Leah decided she liked Miss Eloise. “Thank you. Your flowers are beautiful.”
“They’re what keeps me going, them and my paints.”
She pulled off her soil-stained gloves. “Would you like a tour?”
Leah nodded. “Yes, I would.”
“Then come on with me. I’ll show off my gardens while Sam does the wood.”
Sam gave them a wave of his hand and went around to the back of the house.
Miss Eloise took Leah on a wandering walk through the extensive beds. There were flowers, newly planted spring vegetables, and in the field of flowers behind the house stood a beautifully sculpted statue of a laughing little girl holding out a pan. It was the most unique birdbath Leah’d ever seen and so lifelike it took her breath away. “Where on earth did you get this?” she asked Miss Eloise.
Every detail appeared to have been lovingly rendered: from the sparkle in her eyes, and the wind-ruffled hem of her dress, to the tiny buttons on her little high-topped shoes. Even the short curls of her hair looked soft and touchable.
“Made her myself,” Eloise replied proudly. “Her name’s April.”
Leah couldn’t hide her surprise. “You made this?”
“Yep.”
“Did you use one of the local children as the model?”
Eloise shook her graying head. “No. She came out of my mind.”
The love and care that had gone into the rendering was quite apparent. “Well, she’s adorable.”
Eloise nodded. “I call her the daughter I never had.” Eloise touched April’s head affectionately. “And she’ll never grow up and leave me.”
Leah smiled.
Eloise said, “I was heating water for tea. It’s probably hot by now. Why don’t you come on in?”
Inside over tea, Leah looked around the small neat cabin. It was furnished simply and devoid of the stifling, overstuffed furniture choking Helene’s house. Instead of fringes and velvet there were framed paintings everywhere. Many were landscapes, others were portraits. All showed as much mastery as the statue of little Alice. “Sam told me you did paintings, but I’d no idea you were so prolific or so talented.”
“Are you trying to give me a swelled head, young woman?”
Leah smiled over her cup. “No, ma’am. Just speaking the truth.”
“Well, I’d be honored if you’d let me paint you.”
“I’d like that.”
They spent a companionable hour talking about everything and nothing. Leah wasn’t surprised to learn Miss Eloise had come to Colorado as a slave from Texas in 1845. Nearly everyone Leah knew had been a captive at some point in their life.
“I was seventeen,” Eloise explained. “It was me, the master, and a milk cow. Walked most of the way. Master died three days after we got here.”
“So what did you do?”
“Called myself a free woman and opened up a laundry. Did real well, too.”
She then turned her frank brown eyes on Leah. “How’re you and Ryder getting along?”
Since Leah didn’t know how much Miss Eloise knew, she didn’t know how to answer.
Miss Eloise sought to assure her, “I’m not trying to be nosy, well, I guess I am, but everybody’s buzzing about what happened with the estate and all. You made a good choice, I think. No woman in her right mind would choose prison, given another way out, and Ryder’s a good man. I’ve known him most of his life.”
“We’re getting along as well as might be expected, I suppose.”
“Well, he can be an enigma sometimes. Sorta like his father. Every female within fifty miles of here was in love with Louis. Myself included.” Eloise looked to Leah. “I’m not talking out of turn here, am I?”
Leah shook her head. “No.” Leah didn’t feel offended in the least. In fact, she was a bit flattered that Eloise felt comfortable enough to reveal herself this way.
Eloise looked off into the distance as if recalling memories, and her voice softened. “He wouldn’t have me of course. I was just a common washerwoman. He wanted someone better, like that fancy Creole Bernice he shipped in for his wife.”
“Was she really as unhappy here as I’ve heard?” Leah asked.
“More. She spent the first few weeks terrified that she’d be scalped by Utes or Cheyenne, even though most of the tribes had been hunted down and put on reservations. Those poor folks,” she added sadly. “Have Ryder tell you about those days, sometime.”
Leah nodded. “Did Monty know how you felt about him?”
“Oh, sure, but it didn’t make him no never mind though. What would a washer woman know about sitting at the head of his table?”
Leah thought she sounded a bit bitter, but Eloise was soon smiling again. “Can I get you more cookies?” the woman asked.
“No, ma’am. If I eat any more I won’t fit on the buckboard.” The molasses cookies had been outstanding and reminded Leah of the ones Reba often had waiting for her when she came home from school.
Eloise poured herself another cup of water from the kettle. “Heard you were staying at Helene’s. How she treat you?”
Leah wondered if she could tell her the truth, and then decided she could. “Frankly? Not well.”
Eloise shook her head in disgust. “Never did like her. Never will. She and that sister of hers came here from New Orleans and you’d’ve thought they were visiting royalty. Spent the whole time looking down their noses at the rest of us like we were sluice water.”
Leah was glad to hear she wasn’t alone in her feelings about Helene.
Eloise added, “I have to say, Helene did do well by Seth while he was growing up, but she’s a rattler.”
Sam stuck his head in the door. It was time to head back.
Miss Eloise looked disappointed. “So soon?”
Sam nodded. “Yep, got to get back.”
She then asked Leah, “Will you come and visit again now that you know where I am?”
“First chance I get. You promised to paint me, remember?”
“And I shall. Tell Ryder I said hello.”
Leah promised she would, then she and Sam drove off with a wave.
Once they were on the road again, Leah told Sam, “You were right. She’s a very nice lady.”
“That she is. Does most of the doctoring for our folks around here because the hospital in Denver won’t take us.”
“Is she a trained physician?”
“Naw, but she knows more about healing and herbs than anybody else around. Ryder said she learned a lot about plants from his grandma. I guess Miss Eloise was one of the few people who treated Ryder with any respect.”
“What do you mean?”
“Everybody else around here called him Squaw Boy while he was growing up.”
“Squaw Boy?” Leah was appalled.
“Yep, but now Squaw Boy is one of the richest men in Colorado. Pretty ironic if you think about it.”
Leah agreed. Having also grown up being slurred because of the circumstances surrounding her birth, she’d spent a lot of time fighting. How had Ryder handled it? Making yourself wealthy enough to thumb your nose at your former tormentors sounded to her like very apt revenge indeed. Did folk respect him now or still call him Squaw Boy? she wondered.
Back at Sunrise, Leah helped Sam pare vegetables for dinner, then spent the afternoon trying to occupy her mind with something other than thoughts of Ryder and sharing his bed. She first tried reading one of Denver’s local papers but couldn’t concentrate because thoughts of kisses and being held against his broad chest kept interfering with the words. She then went to his study, hoping a book might hold her interest better, but since the choices were limited to geology, engineering, and mining, she found no respite there.
In the end she went outside and sat on a wooden bench that had been positioned to face the distant mountains. Out in the quiet she let her mind have its head. She replayed everything that had happened to her in the few days since she’d arrived and realized how life-changing the experience
had been. In the process she’d gone from being Monty’s widow, to his son’s paramour. Of course that questionable title wouldn’t be official until the deal was consummated but Leah didn’t think that would be too far off. She’d chosen scandal over jail and still felt as if she’d made the only logical decision. Leah didn’t care about all the gossip that was sure to be nipping at her heels; she’d been gossiped about since the day she was born. She did care about going through with her end of the bargain, however, and in reality she was scared to death. Her knowledge of what a man and a woman did behind closed doors was limited to the few peeks she’d gotten at the bawdy books surreptiously passed around back at Miss Caldwell’s school, but she doubted spinsters were supposed to act like those fictional, wanton heroines. Although Monty and her mother had had an ongoing relationship most of Leah’s life, they’d been very discreet in their dealings in her presence. Leah’d never seen Monty give Reba more than a friendly swat on the behind or a quick kiss on the cheek in all the years she’d known him.
She assumed Ryder knew what to do, however, and therein lay another dilemma. How would he react when he found out she was a virgin? She didn’t see him being pleased; he thought her a widow and would undoubtedly accuse of her of intentionally deceiving him. He’d be right of course, but would he hear her out and applaud his father’s ingenuity? Leah hoped everything would go well, but because there were so many variables, she knew disaster could strike in an instant.
Leah couldn’t deny her nervousness as she dressed in a beautiful navy silk gown and left her room to see if Sam needed help. She knew she wasn’t dressed to do anything more than set the table. As efficient as Sam seemed to be, he probably didn’t need any assistance at all, but she needed something or someone to occupy her mind. All she could think about was her evening with Ryder and that after tonight she’d be a woman in every sense of the word.
Upon entering the kitchen, she asked, “Sam what time is—”
Ryder turned and froze with the glass of lemonade to his lips. For a moment he stood speechless as he fed his eyes on her loveliness. How can a woman be more beautiful with each passing moment? he mused inwardly as he took in the sight of her in the navy blue silk dress. Once again he felt as if he were in a children’s tale and was being graced by a princess. The midnight blue gown seemed to sparkle against her dark skin. The sleeves were little more than bands across her upper arms, offering the eyes an unhindered view of the lovely slopes of her shoulders and her neck below her upswept hair. The straight-line bodice rode fashionably low and flowed seamlessly into the tempting bands of her sleeves. Around her neck she wore a simple sapphire locket that rested on the smooth plane above her breasts. It was a spot he wished to place his kisses against.
A nervous Leah hadn’t expected to find him there. Watching his eyes taking her in so slowly let her know he approved of her attire and filled her with an odd mixture of uncertainty and womanly power. “I didn’t know you’d returned.”
“Got back only moments ago. You look very beautiful.”
“Thank you.”
“Sam’s out hitching up the team.”
“Is he leaving?”
“Yes, he’s going courting.”
Leah couldn’t hide her surprise. “Courting?”
He nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, it’s Mable France tonight.”
Leah’s eyes widened even further. “Mable France? The woman who works for Helene Sejours?”
“Yep. With his pension and all, the old pony soldier’s quite a catch. Widows have been trying to put a saddle on him for years.”
“But—Mable France? I didn’t even know she could smile.”
“Little to smile about working for Helene.”
Leah supposed he was right.
He drank down the last of his lemonade, then set the empty glass in the metal dishpan. “Away from Helene, Mable’s quite nice.”
Leah still found it a bit hard to believe, but knew that if anybody could bring out a person’s warmer side, Sam could.
Sam entered as if cued, dressed in his dark suit, starched shirt, and string tie. His gray hair was brushed and combed, and Leah smelled just the faintest scent of cologne.
“How do I look, Miss Leah?”
“Very handsome, Sam.”
“You’re looking mighty good yourself, if I might add.”
“Yes, she is,” Ryder seconded, his eyes glowing over the picture she made.
Leah turned away to hide her responding smile.
Sam said, “Well, I gotta get going. Mable won’t like me being late.” He looked between the two of them. “I was going to ask if you two were going to be all right, but that’s a dumb question. Don’t wait up.”
Ryder had eyes only for Leah. “We won’t.”
Sam’s departure left them alone.
Just looking at Ryder made Leah remember this morning’s kisses and her own vibrant response to them. She assumed tonight would be much the same, only more. Lord knew she wanted to brazen this out, but didn’t think herself able. The memories of being in his arms were more than enough to set her blood racing. But second thoughts arose about what she guessed would come after the meal. She wondered what would happen if she told him she’d changed her mind. Prison would happen, the little voice in her mind responded. Prison.
Ryder thought he saw worry cross her face, but it was gone so swiftly he wondered if he’d imagined it. What could she be concerned about? “Something bothering you?”
“No,” she lied. Hoping to change the subject, she asked, “I thought you weren’t going to be back until much later.”
He shrugged. “Did what I had to do and canceled the rest. Had a more…pressing engagement.”
Leah knew he was talking about their dinner. “I wouldn’t have minded waiting,” she answered truthfully, softly.
“But I would have…”
His words seemed to charge the air in the kitchen and Leah as well. Her lips parted, and the now familiar drumming began to echo faintly between her thighs. She turned her back lest he see how much she’ d been affected.
When she heard him cross the floor and come up behind her, her eyes closed in response to her sharp reactions. The light touch of his finger slowly mapping first one bare shoulder and then the other made her softly suck in a breath. She held on to it as the finger traced up and then down her trembling neck. He placed a kiss there. She quietly ignited. He flicked his tongue over the dark crown of her left shoulder. She dissolved. He repeated the tribute on the right shoulder. She moaned softly. He reached around and gently turned her face to his, then kissed her so exquisitely she lost all sense of time and place. When their lips parted she couldn’t have told him her name.
He whispered. “I’m going to wash up. Will you meet me on the porch in, say, twenty minutes?”
Since she couldn’t speak, she nodded.
He smiled and left her alone.
When he joined Leah on the porch, she was standing at the windows with her back to him. She turned at his entrance. Sensual shivers of anticipation traveled over her, and her first instinct was to flash back around in order to escape what she saw in his eyes, but she didn’t. Instead she let herself be touched and stroked by his gaze, let him get his fill. As she’d admitted to herself earlier, it was too late to retreat now.
“I hope I wasn’t too long,” Ryder told her quietly. He wanted to caress her with more than his eyes. His hands itched because he knew that her skin was as silken as it appeared.
“No,” she answered, wondering if her breathing would ever return to a normal rhythm.
“Are you ready to eat?”
Dusk was falling, and the shadows in the dining room added to the mood. “Yes.”
He gestured her to the table, helping Leah with her chair, and just like last night, the heat of his nearness surrounded her senses. There was a current in the air, a current that made her vividly remember him saying: Then I’d take you up into the mountains and make love to you until the seasons changed
.
Standing behind her, Ryder had to force himself to back away. The urge to whisper his lips across the bare back of her shoulders roared as strong as it had last night. Once again, he wanted to make her the first course, second course, and dessert. Instead he said, “Sam left dinner for us. I’ll get it.”
Leah waited. She brought her hands to her cheeks in an effort to calm herself. Her palms were damp, her heart racing.
He returned a short time later pushing a tray laden with covered serving dishes. Silver and china had been set out on the table by Sam earlier. Leah realized that even though last night’s dinner had been intimate, this time it would be even more so.
He took his seat across from her, and in order to keep herself from being singed by his dark gaze, Leah unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap.
“You seem nervous,” he said as he poured himself a glass of wine.
She didn’t lie. “I am a bit.”
“Then we’ll go slowly so you can relax.”
Leah doubted her ability to relax; inwardly she was as nervous as an overboard sailor floundering in shark-infested seas.
“Do you want wine?”
She shook her head. “No, thank you. I’m not much of a spirits drinker.” Leah had never acquired a taste for alcohol.
He set the bottle back on the table, then raised his glass to her in toast. “To beauty…”
The floundering Leah turned away. Maybe if she’d had a beau at some point in her life she’d know how to handle this, but she hadn’t; men rarely wanted to bring the bastard daughter of a tavern owner home to meet their mama. When she looked up again his eyes were waiting.
“Your turn to say grace,” he told her.
Under the influence of his distracting presence she didn’t think she could come up with a verse, but somehow managed to do so. “Ye are blessed of the Lord which made heaven and earth.” She raised her gaze to his. “How was that?”
“Just fine.”
His voice, quiet as the room, swept over Leah like a faint caress. Her eyes strayed to his mouth. She found herself wanting to feel his lips against her own in spite of where it might lead.