Blue Moon (16 page)

Her father readily agreed, as Olivia knew he would. Since she had been home he was more than willing to take any suggestions. She knew he was trying to assuage his guilt, and in Molly’s case she let him. A few times she had almost told him what had happened in New Orleans, but then she would look around the humble cabin or see him struggling in the fields and, knowing all he faced and all he lost, she simply could not bring herself to add to his burden. They continued to dance around the truth and some days it was hard to ignore, almost as if something as big as Bob Carver’s ox had wandered into the cabin and no one wanted to admit it was there.

Venturing into Shawneetown today had been the last thing Olivia had wanted to do, but when her father told her that he needed to have a day at home alone with Susanna, there was nothing she could do but agree to take Little Pay, Freddie, and Molly into town. Over the past few weeks she had watched Susanna grow stronger in both mind and body. Just as before the attack on the river, loving looks and gentle touches passed between her father and stepmother. No matter how reluctant Olivia still felt about going into town, she could not deny them the time alone they desperately needed.

Besides, she reminded herself earlier, it had been months since she had escaped from Darcy. Surely by now he had already taken in another virgin. Surely by now he had forgotten all about her. In a way, taking the boys and Molly to town with her was a godsend, for she would not be as vulnerable as she would be if alone. Sooner or later she would have had to get out into the world again. Letting go of her fear would help her turn her back on the past.

It had taken them over an hour to walk the two miles to town as both she and Molly carried baskets of vegetables to trade at the store. Freddie and Little Pay had run ahead, their dirty bare feet flying as they zigzagged back and forth across the field and along the footpath through the woods.

Molly had chatted on and on beside her. Olivia caught the Scots girl talking to herself so often that she did not think Molly cared if she listened to her or not.

“So ye see, it was my father’s grand design to send me here to America, but och, there’s many a day I wish I was back in Scotland again.”

“Do you know where the store is, Molly?” Knowing that waiting for the girl to take a breath was futile, Olivia cut in.

“I sure do. It’s just over there.” She pointed toward Nu Way Dry Goods, Ern and Faye Matheson’s store.

Little Pay came running up to Olivia. “Can we go to the landing, Livvie? Can we go see the flatboats?”

Olivia scanned the street, taking note of the wagons, the horses, the churned mud that filled the wide lane between the two rows of buildings, the main thoroughfare of Shawneetown.

“I think you should stay with me.”

“I don’t mind watching the little fellows, Livvie,” Molly volunteered. “I surely don’t. We can drop these baskets by the store and then I’ll keep them busy while ye look around a bit.”

Olivia thought Molly as scatterbrained as the boys, but when she saw how eager her half-brothers were to see the riverfront, she decided to give in. She took a deep breath and silently swore that there was nothing to fear, that Molly could see to the boys, and that she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself now.

Freddie had run back to join Little Pay and the two of them started begging to go on ahead like magpies.

“Don’t forget the red cloth,” Freddie reminded her. They had both been wanting shirts like Noah’s. It had been ages since she had sewn anything, but she had promised them, deciding that two small shirts was as good a place to start again as any, and not a great extravagance.

“I’ll get it,” she assured him. “Walk with us to the store and then Molly will take you to the river.”

“Hey!” Freddie grabbed her by the elbow and started jumping up and down beside her. He pointed down the crowded street. “Hey, lookit! It’th Noah! There’th Noah, Livvie, crothin the threet.”

He flew off as if shot from a cannon, his short legs churning, his feet kicking up mud. Little Pay was hot on his heels and quickly passed his brother by as they raced along.

“Do they mean the man who built the smokehouse?” Molly asked, reminding Olivia she was still there.

Olivia nodded, unable to find her voice until she spotted Noah: heart-stoppingly handsome, his skin darkened by the sun, his strong features shaded by his hat brim. He was using the ragged red strip of turkey cloth as an eye patch and carried his pack and rifle, looking much the same as the day he left, except that now he led a sorrel horse.

The boys had stopped him in his tracks. She watched him greet them, then quickly scan the surroundings until Little Pay pointed in her direction and Noah turned her way. She faltered, almost tripped, then caught herself.

“Jeezus, now he’s a fine handsome devil,” Molly said.

Olivia instantly bristled. “He is that.” She glanced over at the auburn-haired girl, assessing her shining blue eyes, her glowing cheeks, and the dusting of freckles spattered across her nose. She had never known jealousy before, so the experience was a new one, especially since she knew she had no right to claim Noah after turning him away.

Down the street, his long strides were eating up the distance between them. He handed the reins to Little Pay and now both the boys were running in his wake, trying to keep up.

Olivia’s heart was pounding so hard she felt lightheaded, but she found herself smiling for no reason at all, save one.

Noah.

Olivia smothered the urge to run to meet him. She straightened the skirt of her plain violet dress, raised a hand to her hair and decided it was too late to do anything about the way she looked.

Noah’s mouth was set in a grim, determined line. They had not parted on the best of terms, but surely there was no reason for him to frown so.

“Noah, what a surprise.” Even to her own ears, the greeting sounded inane.

“What are you doing in town by yourself?”

Chapter 14

“I’m not alone,” she said. “I’m with the boys. And Molly.”

Noah dismissed the girl beside her with a glance.

“Not much protection,” he said.

“From what?”

“I would think you know that better than I do.”

Her heart was hammering so hard she could barely hear herself think. Seeing him there on the street, she knew for a certainty that time and distance could never erase what he had come to mean to her. She saw with blinding clarity that she more than cared for him. She loved Noah LeCroix. No matter how long he might stay away, no matter how many times she sent him home, she would always love him, but she would never be good enough for him, either.

Fighting to mask her feelings, she tightened her grip on the basket handle. “What are you doing here?”

He looked over her head, toward the path that led in the direction of the homestead and sidestepped her question with one of his own. “Where’s your father?”

“I’m Molly MacKinnon,” the Scottish girl suddenly piped up.

Noah ignored Molly. He asked Olivia again, “Where’s Payson?”

“At home with Susanna. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself and the boys.” She handed her basket to Molly.

Little Pay and Freddie, leading Noah’s horse, had finally reached them.

“Noah’th got a new horth.” Freddie, as usual, proudly announced the obvious.

“He’s taking us for a ride,” Little Pay added.

“Why don’t the two of you go down to the waterfront with Molly?
Now
,” Olivia suggested.

They were both outraged. “Because we wanna stay with Noah,” Little Pay told her.

Noah looked pained, but made no protest.

“Noah has things to do, I’m sure,” Olivia told them, wishing them away for a few blessed moments of peace.

“No, I don’t,” he said.

The boys started jumping up and down.

“Your problem is that you are too honest,” she told him.

Noah reached out and lifted a lock of her hair, rubbing it between his fingers. For an awkward moment, Olivia thought he might carry it to his lips. He let go and it dropped onto the bodice of her gown. The movement was open and spontaneous, as intimate as a kiss. Olivia went weak in the knees.

Blessed Molly chose that instant to set both baskets on the ground beside Olivia and announce, “My arms are breakin’. Come on, boys, off we go down to the river. You’ll have a chance to talk to your friend Noah here in a while. How about we let him use those muscles of his to help Livvie carry the vegetable baskets to the store?”

Somehow the girl managed to persuade both boys to go with her without much fuss at all, and she even took it upon herself to tell Noah that they would tie his horse up at the hitching post outside the store.

Noah was still watching Olivia. She could feel his gaze on her as surely as if it had the warmth and power of his touch.

“How are things with you, Olivia?”

“Fine. Little Pay hasn’t had any more accidents. The whole episode at the pool seems to have shaken Susanna out of herself. She’s still not the way she was before, but she’s let go of some of her sorrow and is up and about a little more. Molly’s the girl my father had hired who ran off before. Everything seems to be getting better, little by little.”

“You speak of your family, but what of you? Have you told your father yet? Have you settled things between you?”

She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and looked at the ground. “There hasn’t been a good time.”

“Still having nightmares?”

The nightmares had started up again the night he left, but she wasn’t about to admit it.

“No.” She looked up and knew he had caught her in the lie. “Well, not so often, really.”

He reached down for the baskets, picked them up, and waited for her to make the next move. Olivia started down the street and he fell into step beside her.

“What are you doing here?” She hoped her feelings did not show in her eyes. “Where did you get the horse?”

“I took a job piloting a boat downriver. Went as far as Natchez. Came back and picked up another one, went down again. In between I stopped off to see a friend in Kentucky who was looking to thin out his herd. I thought I’d give it to your father.”

She stopped walking. “That’s too generous,” she said, unwilling for her family to owe him any more than they already did.

“I bought it as a favor to a friend. What am I going to do with a horse? Can you see it up in the treehouse?”

She found herself laughing for the first time in days. All too soon they reached the store. Now and again a passerby would stop and stare at Noah and then move on. At least no one started singing.

“Why don’t you go on in, do what you need to do. I’ll walk you and the others home,” he suggested.

She wanted nothing more than to linger with him, but tried to change his mind. “I’m sure we can handle the horse, if you don’t want to go back with us.”

He stared back.

“All right,” she said. “When I finish I’ll find the boys and Molly and meet you here in an hour.”

Noah walked into a tavern, a log structure filled with men on the move who needed a respite from the rigors of life in the West. He had been in the area for three days now, long enough for the townsfolk to become accustomed to him. The curious still stared.

His needing a drink was rare, but after seeing Olivia he decided a shot of whiskey might settle his nerves. He couldn’t feel any worse.

Unless he took Hunter’s final words of advice and came right out and asked her to marry him, this would be the last time he might ever see her.

He ordered a whiskey and carried the glass over to a table on the far side of the room. From there he could watch the door. He had to sit elbow-to-elbow with a group of blackjack players at the table beside him, but after the usual once-over and expressions of recognition, they paid him no mind.

With his pack on the floor beside him and his rifle propped against the wall, Noah forced himself to sip the whiskey slowly, hoping it would give him all the courage he needed.

The vegetable baskets were pounds lighter now that only a bit of red fabric, some buttons and thread were inside. Olivia stood outside the store, looked toward the river, and hoped tracking down the boys wouldn’t take long. Shawneetown was more crowded with emigrants on the move than townsfolk.

After the isolation of the homestead, it was a joy to be out among people again, even though her heart was heavy. She walked along wondering how long it would be before she had to tell Noah good-bye again.

She stood in front of the hotel, watching a ferry crossing the river. On the other side of the Ohio, wagons, horses, and travelers on foot were lined up, prepared to wait for hours to cross into Illinois.

A flash of sunlight on a man’s light blond hair caught her eye. The familiar tilt of his head momentarily paralyzed her. She could hear her heart beating in her ears. Bile rose up in her throat and for a moment she was afraid she might actually swoon. She put a hand against the side of the building to brace herself and stepped back into the shadows. As if a terrible nightmare were unfolding before her eyes, she watched Darcy Lankanal and a man she had once seen at the Palace in Darcy’s office. They were strolling along the waterfront in heated conversation.

Her mind cried out for her to run, but her legs would not obey. Then, Darcy raised his head, as if he heard the terrified tattoo of her heart and sensed her presence. He slowly turned and surveyed the crowd milling about around him. As Olivia watched, helpless as a fly tangled in a spider’s web, he turned his gaze on her.

The instant he recognized her, his expression froze. Then he smiled, a slow spreading smile on a too-handsome face. She was drawn to him, forced to step out of the shadows and walk toward him, not out of any mutual sense of attraction, but like a pet trained to obey.

She watched him say something to his companion. The older man looked at her with a smug smile and walked away. Olivia stood there trembling, hoping Molly and the boys wouldn’t choose that exact moment to appear, wishing there were a way she could escape the inevitable, knowing there was not.

Overwhelming fear, not for herself, but for Noah, came over her. If he saw her with Darcy and guessed who the man was, there was no guaranteeing what he might do.

Darcy was upon her, smiling a smile that did not reach his eyes.

“So, Olivia, we meet again. I knew I would find you eventually.”

She lifted her chin, feigning confidence she did not possess, daring him to try anything in broad daylight.

“Now that you have, you can turn right around and go back to New Orleans.”

“Not without you,” he said.

“I’m afraid things have changed, Darcy.”

“Nothing has changed. I still own you.”

“I’m no slave.”

“Nor are you free. I paid good money for you, a small fortune in some men’s eyes. You still owe me.”

“I was
stolen
from my family and you know it.”

He shrugged, a slow, lazy movement, a slight rise of the shoulder, barely perceptible. “I have no proof of that.”

Her family lived so near, was so vulnerable.

He reached out, tried to draw her to him. She resisted, stepped back, but he was stronger.

“Relax, Olivia. Just relax and remember how good it can be between us.”

It was no use to try to fight him physically, so instead, she tried to win at his game. She leaned into him, raised herself on tiptoe and pressed her mouth to his. Nothing moved inside her, nothing stirred except revulsion, but through the thin fabric of her calico gown she felt his immediate arousal and let him kiss her, kissing him back without feeling, and yet provoking him, teasing him. Then, once he was off guard, she broke the kiss and stepped an arm’s length away.

Surprise and then anger swept across his finely drawn, aristocratic features.

“I’m not that woman anymore, Darcy.”

“Yes, you are. If you were smart you would admit it and come with me. Now.” He glanced around at the bustling crowd on the street as people streamed through the town. “We can do this nice and easy, Olivia, or we can do it the hard way, but I’m going to have you.”

“Never again.”

“You grew used to my touch, Olivia. What happened? Did the half-breed hurt you? Has he made you hate men?”

The half-breed
.

So, he already knew of Noah, of Noah’s connection to her. How? Had he seen them together earlier?

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“I’ve been here for two days, asking around about you and your family, finding out all I could. I’ve even seen your one-eyed hero, Olivia. I could have killed him by now, you know. The only thing that’s kept him alive is the idea that I thought I might have needed to use him as bait to lure you in. I figured as long as he was strutting around town that you would show your face sooner or later.”

She swallowed bile again. Darcy had been in town for two days, walking the same streets as Noah, watching him from afar. One bullet, one thrust of a knife and Noah might have been dead already. His blood would be on her hands, his only crime loving her.

“Leave me alone, Darcy, leave Noah alone, or I swear to God I’ll go right to Ern Matheson, the keeper of the peace, and tell him everything. It’ll be my word against yours.”

He laughed. “You’ll tell him
everything
! You’ll tell him how you learned to like it when I made love to you? How you screamed every time I came inside you, Olivia? Will you tell him how much you begged for release?” He folded his arms across his brocade vest. “Go ahead and tell him everything. I’m sure your family will find the details interesting—even if they know the whole sordid story already.”

Her palms were damp. She could barely breathe.

“You have plenty of other girls, Darcy. You don’t need me.”

As if he could see right through her clothing, he stared at the front of her gown. “Oh, but I do, Olivia. I do need you.”

“Even you wouldn’t stoop to murder.”

“You think not?”

“Yes.”

“Why don’t we just see about that?” He was looking over her shoulder now. “Looks like your hero is on his way.”

Ern Matheson had walked up to Noah in the tavern and took him aside, told him that a slick-looking gambler from New Orleans had been in town a couple of days asking questions about the Bonds. Seeing as how Noah was close to the family, Ern said he thought Noah ought to know. The minute Matheson was through, Noah set down his empty whiskey glass, picked up his rifle, shouldered his pack and hurried out the door.

And discovered he had not moved fast enough.

The fine hairs on the back of his neck were bristling as Noah walked down the street toward Olivia and the tall, hatless stranger by the river. The cut of the man’s clothes were far superior to those of the farmers and homesteaders milling around the flatboats or driving down the street on wagons loaded high with their possessions. The sun glinted off the man’s light hair and the front of his shining satin waistcoat.

No one had to tell him that man was Darcy Lankanal. He could see it in Olivia’s stance, in the look on her face. Why didn’t she walk away? What was holding her there?

Noah saw Darcy Lankanal glance up. The gambler said something else to Olivia that suddenly made her stiffen. Noah picked up his pace and reached them in five long strides. Olivia whirled around. She said nothing. He stepped up beside her and stood close enough to feel her shaking like a leaf in a high wind. Compelled to let her know she was safe, he slipped an arm around her shoulders.

Darcy Lankanal’s mouth hardened into a grim line. Noah silently challenged him with a look. He could see that the man was hard put to control himself. The gambler stood with his feet apart, braced to attack, his hands fisted at his sides. The last thing Noah wanted was to have to fight this man, especially in front of the whole town.

“Ah,” Lankanal drawled. “You must be the famous Noah LeCroix. The flatboat pilot.” He had a way of pronouncing every word as if it were profane.

“That would be me.” Noah acknowledged him with a nod.