LITMIR.BIZ

Скачать книгу

some thought. “In fact, I’d be more comfortable if you didn’t bother to get up at the first crack of dawn. I’ll go out and start the chores. You can make breakfast, and have it ready when I come in. After that we’ll both start our day.”

      Meagan nodded in agreement. But before she could speak he added, “And you will sleep behind the curtain.”

      

      The blanket that separated them was adequate, and while Meagan was sure that Josh could not see through it to where she slept, Meagan was able to see him outlined against the light of the fire as he pulled his shirt over his head and got ready for bed.

      The night was warm, and Meagan knew that sleeping near the fire must be uncomfortable. But it was his choice. She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. It seemed but a few minutes when she was awakened by a sound.

      Through a chink in the curtain she could see Josh moving around the room. He stirred the fire and swung the hob with the kettle on it over the flame. She realized it must be morning and was about to get up when she remembered his instruction. Silently she lay back on the bed, but sleep would not come and she found herself watching Josh as he moved about the room.

      She followed the movement of his body as the light of the flames touched his chest and arms, his rippling muscles, flat belly and smooth skin that looked so warm and delicious in the firelight. She closed her eyes. The very fact that she dared allow such thoughts to exist was dangerous, if not life-threatening in her situation.

      But her eyes would not stay shut. They devoured the man with a mind of their own, and she forgot even to breathe as he placed a basin on the table and washed his face and chest.

      The firelight caught the droplets of water that clung to the golden hair across his chest. Like tiny jewels, the water tempted her. She felt the urge to run her fingers through his hair and take the water onto her own skin, still warm from his.

      The thought made her squirm. The rope tether that cradled the mattress on the frame of the bed gave a muted groan and Josh looked toward the curtain, but Meagan had rolled over and pulled the comforter over her head in an effort to smother the shameful thoughts proximity with this man had placed in her mind.

      She allowed herself the painful pleasure of remembering the feeling of warmth and security she had known when Josh had taken her into his arms that night as she lay shivering beneath the wagon. She had tried to forget. Heaven knew, she had tried to put the whole thing out of her mind. And, for the most part she had done so. It wasn’t her mind that refused to obey. It was her body. Her sinful body remembered every moment, every touch, every bit of wonderful warmth that seeped through the barriers between them and melted her heart and her soul.

      How she wished she had met Josh under other circumstances. How she longed to have him look at her ‘ without the glimmer of sorrow in his eyes, and the accusation in his heart that was forever between them. And yet, she realized that his wife would have stood between them, alive or dead. According to all that Josh believed, had it not been for Meagan, his wife would still be alive. Meagan could not help but wonder how things might have played out had she been far away from the Somers household the day Lily fell down the stairs, and what Josh’s opinion of Meagan Reilly might have been if she had been introduced to the new widower as an eligible woman. But fate had dealt her a lethal blow and, try as she might, she could not resign herself to it.

      Meagan blinked back the tears. She had waited all her life for such a man, and now she would never dare look further than serving as his slave for the rest of her life. Yet, she had begun to realize that even living as his servant was better than living without him.

      She would work for him. She would work with him, and she would work harder than she had ever worked in her life. Perhaps then, as her reward for her toils, she could fall into a sleep that carried no dreams of life with—or without—Josh Daniels.

      She heard the bar lift on the door. There was a swish of air through the cabin and she knew Josh was gone. With her vow in the forefront of her mind, Meagan dressed for the day and went to start breakfast.

      

      As the summer heat gave way to the crisp mornings of fall the lives of Meagan and Josh began to assume a pattern of cautious camaraderie. Together they tended the land and the animals, rejoicing in the harvest and the abundance their toils had produced. Josh could find little fault with Meagan. When he chose to carry on a conversation with her he found her informed and intelligent. Without intending, Josh found himself asking her advice and listening to her opinion.

      With the end of summer came the time for Josh’s daughter, Abbie, to return.

      It was Will Carmichael who would retrieve the little girl from her grandparents. He stopped at the Daniels farm to tell Josh that he was planning a trip to Albany and would pick up the child on his way back.

      “You had some reservations about leaving Abbie with Meagan when she first came to live with you,” Will reminded him. “Have those been resolved?”

      “Meagan’s a right smart young woman. Has a lot of book learning. She’s going to be able to teach Abbie a lot of things I couldn’t,” Josh said. “I can’t fault her.”

      If there was any fault to be had it was within Josh himself. He found himself listening for the sound of her voice as she sang while she hung out the laundry or called out to the chickens and ducks as she fed them. He would hurry in from the fields, embellish his accounts of little things that happened during the day to make her laugh and hold his breath at night to hear her gentle breathing behind the curtain across the room. But all these things were locked tight in his heart and he did not share them with his friend, although Will stood waiting for Josh to continue.

      The silence lengthened until finally Josh added, “I’m sure that Meagan will get along nicely with Abbie and with the winter coming on I’ll be around the cabin most of the time. If there is any problem I’ll know about it.”

      Will nodded. “That will be best,” he agreed, cutting short his own thoughts as he became aware from his friend’s expression that Josh had something more to say. “What is it, Josh?” he asked. “Has Meagan done something to upset you?”

      “Other than being prone to accidents, and afraid of the dark, she seems fine,” Josh admitted.

      “Accident-prone?”

      “Just little things, mostly,” Josh said as he thought back. “Except for the other day when the big cast-iron pot we make the soap in fell off the shelf and darn near knocked her head off.”

      “What was a soap cauldron doing on a shelf in the first place?” Will asked.

      “Danged if I know.” Josh gave it some thought. “Never saw it up there before, but it was sure there that day. On the shelf right above the washtub.”

      “Is Meagan all right?”

      “She managed to jump out of the way, but it about scared the life out of me. She seemed to take the whole thing in stride.” There was a hint of approval in Josh’s voice as he spoke of the incident that wasn’t wasted on Will Carmichael.

      “Is that all?” Will asked.

      “Well, that and the night Meagan thought the organ was haunted.”

      “The organ? The one in the parlor?” Will reiterated.

      “That’s the one,” Josh admitted. “She was sleeping in there on the daybed and swore she heard it playing in the middle of the night. The girl’s got a real good imagination. Guess she was afraid of the rainstorm and didn’t want to admit it.”

      “Does it happen often?” Will was playing for time. He had wondered where the girl slept and was fairly certain it wasn’t the barn. He wondered if he should remind Josh of the judge’s warning. For that matter, he had been wondering if she should warn Meagan, but since they slept in separate buildings he needn’t worry. He gave a sigh of satisfied relief as Josh answered his question.

      “It won’t happen anymore. She stays in here with me and sleeps behind the

Скачать книгу