Janet Tronstad - Mail-Order Holiday Brides - Home for Christmas / Snowflakes for Dry Creek

“Did you ever learn to play?” Elijah’s gaze met hers as he slid half of his potatoes from his plate to the child’s.

“Yes.” The memories warmed her and made what was lost closer. “I’m not nearly as good, but I can pound out a decent hymn or two.”

“Decent?” He wasn’t fooled. “Something tells me you can play better than that.”

“I’ll never tell.” Merry chips of periwinkle twinkled in eyes as sweet as blueberries.

“How is our patient doing?” Doc Frost burst into the room. Elijah had been so absorbed, he hadn’t heard a single footstep approaching. Absorbed by Christina’s beauty, as any man in his right mind would be.

“His appetite is just fine,” she quipped. In the soft light, her gentle nature shone through. Her rosebud mouth, perfectly made for smiling, curved upward in the corners like a cupid’s bow. “Okay, I really am curious about your name. Just your first one. I can trade my green beans for it.”

“Green beans?” the boy said. Her joke almost made him smile. “That’s not a very good trade.”

Her chuckle was like a chime of carillon bells. “Well, I suppose I could give you my dessert.”

“There’s dessert?” The boy’s eyebrows shot up and he crammed a too-big piece of roast into his mouth.

“Chocolate cake.” Christina cut a small bite of roast with the side of her fork. “With chocolate icing.”

“It’s a deal.” The boy swallowed and sat back against the wall. The desperate look around his eyes faded, as he was no longer quite as hungry. “I’m Toby.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Toby,” she said.

“Well, Toby, if you don’t mind—” the doctor gestured toward Christina “—I’m going to borrow your new friend for a few minutes. But I promise you, the marshal will see to the doling out of dessert.”

“I excel at that,” Elijah quipped, sending the doc a grateful nod. “I’m a scrupulous lawman except for when it comes to chocolate cake. I just thought I should give fair warning.”

“You wouldn’t try to keep a slice for yourself, would you?” Christina rose gracefully, bringing her plate with her.

“Me? No way. I’d never do anything like that. Never.” He winked, like a man feigning to do otherwise.

“I’ll have you know, I’m immune to those dimples of yours.” She swept away from him, unaware that he couldn’t take his gaze from her. “Any woman would be mesmerized by them, but not me. So there’s no need to go flashing them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” He watched her leave the room with a swirl of her skirts. Down the hallway, over the pad of her step, she spoke to the doctor.

“I’ll find a way to pay you, Doc, I promise you.” Her quiet promise brooked no doubt. “Maybe I could clean your office in trade?”

“I’m sure we can work something out,” the doctor answered, their voices fading to silence.

“She’s really nice.” Toby stuffed a biscuit into his mouth. “She’d make a real good ma.”

“I’m sure she would.” A little arrow of pain speared him. Best not to think about Christina as a mother or as Tom Rutger’s wife. “It’s time you and I had a little talk.”

“Are you g-gonna arrest me?” Big green eyes widened. Toby glanced from window to door, like a trapped animal ready to bolt. “I didn’t mean it, honest. I wished after I’d done it that I could take it back.”

“You didn’t mean to startle the horses.” Elijah focused his attention on the kid. Toby shook his head, as if that wasn’t what he’d meant to say. Curious about that, Elijah continued on. “No one else was hurt...no harm was done except for the teamster who had to restack his load.”

“Oh. I’m real sorry about that, too. So, you ain’t gonna throw me in jail?”

It was tough to gaze into those worried green eyes and not feel something. It had to be hard being all alone. Elijah couldn’t help caring. “Want to tell me what happened to your folks?”

“Uh—” Toby focused on the door. He jabbed another hunk of biscuit into his mouth, making it impossible to talk.

“Let me guess. They passed away.” Elijah cut another bite of roast. “Was it very long ago?”

“Last year.” Still chewing, Toby hung his head. “We all got sick, Ma, Pa, me and my little brother. I was the only one to get better.”

“You don’t have anyone looking after you?”

“Nope.” He speared the last slice of beef on his plate. “After I ran off from the orphanage, I been doin’ okay on my own.”

“Let me guess. You rode in on one of the trains?”

“I’ve been riding the rails since summer.” Toby set his fork on his empty plate. “I haven’t got caught before. I run real fast.”

“Want to tell me why you were running out of the mercantile?”

“No.” Misery hung on him.

Not hard to figure what was going on. He’d have to talk to Lawson over at the mercantile next. “Toby, we’re gonna have you stay the night here, where the doc’s nurse can take care of you. Come morning, we’ll get you a fine breakfast and talk some more. Is that okay with you?”

“Talkin’ won’t do no good.”

“Just goes to show you’ve never talked much with me before.” He took Toby’s empty plate and stood. “I’ll go fetch your two pieces of cake from the other room. You know you’re safe here, right, Toby?”

“I guess.” He blew out a sigh. A line of tension remained burrowed into his forehead.

“Nothing bad will happen to you here. You have my word.” Elijah paused in the doorway. “So sit tight until I come back. Do I have your word on that?”

Toby nodded. “Mister?”

“You can call me Elijah.”

“You ain’t gonna send me back to the orphanage, are you?” The kid’s voice wobbled with worry.

“Not tonight. Your head has to hurt, so we’ll talk about all that tomorrow. Tonight, you’ll be safe and warm. I promise.”

The boy nodded, as if in agreement. Elijah wasn’t sure he could trust him. Best to speak with the nurse and make sure she kept a sharp eye on the door, just in case. Wind gusted against the siding as he left the room, a reminder of the frigid conditions outside. There was something about the kid. He’d come across runaways in his job before, but this one affected him.

He followed the sound of Christina’s dulcet alto. “...I really had hoped it was just a bad bruise,” she explained to the doctor. “Guess I was wrong.”

“You’ll need to keep icing it on and off to get the swelling down.” The doc tucked a final piece of gauze into place and stood. “There. When you take her home, Elijah, make sure and get her ice from the kitchen.”

“I’m perfectly capable of getting my own ice,” Christina said, rolling her eyes.

“I’ll take care of it.” Elijah leaned one shoulder against the door. The sight of her filled him with peace. It took every scrap of his willpower to keep from tracing the curve of her cheek and the adorable tip of her chin with his gaze. Stay unaffected, Gable, he thought, straightening his spine. “So, it was broken. I was right all along?”

“Yes, yes, no need to comment on it.”

He intended to say something light and breezy in return, but a loud whap, whap, whap echoed down the hallway behind him.

He stepped into Toby’s room to find the window open and the shutter slapping the siding. No sign of the boy. His clothes and coat were missing from the closet. He really hadn’t thought the boy would escape and leave chocolate cake behind.

Elijah hung his head. That was one dangerously cold winter storm and Toby was out in it. Alone.

* * *

“Elijah.” Christina spotted the marshal in the small crowd of the late-breakfast rush at the boardinghouse. The red-hot stove struggled to heat the dining room. The morning might be cold, but the storm had blown out. A small blessing. “Elijah.”