He stepped onto the porch and opened the door. He looked around the inside of the cabin, expecting to be rushed by two little boys. The house was empty except for Claudia. She stood on the other side of the room, her slender back to him. He watched the evening light play on her long, russet hair hanging down over her shoulders. He wanted to rush over and take her in his arms, but was afraid of the pain he’d find there.
“Hello, Micah.” She didn’t turn around.
“Hello, Claudia.” He rubbed his big hands on his legs, trying to dry their sudden dampness. “Where are the boys?”
“They’re down at Laura and Nathan’s visiting for a while.” She still didn’t turn around.
“Claudia, how did you get here?”
“By train, of course. Then Nathan and Laura helped us move up here. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, no. Of course not.” He rubbed his hands across his beard. Why wouldn’t she look at him? Did she hate him that much? “Claudia, please look at me.”
Slowly she turned around to face him, tears running unchecked down her face.
He looked at those beautiful, whiskey colored eyes, that sweet face. Then his gaze dropped to take in her slender shoulders and the Colt she had aimed at his midsection.
That didn’t surprise him as much as the round belly just below her weapon.
“You’re carrying,” was all he could say as he stood there, staring at the evidence.
“That’s right, mountain man. You’re going to be a father again.”
“Little one, I didn’t know.” He started toward her, but stopped when she pulled back on the hammer of the pistol.
“Sit down, Micah. I have a few things to say to you, and I want to be very sure you hear every one of them.”
“Okay.” He hesitantly moved back from her to sit on the long bench. Once he was seated, he sat back to await the verdict she was about to pronounce.
She was leaving. He knew it.
It was the punishment he deserved. Nothing had ever worked out for him. Every time he tried to claim the prize, it was pulled out of his grasp. That prize was a loving family.
Micah braced himself for what was about to come. He might survive losing her. He doubted it. Once she was gone, he’d let it kill him, but he wouldn’t let her know it now. She deserved to unload her anger on him and he’d take it like a man.
Claudia stood watching the emotions play across her husband’s face. She knew what he was thinking. Instead of letting it soften her to his cause, she used his doubt to fire her anger. She had five months of anger, frustration, loneliness, and morning sickness to take out of his hide. She intended to get her just compensation.
“Do you know what happened two weeks after I awoke to find you gone? No? I answered my door to find Nathan’s brother, Neil, and his wife on my doorstep, delivering divorce papers for me to sign. Divorce papers.” Claudia leveled the gun right between Micah’s eyes.
“Not only did you leave me without a word, but you decided I’d be better off without you. Guess what? We’re still married. I ripped the papers in two. Then you know what I did? I asked Neil to see to the selling of my home. I asked him to wire Nathan to meet me at the station in Denver. Then I packed up the boys and what possessions I really wanted to keep, and boarded the train.
“Do you know what happened on that train? No? I spent two weeks throwing up. I was sick through eight states and thousands of miles. And I thought of you every inch of the way.” She lowered the gun from between Micah’s eyes to between his legs, zeroing in on his precious manhood.
“I thought of you with every bout of morning sickness, because you were the reason I was so ill. I thought of you because you gave me something I never thought I’d have—a baby. I thought of you because I was scared to death you wouldn’t come back and know we’d created a life together.” The gun slipped down to point at the floor. Claudia’s voice caught on a small whimper, tears once again filling her eyes.
“I thought of you because I didn’t know if I’d ever get a chance to tell you how much I love you and want to spend my life with you.”
The tears were now streaming down her face, the gun lying limply in her hands.
Micah read in that sad, yet glorious, face the love that was waiting for him to claim. Opening his arms wide, he called, “Come here, little one.”
Claudia let out a sigh, set the weapon on the dry sink and walked to the haven of his waiting arms. He gathered her up to sit in his lap, one arm holding her back, the other slowly caressing her rounded belly. She wrapped both of her arms around his neck, allowing her much-overdue tears to flow over them both.
After a while, the tears ceased and her breathing slowed to a calmer pace. Micah continued to hold her. He stroked and comforted her as best he knew how. Her arms became limp. By the deepening of her breathing, and the relaxation of her head, he knew the emotional tirade had drained her to the point of exhaustion. Kissing her brow, he lifted her sleeping body into his arms and carried her over to his room in the back of the house.
He laid her down on the bed and removed her shoes. He opened the window to let in the early-evening breeze, then looked around the room she had made into her own. Many of the things had come from her town house in Washington, including the bed and armoire. He marveled at how she managed to haul them all the way up the mountain, let alone across the country.
She’d sold her home and packed up her things to move west just to be with him. He smiled. No one had ever proven their love for him in such a grand fashion. She’d said she loved him. Evidence of that love surrounded him. Her determination was amazing, but her love was a miracle.
He leaned over to kiss her cheek, noting the glisten of perspiration on her neck. She needed to be more comfortable. He unbuttoned the bodice of her dress, drawing it off of her arms and shoulders. He looked in fascination at the swells of her breasts above the cotton sheath. With the pregnancy they’d grown larger, the blue veins more translucent. He ached to take them in his hands, but knew she needed her rest. Unfastening the tabs to her skirt, he drew it and her petticoat off her body. Then stripping his own clothes off, he stretched out beside her and cradled her chemise clad body next to his.
A small movement hit him in the abdomen.
Startled, he drew back enough to place a hand over his child. It kicked him again, then he felt it roll clear across his hand. Looking at Claudia’s face, he marveled that she could sleep through such an uproar. Not wanting her to wake, he gently massaged her belly in hopes of lulling the small life back to sleep.
Once the baby stopped moving, Micah gathered Claudia close. Now all he needed to do was protect them from Gibson.
* * * * *
Gentle, warm hands moved over Claudia’s back, waking her with seductive stokes. The languid arousal moved forward to cup and knead her breasts. The tingling sensation in them sent a warm heat straight down to the core of her womanhood. She stretched like a cat on a warm summer’s day, her arms moving up the muscled length of her husband’s arms to link behind his neck. When she opened her eyes, deep, passionate, grey ones greeted her.
Micah lowered his mouth to hers and she tasted the masculine scent that had haunted her dreams for the past five months. He drew every ounce of breath from her body as she enjoyed the soft demand of his lips.
His hands explored her full, heavy breasts. Where before they were tight peaks of flesh, they now filled his hands as they moved over them. Slowly he kissed his way down to them, leaving a trail of heat in her body.
“Your nipples are darker, love.” He marveled at their deep-russet color.
Fire surged from the tender tips straight to the juncture of her thighs as he gently took one between his lips and suckled ever so softly on it. A gasp escaped her parted lips. He licked his tongue across the nipple once more. Claudia raised her hands to hold his head firmly to her breast.
After a moment, he moved farther down to kiss her fertile abdomen, eliciting goose bumps all the way down. She tried to
pull him back up to her, but he wouldn’t be denied. Parting her legs, he kissed a path right to the lips of her womanhood and gently licked his way to the bud of her desire.
Claudia gasped as sensations swept through her body and caused her to reach out to grasp his thick hair. Only she didn’t know if she wanted him to stop or continue his sweet torture. She felt herself losing control of her mind, when suddenly the damn of feelings broke, her body convulsing in its own pleasure.
Micah held her still, while her body poured its relief over him. Then in one very careful thrust he surged up over her, entering her completely. He held her hips locked to his, waiting until the storm inside her passed.
Ever so slowly, he rocked them both back and forth. He slipped his hand between them, finding the bud of her passion and circled it with his finger.
“Micah,” she pleaded.
“That’s it, love, give it to me,” he coaxed.
Without increasing his speed, he continued to thrust in and out of her, letting their passions build from a small flame to a roaring inferno of desire and feelings. Drawing more cries of need from her, until with one thrust more he took them over the edge of the abyss once again, exploding into lights of pure pleasure.
Micah turned onto his side once his body relaxed completely, drawing her once more up against him. He wanted to talk to her and tell her all the things he’d discovered while they were apart. Things such as his great need for her, his deep loneliness without her and the love that filled his soul.
With a gentle hand, he smoothed the hair off of her face and leaned down to kiss her.
She was fast asleep.
Smiling to himself, he wondered how much of her exhaustion had to do with his lovemaking and how much with carrying the baby.
“Then again,” he chuckled to himself. “My lovemaking wore her out anyway I look at it.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The whinnying of the horses instantly awoke Micah. He eased himself out from under Claudia’s sleeping from and drew the quilt up over her. He picked up his buckskins from where he had discarded them earlier. Then he drew his Colt and his bowie, creeping over to the bedroom door. He opened it a crack just big enough to look out into the main room. The early-morning light allowed him to see a lone figure standing in the big room.
“Morning, Robert,” he greeted the man dressed in denim.
“I thought that might be your horse out there, Micah.” Henderson approached Micah, his hand outstretched in greeting. “It’s good to see you back here in one piece.”
“Feels good to be back.” He took the older man’s hand, shaking it vigorously. “Things aren’t quite how I left them.”
“No. I bet you’ve had a few surprises along the way. Want a cup of coffee?”
“Sure could use one.” Micah took the cup offered him and sipped at the hot brew. “I don’t think I could stand too many more surprises like the ones I had yesterday.”
Footsteps sounded on the porch outside.
“Better put that cup down then, son.” Henderson turned to look at the doorway. “You’re about to get one more.”
The door swung open and in walked a tall, leaner version of Micah. His blond hair was down to his shoulders now, but Micah knew who it was.
“Hank.” He walked forward, embracing the younger man tightly against his chest.
“Glad you’re back, Pa.” Hank whispered in his ear.
“You know?” Micah hugged his son harder, not wanting to see the hurt he might find on his face. “Did Claudia tell you?”
“No. Patrice did a long time ago. She thought I should know why Stephen hated me so much.”
Micah released him, looking into his eyes to see only acceptance. He glanced around the cabin to find Henderson had left them alone.
“Let’s go outside, son. I think we’ve a lot to talk about, and I don’t want Claudia up yet. She looks pretty worn out.”
“She’s one tough lady.” Hank sat down on the porch stoop. Micah retrieved his coffee and joined him there.
“That she is. I nearly went out of my mind when I got back to Washington to find her and the boys gone.” He looked at his son, confessing, “To tell you the truth, I was going to go down to see you after I was sure they were safe, but I wasn’t sure you wouldn’t be better off without me. Why didn’t you tell me the last time I saw you, that you knew I was your father?”
“At the time, there seemed to be more important things going on. Then when Claudia sent Henderson down to ask me to come West with her, I wasn’t sure it was the right thing to do, or not.”
“What changed your mind?”
“The note Claudia sent along.” He cleared his throat. “It said, since the family was moving west, and I was part of the family, I’d be more than welcome to come along on a grand adventure. And that if I might want to start fresh, I should join her in Cincinnati. Once I got there, she looked me straight in the eye and said, what’s between you and Micah, the two of you will have to work out yourselves. I want you here, because I need you. Then she promptly threw up.”
“Really?” Micah burst out laughing and Hank joined him. “That’s my Claudia. Makes her point with style.”
“She threw up the entire trip out here. Had me scared out of my wits, if you want to know. Then Nathan explained things to me about the baby. I felt better after that. Once she got to feeling better, she became a slave driver. She pushed us all until we had the crops in, the furniture up and meat in the smokehouse.”
“That sounds like her, too. She keeps those two rapscallions in line. Speaking of which, how are they getting along?”
“They’re something else. I like having two brothers younger than me for a change. I’ve taught them how to ride and to hoe crops. And I promised to take them out hunting in the fall after the harvest is in.”
Micah listened to him talk about the boys and knew he’d be a good influence on the two. Despite his harsh upbringing, his son had turned into quite a decent man. He had Patrice to thank for that. With that thought, memories of the fight in the Sierra Nevada foothills filled his mind.
“Is Stephen dead?” Hank asked, reading his thoughts.
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Patrice shot him.”
“Where is she now? Is she okay?”
“Physically, I think she’s doing well. Mentally and emotionally she has a long row to hoe. She stayed out in California with Noah Howard. He’s an agent for the War Department. She’s in good hands. She went through a terrible ordeal, Hank. And only time will tell if she’ll ever come back to us.” He looked up to see Henderson returning with a basket full of eggs. “Besides, we have our own problems to worry about.”
“Such as?” Henderson set the egg basket down on the porch and turned expectantly to Micah.
“I believe we’ll be needing to have a barn raising before fall, with all these extra animals to tend. That means a lot of wood to cut.”
“And?”
Micah felt the older man spying on him closely. “Jonathan Gibson is still on the loose.”
“Son-of-a-bitch,” Henderson swore, drawing surprised looks from both Turner men. He smiled sheepishly, saying, “Seemed like an appropriate time to use that term.”
“I think you’re right,” Micah agreed, winking at his son. “So we need to fortify any defenses we think we might need.”
“You think he’ll find his way here?” Hank asked.
“He’s out for revenge now, son. We’d be stupid not to worry. With all my family here, this is where he’ll come.”
“Then I say let’s give him one helluva welcome.” Hank jumped to his feet, starting out to the woods.
“Hank,” Micah called, “it can wait until after breakfast.”
* * * * *
Claudia dished up plates of ham, beans and corn bread for dinner for all three men. They’d been felling trees for a month in anticipation of the barn raising. Tomorrow, Henderson and Hank were going to Nathan’s to bring bac
k the boys and invite him and the men from Doverton out for the barn raising in another week. If enough families showed up, the main form of the barn would be up in a day. Then Micah, Henderson, Hank, and Nathan could finish filling in the sides on their own.
The heat of late August bore down on her pregnant body, wearing her out more than she ever had been before. She looked forward to sitting in the cool green forest while the men ate their supper. It helped her get through the day to spend the afternoon either there or down by the creek.
A noise outside brought her attention to the door. Cautiously, she walked over to the side of it to peer outside and see who had made the noise. Hank ambled up the path from where they were working, the sun shining off of his fair head. Claudia smiled at the sight of him and her own foolishness.
Ever since the second night of Micah’s return they were all on edge. She remembered the night Micah told them about the things that had occurred out in California. He took special care when telling Hank how his mother had died. She knew he was afraid of losing the son he was finally able to claim as his own and didn’t want to destroy that relationship before it had grown firm roots.
Hank surprised them both, saying, “I knew she was a slave to that drug, Micah. She became crazed for it even before they left Georgia. I’m just surprised she survived long enough to get to California.”
“When she flew out of the flames, I thought it was some wild monster, Hank.” Micah looked up at his son with his heart in his eyes. “She left me no choice. It was her or me. If I could have done any differently, I would have. Not because of Julia herself, but because she was your mother.”
“I know that.” Hank looked at his father, understanding his pain. “So is Patrice safe now?”
“Yes, why didn’t you bring her back with you, Micah?” Claudia asked.
“That’s one of the things we have to discuss, little one.” He drew her up against his side on the settee. “Patrice has a long way to go before she’ll be ready to come home, I’m afraid. The physical pain seems to be completely gone now. The emotional pain may take a great deal of time for her to overcome. Noah seems to think he can help bring her around.”
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