Chapter Forty-Five
After the service Cade made his way out of the church, pausing to visit with well-wishers. Now that the children were settled and he had recovered from his bout with measles, Zoe knew their days together as a family were over. Reverend Munson’s sermon had been poignant, but they had come too far to abandon reason.
Cade promised to make the parting brief and unemotional. He’d tell the children that something came up and he had to leave. He wouldn’t mention that he wasn’t coming back. In time she would have to find the words to explain why he hadn’t returned.
Zoe watched him shake hands, and she knew she’d miss him even more this time. Her newly formed family would never be the same once he was gone. He’d leave a void big enough to throw Herschel Mallard’s dead bull through, but that was the bargain they had struck. Endless lonely days and cold nights was the price she must pay for the children.
The crowd started to disperse and Cade took hold of Will’s hand. Zoe noticed Missy playing nearby in a mud puddle and sighed. “She’ll ruin her dress,” she told Cade.
“It’ll wash, won’t it?”
She called for Missy to come to her, fishing a handkerchief out of her handbag. As Missy ran up, she handed Cade her purse and began to wipe at the muddy stains.
“Missy, you know better than to play in the dirt in your good clothes.”
Cade playfully draped Zoe’s reticule over his arm and began twirling it primly around his wrist in an attempt to make Missy laugh. She favored him with a toothless grin.
Holly giggled. “Uncle Cade, you’re silly.”
“And he makes a pitifully homely woman.” Zoe teased, joining in the nonsense.
Cade straightened, pretending to take offense. “I beg your pardon?”
Zoe handed him the soiled hanky, and he daintily shook it loosely in the air and executed several graceful pirouettes as the girls’ laughter grew louder.
Encouraged by their reaction, he twirled again on one foot, and landed in front of Shelby Moore, who was coming down the church steps.
Moore did a double take of comical disbelief.
The hanky in Cade’s hand sagged. “Morning, Shelby.”
Shelby pushed past him, muttering something under his breath that sounded like “sissy bounty hunter.”
Cade grinned as Shelby stalked off.
Gracie and Lawrence paused to watch Zoe and her family climb into their buggy before turning to speak to Edna, Walt, and Sawyer. Pop joined them, and the six visited for a few minutes.
Gracie’s eyes followed Cade and Zoe’s buggy as it rattled out of the churchyard. “They make a fine-looking family, don’t they?”
Lawrence nodded. “Cade will be leaving soon. It’s a shame. They make a fine couple.”
Sawyer bit off a wad of chew and stuck it in his jaw. “Yessir, that’s a real shame.”
“Don’t call it rain before you’re wet,” Pop said. “I have a feelin’ those two are gonna make it.”
Gracie shook her head. “I don’t think theirs is a marriage in the biblical sense.”
Lilith frowned. “You mean what I think you mean?”
Gracie nodded.
“Did Zoe tell you that?”
“Of course not. A lady wouldn’t tell tales out of school, but…” Gracie hesitated a moment, glancing at the men. “Missy mentioned that she sleeps between them at night.”
“Now, that is a shame,” Walt said. “Those two need some time alone.”
Sawyer spat. “That marriage needs some of that credible stuff.”
“It sure does,” Pop said. “Anyone in the mood for a shivaree?”
“A shivaree?” Gracie patted her handkerchief to her bosom. “Aren’t we a little late? They’ve been married more than a week.”
Pop cackled. “All the better. They won’t be expectin’ it.”
Zoe breezed into the mercantile, pulled off her bonnet, and called over her shoulder, “Get your clothes changed, children, while I make some sandwiches.” She walked through the store tying an apron around her waist. There were a dozen and one things she should be doing, but as soon as Cade agreed to a picnic, she’d known she was outnumbered. And besides, he would be leaving early in the week.
“Can I help?” Cade took off his jacket and draped it over the back of a kitchen chair.
“Thanks. Here.” She handed him an apron. “Don’t get your shirt dirty.”
“You mean Jim’s shirt.”
She looked away. She’d meant to dispose of Jim’s clothes, but she hadn’t had the heart. Cade’s broad shoulders strained the fabric across his back. The arms were tight, and the buttonholes stretched to their limits beneath his larger build.
When she looked back, he was holding up the apron, trying to figure out which end was top and which was bottom. She imagined he wasn’t too happy about wearing it.
“How do women get into these contraptions?”
Zoe glanced over her shoulder as she sliced bread. “Need some help?”
He nodded, holding the apron out to her. She slipped the neckpiece over his head, and then reached around his waist to tie the sash.
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.” She continued to slice bread, feeling warm beneath his perusal as he watched her perform the mundane task. “Something wrong?”
“I was just wondering what hit me.”
“What do you mean?”
“How did I get into this predicament? Not that long ago I had only myself to worry about. Now I’m in an apron about to have a picnic with my wife and four kids.”
Smiling, she ignored the rush of sentiment his confession provoked. “And?”
“It’s not a fair fight.” His voice dropped to a husky timbre. “Five against one.”
“Are you going to help or not?”
“What do you want me to do?”
Be a husband and a father. Love me, stay with me. If you loved us, you’d find a way to make it work.
“Get the picnic basket from the back porch and pack a jar of relish. Oh, and wrap up a few cookies, but not too many. Brody will eat them until they’re gone.”
Cade absently filled the basket.
“Cade!” She put her hands on her hips. “You put a jar of tomatoes in the basket. I said relish. And please pack the chicken.”
“Sorry,” he murmured.
“We can’t take our clothes off in front of the boys,” Holly complained as the children emerged from the bedroom. “Brody said he has to go in his long johns ’cause he can’t find his everyday britches.”
“Oh, pooh,” Missy said, wrinkling her nose. “Bwody has a hole in the seat of his long johns.”
Zoe untied her apron and laid it on the back of a chair. “No one is going to a picnic in his underwear. Cade, if you’ll finish packing dinner, I’ll find the elusive britches. Hurry along, girls, and change your clothes.” She left the room.
“Anybody here?”
Cade glanced up to see Shelby Moore standing at the screen door. “Come on in, Shelby.”
“Hate to bother you on Sunday, but—” Shelby eyed Cade. “Pop still laid up?”
“Yeah. What can I do for you? Found any more dead bulls?”
“It’s my chickens this time, but it can wait. I see you’re busy.”
Cade looked down and then jerked off the apron. “Getting ready for a picnic.”
“I think I’ll wait for Pop to get back to sheriffin’.”
“I can take care of it, Shelby.”
“No disrespect, Kolby, but Pop can handle it later.”
Shelby left as Cade absently reached up and scratched an itch on his chin.
In the late afternoon, the children swam in the cool water. With a full belly, and the kids occupied, Cade lay on the blanket beside Zoe, who dozed. He rolled to his side and gazed at her. She deserved the well-earned rest. He’d never known a woman who worked as hard as Red did. He lifted a lock of her hair and let it slide between his fingers. The silken tress smelled of soap
and sunshine. Snapping off a blade of grass, he ran it lightly under her nose.
Murmuring, she brushed her chin.
He lowered the blade, tickling along her jaw line, and then he moved it along her forehead in soft, fluttery strokes.
Her hand grazed her nose and she squirmed, opening her eyes.
Tenderly he brushed hair from her cheek. He caught her hand and held it against his face. Her gaze softened, her skin, warm. The scent of wildflowers wafted on the air, reminding him of earlier times.
“Stop it.”
“Why don’t you make me?” He scooted closer. They were nose to nose. Her breathing quickened, confirming she wasn’t as immune to his advances as she claimed.
“Cade, the children will see us.”
“So? They know we’re married.” He caught the tip of her ear in his between his lips and playfully tugged.
Shoving him aside, she sat up. “Behave yourself.”
“When you’re around, I can think of only one thing.” He watched a blush brighten her cheeks. She was beautiful, and he wanted her with a passion he’d never known was possible, a passion that had grown over the years, smoldering and intensifying like a fire in his soul.
“You’re impossible.”
“Do you know I used to think about you every night before I went to sleep?”
“You did not.”
“I did, Red.” He tilted her chin with his finger and admitted in a low voice, “Every night I imagined your smile and the way your left cheek dimples when you laugh.” His finger lightly moved across her lips. “Want to know what else I imagined?”
“No.”
“Coward.” What would it take to convince her that he loved her? It wasn’t fair to love her and then to leave her, but he couldn’t help himself. He wanted this woman more than life itself, yet it was her life he had to protect.
“You’re terrible, you know it?” She rolled to her side.
“Give me an opportunity to redeem myself.” He slipped his arm around her waist and pulled her back to face him. She looked as young as she had the day he’d left. The same beautiful smile, the same fiery red hair, the same tiny waist—but she wasn’t the young girl he’d left behind. She was a woman now. A lovely, desirable woman.
Her gaze softened. He twisted a lock of her hair around his finger. He’d be a happy man if she always looked at him the way she was doing at this moment. “What did I do to put the twinkle back in those lovely eyes?”
“You gave me the children.”
That wasn’t the answer he’d hoped for, but it was a start. He lowered his head to kiss her and she didn’t pull away. His lips closed over her warm, familiar sweetness. She tasted so very good, responding to his kiss like a woman awakened. When they parted, she whispered, “I’ll be forever grateful, Cade.” She touched his cheek. “I’ll be the best mother to our children that I know how to be.”
“Our children, Red? They’re yours now.”
“No.” Her fingers traced his nose, his eyebrows, his cheeks. “No matter what happens, they’re ours.” She threaded her fingers through his hair and sighed. “I’ll write you often, and the children will write too. Maybe someday, when they’re older, you can come visit.”
Her eyes filled with pain, and he squeezed her hand. This was the exact thing he didn’t want to put her through, the hurt he didn’t want to face. “No letters, no visits. It has to be that way, Red.”
“You don’t want a letter from me? Or from the children?”
The anguish in her voice tore at his heart. It wasn’t what he wanted, but he had no choice. “No. If they found one of your letters they’d come after you. I can’t risk that.”
“Then don’t leave.”
“Do you want me to stay?”
Silence hung between them like a heavy, dark shroud. Zoe sighed. “Would you stay if I asked?”
A cloudburst opened above them and the children squealed.
Zoe grabbed up the basket and gathered the corners of the blanket as the first drops fell.
Taking her hand, Cade called the children out of the water. “Run for the buggy!”
The kids scrambled onto the bank. “Can we play in the rain?” Brody asked, holding his face toward the sky with his mouth open to catch the drops.
“Can we?” Will yelled, mimicking his brother’s action. The boys danced and jumped around, snatching water from the air.
Cade laughed. “Why not? Don’t drown yourselves!”
“Thanks, Uncle Pa.” Will raced in exuberant circles.
The girls picked up big globs of mud and flung them at their brothers.
“Uncle Pa,” Cade repeated as he and Zoe made a dash for the buggy. “Do I look like an Uncle Pa?”
“You look like every Uncle Pa I’ve ever seen.”
They fell onto the buggy seat in a fit of laughter. With a couple of yanks, and Zoe’s help, Cade raised the leather top into place.
“We might as well have played in the rain with the kids,” Zoe said, collapsing breathlessly against the back of the seat. “We’re just as wet.”
Shivering, she snuggled up against him. Rain pattered against the top of the buggy. They were alone in a very small, very damp cocoon. With the tip of his finger, he turned her chin toward him. “Hello, Mrs. Kolby.”
“Hello, Mr. Kolby.”
He lifted his hand and brushed a lock of wet hair from her forehead. “I’ve missed you.”
She shouldn’t permit this, but when he nuzzled her ear she couldn’t stop him. Didn’t want to stop him. “The trail is a lonely place. It gives a man a lot of time to think. Of what he’s had and what he’s lost.” His lips found her earlobe, and he nibbled. “I never knew how lonely I was until now.”
“Zoe?” Brody yelled.
At the sound of his voice, she sighed and sat up straighter.
“Can I have another piece of chicken?” Brody called.
“In the food hamper.” She slid out of the carriage into a light drizzle. God did not mean for this union to exist.
Chapter Forty-Six
Who was beating a drum? After handing Brody a chicken leg, Zoe wiped her hands on a cloth, seeking the source of commotion.
Children squealed. Cowbells clanged and shotguns blustered. “Is it a circus?” Zoe asked. Cade sprung out of the buggy, reaching for his gun.
Zoe’s hands flew to her cheeks when she caught sight of a strange procession coming into the clearing. “Wait! Don’t shoot! It’s Walt and Lawrence…firing in the air.”
Sawyer approached the buggy, ringing a cowbell. Lilith banged on a kettle with a wooden spoon, while Margaret burst into a zealous rendition of “Oh, My Darling Clementine,” substituting Zoe’s name for Clementine’s.
The children, wet and muddy, joined in the gleeful melee. They clasped hands and skipped around in a circle, singing along at the top of their lungs.
Cade turned accusing eyes on Zoe.
She shook her head, feeling color drain from her face. “I think it’s a shivaree.”
He shook his head. “Tell me it’s not.”
She took hold of his arm for support. “Play along…they mean well.” It was the town’s way of playing a trick on the new bride and groom. Usually such shenanigans were held on the wedding night, but Cade had been so sick…
“Zoe. A shivaree?”
Gracie and Lilith swooped in and grabbed Zoe by both arms. “Stop this,” Zoe protested, trying to break free as they pulled her along to a waiting carriage. Cade reached out to save her but was stopped by Walt and Lawrence.
“Hold him, men!” Sawyer shouted.
Squirming, Zoe caught sight of Pop cackling on the sidelines, jabbing a crutch in the air. “By doggies!” he said. “Surprised ya, didn’t we?”
“Surprised” was putting it mildly. The women hustled Zoe into a buggy. “Gracie, have you lost your mind?”
“Far from it, my dear. Just relax. You’re in for the time of your life.”
Lilith picked up the reins and slappe
d them against the horse’s rump.
“Where are you taking me?” Zoe yelled above the commotion.
“Can’t tell you,” the women shouted back. “It’s a surprise!”
“What about the children?” Concern overwhelmed the bride as she looked back. Walt and Lawrence were on either side of Cade, holding tight.
Gracie patted her hand. “Don’t worry about your young’uns. I’m taking them home with me for the night.”
Zoe knew that her friend’s intentions were well meant but disastrous. “Gracie, I’ll not stand for this.”
“Just set back and enjoy the party!”
GloriLee waited in front of the café. “Pull up to the side entrance. I got my best room waiting!”
Gracie and Lilith got out and brought Zoe with them. All the balking in the world failed to match the strength of the two older women. Zoe finally gave in, jerked her dress into place, and climbed the side staircase in lieu of being bodily dragged.
Their footsteps sounded on the plank floor as they marched toward a bedroom, the scent of gardenias drifting in the air. Pausing before a closed door, she waited with pained tolerance as Gracie opened it. When the door swung wide, she gasped. Heavy green drapes covered the windows. The room was lit with flickering candles, and the bed had more ruffles on the ecru canopy and spread than Zoe had ever seen. Puffy, colorful pillows lay across the bed and around the floor. Two glasses and a bottle of something sat on the bedside table. Pale green silk scarves garlanded the backs of a chair and matching settee. Why…it looked like a sheik’s den of iniquity!
Zoe’s gaze came to rest on the tub in the middle of the room, filled with sudsy water. The familiar scent of Lilith’s gardenia soap rose from the hot water. Her hand shot out to stop GloriLee’s when the woman began to unbutton her dress. “What do you think you’re—”
“This won’t hurt a bit,” GloriLee said, a big grin splitting her face. “You just get in that tub and soak a spell in Lilith’s perfumy bubbles. Once you’re all pink and pretty, you can slip into this lovely soft nightie.”
Gracie held up a flimsy, pale blue, off-the-shoulder satin gown for Zoe’s inspection. A white ribbon laced through the tatting around the neckline and tied in a bow and then trailed down to the hemline. The gown was beautiful, and under other circumstances Zoe would have been delighted to wear it for Cade.
A Kiss for Cade Page 23
