Distraction (19 page)

“Jeez, that woman has the hearing of a Jack rabbit.”
Jackson flicked his towel at me again, and the clean shirt I’d
draped over my shoulder fell into the muddy puddle.”

I kicked it into the pile of dirty clothes. “Now
you’ll have to go help Samuel why I get a new shirt.” I dried off
my feet, picked up my boots at the doorway, and headed inside.

The door to the bathing room was slightly ajar. I
fought with myself for only a second and then pressed my eye to the
sliver of an opening. Poppy leaned forward as warm soapy water
cascaded down the naked curves of her shoulders and back. I could
see the faint outline of her bear scars as she stretched forward.
Long, golden strands of hair clung to her wet skin, and I held my
breath, wondering why I was putting myself through this torment.
But I could not pull my gaze away from her silky, wet skin. The
sliver of soap slipped from her hand, and she turned to reach for
it. She lifted her arm, exposing the round curve of her naked
breast, and I swallowed hard. Every inch of her was tempting and
perfect. I’d never wanted a girl as badly as I wanted my runaway
angel.

Libby handed her a towel, and I had to suppress a
groan of agony, agony that was self-inflicted and entirely worth
it.

“If you don’t get your eyeball out of that doorway,
Cade Tanner, I’m going to pluck it right out of your skull,” Libby
said without looking my direction.

Poppy gasped and clutched the towel against her, and
I left before Libby followed up on her threat.

My heart pounded in my chest as I pulled on a new
shirt. I needed that cold bucket of water more than anything now.
Water remained in my basin from the morning. I scooped it up and
splashed my face in a pathetic attempt to cool the vision from my
head. She was so damn bewitching, I was starting to believe
Jackson. Maybe the girl truly was an angel.

I picked up my hat and pressed it low on my head. It
had survived the dust storm, mostly because I’d taken it off and
placed it on the kitchen table before Libby had blurted that Poppy
was still out in the storm. I had slammed out of the house so fast,
I’d knocked the screen door off its hinge. My heart had been
pounding then too but for a whole different reason. It took what
seemed hours but in reality were only minutes to reach the garden.
And when I had her safe in my arms, I realized that I never wanted
to let her go . . . ever. I wanted— no
needed
, Poppy to stay
with me.

I left my room, headed to the stairs, and smacked
directly into her. Libby had draped her in a clean white sheet. She
smelled of lavender and rosewater. Her wet hair had been combed
back off her face, a face that was now scrubbed pink.

She smiled and looked down at the floor as she
scooted past me. The sheet slid down, exposing her naked
shoulder.

“Woman,” I said on a sigh, “you are torturing
me.”

She stepped into her room, poked her head out once to
look at me, and shut the door.

I reached the bottom step and stopped. With the
exception of the noises coming from Poppy’s room, the house was
silent. I willed my feet to move forward. There was plenty of work
to do now that the ranch had been overrun by a dust storm. I
reached the back door and opened it. In the distance, I could hear
Samuel and Jackson yelling at each other about something. Libby was
standing over the old water pump cranking the handle violently up
and down. Mud would flow from the pipes for days, making the old
pump a necessity. I’d almost talked myself into stepping outside .
. . almost.

I turned and raced back up the stairs. I knocked once
but didn’t wait for a response before opening the door. Poppy
stared up at me with those amazing brown eyes. She’d pulled on her
dress but had not had time to button it. The tops of her round
breasts peeked up above her corset. I was across the room in two
steps. She didn’t back away as I reached for her, and I knew she
wouldn’t.

My fingers wrapped clear around her thin arms as I
pulled her face up to mine and kissed her. She melted against me,
and her head dropped back. I took advantage of her exposed neck and
trailed my mouth lightly over her soft, smooth skin. A tiny moan of
pleasure rolled up from her throat.

“Libby is waiting for me,” she said breathlessly.

I lowered my mouth to her shoulder. “Uh huh,” I
mumbled against her skin.

“She— needs me— to help with— mopping.” Her fingers
reached up and she clutched the front of my shirt to steady
herself.

I could not stop myself from trailing my mouth over
the tops of her breasts. She sucked in a sharp breath. “Cade,” she
whispered hoarsely, and the sound of it sent white hot heat through
me.

Downstairs, a crash, followed by a rush of water and
a string of Libby’s favorite cuss words, wrenched us from the
intimate moment. Reluctantly, I pulled my mouth from her skin and
gazed down at her. Her face and neck were flushed pink and the gold
specks in her dark eyes sparkled.

“I’d better go help her,” she said shakily. Her
fingers trembled as she attempted to button the front of her
dress.

I reached up to the buttons. “Let me help.”

Her warm breath fell fast and steady on the back of
my hands as I fastened the tiny buttons. She blinked at me as I
stepped back.

“Do I look all right?” she asked.

I smiled at her. “Straight out of heaven.”

She jumped forward, and her small hands slid beneath
my hair as she pulled my neck to bring my face forward. She kissed
me once and ran out of the room.

The murky water splashed my boots as it sloshed from
side to side in the pail. Soon my feet would be as raw as my hands.
I hadn’t realized the marvelous convenience of the indoor water
pump in Libby’s kitchen until we had to start dragging in the
cleaning water we needed from the outdoor pump. The good news was
that it now only took several minutes of pumping to reach the
usable water.

There had been so much cleaning to do after the storm
that for two days no one on the ranch had a moment to sit and rest,
with the exception of Charlotte, who’d managed to walk up and down
from her room several times a day for a snack, but had insisted she
was in far too much pain to help.

I found that the hard work was both diverting and
satisfying. It kept my mind from being overwhelmed by my feelings
for Cade. And, after all Libby had done for me, I was thrilled to
repay her with help.

I poured the water I’d managed to carry back
successfully into the wash basin. We’d had to rewash all the
laundry from that dreadful day, although much of that day had been
far from dreadful. In my head, I’d relived the intimate moments,
every emotion and physical sensation, with Cade hundreds of times.
Growing up, Nonni had always chided me for being a silly romantic,
dreaming about my heroic knight coming to my rescue, sweeping me up
in his arms, and ravishing me with his kisses. But never had I
expected to have it happen in real life. And never had I expected a
man to invade my soul and every inch of my being as Cade had done.
I kept reminding myself that I needed to keep my head about me and
not let my emotions carry me away, but that grew more difficult
each day.

My hands were cracked and raw, but I plunged them
into the soapy water and scrubbed the linen sheet along the
washboard. Only one of the sheets we’d used to tent the tomatoes
had survived the ravages of the dust cloud, and it had taken me
three new buckets of water to get it clean. My back and shoulders
were knotted, and I straightened on the small stool and moved my
head from side to side to relieve some of the tension in my neck. I
was just about to resume my task when strong calloused fingers took
hold of my shoulders and began kneading my tightened muscles. The
strength of his hands and the warmth of his touch sent delicious
tendrils of relief through my tired shoulders. After a few minutes,
I relaxed back against him, my head resting against his hard
stomach.

“That was a little slice of heaven. Thank you,” I
said. “Do you think you could follow me around the rest of the day
and provide that service when needed?”

“If only I could.” He leaned over to kiss my forehead
but picked up my hand instead. The tiniest amount of blood seeped
from the cracks on my knuckles. “Look at your hands.”

“It’s nothing. Libby has a salve that I can put on
them once I’m done here. It heals the red skin instantly.” I
smiled. “I just can’t open door knobs or hold anything in my
fingers for a few hours after applying it.”

“You need a break . . . and frankly, so do I. I’m
almost done with my chores. We could take a ride if you’d
like.”

“I would like it very much.”

“I’ll meet you in the stables in an hour.”

***

I could not have been more thrilled to finish hanging
the final piece of laundry on the line. A warm breeze blew through
the rows of wet fabric. I’d checked the sky for ominous threats at
least ten times while working. The pale blue sky could not have
been clearer or more pleasant, no trace of dust or impending
doom.

I stepped into the kitchen. The spicy fragrance of
cloves filled the air. Charlotte was sitting at the table with her
leg propped on a chair. She appeared rather disgruntled with her
task of cracking nuts.

Libby looked up from her mixing bowl. “We’ve all been
working so hard to get this ranch back in order, I’ve decided to
bake a spice cake.” She inclined her head toward Charlotte. “And
I’ve found our patient something to occupy her time that does not
require a sturdy ankle.”

Charlotte plucked the nut meat out of the shell with
a pick. “Yes, but I don’t think I’ll do this for much longer. My
hands are already tired.”

I poured myself a cup of hot coffee.

“Speaking of hands, Poppy, don’t forget to put on
some of that salve I gave you. You look tired. Why don’t you head
up and take a nap.” Libby winked at me. “I’m sure if I lean
Charlotte up against the counter, she can help me cook supper.”

“That’ll be more trouble than it’s worth,” Charlotte
surmised quickly.

Libby picked up a bowl of raisins and threw them into
the cake batter. “Either way, you take the rest of the afternoon
off, Poppy. You’ve earned it.”

“Actually, I’m going to go up and change. I’m going
on a ride with Cade.”

Charlotte gasped dramatically. “By yourself? Libby,
it’s not right for her to go with him unchaperoned.”

“Oh, don’t be silly, Charlotte. Since when have we
been following Queen Victoria’s antiquated rules of etiquette on
this ranch? Of course she can take a ride with Cade.”

I had no idea who this Queen Victoria was and could
only imagine that she was the English monarch. I was thoroughly
confused about who ruled the new world, but I had no intention of
highlighting my ignorance in front of Charlotte. I sipped my coffee
as quickly as possible without burning my lips so I could leave the
kitchen.

“Well, I suppose you make all the decisions, Libby,”
Charlotte said angrily. “But I think it’s wrong.” She picked up
another nut and then obviously decided she’d had enough. She
dropped it back into the bowl unopened. “I suppose I’ll have to
make amends with Virginia, even though she all but deserted me the
night of the dance. But I’m going to have to talk to her some
time.” A humorous laugh spurted from her mouth. “After all, she
could very well be living here as my sister-in-law within the
year.” She made a point of looking at me.

Now it was Libby’s turn to laugh. “Your friend,
Virginia, has about as much chance of winning over Cade as my
friend, Agatha Baker, has.”

Charlotte’s brows knitted together. “But Agatha is
eighty-four years old.”

“Exactly. So if Virginia still has her sights set on
Cade, you’d better discourage her the next time you talk to her or
she’ll be sorely disappointed.”

I put my cup in the wash basin and scooted out of the
room, suppressing a smile as I slipped past Charlotte’s scowl.

The nervous flutters churned in my stomach long
before I reached the barn. It seemed to be an instinctual, physical
response anytime I thought about Cade. The flutters, along with
racing pulse and shortness of breath were all inconveniences I
suffered daily, but with good cause. If love was the source of such
maladies then so be it. A few moments of uneasiness were a small
price for the exquisite sensations of Cade’s touch and the pleasing
feel of his mouth on my lips and skin.

Cade was standing next to Red fastening the saddle.
“Almost ready. Red likes these rides. We retired him from working
cattle last year because he was having trouble with his hocks, but
these casual walks have been good for him.”

I walked up and placed my hand under the horse’s warm
muzzle. The long, hard hairs around his mouth scratched my palm. “I
feel safe on Red. He puts up with a lot from me, and he never gets
irritated.”

Cade finished with the saddle and patted Red on the
neck. Then, without warning, Cade pulled me into his arms and
peered down at me through long, black lashes. “Yeah, cause you can
be so darn irritating . . .” He lowered his face and kissed my
eyebrow tenderly, “with those irritating, cinnamon-brown eyes . .
.” His kisses moved down to my nose. “And that irritating, tiny
nose . . .” He paused, his mouth a mere breath away from mine, and
then he kissed me softly. “And those irritating, luscious lips . .
.” The green of his eyes darkened as he gazed down at my mouth.
“God, those lips . . .” he sighed, and his warm breath drifted
lightly across my mouth as his arms tightened around me more. He
kissed me long and hard.

Red snorted, spraying us with a fine nasal mist. Cade
lifted his head and looked at the horse. “Find your own girl.”