That he was lonely was obvious to her. She recognized it because she suffered from the same affliction. Although she made a point of being surrounded by people as much as possible, when she closed her door in the evening, she was alone. No husband, no children, no one who loved her. No family of her own.
It seemed Landry was even worse off than she was. He didn’t even have a home, just a room in a livery stable, and from what she’d heard from Zane and the ladies at the orphanage that morning, his only family was still in prison. The difference was that he’d convinced himself that he didn’t need anyone. That he was content to be alone.
But he was wrong.
Everyone needed someone, even if it was just a friend. And for Landry, she decided, that someone would be her.
Chapter Three
The little girl’s sudden howl drowned out the other children’s voices in the parlor of the orphanage.
Olivia dropped the carrot she was peeling and ran, wiping her hands on her apron as she raced through the house toward the room that had grown suspiciously quiet.
Several pairs of eyes watched as she entered the parlor. Scanning the room, her glance landed on four-year-old Sadie Morrison lying on the carpet. Sadie’s face was pale, but her cries had lessened to quiet sobs.
The children moved away as Olivia hurried to the little girl’s side. “What happened?” she asked, looking first at Sadie then scanning each of the children’s faces. No one answered.
Olivia asked again, her voice a little louder this time.
Sadie looked up at Olivia. Her eyes were bright with tears that clung to her eyelashes. “I fell,” she murmured.
“How?”
Several of the boys hung their heads. Others looked away. Finally, Jeremiah Porter spoke up. “We wath playing,” he began through two missing front teeth. “And Thadie thlipped.”
“Can you move your leg?” Olivia asked Sadie, crouching down and gathering her in a gentle hug.
Sadie sniffled. “My ankle hurts.”
Already it had started to swell, and Olivia feared it might be broken. Only a doctor would be able to tell. Scooping Sadie into her arms, Olivia got up and headed toward the door. “Jeremiah, Mrs. Potts is in the washhouse. Go and tell her I’ve taken Sadie to the doctor and I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
The other children in the room stood quietly while Jeremiah rushed off.
“I want the rest of you to clean up this room, then each of you take a book and read silently until Mrs. Potts comes inside. Do you understand?”
They nodded in unison.
With Sadie in her arms, Olivia hurried out of the house and along the boardwalk toward Doc Leonard’s clinic.
It didn’t take long before Olivia was exhausted from carrying Sadie. Her arms ached, and her back and legs strained under the girl’s weight. She should have sent one of the older children to fetch the doctor, but the thought hadn’t even crossed her mind. All she’d thought about was getting help for Sadie.
A voice calling her name from behind startled her, probably more because of her recent experience than the voice itself. She spun around in time to see Landry striding toward her, his brow creased in a frown.
He held out his arms. “Here, let me carry her for you.”
“Oh … no … it’s fine …”
Landry smiled gently at Sadie, and Olivia’s heart tripped. She hadn’t thought it possible that a smile could make him even more handsome.
“Would it be all right if I carry you for a little while?” Landry asked Sadie. His deep voice held a tenderness Olivia didn’t expect. “Miss Olivia’s arms are tired.”
For a few seconds, it seemed Sadie would refuse. Her small face pursed in a frown as she studied him, but then she nodded and held her arms out for Landry to lift her out of Olivia’s arms.
The sudden weightlessness made Olivia’s arms tingle, and she shook them out at her sides until the blood flowed through them again. “Thank you, but it really wasn’t necessary,” she said. “I could have managed—”
“I know you could have, but it’s easier for me. Where are you going?”
“I hurted my leg,” Sadie put in, gazing up at Landry.
“We’re going to the clinic,” Olivia replied.
Sadie’s eyes never left Landry’s face. “See?” She straightened her leg to show Landry her swollen ankle. “Do you think it’s broke?”
Landry pretended to study the ankle. “I only take care of horses, not people, so I think we’d best let the doctor figure that out.”
Said nodded, then wiggled until she was settled comfortably in Landry’s arms.
Olivia was surprised at how quickly Sadie had taken to Landry as if she’d known him all her life. Yet another good quality, she mused.
“Well then,” Landry said, interrupting Olivia’s stray thoughts, “we’d better get a move on instead of standing here talking.”
Without another word, he strode off, his heavy footsteps thudding on the boardwalk. Olivia had to hurry to catch up, and neither of them spoke again until they reached the clinic. Both Grace Leonard and her father were physicians, and today, Grace greeted them when Olivia opened the door and held it open for Landry to carry Sadie inside.
Olivia was surprised to see Grace in the clinic, since she was very close to delivering her first child. “Shouldn’t you be resting?” she asked, keeping an eye on Landry as he gently lowered Sadie to a padded table in the center of the examination room.
Grace massaged her lower back as she waddled across to the table. “Other than not being able to sleep comfortably, I feel fine,” she answered with a smile. “It won’t be long now, though. The baby is very low now …”
Landry stepped away from the table and hovered beside the door. “If it’s all right with you, I’ll just wait outside.”
Olivia did her best to hide the smile threatening to erupt. It seemed he was uncomfortable with their talk of babies and childbirth. “You don’t have to wait,” she told him. “I can manage.”
“I don’t mind carrying her back when you’re ready.”
As if he couldn’t wait a moment longer, he pulled the door open and hurried out. The chuckle Olivia had been trying to hide escaped, and both she and Grace shared a knowing glance.
Olivia moved to stand beside Sadie, wrapping one arm around her small shoulder. Sadie squeezed Olivia’s hand as Grace gently examined the little girl’s ankle. Twice, Sadie cried out in pain, but soon, Grace straightened and smiled. “It’s not broken, but it is sprained. I’ll bandage it up and give her something for pain. It’ll likely make her sleepy so I’d like you to stay a few minutes until I’m sure she doesn’t have any adverse effects.”
While the laudanum took effect, Grace rested on a hardback chair in the corner of the room. “Until now, I had no idea what expectant mothers went through,” she said with a wry smile. “Now that I have first-hand experience, I’ll understand better.”
“I doubt I’ll ever have that experience,” Olivia said, unable to prevent the tinge of sadness in her voice. She’d wanted a family of her own as far back as she could remember.
“You will,” Grace assured her. “I’m sure there are at least a dozen men in town who’d be happy to court you if you’d give them a chance.”
“None that I’d be inclined to marry.”
Grace struggled to her feet and crossed to where Sadie was lying on the padded table. Her eyes were drifting closed. “You’d be surprised where you might find love. I certainly was.”
“Then I’ll keep an open mind.”
“I hope so. Now, it looks like Sadie hasn’t had a reaction to the medicine. I think it’s safe to take her home now.”
As he’d promised, Landry was sitting on a bench outside, his back leaning against the wall with his eyes closed when Olivia opened the door.
Her breath caught in her throat. In sleep, with his features relaxed, he was even more handsome. She called his name softly, and moments later, he was hurrying inside.
&nb
sp; “Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to help, either before or after the baby comes,” Olivia said as they were leaving.
Grace smiled. “I will.”
Silently, Landry and Olivia made their way back along the boardwalk. Landry had scooped Sadie up as if she weighed no more than a feather, and now, her head rested on his shoulder, her eyes closed. She would likely stay asleep until they reached the orphanage.
“I appreciate your help,” Olivia said. “It seems you’re always coming to my rescue.”
“It’s no problem. Just happened to see you struggling with her.”
“Working for Mr. Raye again?”
Landry nodded. “Not much business at the livery since I got back.”
She glanced up at him, taking note of the way his eyes had darkened and a muscle in his jaw had tightened as he spoke.
“Why did you come back here?” she asked before she could stop herself. Her cheeks heated at the impropriety of her question. His motives were none of her business.
“That’s a good question.”
Olivia thought she heard a note of despair in his voice, but then he shifted Sadie in his arms and lengthened his steps, striding ahead.
She shouldn’t care about Landry Mitchell. But Heaven help her, she did. Something about him appealed to her the way no other man had, made her want to know him better. Made her want to see him smile again.
Both Zane and Almira had warned her against having any future contact with him. They could be right. She could regret getting more involved with him.
But then, Olivia had always had to learn her lessons for herself.
***
Landry leaned against one of the posts outside the orphanage, the porch roof shading him from the noonday sun. He folded his arms across his chest and crossed his ankles as he watched a squirrel scurry up the trunk of an oak tree and disappear inside.
What was wrong with him? He should walk away now, go back to the undertaker’s and finish polishing the marble tombstone Martin had carved instead of waiting for Olivia.
She’d mentioned on the way back to the orphanage that she’d be going home as soon as she got Sadie settled. He’d told himself he was only waiting to make sure she got home safely and that the man who’d attacked her was nowhere close, but if he was being honest with himself, that was only partially true.
He knew he shouldn’t, knew he should stay away from her, but he wanted to talk to her again. Hell, the only women he’d even talked to since he got out of prison were whores, and not one of them could carry on a real conversation.
Sadie had fallen asleep soon after they’d left the clinic, and he’d found himself enjoying the short time he’d had with Olivia as they’d walked back to the orphanage.
It sure wouldn’t help her reputation to be seen with him, but she didn’t seem to mind, and he doubted he could damage it too much by seeing her safely home after what had happened.
But after today, he’d stay away from her, he promised himself.
The door opened and Olivia stepped outside. She smiled when she saw him waiting. “What are you still doing here?” she asked.
He straightened and crossed the porch to where she was standing near the stairs. “Thought I’d make sure you got home safe.”
“Oh … that’s not necessary … but thank you …”
As they strolled down the boardwalk toward her house on the other side of town, Landry was aware of the curious glances being sent their way as well as those who turned their heads and ignored them.
Olivia, on the other hand, was oblivious, chattering away about the weather, the children, the barn dance the next week. “It does seem strange to me that they call it a barn dance when it’s held outside, but no matter what it’s called, I’m looking forward to it. Are you going?” she asked.
“Not planning to.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged.
“Have you ever attended?”
“No.”
“I hear it’s held every year, but last year was the first time for me,” Olivia said.
Landry nodded. “It’s been going on as far back as I can remember. Nobody seems to know how or why it started, but it’s tradition now. Every year, more and more people come from all over.”
“Except you.”
“Except me.”
“Why didn’t you ever attend?”
He didn’t really have a good answer, except that by the time he was old enough to enjoy it, he was busy with the farm. “Never found time.”
“Perhaps this time you could find a few minutes?”
The question hung in the air. “I’m not much of a dancer,” he said, his lips quirking in a wry grin.
“It’s never too late to learn,” she pointed out.
“I suppose that’s true.”
For the next few minutes, they strolled along the boardwalk, both lost in their own thoughts.
“Are you happy to be back?” Olivia asked as they passed Brett Morgan’s law office and stepped off the boardwalk to go around a corner to a cluster of houses on a makeshift street.
“Hasn’t worked out the way I thought it would,” he replied. Coming back to Rocky Ridge had been everything he’d dreamed of while he was behind bars, but his return hadn’t lived up to the fantasy.
Folks crossed the street to avoid him. The only business he got was because there wasn’t anybody else who could fix the axles on their wagons, shoe their horses or repair their plows, and even most of his friends from before wanted nothing to do with him now.
There were a few who seemed willing to let the past die, though. The sheriff, for one, and Trey and Claire Morgan, the owners of The Lucky Shamrock. Not to mention some of the hands from the Triple M Ranch, the spread a few miles from town. But there weren’t enough people who were willing to give him a second chance to make him feel at home again.
“Perhaps it would have been easier to go somewhere else, to start fresh …” Olivia said softly.
“The easiest way to do something isn’t always the best way or the right way,” he said. “I grew up here, and I wanted that life back, thought I could get that life back. But it’s not that simple. Folks here don’t forgive easily. And they sure don’t forget.”
“Then you have to show the town that they’re wrong, that you should be forgiven, that you can be trusted again.”
He let out a short laugh. “And how am I supposed to do that?”
“Come to church on Sunday,” she said. “That would be a start. Perhaps if they see you’re asking forgiveness from God, they’ll be more likely to forgive you, too.”
“Me and God don’t get along …”
Olivia stopped in front of a small house with a gabled roof, long windows and a porch that ran the length of the house. Bright pink flowers lined a pathway to a set of wide steps leading up to the porch. Two rocking chairs sat side-by-side near the door. “This is home,” she said.
“It’s nice.”
“Thank you for walking me home. Can I offer you some tea?”
He wanted to stay, wanted more than anything to relax in one of the rocking chairs on the porch and enjoy a glass of tea with Olivia, but he sure didn’t want to get used to having her to talk to. In fact, he was surprised she’d been willing to let him walk her home.
“Thanks, but I have work to do at the livery,” he lied.
An awkward silence fell over them. Somewhere nearby a cat meowed, followed by a child’s voice trying to coax the cat to come closer.
“Then perhaps I’ll see you on Sunday?”
Hell, he hadn’t been in church in years, and while he was in prison, he was pretty sure God had forgotten all about him. “I don’t know …”
Olivia rested her hand on his forearm, the warmth of her touch flowing through him. “Please, just think about it. If you want your life back, you have to be willing to make an effort to get it.”
Her golden-brown eyes searched his face. Was she right? Or was she giving people more c
redit than they deserved? Tipping his hat, he gave her a faint smile. “I’ll think about it.”
***
On Sunday morning, Olivia took one last look in the mirror, tucking a stray curl into the knot at the nape of her neck. She pinched her cheeks to give them a little color, then carefully placed her lilac silk and lace bonnet on her hair, tying the ribbons into a perfect bow under her chin.
Smoothing a wrinkle from the lilac and white dress she’d chosen to wear, she picked up her matching reticule and Bible and left the house.
A few dark clouds in the distance marred the otherwise clear blue sky, but she wasn’t concerned. She didn’t have far to walk if it started to rain.
She was later than usual leaving, so she had to hurry to reach the church before the service began.
As she expected, the small church was almost full by the time Olivia stepped inside and slid into an empty pew near the door.
As she smoothed a few creases in the skirt of her dress, the door opened behind her and a family from a nearby farm came inside. The man led his family to an empty pew on the other side of the aisle. As they were settling in, John Winters, the pastor, took his place behind the pulpit.
“Good morning,” he began, “and welcome …” His voice died out as the door opened once again and Landry walked in. He paused just inside and pulled the door closed behind him, then tugged his hat off his head and raked his fingers through his hair.
“And welcome to you, Mr. Mitchell,” he continued. All eyes turned toward him, and hushed mutterings spread through the small congregation.
Olivia saw the muscle in Landry’s jaw tense, and for a moment, she wondered if he’d turn around and leave. She was glad he’d listened to her advice and had decided to come, but she wouldn’t really blame him if he did leave. This was a huge step for him, and she was sure he’d hoped to slip in unnoticed instead of becoming the center of attention.
But instead of walking out, he met the pastor’s gaze squarely and nodded, acknowledging the man’s greeting.
The pastor resumed his welcome message, but his words were lost on Olivia. Landry was the focus of her attention, her skin tingling and that same unfamiliar sensation settling inside her when she looked at him. He’d shaved and was dressed in a dark blue jacket and white shirt that emphasized his sun-bronzed face.
Landry's Back in Town (Rocky Ridge Romance Book 1) Page 3
