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“I just wanted to thank you…for all you done. It was right decent of you. I never met a nice white man before. Didn’t know there were any.”
Lee moved closer, his temper flaring in defense. “That’s no way to thank anyone, you hear me girl? Don’t let me catch you ever thanking anyone else like that, do you hear me? You don’t kiss a man on the lips as a thank you. And I better be the only white boy you ever kiss like that.”
“Like what?” she asked innocently.
“Like you meant it.”
“I didn’t mean to do nothin’ wrong…” she huffed and saw his head shake. “…And I did mean it.”
He stared into her amber eyes. “I know…that’s the problem, Hattie, so did I.”
Her mouth flew open.
“You are playin’ with fire, girl, don’t you know that? I’m a full grown man, and you’re just a kid.”
“Didn’t you like it?”
His eyes met hers and for all that was holy, he couldn’t lie, couldn’t look away. “Yeah…too much.” His mouth curled into a slight smile.
She smiled back shyly.
His gaze swept her. “Did you?”
She nodded and placed her hand over his. For a long moment he stared at their hands, and then a thumb reached over and grazed the top of her hand. Her breath hitched, her chest rose and fell quickly.
“Will—you come back?” she asked breathlessly.
“I’m going to the army, in Texas, girl.” He moved away and stopped looking at her. Those sad cow eyes of hers had him feeling things and thinking things he shouldn’t. “I have no idea. The army isn’t a happy place. But I reckon if I live through it, I might stop off and see how the two of you are doing, someday. So you behave yourself. And no more of that. I got every reason to come back…now. Understand? And don’t you run off and leave Sam by himself here, you hear me? He’s your brother and you take care of him. Family stays together, you understand?”
She nodded, and a tear slipped down her cheek. “Where’s your family?”
“Ain’t got anything left but a brother. He went off on his own some time ago. Been a while since I seen him.”
“Well…we won’t forget you, Lee Nelson. Not as long as we live. And from now on…we’ll be your family.”
He stared into her eyes for a long moment, heat rose between them. He touched her cheek with his hand. She leaned into his hand. He stared at her long and hard, until a smile broke over her beautiful face. He smiled back.
“Please come back…to us…” she cried.
“Ah hell…” Lee rushed from the room. One more tear and he’d have been pulling her back into his arms. But that would never do either.
He squashed every emotion he had, tipped his hat to Gloria who had promised to help and left.
He heard the other girls giggling as he was leaving. “Boy, Gloria, you get all the cute ones.”
He grinned, then shook his head. The last thing he needed was a female, especially one with sad cow eyes and pillow soft lips, especially one that tasted like heaven. But damn, he wouldn’t be forgetting Hattie Tanner.
Chapter One
Birmingham, Alabama
Late 1865
Remnants, leftovers, ashes, from a time he didn’t want to remember, in a place he couldn’t forget. Lee accustomed himself to seeing familiar landmarks destroyed along the path where the ghost of war scarred the state of Alabama, like a horse gone loco. Towns burned, homes destroyed, people displaced, gloom echoed on shoulders not strong enough to bear the brunt, the blacks were freed and walked in an uncertain path to an unknown future. Others were dazed and slowly began the job of rebuilding with a pride that no longer existed.
Watching the carriages come and go, some from wealthy neighbors that managed to survive the cutthroat war, others worn and mistreated through desperate times. The cotton wagons passed like an endless sea of white. He heard the blacksmith pounding out a new horseshoe, the familiar sound harkening a brief welcome. Businesses had gone on as normal since the war ended. Merchants advertised, the saloons filled, as soft piano played in the distance. A mongrel dog ran after a wagon, barking playfully at the kids in the back hanging their bare feet over the edge of the wagon. The dog nipped at them and they laughed.
Pleasure seemed in odd places these days. Before the war he wouldn’t have paid a bit of attention to those kids.
