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Josh wasn’t sure how she managed it, but Rena had a pan full of hot, soapy water in the sink, and began washing the breakfast dishes before he figured out what was happening. He dried while she rinsed, then he led her through his home. It wasn’t large, but it was comfortable. Maxine had wanted a formal parlor where she could have tea with her friends. He’d kept that room much as it had been the day Maxine had taken sick. He’d put away the scarf she’d been knitting and some of the other things that were too painful to see each day, but the parlor always made him think of Maxine, and he largely avoided the room. He and Gabi spent their evenings in the room Maxine had referred to as the library. It had comfortable leather-covered furniture, a fireplace flanked by shelves full of books, and a padded rocking chair near a lamp, where Josh had spent more hours than he could recall holding Gabi.
“Oh, I like this room. It feels homey and inviting.” Rena ran her hand over the top of an oak table and smiled at a photograph of him and Gabi he’d arranged to have taken last summer.
“You’ve already seen the kitchen.” Josh led the way past the dining room down a short hallway to the bedroom he’d shared with Maxine. He’d stripped off the wallpaper, sold the furniture, and packed up everything that had reminded him of his wife. Gabi would want her mother’s things someday, but Josh couldn’t abide seeing her clothes in the dresser drawers, or her hairbrush and jewelry box on the vanity. He’d stuffed everything into the trunks in which they’d arrived and hauled them up to the attic.
He’d been married to Maxine about two months when the stationmaster William Masters had sent an errand boy to fetch Josh to retrieve freight that had arrived for him on the afternoon train. He’d gone to the depot, uncertain what had arrived, to find a pile of trunks that had been sent from Boston. Although there was no letter included, he was sure the person who’d sent Maxine’s things had been her mother. In the bottom of the jewelry box, Maxine had found a thousand dollars in gold coins.
They’d used some of that money to buy land and build their home. It was a short walk into Holiday but far enough away that they didn’t feel like their neighbors were watching their every move. In fact, the closest neighbor was more than half a mile away.
Josh had been grateful to whoever had sent Maxine’s things to her. It had meant so much to his wife to have her books and photographs and her special childhood treasures, many of which now belonged to Gabi.
The bedroom that had once been a haven he’d shared with Maxine now looked rather stark. He’d painted the walls white and purchased a simple oak bed with a matching dresser and wardrobe. There weren’t curtains on the windows, rugs on the floor, or paintings on the wall. He figured someday he’d feel like adding touches to the room, but inspiration had yet to strike.
Rena didn’t say anything as she glanced at the large bed covered in a plain blue wool blanket. She turned and wandered back down the hall.
Upstairs, he showed her the three empty bedrooms.
Rena stepped into Gabi’s room to see if the walls were dry. “Not quite,” she said, lifting a finger that had a dollop of pink tint on the end.
“Would you like to go for a ride? We wouldn’t have to go far. Or I could take you into town and show you the shop.”
Rena wiped her finger on her overalls and smiled at him. “I’d love to ride.”
Josh grinned as she preceded him down the stairs. “I’ll saddle two of my horses. That plodding ol’ mule of yours shouldn’t be subjected to more work than necessary.”
Rena opened her mouth, then snapped it shut.
“Can’t argue with logic, can you?” he teased.
She scowled at him but followed on his heels as he headed out to the corral by the barn.
“Hawkins, come on boy,” he called to his horse, then whistled loudly.
“Why did you call him Hawkins?” Rena asked as she stood on the bottom pole and rested her arms on the top.
“My favorite book isTreasure Island.Have you read it?”
At Rena’s nod, he continued. “I liked Jim Hawkins’ character. The boy was full of pluck and courage. I owned the mare that birthed this fellow. When he was born, I knew he was going to be full of courage and determination, so I named him Hawkins. He’s turned out to be the best mount I’ve ever had.”
“He is a nice horse,” Rena said, patting Hawkins on the neck. “Now, tell me the names of the others.”
Josh introduced her to the three horses he kept in addition to Hawkins and let her choose which one to ride. He had no doubt about her ability to handle any of them. She retrieved her saddle from the barn, where she’d left it after settling Scout in a stall for the day. Josh used one of his bridles, fearful Rena’s worn-out old thing might fall apart and leave her in a precarious position.
He started to give her a hand into the saddle, but one cool glare from her and he stepped back and enjoyed the pure pleasure of watching her move as she swung a long leg over the back of Mari, a high-spirited horse he’d considered selling to someone who wanted to race her.
“Shall we?” he asked after settling into his saddle and turning the horse along a worn path that eventually came out at his neighbor’s place.
Josh didn’t feel the need to talk as they rode. He enjoyed the companionable, comfortable silence that descended between them.
By the time they returned an hour and a half later, Rena appeared both joyful and relaxed when she swung out of the saddle. She took a step and winced. He was at her side instantly, but she turned away.
“Are you hurt?” he asked, forgetting, for a moment, about her limp. Sometimes she didn’t limp at all. Other days, he could tell she worked to hide it.
Her injuries, whether he was supposed to know about them or not, were another reason he detested the fact that she worked at the mine. How she not only endured the work but seemed to be thriving in it was a baffling matter that made his head ache. Then again, attempts to unravel the mystery that was Rena Burke tended to leave him tied in knots.
Which was why he wanted to do nothing more today than enjoy her company.
“I should go see if the walls are ready to paint,” she said, taking a halting step, then another toward the house.
