by Indiana Wake
Gareth gave her a sympathetic smile.
“I’m not surprised. But we’re nearly there and then you can put your feet up.”
“I don’t think I even know what that is anymore.” Harriet could see a house on the hillside appearing in the distance. It was glinting in the sunlight, a green garden spread all around it. It looked very idyllic. “What is Natalie Maffi like?”
“She’s a nice woman. Solid and kind. Generous to a fault. She’s unmarried and lives with her brother, Cristian. He’s divorced.”
“I see.” Harriet shifted to relieve the numbness in her behind. Divorced, that was highly unusual. “Will Mr. Maffi mind me being in the house?”
Gareth chuckled.
“He hasn’t got a say. It’s Natalie’s house, so whatever she says it has to happen. Besides, he works as a supervisor out at the mines just down the hill. He won’t be home much.”
Gareth sighed. “According to Natalie, he spends so much time working that he practically sleeps there. To have him in the house is becoming a novelty and she is looking forward to some company.”
“Oh, dear.”
Harriet wasn’t sure what to think about that. Cristian Maffi sounded like a man she shouldn’t be hanging around. A hard worker, but there was something underlying it all. Gareth gently nudged her.
“Don’t look so nervous. It’s just that Cristian is battling his own demons. There’s a lot going on in his head, and working all hours is his way of dealing with it all. He should leave you and Natalie alone.”
They turned a bend in the track, and the house Harriet had spied was suddenly right in front of them. It was a spectacular-looking place. The garden was immaculate with flowers in bloom, even in the middle of December. Harriet hadn’t expected it to be so beautiful.
A woman was in the garden, trimming a rose bush. She looked up and waved as Gareth and Harriet came closer. Then she started heading to the front door as Gareth brought the wagon up the hill and into the front yard.
As they passed, Harriet noticed that the woman had a prominent limp.
Gareth pulled the horse into the yard, and the woman approached them with a warm smile.
“Hey, Gareth.”
“Hey, Natalie.” Gareth jumped down and kissed Natalie’s cheek. Then he helped Harriet down. “I’ve got your lodger here. This is Harriet.”
Natalie turned to Harriet, and she got to see the woman close up. Natalie Maffi was in her early thirties, and she was a very pretty woman. The only thing marring her beauty were the scars on her right cheek and jaw that made her mouth and right eye droop a little. But she was still smiling, her eyes twinkling. There was a warmth about her that Harriet liked immediately.
“Good to finally meet you, Harriet.” She took Harriet’s arm. “Come on inside. You look like you could do with getting warm.”
“Thank you.”
Harriet allowed the other woman to take her into the house. They went straight into the living room, which had a fire roaring away in the hearth. Natalie urged her to sit on the couch by the fire and draped a blanket over her knees.
Gareth stepped in after them, carrying Harriet’s bags. He gave her a smile.
“I’ll take these to your guest room and then I’ll leave you to it.”
“Thank you.”
Harriet huddled under the blanket. She hadn’t realized how cold she had been on the journey until now. With the blanket and fire the feeling was starting to come back into her fingers. Within a few moments she had slipped into a doze, letting the warmth of the flames wash over her. Just as Harriet was about to fall into a deep sleep, there was a hand on her arm. Opening her eyes, Harriet saw Natalie standing over her.
“Hey, sleepy. I’ve got some soup for you.”
“Thank you.” Harriet’s stomach growled in anticipation. She sat up. “Where’s Gareth?”
“He’s gone back to San Francisco already.” Natalie picked up a nearby tray and laid it on Harriet’s lap. “This will warm you up.”
There was a bowl of red-colored soup and a crusty bread roll. It was still warm and broke beautifully in Harriet’s fingers. She dipped a hunk into the soup and tasted it. There were hints of tomato, onion and chicken. It was delicious.
As she ate, Harriet watched Natalie as she sat across from her, her own bowl of soup and bread roll on her lap. She looked very content. In the firelight, her scars were more prominent. Harriet realized that the scars didn’t marr her appearance; they enhanced it. She really was beautiful.
“Why are you not married?”
Harriet hadn’t realized she had said something until Natalie paused, her spoon halfway to her mouth.
Why had she said that? She felt her face redden with embarrassment and swallowed her mouthful and stared at her bowl.
“I’m sorry, that was very rude.”
“Don’t worry about it, I’m not offended.” Natalie’s voice was warm. She gestured at her face. “As you can tell, the physical features I possess are not exactly desirable. Nobody wants someone who looks like a leper.”
“I don’t think you look like a leper.”
“Thank you very much for lying. That will go a long way to getting you into my good books.”
Harriet giggled.
“Do you mind if I ask what happened?”
“Not at all.” Natalie ate some soup-soaked bread. “I had smallpox when I was a baby. The doctor said I had had some sort of stroke at the same time. While I was lucky enough to survive it all, it left permanent reminders of what happened to me.” Natalie made a face. “I’ve had men turn away from me because they think I look disgusting.”
Harriet couldn’t believe it.
“I don’t think you do,” she said firmly. “You’re much prettier than I am.”
“Oh, love.” Natalie stared at Harriet. “You don’t think you’re beautiful?”
“Not really. Men don’t like fat women.”
“Don’t be daft. You’re not fat at all. Besides, Cristian’s ex-wife was bigger than you. Very curvy. Cristian adored her.”
“If he adored her, why are they divorced?”
Natalie shook her head sadly. That was what was confusing. Cristian Maffi loved his wife, and yet they weren’t together anymore. That didn’t make sense. Natalie opened her mouth, and then closed it quickly when there was the sound of stomping footsteps on the porch outside.
“Watch out, here he comes.”
Harriet looked around as the door opened and Cristian Maffi came into the room. What she saw had Harriet’s mouth dropping open. The man was tall, rugged and muscular. He sported, gray-streaked brown hair and a rough-looking jaw, he looked less like a miner and more like a cowboy, even with the dust-covered clothes.
Handsome wasn’t the word. And Harriet couldn’t take her eyes off him.
“Hey, brother.” Natalie beamed as she put her tray aside to get to her feet. She approached Cristian and hugged him. “How was work?”
“Same as always,” Cristian grumbled. He took off his Stetson and knocked the dust from its brim. Thick waves of it floated to the floor. “People just being absolute …” He stopped when he saw Harriet. “Who’s this?”
“This is Harriet, remember?” Natalie said brightly. “She’s using our guest room.”
Cristian gave Harriet a once-over. There was a flicker in his eyes, one that had Harriet feeling a shivering sensation trace up her back. Her heart stumbled and tried to get back to its regular beating. There was an intense look about him for a moment, but then it disappeared, and he was sneering at her.
“One of Mary’s little pet projects, yes?”
Harriet bristled. Even with that gorgeous smooth Irish accent, that didn’t soften the pain of his words. A pet project.
Natalie frowned at her brother and slapped his chest.
“There’s no need to be rude, Cristian. She’s traveled a long way to get here. Do you remember that when we came here from Boston?”
Cristian grunted.
“That w
as a long time ago. One that I don’t care to remember.” He glared at Harriet. “Just keep out of my way, Miss…”
“Calver.” Harriet straightened her back, squaring her shoulders as she met his look, unblinking. She wouldn’t cow down to him. “I have no intention of getting in your way. Unless you keep being rude to me, then you’ll get this soup in your face.”
Cristian blinked. He looked a little perplexed.
Harriet wondered if anyone had ever stood up to him.
Natalie burst out laughing.
“Well, at last, someone who doesn’t bow down to you. Your magic must be slipping.”
“That’ll change,” Cristian grunted. He headed to the stairs. “I’m going to get washed up.”
Harriet watched him as he stomped up the stairs, leaving footprints of dust behind. Natalie was going to have her hands full cleaning up after him. She was long-suffering, in Harriet’s mind.
“He’s…” She didn’t really know how to describe him. “Abrasive.”
“That’s one way to describe him.” Natalie shook his head. “Sounds like he’s had a rough day.”
“Is he always like that?”
“Only in the last year.” Natalie sighed and headed back to his seat. “He’s normally the sweetest man in the world.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“Sweetheart, I’ve known him for thirty-one years. I know him.” Natalie sat and reached for her tray again. “Trust me when I say, he’s not always been this cold and distant.”
Harriet didn’t know what to say to that.
Chapter Three
Cristian didn’t know quite how to explain how he felt when he saw Harriet sitting on his sister’s couch, a tray of food on her lap with a look of exhaustion on her face. She was taller than medium height with curves that were shown off well in her dress. Her dark brown hair was pinned up on her head. And those eyes…beautiful blue. Cristian had never seen anything like them.
Mary certainly knew how to push his buttons. Cristian had declared he didn’t want to marry again, something that Mary had completely ignored. She had to have done if Harriet Calver was now here, looking like the perfect woman he would prefer to marry. She looked a lot like Lauren, even down to the blue eyes.
But Cristian had no intention of taking another wife. Sticking a woman who was unmarried and pretty under his nose wasn’t going to make him bend to Mary’s will. Cristian didn’t do what women said, except maybe Natalie. It was her house, her decision. That didn’t mean Cristian had to agree with what she did.
Even then, it was a tough night. Cristian couldn’t get himself to sleep easily. His work was hard, his days long and most nights he would close his eyes and disappear into dreamland as soon as his head hit the pillow. Not tonight. Every time Cristian closed his eyes, he saw Harriet. That was enough to get him to wake up again.
He wasn’t about to let a woman take over his life. Not again.
A lack of sleep resulted in a bad mood settling on Cristian when he woke up. He was stuck in a house with a beautiful woman who was going to distract him from everything else. She was going to bring a lot of trouble into his life, Cristian knew it.
And it was Christmas. The worse time to bring him trouble.
For the rest of the week, Cristian kept out of Harriet’s way as much as he could. He got up and went to work before the women got up, eating on the go. Then he returned late, ate the food Natalie left out for him, and went to bed. It wasn’t great, but it meant he didn’t have any problems encountering Harriet.
The few times he did end up in her presence – Harriet was an annoyingly early riser – they ended up at loggerheads. She was spirited, spoiling for a fight. Cristian wanted to keep his distance, but whenever Harriet was around him, he found himself gravitating toward her. It was odd, very odd because Cristian didn’t want anything to do with her.
He was going to have a very serious talk with Mary. All Cristian could hope was that she got married very quickly.
Why did that not sit well with him?
It was ten days after Harriet had arrived in the house, and Cristian came home from work early to find a mess on the living room. Natalie was alone, sitting on the floor putting together paper chains.
“What the…?” Cristian kicked some tinsel away. “What’s all this, Natalie? Where did this come from?”
“They’re Christmas decorations.” Natalie carried on what she was doing. “Harriet and I bought them in the store. We decided to spruce the place up.”
Cristian grunted. He was lucky they hadn’t brought a tree in. Then again, he wouldn’t put it past the two ladies.
“Why are you sticking these stupid things up?”
Natalie sighed.
“Come on, Chris. I know you hate Christmas, but could you stop trying to put it down for me? I love Christmas, and I will not have you ruin it.”
“I expect Miss Calver likes Christmas as well.” Cristian sneered.
“She does.” Natalie looked up and frowned at him. “So don’t say anything nasty to her. Not like you have all this week.”
“I haven’t said a word to her.”
“Really?” Natalie snorted. “So, those arguments I’ve heard this week must have been Harriet shouting at herself?”
Cristian cringed. Nobody except his older sister was brave enough to tell him off. Apart from, maybe, Harriet. She was not afraid to scold him. Cristian already bowed down to Natalie; he wasn’t about to bow down to Harriet as well. No, there was not a chance of that.
“She just rubs me up the wrong way, Nat. She doesn’t like how I treat my men at work, or how I speak to others. Not even to you.”
“I’m used to it.” Natalie lowered the paper chain. “And, to be honest, Cristian, you are an abrasive man. You probably rub her up the wrong way as well.”
“I don’t care what she thinks. She has an opinion, she can keep it to herself.”
That was when Cristian heard a movement behind him. He turned, and saw Harriet standing in the doorway to the kitchen. She had an apron around her waist and there was flour smudged on her face. There was even flour in her hair, which was down and tied back at the nape of her neck. She looked very much at home. A little too much at home. Her mouth had hardened into a thin line, her eyes flashed with blue fury as she glared at him.
“I wasn’t raised like that,” she said stiffly. “There’s no such thing as holding back in my family. It’s called honesty.”
“Is your mouth the reason you haven’t got a husband yet?” Cristian shot back.
Harriet’s eyes blazed even more. Then she walked toward him, almost sauntering up to him. Cristian couldn’t move; he wasn’t able to move. There was something about Harriet that had him rooted to the spot.
Harriet came up to him, and she gave Natalie an apologetic smile.
“Excuse me for this, Natalie. I’ve held back as long as I could.”
Then she turned and slapped him. Hard. Cristian hadn’t expected her to lash out, and the slap had him staggering sideways. He caught his balance, and spun around, staring at Harriet.
She was breathing heavily, her eyes blazing. Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, Harriet opened them again with a blank expression.
“There’s no wonder your wife left you if you have so much disrespect for women,” she said stiffly. With that she undid the apron and laid it over the back of the couch, addressing Natalie, “I’m going to see my friends. I’ll be back soon.”
“All right.”
Cristian watched Harriet’s retreating back as she stormed across the room and left the house, slamming the door behind her. His cheek was burning from the slap.
Natalie looked up at her brother and shook her head with a frown.
“You asked for that, Cristian.”
“What?”
“I’ve never heard you be so disrespectful to a woman before. That’s not like you at all, even in your current grumpy mood.”
“That�
��s not true, I didn’t deserve that.” Cristian protested, but Natalie was still looking annoyed.
“No, it is true and yes you did... and you know it. You’re just trying to hurt her.” Natalie rubbed her eyes. “I don’t understand why you’re so harsh to Harriet. Something’s wrong.”
“Nothing’s wrong.”
Even as Cristian said it, he didn’t believe himself. It didn’t sound right to his ears. From the look on his sister’s face, she was thinking the same thing.
“Keep telling yourself that, Cristian.” Natalie picked up the paperchain again. “Because I don’t believe you.”
Cristian didn’t care what she believed. As long as he could keep Harriet out of arms reach, that was all that mattered.
Chapter Four
Harriet huddled out on the porch, watching as the sun went down. She had come back to the house a while ago, but she had seen Cristian through the window. Just seeing him was enough to keep her outside.
The man was infuriating. He rubbed her up the wrong way and seemed to enjoy it. Handsome as he was, his attitude was less to be desired. And he always seemed to be picking a fight with someone, especially Harriet. She had no idea why he disliked her so much, but she wasn’t going to stand for it.
Hopefully, it wouldn’t be long before Cristian went to bed. It was cold enough, and it would be getting colder soon.
“Harriet?”
Harriet looked up. Natalie was in the doorway. She was holding a blanket, giving Harriet a small smile.
“Natalie.” Harriet sat up, even as her teeth chattered. “Sorry, I was going to come in.”
“Well, you can come in now. Cristian’s gone to bed.” Natalie beckoned her inside. “That’s why you’re outside, isn’t it?”
Harriet didn’t answer. She was glad to get up and go into the house. The fire, as usual, was burning away. Harriet went over to the fireplace gratefully and sat on the hearth rug, putting her hands to the warmth. Natalie sat beside her and put a blanket around Harriet’s shoulders. Harriet gave her a smile.
