh! That was it. She’d leave her hair down and be damned what others thought.
“Hank will like you because I do.” He held out a hand. “Are you finished? If so, come on. Others would like to use this room without me standing in it.”
“Go back to our seats. I’ll be there in a moment.” Rachel walked over to him. “Thank you.” She stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. A wave of desire rippled through her at the rough texture of his unshaven face.
“For what?”
His husky tone and hand cupping the back of her head, holding her on her toes spurred her emotions into a frenzy. “For checking on me,” she said on a breathy sigh.
Clay had decided to keep his hands off her and convince her to go back to Salem after he kicked her in the compartment. He didn’t want to cause her any pain or be a burden to her. But the vulnerability over her scar and the way she melted in his hands, he couldn’t let her go, even knowing it would be the best for her. He brushed his lips across hers and captured them in a searing kiss. This morning he’d awakened wanting her. After tasting her the night before, he would want her every single day. She’d become his elixir for life.
“Ahem.”
“Sorry.” Clay slipped Rachel’s hand over his arm, and they walked out of the washroom and the fifteen steps to their seats. If not for his hold on Rachel, the sway of the train would’ve thrown his stride off. He’d noted the train swerved into more curves since they awoke.
“Oh, they already put the beds away.” Rachel’s hand slid down his arm, grasping his fingers and tugging him down. He reached out, feeling for the seat, and sat on the velvet surface.
Her arm bumped his shoulder. She fidgeted with her hair.
“If you weren’t done you could’ve stayed in the washroom longer.” He stilled her hand and realized it was the side of her face with the scar.
“I’m just—”
“Trying to hide the scar.” He placed a finger alongside her face and ran the pad down her raised skin. “It’s your heart that matters, not what you look like.” He kissed the scar and drew his fingers through her silky loose hair.
“I try to remember that, then someone stares at me, and I grow conscious of my scar again.”
“Hold your head high and no one will say a word.” He settled back on the seat and placed his arm around her shoulders.
Rachel leaned against him. “The scenery outside the window is beautiful.”
“It’s a lot like Sumpter. Same mountain range.” He fiddled with the hair hanging over her shoulder. “I hope you like the mountains. I’m pretty sure we’ll stay in the office at the stamp mill. The cabin is one room and not a good place for a woman to stay, though Darcy spent the night there once.”
He snorted, remembering the night Gil brought home the snip of a woman and her brother. Gil and Darcy had slept in the same bed right there in the middle of all the rest of them. At the time he’d been jealous his little brother had found a woman who loved him in spite of his having run away from his family and being sour on mankind.
Clay kissed the top of Rachel’s head. He’d found his woman. Now, he needed to prove to himself and everyone else he could take care of her. Especially if she’d become with child last night. Her fear of that happening constricted his chest. What made a doctor so fearful of having a baby? Her explanation was poor. Did she really believe he was incapable of taking care of her and a child? Is that why she was so adamant to get her practice established? His head throbbed and his chest tightened to think she didn’t have faith in him.
“I’ll need to stay in town if I’m going to set up a medical practice.”
The slight waver in her voice perked his senses. The skeptical tone said she still didn’t believe he wouldn’t stand in her way to be a doctor.
“I’m not going to hide you away at the mill. We’ll stay there a couple days. I’ll get caught up on what’s happening, find out what houses are available, and find a shop for Donny, Jasper, and me. If the house we get won’t work for your doctoring, we’ll figure something out.” Clay slid his hand under her hair, settling his palm around the base of her skull. He turned her to face him. “I’ll keep my promise. You can be a doctor.”
Her small fingers scratched across his whiskers. “That is one of the things I love most about you. Your promises.”
The clatter of the wheels on iron slowed, as did the motion of the train.
“We must be nearing Meacham.” He kissed her palm and wished he could show her how he really felt about her, but that would have to wait until they were alone.
Chapter 24
Clay waited until the other passengers left the train. From his trip to Salem, he knew they had barely twenty minutes to get food. The other travelers would’ve already filled the railroad stop restaurant. He didn’t plan to eat here, only stretch his legs.
Rachel tugged on his arm. “Shouldn’t we hurry to the restaurant?”
“No. While they’re known for their good food, it’s expensive, and we’ll have to hurry. We’ll go to the buffet car after a walk. They’ll have sandwiches and sweet breads.” Clay turned. “Let’s walk down a street and back, my legs need stretched.”
The board platform of the station gave way under his feet to the hard packed ground of a street. The noise and bustle of the station faded. In the distance, the whirl of saw blades and the hollow thunk of wood hitting wood grew. The tang of freshly sawn lumber wafted across the cool air. He’d visited here a couple times with Ethan when they negotiated lumber for the stamp mill. Meacham was noted for its excellent railroad stop and lumber.
“This town has few business establishments. I only see the railroad hotel, which is magnificent, a general store, and several wood yards.”
Rachel’s hesitant steps roused his curiosity. “Do small towns bother you?” He stopped. If this town with the bustling railroad bothered her how would she feel in more rural Sumpter? “We can go back to the train if you’re uncomfortable.”
“It isn’t the town so much as…” She pulled him closer and spoke low. “There’s a man watching us.”
“What does he look like?” They were close enough to Sumpter that it could be someone he knew.
“About my height, long scraggly brown hair and beard, small pointy nose, and he limps prominently on his right leg.” She shuddered. “There’s just something about the way he’s staring that…”
Clay didn’t know who the man was, but he didn’t like the fear in Rachel’s voice. “Let’s go back to the train, I’ve stretched enough.”
The twist of her body every five steps told him she still watched the man.
“Is he following?”
“Yes, sort of. He could just be going the same direction.” Her uncertainty ignited his protective instincts.
“Let me confront him.” He stopped and pivoted, releasing her arm.
“He’s gone now. See, I was being fearful when there was no need.” Her relief rushed out on a sigh.
Clay wasn’t so sure. But who would follow them unless it was someone who realized he was blind and planned to rob them? He ground his teeth. He’d not let anyone harm Rachel.
“Here’s our co
ach. I’ll leave you and find that buffet car you mentioned.” Rachel’s voice drifted above him as she climbed the steps.
He grasped the handrail. “I’ll go with you.” Clay climbed the stairs and settled a hand on the middle of her back.
“There’s no need—”
“There is. We’ll stop a porter or conductor and ask where to find the buffet car.” He kept his hand on her back as they walked down the aisle and stopped.
“Sir, where might we find the buffet car?” Rachel asked.
“Go back through this car and keep going, you’ll find it between the first and second class cars.”
“Thank you.” Rachel twined her fingers with his and walked back the way they’d come.
She stopped. Air puffed across his face and the squeak of metal on metal pierced the air.
“Watch your step, there’s a gap between the platforms as we step from one coach to the other.”
He followed Rachel’s voice and the tug of her hand, stepping wide. The fresh air was replaced by the stale air of confinement. They’d entered another coach.
“Everyone must be either walking or eating in town,” Rachel said. Their steps clunked on the wood floor. “This is what I remember riding in when I went to school, the leather padded seats. Not the plush velvet and beds of the palace car.”
A squeak. Fresh air. Wind ruffled his hair again.
“Another gap. Careful.”
He again stepped wide.
The aroma of bread, coffee, and apples wrapped around Clay. They’d reached the buffet car.
“Oh, this is more than I’d thought. They have tables and… Oh, look, sweet rolls.” Rachel pulled him to a stop. “We’ll have two coffees. Do you also want milk or water?”
Clay shook his head, enjoying letting her make the decisions.
“And two of those, two of those, and two of those.”
He chuckled. “Who all are we feeding?”
“Just us. I want to make sure I get something you like.”
“Fifty cents,” said a male voice.
She released his hand. The muffled jingle of coins and the sound of pottery sliding emerged over the low conversations of others in the car.
“Here.” Rachel grasped his hands, turning them palm up.
A plate weighed down each hand, and he wrapped a thumb around the edges. Rachel hooked his elbow, and they walked several steps before she stopped.
A clunk of two cups placed on wood resonated in front of him. She took the plates. Pottery thunked on wood.
“There’s a bench seat to your right.”
He grasped the table and sat. Something tapped his feet. He reached out with a foot and met the soft resistance of fabric. Rachel sat across from him.
A plate bumped his hand resting on the table.
“At three o’clock is a ham sandwich, six is a sweet roll, and nine is an apple,” Rachel said as a cloth fluttered over his hand. “And here is a napkin.”
Clay caught her hand. “You take good care of me.” He raised her knuckles to his lips. “Tell me now if you feel you’ll tire of helping me. I don’t want you waking one day and resenting me.”
Her fingers squeezed his. “I don’t see that happening. You give me freedom to be a doctor, you give me your respect and admiration, and you care for me. That’s more than many women have.” She sighed. “I feel blessed to have you.”
His heart opened even more to her. He bit his tongue to hold back his proclamation of love for her. He’d wait. A month—for her to see if she could live a rural life. If she still felt the same about him and doctoring miners, he’d tell her and marry her. But not before he was certain she had no misgivings about them.
He kissed her knuckles, again, hoping she liked Sumpter and his family.
Her intake of air jerked his attention to the present.
“What?”
“That man from the street. He just stuck his head in and looked right at us.”
Damn! Who was this man and why was he following them into the train? Clay shot out of his seat.
“No!” Rachel’s hands clutched his arm. “You can’t go after him.”
Clay sat as frustration seethed through him. He couldn’t go after a man he couldn’t see. He’d not let Rachel out of his reach until they connected with Hank in Baker City.
“Eat.” He shook off the tension, relaxing his muscles, and picked up his sandwich. “We’ll go back to the coach as soon as we finish. If you see the man again, try to get me close. I have a couple questions I’d like to ask him.”
Rachel could barely swallow her sweet roll. Clay wanted to confront the man. There was no way she’d take him knowingly to the man. He’d looked shifty and angry. A combination she knew meant trouble. If the man appeared again, she’d try not to reveal it to Clay through her actions. If the man followed them to Baker City she’d point him out to Hank.
Clay finished his meal and sat quietly. She didn’t like the fact he was so quiet. What was he thinking about? How to confront the man? After the sweet way he’d treated her when they first sat down and his fear she would grow tired of him, she wasn’t about to put him in danger. She would prove to him she could stick it out and that she loved him.
“I’m finished.” She slipped her apple in her handbag. It would make a hard weapon to swing if need be.
Clay stood, holding his hand out to her. She rose, rubbing her body against his. Let his mind wander to thoughts other than the stranger.
He grasped her upper arms and drew her body flush with his.
“I’ll do everything I can to keep you from harm.” His warm breath scented with coffee fluttered the curls around her face before his mouth descended. His lips parted in a wet, hot, deep kiss. Cinnamon, sweetness, and coffee lingered on his tongue as it caressed hers. The sensation weakened her limbs and left her hazy.
She clutched his jacket to remain standing when he drew back. “You kiss me like that and you’ll be mopping me up off the floor.”
He hugged her tight. “Sorry, when I think of losing you…”
“You won’t, at least not if I have anything to say about it. Come on. Let’s go back to the coach.” She twined her fingers with his. Several of the women in the buffet car glared. She didn’t care. When Clay wanted to kiss her, she’d allow it.
Rachel kept an eye out for the man on their way through the cars. She didn’t see him and hoped he’d decided against whatever he’d had in mind when following them. At their compartment, she sat, drawing Clay down beside her and snuggling against his side.
“How much longer until we reach Baker City?” Her stomach churned worse than when she’d taken the doctor’s exam. Would Clay’s family accept her? The churning slowed and her anxiety turned to excitement. She couldn’t wait to see the world Clay grew up in. It would show her so much about him.
Her breasts tingled as his arm pressed against them. Sweet memories of last night whisked through her head. They also needed privacy to talk about last night.
“We’ll be there around noon.” He wrapped his arm around her. “I hope he brought a horse for me to ride. I’ve missed riding while at the school.” His fingers ran up and down her ribs. He always found a way to touch her, and she enjoyed every second his fingers traced her body.
“Did you do a lot of riding after the accident?”
“Horseback is about the only way other than walking to get around in the Cracker Creek area. That’s where the cabin and the mill are located.”
“How do you get supplies to the mill?” She’d never been into any remote areas other than a picnic or two outside of Salem as a child.
“There’s a road to the mill, but if you’re traveling between mines you have to go through the woods, into and out of canyons, and over hills and mountains.” He leaned his head on hers. “We’ll find you a place in Sumpter so you don’t feel so isolated.”
“All aboard!” the conductor hollered.
The train’s deep blasts of air, summoned the travelers. Activity o
utside the window caught Rachel’s attention. Passengers bustled out of the railroad hotel hurrying toward the train.
“I’m glad we walked and ate in the buffet car.” Rachel pressed her body tighter against Clay as the train rocked from people climbing on board and hurrying to their seats.
“I remember the hassle of feeding Ethan, Aileen, the kids, and me when we rode the train to Portland.” He chuckled. “I found the buffet car when I wandered off by myself. Ethan wasn’t too happy with me.”
Rachel stared at him. The man didn’t let his blindness stop him from anything he set his mind to. With this determination he shouldn’t have any doubts about his abilities, yet he did. She’d help him see he had no limitations.
“I imagine you scared them all wandering off like that.”
“Scared isn’t the word I’d use for Ethan’s reaction.”
The whistle blew again in longer bursts and the train started forward.
“What is Hank like? Will I get to meet any of your other brothers?”
“Hank is quiet. You think he’ll never get anything done he’s so laidback, yet he does more work than two men in a day. I know you won’t meet Ethan for a while. He and Aileen and the kids were headed to England to see about some land in Aileen’s first husband’s family. Zeke and Maeve, it depends on where their working. They’re both Pinkerton detectives.”
Rachel stared at Clay. Pinkerton detectives. “My, your family is interesting.”
“And Gil, Darcy, Jeremy, and baby Sadie will most likely be there when the train pulls in. I swear that snip of a woman has more energy than ten.”
She laughed. “I’m looking forward to meeting all of your family. They all sound wonderful.”
Her breath caught as the pointy-nosed man stepped into the coach, peered directly at them for a moment then ducked back out.
“You saw him. Is he in this car?” Clay’s body stiffened and his arm squeezed around her.
“No, an animal was nearly struck by the train. It just startled me.” The lie, her pounding heart, and Clay’s hold squeezed breath from her lungs. Why was the man following them? What were his intentions? And how could she protect Clay when she had no idea what the man wanted?
