He emerged and took a deep breath. “I’m going to try and dig out around you.”
The pinned man nodded, and Garrett ducked once more into the water. He lodged himself beneath a branch so the river wouldn’t take him downstream, and began to dig under the man’s thigh. His fingers scraped and grew raw as he frantically dug at the sand and rocks beneath. No use.
His lungs screamed for air, and he surfaced. “It’s no good. The river keeps pushing sand back down. We’re going to have to move the tree.”
“The river is pushing against it. If we dislodge the tree, then it’s going to slam against us and take us down with it,” Dick pointed out.
“Maybe I can push the tree upriver enough for you to pull him free.” At Dick’s doubtful look, Garrett continued, “It’s our only option right now.”
Garrett widened his feet and leaned into the tree, but it didn’t budge. He tried again, but still came up short.
On his third try, water splashed on the other side of the Bonner man. Garrett looked as Peter took up a position similar to his and began to push.
Garrett angled his shoulder lower and, with all the strength he could muster, shoved the log. It moved, and Dick yanked the Bonner boy free.
The tree slid toward them a few inches and stopped.
“Get out!” he shouted. “Get out before the water sends it downstream!”
Garrett was the last to scramble up the bank and out of the water. He turned and plopped down in exhaustion, watching as the tree dislodged with the force of the water and slammed past the area where they had just stood. It slid near the bank, to lodge once more parallel to the shoreline. Air filled his lungs and relief eased his twisted chest. Not this year. His conscience couldn’t deal with a death on his last trip.
“My God,” Peter said, drawing Garrett’s attention.
“You almost killed someone. One of your own team members.” Garrett’s nails bit into his palm as he clenched his fist. He wanted to yank the man up and beat him until nothing remained but a bloody corpse, but he refrained.
Peter turned a stunned gaze on him.
Garrett glared. “You were overheard at the train depot plotting against the company. Don’t try to deny it. The jig is up.”
Dick assessed the man’s injuries and turned to Garrett. “His leg is broken.”
“I didn’t mean to, Hal,” Peter said to the Bonner boy. “No one was supposed to get hurt.”
Hal turned to stare in disappointment. “What did you do?”
“I just tried to stop the drive until after the mill missed the contract deadline.”
Garrett looked up as the first of the Bonner crew from camp ran up the bank with their peaveys.
“What did you do?” Hal questioned again. The crew ran to the blockage and began to work to dislodge it.
“The fire, the raft release, it was all me.” Michael’s brother snapped his head toward Garrett. “Except the one that made the girl float downriver. I won’t take the blame for that.”
“We already know who did that. You’re saying that you are responsible for every incident that happened during the season, sans one? No one else was involved?”
Peter hung his head low. “Michael was too. I needed help. He was going to release the raft after it moved to the other side of the river, but he ran into the women and got scared. You gotta understand, Garrett, our pa’s sick. We needed the money.”
“You could have come to me.” Garrett turned to Dick. “Can you take care of Hal until I get back with the crew? I need to find a few people to take him to town and escort Peter to the mill.”
* * * *
Beth stood on the edge of the wannigan away from the bank and jabbed at the bottom of the river with her peavey, on instinct, she searched the far-off banks for Garrett, but with no luck. Even the sight of him calmed her anxiety, and let her face her day with gumption. “The water is clear this way. We should be able to break free without any problems.”
The boat rocked when Aunt June stepped onboard carrying a large pot. “We’re about set here, and then we wait for the bateau to leave. I don’t know how long we’re going to be floating today. Could be until dark. We’ll make all meals on the boat.”
Garrett walked to the boat and handed Aunt June the last pot. Beth’s heart beat at the sight of him. His commanding presence demanded her attention and held it captive like a pirate captain. God how she loved him. “We’re short a few men. We caught Peter, but a Bonner boy got hurt. Clint, Dick, and a few of the Bonner boys are going to have to take Hal to the junction and Peter to the mill.”
“Why Devil May Care boys?” Beth stepped toward the front of the wannigan. “Why not send someone less experienced?”
“I can trust my men. I can’t rely on someone I don’t trust. Do you think you could man the rear bateau without getting hurt?” he asked Beth.
“Yes.” She couldn’t believe Garrett was willing to trust in her enough to man the bateau. Especially since the time she had been shoved down the river. He was even more protective since then.
“I don’t think so.” Aunt June placed her hands on her hips. Beth bit her lip. Please God, let her give in. She needed to spend a few more stolen moments with Garrett. “There are plenty of other men that can row that boat.”
“None as good as Beth. She’s proved herself on the log when she went down the river, and on the bateau. She’ll stay with me at the back and help dislodge any stray logs. Tonight we will be at the next lake, so she won’t have too hard of a time.”
Beth sent a pleading look to Aunt June, who took a moment before nodding.
She ran inside the cabin, grabbed the logger spikes from her bag, and hurried back outside, jumping from the wannigan in a very unladylike way. She didn’t care. All she cared about was being near Garrett again.
Garrett’s face lit when she looked up at him with her spikes dangling from her fingers. “Ready.”
“Let’s get you set up.” Garrett turned and headed downriver. He slowed when they neared the bateau. “Get in. Let’s find Wall.”
Garrett slid the boat into the water and waited for her to climb inside before hopping in to maneuver down the river. She didn’t fight the smile aching her cheeks. She caught the saboteur and today she would be a riverman. The only thing that made her day bittersweet was the thought of losing Garrett at the end of the river run.
“We should be to the mill in a few days.” He rowed the boat around the logs like a snake through the grass. “Most of you can go home after that.”
Beth refused to let the thought ruin her last chance at happiness. “Victoria will be glad to hear that. She pretends to be enjoying herself, but I’ve heard her cry at night. She’s not cut out for life at a logging camp. She’s more the boss woman.”
“I want to be with you right now. I’d rather not talk about Victoria.”
“All right.” Beth took up the peavey and poked at a log as they drifted past, glad Garrett agreed in not speaking of the doom of their future. She tried not to smile at Garrett’s words. There was nothing else she wanted right now than to be alone with him.
They spent a few moments in silence until they rounded a bend to see Wall standing on a log in the middle of the river, poking at a jam. Garrett brought the boat alongside.
“Need a spot?” Garrett bumped the bateau into Wall’s log.
Wall gave a quick glance at them, lifted his head in answer, and then turned his attention back to the jam.
“Move to the back, Beth,” Garrett commanded. “He’s going to be jumping in, and fast. Careful not to tip the boat.”
Beth nodded and waited, her heart beating fast in anticipation.
Wall shoved the log again with the peavey, and a loud crack sounded from the jam. Before she had time to react, the logs shot down the river at the same time Wall launched himself into the bateau. Her stomach did
a summersault as adrenaline coursed through her veins. This was even more exciting than she’d anticipated.
Garrett paddled to clear the boat from the path of the logs and brought it to shore.
“Miz Elizabeth.” Wall tipped his hat as he turned to see her. “How have you been?”
“Good.” She hadn’t seen him since he asked to court her. Did he expect a response so soon or had he forgotten? “You haven’t been to the cook camp in days.”
“I wanted to give you time to think.”
Beth smiled, but her heart ached. Wall expected an answer, but she didn’t know how to respond. While he would make a prized husband, she was ruined both emotionally and physically, but did she want to spend the rest of her life alone?
“Would you object if I came by the cook camp tonight?”
Beth slid a nervous glance to Garrett. He ducked his head and lowered his gaze, but failed to hide the hurt in his eyes before it disappeared underneath long lashes. The same hurt she felt every time she saw Garrett and Victoria together. An ache she felt now in response to his.
“As long as no one else objects.” She snuck another peek at Garrett, but he hadn’t moved.
Garrett cleared his throat and leapt from the boat to pull it ashore.
Once they all stood on solid ground, Garrett faced his friend. “I’m leaving Big Mountain. I’m to take over my father’s business as soon as we return to Missoula.”
Wall stared at Garrett with mouth agape. “I… Why didn’t you tell us earlier? We could have made this drive one to remember.”
“Trust me. I will never forget this drive.” Garrett paused for a second, and then continued, “I want you to take over the Devil May Cares. The men all look up to you, and you can best any of them in a row.”
“Are you certain no one will object?”
“I doubt it. Today I want you to take my position during the drive. Beth and I will take the rear positions and gather the straggler logs. If the men see me treating you like the boss, they’d assume you bested me in a fight. They’ll treat you the same. At least it will make it easier for you to transition next year.”
“Will we be seeing you in town?”
“I will be at my usual haunts.” Garrett nodded. “And if the railroad logging is successful, I might be seeing you back at camp again someday soon. I’ll help you in any way I can.”
Wall extended his hand, and Garrett shook it. “I may take you up on that.”
Garrett nodded, and Wall grabbed his peavey from the bateau. He faced Beth and bowed. “I’ll stop by this evening, Miz Elizabeth.”
Wall gave a saluted goodbye to Garrett and turned to walk the riverbank, headed downstream.
“Where’s he going?”
“He will walk the river until he sees a jam and then shove the logs back into the current.”
“Oh.” Beth chewed on the edge of her lip as Wall disappeared around a bend in the river. Wall was a good man, and deserved a woman who would stand by his side and love him unconditionally. How was she going to answer him when her heart belonged to Garrett?
“Beth,” Garrett said in a tone that gave her pause. “Do you plan to court Wall?”
“I don’t know.”
She wanted to say no, tell him he was the only one and throw herself into his arms. She wanted to bury her face in his chest and never leave.
“If my father hadn’t made the deal, you have to know that I would spend every moment convincing you to marry me.”
Beth gave a sad smile. She knew he spoke the truth, but her heart still ached whenever she thought of what might have been. “It wouldn’t take much.”
“Wall is a good man. He’d make you happy.”
All she could do was answer with a shake of her head. No one would make her happy but Garrett. “Will Victoria do that for you?”
“She will certainly try.”
Beth’s chin quivered and she turned her head. She didn’t want Garrett seeing her cry—both for him, and what they could have been.
* * * *
A single tear fell from the corner of Beth’s eye, and Garrett’s heart shattered. He couldn’t staunch the need to hold her, to feel her melt into his touch. He was weak in matters of the heart.
Without waiting for her to object, he wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close. The smell of her hair had changed since the day at the lake when she’d bathed, but the scent still affected him the same. He needed her, and she him. Even if just for a few days, they were meant to be one.
With his index finger, he tipped her head up until her tear-filled eyelashes fluttered open. “Don’t cry.”
“I can’t help it. I don’t want to be with anyone else, and I don’t want you to be either.”
“I feel the same, but the contract—”
“Yes, I know.” She slid her hands around his waist and buried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. This is right.
“We will be alone in the bateau. Let’s have this time for us.” He let his cheek fall to the top of her head and squeezed her closer. “The days we have left will be about you and me, and no one else. Promise me you’ll live for today, and not what is to come.”
Beth lifted her head. “Until I give you to another, we will exist for only each other.”
“The hell with anyone else.” He smoothed her hair down.
She smiled and laid her head on his chest once more.
Garrett glanced up as the cook cabin slid into view around a bend a few yards up the river. He backed up and grabbed her hand to tug her toward the bateau. “Come. We need to get going.”
The wannigan floated past as he rowed the bateau back into the water. Carrie stood at the front and rowed as Victoria and Aunt June worked to guide the boat from the back so that it would ease into the white water ahead.
He watched Aunt June dig hard with an oar and remembered all the times in the past when she’d steered him in the right direction. Throughout the last few years in camp, she’d been his confidant, someone he could trust with advice and secrets.
His spirits lifted. Would she be able to help him figure out how to be with Beth? However, as quick as his spirits lifted, they receded. Not even Aunt June could talk him out of a deal with his father, but he needed Beth as certain as he needed to breathe.
Chapter 23
Beth dug the oar deep into the river and kept the boat steady while Garrett shoved at a jammed log on the side. As Garrett suggested, they lived each moment for each other, not caring to think about the near future when they would once again be separated. They’d worked together for two days now, and each day they grew closer, more in sync to one another.
She watched the flow of the river strain the log until, with a loud crack, the blockage broke free, and the debris flowed once more.
Garrett slumped back to sit in the boat. “I think that was our fastest time yet. No trouble at all. We could go on like this all day.”
Beth smiled, but they couldn’t go on like this. They only had a few more days to be together before they’d be torn apart forever.
The wannigan floated past, and Beth turned to Garrett. “Looks like we’re the last ones on the river.”
He watched the cook boat as it floated downriver to disappear around a bend. “The river is wide and slow. Do you want to ride on a log? You’ll be fine as long as there’s no white water, and this time you won’t be floating down alone in the dark.”
Beth nodded. This is what she’d always wanted. An adventure, and Garrett was giving it to her. He didn’t stifle her personality and force her to be proper. He let her be the woman she wanted, while offering the protection and respect that a gentleman would a lady of the first water.
Garrett steered the bateau to a log jammed on the riverbank. “Go ahead and get on the hump. We’re still on the river. Take care. If you
see any jams, keep a wary eye out. Things could get dangerous in a matter of seconds. I’ll be nearby. If you need me, yell.”
Beth concentrated on sliding over the side, and settling on the log with her legs dangling in the cold water of the spring runoff. Garrett handed her a peavey and pushed the bateau a few feet away from the log. “Did you hear me? It can get dangerous, so be wary.”
“Yes, all right.” Beth shoved the log with her foot to dislodge it from the riverbank. Excitement filled her core with happiness. Today her life was perfect. Adventure on the horizon, and Garrett by her side.
She did a quick survey of the water surface and dug her peavey in the water to paddle hard toward the center. From the boat, she noticed Garrett furrow his brows and maneuver the bateau.
“Follow me!” he shouted.
She shoved the peavey into the mud of the riverbank, and guided her log to follow. The water picked up in speed and she noticed a few white caps dotting the river.
The unoccupied logs that surrounded her tossed about as they rushed down the river even faster than before. Earlier, when she’d rode down the river, she’d been helpless and the sky dark. Nothing but fear had taken precedence in her mind. But today she could enjoy the freedom of the drive and sheer power of the water. The perfect moment with the perfect man.
“It’s not supposed to be this fast here. It’s usually a calm area,” Garrett shouted, his forehead creased and eyes alert. “Maybe you should get in the bateau.”
But it was too late. Beth found the reason for Garrett’s concern when the churn of the river started to roll her log first one way, and then another. Her thighs burned as she balanced, trying to keep upright and navigate the rocks. She stayed as close to Garrett as possible, even coming so close as to bump into him, which only served to get her a quick glance from him as he struggled with the bateau.
She concentrated on moving first one way, and then another, through the white caps. Her log banged against a rock she couldn’t see, and she slipped. Using the peavey, she pushed herself back so she once again sat upright on the hump.
White Water Passion Page 24
