Lily had brought out an oil lamp to give them some light, and sometimes a moth fluttered against the glass chimney.
Living out in the woods for long periods, he rarely had time to sit and visit with the neighbors. Relaxing with them and watching Sophia brought him contentment.
Sophia had taken off her hat and bared her head. Neither of the Walkers even blinked in surprise. Her close-cropped hair only served to showcase her beauty, revealing her delicate-featured, oval face and the animation in her long-lashed violet eyes. When she spoke, her voice was soft and throaty, pleasing to his ears.
Finally, the purple shadows of dusk brought their socializing to a close, and the Walkers bade them good night. Gid put Julia on her pony and took Darcy’s hand. Together, the three headed off into the deeping indigo of the evening.
Lily watched them leave. “If that long walk doesn’t urge the baby to come soon, I think he’ll be a stubborn soul.”
“Why did you use stubborn and he’ll in the same sentence?” Kael asked in a lazy drawl.
Sophia chuckled. “I think you know the answer to that.”
Just to be contrary, Kael kept teasing. “I think stubborn fits a she far better than a he.”
Lily raised her chin. “Perhaps. But I think Darcy will have a boy. I hope so, for their sake. I know the pleasures of having one of each.” She glanced over at the quilt were Adeline slept. Earlier Oliver and Julia had played with the baby so much they’d worn her out.
Oliver had curled up on the blanket beside Adeline and, from the heaviness of his eyes, would soon follow his sister into sleep.
Kael let out a slow breath and stared into the sky. “Tomorrow is sing-to-the-moon night.”
Sophia’s brow wrinkled. “What?”
“A tradition in my family,” Kael explained. “On the nights when the moon is full, we like to sing. Out on the porch, if the weather is good, or even semi-good, and we wrap up warmly.” He made his tone light so as to not reveal how seriously his family took the ancient tradition. “Probably goes back to our pagan roots, something to do with druids and wolves.”
“Oh, you mean howl at the moon,” Tyler quipped.
Lily smacked his arm. “The Kelleys sing beautifully, and you know it.”
“It’s all right, Lily,” Kael said with a wink. “Tyler’s just jealous because he does sound like a wolf baying when he sings.”
Everyone chuckled.
Tyler rubbed his chin. “Might be a bit of truth to that.”
Lily rolled her eyes, and Kael and Sophia laughed.
Sophia raised her eyebrows. “Does it have to be at night time?” She made a silly me gesture with her hand. “Well, of course, if it’s about the moon….”
Kael shrugged. “We do sing at other times, although maybe not the three of us. With me away at the logging camp, we have few chances to celebrate the full moon together.”
“I want to hear your family singing to the moon.” Sophia fluttered her eyelashes at Kael in a way that set up a corresponding quiver in his midsection. “Do you think your parents would mind if I invited myself over?”
Lily stiffened and frowned at her sister.
Kael knew Lily was concerned about Sophia hurting him, but right now, he didn’t care about future pain. He liked the idea of introducing her to his parents.
Tyler reached over and patted his wife’s knee, giving her unspoken reassurance. He nodded at his sister-in-law. “Go in the daytime, Sophia, but leave early or you’ll be traveling home at night. Under the full moon, you’ll hear real wolves baying.”
Sophia frowned. “They won’t attack, will they?”
“Nah,” Kael drawled, although he shot Tyler an annoyed look for frightening her. “The wolves have their own concerns.” He almost added, like feasting on the calves at Green Valley Ranch, but not knowing how squeamish Sophia was, thought better of saying so. “I wouldn’t allow you to travel home alone, anyway,” he told her, his tone firm.
Lily wrinkled her forehead. “Escorting Sophia will take a lot of your time, Kael. Spending the night here. Going home, coming back, sleeping over again, then heading home, all to indulge my sister.” She gave Sophia a quelling look, obviously admonishing her not to press forward with the plan. “And your reputation….”
“Who will know?” Sophia shrugged. “Besides, I’m an opera singer. I’m already gossiped about.”
He shrugged and raised his injured arm. “Right now, I have nothing but time.” Sure, he should be making railroad ties, but Kael would sooner be with Sophia and work hard later to make up for lost time. He looked over at her. “I wish I could invite you to stay the night. But our home has only one room.”
Lily gave a sigh of apparent resignation. “If you want Sophia there tomorow, your family will just have to sing to the moon during the daytime. After all, the moon is still up there in the sky, even if we can’t see it. Not that your family can’t also sing in the evening after my sister’s returned home.”
Kael glanced at Sophia. “Will that solution satisfy you?”
She playfully pouted, as if trying to decide.
He wanted to kiss those plump, sweet lips.
“Oh, I suppose a daytime visit will have to do.” She tilted her head and peeked from under her lashes. “Perhaps next month, your parents can come here and spend the night. I’ll give up my room.”
The suggestion made his chest ache, although he froze the smile on his face. Even for Sophia—for he knew she’d wrap Leith around her little finger—Kael doubted his father would have the strength to make the journey. Suddenly, his enjoyment of the pleasant evening diminished.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The next morning, Sophia strolled with Kael in the shadows beneath the trees, the temperature dropping from the heat they felt when in the grasslands. The scent of evergreen sap added a spicy tang to the air. A low breeze rustled the leaves overhead, giving the impression of the trees whispering to each other, and brushed soothing coolness over Sophia’s face. She had a sense of the forest being alive and aware of their presence.
When they’d left the ranch, Sophia drove the buggy and Kael rode Big Brute. As they came to the edge of the forest, they’d had a brief debate about whether Sophia should continue driving.
Now that she could speak again, Sophia wanted to walk and talk with Kael, something hard to do when he rode the big horse alongside the tiny buggy, while she drove the Falabellas. She had to crane her neck to look up at him, making conversation difficult.
Yes, the journey was long, but since arriving in Sweetwater Springs, her appetite had returned, and she’d rapidly regained her strength. She felt almost back to her old self—at least in the physical sense.
In addition to talking, Sophia hoped for some kisses along the way. With that in mind, she’d disguised her stubbornness about their walk with a flirtatious manner, which, of course, won the argument for her. They left the horses in the corral in a nearby line shack where the cowboys were working today.
With his free hand, Kael took hers, his clasp rough and warm.
Sophia had gone on many a stroll, holding onto the arm of a debonair man. But never had she held hands with one. Their closeness made her heart beat in double time and added an unexpected intimacy to their walk.
Tilting her head to see him from under the wide brim of her straw hat, Sophia gave Kael a coquettish look, then moved her free hand to toy with a windblown tendril teasing her cheek, only to find no hair to brush away, only the ribbon of her hat.
The reminder chilled her, and Sophia felt the flirtatous energy drain out of her. She wanted to turn away from Kael. Instead, she gave him a polite smile to cover up her dismayed reaction.
He stared into her eyes, his brow furrowed. “What just happened?”
She tried to speak lightly. “I’d forgotten that besides my voice, I’ve also lost my looks.” In spite of her care, bitterness seeped into the words.
Kael cocked his head. “So what does being unattractive mean to you?” he a
sked in a curious tone.
Sophia had expected a social disclaimer or a banal compliment—the kind most men would give her—something along the lines of, even without her hair, she still outshone every woman for miles. She flinched as if smacked. Hurt and shame, deep and dark—lodged in her stomach and gripped her throat.
This time she did turn away. Sophia didn’t like learning about how much her appearence meant to her, how accustomed she was to being showered with compliments and took them for granted, or how she disliked her hair when she should be grateful for her health. Most of all, she hated the unsettled feeling of having lost her way.
Kael stopped walking and faced her. “Sophia?” He touched her face. “You didn’t answer my question.”
The understanding look in his eyes softened the grip around her throat so she could speak. “I don’t know who I am.”
His thumb brushed across her cheek. “Never in a million years would I have thought I shared anything in common with you—the beautiful, elegant, successful Songbird. But I understand your feelings all too well. I’m struggling to figure out the same thing.”
Grateful for his understanding, she gently laid a palm on the hard plaster cast surrounding his injured arm and remembered what he’d told her about the deaths of his two men. The connection comforted her and made her reaction to the loss of her hair seem trivial. After all, her hair would grow back eventually, while Kael’s men would forever lie in their graves. “Losing your men, especially so tragically, is a terrible blow.
Without another word, they began walking again. A few minutes passed in companionable silence.
“See the windflowers.” Kael pointed to a shy clump of five-petaled white flowers growing in the patch of sunlight between trees. “‘Earth laughs in flowers,’” he quoted.
Sophia gazed at him in astonishment. “That’s from “Hamatreya” by Mr. Emmerson.”
Kael chuckled. Laugh lines crinkled around his eyes, and he appeared carefree. “Don’t look so surprised, Sophia. If you were neighbors with Gideon and Darcy Walker, you’d speak in quotes, too.”
She laughed. “That’s probably true.” She’d heard plenty of examples last night. “I like how Gid often uses a quotation instead of regular speech.”
“After a while, you learn to interpret him. That is, if his wife’s not around to do so.”
At one point on their walk, Sophia saw Kael studying a stand of trees. She indicated them with her chin. “I would imagine, for you, a walk among the trees is like a rancher surveying his herd, or a farmer his growing fields.” She liked her similes and expanded on them. “A housewife her flock of chickens. An opera singer her audience.”
Kael laughed and looked thoughtful. “Perhaps in a way, however, I also admire God’s majesty.” He pointed a finger upward. “The Almighty planted the trees, not me….”
“That’s true.”
“When I’m working, the timber just becomes something to be cut down and shipped off….” He shrugged. “I had to lose the concept of trees being beautiful, else I couldn’t destroy something so majestic.”
How sad. She wondered if other lumberjacks felt that way.
Kael pointed. “See that spruce?”
Her gaze followed to a tree. Seemed like an ordinary conifer. “What about it?”
“A few years back, I was walking along here and saw a black bear cub in the branches, about ten feet up. Appealin’ little fella. But there’s only one problem with bear cubs.” His eyes twinkled.
“What?” she asked, caught up in the story.
“Mama bears.”
“Oh, dear.”
“As soon as I saw that cub, I knew the mother was bound to be around, and I was in a heap of trouble. I started to quietly backtrack, but then I caught a glimpse of blackish-brown about thirty feet thataway.” He indicated a patch of bushes. “She hadn’t caught wind of me yet, but I knew when she did, I wouldn’t have time to run. Wouldn’t do me much good because she’d catch me quick.” He strode a few yards away and tapped a tree with his knuckles. “So I climbed.”
Sophia glanced up. The trunk had no branches for about ten feet. “How?”
Kael lifted his foot and tapped his sole. “Luckily, I was wearing other boots that have spikes. I went up that trunk in a burst of fright.” He pointed to a branch. “Made it there before the mama bear’s first charge. Just out of reach of a wide mouth full of teeth.”
Her heart pounded, and she placed a hand on her chest.
“Mama Bear charged again, and I could see she wasn’t giving up. I positioned myself on the branch, sitting with my legs drawn up. On her third charge, I kicked out, hitting her between the eyes with my spikes.”
Sophia gasped.
“Stunned, Mama Bear went down. Then she got up, looked offended, and prowled to the cub. She gave snuffing orders. Bet he could tell he was in trouble, because down he came, bawling. His ma gave him a swipe on the behind, and off they went.” He grinned at her. “I stayed up in the tree until my hands stopped shaking. All I could think was that it was a good thing she wasn’t a grizzly, for I wouldn’t have climbed high enough in time.”
Sophia looked at him in amazement and then gave a fearful glance around. The woods no longer seemed so magical, but a place where danger lurked behind every bush. She shivered and moved closer to him.
He placed an arm around her waist. “I won’t let anything happen to you. Any critter—bear, cougar, or moose—would have to come through me first.”
“Moose?” A moose didn’t sound dangerous. “Aren’t they sort of like reindeer with wider antlers?”
“Moose might not have claws and fangs, but the creatures are mighty big, and those antlers are lethal.” He released her to indicate the size with his good arm. “I’ve had a couple of run-ins with moose. Actually, I had one, and my dog had one.”
“Your dog?” His grin was so charming, Sophia couldn’t help smiling back, despite potential threats from dangerous animals that might be lurking.
“When my pa left to become a lumberjack, he got us a dog for extra protection—a medium sized terrier/hound mix. Rufus. I named him for his reddish brown coat. He had this way of smiling as he wiggle-walked toward you, his backside never quite lining up with his frontside. I loved that dog with all my boyish heart. Best companion you could ever have.”
Sophia could name a long list of family pets—both domestic and wild—due to Emma’s proclivity for bringing them home. But she was content to just listen to Kael’s story.
“Well, one time, a big ole moose came around the house.” He sketched out the size with his good arm. “The dog attacked him. I thought that moose would kill Rufus, for sure. So I ran into the house for the rifle and when I came out, they weren’t in sight. But I could hear Rufus barking so I ran after them. Chased that darn dog nearly five miles, because he wouldn’t give up. The whole time, I was so afraid, thinking the moose would turn on him and run him through. Finally caught up with them when Rufus had the moose cornered.”
Engrossed in the story, her heart speeded up. “What did you do?”
He winked. “Well, we had plenty of moose meat all winter.”
She laughed, greatly enjoying herself. “Tell me about the other time.”
“Well….” Kael paused, teasing her with the suspense. “I was out exploring. Left Rufus home with Ma. Walked through a stand of pine and spotted another bull moose, as big as could be. I scrambled up the nearest tree, but the branches were too thin to hold my weight. I had to leap from tree to tree like a giant frog before I found an oak strong enough to hold my weight. Then I hunkered down and waited until the moose lost interest and moved on.”
“What will we do if a bear or moose sees us? I can’t climb a tree.” She pulled at her skirt, holding it out to the side.
“I’ll toss you up on a tree branch, and you’ll be fine.”
She tapped his broken arm. “Toss me in a tree, eh?” She shook her head. “I’d best purchase a pair of bloomers so I can climb the tre
e myself.”
“Bloomers?” His forehead scrunched.
“A modern female garment, sort of like full pantaloons under a short skirt, which allows for freer movement.”
“Doesn’t sound very free to me. Probably still not easy to climb a tree wearing that kind of outfit.” His eyes danced. “Probably best to just wear britches.”
At his suggestion, her breath caught in scandalized shock.
Sudden laughter creased his face. “Sometimes female clothing looks mighty outlandish as well as uncomfortable.”
He does have a point. She chuckled in agreement.
His expression sobered. “Would you think less of my mother if I told you she sometimes dons britches? Some chores just aren’t easy or safe in a dress. And, out here, it’s not like anyone would see her.”
“I envy your mother the freedom,” Sophia said frankly. “I’ve worn britches as a costume, and couldn’t believe the difference. Aside from the constriction of a corset, tight sleeves, and skirt, a woman’s outfit can be so heavy. Thank goodness, fashion has changed, and women don’t have to wear hoopskirts and bustles.”
His face relaxed. “I’m glad you think that way and won’t judge my mother. We are descending on them unannounced. I know I told you an unexpected visit would be fine, but that means you’ll have to take them as you find them.”
“Lily tells me your parents are fine people. I’ll be honored to make their acquaintance.”
Kael beguiled her the rest of the journey with his tales of forest life. He was a natural storyteller, although Sophia suspected he also wanted to distract her from the long trek and keep her from talking too much.
Sophia’s energy ebbed. How foolish I was to think I could do this when, only a few weeks ago, I was at death’s door. Nevertheless, she was too proud to admit she was struggling and needed a rest.
Just as her feet started to hurt and Sophia was on the verge of giving up and collapsing on the next downed tree trunk or flat rock, Kael slowed their footsteps.
“The house is just up ahead.”
Sophia had to disguise her relief.
Singing Montana Sky (The Montana Sky Series Book 7) Page 23
