Hope (20 page)

Had the stage line shipped her things to John? If so, what must he be thinking? Even when she did reach him, would he accept her story of why she was so late, or would he think she’d been sullied? Her cheeks grew hot at the thought. Big Joe, Frog, and Boris were rude and disgusting louts, but they’d respected her privacy. And Dan . . . Dan had been a perfect gentleman during their times of enforced confinement.

Sullied indeed!
Shame on you, John Jacobs, if you even think such a thing!

When she returned to the main room, Letty was resting. Dan was dozing by the fire. He glanced up when she entered the room, his gaze appreciatively skimming her fresh-scrubbed appearance. The look spoke more than words ever could. He obviously liked what he saw in a manly, most exciting way. Shivers inundated her. Did he find her beautiful? desirable? Someone he would fall in love with if only she wasn’t promised to another man?

She hurried to the stove. “You must be starved. I’ll fix us something to eat, then heat water for your bath.”

“Your man’s already got the water boiling, though I told him not to be movin’ about. Needs to keep that poultice on his shoulder,” Letty said in a voice thick with sleep.

“He can be stubborn.” Hope risked a smile at Dan.

“Aren’t you in charge of breakfast?”

“Yes, sir. Coming right up.” His sudden gruffness didn’t bother her; it meant he was getting better.

Letty opened her eyes. “Charlie hung those hams and smoked beef up high enough the bears can’t reach them. You’ll need to go with her.”

“I can get them, Letty—”

“I’ll go with you.” Dan reached for the lantern, then preceded Hope out of the cabin. “The smokehouse is behind the barn.”

“How do you know where it is?”

“I scouted around while you were taking your bath.” He frowned when he saw the goat chewing on the porch railing. “Fool pest.”

Hope hurried to catch up. “Think Letty might be a criminal? Maybe she’s harboring a band of miscreants on the property?”

He was unaffected by her feisty banter. “You’re too trusting, Hope. Never take a stranger at his word, even if it is a kindly old woman bearing food and hot baths.”

Hope nodded, sobering. He was far more experienced than she at these matters. Until now, she’d never traveled farther than a few miles from home. She trusted everyone, expecting them to be as honorable as she was. Having met men like Big Joe, Frog, Boris, and yes, even the Bennetts, she was learning that didn’t hold true.

His smile made her warm inside. “You’ve done well. I’m not complaining.”

She matched his long strides as they walked toward the smokehouse. “I don’t feel as if I’ve done well. It’s as if I’ve been put to a test and failed.”

Dan opened the door to the narrow shed and hung the lantern on a nail. Hope pressed close, straining to see around him. “Be careful . . . there could be a bear in there.”

“The only bear you have to worry about is me, Miss Kallahan.”

She whacked his back playfully.

“Ouch.”

Inside, the smokehouse was dark, the air pungent with smoked meat.

“Even you getting shot was my fault,” she reminded him.

Dan paused in the doorway, his right hand catching her upper arm in a gentle motion. His eyes locked with hers, and she thought she might die of love. Oh, dear God. She loved him! How could she have let that happen? “Don’t be so hard on yourself. Without you, I would have been in real trouble in that cave—alone, wounded.”

Despite her intention to avoid any impropriety, her hand reached out to touch his beard. “You look absolutely disgraceful.”

“Yeah?”

A magnetism she was powerless to explain drew her closer. Her gaze focused on his mouth, and she wondered how many women he’d kissed.

“Well, you smell prettier than a woman ought to smell.”

The feelings he raised were primitive and new and overwhelming. “I look awful. It’ll take more than soap and water to repair this damage.” She thought about the lemon verbena perfume in her valise and the lovely rose-scented talc Papa had given her one Christmas. She wished she had those things now to please Dan . . . but she shouldn’t have such an improper desire. Why weren’t her thoughts on John Jacobs?

Was it because she and Dan had been inseparable lately?

Of course she would have mixed feelings. Dan had been good to her; she’d entrusted her life to him. They had formed an indelible bond. Her feelings weren’t improper; they were perfectly natural under the circumstances. Once she met John, all thoughts of Dan would recede—except those of profound gratitude.

His eyes skimmed her face, his voice low, deep, and disturbingly masculine. “John Jacobs is a lucky man.”

She closed her eyes, about to cry. She wanted to kiss him—longed with every ounce of her will to draw him near, press her lips to his . . .

“Dan—”

He touched a finger to her lips. “I know,” he said softly, gently moving her aside. “I’ll get that meat now.”

She was glad that he still had the sense to distinguish right from wrong. She lost the ability when he was this close. His voice penetrated her confusion.

“What’ll it be, Miss Kallahan? Ham or beef?”

“How does ham sound?”

“Sounds good. I saw potatoes and dried peas in the cellar earlier.”

Dan appeared a moment later carrying a medium-size ham and a side of bacon. He pretended to throw the bacon at her.

Hope laughed. “Go ahead.”

This time he threw it. The side of pork smacked into her middle.

She threw it back, and he caught it with one arm.

“No fair, I’m injured.”

“You’re not injured enough to keep you from throwing it at me.”

He threw it back.

She faked a throw, and he fell for it. Straightening, he grinned, then staggered backward, catching the bacon before it slammed into his midsection.

The war was on.

Bacon flew back and forth until Hope collapsed in a heap on the ground, breathless with laughter. “Stop! You’re going to ruin our breakfast and hurt yourself!”

Dropping the meat, Dan pretended to be in pain. She immediately flew to his side.

He reached down and threw the bacon back at her.

She squealed, running from him as he chased her to the house.

Letty raised herself up on her pillow as a giggling Hope burst through the front door. “Land-o’-the-mighty. Thought you two got lost.”

Blood rushed to Hope’s cheeks, and she realized how she must look. Cheeks pink, eyes sparkling. Mrs. McGregor would think she had been—no telling what she’d think!

Letty cackled. “Now don’t be feeling all guilty. The Boss meant young’uns to fall in love. Charlie and me did our fair share of sparkin’, I’ll tell you. Now, I could eat a polecat. How about you startin’ breakfast?”

Soon the aroma of sizzling ham and potatoes cooking in the oven filled the cabin.

Dan helped Hope set the table. Her cheeks were hot, and she refused to meet his gaze. Hope took a plate over to Letty in bed. As Hope and Dan sat down to eat, Letty prayed from the bed.

“Thank you, Boss, for this good food and for these fine folks who came to rescue me. I’m sure much obliged.”

Later, Hope refilled the copper tub and laid a towel and washcloth nearby. Rummaging through the old trunk, she found several pairs of trousers and shirts. She selected a blue shirt and dark pants and laid them beside the tub.

Dan was sitting at the table reading the Bible when she finished. Letty’s soft snores filled the old cabin.

“Tub’s ready.”

“I suppose it would be totally improper to ask that you wash my back?”

“Totally,” she agreed. “I’d sooner drown you,” she whispered against his ear as she passed him.

“You do smell good,” he whispered back.

“You will, too, once you bathe.”

“Is that a hint that I smell bad?”

“A strong suggestion.”

When he moved to the back room, she reached for the Bible and curled up beside the fire.

She’d finished Genesis when he emerged from the wash room, still drying his hair with a towel. Charlie’s trousers were too short in the legs, and the blue shirt was too tight for the width of his shoulders.

“You look breathtaking.”

He grinned. “At least I’m clean for the first time in weeks.”

Mixing up another batch of herbs, Hope applied the mixture to Dan’s wound, then bound the injury in soft white muslin that Letty provided. His dark, damp hair curled over his shoulders and forehead.

Locating a comb, she gently groomed his damp mop. “You need a haircut.”

“I’m waiting for you to offer.”

She sat down in front of the fire and worked the comb through her matted tangles. Dan sat at the table watching her.

“Dan, I don’t feel right about leaving so soon. Letty’s virtually helpless. What kind of people are we to just ride off and leave her to fend for herself?”

He sighed, studying his hands. “I know. I was going to talk to you about that. I know you need to reach Medford as quickly as possible, but we can’t leave for a while. Letty needs help, someone to look after the animals, plow that garden, lay up a good supply of cordwood.”

She wasn’t surprised by his answer; she’d been expecting it. It was clear they couldn’t leave Letty, not until she was up and about on her own.

“Your shoulder won’t permit you to plow and cut wood.”

“The mule will do most of the work, and you can help.” His eyes met hers. “I’d welcome the company.”

She’d welcome his company—more time to be near him. “Of course, and I don’t mind the delay. I’ll help Letty with housework, and I can plant a garden—I’m very good at planting. Papa always had a large garden—biggest one in Cold Water.”

Dan seemed pleased that she didn’t put up an argument. “Letty should be up and around in a few days. By then, my shoulder will be well on the way to mending. Medford should be only a couple of days’ ride from here.”

Hope nodded, laying the comb aside. “I wonder if Letty shouldn’t think about moving closer to a town. What if we hadn’t come along?” She looked up when he didn’t answer.

“You look almost like you did the first day I saw you,” he said softly.

“I hope that’s a compliment.” She was afraid to have him look closely at her, afraid her love was written so vividly on her face that he would see it.

“It’s a compliment,” he said quietly. “Hope, if I could . . .” He didn’t finish the thought.

Disappointed, she got up to tend the fire. “When we get to Medford, I’m not sure I want people to know what’s really happened.”

He was so quiet, she wasn’t sure he’d heard. Then, “Why not? You’re not responsible for anything that’s happened.”

She shrugged. “I’ll tell John, of course, but Aunt Thalia would only be concerned about . . .” She paused, unable to express her anxiety.

“Your reputation? Hope, I’ll talk to John. Explain to him that you’ve been in my custody.” His gaze drew hers again and held it. “No one will question your character. I won’t allow it.”

The days at Letty McGregor’s flew by. Dan’s shoulder began to heal, and Letty’s leg was coming along nicely. By the end of the week, the old woman moved about the cabin with the assistance of a wooden cane Dan made for her.

The goat ate three shirts and two petticoats off the clothesline and was now busy at work on the front yard.

Dan hitched a mule to the single plow and turned the garden. Hope raked the rich black soil and planted potatoes, onions, and radishes. At night, the “young’uns” fell onto their quilt pallets, exhausted.

At the end of the week as Dan finished the last bite of egg on Sunday morning, he shoved back from the table. Meeting Hope’s expectant look, he announced, “Letty, we hate to leave you, but Hope and I have to go.”

Nodding, the old woman looked lonelier than any soul ought to look. “Breaks my heart to see you young’uns go, but of course I understand. You take the other mule,” she insisted. “Dandy’s fine for plowing, but Cinder’s not cut out for harness. He’s a good riding mule. He’ll get you to Medford.”

“Oh, Letty, we can’t take your mule,” Hope said. “You’ve done so much for us already.”

“Well, I could sure use the goat, if you were a mind to leave it. I’m right partial to the milk, and she could keep the front lawn eat down.”

“Letty, you have the goat with my most sincere blessing.” Dan swallowed the last of his coffee and stood up.

“I suppose you’ll be leavin’ today?”

“Yes, we have to be on our way.”

“Then you better go to the smokehouse and get another ham. Hope can make sandwiches for the road.”

Under Letty’s watchful eye, Hope spread bread with golden butter and added thick slices of ham; she filled canteens with fresh water.

When it came time to leave, Dan and Hope stood near Letty, who was seated in a chair, while Dan offered a brief prayer. “Lord, thank you for bringing us to Letty. Please heal her leg completely, and watch over her. Watch over us also, as we travel. Protect us from harm, and speed us to our destination. Amen.”

Letty got up, leaning on her cane. Dan hugged her. “Good-bye, Mrs. McGregor. Thank you, and God bless you.”

When he stepped back and it was Hope’s turn, she couldn’t stop hugging Letty. “I’ll think about you every day of my life,” Hope said.