Alex eased her chemise down around her waist, then to the floor, touching one pert breast with the sponge. Her nipple puckered beneath the cool water, and he sighed, taking the pink bud in his mouth. Gabrielle moaned, swaying against him as she stroked his broad bare back. Rivers of sensation coursed through her veins as he suckled, still stroking the sponge over her bare flesh.
"I love you," he whispered, lifting his head to take in her dark eyes. "I do."
"I know you do. I just miss my home." She took the sponge from his hand and tossed it into the wash bowl. Together they walked toward the bed. Sliding in, Gabrielle rolled on her side, watching Alex as he stripped off his pants. Dropping them to the floor, he slid in beside her, wrapping an arm around her waist as he drew her closer. Their lips met just as the first cry of warning sounded. . . .
"Fire!" someone shouted from outside. "Fire!" came the voice again.
Alex leaped from the bed, rushing toward the window. Sticking his head out, he spotted a servant below. "Jesse, what is it?"
"Fire, Mista Alexander. Fire!" the boy shouted, pointing to the rear of the house.
Seeing the great billows of smoke rising through the air, Alex spun around. "Dress! Hurry, Gabrielle," he shouted. "The house is on fire!"
Chapter Twenty-Four
Gabrielle hitched up her skirts to wade through a pile of rubble. "God sakes," she breathed, staring at the charred skeleton of the rear of the house. "It's a wonder the whole place didn't go up."
Alex looked up at her sharply. "What are you doing here? A beam could fall and crush you."
Undaunted, she made her way to her husband. "Figure out what started it?"
Alex shook his head. His face was smudged with soot, his auburn hair singed on one side. There were dark circles beneath his eyes, evidence of his sleepless night. "I can't believe it; it looks like arson."
Gabrielle felt a twinge of fear. "Arson? You think someone started it?"
"It's what I said didn't I?" he snapped. "Now go on, Gabrielle, get out of here."
Her lower lip quivered in indecision. Where was the man she'd married, the man filled with laughter and tales of the wide open sea? This wasn't the Alex she knew. This was a man doubled over with the burden of his responsibilities, an unhappy man. "All right, I'll go. Maybe Alexis would like to come over and play."
"No."
"No? Why not? She told you yesterday that she wanted to come for tea. It's the first time she's said more than two civil words to you. Don't you think you ought to have her?"
"I just don't know if it's safe." He pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his damp brow. "Maybe we just ought to keep her away from here until we find out who started the fire."
Gabrielle rested her hands on her hips. "Do you . . . do you think this could have something to do with me?" She spoke haltingly. "I mean with Taylor?"
"Nah. He wouldn't follow this far. He probably never made it off the Tanana. Not alone." He didn't sound convinced.
Gabrielle hesitated. "Well, guess I'll go see Alexis. I'm going to go crazy if I don't get out of here. Maybe we'll go into town and try on some more dumb hats."
She was hoping Alex would laugh, but he didn't. He had already turned away and was moving a blackened chest of drawers. Two of the three rooms in the house that had burned had been empty, but the other had been used for storage. In the fire, Alex had lost portraits of his father and grandfather and furniture that had been moved to the rear of the house while the workmen started on the front rooms.
Gabrielle turned with a sigh. "Bye."
"Good-bye," Alex answered blackly. Then added, "Take a servant with you to drive the carriage."
She didn't bother to argue but just nodded her head. She'd be damned if she'd take anyone with her! She needed no nursemaid.
Alex turned to watch Gabrielle disappear from view down the long passageway. He sighed, shaking his head dismally. "It's not what I expected," he murmured. Nothing here was the way he thought it would be, not his daughter, not his home, not even his mother and sisters. Instead of looking forward to rebuilding his family's fortunes here in Virginia, he found himself dreaming of falling snow and the roar of the breaking ice on the Tanana. He suddenly felt hemmed in, like he couldn't breathe. Had Virginia changed or had he? As much as he hated to admit it, his heart just wasn't in this land anymore; it was there in the vastness of the Alaska Territory, in the mountains, in the valleys, on the Tanana River.
Still, he had managed to keep his thoughts to himself. He saw no need to tell Gabrielle just how much he missed the wilderness, or her sled dogs or their way of life on the river. His life was here in Virginia now, and he would have to resign himself to that fact, just as his wife had.
Kicking at a pile of blackened rubble, Alex moved to the window to stare out over the fields. The worst thing was that he knew Gabrielle wasn't happy here, either. In the process of trying her damndest to fit in, she had lost that sparkle of vitality in her eyes that had attracted Alex to her in the first place. Not only was she putting up with his spoiled daughter, his snobbish sisters and his long hours of little attention, but now she might be risking her life to be at his side. If Taylor or one of his henchmen had set fire to their home, there was no reason for him to believe they wouldn't try something else. And what if they succeeded? Alex groaned, tightening his fists at his sides.
"Could Taylor possibly have followed me and Gabrielle here?" he wondered aloud. It just didn't seem logical, yet when gold was involved, men weren't always that sensible. He realized that now. Still, it seemed a bit farfetched. Perhaps the fire had been an accident. Perhaps a servant, snooping where he shouldn't have been, started the fire by accident and was now afraid to admit it. That seemed a better explanation. Turning back to his work at clearing the blackened room, Alex nodded to himself. Yes, that sounded more likely, but just to be sure, he'd keep a watch on Gabrielle just the same.
Stepping over a bucket of wet plaster in the front hall, Gabrielle went up the creaking front steps, muttering to herself beneath her breath. Who did Alex think she was to be ordering her about? Take someone with her indeed! Fetching her hat and a purse of money from her bedchamber, she came back down the steps two at a time. Ten minutes later, she was on her way in a small open buggy led by two chestnut mares.
Ignoring Clarice's protests, Gabrielle picked up Alexis and headed into town. In the past two or three days, the child had begun to open up to Gabrielle, trusting her hesitantly. Though Alexis still feared her father and was wary of him because of the tales Clarice had concocted, Alexis had found a friend in Gabrielle.
Laughing, Gabrielle urged the horses forward at an easy pace. She had learned to drive the small carriage in only an afternoon of tutoring by the old black man that ran Alex's stable. Just as she had a knack for controlling her dogs, so did she have that talent with horses. A whisper in the creatures' ears and a pat on the rump and even the jumpiest carriage horse was on its best behavior.
"Where are we going?" Alexis asked. She sat perfectly still beside Gabrielle in the carriage with her hands crossed neatly in her lap.
Gabrielle glanced at Alex's daughter. "Good Lord, girl, don't you ever fidget? We're going to buy us some fishing poles." She patted her knee.
Alexis smoothed the skirt of her lace frock where Gabrielle had mussed it. "Aunt Clarice uses the rod on little girls who fidget. What are we goin' to do with fishin' poles?"
"Fish! What else you silly goose?" Gabrielle's laughter was followed by a giggle from the little girl beside her
"You know somethin', Gabrielle?" Alexis said hesitantly.
"What?"
"I like you. You're very nice to me, even when I'm not so nice to you."
Gabrielle passed the reins into her left hand and put her arm around Alexis's shoulder. "Well, everyone likes you, sweetheart"
"Nah." She shook her head of perfect curls. "Not really. Aunt Clarice buys me things and makes me pretty and smart, but she don't like me. She says I'm shiftless like my
papa. She never takes me anywhere like you do."
"Well of course she must take you somewhere, girl. How else do you get all these fancy dresses you're always sportin'? She must take you somewhere to buy them."
Alexis shook her head again. "Nope. The seamstress comes to the house. Nurse tells her what Aunt Clarice wants made. I like to go out. I like ridin' in the buggy." She beamed.
"Well, how would you like to come live with us? With your papa and I?" Gabrielle pulled the carriage up in front of an ancient general store in the corner of town.
"I . . . I don't know." She twisted her hands.
"Your papa's real nice; you just have to get to know him. He loves you very much."
"Aunt Clarice says—"
"I don't care what Aunt Clarice says. Your papa is the best man I've ever known, and I know you'd love him like I do if you'd just give him a chance." Gabrielle pulled the break on the carriage and tied the reins to the lever. "Now are you ready to get these poles or are you just going to sit there all day?"
Alexis broke into a grin, then jumped up off the padded leather seat. "I'm goin' if you are!"
"Good." Gabrielle leaped easily to the ground and reached up to help Alexis. Together, hand in hand, they entered the general store.
After selecting two cane poles, some hooks and fishing line, Gabrielle led Alexis to the front counter where an old man with a crippled leg waited on them.
"Afternoon, ladies. I see you're going fishing."
Alexis's head bobbed up and down. "We sure are. I've never been fishin' before."
The old man's eyes widened. "You haven't! A girl your age needs to know how to fish and certainly a girl as pretty as you!"
Gabrielle slid several coins over the worn wood counter. "Can you tell me where we can get some ice cream? Somewhere near here where there won't be too many people." She tugged playfully on one of Alexis's honey-colored curls. "My friend and I, we're not much for crowds."
The grey-haired gentleman winked. "Down High Street and around the corner. It's an old place, was there before the war just like this one. Martha's Bakery. I understand she makes the best ice cream in the whole city."
Gabrielle accepted her change and reached for her poles.
"No, no. I'll have a boy put them in your carriage; you go have your ice cream." He smiled, patting her hand. "Where you aim to go fishing?"
"On the James I guess. You know any good spots?"
The man's grey-green eyes sparkled mischievously. "Do I!" He motioned with a finger for Gabrielle to move closer.
Ten minutes later, Gabrielle and Alexis were seated at a small table in the bakery's window, feasting on large bowls of vanilla and chocolate ice cream. Gabrielle had been so lonely these last few days that she was enjoying the little girl's company immensely. And Alexis was thrilled to have someone really pay attention to her for the first time in her life.
Just as they were finishing their ice cream, the bell on the front door rang, and a man entered the small bakery. He was a big, ill-smelling man, dressed poorly with a dark stocking cap pulled over his head. He glanced at Gabrielle, then looked away when she looked at him. When the clerk came to wait on him, he bought one yeast roll and turned to go, his dark beady eyes on Gabrielle.
"Are you done, Alexis?" Gabrielle asked uneasily. She watched the man watching her go out the door and down the street. Suddenly something didn't seem right. The man was looking at her so oddly, as if he was trying to identify her. Of course she knew she had never seen him in her life.
"I'm done." The child wiped her mouth on the cloth napkin and got to her feet, picking her bonnet up off the table.
Leaving a coin on the table, Gabrielle urged Alexis out the door, checking the street before they stepped onto the walk. For just an instant she caught a glimpse of the man again, and this time there was another man with him, a big black man with powerful hands. "Let's hurry, Alexis," Gabrielle murmured, taking her hand.
"Hurry? Why? I thought you said we had all day."
"We do." Gabrielle glanced over her shoulder as they hurried down the street. "But the fishing is best this time a day, and we want to catch fish, don't we?"
Cutting the corner sharply, Gabrielle spotted Alex's carriage which she'd left in front of the general store. Her breath came faster at the sound of footsteps behind her. "Hurry, Alexis," she ordered, pulling the girl along. Reaching the carriage, she lifted the child into the seat and untied the horses. Leaping up on the seat, her skirt akimbo, she clicked to the horses, urging them forward. Hurrying down the street, she passed the two men on foot, and she glared at them. They turned and watched her disappear at the end of the street.
"Who are those men?" Alexis asked, as Gabrielle urged the horses into a trot.
"You saw them, too?" Gabrielle pushed her bonnet back off her head. "I don't know, sweety. I don't know." She looked to Alexis, wiping the concerned look off her face. "Now, how about some fishing?"
Keeping an eye on her back, Gabrielle led the horses down by the James River, picking a spot where she saw several other people enjoying the warm fall day. Tying the animals to a tree, she led Alexis down the path, singing a silly ditty with the child. Catching a shiny black cricket for each of them, she baited their hooks, laughing when Alexis turned her head away in horror. Coaxing Alexis to sit in the grass, she proceeded to instruct the little girl on the finer points of fishing. While she spoke, she continually glanced behind her, still uneasy.
Had those men been following her? They were staring, weren't they? she asked herself again and again. Jigging her line, she watched Alexis get to her feet to study a blooming fall flower. "Don't go far, Alexis," she ordered.
"I won't." Alexis giggled, picking one flower after another.
Gabrielle sighed, leaning back in the tall grass, a weed dangling from her mouth. Reassuring herself that she and Alexis were safe enough here in the open, she relaxed a little, letting her thoughts wander.
Nothing seemed to be going the way it was supposed to. She had married Alex and come east to be with him. She left the Alaska Territory because she was lonely, yet she was just as lonely here, maybe more so because everything was so unfamiliar. Alex didn't seem to have time for her . . . or need. When she had offered to help with the building or fall harvest he had laughed. Suddenly he seemed so distant. When they were on the Tanana, he had never hesitated to tell her what he was thinking, what he was feeling, but now he was silent. He still said he loved her, and she believed him; but the spark was gone from his eyes. He just seemed so tired, so weary.
Though his mother Margaret was pleasant enough, she was constantly making demands on him: have this fixed, speak to this creditor, call on that ill family friend. And his sisters were just as bad. Everyone said they were glad to have him home, but no one gave him any joy. Not even his daughter gave him happiness because she was so suspicious of him.
A tug on the fishing line brought Gabrielle out of her daze. Where was Alexis? "Alexis," she called. "Where are you? Alexis!" she called louder. Getting to her feet, she peered over the tall grass. Alex's daughter was nowhere to be seen.
Gabrielle's heart pounded in her ears as she ran down the path, the fear tight in her throat. "Alexis," she screamed. "Answer me! Where are you?" Coming to clearing, she spotted a man in a dark coat leaning over Alexis.
"Alexis!" she cried, running toward her. "Come here!"
Alexis turned to face Gabrielle. "Here I am. Didn't you hear me?"
Reaching her, Gabrielle grabbed her arm roughly. "told you to stay with me." Her voice wavered with relief as she looked up at the man. He wasn't one of the two who she'd seen on the street.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. I meant no harm." The man with the moustache took a step back. "I just wanted to speak to your daughter; she is so pretty."
"It's all right." Gabrielle steered Alexis away. "Really, it's all right. She just scared me."
The man gave a nod, sweeping off his hat. "Good day," he called after the striking young woman, then gave a shak
e of his head and turned to go.
Gabrielle hustled Alexis down the path, wiping her own damp brow with her leg-o'-mutton sleeve. "You scared the wits out of me. You do that again, Alexis Alexander, and friend or not, I'll bust your little bottom."
Alexis's lower lip quivered. "I'm sorry. I was picking flowers. I heard you, you just couldn't see me."
Gabrielle gave her a squeeze. "Don't cry. It's all right. Just remember what I've told you." Reaching the spot where they'd been fishing, she tugged off her straw hat and sent it flying. "It must be a hundred degrees out here today," she murmured.
"It is kinda hot," Alexis echoed.
Gabrielle turned to her, a mischievous grin on her face. "When was the last time you went swimming, Alexis?"
"Swimming?" Her father's blue eyes widened. "N-never! Nobody ever took me swimming before."
"Five years old and you've never been swimming?" Gabrielle sat down in the grass to tug on the buttons of her new shoes. "Then I guess we'd better settle that right now."
"Swimming? You're going swimming?" Alexis's curls bounced jubilantly.
"You too, now get those clothes off." Tossing her shoes in a pile, Gabrielle started on her stockings. "Well, what are you waiting for?"
Alexis's little mouth formed a perfect "O." "I can't go swimming, I haven't a bathing costume."
"Who needs a silly old bathing suit?" Gabrielle started on the buttons of her stiff shirt waist. "What have you got under that ruffly mess?"
"Got my drawers and a chemise of course." Alexis stared in disbelief as Gabrielle shed her shirt waist and started on the buttons of her skirt. She'd never in her life seen an adult unclothed before.
"Well, strip 'em off!" Gabrielle laughed. "Come on, come on. If the fishing's bad, the swimming's got to be great!"
Alexis stood frozen, her arms drooped at her sides. "Aunt Clarice'll have my hide if I take my clothes off out here by the river."
"Pooh! Who's going to tell the old grouch?" Standing in her chemise, Gabrielle spun Alexis around and started on the buttons of her lacy lawn frock. "Besides, you're moving in with your papa and me, aren't you?"
The Fur Trader's Daughter: Rendezvous (Destiny's Daughters Book 3) Page 25
