Comanche Haven (The Loflin Legacy: Book 1) (13 page)

To the right, the huge double doors
opened to the sounds and smells of the ranch kitchen. Celia
remembered a vast room with cheerful whitewashed walls. Pots and
pans hung from hooks and baskets of vegetables and herbs lined the
interior. A large window boasted a marvelous view of the pastures,
the well, and a vegetable garden Celia knew was Maggie’s pride and
joy. Celia got a glimpse of the formal dining room as a young
Mexican girl breezed through the swinging door with a covered tray.
The crystal chandelier, which hung low over a long dark mahogany
dining table gleamed in welcome. When the family dined at the
table, each taper in the chandelier glowed brightly. Celia recalled
peeking at the room on several occasions during her time with
Maggie. There were far more chairs at the table than a young squaw
had ever seen in her life. The meals around the table were
something she’d only dreamed about. The booming voice of the
Captain, Seth’s father came bellowing back at her as they passed
the great doors and Celia had to shake herself. He was gone now.
She had to remember that. She wasn’t a child any longer. Still his
presence was everywhere and it unnerved her to realize he could
still frighten her so. Celia blinked and missed a step as she
recalled it had been three days since she’d had something other
than hardtack and reheated biscuits to eat. Surely, her trepidation
had something to do with being under the Loflin roof once more. She
hoped the food came soon.

About midway of the great hall stood a
massive set of double doors Celia knew led to the landowner’s
office. The room was off limits to all except those who had
business with the Captain. She’d heard his voice erupt in harsh
ridicule of a man, if he’d done wrong, or hearty conversation with
a crony. There’d always been those times when his drunken yells and
curses could be heard throughout the house. A chill teased her
backbone.

Her attention turned to the wonders of
the next room Maggie and she entered.

“
Here now.” Maggie scurried
about the room as she smoothed the coverlet on the bed and gathered
up a warm, plush robe made of a fabric Celia didn’t recognize. The
housekeeper handed it to her and directed her to the changing
screen in the corner of the room. “Take your clothes off and put
the robe on. It may be a bit big, but it will do until we can get
you some things of your own.” She bustled about the room as she
spoke. “I’ve got water coming for a bath and food on the way. You
must be famished, my dear. How long has it been since you had a
good rib-sticking meal?”

“
Awhile,” Celia’s voice
trailed off as she turned a slow circle in the middle of the grand
room. With the food and bath forgotten, Celia took in the lavish
beauty surrounding her. The furnishings were so out of character
with the rest of the house, Celia realized as she surveyed the
feminine appointments. Clutching the garment in her hands, she
pressed the soft fabric to her breasts and continued to stare at
the room Maggie had led her into moments earlier.

Delicate pink lace patterned wallpaper
hung from the walls enveloping the room in a female cocoon. An
intricately woven rug in pale hues covered the gleaming wood planks
of a heart-of-pine floor. It was soft enough to sleep on, Celia
mused. The four-poster bed was made of a dark mahogany wood and
boasted a beautiful lace coverlet with mounds of fluffy crocheted
pillows. Surely, Maggie was overstepped her authority in bringing
her here. She couldn’t help herself as she walked over to the rich
cream drapery of heavy brocade. Tentatively reaching out, she
fingered first the material and then the silken tassels drawing
them back from real Irish lace sheers. Raising her head, Celia
followed the drapes path from their gilded rods near the ceiling
all the way to the floor where they pooled in a wonderful puddle
like butter at her feet. She fingered the folds of the luxurious
material. “Whose room is this, Maggie?”

“
This was Seth’s maw’s room.
She decorated it herself. It’s yours now.”

Blinking, Celia found it hard to
breath. Her legs felt wobbly and so she sat on a brocade-covered
bench near the fireplace. Staring at the massive bed with a
wonderful reed fan positioned overhead, Celia felt like a fly in a
trap. The bed rose up on tall legs with a set of wooden steps
situated at the bedside to assist a person in reaching the down
filled mattress. The comfortable pillows nestled on the beautiful
down comforter, practically beckoned a body to slip into the
inviting comfort.

“
Seth was born in that bed.
Someday I hope his children will be as well,” Maggie said,
pointedly glancing in Celia’s direction.

Stroking the fabric of the bench
lightly while listening, she fought the urge to run. Tamping down
the panic, Celia adjusted her position on the bench and attempted a
change of subject. “Maggie, when did Seth’s father die?”

The housekeeper looked up from folding
the towels the house girl, Marisa, had brought in. Her forehead
creased again. “It’s been about a year. Why do you ask?”

“
I wondered is all?” Celia
shrugged. Old pangs of pain surfaced momentarily and gave Celia a
few moments of uneasiness. The plan to see her spirited safely away
had been executed so secretively even Maggie, her most reliable
confidant, hadn’t been privy to the deed. Celia wagered Maggie
would have raised the roof of the lovely old home had she known the
actual reason for her disappearance all those years ago.

Purposely turning her thoughts away
from the memory, she thought of how Seth had brought her to dinner
at the ranch on several occasions. His father, the Captain, had
refused to dine with them during those meals. He said he wouldn’t
eat with an Injun’. Celia, who even then was no stranger to the
ridicule from others, had tried to enjoy her visits anyway. Jake
and Maggie had made her feel welcome. Ty had been all of eleven at
the time. He’d been more interested in racing through the kitchen
and aiming his pistols at imaginary bandits than sitting down to a
meal with ‘grownups’.

It may have been the warm welcome or
the way Maggie and the others made her feel at home. Celia wasn’t
at all sure, but before she could take them back, she was admitting
things to Maggie which the little voice inside her head told her
she probably shouldn’t have. “I tried writing to Seth once I
learned how, but I never got a reply.” Moving from the draperies to
the vanity, Celia gently touched the hairbrush of polished silver.
“Instead, only a couple of years back, my letters were bundled up
in a box and sent back without even a note.”

Maggie pursed her lips as she plumped
the pillows on the massive bed. “I never knew you wrote, dear.” Her
words were full of concern. “If I had, everyone from here to Tyler
would’ve heard all your letters contained. Surely there was some
mistake.” Watching Celia closely, Maggie tried to console her. “I’m
so sorry, dear. Who would’ve done such a thing?”

Celia shook her head. “I don’t know…”
She looked up to see her reflection in the vanity’s leaded glass.
The young woman looking back at her looked a trifle askew, to say
the very least. On any other occasion, she would have found her
appearance most appalling. But this wasn’t any other occasion. In
fact, it seemed like a lifetime ago since she’d boarded the stage
to Tyler. Looking for her family and those she remembered from so
long ago seemed like nothing more than a dream now.

“
Do you think the Captain
confiscated your letters and returned them to you?”

Celia blinked and came back to the here
and now. Maggie’s question was too close to what Celia had already
determined was the truth of the matter. There was no secret among
those who knew him how the Captain felt about Injuns’ under his
roof or his son’s infatuation with one young squaw even if she was
the daughter of a very formidable war chief. Perhaps Maggie had her
suspicions after all. The knowing look she sent Celia said she knew
more than Celia had believed. “It’s the only thing I can figure,
Maggie. No one else would have returned them except Seth himself
and he swears he never got them.”

A soft knock on the bedroom door
brought them both up short. Two young Indian boys entered with
water for the hip tub in the far corner of the expansive
room.

“
Let me help you out of
those things.” Maggie took Celia’s hand and guided her over to the
changing screen where she assisted Celia in removing Seth’s coat,
the man’s trousers and then the undergarments. “With a nice hot
bath things will look better soon. I have some wonderful salve for
those scrapes and bruises as well. Having artfully changed the
subject, Maggie helped Celia into the tub and fretted over her
patient.

“
The water feels wonderful.
Thank you, Maggie.” Giving her a warm smile, Celia sank back into
the tub and closed her eyes.

Maggie brushed the hair from Celia’s
forehead. “Everything will work out. You’ll see.”

Chapter 4

The Homecoming

The hall was dark except for the
occasional candle flickering in the bowls perched on either wall.
Seth treaded the worn carpet with a sure foot. The old house held
few mysteries for him. He soon found himself standing at the end of
the long hall staring at the door across from his own. Bless the
old woman’s heart. Maggie had put Celia in his mother’s room. Celia
probably didn’t realize how closely she was closeted to him, or she
would have balked at the idea of the impropriety. Seth grinned
inwardly when he thought of the audacity of the housekeeper, but
rather than question her lapse in social etiquette, he silently
thanked Maggie for her small slip. Here, at least, Seth could keep
an eye on Celia and be nearby if she needed him.

Knocking gently on the door, he
waited.

From the interior, Seth made out a
muffled voice. “Who is it?”

“
It’s Seth. May I come
in?”

“
Come in.”

As he entered, he noticed the room lit
by one coal oil lamp. Reflections danced off the walls giving the
room a warm, comfortable air. Waiting a beat until his eyes
adjusted to the room’s meager light, Seth paused. A warm fire
burned in the fireplace. The cool white of his mother’s vanity
stood out in stark relief against the flicker of the fire’s flames
and the dark legs of the great bed. He’d always felt a sense of his
mother’s presence when he entered her private sanctuary, but this
time he felt the unease of nerves.

Celia materialized from behind the
privacy screen.

“
I wanted to check on you
and make sure you were all right.” With a voice gone cool despite
his effort to the contrary, Seth continued, “Did Maggie get you
settled? Do you need anything?”

“
No, Maggie took care of
everything.” Celia stood with the glint of the silver hairbrush
reflecting in the fire’s light as she brushed her long, silken
mane. Glancing over at the hip tub, she gestured to the cooling
water.

His eyes traveled back to her and the
pale cotton duster she wore. The garment clung in all the right
places. Warmth stirred in his gut. He hovered near the
doorway.

“
I’m fine, really, Seth. You
don’t need to worry about me.”

There was a twinge in her voice he
didn’t mention. “You’re safe now, Celia. No one can touch you as
long as you’re here.”

Nodding in way of response, Celia moved
from the vanity to warm herself near the fire.

She looked so lovely standing there, as
if she belonged. Seth ventured further into the room.

She glanced up and caught him staring.
Seth realized a bit too late the oil lamp was casting a wonderful
silhouette of her in her thin nightgown. He didn’t look away. A
tingling crept up his spine and set his senses on alert.

Shaking her head, she moved to the
vanity and placed the brush back in its place. “I don’t want to
bring trouble to your door.”

Breaking away from his own thoughts,
Seth nodded. “I know you don’t. If trouble shows up it won’t be
your fault. It’s just the way things are.”

She gave him a tentative smile. Trying
for a show of bravado, she squared her shoulders and raised her
beautiful chin up a notch.

He shook his head. Keeping
his thoughts together was becoming more of a challenge. “Don’t
worry about the Comanche, it’s not like we get along anyway.” With
a half snort, his mouth creased in a rueful smile. He caught the
look of mild disdain she shot at him. “Sorry – bad joke.” Reaching
up, Seth rubbed at the tension building at the base of his neck. He
was making a mess of things. Better to go and leave her to the food
Maggie had brought. She was still looking at him with those killer
green eyes.
Why couldn’t he
leave?

“
Have you had a chance to
eat anything? Maggie sent too much for me to eat. You’re welcome to
it.” Celia voice held the same cool crisp notes he’d used when he’d
entered the room minutes ago.

“
Well hell,” he muttered
under his breath as he suddenly made up his mind. His gaze never
left hers as he strode purposely in her direction. Again, to her
credit, she didn’t step back or flinch. Standing directly in front
of her then Seth realized he still had trail dust and three days
horse stench on him as he reached out touching a strand of silken
hair which had strayed. Her scent flitted through his senses
sending his pulse rate stuttering.