Jake’s jaw firmed. “No. I’ll do my own work.”
“You heard Miss Yardley. You work too hard, and she has something very important she wants to discuss with you.”
Persuasively, she smiled at Jake. “Come on, grump.”
André reached for Jake’s jacket and shoved it into his hands over his protests. “Bundle up tight, Big Say. It’s cold out there.”
She was fairly bubbling when they stepped outside the office. “Let’s go skating!”
Jake paused to look at her as if she had completely lost her mind. “Ice-skating?”
“Yes. We could both use the distraction.” Grabbing his hand, she pulled him along the planked sidewalk. “I spotted skates at Menson’s store, and I couldn’t resist buying us each a pair.”
“You could afford two pairs of skates and a new hat this month?”
“Well,” she said, sending him a sly smile, “Mr. Menson put your pair on your bill. He knows your size and I don’t. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Mind that you spend my money? Yes, I mind that you spend—”
She interrupted. “And my hat cost practically nothing.” He glanced at it again and frowned, but she cheerfully continued. “I went by the pond on my way home. With just enough snow cleared away, it’s perfectly lovely today.”
“Suppose I don’t know how to skate?”
“I’ll teach you.”
“Suppose you don’t know how?’
“I thought of that, but I’ll take my chances.”
“Suppose I’m not willing and I don’t care to learn?”
“I suppose that would be too bad.” She paused, giving him her sternest look. “Suppose we stop talking about it and just skate?”
“Suppose I send André to pacify you?”
“I’m very fond of him, but I don’t want to skate with him. Now face it, grouch. We’re going skating.”
“It’s getting dark.”
“I’ll stop by the bunkhouse and get a lantern.”
He was still grumbling after she had retrieved the light, taken his hand again, and dragged him through the woods down the long, snowy path leading to the pond.
“Some folks have work to do, Fedelia. What will I tell the crew if they see me sashaying around with you, ice-skating, of all the crazy things? And who gave you the authority to charge skates to me? If I had wanted a pair of skates I would have bought—”
“Stop being such a fussbudget,” she called over her shoulder. “You make a lot more money than me, so you can afford a pair of skates. Plus, you’re dying to go. Admit it. It will be fun. You’d think I was asking you to jump off a cliff.”
“If I fall and break my neck, you’ll be jumping off the cliff.”
They reached the pond before dark. She set down the lantern and then took a seat to clamp on her new skates. “See? Isn’t this fun?”
“I can think of a hundred better ways to have fun than getting out there on that ice and breaking a blasted leg.”
Tess sprang to her feet and reached over to tickle him under the chin. “You won’t break a leg or your neck. If you want the truth, you’re going to be in more danger of harm if you don’t relax and have some fun for a change.” She wobbled and then straightened when she regained her footing. “That I can promise.”
Shrugging her hand aside, he sat down, his gaze fixed on her as she skated gracefully onto the thick ice. She was surprised to note she was an excellent skater, skimming more artfully across the frozen pond than she knew she could.
“Come on! It’s wonderful out here!”
Jake shook his head and stayed put. “What is it you wanted to talk to me about?”
“I want you to build a new schoolhouse!” Her grin widened when she saw his expression turn to astonishment. She spun in a tight circle, forming a perfect O.
“I don’t think so.”
“What?”
“I said no. I will not build a new schoolhouse.”
“For me? Please?”
“Especially for you. You won’t be staying around long.”
“Why not?”
“Maybe because I’m not going to build anything. You have a perfectly good schoolhouse now.”
“The teaching facility is insufferable! Why, even the rats won’t spend more than a few minutes a day there! That’s why the children are so unruly. They need more room. Their desks are piled on top of one another.”
“They are not there to have fun. They are there to learn.”
“Why can’t they learn and have fun? I think they don’t want to learn because of the terrible surroundings they are forced to endure.” She skated passed him, wrinkling her nose as the blades of her skates showered him with ice.
“You’re going to bust your backside.”
“Derriere, Mr. Lannigan. Backside is much too crude!” She whirled and dipped and made faces at him until he was forced to turn away in an effort to conceal the amused grin she saw forming at the corners of his mouth.
“Come on, coward. Put your skates on and we’ll settle this thing. If I can knock you off your feet, you agree to build me a new schoolroom. Nothing elaborate. Just four walls and lots of nice, big, airy windows. On the other hand, if you, by some miraculous stroke of luck, manage to make me lose my balance, then we’ll forget the whole thing.”
“Ha. You’re going to knock me off my feet, while I just have to make you lose your balance?”
She whizzed by, her skates sending another shower of ice flying at him. “Are you afraid?”
“Suppose I really don’t skate? What sort of match would it be?”
“I don’t skate very well.” She spun in a tight circle, spiraled upwards, leaped and landed on one foot and spun like a top. When she stopped, she paused and grinned. “It’s a fair match.”
“Forget it. I don’t have either the time or the extra men to build a schoolhouse. The one you have is good enough.”
Her grin turned even more impish. “Come out here and tell me that.”
“If I come out there, you’ll be sorry.”
“Ha!”
“All right, but remember…you’re the one who asked for this.”
She skated past him, sticking her tongue out. She was having fun. Back and forth she skimmed across the ice, waiting while he clamped and tightened the blades to the soles of his heavy boots. A beautiful, light snow was coming down, creating a perfect setting.
“Tell me when you’re ready, and I’ll come and help you,” she called.
“That’ll be the day.” He stood up, and his legs bowed comically when he wobbled onto the ice.
Tess broke into laughter, her clear, sweet notes filling the crisp air.
“Laugh, Miss Smug. We’ll see who’s laughing in a minute.”
“I told you I’d help you.” She glided over and latched onto his arm. The would-be helpful gesture sent them both reeling, threatening to spill them onto the frozen pond.
“Let go of my arm!”
“Just hush up and lean on me!”
He grudgingly put his arm around her waist, and they steadied each other.
“Are you ready?”
“Does it look like I’m ready?”
They made their way cautiously out and took a few, hesitant glides. “Now, see?” She faced him, skating backwards, and grinned. “It isn’t all that difficult.”
“This is a foolish thing to do. If I break an arm...”
“First you worry about a leg, then your neck, and now your arm. If I cause you to break anything, I’ll take full responsibility.”
“And how will that help me when I’m laid up with a broken neck, busted arm, and shattered leg?”
“You’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you told me so.”
“Wait a minute—hold on—not so fast!”
She turned around to skate by his side again, and their strides gradually formed a smoother gait. Tess was enjoying herself enormously as they moved slowly around the pond perimeter. “Isn’t this nice?”
“Simply thrilling. When do we settle the matter of a new schoolhouse…that you’re not getting?”
“Anytime you think you’re ready.”
“All right. Let me get the rules straight. You knock me off my feet, I build you a new schoolhouse—”
“The children and me a new schoolhouse,” she corrected.
“I knock you off balance, and we forget I ever took part in this idiotic contest?”
“Correct, but you can’t knock me off balance because of your clumsiness. It has to be fair and square, and you can’t be rough or clumsy. You have to play nice.”
“We’ll see who’s clumsy—”
Jake’s skates locked with hers, and they both went down in a wildly flailing entanglement of arms and legs. He managed to struggle to his feet first. She was laughing too hard to do anything but lie there.
He took her arm, pulled her up, and they started out again, taking a second spill that sent her skidding across the pond on her seat. The fall knocked the pins out of her hair, freeing the mass to tumble loosely down her back. Her new hat landed somewhere in the deepening shadows.
“Just look what you’ve done to my hat and my hair, Jake Lannigan!” she yelled before dissolving in a fit of mirth and falling to her side, watching him struggle to get up. He made such a funny sight, all six foot three, two hundred thirty-five pounds of pure muscle, helpless as a new fawn on the slippery surface of the pond.
She got to her feet and skated over to peer down at him with an air of self-righteous superiority. “Want to concede right now?”
“Concede to you?” He bounded lithely to his feet. “Fun’s over, lady.”
Startled, she skated off, and he came after her. Their feet flew across the pond, the blades of their skates cutting deeply into the frozen ice. The moment he’d begin to gain on her, she’d dart around him, laughing gaily.
“I want pretty pink curtains at the new windows,” she taunted, “tied back with lovely satin bows!” She squealed and darted off again when he barreled toward her. It occurred to her that he was skating as well or better than she. Skidding to a halt, her hands came to her hips as she watched him race around the pond, skating backwards, sideways, turning, flipping, jumping, and spinning.
“Jake Lannigan! You fibbed! You can so skate!”
He sailed by her, deliberately covering the hem of her dress with a shower of ice from his skates. “I did not fib.”
“You said you couldn’t skate!”
“I said suppose I can’t skate. I didn’t say I couldn’t skate.” He winked at her. “I was skating when you were still wearing diapers.”
His playful flirtation sent her pulse racing. “I hardly think I was still in diapers at twelve years old!”
He skated to the end of the pond and flipped around. Her heart sank when she saw the glint of combat filling his eyes. He was like a bull fixed on a red flag. “Shall we get on with the wager, my dear?”
Squealing, she turned and fled toward the bank, realizing she was no match for Jake Lannigan on or off the ice. Straight as an arrow, he skimmed over the pond. With a tremendous lunge, he managed to latch on to the hem of her skirt as she scrambled onto the bank, skate blades digging ice.
They tumbled roughly to the ground, and Jake’s arm came around her waist, cushioning her fall against the broad expanse of his chest.
She broke out laughing when he rolled her over onto her back and pinned her firmly in the snow with the massive bulk of his other arm. “Help! Someone help me!”
“Your cries will do you no good, my lovely. There isn’t anyone around.” He gazed into her eyes and then said smugly, “I believe I have knocked you off balance.”
“You cad! Your arm is crushing me!”
He grinned, flashing white teeth in a winter-tanned face. Dimples appeared in his cheeks, and she suddenly wanted him to kiss her.
“You like it.”
“I do not!”
“You do too. I see it in your eyes.”
Tess struggled to break free, but he grabbed her wrists and pulled her arms above her head, holding them easily with one large hand. “Oh, no you don’t. You asked for this.”
“Jake, please—”
He began to tickle her, and she burst into laughter again.
Their merriment started to recede when their eyes met. Snowflakes lit gently on her lashes and stayed there. Jake’s eyes grew lazy as he traced a finger softly over the line of her cheek. She was very still beside him, afraid to break the moment. He gazed at her through half-closed lids.
“I don’t want you stirring up trouble over this schoolhouse nonsense,” he warned in a voice that had grown strangely husky.
“Umm, maybe…”
He released her wrists and gently shook her. “I want your promise, Fedelia.”
“It wasn’t a fair contest. How was I to know you’d take to the ice like a penguin?” His nearness intoxicated her. The warmth of his breath on her face ignited her feelings for him, and she wanted the moment to last forever.
“Promise me you won’t get the camp riled up about this. I have enough trouble without taking on more.”
“Oh, poor baby,” she mocked.
His mouth moved closer to hers. “Promise me.”
“Only if you kiss me,” she whispered boldly.
His eyes openly caressed her face now. “No.”
She smiled when her fingers pressed the fabric on his shoulders and then flitted over his neck. She loved to touch him. When his expression changed from mildly amused to one of growing concern, she relented.
“Yes,” she said. “I give you my promise.” Something passed between them. A moment she couldn’t identify, but she knew that moment forever changed their relationship. She gazed deeply into his eyes.
“A woman shouldn’t be asking a man to kiss her,” he said.
She smiled, and she realized it was scandalous for an unmarried woman to permit her love to show so brightly. “What if a woman knows that, but she still longs to kiss you?”
“You have no shame,” he murmured.
Her hands gently cupped his face. “If you’re trying to scare me, you might as well stop. It’s time you knew the real Jake Lannigan, and that man finds me attractive.”
“You don’t know me or what I’m capable of doing.”
“I know you well enough to see a good man, one who would not take advantage of a lady who merely asks for a—mmph.”
Her words were stopped when his mouth met hers.
She closed her eyes and gave herself freely to his kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck as his arms came around her to hold her close. She felt a new awareness he brought alive in her. She would gladly spend her life with him, mending his clothes, cooking his meals, soothing his hurts, bearing his children, and loving him fiercely until one or the other of them drew a last breath.
When their mouths parted at last, he didn’t let her go but fixed his gaze on the soft fullness of her lips. “Go home, little one.”
Tess wasn’t sure she had heard him right. She laughed softly. “Go home?”
“Yes,” he murmured. He looked into her eyes then. “Now—tomorrow. You don’t belong here. Go back to Philadelphia and forget you ever heard of Wakefield Timber.”
“No… no! I want to stay here with you, Jake. I have nothing to go back for—” She felt bereft when he released her from his arms and sat up.
“Go back to Philadelphia and try to put your life back together,” he said softly. “You don’t belong here.”
“You’re here.”
“I’m here, but you shouldn’t be. Not now.” He shoved himself to his feet and didn’t look at her. “You can’t stay here with me.”
She shook her head, stunned by his abrupt mood change. “Why? What have I done—”
“Heed my advice and leave. I’ll arrange for one of the men to take a sleigh and get you out of camp. You’ll have to stay in Shadow Pine for a while. The train can’t get through, but the minute this weather clears
, you’re out of here.” Darkness set in and the snow fell harder. “We need to go. I’ve wasted too much time as it is,” he said curtly.
The unexpected, sharp rebuke caused tears to well up in her eyes, but she quickly turned her head to hide them. “All right,” she murmured. “We’ll go.” But she wasn’t leaving camp. She refused. He could argue all he wanted, but she wasn’t going anywhere. Not without him.
Despite his brusque manner, he reached down a hand and gently helped her to her feet. After fetching her hat for her, he sat beside her as they removed their skates in silence. The memory of his kiss still sang in Tess’s mind. She was sure he had enjoyed the embrace as much as she. She couldn’t imagine what she had done to upset him.
“Are you ready?”
She glanced up as the snow silently fell around them, her heart brimming with anguish. “Yes, but I’m not leaving camp. You’ll have to tie me up like a turkey and carry me to Shadow Pine.”
“Have it your way.”
He wouldn’t dare. In few days he would simmer down and realize he was fighting personal issues, not her.
Refusing to meet her gaze, Jake said, “We’re losing light.”
“I’m right beside you.”
And as far as she was concerned, that’s where she would stay, regardless of his insistence that she go home.
18
In conclusion, ladies, I think the only sensible course is to force the men’s hand on this matter.”
Tess had dismissed class early, hoping the mothers of her students would participate in this very important meeting. She was thrilled to see that the response was one hundred percent, yet guilt nagged her.
She had promised Jake she would let the matter drop, but she couldn’t. Something inside wouldn’t let her. A new schoolroom was important, and wasn’t it right to fight for the important things in life? The children grew more restless and intolerable with each passing day, and were it not for the last blizzard, at Jake’s insistence she’d be in Shadow Pine by now. She had a feeling God was handling matters in His way and His time.
For now she was stuck. Not even the sleighs were traveling far. She couldn’t leave camp if she wanted to… and she didn’t want to. So on impulse she had called this meeting, and before she went home she would stop by Jake’s office to retract her former promise.
When Love Comes My Way Page 14
