It's like I can't get enough of you.”
When she didn't answer, he continued, “And the feel of you is maddening. Do you have any idea how good you feel in a man's arms? Soft as warm butter.”
His voice hardened. “And what right did you have of kissing me like you did when you visited me? There could have been people watching. That wasn't exactly a polite greeting kiss, Mrs. McLain. I lost more than one night's sleep thinking about it.”
Karlee shrugged, taking his criticism with a laugh. “How did I kiss you? Like you just kissed me? And there are folks watching, now.”
Daniel glanced at the barn. Half a dozen Germans smiled at him.
Stepping away suddenly, he seemed embarrassed at his own rambling. “I don't have time for such foolishness. I have to find Wolf before trouble breaks out. He needs to know what happened at Sandtown.”
“I can get word to him,” Karlee volunteered.
Daniel circled, staying a full three feet away from her. “Good. Send word for him to meet me here. I should be back by nightfall.” He glanced up at the closed window. “I hate to leave you with Gerilyn, but there are things I have to do.”
“I'll survive.” Karlee smiled with limited conviction. They'd given Gerilyn enough to keep her lecturing all day.
Daniel squared his shoulders. “I seem to be always thanking you. In truth, I wonder how I made it without you.”
She blushed. He couldn't have paid her a greater compliment.
He stepped a few more feet away. “Our marriage? It was a good bargain?”
She nodded. “A good bargain.”
He was gone without another word.
Karlee finished the first line full of clothes before the twins woke up and her day truly began. Gerilyn stayed in her room until almost noon. When she descended, she was ready for battle.
She played the perfect guest until lunch was served and the girls were busy playing on the porch, then she opened fire.
Karlee didn't mind the insults about her cooking and the poor quality of her housework. She didn't even mind the digs at how poorly she dressed and how nothing could make her hair better. But, finally, as the afternoon wore on, Gerilyn hit on what did bother Karlee. Like a hawk, she spotted the vulnerable spot and flew directly toward it.
By supper time, she'd explained in detail why Daniel would never want to have children with someone like Karlee. After all, she was already so large. Pregnant, she'd be a walking mountain. And no man wants ugly offspring. Especially not a girl child who might take after her mother.
But it wasn't just Karlee's looks Gerilyn patiently explained in detail. A man might overlook the “large bones” and red hair, but the lack of grace and quick thinking could never be ignored. Not only would his female children be unmarriageable, but his sons would be slow and clutsy with two left feet and a heritage of clumsiness.
Karlee wasn't to blame, of course. After all, her mother, though plain, had come from a good family. But she'd married a sailor. The whole family had known it was a mistake from the beginning. He was huge with knotted muscles and the inability to stand with his feet together like normal men do. He'd had red hair and a laugh that shook the house. No man of breeding would have acted as he did from the moment he saw Karlee's mother. It was a disgrace, Gerilyn assured Karlee. Neither of them cared a wit what anyone thought. They were dancing fools, drunk on love. They married without even a formal wedding. And of course, no one was surprised at their offspring. Karlee was doomed to have the worst of both parents. Her father's looks and her mother's slow wit.
Gerilyn kept on rattling as Karlee set supper by the stove. The house guest didn't see any need to wait dinner on Daniel, but also didn't seem surprised Karlee insisted. Karlee could almost feel her mentally listing just one more in a long column of sins that she'd relate in a letter to Aunt Rosy.
The twins played quietly with their dolls. They'd been told once too often by Gerilyn not to mess up the new dolls she'd given them. So her china-faced gifts lay on the table while they played with the family of rag dolls Karlee had made them.
Karlee excused herself, claiming she needed to freshen up. She could hear Gerilyn's advice on grooming as she hurried into the hallway and out the front door.
It was not full dark yet, but gray clouds made the air thick with promised rain. The whole world seemed to reflect Karlee's mood. She could hear thunder far to the north as though it were rumbling, churning before stampeding. The breeze caught her hair and lifted it, combing the first raindrops through curls.
On the silent, shadowy porch, Karlee took her first deep breath all day. She felt as if she were bleeding from a hundred tiny cuts over her body. Leaning against the house, she tried to relax and gather the strength to make it through the rest of the evening. Part of her wanted Daniel to return, part didn't know if she could bear for him to hear all the things Gerilyn said.
Karlee faced the wall and pressed against the wood, wanting, as she had since she was a child, to disappear. Why hadn't her parents taken her with them? Had they left her behind because she truly was the worst of them both? She pressed harder, wanting to move into the wood and never be seen again. Tears bubbled from her eyes as she let the weight of all her shortcomings settle on her. She'd been so busy these past few weeks she'd almost forgotten who she was. What she was.
A hand rested on her shoulder, so lightly at first she wasn't sure when it had appeared.
“Karlee,” Daniel whispered as he turned her around. “Don't lean into the wall. Lean into me.”
She folded into his arms without a word. How could she tell him all Gerilyn said? He could probably see for himself.
His strong, powerful arms closed around her so tenderly, she wanted to cry all the more.
He held her as she fought to control her breathing. He didn't say a word or tell her to stop. He let her cry without question, without reason.
When she finally stopped, she wondered if he had any idea what a rare gift he'd just given her.
With his arm around her shoulder, they walked inside. She didn't miss the way he let her take a little of his weight almost as though it were too much for him to handle any longer alone.
“Jesse Blair's brother died early this morning,” he whispered before they reached the kitchen door. “I've been out among the Rebs trying to stop a riot. If the doc hadn't convinced them Altus died of natural causes while in jail, I think they would have stormed the stockade.”
“Are you all right?” She could see the tired lines in his face.
“I will be soon. There's a meeting tonight somewhere near the Blair place. Can you get word to Valerie and ask her to sleep over in the twins' room? I'll need you with me.”
Karlee rested her hand on the kitchen door. “You forgot our house guest.” She pushed, and Gerilyn came into view.
“How could I forget?” he mumbled against her ear. “We'll wait and leave after the house is quiet. You will go with me?”
She wasn't at all sure why he wanted her along, but she nodded.
The twins ambushed him, drawing his attention as Karlee set the table. No matter how tired or what troubles he thought he had, his daughters lightened his load. Starlett filled the room with stories she'd dreamed up, and Cinnamon managed to hug him more times than he could count.
He hardly noticed Gerilyn complaining and was thankful when Wolf appeared at the kitchen door and drowned her voice out completely.
When the hairy man was invited to stay for supper, Gerilyn looked aggravated, as though she'd been asked to dine with dogs. Her irritation seemed to jolly up everyone else in the room.
Wolf made an effort to be the gentleman, doing his best to show her that he'd been raised with proper Kentucky manners. But she didn't seem interested.
Before the bread was done and on the table, Gerilyn had reverted to her favorite pastime of belittling Karlee. She even tried to enlist Daniel and Wolf in her endeavor.
“Have you ever seen a woman with such hair?” Gerilyn chimed into the men's conversation. “Unbelievable color. Simply unbelievable.”
Wolf growled at her, knowing there was an insult to his friend, but unsure where it lay hidden in her
