She quickly put her head back down to her knitting.
"What are you working on? You've been busy with that all day." They’d been stuck inside since the storm hit yesterday afternoon. So she'd pulled out her knitting and got to work while Malcolm went through the piles of paperwork he had to sort out.
"I'm making a nice scarf and some mitts for Lily. I thought she might like a nice little present."
Her cheeks were still burning, and she knew it wasn't from sitting too close to the fire. So she kept her eyes on her needles.
"Well, that's good. I was afraid it might be something you were making for Finnegan."
She dropped her hands into her lap, still holding her needles between her fingers. Looking up, she squinted at Malcolm and made her lips into an "o" shape. "Oh, I never even thought of that. What a good idea that would be!"
She smiled innocently before picking her knitting back up to continue. She didn't have to see him roll his eyes to know that's exactly what he'd be doing. They'd only been married for about a week, but she'd quickly picked up on his little habits.
He'd made it clear how annoyed he was at having to make the shelter for Finnegan, but at least he'd done it. She knew there probably wouldn't be many men out there who would be willing to do something like that simply because their new wife had asked them to.
When she'd sent him out this morning with some breakfast to put in the fox's bowl, he'd come in shaking his head in disbelief. Apparently, there were tracks around the opening of the shelter, the food was gone, and the blankets had remnants of white fur stuck in the fabric.
He'd spent the rest of the day telling her she was spoiling the fox. That he'd never survive on his own in the wild if she kept doing these things for him. But then, he'd still gone out later and put the food out from their dinner like she asked.
"I wonder what color of yarn I should use for Finnegan's. I think he'd look nice in something blue."
She smiled to herself as she looked up and saw the shocked expression on his face.
"Surely you're joking. You can't honestly be thinking of knitting a scarf for a fox!"
She laughed and shook her head. "Of course not. That would be silly. But I was thinking maybe some little booties for his paws to keep them warm."
When his mouth dropped open, she had to fight from laughing harder.
Finally, she couldn't hold her smile back any longer.
When he finally realized she was joking, he let out a breath and shook his head. "Well, with you, I never can be too sure."
She enjoyed how comfortable she felt with Malcolm. Considering they'd only met a few days ago, she'd instantly known she was safe with him. And she enjoyed spending time with him.
Even if he still hadn't tried to do anything to make theirs a true marriage.
She swallowed as she went back to her knitting, trying to ignore the twinge of pain she felt whenever she thought about it. She knew he'd said he'd court her properly, and that he wanted to give her time to be comfortable with him. And she truly did appreciate his thoughtfulness.
But sometimes, when she'd look at him, an ache would fill her as she wondered if it was because of her that he didn't want to take things further. Other than that day they'd come back from visiting Lily's family, he'd barely even taken time to hold her or even look like he might want to kiss her.
She knew she looked different. She always had.
And she'd never kissed a man. It had never been an option, because no one had ever come calling for her. Her beautiful sister had men coming around from the time she was of age, but none had ever shown any interest in Annie.
Setting one of the needles down, she brought her fingers up to her lip to touch the scar that had always been a part of her.
"Why do you always do that?"
Malcolm's voice startled her, and she whipped her head up to look at him. He was still sitting at the table where he'd been watching her. She brought her hand down and scrunched her eyes together in confusion. "Do what?"
He pushed his chair back and stood up, walking over. He crouched down on the floor in front of her and stared at her. "Cover the scar on your lip. I notice you do it all the time, and I want to know why you do it."
She wasn't sure how to answer him. No one had ever come right out and talked to her about it like this before. Usually, people tried to pretend they didn't notice.
"I...I'm not sure. I hadn't noticed I did it."
That wasn't true. She did notice, but usually not until after she'd already done it.
He reached out and pulled her hand down as she’d been starting to bring it back up, holding it on her lap so it couldn’t move. He was waiting for her to tell him the truth.
Swallowing hard, she couldn't seem to take her eyes away from his. "I guess I just try to hide it, so it isn't so noticeable. When I'm talking or laughing, or people are watching me, I get nervous that the only thing they can see is the scar, so I guess I try to cover it up."
His thumb was moving back and forth, gently caressing the skin on the back of her hand. He furrowed his eyebrows together and shook his head. "Well, don't do it. You have no reason to cover anything up. If anyone can't see the beauty in your face beyond the scar, then I'd say it doesn't matter a bit what they think. You told Lily the other day that it made her special. Why can't you believe the truth in your own words?"
She was trying to concentrate, but the way his thumb was moving against her skin was doing strange things to her stomach.
"Lily is a beautiful little girl. It's easy to see how special she is." Her voice was barely above a whisper as she stared into the blue eyes of this man crouched before her.
His jaw clenched tightly, and he stood up, pulling her up with him, while her knitting fell to the floor. The hand that wasn't holding hers came up and gently touched her lip. No one had ever touched her scar on purpose, except for her doctors.
"You're beautiful too, Annie. And you better start believing that. Out of all the girls I met that day at Miss Hazel's, you're the only one who took my breath away. You've continued to do it every single day since. Can't you see that?"
She was sure her legs were about to give out. Her pulse was so loud it echoed in her ears. His arm went down and around her waist, holding her firm in front of him.
No matter how hard she tried not to cry, she could feel tears forming in her eyes. Having someone say those words was more than she ever dreamed could be possible for her. Blinking fast to hold them back, she swallowed again.
"I wasn't sure. I mean, you haven't seemed to be interested in me too much, so I thought maybe..." Her voice trailed off as she struggled with the words.
"Oh, Annie, you have no idea how wrong you are. I was only keeping my distance, giving you the space I thought you would need to let me court you properly. It's just proving to be a bit more difficult being up here, and then there's the fact we're already married and living together. And sharing a bed."
When he said the last words, her heart somersaulted. They shared a bed, but he'd been a perfect gentleman. He’d never tried to make any advances that might not be welcomed by her, even though he had every right as her husband.
He tugged her forward, putting both arms around her. Her own hands went onto his shoulders as she continued to look into his eyes. She knew right at this moment, she didn't have to hide her scar from him. He wasn't seeing it.
He was only seeing her.
As his head lowered, she forgot how to breathe, waiting for his lips to touch hers. When he did, tenderly pressing against hers, she was lost. Emotions like she'd never experienced in her life took over her, and she put her arms around his neck, pulling his head in closer.
His lips moved on hers, and his mouth continued its exploration as his hand slid up between her shoulders, gently stroking the skin on the back of her neck.
When he finally pulled back, they were both gasping for breath as they tried to make sense of what had just happened. Her cheeks burned as she realized how wanton sh
e'd acted.
But before she had any more time to think about it, he was lifting her into his arms and carrying her across the room.
"I promise to court you properly, but not tonight. Tonight, I need to show you how beautiful you are. We'll have the rest of our lives for me to court you the way you deserve."
Chapter 11
She was content to just sit in the sled today and let Malcolm do the driving. Although she secretly suspected that if she'd asked to drive, he'd have let her. The storm had finally let up overnight as she'd been lying in Malcolm's arms, unable to sleep.
Everything still seemed so much like a dream. Never in a million years would she have imagined herself being able to find a man like Malcolm. She'd hoped she could after she'd seen how her friend Claire had found love with her Mountie, Nathaniel. But while growing up, she'd never believed it could be possible for her.
The only men she'd known growing up had been ones like her father. Those were the kind of men he brought around the house. Men who treated women like property and who had no respect for them whatsoever.
Her father had treated her mother terribly. And only after he was arrested and placed in jail, did Annie get to see a glimpse of the woman her mother used to be before her spirit had been crushed by that man.
The man standing on the dogsled behind her, calling out commands to the lead dogs, was never going to be like that. He was the commander of a group of Mounties, completely in charge of keeping control of the community of Reindeer Rock and surrounding areas. Yet, he never acted like he was above anyone else.
He was able to command respect from others because he gave it to everyone he met.
As they pulled into the small village of cabins where Lily lived, a group of kids ran around in the center clearing. They were laughing and having fun, enjoying the newly piled snow that had fallen during the storm.
Her eyes moved around the area, hoping she would see Lily out playing too. When she finally found the girl, she was sitting on a log alone in the far corner, looking down while she petted a small dog she held on her lap.
Malcolm came around and smiled down at her as he reached out for her hand. She wondered if she'd ever be able to look at him again without her cheeks catching fire. "I hope the ride wasn't too uncomfortable. There was no way a horse could have made it through all this snow, so Colton and I figured the dogsleds would be much easier."
Colton and Gemma had come too. Annie was excited to introduce Gemma to everyone while Colton and Malcolm talked with some of the men in the village to see how they'd fared during the storm. They wanted to try finding some evidence about the missing money.
She let him help her up, and as she did, she struggled a bit to stand in the deep snow. He held her against his chest as he grinned down at her. "If it would be easier, I could always carry you."
His voice was low and full of promise. She slapped him gently on the chest and stepped back. "I'm fine. It's just a bit hard to stand in the snow without falling over. You'd be the same way if you had to wear these ridiculously long skirts too."
He laughed and moved over to start unhitching the dogs from the sled. "Well, I'm not so sure you'd want to see me in a skirt. I don't think it would show off my legs enough." He bent over to undo the first dog. "Besides, if you’d rather not wear a skirt up here, you could always sew yourself some trousers."
Her mouth dropped open in shock. While she hated wearing skirts sometimes, the thought of wearing trousers like a man had never even crossed her mind. Although she admitted now that it might not be such a bad idea.
"You'd allow me to wear trousers?" She couldn't believe he'd even suggest such a thing.
He just shrugged as he continued to work. "I want you to be comfortable. And it's not like we're going for afternoon tea with the king or anything while we're living up here." He looked up at her and wiggled his eyebrows. "You don't need to be wearing a skirt for me to see how beautiful you are."
He seemed to be enjoying making her flustered today.
"Well, I might just do that then." She turned away from him, and almost ran straight into Gemma who'd come over.
"You two always make me smile. I never know if you're being serious or not."
They started walking into the center of the village.
"I don't know what it is but sometimes he just says something that gets me all kerfuddled..." She laughed as she looked over at Gemma. "Is that even a word?"
The women both laughed as they trudged though the snow, holding their skirts up with one hand and their baskets full of goodies in the other.
"I can see he makes you...kerfuddled."
Annie smiled over at Gemma. "How about Colton? Has he been making you kerfuddled?"
Gemma glanced over to where the men were now shaking hands with Hawkeye and some of the other men. She was still smiling, but Annie had the feeling she was feeling a great deal of confusion by the look in her eyes. "I don't know if kerfuddled would be the word. Maybe more just fuddled." She turned to look at Annie, and they both burst out laughing.
By now, they'd walked over to where she'd seen Lily. The child stood up and ran over to meet her. The poor puppy was dropped to the ground unceremoniously as the girl seemed to have forgotten all about it.
"Annie!"
She crouched down to give Lily a hug as she ran over. "Hi, Lily. This is my friend, Gemma."
Lily peeked up, not lifting her head completely, to look at the woman beside her. Annie grinned as Gemma crouched down beside her in the snow to look directly at Lily. "So you're, Lily. Annie has told me about you, and she was right about you being a beautiful girl. I've never seen anyone with eyes as big as yours, and your hair is so shiny. I wish I had hair like yours."
Lily's eyes lit up at hearing a woman as stunning as Gemma saying she wished she had her hair.
Annie reached her hand down to pet the puppy who was winding around their legs. "Who is this little guy? I didn't know you had a puppy."
Lily bent over and picked him up, beaming as she snuggled the squirming ball of fur up next to her cheek. "This is Winston. My uncle got him from a man who was getting rid of puppies. He thought it would be nice for me to have some company." She looked longingly over at the kids running around by the trees. "I think it's just 'cause my uncle knows I have no friends. He doesn't want me to be lonely."
Annie wanted to march over to the other kids and start screaming at them for being so mean. But she also knew that wouldn't really solve anything anyway. Lily was going to have to learn to deal with the stares and mean people throughout her life, even after she had the surgery. So she was going to have to come to terms with it and accept what fate had dealt her, and hopefully someday she would have the confidence to make real friends.
Reaching into her basket, she pulled out the scarf and mitts she'd knitted. When she handed them to Lily, the girl's eyes filled with tears as she looked at her.
"I made these for you, Lily. I hope they'll keep you nice and warm."
"These are for me?" Her voice came out in a surprised whisper.
The sound of crunching snow behind her made Lily look over Annie's head.
"She spent hours working on those for you, Lily. She wanted to have a nice present for you. In fact, she was so busy knitting, she completely forgot to make me supper!"
Annie stood up to move back beside Malcolm. "I did not forget to make you supper." She looked back at Lily who was giggling. "He's lying. It was just a bit late, that's all." When she winked at Lily, the girl came over, dropping the puppy back on the ground again as her arms went around Annie's waist.
"Thank you so much."
Annie looked at Malcolm over the top of Lily's head. He was watching the girl with a sad expression, and she knew he was feeling exactly the same as her. This little girl didn't have much, and the thought that someone would steal from her, knowing it was money to be used to improve her quality of life, made Annie angry.
By the look on Malcolm's face, it made him angry too.
"I've always wanted a puppy of my own, but my father would never have allowed it. He didn't like animals."
Malcolm turned slightly to look at her with the puppy held up against his chest. "Well, that explains why you’re trying to turn Finnegan into a pet."
Gemma was walking on the other side of Lily, with Colton beside her. "What do you mean? How are you trying to turn Finnegan into a pet?"
Annie rolled her eyes in Gemma's direction, showing her annoyance with Malcolm's comment. "Oh, just because I've been leaving some food out for the fox now and then."
"Let's not forget the fact that she sent me out in a snowstorm to place some nice warm blankets for him."
Colton's laughter had Malcolm scowling in his direction. "Don't laugh too hard, Colton. I suspect there will be many things you'll end up doing now you're married that you never believed you'd be doing. And that includes making a bed for a wild animal to stay warm."
Colton just shook his head as he continued to chuckle. "Well, I don't know. Seems to me, it might be easier for you to just get her a puppy. A lot less dangerous for you."
Chapter 12
Malcolm went over the notes once more, sure he was missing something. Both Hawkeye and Ida had given him names of suspicious people who could have taken the money but Malcolm just couldn’t find any proof.
He’d always been the type of man who knew if he could trust someone right from the first time they met. He could sense when someone wasn’t being honest. And when he’d gone to talk to the people they’d suggested, he just didn’t feel in his gut that they’d been the ones who took the money.
A couple of them were likely the type who could have done it easily, but the proof wasn’t there to charge them. One of the men, Pete Laurier, was the most likely suspect, so he’d mentioned to the other Mounties to keep an eye on him.
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