The crowd of men rumbled their appreciation as a few of the women put their heads together with secret smiles.
Even June ducked her head low toward her friend. She wasn’t unaffected by the jubilance of the day. He only hoped her good humor carried over to the picnic. He’d stuffed his entire savings into his pocket, and would use it if needed. There was no way he would let someone else outbid him for her basket.
The matron from behind the counter brought a basket up, handed it to his uncle, and whispered in his ear. His uncle nodded, and held the basket up. “This is one special basket. I’m told it contains not only roast Elk, but huckleberry pie as well.”
Another rumble happened among the men, but William didn’t care. He centered his attention on the basket as his uncle moved it back and forth, tantalizing the men with the smells from within. “We’ll start the bidding at two cents. Two cents. And remember, all funds from the auction go toward building a church right here in Hellgate. Do I hear five cents?”
William raised his hand, and flicked a glance at June, but if she knew, or cared, that he was in the crowd, she gave no notice.
“Five cents, do I hear six cents?”
“A dollar!” One man at the front of the crowd shouted.
“Sold!” His uncle said before anyone else had a chance to bid.
William’s heart sank until a small, dark haired woman stepped forward to claim the basket with a blush on her cheeks.
The basket wasn’t Junes? William ran a quick eye over the women, and then back to his uncle as the matron brought another basket to the front of the room, and whispered in his ear.
“I see, I see,” his uncle gave a secretive smile. “It seems the young ladies have conspired against you men. Although it’s still quite a treat. I’ve just been informed that all of the basket’s contain huckleberry pie.”
William snapped his gaze to June, who smiled smugly back at him. The little minx.
He returned her grin, but inside his heart flipped. He had to find another way to identify her basket.
Well played, Miz June.
His uncle started the bidding on the second basket, and Williams fingers grew numb. Should he bid? Was it June’s? He searched her face for any sign that it belonged to her, but she gave none.
William refrained. Clasped his hands behind his back to stop himself from bidding.
Lucky too, for when his uncle declared the winner of the auction, June’s friend stepped forward to claim the basket, and man.
William quietly sighed.
Now how was he going to figure out which basket was hers? He studied the one in his uncles hands, and then turned to view the remaining three. That’s when he spotted it. The broken weave and purple handle. The very same basket she’d used to carry her berries in.
His heart soared once more. The cheeky woman wanted to play games. Pretend she hadn’t relaxed into his embrace when he’d kissed her on the mountain. Returned his kiss with a fervor he felt himself.
But she had.
He’d felt her desire mix with his. She wasn’t as unaffected by him as she pretended.
He turned back to her and winked, sending her into a flutter of movement as she shifted and faced the auction once more. He let the third meal go by, and the fourth. Until finally all that was left was June’s berry-stained basket, held high over his uncles head.
His uncle rattled off the contents, but he didn’t care what was inside. All he cared for was who it belonged too.
As before, his uncle announced the starting price, but before anyone else could so much as open their mouths, William shouted. “Ten dollars.”
“Ten dollars?” his uncle asked slowly. He gave a low whistle. “Do we have eleven?”
“Eleven,” a man in the middle of the crowd shouted.
“Twelve,” someone else shouted.
“Well, Well,” his uncle said. “It seems more than one young man wants the last basket on the block. Do I hear thirteen?”
“Thirteen,” William shouted.
“Fourteen,” one of the other two men said again, his voice tinged with worry.
William searched the crowd, and mentally counted the money in his pocket. The ragged man was older than him by at least fifteen years. By the dirt staining the hem of his pants, and calloused hands, he no doubt needed a wife to help run his farm or care for his motherless children up near a mountain mine.
What William offered was love. He didn’t want June for the way she cared for a house. Didn’t need her to help him survive in this wild country.
He needed her to fill the hole in his soul. To make him complete. He needed her to love him as he did her. After what had happened back east, he knew the only thing he needed in life was a woman like June to love him.
He placed his hand over the money in his jacket pocket. Hoping his next move wouldn’t be his downfall. “Twenty dollars!”
Everything he had.
The crowd erupted in whistles and a rumble of surprise as his uncle frowned, but shouted. “Sold to William.”
On that, the crowd began to mull about, and William headed toward June—who stood rooted to her spot near the pelts. To his right, movement from his uncle drew his attention as he scowled at him.
Disappointing his uncle couldn’t be helped. No other woman could make his life complete. He wouldn’t choose between love and family. His uncle would just have to learn to accept June.
The woman in question crossed her arms over her chest as he stopped before her. “I thought you’d win someone else’s favors today.”
“Yes. A capital ploy, my dear. You’ve got quite a strong and determined mind. And ingenuity. After all, you must have given most of your berries away just to toy with me.”
“Sold…I sold the rest of the berries.” She waved toward the crowd where the rest of the women mingled with the bachelors of the valley. “I put forth too much effort to get those berries. I had to make a few dollars off the plan.”
He chuckled, partly because he found the whole event quite entertaining, and part to knock her off balance just a little. “Clever.”
“It would have been if you hadn’t figured out another way to spot my basket. How did you, by the way?”
Without a care to who saw, he picked up her purple tinted finger, and kissed them. “I’ll never tell, but it seems we are destined to dine with one another. Shall we?”
He motioned toward the door where a couple was already walking out to find a spot to dine. With any luck, he would find a way to win her heart. Secure her promise to him.
And he knew just how to do it.
Chapter 5
“I’ll dine with you, but only because you paid a ridiculous price for my food.” June took long steps to keep up with William as he walked, basket in hand, away from the crowd of people settling down near the trading post for a meal and company.
Those who weren’t lucky enough to secure a basket, edged along a long table dotted with vittles made by the married women of the valley.
“Why didn’t you tell me about the wolves yesterday?” she asked as she followed.
“Why make you worry? You were safe with me around. I made sure you made it off the mountain without incident.”
“Where are we going?” she asked as she searched for her friend in the receding group of people. Her stomach jumbled with nerves ever since William locked eyes with her during the auction.
“Will the food last a short journey?”
“Yes,” she said as William led her past a line of horses tied to a makeshift hitching post.
Within a breath, he stopped next to the horse she’d seen him ride when he found her on the mountain the day before.
He handed her the basket, and without another word, lifted her onto the back of the saddle. With one hand securely on the basket, she used the other to arrange her skirts around the rifle and saddlebag as William untied the horse, and swung into the saddle in front of her.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
&n
bsp; “Somewhere we can be alone.” He kicked the horse in motion, and she held on to him tight with one hand as the mount picked up speed.
“That isn’t proper.” Her voice bumped with each stride in the gallop. She frowned, but inside her heart was beating as fast as the horse’s hooves.
“We don’t live in a town where propriety matters.”
June didn’t argue. On more than one occasion, she’d seen the people of the valley throwing out the rules of convention. Plus, the thought of doing something brash, something wild was appealing. She’d never been one to care what others thought. Why should she start now?
Of course, it was William. Her charming enemy.
They rode fast for a while, until William turned off the main road leading out of town, and onto an animal trail leading up the mountain. William slowed his horse to a walk, and June was able to adjust her seat to enjoy a more comfortable ride.
Peace enveloped her once they reached the solitude of the forest. To her right, deep in the trees, a wild horse neighed and took off in the opposite direction. June searched for the rest of the herd, but they were no where to be seen.
Gone deep into the forest she suspected. Away from she and William. For the best. At least now the stallion wouldn’t spook William’s mount.
Beneath her hand, the soft fabric of William’s muslin shirt slipped against the hard muscles rippling beneath her fingers, drawing every ounce of attention she had.
Forcing the strong, determined mind he’d commented on earlier to become weak. Able to think of nothing but the man before her now. How he felt. The pained way he’d looked at her when he’d realized what she’d done with the pies.
She’d felt bad for a moment. Had regretted her rash decision to sell her berries, and if she were to be honest with herself, had found her heart skipping a beat when he’d fought to secure her basket. Going so far as to pay more money than a man in Hellgate could make in a few months. “Why did you spend so much on my basket?”
He cleared his throat as he pulled his horse to a stop in the middle of the animal trail, halfway up the mountain side where they’d rode. “Your huckleberry pie was more important to me than the money.”
“Why?” she slipped down from the horse, taking care not to spill the basket’s contents.
William did the same, and turned to face her as he yanked a rope from around the pommel, and hobbled his horse. “You know why.”
June didn’t say anything in response as William reached into the saddlebags, and pulled out a tattered blanket.
She couldn’t find the words to explain her jumbled thoughts as she watched William lay it out next to a log. This man who she’d thought her enemy, perhaps wasn’t quite what he seemed. The man who’d she’d thought was her enemy was perhaps something more.
William returned to her and the horse, and pulled a rifle from where it had been holstered on his saddle. “I’ve thought you might like to replenish your huckleberry supply. I know you’d wanted to preserve some for the year before the animals picked the bushes clean.”
“Oh, yes. Thank you.” The small consideration was more than she could account for. She didn’t deserve this. Not after the way she’d treated him the day before.
“Shall we eat first? I’ve never been able to resist huckleberry pie,” he said. He searched the ground, set his rifle down within arms reach, and then settled on the blanket. June followed, set the basket down between them, and opened it to hand out the food within.
They ate in silence. The atmosphere between them more comfortable than it had ever been in the past. Perhaps it was because she’d changed a bit. Perhaps it was because of the huckleberry pie. Whatever the reason she was glad for it.
She was happy to spend an afternoon with no cares, no troubles heavy on her mind. And William had given that to her. Paid entirely too much for the chance to be with her. Would it be so bad to allow him into her heart?
After the baked chicken and pie was served and consumed, William stood and dusted his hands across the front of his pants.
June tried not to chuckle at her shock once she viewed the empty pan within. “We ate every morsel.”
“To be fair, I ate most of it. A man could grow too fat to work a job with a woman like you cooking for him every night.”
June pinched her lips tight in an attempt to stay the smile struggling to break free. “What charming words from a man who works the counter at the trading post.”
“You don’t find my job to be rugged enough?”
“I didn’t say that.” She blushed. “I don’t know what I was saying. I suppose I’m used to being on guard wherever you and your family are concerned.”
“I’m not going to be working the trading post much longer, you know.” He bent down and grabbed first his rifle, and then her basket as June stood.
“You have plans elsewhere?”
“My uncle has plans for me elsewhere.” He turned and headed toward the huckleberry patch up the hillside. “I’m to run the sawmill.”
“What sawmill?” she held onto her skirts as she stepped over a fern, and continued to follow him.
“The one my uncle and his partners have planned. It will be ready to go by next spring. Along with a gristmill.” He smiled. “Now you’ll have flour readily available for your pies.”
“Perhaps I’ll open a cafe.” She raised her eyebrows slightly and smiled.
“You wouldn’t have to if you marry me. You could sit in my home and knit doily’s for all I care.” He took her hand in his, and kissed her knuckles.
The heat of his lips on her hand centered every thought she possessed. She could feel nothing but the way her skin tickled and caused instant heat to spread throughout her body. “Why do you do that?”
“Do what?”
“Make me forget everything in the world but the way your touch feels. Take my breath from my lungs and make me want to live my life in this moment.”
He stepped closer to her, encircling her in his arms. She took the basket from him, dropped it, and leaned into his warmth. No longer wanting to fight the desire she felt for him.
He reached up and tucked a stray tendril of hair behind her ear, and she responded by tipping her head so his hand brushed her cheek. Needing to feel the way his calloused hands moved against her soft skin.
“You feel it as I do,” he whispered as he bent his head next to her ear. “The connection between us. How perfectly we go together. As though God made us to be one.”
“Yes,” she breathed the word more than said it. A trail of heat and lust followed his finger as he ran it down the sensitive skin of her neck, and traced her collar bone. She tipped her head to the side to encourage him to give her more.
“Say you’ll be mine.” With the tip of his fingers, he eased her head to tilt the other way, and brushed her hair to the side. Forging the same trail of sensual heat down that side of her neck. “Say you’ll marry me.”
At this moment, she wanted nothing more. If this is what it would be like to marry him. Somehow between the first huckleberry patch and now, she’d found the spark deep within her soul. She loved him. Perhaps she had since the first time she’d seen him. That day at the trading post when he’d walked inside, and she followed. Only to see him bent over the small child as he helped him pick out a treat from the jar of baked goods William’s aunt sold at the counter.
Back then, she’d hated going into the store but, if she were honest with herself, had made excuses to go into the trading post ever since. And William was the reason.
If he could give her moments like this for the rest of her life, then why shouldn’t she let herself be happy? With him. “Yes. I’ll marry you.”
Now all they had to do was secure their parents blessings.
Chapter 6
June struggled to take in enough air to clear the haze and passion filling every sense she possessed. Struggled to force her knees from buckling as William circled around behind her. He reached his palm around, splayed it across her s
tomach, and tugged her against his hard body.
“Say it again,” he whispered in her ear.
“I’ll marry you.” She managed to say. In all honesty, she didn’t know how she managed the words. Not with the way the mountain air thinned and her breath grew shallow.
It wasn’t until a branch broke somewhere down the path they’d taken up that her mind focused on the present. She jerked her head up to view her surroundings. William’s face brushed her neck as he did the same.
“A deer,” he said as he returned his focus to her shoulder, tugging at the hem of her collar in a futile attempt to expose more skin. “We could go right now to the preacher in town and have him marry us.”
“Yes.” She said, but her feet refused to move, to break the spell he’d cast over her body with his touch.
“All you have to do is go to my horse.” He kissed her shoulder. “We’ll be married before sunset.”
“Yes,” she said again, but didn’t move.
“But you don’t want to?” He placed another kiss on her shoulder, making his way up her neck to a spot behind her ear that sent lightning through her chest, and down to her toes.
“No.” Why couldn’t she manage more than one word? Her blasted lungs. She’d never been speechless before.
“Do you want this?” He tightened his hold on her. “Want me?”
“Yes.”
William growled his approval, and twisted her around in his arms. “Then we’ll wed tomorrow. All we have to do now is tell our family.”
On his words, he cupped her face in his hands, bent down, and kissed her hard. His lips firm and greedy. His need for her matching her own as he let his passion go. Unrestrained. As wild as the horse they’d seen earlier.
Silent, yet commanding, he brought her back to the blanket and urged her to lay down. She obeyed and waited, her body heated as he set the rifle beside her, stretched out next to her, and ran his hand over her stomach. “I’m glad we’re out here in the wild. Where women’s fashion isn’t needed. I’d hate to have to strip you of a corset and bustle.”
The Lighthouse Romance Anthology (The Life Saving Series) Page 14
