by Debra Cowan
“That boy was ready to come into the world,” Willow said.
Lydia smiled as did Naomi.
“The mother has stopped bleeding.” The blonde closed her eyes for a second. “That scared me worse than anything.”
“Should I look in on her?” Naomi asked.
“I’ll keep an eye on her and if she needs a nurse, I’ll let you know.”
“Does the baby need anything?” Lydia asked. The victims who stopped here often traveled with nothing. “Does the mother need clothes?”
“The lady had a blanket and some little gowns she’d made, but nothing for herself. I loaned her one of my dresses.”
“Willow, you didn’t have to do that.” Lydia squeezed the other woman’s arm. “Naomi and I both have old ones to give.”
“I wanted to do it. Y’all been so nice to me, I wanted to give something to that lady.” She looked down, her voice gruff, “You’re two of the finest ladies I’ve ever known, helping these women the way you do. There’s so many women with no way out. I’m lucky to have a friend like Russ and a lady like you to hire—”
“Did I hear my name?”
Startled, the woman looked toward the door where Russ stood, his broad shoulders filling the space. He couldn’t have been there long or Willow would’ve seen him. Lydia didn’t think he’d heard anything, but what if he had?
Before she could think of something to say, Willow spoke up. “I was just tellin’ Miz Kent and Miz Jones how lucky I am to have such a kind man as my friend.”
At her words, a dark flush colored Russ’s neck. He was embarrassed, Lydia realized with delight. Russ Baldwin, as big and solid as a mountain, was two shades of red. She found it endearing.
“And Miz Kent, too.” The hotel’s newest employee shifted her attention to Lydia. “My second chance is because of y’all and I thank you.”
“You’ve thanked me every day since you got here,” Russ said ruefully.
“Don’t let it go to your head.” The blonde grinned as she went to the pantry. “I’d best get busy.”
The storage room door opened then closed. Willow was probably going to make sure the woman knew to stay quiet.
Lydia looked over at Russ. His gaze went past her. “How are you today, Naomi?”
“Fine, thank you.” The black woman looked radiant, Lydia noted. No doubt due to a certain blacksmith.
“Lydia,” Russ said. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”
“All right.” She followed him a few feet into the dining room.
He took a step closer and said in a low voice, “That problem we discussed is handled.”
“Was there any trouble?”
“No. And there won’t be a repeat of last night’s situation. The woman won’t be back and if the man doesn’t like our policy, he can find another place to sleep.”
“Thank you.” She had an overwhelming urge to kiss him, but she wouldn’t. Instead, she touched his arm. “Thank you for taking care of that.”
“You’re welcome.”
When she would’ve pulled away, he folded his big hand over hers. “Would you spend the day with me tomorrow?”
“The whole day?” She should say no, as she should have the night before.
“I want to take you to the ranch, have lunch with Pa and show you around.” His callused thumb brushed back and forth over her knuckles.
The smart thing, the safe thing would be to tell him to slow things down. “I don’t know.”
His eyes darkened. “Do you have plans with Bram?”
“No.”
“All right.” He grinned. “Say yes and I’ll be at your door at nine in the morning.”
It sounded wonderful. Being with Russ away from the hotel where there was always a chance he might discover something about the operation. Where the threat of her brother-in-law loomed over her.
She probably shouldn’t agree to go, but she wanted to. Naomi could handle things here for a day. And Russ’s family would be around, so there was no danger of them getting carried away the way they had the night before. “Russ, we can’t do what we did last night. That’s too fast for me.”
“All right.”
“Really?”
He lifted her chin. “I want you, Lydia, like hell afire, but I want to spend time with you, too. I can be a gentleman, even if it kills me.”
She laughed. “I’d like to go—”
A screaming infant cut her off. Lydia froze. The baby!
“Was that a baby?” Still holding Lydia’s hand, Russ moved back into the kitchen, angling toward the pantry. “That sounded like a baby.”
Lydia threw a desperate look at Naomi. “It did.”
Willow bustled out of the storage room, peering around the pantry’s door frame. “I guess you heard the little fella.”
“What’s going on?” Russ’s sharp gaze took in all three women.
Willow answered. “Last night, a woman showed up here, in labor.”
“Why come here? Why not send for Dr. Butler or Catherine Blue?”
“She heard I had experience with childbirth. My ma had seven after me.”
Lydia appreciated how Willow told the story although deep down, she cringed at keeping the whole truth from Russ. The wailing, muffled through the door, stopped.
Russ looked concerned. “Is the kid okay? It was making a lot of racket.”
“He’s fine,” Willow answered. “He’s just mad ’cuz he wants to eat.”
“It’s lucky you were around to help.”
“That’s what I told her.” Lydia tried to direct some of Russ’s attention away from the other woman. “I certainly don’t know anything about babies, birthing them or raising them.”
Russ frowned. “Why didn’t y’all put her in a room?”
Lydia blanched. Willow jumped in. “Oh, there wasn’t no time for that. That baby’s head was already coming out and—”
“Uh, that’s good.” Looking horrified, Russ stepped back. “I don’t need to know the rest.”
At his typical male aversion to ladies’ issues, Lydia shared a smile with Naomi.
Willow turned back toward the pantry. “I’d better check on them. The lady’s probably strong enough to move now, so I’ll put her and the baby in a room.”
Russ glanced at Lydia. “Guess I’d better get busy, too. The new shops are close to done. I think I can finish today.”
“That’s good news.” She walked with him into the dining room. “Is there anything you need me to do?”
“Don’t change your mind about tomorrow.”
“I won’t.”
“So, I’ll see you in the morning? I want you to tell me again.”
She laughed. “Since I work here, too, you’ll probably see me before then.”
“Yeah, but tomorrow you’ll be all mine.” He winked and strode away.
Lydia got a lump in her throat. Foot, she liked that man. Her anticipation about spending the day with him was dimmed by the guilt she felt at keeping the truth from him.
Naomi had been up-front with Ef about everything except the secret network, but that was little consolation. Lydia couldn’t tell Russ the truth about Bram or the network.
She wasn’t lying to him about either one. She just wasn’t telling him everything. What she had told the whole truth about was wanting to spend tomorrow with him. She couldn’t wait.
He was going to have a hard time keeping his hands off her, Russ thought for the tenth time as he and Lydia drove to the Triple B the next morning. Since the other night, when he’d had his mouth on her, he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about having her.
But he’d given his word. He’d have to content himself with looking at her. For now anyway.
It wasn’t a hardship, Russ thought as his gaze slid over her.
Her deep red day dress with black trim was covered with a black cloak, but that didn’t hinder Russ’s memory of how the bodice sleeked over her full breasts. Or what her plump flawless flesh looked like beneath. He ha
dn’t forgotten how she tasted there, either.
Damn, he better rein it in.
Cold air swirled around them. Winter-brown grass made a shushing sound against the buggy wheels. He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, his hands controlling the reins.
The scent of lavender occasionally drifted in through the smells of earth and horseflesh. Russ told her how his ma and pa had helped establish Whirlwind. In answer to her question about his mother, he said she had died from a tumor in her stomach when he was ten.
Lydia talked about how awful her sister was about handling money. He laughed at her story of putting her sister on a budget. She’d been so pleased with Isabel and herself for following her suggestions. Until she found out Isabel was getting extra money from their father on the sly.
Russ itched to take down her hair, but with it pulled back the way it was, he could see her dainty ears, her cold-pinkened cheeks. She was so pretty.
As they drove, she held up a corner of the lap robe. “Are you cold? Would you like to share my blanket?”
“Just looking at you is keeping me plenty warm,” he murmured.
She pushed at him as a blush spread across her face. “Oh, hush.”
He pointed out where Baldwin land started and for a while they traveled a rutted road, then it turned to rough ground. After topping the last rise, Russ saw the herd of longhorn.
The cattle didn’t typically graze in this pasture or this close to the house in the winter, but the threat of rustlers had changed that. Matt had moved the herd in an effort to keep a better eye on things.
Before Russ knew it, they passed the last two barns, and he reined the buggy to a stop in front of the sprawling house built of pine.
Her eyes lit up. “It’s lovely.”
“Glad you like it.” He wanted her to like everything today.
A porch wrapped around the house so that there was a view of the vast land anywhere you stood. The front door, like everything else, was specially made for their size. The doorway was tall and wide enough for any one of the Baldwins to step inside without ducking or having to turn to the side. That had come in handy when Pa had ended up in that wheelchair.
Guilt bit at Russ, but he pushed it away. He didn’t want anything to ruin this day.
The one front window, looking out from the kitchen, glittered in the sun. He hopped down and walked around to help Lydia out.
She studied the house with interest. “Did your father build this?”
“Yes. There’s a big common room, the kitchen and three bedrooms.”
“I’m impressed.” Lydia took his hand and stepped out of the buggy, smiling at him in a way that made him want to put her back in the buggy and take her off somewhere alone.
The front door opened and J.T. rolled out onto the front porch, followed by Matt. His father’s eyes, blue like his sons’, twinkled. “If I’d known Russ was bringing the prettiest girl in town out to visit, I would’ve spiffed up.”
“Hello, Mr. Baldwin.” Her mouth curved.
“Call me J.T.”
Russ’s brother piped up, “You can call me Matt.”
When Lydia laughed, he grinned like an idiot. Russ gave him a look.
The elder Baldwin gestured toward the barns. “Has Russ shown you around?”
“We drove straight here, Pa.”
“I saw the cattle,” she said. “That’s a large herd.”
“Used to be larger,” Matt said darkly.
“Come in, Miz Kent,” J. T. invited. “Lunch will be on the table in a bit.”
“Are you the cook?” she asked.
“We all take a turn,” Matt answered as he held the door open for his father.
J.T. rolled his chair inside. “It’s nothing fancy, but we get by.”
Russ watched the man who seemed imposing even in that chair. He wondered if he’d ever be rid of the kink he got in his gut every time he saw his pa in that contraption.
Matt hung back, gesturing for Lydia to precede him. Once she stepped inside, he stopped Russ and said in a low aside, “Stop beating yourself up.”
“Leave off.”
“He doesn’t blame you. No one does, except you.”
And Russ didn’t know if he’d ever stop feeling the guilt, but now wasn’t the time to ponder it. He didn’t want anything to mar today. “Get moving.”
He followed his brother inside, taking Lydia’s cloak as she surveyed the rock fireplace and age-smoothed wood floor. A deer hide rug lay between two long sofas.
She gave him a warm smile and his gut knotted up for a whole different reason.
While Pa banged around in the kitchen, Russ walked her through the house, showing her his father’s office then the bedrooms. Each room had a window, which she liked. He answered any questions she had, but all his attention was on her. How beautiful she looked, how thick and satiny her raven-black hair was, how badly he wanted to get his hands on her again. When they returned to the living area, she looked over at a stack of tools in the far corner behind the dining table.
Seeing her interest, Matt offered, “Pa’s been fancying up the kitchen”
“For Cora Wilkes?”
“Cora?” Russ started in surprise.
Matt did the same. “Why would you think that?”
“I thought they were courting.”
“No.” Russ looked at Matt.
His brother frowned. “No.”
Lydia’s dark eyes danced as her gaze took in both men. She appeared to be fighting a smile as she asked Russ, “Have you seen them together?”
“Well, yes.”
“Haven’t you noticed how they are with each other?”
Feeling as dense as a rock, Russ shared another look with Matt. That had Lydia laughing outright. Could she be right? Russ and his brother had known Cora their whole lives. She and her murdered husband, Ollie, had been friends with their parents. Russ had never thought twice about seeing his pa and Cora together.
Matt chewed the inside of his cheek. “Remember that mirror we found in his saddlebag a couple of months ago?”
Russ nodded. “He wouldn’t tell us who it was for.”
“Maybe it was for her.”
Russ remembered the times his pa and Cora had moved apart rather quickly when interrupted. He’d seen them together at a couple of dances, but outside talking. Not inside dancing.
He shot his brother a grin. “It would be good for him.”
“It would be better for us. She can cook a whole lot better than any of us.”
That got another laugh out of Lydia, which had Russ smiling as J.T. rolled out of the kitchen holding a platter heaped with ham. Russ pulled out a chair for Lydia, then helped his brother bring in the remainder of the meal.
The rest of the visit passed in a blur of laughter and conversation. It was almost evening when Russ bundled Lydia back into the buggy with a freshly heated brick in the foot warmer, and they said their goodbyes.
“That was wonderful,” she said as they drove away. “Thank you.”
Russ reached over and squeezed her hand.
Even through their gloves, he felt her touch. A warmth bloomed in his chest. “Do you mind if we stop for a bit on the way back? I want to show you something.”
“Something like what?” Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
He chuckled. “You’ll just have to wait and see.”
He steered the buggy slightly to the north and a few minutes later, they crested a rise. Russ parked the buggy alongside a deep gully. Out beyond the vehicle, the prairie rolled in a dip of hills.
“This is my thinking spot. I came here after Amy and Pa—” He caught himself. “After Amy.”
She tilted her head, but instead of asking him what he’d been about to say about his father, she asked, “Are we here because you need to think about something?”
Not about you, he thought. I know exactly what I want with you.
The teasing light in her eyes captivated him. “This is also the best place on our la
nd to see the sunset.”
“You want to show me the sunset?” She looked skeptical.
“I swear, that’s it. It’s amazing, like the colors are coming up out of the earth.”
She smiled. “All right.”
He checked the sun’s position. “We’ll have to wait a bit.”
“That’s okay. I have a foot warmer.”
Remembering the fetching smile she had given him when he surprised her with the foot warmer had something hot and scary unfurling in his chest.
She smoothed the lap robe. “Are you sure you don’t want to share my blanket?”
He wanted to share more than that, but he was trying hard to respect the line she’d drawn between them. He wasn’t sure how long he could keep to his side. Matt had asked him earlier if he was still suspicious of Lydia. Russ had said no; he knew her secrets now and she had good reason for keeping them, though he hadn’t shared the stories with his brother. One thing he had told Matt was that Lydia was also seeing Bram. Matt was as surprised as Russ had been.
He relaxed into the soft leather seat, the hood of the buggy shielding them from the cold and an occasional gust of wind. This vehicle was a much better fit than the one he’d used to drive Lydia back to Whirlwind that first night he’d found her on the prairie.
Still, the buggy wasn’t so big that they couldn’t be close. Her lap robe touched the toe of his boot and their knees bumped often. His gaze roved over her face, taking in the fine texture of her skin, the pink in her cheeks, the delicate wing of her eyebrows.
She turned her head to look at him. “You’re going to miss the sunset if you don’t stop staring at me.”
“It would be worth it.”
He caught a smile as she looked away. She acted as though she had enjoyed herself so far. Russ hoped so.
Sitting out here alone with her, drawing in her sweet scent, tested Russ’s willpower to keep from kissing her. When he realized he was staring at her chest, wondering how long it would take him to get all those tiny buttons on her bodice unfastened, he mentally reined up.
She looked at him then, heat flaring in her eyes as she licked her lips. That was all it took to bring back every torturously wonderful second of having her in his arms a couple nights earlier. The same thought was in her eyes, too.
