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She jerked, causing the hot liquid to splash over the rim of the coffee pot and onto his newspaper. He cursed and leaped out of the way in fear she spilled more.
“What the devil is the matter with you today?”
“Wade,” Prescott admonished his older sibling.
“What?” he snapped back.
Prescott looked at Anna then back at Wade. “You must try to remember there is a lady present and to watch your foul language.”
His face definitely growled, but he refrained from commenting. Anna glanced at Prescott with a startled look. No one had ever referred to her as a lady before. She had an urge to smile, but bit her lip instead and thought about Wade’s words.
It was the first time he had ever said her name. So used to him referring to her as the boy or kid and recently the girl. It was an unexpected feeling to hear her name on his lips. She felt a gush of warmth. Not able to stop herself, she smiled and shook her head. Biting hard on her bottom lip, she tried to force the smile gone. But it refused to budge.
Chapter 13
Time over the next month went quickly at the ranch and before Wade knew it, Kathleen would be arriving. And bringing her brood. In less than two hours, he could expect to see her stagecoach coming up the lane.
Wade liked her kids well enough, and he tried being civil to John her husband, but truthfully he enjoyed her visits when she came alone. Somehow he knew that Kathleen understood this and kept her family’s visits to the minimum, however, she refused to spend Christmas without them. He supposed he couldn’t blame her, the holidays wouldn’t be the same without her or Prescott.
He looked down over the ranch from his position along the verandah and saw the girl sitting in the pen housing Lucy. She had a book in her hand and looked like she was reading. It was a ritual she had begun almost immediately after Kathleen had returned to the city. For some reason, she found the horse’s company a welcoming substitute. Wade wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about the relationship that had formed between his sister and the girl. It shouldn’t have surprised him, however, knowing his sister’s generous and kind heart. If she felt there was a lost soul, then she would eagerly help to recover it.
From his distance, he studied her and thought that if ever there were a lost soul, the girl was the essence of it. There was still so much anguish and pain within that when not checked could be spotted in the depths of her brown eyes. Wade’s humane side wanted to reach out and erase that suffering, but a greater portion rejected the girl for her betrayal. He tried many times to remove this reaction, wanting instead to somehow reproduce that feeling he had shared with the boy. But he couldn’t.
The door of the homestead opened and Prescott stepped out, pulling on a pair of warm gloves. “I’m heading into Chapman. The chairs which Kathleen ordered from Victoria have arrived.”
Wade nodded and turned from the girl. “All right.”
“Did you need anything while I was there?”
Christmas was in two days. He had purchased an expensive perfume imported from Europe for Kathleen and for Prescott he had bought him a box of Cuban cigars. He wasn’t much of a smoker, but he knew his brother would be impressed.
The ranch hands he generally gave them a small pouch of coins which they happily went into Lantern to spend on woman and ale. His mind brought up the image of Anna, and he sighed heavily. If he didn’t purchase her anything, it would look like an obvious snub. However, he had never bought a gift for a woman other than Kathleen. He had no idea what to buy.
“No, I’m all set.”
His brother tipped his hat then went out to the barn to have one of the ranch hands rig up the wagon. Wade turned and went back inside the house. He was starting to get unusually restless lately. It was far too early to get cabin fever. The snow had not arrived and though the weather and wind were cold, the trails through the mountains were still clear. Tomorrow, he decided, he would head into Lantern. He had business to attend and could probably get a cut and trim his beard. A persisting ache in the groan made him think that a visit to Marion wasn’t such a bad idea either. Maybe having a girl in the house wasn’t such a good idea after all.
* * *
Anna put her book down and got to her feet stretching her arched back. Lucy lifted her head and shook her mane. She went over to the horse and acknowledged her with a hand to her neck. The horse turned toward her and nudged her gently with her nose. Smiling, she went back to retrieve her book. Lifting it and opening it to a particular page, she held it out for the animal. Horse. She mouthed the word silently and showed Lucy the image of a horse in the book.
The sound of wheels spinning on the dirt road leading to the homestead, drew her attention away from the animal. She saw the same stagecoach, which had delivered Kathleen on her last visit, draw up in front of the house. A sense of joy filled Anna and she had to withhold the urge to go and greet Wade’s sister. From her distance she saw a man get out first, followed by a woman in a flowing dress and large overcoat. Two children scampered out after them.
Wade came out of the house and greeted his sister with a kiss to the cheek, then turned and offered her husband a handshake. The children said a few words to him, then darted off in Anna’s direction. She watched as they ran toward her, and noticed one was a girl and one a boy. The boy was hooting like an Indian while the girl held her dress as tightly as possible to her person as she ran down the hill.
As they neared, they looked upon Anna in surprise. The girl smiled first and looked so much like Kathleen, she warmed to her instantly. “Hello. My name is Danielle. This is my brother, John. What is yours?”
Taken aback, Anna wanted desperately to speak to Kathleen’s children. Sadly, she shook her head and pointed to her throat.
“Ah, you’re the boy mother spoke of.” Her young eyes twinkled. “Uncle Prescott said your name was Peter.”
Anna felt guilty that Kathleen and Prescott had to lie to their own family on her behalf. She nodded.
“Whatcha you reading?” John, who was not much older than ten pointed to the book in her hand.
“What are you reading?” His sister corrected him.
He grimaced and repeated, “What are you reading?”
