Moonlight on Water (5 page)

“All right,” she said softly. “We can stay for dessert as long as it's all right with both of our hosts.”

“It's just fine,” Horace answered too fast for Mr. Colton to interrupt him. “Do you want to hear, Kitty Cat, about the time I came face-to-face with a real live gator down in a bayou of Louisiana? A gator that was twice the size of this table?”

As he began to relate a story that might be true or could have just as well been a tall tale, Rachel picked up her fork again. She was aware of Mr. Colton watching her closely. Did he think that she would do something outrageous or strange? She had not guessed a man who had been up and down the Ohio River would have the same provincial prejudices shared by too many of the folks who lived near River's Haven.

She was hungrier than she had guessed. The food was even more delicious than it smelled, and she wished she had not pushed so much off her plate and onto Mr. Colton's. When she noticed how he made his food disappear just as quickly, she had an unsettling thought.

In a near whisper as Kitty Cat slipped off the bench to help Horace get the pie and more plates, Rachel said, “If we're eating what should have been your dinner—”

“You worry too much,” Mr. Colton retorted.

“But you weren't expecting company.”

“Horace always makes too much. He's used to cooking for a whole crew.”

She looked around. “Where is everyone else?”

“Gone.”

“Gone? What happened to them?” Her eyes widened.

He laughed tersely. “You clearly have a lurid imagination, Rachel. We didn't toss them into the river. When the boat was run aground, they decided to look for work somewhere else. Horace and I are the only ones aboard now. We're working to repair
The Ohio Star
. If we can make her river-worthy again, we'll have our own boat to take along the Ohio and Wabash or even the Mississippi and Missouri if we choose.”

“It sounds like a wonderful life.”

“The very best.” He smiled, and she wondered if he was being honest … finally. His annoyance had been sincere, but she had not been so sure about his smiles. “Haven't you ever wanted to see what was beyond the next horizon?”

“I did enjoy our journey from Ohio.”

“Overland?”

“Yes. This is the first time I've been on the river.”

“Really?”

“Real—” She frowned. “You don't need to taunt me at every turn.”

“I wouldn't if you didn't make it so easy to do so.”

“But aren't you the man who said he didn't always take the easy way?”

His gray eyes narrowed. “I'm honored.”

“Honored? Why?”

“That you have paid such close attention to each word I've spoken.”

“Don't flatter yourself.”

He waved his fork to dismiss her words. “So you've never traveled along the river?”

“No.” She smiled as Kitty Cat put a stack of plates on the table and then climbed into her lap. “I don't need to travel when I have what I want right here.” She gave Kitty Cat a hug.

Horace set the pie on the table and went back to the stove for the coffeepot. As he placed that next to the pie, he said, “Some folks need to settle down and some need to keep looking for what they want.”

“You're philosophical tonight,” Mr. Colton said.

“Pumpkin pie always makes me philosophical.”

Rachel laughed. When they all looked at her, she put her hand over her mouth. Had Horace meant that seriously?

Horace cut two pieces of pie and put them in front of her. Then he winked at her. Handing a fork to Kitty Cat, he said, “Try it, young lady.” He held out another fork to Rachel. “Both of you.”

Kitty Cat did not wait for a second urging. She dug into the golden-brown pie and took a big bite. With her mouth full, she mumbled something that might have been that the pie was delicious.

Taking a bite, Rachel said, “I agree with Kitty Cat. This is wonderful. Do you share your recipes?”

“When I can get another in return.”

“I have one for a blueberry—”

Mr. Colton snorted. “I feel as if I'm at a church social with the old ladies.”

Horace laughed. “No old lady—or anyone else—makes a better pumpkin pie than I do.” He poured cups of coffee before sitting at the table.

“I have to agree,” Rachel said. She put her arm around Kitty Cat, who, as soon as she finished her pie, cuddled against Rachel. “And the coffee is wonderful, too.”

“A recipe I learned down in New Orleans.” He chuckled. “Have you ever been there, Miss Rachel?” He answered before she could, “Probably not. You should go there. They have some of the best coffee in the world.”

Once he started, he continued to go from one story to the next about adventures he had had and people he had met in New Orleans and other towns along the Mississippi. She laughed at his jokes, which seemed to make him more determined to entertain them. Even Mr. Colton chuckled at Horace's stories, surprising her, because she would have guessed that the two men had known each other for a long time if they were partners.

Rachel looked down and saw that Kitty Cat was asleep, the rag doll nestled in her arms. The little girl was seldom without the doll she had named Shirley. Rachel wondered if Kitty Cat had ever had a doll before Rachel gave her this one. She glanced at the rocking chairs, thinking of how nice it would be to hold Kitty Cat in one of them. It amazed her to realize she could not recall seeing a single rocking chair in River's Haven.

“Looks like that little one is all adventured out.” Horace stood and carried some of the dirty dishes to a galvanized tub beside the stove.

“I would be glad to help with cleaning up,” Rachel said.

“No need. You've got a long walk ahead of you. I suspect you're going to be carrying that child all the way.”

She smiled, resisting the temptation to give Horace a hug for being so kind. “Thank you for a delicious meal.”

“It was nice to have some company other than our own.”

Mr. Colton stood when she did. “C'mon. I'll see you off the boat.” He picked up the lantern and motioned toward the door.

Bidding Horace a goodbye, Rachel lifted Kitty Cat into her arms. The doll fell to the deck. With a smile, Horace set it atop the sleeping girl. Thanking him again, Rachel followed Mr. Colton out onto the deck. The night was loud with the songs of frogs and insects that nearly drowned out the water's hushed whisper against the boat. As he held the lantern high so she could pick her way along the deck, bugs swirled around it.

“Careful,” he murmured when they reached the stairs. He put out his arm to halt her. “Let me take her down the steps for you.”

“Thank you.” She was not going to be too proud to accept his help. Her feet were steadier on the deck, but she did not trust them to carry her down the stairs while she was holding Kitty Cat.

He set down the lantern and held out his arms. That odd stirring exploded through her again, even though he had not touched her. She stared at his hands, broad and open. If she stepped forward and they closed around her, how would they feel? Gentle like his smile now when he gazed at Kitty Cat, or rough like his voice when he retorted to a comment she made?

She placed the little girl into his arms, drawing her hands out from beneath Kitty Cat. She could not silence her gasp when her skin brushed his. When her gaze was caught by his shadowed eyes, she could not tear it away. He took a step toward her, then paused as he broke the connection between them to look down at the little girl.

“Get the lantern,” he ordered, his voice taut. “I don't want to trip going down the steps.”

“Yes … Yes.” The answer was sufficient, but, as she reached for the lantern, it seemed as if she should have said more. What? She could not guess.

Holding the lantern up high, she brushed away bugs as she walked with him down the stairs. She clutched the railing so she would not fall. She was relieved when she reached the bottom. Turning, she watched Mr. Colton put Kitty Cat on her feet. The little girl yawned broadly, then grinned up at him. He smiled back at her.

Taking Kitty Cat by the hand, Rachel held out the lantern to him and said, “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, I assure you.”

She was about to smile, then saw his amusement. What a cur! He was enjoying every chance to tease her. She started to retort, but she could not throw Mr. Colton's sparse courtesy back into his face by disagreeing with him about everything.

As his gaze swept along her, his smile vanished. It was replaced by an intense expression that urged her to step back. She tried to move her feet, but they refused to budge. When he hung the lantern on a brad on the wall, he walked toward her until the toes of his boots nearly brushed the hem of her gown.

His motion freed her feet, and she edged back as she said, “I'm sorry that we intruded.”

“You haven't been too much of a bother.”

“Then why are you acting as if you'd rather welcome a bear onto your boat than us?”

He gripped her chin between two fingers and leaned toward her. Shocked, she stared up at him. His voice was perfectly controlled as he said, “In a few moments, you'll be gone from my life, Rachel Browning, except for the few times I may see you in Haven. We'll be strangers. We
are
strangers, and I want to keep it that way.”

“I agree.”

“Do you?” His finger stroked her cheek, and that amazing buzz surged through her once more. “Then why do you look at me with those doe eyes suggesting that you'd like to get much more friendly with me?”

“You're deluding yourself.”

“Am I?” He tipped up her face and brushed her lips with a quick kiss.

She jumped back in shock. “Are you out of your mind?”

“You're not the first to ask that, Rachel.”

“
Miss
Browning!”

With a laugh, he bent and shook Kitty Cat's hand seriously while the little girl stared at him. “Thank you for calling, young lady.” He looked back at Rachel. “See? I do have manners.”

“Then I suggest you recall that they don't wear out with practice.” Turning Kitty Cat toward the plank back to shore, she said, “Good evening, Mr. Colton.”

“Good-bye, Rachel.”

She did not want to let him have the last word, but staying longer to argue would be foolish. Then he might discover how utterly he had threatened her hard-fought façade of serenity with his antics … and his kiss.

Four

“Rachel, I must speak with you right away.”

Rachel looked up from her desk as she heard Eve Hanson's voice. The gray-haired woman's motherly face was deeply wrinkled with worry. When Miss Hanson came into the room that Rachel used as the accounting office for River's Haven, she closed the door behind her. That astonished Rachel. Doors were usually left open, because the Community viewed itself as a family that should have no secrets.

“Sit down, Miss Hanson.” Rachel shut the account book she had been working on and stood. Coming around her desk, she put her hand on Miss Hanson's trembling arm. She guided Miss Hanson to one of the chairs along the whitewashed wall.

“I shouldn't sit here,” Miss Hanson said. “These chairs are for the Assembly of Elders.”

“They aren't using them just now.” Rachel poured a glass of water from the pitcher set on the wide windowsill. Handing it to Miss Hanson, she asked, “What is wrong?”

“She's gone again.”

“She?” Rachel closed her eyes and let her breath sift out in a deep sigh. “I assume you mean Kit—Katherine.”

“She never came to play with the other children this afternoon.” Miss Hanson drained the glass and put it back on the desk. Wringing her hands, she rose, then paced in front of Rachel's desk. “I thought she might be here with you. As soon as I could leave someone else with the children, I came here. But she isn't here.”

“No.”

“Do you know where she might be?”

Rachel nodded. “I'm
sure
I know where she is.”

It had been only three days since Kitty Cat had scurried away to visit Sean O'Dell in Haven and had found her way onto
The Ohio Star
. That evening, on the walk back to River's Haven, Rachel had again asked Kitty Cat not to leave the Community without telling her. The little girl had agreed. It was not like Kitty Cat to break a promise.

Excusing herself after asking Miss Hanson not to speak of Kitty Cat's absence to anyone else, Rachel rushed to her cottage. She was not surprised to see a piece of paper leaning against the vase of flowers in the center of the table. On it were two words that she guessed were meant to be “Sean” and “Mr. Horace,” although they were spelled “shan” and “misterhors” in Kitty Cat's still-scrawling printing. Kitty Cat had kept her promise to let Rachel know if she left the Community.

Rachel did not chide herself for failing to realize that she should have asked for Kitty Cat to promise not to leave. Instead, she hastily redressed in the black dress that she wore when she went to Haven. The day was warm, and, as she crossed the common area, sweat rolled along her back.

“Where are you off to, Rachel?” called a familiar voice.

She turned to see her brother walking toward her. With him was Miss Page. The blonde was extraordinarily beautiful, tall and slender but with voluptuous curves. Merrill's eyes glittered with joyful anticipation each time he spoke Miss Page's name, so Rachel expected an announcement would be forthcoming as soon as the Assembly of Elders approved the match.

Was wanting their marriage authorized why Merrill had insisted that Rachel not press her request on behalf of Kitty Cat with the Assembly of Elders? He did not want to upset them in any way, so they would reject the petition for marriage. She could not fault him, if that were so. He seemed smitten with Miss Page.

“You're in such a hurry, Miss Browning,” Miss Page murmured as their path intersected Rachel's.