Blue Moon Promise (15 page)

He took a step closer to her. “Jane?”

Her mother’s given name. Lucy forgot to breathe as she stared into the man’s face. Her mother’s eyes were the same shape and color, at least according to the locket around her neck.

“Drew, your supplies are ready,” the shopkeeper called.

Drew
. “My name is Lucy. Are you Drew Larson?”

He rubbed his head. “I’m sorry to disturb you. You look so much like my deceased sister that it took me aback.”

“I’m Lucy, Jane’s daughter. I do believe you’re my Uncle Drew.”

He went white and took a step back. “Jane’s girl, Lucy? You were three the last time I saw you.” His hand trembled as he pointed at Eileen. “She looks like you did. She’s your daughter?”

Lucy shook her head. “This is my sister, Eileen. My brother, Jed, is outside helping my husband load the wagon.”

He glanced around the store. “Is your father here too?”

He hadn’t gotten the letter
. Her eyes burned as she took his hand. “Pa died in a buggy accident. About three months ago. I sent you a letter, but it was only a few days ago. I didn’t find your address at first.”

The eagerness in his face vanished. His fingers tightened on hers. “I’m so sorry.”

Lucy clung to his hand and tried not to let her tears spill. “Thank you.”

With a visible effort, her uncle composed his expression. “What are you doing here?”

“I—I married last week and will be living here now.”

“Who is your husband?”

“Nate Stanton.”

His eyes narrowed and his mouth tightened.
“Stanton.”
He said the word as if it were a curse.

“You know him?”

He hooked a thumb in his belt loop. “He’s been a thorn in my skin for years. How did you end up with him? To my knowledge, he’s never left the county.”

“It’s a long story.”

“I have time,” he said in a clipped tone.

She bit her lip, then told him how she’d met Henry and the offer he presented. Uncle Drew’s face grew more thunderous as she went.

“So you married him sight unseen. You should have come to me instead.”

“I dislike burdening anyone with my problems. And quite honestly, I wasn’t sure your address was still accurate.”

“We’re family. The Stantons are enemies.”

She searched his forbidding expression. “Why? They’ve been nothing but good to me and the children.”

“They gobbled up land that rightly belonged to me. Nate has besmirched my name in the county with lies about my character.”

She winced. “I detest lying above all else,” she said when he paused, obviously waiting for a response from her.

“You’ll soon see that husband of yours is not a man to be trusted. If you need haven, my home is always open to you.”

She’d been around Nate only two days. So far he’d been merely gruff and taken aback at her arrival as any man would have been when a wife appeared unexpectedly. “Perhaps it is merely a misunderstanding between the two of you. My arrival could be the bridge to bring the two of you to a better relationship.”

His scowl deepened. “I want nothing to do with the Stantons unless he gives me back my land.”

Could there be any truth to her uncle’s accusations? She liked Henry, but she didn’t know him well. He was obsessed with land, land, and more land. But would he swindle someone for more? It grieved her to realize she didn’t know.

Her husband’s voice spoke from the doorway. “Lucy, I’m ready.”

He hadn’t seen them yet. She pressed her uncle’s hand. “I shall be in touch.” Stepping away from Drew, she answered Nate. “Coming.”

Nate smiled when he saw her, but his grin quickly faded when his gaze went over her shoulder. With his lips pressed together, he glared at Drew. “He been bothering you?”

She grabbed his arm and tugged him toward the door. “Not at all. I’ve got everything on my list, but we need to hurry home. I need to get dinner on the stove.”
Please, Lord, don’t let him make a ruckus
.

He walked toward the door with her. “Percy will have it under control.”

“We aren’t eating at the main house. Your father was insistent we stay at the cabin.”

Nate shrugged, and they stepped out onto the rough board sidewalk.

Lucy peeked back at the general store. She breathed a sigh when her uncle didn’t follow them outside. Drew had said the relationship was irreparable, but she would do all she could to bring peace between the two men. It was likely a misunderstanding. Then she remembered poor Margaret. Maybe Lucy didn’t know any of the Stantons well enough to make a judgment on the truth.

FOURTEEN
 
 

T
he wagon, laden with food, fabric, and planks of wood, lumbered along the road. Bits of mud, left from the melted snow, flew up from the wagon wheels. Nate risked a glance at Lucy. She hadn’t said much, and he had to wonder if she was angry. She didn’t look angry though. She looked tired and sad.

Though she was a tiny thing, her courage facing the wolf had startled him. She was a tiny Titan, and he was beginning to question his initial assessment of her. But the thing that stuck in his craw was that he hadn’t picked her for himself. A man wanted to choose his own wife. Not that she wasn’t attractive. Maybe that was half the trouble. Being around her made his palms sweaty.

Nate cleared his throat. “I thought me and Jed would build some more chairs with this lumber. Anything else you can think of, Lucy?”

“That’s a good start,” she said, her tone distant.

“You mad about something?” he asked, when she didn’t look at him.

When she finally turned her stare his way, her expression was cold. “What promises did you make that poor woman?”

He should have realized Margaret’s pain would bother her. “I never promised Margaret anything. I never even asked to call on her.”

“Then why was she so upset?”

“It was assumed by our families that we would someday join our spreads into one. A merger, if you will,” he admitted. “But though she would have been willing, I wasn’t so sure.”

After a long moment in which he held her gaze, she nodded. “I see that’s true. Poor Margaret.”

Nate had to wonder about this woman who was his wife. He would have felt rivalry toward another man, but Lucy seemed to see right to a person’s heart and feel something that mattered. She truly was sorry about Margaret’s pain.

Eileen nestled her head under his arm, and Nate looked down in surprise. The little girl’s long lashes lay soft against her pink cheeks, and his heart softened. His life was changing already, and parts of it felt mighty good. He wrapped his arm around Eileen and pulled her close so she didn’t jerk so badly when the wagon hit the ruts in the road.

Lucy brushed the blond hair back from Eileen’s face. “She’s tuckered out. I think we all are.”

“I shouldn’t have made you come to town so quick.”

“I had to face them all sooner or later.”

“Later would’ve been better. I should’ve given you time.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I’m the interloper, the one who snatched a handsome, eligible man out from under their noses.”

Nate stared at her. Was that really the way she saw him? A warm glow of pleasure spread through his chest. Women had flirted with him before, but he’d always thought it was simply because he was a Stanton. Those women had wanted something from him—it seemed all women did.

He hunched his shoulders and stared ahead at the road. Lucy’s words were likely a ploy to make sure he didn’t send her packing. Or were they? Lucy had been nothing but honest with him, and for that matter, with everyone she’d encountered. Maybe she wasn’t a manipulator. How could he know for sure?

The cabin looked cold and forlorn when they stopped at the barn. This probably wasn’t what she expected when Pa told her of all their holdings, but she hadn’t faltered when she saw it. What did that say about her? Was he wrong about her?

Clouds gathered overhead, and cold drops of rain splashed onto Nate’s face. The wind freshened, and he squinted at the sky. “Storm’s coming, but at least it’s not snow.”

He jumped to the ground and held out his arms for Eileen. Lucy passed her down to him, and he held the little girl close to protect her from as much wetness as he could.

“Jed, help your sister down, then see to the animals,” he said. “When you’re done, start bringing in the supplies. I’ll be right out to help you.”

“Yes, sir.” Jed jumped from the wagon. He helped Lucy down, then led the horses inside the barn.

The rain began to come down in earnest, hard droplets that chilled him instantly. Holding Eileen in one arm, Nate took Lucy’s arm, then they ran toward the house, splashing through the rivulets of mud that were already beginning to fill the yard.

He threw open the door and followed Lucy inside. It wasn’t as cold as he had expected. Heat still radiated from the last of the fire. The rain drummed on the tin roof as he handed Eileen to Lucy then went to stir up the embers.

As he poked at the fire, Lucy hummed in a low voice as she rattled pans at the cookstove. It was a homey sound that he rather liked. He spent little time here, usually only sleeping on his pallet after a hard day with the cattle. The cabin was changed already after just a few hours.

LUCY COULDN’T STOP thinking about what her uncle had told her. Could his accusations be true? She didn’t want to believe she’d married a man who would do what Uncle Drew had accused him of, but she needed to know the truth. Who could she ask? Nate was sure to defend himself. She didn’t know anyone except the Stantons and Percy.

She began to peel potatoes for supper while Eileen played with her doll. When she heard a horse whinny, she glanced through the window. A woman climbed down from a buggy and came toward the door. Mrs. Walker. Lucy’s heart leaped at the thought of talking to another woman, even if it was Henry’s cousin. She threw open the door and hugged the woman.

“Lucy, my dear, is something wrong?” Mrs. Walker said when Lucy finally released her. “You’re hugging me like I’m your last hope.”

Lucy wiped her moist eyes. “I’m just so glad to see you. I’ve been surrounded by men since I got here. Come in. I’ll put on some tea.”

Mrs. Walker removed her gray bonnet and smoothed her hair as she followed Lucy to the kitchen. “I quite understand, dear girl. And Henry especially can be a bit overwhelming. My cousin likes his own way.” She pulled out a chair at the kitchen table and settled into it.

Lucy put the tea in the pot and poured in hot water from the water reservoir on the woodstove. While it steeped, she got out the cups and saucers. She carried her potatoes to the table so she could continue to peel them while they talked. “Can you stay for supper?”

Mrs. Walker shook her head. “I’m on my way to check on Henry and thought I would pop in for a moment and see how you’re adjusting.”

“I’m so glad you did. It’s been an upsetting day.”

“Oh dear, what’s gone wrong?”

“Henry had another spell. I assume you heard about that?” When the older woman nodded, she continued. “When we went to town, I ran into Drew Larson.” She eyed Mrs. Walker. Should she tell her that they were kin? When the woman’s expression didn’t change, she decided to trust her. “He’s my uncle.”

Mrs. Walker took the strainer and poured tea through it into the two cups. “I see. Does Henry know this?”

Lucy hadn’t considered it, but it had to be true. From the beginning, he’d known her mother’s family. “I would assume so. He knew my parents.”

“How interesting.”

“In what way?”

Mrs. Walker stirred sugar into her tea. “He deliberately married you off to his son, knowing that you were part of a family that hates the Stanton name and everything it stands for. What is that man up to?”

“You think he wanted the marriage to heal the rift?” That thought brightened her mood a bit. She didn’t want to be part of a war.

“I’ve seen no evidence that Henry is distressed by the conflict.” Mrs. Walker sipped her tea. “But that’s not all that’s bothering you. I can see it in those eyes of yours.”

Lucy wanted to hug the woman again. “My uncle accused Henry and Nate of taking his land. There seems to be so much that I don’t understand.”