Linda Ford - Montana Bride By Christmas

“How can anyone treat a child that way?” Her voice was a hoarse whisper. “It’s criminal.”

“It is criminal, in my opinion, but Sheriff Jesse assures me there isn’t anything he can do about it.”

“I hope that changes someday soon.” She spat out each word as if she couldn’t wait to get the bitter taste of them off her tongue.

His estimation of her rose several degrees. At least she wasn’t one of those men or women who thought children were of little value unless they could work. “Me too. But it won’t undo what has happened to Evan.”

“I’m sorry and angry at the same time.” She almost choked. “So sorry for Evan.” A beat. “And you.” Her voice strengthened. “But so angry at that woman. Please don’t ever tell me who she is or where she lives. I might hunt her down and exact justice.”

He imagined her in buckskins carrying a long gun and the fire of vengeance upon her face. It so tickled him that he chuckled. “I think for everyone’s sake that will be one of my secrets.”

Their gazes locked and he got the sensation that she saw far more than he wanted her to but he couldn’t pull away.

“Hugh—may I call you that?”

He nodded. Hardly seemed they could stand on formality if they were going to be living under the same roof.

“Hugh, what happened to your wife?”

Her question slammed through him, leaving him floundering for footing. Having a son who exploded at his slightest touch made him feel helpless and frustrated but being reminded of Bernice brought a flood of failure. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Another of those secrets?”

He couldn’t tell if she found the idea annoying or if she didn’t care.

She studied her hands again, examining one fingernail after the other.

Just when he thought she had accepted he didn’t mean to tell her more, she began to speak. “In this case, I think it affects Evan. If Bernice left after a squabble, he might have heard you and...well, it might make him frightened of you.”

“We didn’t squabble.” There were times they hardly talked. Bernice preferred to talk to other men. “She found me sadly lacking.”

Annie stared at him. “Lacking? In what way?” She seemed to find it hard to believe.

He told himself her surprise didn’t please him. After all, what did she know about him? Yet it did his ego good to think she might not think it possible. He shrugged. “I wasn’t exciting enough. Didn’t offer enough adventures. I found it difficult to please her.” Just as he had with his mother.

Annie made a derisive noise. “That sounds to me like she had a problem, not you.”

Hugh knew there was more to it than that. Just as he knew he was far too old to be flattered by Annie’s defense of him. Knowing all that didn’t change the fact that he felt like grinning like a silly kid. Instead, he coughed a little. “About Evan’s bedtime...”

Annie tipped her head and grinned. “That is why we’re here, isn’t it?”

He grinned back then sobered. What was wrong with him that he responded to a young girl’s attention so readily? He had to concentrate. “I can’t let him stay in the kitchen on his own any more than I can let him sleep on a mat like an animal.” He held up his hands in exasperation. “I know. You wonder how letting him sit there all day is any different but somehow it is. At least I know he’s safe during the day.”

She nodded.

“So I carry him to my room. As you can imagine, he kicks and screams the entire time.” He couldn’t help the little tremble in his voice. The whole procedure left him dazed and defeated. “I have a mattress on the floor for him. As soon as I put him there, he scrambles off and pushes it away. It’s like he’s resisting me, not the bed.”

“Hugh, he’s afraid if he trusts you he’s going to be disappointed or worse, hurt.”

She spoke with such certainty that he realized more lay behind her observation than she wanted him to know. Her little secret. And it did affect Evan. It made her more understanding. He was about to ask for her to explain but she spoke again.

“Does he eventually use the mattress? Does he sleep?”

“The first night he curled up in a ball in the corner. I covered him after he’d fallen asleep. Yesterday he waited until he thought I had dozed off before he crawled to the mattress and pulled the quilt over him.”

“That’s great progress.” She grinned widely.

For the first time since he’d found Evan, he almost felt encouraged. “I was so afraid of what he’d do the first night, I pulled my bed against the door to make sure he wouldn’t run off.”

“Somehow I don’t see him running. Now if he was still with that woman I would wonder why he didn’t but I guess it means he’s smart enough to know he couldn’t survive on his own.”

Hugh couldn’t help but smile. “I guess that shows that the boy has a good mind despite the way he acts.”

“Oh, he’s bright enough.” She told him how she’d been able to tell what he liked to eat by his reaction. “I regret that I thought we had made more progress than we had. It was my fault he acted the way he did.”

“I don’t suppose it’s anyone’s fault. We just have to learn to understand him.”

“I’ve been praying that God would give me wisdom and patience.”

To hear how she’d been able to communicate with Evan and to know she’d prayed for him renewed his courage. “Thank you. Do you mind if we pray together before we head back to him?” Normally he had no hesitation about offering to pray for others but this was his need not someone else’s.

“I’d like that.” She leaned forward, her hands clasped together on top of his desk and her head bowed.

He stifled an urge to cradle her hands between his. Instead, he bowed his head and prayed for wisdom, understanding and healing for his son. Silently, he additionally prayed for a more mature woman to come to his door because, despite his resolve to keep things completely businesslike, he found Annie’s concern and care very appealing and it frightened him. He must, above all else, guard his heart against the risk of caring for a woman, especially one who would soon realize that she could do far better than spend her life with a man who could offer nothing but a home with him and his hurting young son.

Chapter Three

Annie kept her head bowed several seconds after Hugh said Amen, waiting for God to direct her thoughts. When an idea came to her mind, she took it as from Him and lifted her head.

The look in Hugh’s eyes almost made her forget what she’d been about to say. He watched her, looking both weary and hopeful at the same time. That was good, she told herself. He was beginning to see how helpful she would be. But the way his gaze clung to hers as if looking for something more left her breathless. She couldn’t say if he found what he sought or if she could even offer it. There were far too many unknowns between them.

There was no need for her to know more about him. And she certainly didn’t want to know about his marriage nor why his wife found him lacking. In what way? She tried and failed to imagine what he meant.

She slid her gaze past his to the night-blackened window. They had a common goal—taking care of Evan. She recalled something she’d heard somewhere. Begin as you mean to go on. She meant to become Evan’s mother and Hugh’s wife. Therefore, she must begin to act like it.

“I think a bedtime routine is essential. So could we establish one starting tonight?” She couldn’t keep looking past him and gauge his reaction so she brought her attention back to him. The quirk of one eyebrow informed her that her request had caught him off guard.

“It seems we have a routine,” he said with a large dose of irony. “I pick him up. He fights me. I take him to the room and keep him there.” His laugh lacked mirth.