“And now we get to go do more appropriate work for us females.” Layla turned and headed toward the garden.
“Layla’s the prissy one.” Willa rolled her eyes, and followed. So Victoria and the rest of the sisters did the same.
“More conservative,” Layla corrected when she caught up with the sisters. “Proper.”
“Less apt to get into trouble,” Georgiana supplied.
Victoria followed and chuckled at their repartee. Which she seemed to do a lot since she’d been here. Between bouts of self-pity for what she failed to have as a child. She wanted this. Wanted the sibling rivalry. The good-natured bickering followed by intense fun with each other. But she’d never have such a thing. Not with Luther.
Her sibling rivalry extended way beyond the good-natured and straight to vicious and conniving.
The thought of her brother brought to mind the letter to Garrett. She needed him to agree to come to Hartland. Needed this boon in her company. Needed to hear word about her father. Needed her life to get back in order.
Needed to once again feel like she could breathe.
They entered the garden as Wall’s mother stood straight from where she plucked carrots from the ground, and tossed them into a nearby basket. “Ah, good. Did you get Frank settled?”
“Yes,” Bethany answered, took up a row, and started to harvest the crops.
“Splendid. Grab a basket, take any row, and start plucking.” Wall’s mother tossed another carrot into her basket.
Victoria picked her way across the vegetable garden, following Wall’s sisters, and copied what they were doing. A bubble of laughter caught in her chest, but she stopped it before letting it go. She’d never harvested crops before. In all of her years growing up in such a wild state, she’d never had to forage for her own food.
Sure she’d gone out and picked huckleberries with her parents on occasion, but that was more for sport. Like hunting, only for delicious purple fruit. This was the life line for this family.
It didn’t look too hard.
The girls scattered along the large planted rows, but Victoria stayed close. She ran the pad of her thumb across the smooth curve of the weave in the basket, and bent down to yank a small carrot free. Dirt flung off the roots as she swung it from the ground and into her basket.
“Oh, no, dear. Just the bigger ones.” Wall’s mother, Josephine, held up the carrot she’d just plucked. “The smaller ones we’ll save and then get them right before the frost. I hope you don’t mind helping us out for a week or two while the men gather the cattle.”
“Not at all.” Victoria searched her row for the perfect-sized target. Once found, she began to fill her basket. “I do need to send a letter. When is the next time anyone is going into town?”
“If you run in and place your letter by the front door then when our neighbor swings by, he will take it on his way to fill in for Pappy at the post office.”
“Would you mind?” Victoria motioned toward the basket of vegetables.
Wall’s mother nodded. “Of course.”
Victoria made short work of getting the letter set with the pile of mail near the front door. With a peek down the hall toward the kitchen where Rose and the older cook worked, she took a quick look to see if there were any more notes to Boilson Mines.
Perhaps she should visit Mr. Boilson himself. See if she can’t draw out any information on why Wall’s father would need to involve him in his affairs.
The thought that she might be sticking her nose where it didn’t belong crossed her mind, but throughout the last few months she’d been burned one too many times. She couldn’t let her guard down. Not now.
But the fact that it was Wall’s family caused butterflies to fight a fierce battle in her stomach. He was as honest and true as they came, and she suspected at least most of his family was the same. She wasn’t certain about his father.
Before anyone threw suspicion her way, she ran outside, and back to her task. As she walked, she studied the knees to her split skirt, now caked-in mud and something a bit darker. Some stain she didn’t want to think too hard about.
“All set?” Josephine asked as she took her place once more?
She smiled and nodded at Wall’s mother.
At the start of the season, she’d criticized Wall for his filthy clothes, yet here she knelt in the mud, her fingernails black with dirt—and not hating it.
Not that she loved fighting giant, overly fed pigs, or plucking carrots from the ground, but the task was somehow satisfying. She’d been wrong to judge Wall and his kind for all those years.
“I would like to apologize for not being more attentive to you over the last few days.” Josephine gave a quick glance, but continued to work. “I’ve been getting Rose and her son settled. I’m glad to see Wall and the girls were able to keep you occupied, though.”
“You’ve all been very hospitable. I appreciate you taking me in on such short notice.”
“It’s our pleasure.” The older woman’s eyes twinkled with the same secretive flare she’d seen in her mother’s eyes the night she and Wall were discovered alone in her house. “Any friend of Wallace is always welcome here.”
“Does he bring many friends home from town?”
“Some of the Devil May Cares have visited on their way through for the winter, but other than that, you’re the first.”
“I hope they behaved themselves. They tend to be a rowdy bunch of hellions at the camps, but men like that make the best lumberjacks.”
Josephine chuckled. “Men of Wall’s ilk are wild by nature, but most have good hearts.” After a brief moment, she continued. “I hope you’ll forgive Hamilton for his old ways. He’s a businessman first. He doesn’t always show compassion in the way he deals with things.”
“Please don’t fret over my sensibilities. I’m used to dealing with men like your husband. I can handle the rough ways of a hard deal.”
“Wall tells me that your father is missing. Have you heard any news?”
Victoria sat back on her heels to ease the growing ache in her lower back from her position bent over the row of vegetables, and sighed. “No.”
“Well, I’ll continue to pray for his safe return, and we’ll just have to keep an eye out for news.”
“Thank you.”
In fact, she’d written Garrett, begging for both news of her father, and to get him to bring a rail line to Hartland. Knowing him, he’d agree. He knew a good venture when he saw one, and this part of Montana was virtually untapped when it came to timber harvesting. She had no doubt he’d agree, but she did dread the news he’d bring regarding her father.
While her mother managed things at the mill, all she had to do in Hartland was work to secure more contracts, and wait. Being with Wall and his family made her part of the task all the more enticing.
Chapter 17
“Have you seen Victoria?” Wall asked his sisters. They all sat frowning in the parlor as his mother instructed them on the proper technique for needlepoint, a hobby they’d all taken up within the last year. Layla, of course, excelled at the task, while the other three struggled, but managed. Barely.
“She’s gone to see the chicken at the swing,” his mother answered.
“Thank you.” Wall pivoted and headed out. He’d spent the last week rounding up cattle with his father, and had barely spent any time with Victoria. Sans nights when he’d been able to come home and sit with her in the parlor with the rest of the family, but then it was only a few hours before the girls would shuffle her off to bed.
What he wanted to do was get her alone. Maybe steal a kiss. Touch her. Find the balance he only seemed to have in his life when she was around.
He took long strides across the clearing to the copse of trees where the chicken loved to sit, only to skid to a stop at the sight of Victoria sitting on the swing with the chicken on
her lap. “She’s never let anyone sit beside her on the swing, let alone pick her up.”
“She likes me.” Victoria flashed her white teeth in triumph.
“She’s not the only one.” He motioned toward the house. “You seemed to have charmed my entire family.”
She set the chicken down, and stood, dusting her hands. “Or they’ve charmed me. I’ve never felt so at ease before just existing.”
“Hartland has the ability to make a man forget the rest of the world exists.”
“It’s quite enchanting.”
“Regarding the rest of the world. Father says to go ahead and try for the rail line. Apparently, he has failed miserably for years to get them up here. Something about Hartland being too small and unimportant for the railroad.”
“Well, that’s about to change. I received word today from Garrett. He will be here within the week to begin drafting the plan for the line.”
“How does it feel to succeed where others have failed?” He stalked toward her, letting the smile stretching across his face show his intentions. “My only regret is what the rail line will do to us.”
He pulled her into his arms before she could speak, and tugged at his favorite curl.
“What do you mean?”
“My father will back you with the townsfolk. You are free to go get as many contracts for trees as you wish.” His heart sank at the memory of the conversation he’d had with his father.
She didn’t smile like he’d expected. “Why do you look so melancholy if you came to deliver me good news?”
“I will have to make a deal with the devil.” He laughed sardonically. “So much for being the leader of the Devil May Cares. Seems I do care after all.”
“What deal?”
“I can’t come back to work at the mill. I have to stay on the ranch.”
“You’ll have to give up your job with me for your father’s support?”
Wall dropped his forehead against hers. “I’d give up anything for you.”
To his surprise, Victoria stepped back and shook her head. She began to pace like she did whenever she thought through her troubles. “No. I’m sorry. I know how much you love your job on the river crew.”
“Not more than I love my family. Or you.”
On his words, she spun around. “What did you say?”
“I love you.” The words came out as a desperate whisper. Desperate for her to understand. Desperate for what they couldn’t have.
Victoria’s mouth opened as though she wanted to speak, but she didn’t. His heart beat with the words that didn’t come. Did she not feel the same? As he’d feared.
“We are on two different paths. Once you get the contracts you need, there’s nothing to keep you here. In fact, you can’t stay and keep the mill running. And in order for you to get those contracts, I can’t go back with you.”
As if finally released from whatever held her back, she said, “I love you. I’ve only realized the truth of it while sitting here with this silly chicken on my lap.” Her chin began to quiver. “I don’t want to leave your side. I don’t want to leave here.”
He scooped her into his arms once more, and kissed her. Hard.
Once he’d gotten his fill of her luscious mouth, he drew back. “But you don’t have a choice.”
“No.” The tears she’d held back fell down her cheeks. “If I fold without having my father to take over the mill again, dozens of families, a town will be destroyed.”
“And you can’t run it from here.”
Again she shook her head, and dipped her face low to her chest.
He reached up and, with his index finger, lifted her chin to make her look at him. “Then let’s live for today, and hope the land purchase goes through.”
“If it does, what then?”
Wall shrugged. “We have a respite from me being forced to come home. At least for now.”
“We can figure the rest out later.” She snuggled her face into his chest, and entwined her arms around his waist. “Let’s pray they take the bid.”
He kissed the top of her head, and caressed her hair. Silent as they stood. His thoughts running through more options, but none that would work to give him any more time with her.
What they needed was a distraction, and he knew the perfect way to escape from reality.
“Come with me.” He grabbed her hand, and tugged her down the path behind the swinging chicken.
“Where are we going?”
Wall took a quick glance at the clouds, but he knew the weather planned to hold steady with a warm front. At least for another few weeks. The changing leaves had yet to reach midway down the mountain, but the valley where the homestead was remained warm enough for a last dip.
“Do you remember when you bathed in the river?”
From behind him he heard Victoria giggle. “How can I forget something like losing my clothes down a river?”
“We’re going to do something like that. Only together.”
Victoria skidded to a stop and her hand slipped from his. He spun around. “Don’t get shy now. I’ve already admired every inch of your body.”
“What about the others? And isn’t it a bit cold to be swimming?”
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of a little cold. And what others? You mean my family?”
“Your cowhands. The cooks.”
“Scared?” He took his finger and traced the collar of her shirt.
“Frightened beyond belief.” Her chest began to heave the way it did whenever her resistance began to deplete.
“The cooks and hands are busy with Pa and Jax. Ma and my sisters are sewing, and Pappy is at the post office today. There’s no one out here but you and me.”
“That’s what we thought about my house,” she said, but began to walk hesitantly toward the creek as he guided her once more.
“We can get caught a thousand times, but it doesn’t change the fact that someday we will find a way to be man and wife.” He stopped at the edge of the best water hole he’d ever found, and slowly began to pull her shirt from the waistband of her skirt.
“Someday,” she repeated.
“You’re not wearing your split skirt today.” He didn’t know why he commented, but he noticed. Something so inane, but on her it was important.
“We weren’t chasing pigs or pulling helpless vegetables from the ground.”
“Or riding rivers. Or traipsing around a logging camp,” he included. “I think you’re a lot more adventurous than you give yourself credit for, princess.”
“Like making love to a man in a river for all the world to see.”
“Not all the world. Just anyone at Lazy Heart.” He let her know he joked with his smile, and finished stripping them both of their clothes. “And not a river, a swimming hole.”
She wrapped her arms around him, merging both of their heat as he picked her up and brought her into the water until they sat chest deep.
She gasped as the water hit her. At the same time, he pushed into her, causing her to take in another desperate breath, infused with a passionate desperation.
Victoria withdrew her mouth from his and leaned her head back, exposing her neck to him, so he paid homage to the delicate skin within his reach as she used the water to help her move over him in a rhythm designed to drive him to the edge. Fast.
“Slow down,” he ordered.
He didn’t want to finally have her only to complete the task before he got a chance to take pleasure in the woman who’d stolen his heart with her commanding ways.
She shook her head as if she intended to disobey him, so he pulled out of her and pushed her away in the water. She dropped her feet from around his waist and frowned.
“Hold on, princess, I’m not done with you, but I’m not going to let you make this a fast loving, either.” He cocked
one side of his mouth back in a wolfish smile and started to stalk toward her, eliciting a little coquettish squeal from her as she tried to swim away. Taking his cue.
He herded her back into the little cove where he’d tied the rope swing when he was young. There, a large tree, bent and extending over the river only to curve upward back toward the sky, would give him the perfect advantage to torture Victoria the way she’d done him mere seconds earlier.
Reaching out, he scooped one of her perfectly rounded buttocks in one hand, and the other he palmed the small of her back as he tugged her close again.
“I’m assuming you use that for something other than heaving logs onto a train.” She waved toward the rope.
Wall slid his hand down to caress the sensitive skin between her thighs as he let a deep groan out at the idea she conjured with her statement. “Let me show you.”
* * * *
An absolutely wicked sensation slid over Victoria with each water droplet cascading down her body as she emerged from the water following Wall. He led her up the bank. Stark naked.
She’d lived her life pin straight and so narrow there was no room for error. Now she wanted to follow the leader of The Devil May Cares onto a large tree trunk thick enough for them both to sit on, but one bent ever-so temptingly over the swimming hole.
She followed Wall close, half to keep warm and half to hide what she could from anyone who might happen to walk by and see them. Victoria glanced around the well-hidden haven. Well, if anyone could see them.
“Step past me.” Wall’s voice was deep and husky, the way it got whenever he spoke to her in his lover’s drawl. She loved it. The timbre sent instant heat between her thighs and made her melt at even the slightest of commands from her river logging cowboy.
Hers.
She hadn’t lied when she told him she realized her love while sitting there with the chicken. He was the reason she’d gone out to think. She’d gotten the letter from Garrett and knew her time at the Lazy Heart was drawing to an end.
Fiery Passion Page 22
