Carolyn Davidson - Eden

Overwhelmed by the bounty before her, Katie was silent, almost aghast at the amount of money John was spending, most of it on her behalf. Surely she was not worth so much to him, that he should lay out the contents of his wallet on the counter without hesitation, only smiling at her when she tugged at his sleeve and whispered her words of doubt.

“It’s too much, John. I don’t need all of that. I won’t know how to act with all these things to wear. And that cloak must cost a fortune.”

He grinned widely and his hand touched her shoulder lightly. “You’ll get used to it, Katie girl. I want you to have enough clothing to wear.”

His method of thinking was beyond her, but she only smiled and stood beside him, relishing the warmth of his hands as he spread her new cloak across her shoulders, feeling as though Heaven had opened, showering her with more blessings than she could contain.

In but a few minutes, John had arranged with Shandy for a wagon to be used to transport his purchases back to the ranch.

“I’ll get all this stuff loaded up for you, John,” Shandy said easily, obviously pleased at the size of the order John had paid for. “You can tie your gelding on the rear of the wagon. Bring it back when you come into town next. I don’t use it much anyway, and I don’t mind lending it to you for a few days.”

With his assurances ringing in their ears, John and Katie left the store and walked to where Shandy’s wagon stood in the open area behind the store.

Jessica came out the back door and watched as John lifted Katie to the wagon seat. “Come back to see me again,” she said brightly. “Maybe I can drive out to the Stanley ranch and visit some day.”

“I’d like that,” Katie told her, hoping she might have made a friend today.

With a hasty farewell, they left, John’s hand firm on the reins. After a quick stop to return Molly’s coat to her, he guided the team of horses to the main road leading out of town. Beside him, Katie wrapped her new cloak about herself, her hand brushing the fabric carefully.

“Are you ready to go home?” he asked with a grin. He thought she looked frightened and he would not have it. His hand touched hers briefly, and then he took up the reins and snapped them briskly over the team’s backs, and the wagon rolled down the road. They went past the bank and post office, the wheels turning more rapidly as they neared the hotel and the barbershop. Then finally the team broke into a trot as they traveled past the boardinghouses that edged the town on the west.

“We’re on our way home, Katie,” he said, looking down at the girl who was rigid on the seat beside him. “Are you all right? You look kinda peaked, like you’re not feeling up to snuff.” And little wonder, he thought, what with the enormous changes in her life over the past hours.

“I’m just feeling like I’m in the midst of a dream,” she told him, and he thought her words were almost like poetry, so softly did they fall on his ear. “The air is so clear, the sun is so bright and the birds are singing. It’s a beautiful day, and I’m beginning a new life, John. I don’t know what to say to you. You’ve changed everything for me, and I haven’t been able to figure out why you should care what happens to me. I don’t even know you, and you’ve made my best dreams come true.”

“If this is all it takes to make you happy, I’m a lucky man, Katie girl. I’m getting a cook and a washer lady and a housekeeper all in one, and all it cost me was a couple of dollars for your clothes. What more could I ask?” His laughter rang out and Katie responded with a soft giggle that pleased him.

He’d not heard her laugh, and this bit of girlish glee touched him as nothing else could have. For the first time, she had responded as a young girl might and he was pleased. At eighteen, she was far too young for him to consider in any other way than as a younger sister, perhaps. For at thirty, a man who had known love and found it to be wanting, he was not in the market for anything other than exactly what he had promised Katie.

If there were looks of doubt from the men on the ranch, if they cast aspersions on her virtue, he would defend the girl. Somehow, some way, he would make up for the cruel life she had fled. He would provide her with a home, and perhaps offer to her the opportunity for a new beginning.

THE CABIN LOOKED LIKE a dream come true as the horses pulled the wagon up in front of it. Katie knew her eyes were wide and her mouth couldn’t seem to close properly as she climbed down hastily from the seat to walk to the narrow porch. She ran a hand over the railing and jolted when John admonished her.

“Be careful, Katie. That thing isn’t too sturdy. I haven’t had much of a chance to work on things yet, and I need to nail it in place a bit better. This cabin needs a lot of fixing to make it fit for you to live in, I’m afraid.”

“It’s wonderful, just as it is,” she said determinedly. “It’s beautiful, John. I can’t believe you’re apologizing for it. Not to me, anyway. If you could see where I come from you’d know what I’m talking about.”

“I’ve heard that those folks weren’t anything to brag about, Katie. I didn’t know about you living there, but they don’t have much of a reputation for good. Least-ways not that I’ve heard. I think you’re well rid of them.”

She nodded, agreeing with his words, then turned and opened the door. Stepping inside the room, she halted, hugging herself as she looked around the four walls. A fireplace built of stone filled the back wall, with a wide hearth that invited her to come nearer. She stepped across the room, her hand touching the back of a chair beside the hearth, as if she could feel the warmth of John’s head there. For surely he must have sat in that very place of an evening, watching the fire.

She paused, then stooped beside the open fire pit, reaching to place several logs inside from the pile he’d left on the edge of the hearth, and looked back at him.

“Can we have a fire here tonight? Will it be cool enough outdoors to warrant wasting the wood?”

He grinned at her, delighted that she approved of the home he had offered. “We can do anything you want, Katie. If a fire will make you happy, I’ll be sure there’s enough wood to build a dandy blaze.”

She rose and her cheeks turned rosy, as if she were embarrassed, and he stepped closer. “What is it, Katie? Is something wrong?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m just having a hard time believing that this is all real. That I’m truly here, and I’m going to work for you, John. I don’t deserve this and I can’t tell you how grateful I am to you for being so good to me.”

He walked across the room toward her and thought she shrank from him as he neared. He halted a few feet from her and softened his voice as he spoke words of comfort and assurance. “Don’t ever be afraid of me, Katie. I don’t ever want you to worry that I’ll hurt you in any way. I’m not angry with you, not now, not ever. Don’t forget that. Don’t ever feel that you have anything to fear from me.”

She nodded, her eyes wide, her stance uneasy as he took her hand in his. “You’re a woman, almost full grown, Katie. You have my respect and my consideration in all things. Can you understand that?”

She nodded slowly. “I think so, John. It’s just so hard to know what to expect. When you turned so quick like and came toward me, it made me think you had cause to be angry with me. I didn’t know if I’d done something to make you upset with me. Sometimes it didn’t take much for those folks I lived with to get mad and sail into me.”

Sensing she needed reassurance, he spoke quietly, his heart aching as he felt the pain of her fear of him. “I won’t hurt you, Katie. I promise not to cause you harm in any way. If we have differences and if you get angry with me, you can speak your mind and I’ll do the same, but we won’t ever be mean or hurt each other. Is that agreed? I want us to be friends, not just a boss and his housekeeper. I may be bigger than you, and yes, stronger, but I’ll not use my strength against you, Katie.”