A Kiss for Cade (16 page)

Holly peered out the window. “The lights are on at the dance hall.”

“I know, dear. Perhaps we’ll go next week.”

“I’ll bet Mr. Drake will be there,” Holly added.

“Mr. Drake will understand.”

Brody snagged Will around the neck, noisily kissing him on the cheek. “Ohhh, Zoe, you’re so preeetty with your long red hair!”

Will grabbed Brody back. “Oh, Perry, you’re so strong and handsome.”

“Boys!” Zoe admonished.

“Are you talking about Perry Drake?” Cade called.

Zoe felt heat rise to her cheeks. Cade was watching them through the screen, and she wished he hadn’t heard the boys’ teasing. He would make more of their playful remarks than he should. Perry had taken her to the Saturday night dance before John and Addy had taken ill, but it was nothing.

“Did Perry ever marry Jenny Parson?”

“Yes, Jim and I considered them two of our best friends.” Zoe put a skillet away. “Jenny died of snakebite a month before Jim was killed.” She ventured a glance toward Cade.

“So,” he said, holding her gaze through the screen, “are you and Perry sweet on each other?”

She slammed the cabinet door shut. “The boys are teases.” Banking occupied Perry’s time and interest, and the good Lord knew that she had no time to socialize. Gracie thought Perry would make a suitable companion for her, but there was no love interest on her part. Only good company.

Holly moved to the table. “It’s gettin’ dark. Want me to light the lamp?”

“Why don’t we use candles tonight?” Zoe suggested. There was barely enough oil left to last the month. She needed to be sparing with what remained. No coffee, no lamp oil—how soon would it be before Cade noticed?

“We can’t see good with candles,” Brody complained.

“A candle will do, Brody. Thank you.”

“It’s been weeks since we’ve gone to the Saturday night dance,” Holly complained.

Zoe realized fun was a thing of the past for all of them. “I’ll tell you what I’ll do. After baths, I’ll play the phonograph. You can hold your own dance.” Addy had loved records, a new device that emitted music. She collected all she could get her hands on.

“Ouw own dance!” Missy said joyfully. “Can I tuwn the handle?”

“You may help.” The machine was costly and required adult supervision.

Brody hauled in the wooden tub, and Zoe put water on the stove to heat. While she hung a curtain to allow the bather privacy, she noted that Cade remained on the porch, keeping a safe distance from all the commotion.

By eight o’clock the kids were spanking clean, their hair washed and smelling of New England rum, a solution Addy believed kept the hair shiny and free from disease.

Cade grumbled, consenting to a bath but refusing to put rum on his hair. “I’ll drink it, but I’m not wearing it,” he said.

Afterward, he refilled the tub with clean water, and then disappeared into the store with the kids.

Zoe bathed in peace, listening to the sound of music coming from the mercantile. Cade’s booming laughter nearly drowned out the strains of “Little Brown Jug” as the kids and he thumped noisily across the floor.

Smiling, she closed her eyes and slid deeper into the hot water. What were the children going to do when Cade left? To his credit, he’d been truthful with them, telling them outright that he couldn’t stay. However frank he’d been, his departure wouldn’t be any less painful. At times she wondered if they fully understood the implications of his leaving and that they could be living with another family soon. She dreaded the emptiness she would feel once they were gone.

Picking up the sponge, she lathered her arms, shoving her gloominess aside. Judging by the racket coming from the store, the children were having too much fun for her to be having maudlin thoughts. She smiled when she thought how just a few short weeks ago she’d lived a life of solitude, evenings when you could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet.

Wincing when she heard Butch bark and Romeo yowl, she hoped her mother’s priceless figurines were surviving the rowdy goings-on in the next room. Unfortunately, when Cade moved in, so had the animals.

She stood up, reached for a towel, and dried off. Tying the sash of her robe, she poked her head into the store and smiled when she saw Missy standing on Cade’s feet, dancing to the strains of “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen.”

The boys were dancing together, arm in arm, mocking Cade and Missy. They pranced around the room, making faces at each other.

Holly sat on the settee, hands folded, seemingly awaiting a turn around the dance floor with her uncle. Butch and Romeo lay on the floor next to her feet, their eyes following the dancers.

Cade had never looked more masterful or graceful as he glided around the floor clasping Missy’s tiny hand in his large one. Zoe felt an uncharacteristic pang of envy. When, where, and with whom had he learned such niceties? In whose parlor had he last danced so elegantly? Whose hand had he been holding at the time? She doubted it was a five-year-old’s.

Cade glanced up, smiling at her. “Care to join the fun, Red?”

She pulled the collar of her robe higher around her neck. “I don’t think so.”

“Come on,” he coaxed. “The boys need a little refining.” His eyes indicated Brody and Will, who were stumbling over each other’s feet.

“Come on, Wed, it’s fun,” Missy encouraged.

“Well.” Zoe stood for a moment, debating the advisability, and then she quickly decided it couldn’t hurt. The children needed a little diversion. She went back to her room, put on a clean dress, and joined the fun.

After scooting the table of figurines to a safe corner, she held out her hand to Will. “May I have this dance, kind sir?”

Will’s face turned beet red, his gaze shifting to the ceiling, but he walked into her arms.

The phonograph played, and the dancing couples swirled to the music. Holly took her turn with Cade, and Missy made Brody dance with her.

When the music ended, the dancers collapsed in nearby chairs, laughing and breathless. Brody hurried over to rewind the phonograph.

Zoe held up her hand, protesting. “Brody, it’s getting late.”

“Just once more,” Holly pleaded.

Missy grabbed hold of Cade’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “I want to dance with you again.”

He turned to Zoe and winked. “Women. They just can’t get enough of me.”

Zoe had no trouble seeing why. “Really?” She winked back. “There’s no accounting for taste.”

His eyes said, “Touché.” They broke into friendly grins.

The music played on as Cade took turns dancing with Holly and Missy. The young girls’ flushed faces and sparkling eyes were well worth the party

When the clock chimed nine thirty, Zoe put a halt to the festivities.

“No more. It’s way past bedtime.”

Holly and Missy showered Cade’s cheeks with kisses. “It’s the best dance we ever went to,” Holly proclaimed. “The very best!”

The girls scampered off to bed, humming the strains of “I’ll Take You Home Again, Kathleen” under their breaths.

Will shuffled off toward the kitchen, grumbling, “I hate dancing with Brody.”

Brody shoved him on his way out. “I hate dancing with you too.”

“Boys, stop bickering. I’ll be in shortly to hear your prayers.”

Reaching for the candle, Zoe turned to Cade. “I left clean sheets beside the cot.”

“Thank you.”

Her face burned as his gaze skimmed her. “Good night.”

She let Butch and Romeo out and then listened to the boys’ prayers, touched when they asked God to make their Uncle Cade stay. The girls’ prayers were the same. It was too late to worry about them getting attached to him.

They already were.

Chapter Nineteen

P
ulling the sheet closer, Zoe closed her eyes. Tonight was the first time since Jim’s death that she felt alive. The laughter, the winded fun had been missing ingredients in her life. Like cake batter without baking powder, her life had fallen when her husband died. Jim’s familiar face swam behind her closed lids. Boyish, not strikingly handsome, but solid. His compassion for others shone through his doe-brown eyes. She loved this good, faithful man. Guilt crept into her consciousness.
But did you love him the way you love…loved Cade?
She’d been a different person then, an idealist, so certain that Cade was the man God had destined for her that she never questioned the one night she had set her values aside. But sin had a price. It always did. God had forgiven her because she’d asked him to, but sin had a way of seeking payback long after the act was over.

The faint sound of music drifted from the mercantile.
Holly.
The child was fascinated with the phonograph.

Zoe checked the pallet Holly slept on. The little girl sighed in her sleep and rolled to her side.

Sliding out of bed, Zoe slipped into her robe. She peered around the bedroom door and saw a flickering light in the mercantile. Had she forgotten to snuff a candle?

“Cade,” she called softly. When he didn’t answer, she quietly left the bedroom and padded into the store. There wasn’t one candle burning; there were several.

He’s lit every candle I own!

Inside the doorway, a strong arm caught her around the waist and pulled her into the room.

“I believe this is our dance.”

She struggled to free herself from his grasp, his low voice affecting her good sense. “Aren’t you worn out from dancing with all your ‘women’?”

Drawing her closer, he whispered, “Ah, fair lady, I have yet to dance with the prettiest one of all.”

She wrenched free and wet her fingers, extinguishing a candle. He stopped her.

“You still look beautiful in candlelight, Red.”

Dear Lord, this is so unfair. Help me!
Candlelight only made him more handsome.

“And still as feisty.”

She squirmed against his embrace but her struggles were in vain. Giving in, she settled into his arms like an old friend. His warm breath brushed her temple as their feet slowly matched the strains of a waltz. What was she doing? She was a widow and mourning the death of her best friend.

But this was Cade. The one man who had ever given real meaning to her life.

Forgive me, Jim, Addy. One dance. One impossible moment to shred this awful mantle of grief and responsibility.

He smelled clean and soapy. Her fingers itched to touch his hair, but she didn’t. Once she touched him, she would never stop. Everything about him was familiar, and so hopelessly wrong.

Resting her head on his chest, she listened to his steady heartbeat. “Why didn’t you come back?”

“When I rode out that day, I had every intention of doing just that.”

“But you didn’t. What do you want from me? You’ve already won the children’s hearts. Can’t you let me be?”

His hold tightened. Not improperly, but certainly with a sense of possession. “It’s one dance together. Why do you interpret my every move as significant? If it weren’t for Addy, I wouldn’t be here.”

“Do you think that I don’t know that?”

“You know what I mean. Once I heard you were married, I made up my mind to forget you.”

“Well, a woman can’t hear that enough.”

“Did I say I forgot you? I made up my mind to, but it didn’t happen. I thought about you every day.”

Her eyes closed, and she struggled with emotions. Love. Hate. Resignation.

Fear.

Did he remember every breath, every word, and every vow they’d exchanged? She did.

His breath brushed her ear. “We were so young, Red. Our lives are different now. If I could turn back time, I would.”

“It’s never too late. Give up bounty-hunting and become the children’s guardian. Raise Addy’s kids.”

“You make it sound so simple.”

“You have all the money you could ever need. Can’t you find it in your heart to make a home for your nieces and nephews? That’s what Addy desperately wanted.”

“No.” He paused, shifting her to meet his eyes. “That wasn’t her sole purpose for getting me back here.”

She looked away. “I know what she was doing, but she loved you, and she wanted the best for you and her children.”