Cindy Holby (18 page)

Leah grinned at Dusty’s colorful language. He could be creative when the need called for it. And sometimes when it didn’t. “It actually feels kind of nice. I’ve been cooped up way too long.”

“Maybe it’s just because some tasks are more trying than others.” Dusty gave a deliberate look at her house. It was no secret that Dusty didn’t want a preacher in town. He said his business was between him and God and he didn’t need no preacher running interference for him.

Leah refrained from rolling her eyes. She heard a faint mew and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Dusty grinned and opened his jacket. An orange kitten popped its head out. “Gretchen told me to take one before the youngins got home from school. What do you think?”

Leah touched the head of the orange kitten that peeped out of Dusty’s coat. “I think you got a winner. You picked out a name yet?”

“Peaches.” Dusty grinned from ear to ear. “He looks just like a fuzzy new peach, don’t you think?”

“I sure do.”

Dusty rubbed the kitten’s head with his forefinger while he looked up and down the deserted streets. Smoke poured from all the chimneys and the faint sound of Ward playing the piano drifted out of the saloon. “Kind of strange, all these critters suddenly showing up.” He cocked his head to one side, thinking hard on his statement.

“Yes, it’s been a week for strays. Momma cat, a dog and a preacher, all in the space of five days.”

“Speaking of strays, here comes Jake.” Leah looked north, beyond the schoolhouse, and sure enough Jake was riding in and looked to be in a hurry. His horse was lathered and blowing hard when he pulled up in front of the diner.

“What’s got you in such a hurry?” Dusty asked.

“You know that mining camp up on Rattlesnake Creek?” Jake swung out of the saddle and smacked his horse on the
rump. The animal, well trained, took off for Martins’ livery where it knew a warm stall and a rubdown awaited him.

“I’ve heard of it. They’re the ones that’d just as soon shoot you as look at you.”

“I had a donkey show up on my front porch this morning, making a horrible racket. When I tried to catch it, it ran off. So I saddled up to trail it, thinking someone must be hurt or dead and it led me straight up the canyon to the camp. The entire camp was dead, wiped out by measles from the looks of it.”

“The entire camp?” A chill chased down Leah’s spine. Measles was a horrible way to die.

“Someone must have survived. A few of them were buried before the snow but the rest…” Jake shook his head. “We’re going to have to go back up there and burn the bodies.”

The chill she felt worsened. “Those boys…” Leah looked at Dusty as words failed her.

“We had a man with two boys in early this morning,” Dusty explained to Jake. “And he was in a big hurry to get out of town before the weather hit.”

“Did either of you touch them? Get close?”

Leah was shivering now. She wrapped her shawl tighter around her body. “I gave the boys a good washing.”

“Damn it, Leah!” Jake exploded. “Every person that happens to walk by doesn’t need to be taken care of. Most people just want to be left alone. Who else have you been around?”

Leah shook her head, shocked by Jake’s outburst and the fact that she had been exposed to such a deadly disease. “Pastor Key. Bettina came by…and I talked to Ward some. Dusty here, and I just left Gretchen. But as far as touching anyone…” Leah flushed as the memory of the kiss came rushing back. “Just Pastor Key. I changed his bandage when I went home,” she hastily added.

Jake took off his hat. Ran his hand through his hair. Looked around the empty streets. “We’re going to have to quarantine you. Until we know for sure. And him too I guess.”

Locked in the house…with Timothy Key…“Banks, oh my goodness, Banks…”

“We’ll make sure Banks is taken care of.” For a moment there she thought Jake was going to touch her. Pull her to him. Tell her everything was going to be all right. Instead he turned away and looked down the street toward Heaven’s Gate. “Leah, go on home and tell the pastor what’s happened.”

“Jake, don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Leah asked. His tone with her had her feeling mutinous. Did he really expect her to jump at his command like that?

Jake whirled around to face her. “I’m not overreacting.” His jaw was clenched and his voice tight. “You didn’t see them. You don’t ever want to see what I just witnessed up there. Now go home and stay there, please, for all our sakes.”

“All right.” The look on Jake’s face was frightening. “I’ll go.” Leah stepped into the street. Jake was already walking away. “I fixed Bettina some tea. You might want to watch her also.”

“Don’t you worry none,” Dusty assured her. “We’ll make sure she stays put until we know what’s going on.”

Jake stopped and turned around, his face now livid. “Damn it, Leah! You always got to be taking care of people.”

Leah straightened her spine. She refused to cry. She knew Jake was frustrated. His anger wouldn’t help. It wouldn’t change a thing. “They were boys Jake. Little boys who needed some care.”

Dusty, for once the peacemaker, put a hand on Jake’s arm. “Go on home, Leah,” he said. “We’ll check in on you in a bit.”

What if I have the measles? What if I die?
Who would dare come to help her if she got sick? At least she knew the town would care for Banks. Leah went into her house. It felt cold. So very cold. Dodger, always faithful, always waiting, greeted her at the door. Leah dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around the dog.

“Please God, let it be all right.”

L
eah was crying. Why was she crying? Cade hadn’t expected her to be back for hours. He quickly slid the gun beneath the mattress. Ashes meowed sleepily at the interruption and went back to her nap. Cade went into the hall. Leah crouched before the door with her arms around Dodger and her face buried in his fur. She looked small and helpless, not at all like the woman who had cared for him the past few days.

It must be her son…

Logical thought left him. What was it about her that made him so weak? Cade went to her, knelt beside her and touched her arm. His ribs screamed their protest but he ignored them. “Is it Banks? Did something happen? Is he hurt?” A sudden cold fear gripped him deep in his gut. He wanted to wrap his arms around her, hold her, soothe her, tell her everything would be all right, but how could he? He didn’t know what had happened. He didn’t trust himself around her.

Go, while you can…

“Wha—Banks? No it’s not Banks.” Leah covered her mouth and looked up at him. Tears hung to her dark lashes like tiny pieces of stars. She quickly wiped them away. “It’s nothing, I’m just being silly is all.”

Cade pulled her up. “Tell me, what happened?” He peered out the window, searching the street for answers. All he saw was a donkey, running down the middle of town and hee-hawing as if its life depended on it. Leah turned at the noise and let out a laugh at the sight that sounded alarmingly close to hysteria.

“What happened?” he asked her again.

“We’re quarantined.”

Cade swallowed…hard. Quarantined sounded an awful lot like prison. He looked out the window again. No men with guns stood about keeping guard. There was no one to say you have to stay. Instead he saw a group of men walking from the saloon across to the livery.

“Why?”

“A family came into the diner today. We think they were from the mining camp. Jake Reece was up there this morning and said everyone was dead. He thinks it’s measles.”

“You were that close to them?”

Leah nodded. “It was two little boys, about Banks’s age. I washed their faces and hands before I served them.”

“And then I kissed you.” Should he tell her he had measles when he was just a boy? That he caught it from the Cheyenne when his father took them west? That once you were infected the chances that you would catch it again were very slim?

Leah nodded, her face apologetic. “I’m so sorry.” She rushed on, clearly not wanting to dwell on the kiss. At least she was thinking logically. It was more than he had done where she was concerned. “They said for us to stay inside until we know for sure…”

It made sense. Not that he planned on doing what
they
said. Still, sticking around would be what Timothy would do. He was fairly certain he couldn’t catch the disease again. And however irrational it was, he wanted to stay with Leah. “It could be worse you know.”

“How could it possibly be worse?”

“Mrs. Swanson was exposed also. They could lock her in here with us.”

Leah laughed. She laughed good and long and hard. Cade watched her with his own amusement as she doubled over, her arms wrapped about her stomach as if she were in pain. Dodger whined, concern and confusion obvious in his dark and loving eyes. She was very close to losing control.

Cade guided Leah into the kitchen and helped her find a seat. Dodger followed along and lay down next to the table with a great huff of disgust. Leah finally was able to stop laughing and picked up a towel to wipe her eyes.

Cade sat down across from her and took her hand.
What are you doing?
His conscience screamed at him. He couldn’t seem to stop touching her. She looked at him from beneath her lashes, clearly embarrassed at her loss of control. Not that he could blame her. Measles was a horrible disease.
I kissed her…
If he did happen to get sick; wouldn’t that give all the fine people of Angel’s End something to think about? How close were Mrs. Findley and the preacher? And once they found out he wasn’t really who they thought he was. She’d be ruined.

“How about a piece of cake.”

“What?”

The cake was sitting on the table, right beside their intertwined hands. “I find that life generally looks better after a piece of cake.”

Leah shook her head. “You are the strangest minister I’ve ever met.”

“Have you met that many?”

“No.” She shook her head. “You’re just not what we, or maybe just I, expected.”

He couldn’t argue with that. At least she still believed he was a minister and if they were going to be stuck together in this house for a while he needed to make sure she kept on believing it. “So tell me, what did you expect?” He released her hand so she could retrieve the plates and forks from the side of the sink where she’d left them to dry earlier.

Leah placed a piece of cake before him and sat down with one of her own. She looked at him shyly, as if she were afraid he might bite her. Or maybe kiss her again.

“I expected someone older,” she said. “It seems like you’re more my age than thirty-seven.”

“That comes from clean living,” he said with a grin. “What did you expect? Should I be walking with a cane? Have gray hair and a beard down to here?” He slashed his hand across his waist. Be deaf as a fence post?” He put his hand to his ear and made a face. “What was that you say?” he said in a squeaky voice.

Leah giggled. “No,” she said. “Although that sounds a lot like the minister who married Nate and me.”

“Had one foot in the grave did he?” Cade teased. “And obviously setting a bad example for the rest of us.”

Leah nodded in agreement. “I guess he was a young man at sometime. Although…” Her voice trailed off.

“What?”

“I’m just trying to imagine him…” She blushed as she shook her head. She wiggled her nose as if she smelled something bad. “And you’re not a bit shy about…” She pulled her lower lip between her front teeth.

“Walking around without my shirt on?” Cade supplied.

Leah blushed again, sweetly this time, and her lovely green eyes darted away for a quick moment before settling on him again.

“I was going to say kissing me.”

“Oh…” He couldn’t lie. Not when she looked at him like that. “I was overcome?” He shrugged. “You’re a beautiful woman Leah. And I’m a very weak man.”

She seemed pleased with his answer so he took a bite of cake and watched as she took one too. A crumb caught on her lip and she caught it with her tongue. Then she smiled, blissfully, at the taste of the chocolate.

“My momma used to say that something that tasted this good was a sin,” she said.

Cade could not stop staring at her mouth. Remembering how she tasted. “Mine used to say that God made things taste good because he loves us. He created us and he created the way things taste.” Even though he had plenty of cake in front of him, Cade stole a bite from her plate. He grinned at her. “So therefore, we should enjoy it and be thankful for it.”

A sweet smile lit her face. “Your mother must be very special.”

He hadn’t mentioned his mother to anyone. Not since he was fifteen years old. Whatever possessed him to mention her now? “She was,” he said. What would Leah say if he told her how his mother died?

“How old were you when she died?” Leah asked.

It was easy enough to spare her the details. “Ten,” he said simply.

“Old enough to really miss her,” she said. “I don’t remember my parents. I was only two when they drowned.” She took another bite of cake. “At least you had your father.”

Cade caught himself before he voiced the bitter words about his father’s abandonment. Instead he said, “My brother and I grew really close.” He didn’t realize how much saying those words would make him miss Brody.