LeClerc 03 - Wild Savage Heart (32 page)

“Thought you might have gotten lost and couldn’t find your way home,” one of the men said with a grin as he reached for Hawk’s hand.

“Kaleb!” Unabashedly, Hawk wrapped his arms around the man who was about his own age but several inches taller. “God, they surely don’t still call you Little Kaleb. Did you forget to stop growing?”

“He has a way to go yet before he’s big enough for this family to keep.”

“Will! Jamie?! Mark, you were just a little kid when I left!” Hawk hugged the men he claimed as brothers, each seeming to be larger than the other.

One by one each man greeted Hawk while Molly stood back and watched. She saw their honest joy in Hawk’s return. Unaware of the polite, but nonetheless speculative glances being thrown her way, she turned her gaze to the tiny woman who seemed as if she couldn’t possibly be the mother of these massive men.

She saw tears that flowed freely down an unlined face of rare beauty. The love the woman felt for H awk glowed in eyes the color of summer grass. The hood to her cape fell back as she moved to greet Hawk and Molly saw the autumn-red hair tied demurely in a bun at the nape of her neck.

This could only be Linsey.

After the boisterous greetings from his brothers, Hawk turned to the woman and took her into his arms.

“Nathan, my son, oh how I’ve missed you,” Linsey said as she reached for him.

“Nee ke yah,
my mother.” Hawk bent, wrapped his arms around her waist and twirled her with abandon. “If it was half as much as I’ve missed you then you’ve been miserable.”

“I’ve been miserable,” she replied with a smile, “but now all of my sons are home and I’m filled with joy. Luc will be so happy to see you.”

“Where is Bear?” Hawk asked, returning Linsey to her feet.

“He, Kaleb and Daniel are helping a neighbor finish his harvest. We were all there most of the day but since it was finished early this afternoon everyone has drifted back home but them.”

“Daniel is here?” Hawk’s grin widened and Molly saw the special place Daniel held in his heart. Daniel, the Cub, who had grown up with Hawk, was more of a real brother to him than his Shawnee brother.

“He’s been home since spring.”

“Aren’t you forgetting someone?” Will asked, looking pointedly at Molly.

Four pairs of dark masculine eyes turned in her direction and Molly wished for a hole to crawl into to escape their friendly curiosity. Had she looked, Molly would have seen the sympathetic understanding in the sole pair of feminine eyes.

Her turn had come, and Molly wrapped her coat tightly around her, holding it firmly to keep her hands from shaking. She watched Hawk walk toward her, unaware that all her fears glittered in her worried gaze.

With a gentle hand under her chin, Hawk tipped her head up. His head lowered until his mouth covered hers in a kiss of gentle reassurance. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, he turned and walked with her up to his family.

“I would like to introduce you to Mary Helen … my wife.” His smile grew wider at the various expressions of surprise from his family.

Understanding how overwhelming her large sons could be to strangers, Linsey moved over to Molly. If the men hadn’t been there towering over her, Molly would have felt huge and gawky in front of the petite Linsey, but no one could feel huge when surrounded by four human mountains.

“Mary Helen,” Linsey said quietly, reaching for Molly’s hand. “What a lovely name for a lovely young woman. Welcome to our family. We take some getting used to but you’ll find that my sons have been raised as gentlemen … even if they do tend to forget it at times.”

“Thank you,” Molly said softly, turning from Linsey as Hawk began to introduce the men.

It was easy to identify them as brothers — not only were they all similar in size but they shared the same dark hair and eyes. At a closer distance Molly could see that Jamie and Mark were far younger than she had assumed. Their size disguised their ages — both were obviously still in their teens, with Mark not more than fourteen.

They were studiously polite as they were introduced, each warmly welcoming her to the family. Kaleb was the only one to hug her, his eyes widening when he felt the obvious bulge of her stomach. He kept the knowledge to himself, seeming to relish knowing her secret.

“Mama! Mama, me need help!”

A tiny girl with bright red hair and glistening green eyes approached from behind the house. Her skirt was gathered in her arms and she seemed completely unconcerned about the cold air chilling her bare bottom.

“Who is this?” Hawk asked, his eyes glowing with surprised delight.

“Dara Bevin LeClerc, where are your drawers?” Linsey asked, fighting to keep a stern expression on her face.

“They wet!”

“How did they get wet?”

Dara knew exactly how to change the subject. She approached the strangers in the midst of her brothers and stared up at first Molly and then Hawk.

“Who’re you?” she asked.

Hawk knelt in front of the tiny girl and carefully pulled her dress down. Dara helped him to smooth it in place, completely unconcerned by this stranger. After all, she had been surrounded by men all of her short life, and one more didn’t make any difference to her.

“I am Hawk, your brother,” he answered quietly. Searching green eyes stared at him. Seeming satisfied, she reached for him and snuggled into his arms. Hawk stood, carefully balancing this unexpected surprise in his embrace.

“I think you forgot to mention this little bundle, Maman.” He turned to Linsey, a smile crossing his stern features.

“This little hellion was a complete surprise to all of us three years ago. “Linsey motioned for everyone to enter the house. She held Molly’s arm as she led the way inside.

“Not only did I think I was through with having babies, but to have a girl after so many sons, we almost didn’t know what to do with her. Luc still hasn’t completely recovered from the shock. Dara has her daddy firmly wrapped around her tiny little fingers … and her brothers are not far behind. I’m glad there will be another woman in the house to help me prevent her from becoming totally spoiled.

“I decided not to write either to you or to Daniel about her. She was to be a surprise.”

Linsey looked at her daughter snuggled in Hawk’s arms. “I didn’t expect your first meeting with her to be a display of her bare backside.” She reached for Dara and balanced her on her hip. “You still haven’t explained to me what happened to your drawers, young lady.”

Linsey turned and smiled at Molly. “I’ll take this imp upstairs and get her properly dressed and then we’ll get Hawk’s room ready. I’m sure you’d like to bathe and change clothes.”

Molly didn’t know how to tell her hostess that these, and others exactly like them, were the only clothes she had. She watched the gentle sway of Linsey’s skirts as she climbed the stairs.

“Come sit down,
ain jel ee.”
Hawk took Molly’s hand and led her into the drawing room.

The room was huge — Molly came to realize that everything around her was huge. Stretching from front to back of the house, it was filled with comfortable chairs, several tables and a fireplace that was large enough to walk into. The men were spread out around the room, waiting impatiently for Hawk to join them.

Hawk helped Molly remove her coat, and four pairs of masculine eyes immediately found her rounded stomach. Kaleb grinned as he watched the looks of surprise cross his brothers’ faces.

“I’m going to be an uncle!” Mark cheered gleefully. He stood and grabbed Molly and hugged her tightly. “Wait until the Bear hears about this! Can you imagine him a grandpa!”

The others chuckled with enjoyment as Molly blushed a vivid red with embarrassment. In polite society, men didn’t acknowledge a woman’s expectant condition. Obviously, in this family, some rules of behavior were ignored! She knew that if she wanted to be a member of this family she would have to learn to accept their good-natured teasing. But she suspected that she was in for some rough times before she became accustomed to their easygoing manner.

And after such a short acquaintance, Molly knew she wanted to be a member of this family more than she had ever wanted anything in her life.

Conversation flew, questions were asked and answered, as the brothers caught up on each other’s lives. The closing of the front door brought a sudden, expectant silence to the room. Hawk stood up from Molly’s side, his eyes glued to the door.

A man, larger than any in the room, with hair as red as the setting sun, walked in. A smile crossed his handsome features as his voice boomed into the stillness.

“Did you take the long way home and get lost?” Molly knew this was Daniel, the Cub, the Mountain with Voice of Thunder. She was intimidated by his stunning size and she found herself trying to sink into the chair. Black eyes, so like those of his brothers, quickly found her but before he could do more than smile gently, another voice broke into the noise.

“Welp, it’s ‘bout time you come home, boy.” The old man grabbed Hawk and hugged him tightly, tears unashamedly rimming his eyes. “Missed ya, boy, missed you somethin’ bad.”

Her mind a whirl with so many impressions, Molly stared in shock at the old man. His face puddled in massive wrinkles above his shaggy eyebrows. A badly scarred bald spot at the top of his head attested to the scalping he had survived nearly thirty years earlier.

“It’s been too long, Kaleb.”

“What? You think yore too old to call me grandpa liken you always done?”

“I’m not too old if you’re not,” Hawk replied with a chuckle. He had missed this old man almost as much as he’d missed Linsey and Bear.

The only missing member of the family filled the doorway. Molly’s eyes were drawn to the man who had been a father to Hawk. While he was smaller than Daniel, he was larger than his other sons. Thick black hair, with only the slightest touch of silver at the temples, hung to his wide shoulders. Sharp black eyes narrowed in on Hawk, but his stern features didn’t change.

Linsey returned from upstairs and walked up beside her husband. When he turned his head and wrapped his arm around his tiny wife, Molly couldn’t prevent her gasp of surprise as she saw the horrible scars that disfigured the left side of his face.

As if separating good from bad, the right side of his face was incredibly handsome while deep scars from hairline to jaw on the left side destroyed the beauty that should have been there.

Every eye in the room turned to Molly but her eyes were glued to the man in the doorway.

“They are only scars, little one,” he said softly, repeating the words he had used to reassure Linsey so many years ago.

Finding herself drawn to the gentle understanding of his voice, Molly stood and walked across the room. Face to face with him, she found herself speechless, wanting to apologize for her rudeness and yet knowing it wasn’t necessary.

“I’m Molly,” she introduced herself, feeling foolish.

Bear took her extended hand and brought it to his lips. “I am Luc LeClerc.” He studied her closely, and a smile crossed his dark features.

“Did you arrive with my long-missing son?”

Releasing her hand, he turned to Hawk.

“A wife usually travels with her husband,” Hawk said.

“Son.” Luc gathered Hawk close. No further words were exchanged as the two strong men held tightly to each other, their mutual love needing the physical contact.

Finally they parted and Bear bent to pick up his tiny daughter. He kissed her soft cheek then nuzzled his daylong growth of beard into her soft flesh. Her childish giggle filled the room as he carefully set her on her feet.

“Go find a brother to spoil you.” He gently pushed her toward the men, any of whom would willingly fill the request.

“Don’t be gone so long ever again,” he said, turning to Hawk. “Your mother worries when her sons aren’t within her sight.”

Finally, to the satisfaction of the waiting men in the room, his gaze came to linger on Molly.

“Mon dieu,
she’s breeding,” he whispered, his voice conveying his pleased shock. “I’m going to be married to a grandmother!”

Laughter erupted, confusion reigned and Molly found herself the center of concerned masculine attention. Dara selected Hawk’s lap as her place of choice while Linsey disappeared up the stairs.

The loud masculine voices put Dara to sleep while they bewildered Molly. Her head began to ache as she tried, with little success, to follow the many conversations that flowed around her. Her sigh of relief was audible in the noisy room when Linsey returned and motioned for her to come upstairs.

“I know you want to rest.” She took Molly’s hand in hers and signaling Hawk to follow with their bags, led her up the curving staircase. “My family takes some getting used to, their voices ring through the house and will startle a deaf person. But when even one of them is gone, his is the voice that I miss, the one I long to hear.”

Leading Molly to a door at the end of the hall, Linsey ushered her inside. “This is Hawk’s room when he is home. Now it will be yours.”

The room was masculinely comfortable, with several chairs that seemed to invite a weary body to sit and linger, a desk and dresser and a massive bed. But what drew Molly’s attention were the windows. The corner room was at the back of the house and the two exterior walls consisted of row after row of floor-to-ceiling windows. The view looked out on a thick forest and the dull glitter of the river was just over the tops of the trees.