Homespun Bride (18 page)

While his tone was light, there was something in his voice. Something serious. Her pulse skipped a beat. Could he be serious about her? She took a sip of the tart punch. No, she was reading too much into things. Perhaps it was her heart, wishing that he at least loved her, too, a little.

Because she loved him. Very much. She could no longer deny it. She cherished this man. She honored him. She wanted nothing more than to love him for the rest of her days.

“I think my reputation would be greatly improved being seen with you tonight.” She kept her words as light, but they were honest, too. “Do you see your family anywhere?”

“I haven't seen hide nor hair of them. I know Aiden was planning on bringing Ma, but I didn't see them in the church. Of course, it was crowded. Half the town must have been there.”

“And here, by the sound of it. That must mean your mother's health is still improving?”

“She's holding her own. She ought to do better once the warm weather decides to show up. That could be June, knowing this part of the country.”

“And your younger brother?”

“We made him stay home tonight. We didn't want him getting into any trouble here.”

“By trouble you mean…?”

“Getting his hands on some alcohol. Maybe thinking about joyriding with someone's horse tethered up outside. We were hoping jail would have straightened him up. Shown him that life is a serious matter.”

“It didn't?”

“No. He's bitter. He's full of hatred. It's not a good situation.”

“And he's your little brother.” Sympathy marked her face, making her all the more comely. The dress she wore was the color of lilac blossoms and made her look like a princess. “You must want so much for him to live well and be happy.”

“That's what I want.” Thad swallowed against the hard emotion. The helplessness of it nibbled at him. “I can't make a grown man's decisions for him. Aiden and I are doing our best, but we're both here tonight.”

“And he's home alone?”

“If we're lucky, he is.” His throat stung. “The thing is, I could have gone down that path myself.”

“You?” She looked at him as if she saw him perfectly, the man he was, down to the soul. “No, not you.”

His Noelle, so beautiful and unguarded, she made his spirit soar. She looked at him as if he were ten feet tall. Admitting the truth, well, it was tough, but she may as well know everything. “After I had to make the decision to ride away from Angel Falls, I knew what I'd done to you. It about broke me. You were my dream, Noelle, and all I saw was a future without you. A life without you. You were about all that I'd ever thought of living for.”

Her eyes brightened with tears and she turned away so he could not see the emotion on her face.

He would always be able to see into her heart. “I was hurting bad. Very bad. After a long hard day in the saddle when the cattle were down for the night we'd all gather around the campfire. Whiskey would get passed around and it h-helped. I didn't feel anything for a long time, and that was all right by me.”

“Oh, Thad.” She kept her face turned away. She set her cup aside and then folded her empty hands.

“Once I realized what I was doing, I haven't had a swallow since. I'm not the sort of man who will follow my father's path in life. But I can see how easy it might be for someone else to. I know Finn doesn't think he has much to live for. He's just existing. Spending his days one at a time.”

“I've been guilty of that, too.”

“You?” That surprised him. The woman who'd made the most of her life in spite of her blindness. The woman who could have any man in the room proposing to her, judging by the looks she was getting from several of them. The woman who still chose to be with him.

When she straightened, her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “I'm so sorry for your brother. It's easy to fall into the habit of walking through life. It's safer. Because you don't have to risk as much. You don't have to really feel.”

Yep, he was standing on that spot himself. He'd been afraid to move a step forward. He couldn't see how this would work for them. He didn't know if Noelle still had the same dreams. He didn't know if she would want him for a husband.

Still, he had to try to find out. He was already so far in love with her that he couldn't see straight. His every breath was because of her. He took her folded hands in his. “Come. Walk with me.”

“You don't want to listen to Chopin?” she teased, although she stood as quickly as he did.

“To who?”

“Haven't you noticed the piano music coming from the ballroom?”

“It's tough for me to notice anything when you're nearby. Any man of good sense would be as muddled in the presence of such a beautiful woman.” Thad's gait fell in rhythm with hers. “Did I say something wrong?”

“No, not at all, if your intent was to perjure yourself.”

“I was only telling the truth, Noelle. You'll always be the loveliest woman in any room to me.”

“Oh, Thad.” Her poor heart couldn't endure any more of this. The moment they stepped onto the front porch, the icy air swept over her, cutting through her, and she prayed for the cold to numb her clear to her soul. It didn't. She was left with her impossible love for him.

“You must stop saying such kind things to me. You'll spoil me.”

“That's my hope, darlin'.” Still sounding lighthearted, he accompanied her to the rail, where the great silence of the night stretched out before them. The streets were quiet, the town settling down for suppertime, and the noise of the party was behind them.

She tried to imagine the sky. Was it velvety dark with white sparkles of stars? Or one depthless stretch of black? Wondering about the sky was far easier than thinking of the man at her side. She shivered; she'd forgotten her cloak.

“Here. I can't have you freezing to death.” There was a rustle of fabric and then the weight of his coat on her shoulders. “Your aunt wouldn't like it if I let you catch a chill. She might not let me in the house the next time I came calling.”

Calling. Why had he chosen that word? Her entire soul squeezed with longing for what could not be. Surely he was making a small quip, that was all. There was no way Thad McKaslin was coming to court her. It didn't matter how deeply she wished for it to be so.

She tucked away her sadness and lifted her chin a notch. “After what you've done for our family, Henrietta would welcome you with open arms no matter what.”

“Then I guess I don't have a single worry. I'm planning on taking you for another sleigh ride this Sunday afternoon.”

“Oh, and you're simply assuming that I will agree to go with you?” she teased, hoping it would chase away her doubts.

His warm, wonderful rumble of laughter did that for her. He moved one step closer. Then another. “I'm hoping that I'm the one man you can't say no to.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. You will simply have to wait and see.”

“I don't have to wait. I think I already have my answer.” His hands cupped her chin, such a tender gesture.

Surely, it was one of friendship. It had to be one of friendship, right? She couldn't help pressing her cheek against his callused palm. “You are a tad sure of yourself. Perhaps I intend to say no.”

“What? And miss your chance to drive a real mustang?”

“You'll be bringing Sunny?”

“Yep, and there's no reason why I can't let you take the reins for a spell.”

“No reason?” Oh, it felt like an answered prayer to laugh with him again. “Other than the reason that I can't see where I'm going, you mean?”

“Well, I'm sure I'll keep an eye on your driving.”

“Yes, that would be prudent, although I'm sure Sunny is smart enough not to let me drive him into a tree or a fence post.”

“If this warmer weather lasts, we might have to go horseback riding instead of driving.”

It was not the past she saw, but a future. Riding beside him, laughing in the summer sunshine, so happy and in love. It was a future she could not have. “Now you're using my lost dreams against me.”

“Not against you. Never that.” His voice dipped tenderly, gently.

With the sift of snow blowing in from beneath the eaves and the wish filling her soul, she thought for one breathless, sweet moment that he was going to kiss her. Really, truly, lovingly kiss her. Her soul sighed with longing. Her spirit ached with the wish.

Then a hush of a footstep told her they weren't alone. “Thad?” A woman's gentle voice spoke. “There you are. They're serving dinner. Oh, is that Noelle?”

Thad's mother. Embarrassment burned her face to the roots of her hair, and Thad's touch fell away from her face, but he did not step away. No, he remained solidly at her side. His hand crept around hers.

Noelle felt her face heat. “H-hello, Mrs. McKaslin.”

“Noelle, dear, call me Ida. Aiden is holding a small table for us. Will you join us?”

“I would love to.” What could it hurt? Come tomorrow, he would receive the land agent's news, and, God willing, he would be starting to work on his dreams.

Dreams she could not share with him. No, that would be the privilege of some other lucky woman, one who could see, one who could do what she, Noelle, could not.

For tonight, she would treasure simply being with him.

Hand in hand, and heart to heart, she let Thad lead her out of the cold night and into the hotel's warmth.

I
t was late evening by the time dessert was served and finished in the hotel's finest room, and later still, Thad thought with a yawn, as he made his way to the coatroom. Plenty of Angel Falls's finest gentlemen were gathered outside the back door, in the shelter of the porch. He thanked the young gal at the counter and slung the small pile of coats over the crook of his arm.

“Thad McKaslin!” Abe Dorian emerged through the smoky doorway. “I hadn't thought you would be here tonight. Don't know as to why.”

“I went to school with Joe and Lanna.”

“Of course you did. Got too much on my mind, I guess.” Affable, Dorian gave a shrug. “If you were at the wedding, then you weren't home this afternoon to get my note.”

“Your note?” Could it be? Thad didn't dare get his hopes up. “A good piece of ranch land didn't come up for sale, did it?”

“Good? My son, it is prime property. The owner is asking a reasonable price, too. She's inherited it some time ago and decided to sell only this morning.” Dorian's dark eyes twinkled. “I thought of you right away.”

And of a sure sale, if what he said of the land was true, Thad thought. “Which piece is it? Is it close to town?”

“It's the northeast quarter section right at the falls.”

His pulse skipped five beats. He almost dropped the coats. Had he heard that right? “Did you say at the falls, not below it?”

“That's what I said, son. Prime land and it's at the price you want.”

Noelle. He could see her through the crowded room. His gaze went to her as inexorably as snow to winter and the stars to the night. Emotion closed up his throat so tight, he couldn't speak for a spell.

“I gave you first crack at it.” Dorian hitched up his fine black suspenders. “Do you need time to think it over?”

“No. That's one piece of land I've always wanted to own. Never thought I could.” His heart full, he didn't lift his gaze from her, from his Noelle.

If he could have one dream, why not another?

“Then stop by the office first thing tomorrow and we'll make it legal. You have yourself a good evening, son.” Dorian, sounding pleased with himself, returned to the back porch.

Thad stood stock-still, unable to move, unable to blink. She was at their small table, interested in something Ma was saying to her. There were so many things he wanted to remember about her on this fateful night. The way lamplight shone like liquid red satin against the highlights in her hair. The curve of her face was delicate perfection, and the slope of her dainty nose just right.

She made him believe that real love was enough. That in the end good happened if a man worked hard enough.

I'm gonna marry her. He felt the decision with all of his soul's might. He didn't remember walking down the hallway or crossing the room. He only knew that he was suddenly at her side, where his heart had led him.

“We were just talking about you.” She turned toward him, a smile shaping her lovely mouth and happiness alight on her sweet face. “I was telling Ida and Aiden about how you've managed to almost tame the two impossible horses my uncle bought.”

If he blushed to the tips of his ears, he wasn't going to admit it. “It wasn't much. Glad to help.”

“It proves you have a great gift with horses, Thad.” Her soft, slim hand found his arm and rested there so naturally. For one brief tender moment, she betrayed her feelings for him. “I know this time your dreams are going to work out. You wait and see.”

“I was just speaking to Mr. Dorian.” Wrestling to keep his emotions under control, he handed his ma her coat, and then Aiden his. “He said there's a piece of land along Angel River for sale.”

Aiden cheered up at that. “Which parcel?”

“It's near the falls.” Thad came back around to Noelle's chair and settled his hand on her shoulder. There it was, the connection between them, so binding and infinite that he could feel his spirit turn around her like stars around the North Pole.

“What luck.” Aiden's voice came muffled, as if from very far away. “That's prime land. I can't remember the last time anything upriver from the falls has been for sale.”

“No one deserves it more than Thad,” Noelle said quietly, sincerely.

She captured his heart all over again. Yep, he was in a bad situation, loving her as he did. His soul hurt with the strength of it.

“I'm grateful for this chance.” His tone was raw and real, betraying his feelings. That embarrassed him because he wasn't talking about the land.

Noelle leaned toward him, as if she were unaware of his turmoil and his adoration. “It looks as if you will be able to have your horse ranch, just as you've always dreamed.”

He prayed it wasn't only the land she meant, for she was part of his dreams. He carefully shook out the folds of her wool coat. “Think your uncle will let me see you home?”

“Maybe.” There was that mischievous smile again, the one he loved so well. “But there you go, assuming I'll want to go with you.”

“Darlin', I know what you want.” Yes, he could see that clearly, too. He helped her slide back her chair and then into her coat, tenderness filling him up so there was hardly any room left to breathe. Hope could do that to a man.

 

The whisper of the falls came quietly at first through the soft music of the night, a quiet whir above the low-noted air whizzing past her ears, hardly noticeable at all. Then rising in volume until it was the dominating sound. It was a solemn chorus of water and snow and hope against the steady
chink-chink
of Sunny's shoes upon the ice.

It had been a perfect evening. The excellent meal was improved with excellent company; there seemed to be no one more dear than Thad's gentle mother. And to have spent the entire evening in Thad's presence, at his side, sharing simple conversation, had uplifted her. She still felt as light as the airy, spun-sugar snowflakes dancing lazily against her cheeks and eyelashes.

She knew where they were without a single word from him. It wasn't the sound of the waterfall alone, but Thad's wistful sigh. “Are you planning on going into the land office tomorrow morning?”

“You know I'll be there well before they open. Just trying not to let myself get too excited.” The amused notes in his voice told her he was grinning ear to ear. “I'll try to be dignified for your sake.”

“For my sake? I'm not Henrietta. As much as I love her, I do not think reputation and decorum are everything.” She smoothed the buffalo robes covering her skirts, to give her hand something to do. Many secrets lay inside her heart. It would not do to give him a single hint of them.

“Then I can let out a whoop?”

Now she was grinning ear to ear. “I have no objections.”

“I'd better not. Best not to scare any fellow traveler up ahead. They may take out their rifle, thinkin' I'm a wolf. And considering how I look, who could blame them?”

She felt the laughter bubbling up. Oh, no one could bring summer to her life the way he could. She could tell he was slowing the sleigh, for Sunny's gait slowed. Taking a long hopeful look at the land? At his land? She hoped he was not only grinning ear to ear but glowing with happiness from the bottom of his soul. “What's the first thing you're going to do with the land?”

“The first thing?” He fell silent a moment, and the crash of the falls began to ebb a tad. “I ought to fence it, but seeing as Aiden, Finn and I have been repairing fence for the past month, I'm not too keen on starting out digging one hundred and sixty acres of fence posts.”

“If not the fence first, then what will you do? The stable?”

“No. I'll start on a house.”

A home. Her chest wrenched. How could she be ecstatically happy and deeply sorrowful all in the same moment? “T-tell me about it.”

“It'll be two stories. Not big, I can't afford something grand, but a nice-size parlor to spend winters cozy by the fireplace without feeling cramped and still have plenty of room for all the bookshelves I intend to build.”

Exactly what she herself would have wanted. “W-with big windows and a porch for quiet summer evenings?”

“Yessiree. With a roomy kitchen for my wife.”

“W-wife?” Agony filled her. She clamped her lips together, set her chin and braced herself for the sorrow.

As much as she longed to be the woman who could marry him, his happy future mattered more. Her sadness faded away like one last long note, leaving only peace in her soul. “You are ready to settle down. You must have someone in mind.”

“I've got my eye on a real nice lady.” His baritone warmed gently. Perhaps he was worrying he was hurting her feelings.

Her love for him shone so strongly within her that she felt as if she were glowing, too. Happy for him, deeply and truly happy, she leaned back in the seat, sure, so completely sure, that God would bless Thad in this new part of his life. “Do I know her?”

“I think you do. Maybe you might offer your opinion on the plans for this house. I want her to have a roomy place to do all the kitchen work easily and not so close that she catches her skirts on fire on the stove.”

“Very easy to do,” Noelle agreed.

“And a sunny spot for the kitchen table, a place where you just want to sit over a cup of tea and spend time jawin'.”

“I can imagine it. A lot of cabinets and a roomy pantry—you could spend some of your winter months making them for her. A round table between the corner windows and a place for boots and coats to dry.” The future she could see might have once been her dream, but it felt right sharing it with him. “There will be children one day who will need a place to come in from playing in the snow and warm up.”

“Children.” His baritone dipped intimately. When he spoke next, his voice vibrated with emotion. “Now, I hadn't quite got that far. Except for four upstairs bedrooms.”

“Four sounds like a nice number.”

“It surely does.” His heart was full to bursting as he nosed Sunny off the main road. “I've been thinking about building a little cottage behind the main house for my ma. Aiden's taken care of her all this time, and I feel as if it's my duty now. What do you think of that?”

“As long as she would want to move. She has her own house.”

“Yep, and with both of my brothers there, too. It's my hope Aiden will come to marry again one day, and then she'll be feeling in the way again.” He gripped the reins more tightly. He could feel his dearest hopes ready to come true, and it was so much to lose. “I would like her close. I've missed her, and she can feel good helping to take care of things at my place. She likes taking care of the people she loves.”

“Then it sounds like a good solution. She would be closer to any future grandchildren.”

There she went, mentioning children again. Thad couldn't say what that did to his heart, but he was fairly sure it would never beat normally again.

“As long as she got along well with your wife,” Noelle pointed out sweetly, “it sounds perfect to me. Does this mean there will be another wedding soon?”

“I'm praying that's the truth.”

“Praying? Does this mean you're a praying man again?”

“Maybe. You never know.” The Worthington manor came into sight, windows ablaze with golden lamplight. It looked like the family was already home. “About this wedding of mine. Think you'd like to attend?”

“Absolutely beyond a doubt. It's what I've been praying for.”

How about that. Thad reined Sunny to a stop outside the porch. He climbed out from beneath the snug buffalo robe and circled around the sleigh to help Noelle out. Powerful love for her broke him wide-open, and it was greater than anything he'd ever known. Incapable of speech, he simply took her hand in his, and led her with care up the porch steps. Joy lifted him so far up, he couldn't feel the boards beneath his boots, for there was only her. Just her. In his thoughts, in his heart, in his soul.

She broke the silence between them when they reached the door. “You will let me know how tomorrow goes with the land agent?”

“I will. The moment the land is mine, you will be the first one I tell.” He acted on impulse and again cradled her face in both his hands with all the tenderness in his soul. He wanted more than anything to tell her he would take care of her, that he would do his best for her, and how great his love was for her.

As if she realized that he intended to kiss her, she tipped toward him an infinitesimal amount. Her eyes widened with such honesty, and they were the color of his dreams. Her smile was every last piece of his heart.

“Good night, Mr. McKaslin.” The serene notes of her voice blew through his spirit like the rarest of joys.

He opened the door for her. “Good night, Miss Kramer. I'll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Good.” Her smile was the last thing he saw as he tipped his hat to her and left her in the care of her aunt, who was in the act of charging toward the door.