There had to be a reason for her near misses and the only reason she could find was that it was Fate telling her to get ready.
"You all right, girl?"
Leda looked at the old man and forced a smile. No point in worrying him. "Thank you, Jubal," she said. "I'm fine."
"All right, then." He shook his graying head. "But I got to say, Leda James, you are about the luckiest durn female I ever come across!"
Luck.
Her fingers curled around the twenty-dollar gold piece hanging from a chain around her neck. Nestled among the colored beads, the coin stood out like a talisman. Perhaps, she told herself, Jubal was right. If not for her lucky coin, she probably wouldn't have survived this long.
In an instant, her mind rushed back to the morning she'd found that coin, three weeks before. The day her luck had changed. It was right after she'd bumped into the woman boarding the dawn stage.
"I'm so sorry," Leda said and reached for the elegant woman's bag, now lying in the dirt.
"It's quite all right," the other woman snapped and grabbed the bag from Leda's hands before she could even finish brushing off the layer of street dust.
The stagecoach horses, standing in their traces, stomped their hooves against the dirt and the hollow sound seemed to echo down the deserted Main Street.
Leda'd often taken a dawn walk through the silent town and usually ended her stroll in the cemetery, where she could have a nice chat with her mother. She'd never seen anyone on one of her walks, save the driver of the dawn stage. Until that day.
"Are you taking the stage?"
The elegant woman shot her a furious look before she answered, "Of course! Why else would I be up at this ungodly hour?"
Leda paid no attention to the woman's obvious ill temper. After all, not everyone enjoyed being up and about before the world came to life. Instead, Leda reached out for the woman's bag again.
"At least let me give your bag to the driver. I feel awful that I've gotten it all dirty and now it's ruining your beautiful dress!" Leda's gaze swept over the woman's sky-blue gown without envy. Instinctively, she began to brush at the delicate fabric with the palms of her hands.
The object of her attentions jumped back, startled. "That won't be necessary," she answered and curled her fingers tightly around the wooden handle of her bag. "Now if you will kindly excuse me, I would like to board the stage."
The woman turned, put one dainty foot on the wooden step, then pulled herself into the stagecoach with her free hand. Once she was seated, she laid her bag on her lap and stared thoughtfully out the window at Leda.
"You live here? In town?"
"Yes." Leda pointed to the opposite end of the narrow street. "In the small green house at the edge of town."
The passenger's eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"Movin’ out!" the driver called as he climbed to his perch. As soon as he'd lifted the reins, he cracked them above the horses' backs and the stage lurched into a roll.
Something shiny caught Leda's eye and she glanced down. A gleaming new gold coin lay in the dirt at her feet. No one else was around, so she told herself it had to have fallen from the woman's satchel. Leda picked it up and looked after the rapidly moving stage. The woman was still watching her from the window. But already, she was too far away to call back. As the last bit of dust settled back to earth, Leda decided to have the blacksmith in town punch a hole in the coin so she could wear it around her neck for luck. And before she'd finished that thought, Mr. Sloane, the banker, staggered out of his office, bleeding from a nasty cut on his forehead and shouting that he'd been robbed. In the rush to care for the injured man and then to find the sheriff, Leda'd had time only to wonder why the Fates would so bless one person and curse another on the very same day.
She blinked suddenly and let the coin fall back into the nest of necklaces draped around her neck. Pushing the memory of that day to the back of her brain, Leda shook her head.
Fate. Everything came back to Fate.
No. As much as it pained her to leave her mother, Leda knew what she had to do. If her time was drawing near, she wanted to spend what little time the Fates granted her with the only family she had left.
Straightening her shoulders, she began to walk quickly toward the boardinghouse. If she hurried, she could be packed in time to catch the afternoon stage. And in one short week, she could be in Tanglewood, Idaho, with her uncle Garrett and his children.
A sad smile curving her lips, Leda told herself that she would do her best to make good use of however much time the Fates allowed her.
She only wished that she might have been allowed to find him before she died.
CHAPTER 1 — CHARMS by Maureen Child
Tanglewood, Idaho—two months later
"You're here!"
Leda James jumped up from behind the small table and stared openmouthed at the man entering her uncle Garrett's store. In the space of a quickly drawn breath, she'd forgotten all about Flora Lloyd and her reading.
"Leda?" the outraged woman sputtered. "Leda! You set back down and finish this! You can't leave' me hangin' that way!"
But the young woman wasn't listening. Hungrily, Leda looked at him. Tall, lean, with sandy blond hair and pale blue eyes, the stranger stared back at her. No, she corrected herself mentally, he wasn't a stranger. Not to her. Not really.
Her heart pounded erratically and she forced herself to take long, even breaths. Hadn't she been waiting for him more than half her life? Hadn't his face haunted her dreams almost nightly for years? Not daring to look away for fear he might disappear as suddenly as he'd arrived, Leda took a half step toward him then stopped. The air in the tiny store was charged with the same power that filled the sky just before a storm.
Even Flora had stopped screeching.
Goosebumps raced along Leda's flesh, standing straight upon the surface of her skin. For a moment she let her gaze trace the so familiar line of his strong jaw. Then her eyes shifted to linger on the full lips she'd waited what seemed forever to kiss.
Without wasting another moment, Leda grinned and raced across the room to him and threw herself against him. He staggered back, slamming into the door behind him. Ignoring her uncle's shout of surprise, Leda felt her man's arms close around her, steadying her. Tilting her head back, she smiled up at him.
"You're here. Just like she promised," she murmured.
His eyes narrowed, his brow furrowed, he simply stared back at her, seemingly lost for words. It didn't matter, she told herself. What did they need with words now?
Her hand on his freshly shaven cheek, Leda pulled his head down to hers and kissed him. Her lips moved over his familiarly and she moaned deep in her throat. His touch was just as she'd known it would be. Soft, warm. Her stomach flopped, her blood rushed through her veins, and she heard a definite ringing in her ears.
For what seemed an eternity, she clung to him, her mouth moving over his, despite his lack of response. But when her lungs were straining for breath, she finally pulled away.
Still pressed tight against him, she stared up into his eyes again and felt herself drawn into the pale blue depths. Briefly, she imagined how wonderful it would be if only they'd been given years to be together instead of weeks… maybe days. She swallowed heavily. All these years, she told herself.
The long days and even longer nights of wanting, dreaming, planning. She remembered how often she'd amused herself by wondering how he would appear. And where. Would he be mortally wounded and only she would know how to save him? Would he stumble onto her doorstep in the middle of a thunderstorm begging refuge?
Leda sighed. Now, when it was too late for any of her dreams to be realized… he walked into her life with the simple act of opening a door.
As she looked at him, a stab of confusion sliced through her. He looked angry. In fact, now that she paid closer attention, every inch of him screamed out with tightly leashed fury. Could it be that he'd been searching for her, too, all this time and was angry that i
t had taken him so long to find her?
She brushed the thought aside. Whatever the cause of his temper, it didn't matter. Surely he would see that. Nothing mattered now that he had finally found his way to her.
And even if the Fates had chosen to bring them together when all hope was lost, Leda James was not one to question Destiny. Whatever the reason for the timing of their meeting, she would simply accept her chosen one's arrival as the gift that it was.
"Leda girl," Flora asked worriedly, "are you all right?"
"Oh yes," Leda answered, her gaze never moving from the man in front of her. "I'm wonderful, now."
His head drew back and he stared at her, openmouthed. Slowly, he reached up, pulled her hands from behind his neck, and said, "My good woman, what in heaven are you thinking?"
"You even sound as I imagined you would."
"I beg your pardon?"
She saw his questioning glance dart from her uncle to Flora, then back to her. Shaking her head slowly, she licked suddenly dry lips and said quietly, "But you're too late, my love."
"Late?'
His voice, deep and rough, filled her and it took every ounce of her courage not to look away. But she told herself, if she had to break his heart, she must at least look him in the eye.
"Yes," she said, despair choking her. "I can't marry you now. You see… I'm going to die."
Die?
Maxwell Evans stared down at the tiny woman still leaning up against him. What on earth was going on? First, a total stranger throws herself at him, kissing him as if he were her long-lost husband, in front of everyone, for God's sake… then she calmly announces she can't marry him because she's dying? Well, who asked her to marry him, anyway?
"Garrett," he said, appealing to the other man, "would you mind telling me just what is happening?"
The storekeeper was no help. He looked as lost as Maxwell felt.
"I don't know," the big man finally managed to say. "I never seen her act like this before."
Her smile still in place, the woman stared at him with all the hunger of a starving man for a shank of beef. She'd pressed herself so tightly against him that the innumerable necklaces of multicolored beads she wore around her neck gouged into his flesh despite the heavy fabric of his shirt and vest.
"She didn't tell me you'd be so tall," she whispered.
"Forgive me," he said, still trying to draw back.
"Oh no," she corrected quickly, "I like it."
"Well." Maxwell nodded and tried again to take a step away. "I'm happy you approve."
Her waist-length red hair fell in loose waves around her shoulders and her incredibly green eyes shimmered with a haze of unshed tears. Burnished copper freckles dotted her creamy complexion and her full lips trembled slightly with her every breath.
She shifted in his arms, rubbing her generous breasts against him. Immediately, his body responded and Maxwell knew that she had to be aware of it. As close to him as she was, she could probably tell exactly how many coins he was carrying in his pockets! She seemed to melt into him then and the contented sigh that left her told him she had no intention of moving anytime soon.
Good God...
Download Charms by Maureen Child to watch Leda and Maxwell fall in love!
Other historical romances by Maureen Child:
Small Treasures
Wishes
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