“Nathan,” Hank called, pulling up to the side of the wagon. “Henderson says Claudia needs to rest. She’s looking a bit tired back there, if you ask me.”
“Sure thing there, Hank. Why don’t you ride up a ways and spot us out a nice sunny spot to stop. I think there’s one just ahead in those trees there.” He turned to his wife. “I dare say you and Rachel could use a rest to stretch your legs a bit, too.”
“How much longer until we reach the cabin?”
“We won’t reach it tonight.”
“In that case, we’ll just have something light to eat now. When we stop for the night, I’ll make something more filling. You’re sure we’ll reach it tomorrow?”
“I think so. Why?”
“I don’t like the idea of Claudia traveling this long. And besides,” she added, grinning up at him impishly, “I don’t think my behind can take more than one day riding on this hard seat.”
“Then we’ll have to give you something else to ride on, won’t we?” He returned her grin with one of his own.
“Nathan, you’re terrible. Rachel is right here listening to you.”
“I meant a horse, darlin’. I have no idea what you meant.” He laughed to see her blush so deep. Once again he was surprised by the ease in which he could make his wife blush. In all his years with Rachel’s mother, he never once knew her to be innocent enough to be embarrassed. God blessed him with a truly wonderful woman the second time around.
He glanced back at Claudia. Despite her pale skin and queasy stomach, the woman never seemed to complain. He wondered if Micah knew just how lucky he was to have a wife who wouldn’t give up on him? A thought occurred to him as he looked over all the belongings Claudia had hauled clear across the country.
“Laura, is Claudia rich?”
“I suppose in a manner of speaking she is.”
“Just how much of a manner are we speaking?”
“Well, her father was a very influential banker in the nation’s capital. He held lavish parties for many of his clients. I believe he left Claudia with an estate worth in the hundreds of thousands. Why?”
“I wonder if Micah even realizes her worth.”
“She’s worth more than just money, Nathan.” Laura’s cheeks pinked again, this time as her anger sparked to life.
“Calm down, darlin’.” He pulled the wagon into a small clearing where Hank, Joey and Adam were waiting. “What I meant was, she must love him a great deal to give up such an easy life in the city, to come and live with him in an isolated cabin in the woods. Micah is a very lucky man indeed.”
“On that I couldn’t agree more.” Laura handed him the baby then hopped down from the seat. “Just remember, sir, you are every bit as lucky as he is.”
“I doubt you’ll ever let me forget that, wife.”
Laura laughed as she walked into the clearing to begin preparing a light meal for the group. Rachel chased after both the boys. Their laughter filled the glen.
Hank helped Claudia down from the wagon and over to sit by Laura. She felt more tired than she had first thought. She stretched out on the blanket, listening to the sounds of the children at play. After only a few minutes, her eyes closed and she drifted off to sleep.
“Claudia,” a voice called. She opened her eyes to find Laura standing over her with a plate and cup. “I think you could stand some chamomile tea and bread, don’t you?”
“Laura, you shouldn’t have let me sleep while you did all this work.” She sat up on the blanket, drinking the tea and nibbling on the bread.
“I was in the same condition just this last year, remember? I know what it’s like to have all your energy completely leave you. I fed the men and the children while you slept. Now you and I can have a little visit until Nathan’s ready to move on.”
“Your husband is very nice. Was he like that at first with you?”
“No. In fact he was as mean as a bear, and as prickly as a porcupine.” She proceeded to tell Claudia the story of how she arrived at Nathan’s neglected home, how he’d treated her that first day, and how she got her point across with a well-placed carpetbag to his stomach.
“Oh, Laura, you didn’t.” Claudia laughed at the mental picture of her friend bringing the big farmer down to size with a carpetbag. Finished with her respite, she set aside the cup and plate.
“I did. And I still put him in his place every so often, when he gets too big for his britches.”
“What are you two laughing about?” Nathan asked as he approached them.
“Just women things.” Laura winked at Claudia, sending them both into peals of laughter.
“If you’re done laughing at my expense, I think it’s time to move on.” He stomped off for the wagons, issuing orders to the men and boys.
“How did he know we were talking about him?”
“Claudia, I have learned that when two women get together and laugh, any male in the vicinity naturally assumes they’re laughing at him. This time he was correct.” They folded up the blanket and gathered Laura’s pots.
“Is he going to be angry with you now?”
“I’ll soothe his ruffled feathers later.”
“And how will you do that, Laura?”
“The same way you got that baby, dear.”
This sent them into further peals of laughter and earned them stares from all the males in their party.
* * * * *
Finally, after traveling through a pass between two mountain slopes the next day, the wagons pulled up at the opening of a clearing in the trees.
“It’s beautiful.” Claudia gazed at her new home for the first time.
The pines parted to reveal a valley surrounded by trees and mountains on three sides. Nathan paused the wagons for everyone to admire the scene. A large cabin sat nestled between an orchard on one side, and a running stream on the other. Rocky mountain cliffs stood directly behind it, protecting it from the westerly winds and any attacks by unwelcome visitors.
Stretching out to the far side of the valley, were fields of green pastures and a second stream. Nearly fifty horses roamed the land, grazing at will, their colts prancing around them in freedom.
“Nathan, no one told me Micah raised horses up here,” Hank said in admiration.
“Your brother herded these wild mustangs into this valley years ago. The animals are well-protected here. The only people who know the two ways in here are your brother and me. He cuts out twenty or so horses every year, breaking them to the saddle and selling them to the army. Between that and trapping, he makes more than enough money to take care of his needs.”
“There are two ways in here?” Claudia gazed out over the beautiful valley.
“We came in from the South. If you look to your left, you can see a slight depression in the rocks. There’s a narrow path that leads down to town. In fact it leads right to our house. We couldn’t come that way with the wagons. Maybe later I’ll show Hank and Henderson the way down. It’s quicker, in case you need us for some reason.”
“Can we go to the cabin now?” Adam asked from the back of the grey mare he’d been riding.
“You follow the wagons down, son.” Nathan started his team into the clearing. “And stay near Hank in case your horse decides to bolt. Keep an eye on him, Hank.”
The wagons moved down in a circular fashion to the cabin. Claudia held onto the side of her wagon tightly. She couldn’t believe she was finally here.
Micah’s home for the last sixteen years.
Now it was her home—hers and her family’s. She planned to dig her roots in firmly. If Micah wanted to get rid of her, he was going to find he had a fight on his hands.
He once told her that he kept what was his. Well, he was part of her family now. And she kept what was hers, too.
* * * * *
By the end of two weeks, things started to take shape both in the valley and the cabin. The men plowed and sowed a portion of the land between the cabin and the entrance to the valley, far away from the graz
ing land of the horses. Laura helped Claudia decide what to plant for the coming season, promising to come back in the fall to help her preserve as much of it as possible.
The ladies also had curtains made for the two windows on the lower level of the house. There was a large main room with space for a large table and two benches. A fireplace and a cook stove lined the back wall, along with a dry sink and pantry. A fireplace stood along one wall, as well as a chair and wooden settee, which the ladies made pillows for. The farthest wall from the entrance was divided into two rooms. Claudia took the one which Micah had obviously slept in, while Henderson used the other one. A loft extended across the entire length of the house. Hank, Adam and Joey delighted in dividing it among themselves.
Once the crop was in the soil in good shape, Nathan took Hank and Henderson on a hunting expedition. He wanted to be sure both men knew how to hunt for meat until Micah returned so the small group wouldn’t starve.
Finally, the day arrived when Laura and Nathan needed go home. They assured Claudia they’d be back in the fall for a week during the harvest. Since the harvest would come sooner at this higher altitude, Nathan said he could help them get their crop in successfully before seeing to his own.
Claudia waved as Laura and her family disappeared into the trees, hating the tears she was so frequently shedding these days. She felt Hank’s arm come softly around her shoulder and hug her gently.
“They’ll be back,” was all he said.
“I know. I can’t seem to control my feelings these days.” She wiped her eyes dry.
“Mr. Cantrell said you was going to cry a lot and get em…em…” Joey faltered.
“Emotional,” Adam finished for him.
“Yeah, emotional. But we was to be extra nice to you and it would help.”
“He also said you had to take lots of naps.” Adam explained to her.
“Then I think this would be a good time for one of those naps.” Claudia turned a smile on all of them. “It might help with this emotional problem, too.”
“I’m going to take the boys down to look a little closer at the mustangs.” Hank hopped off the porch with both boys on his heels.
“Not too close,” she warned.
“Would you like me to stay close by, Claudia?” Henderson stood beside her, watching the boys from the top step of the porch.
“I think, Robert, those boys could all use a man with them right now—even Hank. I’m going to go take a nap like they suggested. Go on.”
“If you’re sure.”
“I know how much you’ve wanted to live in the west. Go enjoy the farm. I’ll be just fine.”
She watched him jog out after the others, smiling at how much like the little boys he really was. She turned into the house and headed for the large quilt covered bed in her room. She pulled one of the old used pillows close, cuddled around it and inhaled the cedar and pine fragrance of the cabin. She let the tears flow, releasing the tension the previous weeks had placed on her.
Where are you, Micah? Don’t you know how much I need you? Please come home soon.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Micah stopped the buckskin at the rise just before his valley. He reached into his saddlebag and took out the sealed envelope, fingering Claudia’s writing on it as he’d done every night for the last month.
Micah.
It was his only link to Claudia and the boys, except for his memories. He glanced at the afternoon sky. He only had another hour of winding through the forest before he would be home.
Home.
Somehow, he now thought of home as a town house in crowded Washington, D.C., filled with the sound of little boys’ laughter. Home was a big feather bed and the soft, warm body of his wife snuggled up to him as he slept. Home was sitting on a damp pine bough in the Georgia forest, talking in earnest with a son he could never claim. Home could never again be a lone cabin in the isolated mountains of Colorado in the dead of winter.
The last two months had nearly killed him. He’d arrived back in the capital, and headed straight for the town house, only to find it deserted. Claudia had packed up many of her things and taken the boys away. No one knew where they’d gone. She hadn’t gone to Cain at the war department like he’d asked her to do. Cain, Simon and Kelly helped him search the city. No trace of her, the boys or Henderson was found.
Finally in a last-ditch effort, he went to Baltimore to see if Neil had delivered the divorce papers like he’d asked. Neil and Beth explained they’d visited Claudia right after his visit. Both said she was highly upset over his high handedness in ending the marriage. Beth was quite clear in her disappointment in his actions.
“How could you just leave without even explaining to her why?” Beth had held nothing in reserve when she released her wrath upon him. “Do you know how lonely it is for a woman to live a life without a man? Then you sweep her off her feet, show her how nice it is to have someone to lean on, only to leave her alone once again? Do you know how she must hurt right now?”
“I do,” was the simple answer he gave.
For he did know. He knew all too well how she felt. Finding her gone had ripped out his heart and left a hole bigger than any bullet he’d ever received.
“You should be horsewhipped for treating her like that, Micah Turner.”
“Beth,” Neil cautioned his wife from his seat behind his desk. “I think Micah knows how angry you are right now. But what he needs is our help.”
“No.” She shook her head and walked away from him.
“Beth,” Neil implored from his seat.
“We promised, Neil. I won’t break a promise to her. She’s had too many of them broken in her life. Just give him the letter like she instructed you to do. You’re acting as her lawyer now, not his.”
“She left a letter for me?” Micah’s empty soul filled with hope. “You know where she is? Are they all right?”
“Micah…” Neil began, removing a sealed letter from his desk drawer.
“You promised, Neil.” Beth whisked the letter from her husband’s grasp.
“Beth, I have to know where they are.” Micah was near to throwing himself to his knees. “They could be in great danger.”
“Micah, if you want the letter, you may have it.” Beth brought the sealed letter to wave in his face. “But on two conditions.”
“If this will tell me where they are, I’ll promise you anything, Beth.” He reached out to grab it, but she pulled it away. He looked at Neil to warn the man he was losing his patience.
“First, no more questions about her whereabouts. They’re all fine, and that’s all you need to know right now.” Beth looked him in the face just as his old mammy used to, expecting him to give his word of honor. She had him right where she wanted, knowing that once a southern man gave his word, he was honor-bound to keep it.
“Yes, I agree,” he bit out.
“And secondly, I want your word you won’t open this until you are one hour away from your cabin.”
“What? You can’t mean that, Beth! My cabin is in Colorado. I have to be here to protect them.”
“I’m perfectly aware where your cabin is, sir. I want your word as a gentleman.”
Micah looked at Neil, who only shrugged his shoulders in mute sympathy. “Some friend you are, Neil. Remind me to shoot you the next time I see you.” Micah held out his hand to Beth. “I promise.”
“Good.” She handed him the letter. “Now, get on your way. I hate to see a man suffer. The sooner you get to that cabin, the sooner you’ll know what she has to say.”
* * * * *
Micah’s fingers ran over the crisp, elegant handwriting in the afternoon sunlight filtering through the trees. The hope in his soul lay at the wayside.
Claudia would never forgive him. How could she? Beth had been right four weeks ago in Baltimore. He should be horsewhipped. He’d treated his wife badly, assuming what he thought best for Claudia wasn’t necessarily what she thought was best. He’d trusted his visions, forgett
ing to trust her.
Claudia was a warm, caring, intelligent woman. Between the two of them, they could’ve come up with a way to protect her from Gibson. But now, she was alone, and there was nothing he could do to warn her.
If this letter told him to stay out of her life, he would. He’d stay away from her and the boys once he tracked them down and ended Gibson’s threat to them. Then he’d walk away.
He opened the seal. There he found the torn remnants of his divorce papers, and two written lines on the outer sheet.
Come home to your cabin, Micah.
We all miss you.
Micah read the lines again. And yet again, letting their meaning and the meaning of the ripped legal documents sink into his brain. She was there, only one hour away and she wanted him to come home.
He set the buckskin into motion and wove his way haphazardly through the trees in his haste to get home.
She was there and she was his.
When he entered the clearing he stopped to take in the sight before him. His cabin was still there, and up on the hillside were his mustangs, but those were the only things that remained the same from the last time he’d ridden out of the valley. Several cows grazed near his horses. Between him and the house a garden grew, covering more than ten acres.
They were here. And they’d been busy.
Micah squinted out over the land, unable to see anyone stirring. Where was everyone? Then he saw smoke coming from the cabin. He set the buckskin toward the house, around the knee high corn and the rest of the vegetables. At the rail, he stopped to tie his mount and unsaddle him. Once the saddle sat on the rail, he unbridled the weary animal, brushed his coat and slapped him on the rump to send him off to graze.
He knew he was stalling. He wanted to get his nerves under control before he saw Claudia again. Her letter said he was welcome.
Obviously she planned to stay awhile, but what if it were only temporary? What if she could never forgive him?
Damn, he hated this uneasiness. If she planned to leave him, then he’d give her the chance now and get it over with. He steeled himself on his past experiences, knowing family had let him down before and they would probably do so again.
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