Come Spring (55 page)
She heard her mother’s swift intake of breath and finally found the courage to face her again without becoming teary eyed herself.
Annika turned away from Caleb and hugged her mother tight. “Yes, Mama. I’m married. We didn’t wait for you, and I’m sorry if that is upsetting, but when Buck comes down, we’ll explain.”
Caleb ran a hand through his hair. The impression the sweatband had made across his forehead was still visible. “Do you realize what your mother’s been through worrying about you? I thought you were going to wait until we got here. Until we could meet this man.” He sounded formidable, but Annika knew his sharp tone came more from relief at seeing her safe than from anger.
She held her mother’s hand as she turned to him again. “I know what you’ve been through, but I’m the one who was kidnapped, Papa.”
“Don’t get cheeky, Annika.”
“No, sir,” she promised, holding her temper for Buck’s sake. She didn’t want him to walk into a room full of hostility.
“I think I’d better go outside and check on somethin’.” Zach put his worn hat on the back of his head as he made his way to the door.
Kase was right behind him. “I think I’ll check on it with you.” He glanced at Rose, who was blissfully unconcerned as she stared down at the child in her arms. “Rose, don’t you think Joseph needs a nap?”
“Nap?” She met Kase’s gaze squarely and shook her head. “No need. Not long ago he woke up.”
Kase nodded toward the trio standing awkwardly in the center of the room and then indicated the door with another nod in the opposite direction.
Comprehension suddenly dawned on Rose’s face. “Ah!
Sí.
Now I remember. I think after all that Joseph is maybe sleepy.”
As Kase ushered his wife and infant out the door, Caleb called out, “Thanks, son,” before he slipped an arm around each of the women left in the room.
Annika led them to the settee and with a wave of her hand encouraged them to sit down. She pulled a footstool covered in a needlepoint of cabbage roses in front of them, smoothed her skirts, and sat down.
“I guess you’re waiting for an explanation.” She folded the material of her skirt into a small pleat and smoothed it with her thumbnail.
“No. We just want to know if you love this man you married. Don’t we, Anja?” Caleb said.
Annika glanced at her mother, who nodded. “And we want to know why, Annika. Why did you marry this man who kidnapped you?”
Annika straightened her skirt, squared her shoulders, and met their worried stares. “I married Buck because I love him. And he didn’t do anything but love me back.”
“But...” Analisa shook her head. Her bright yellow hair was bound into an upswept knot that had been mussed by the removal of her hat.
She was dressed fashionably in a tailored traveling suit, and except for the fact that it was royal blue, it was much like the jaunty chocolate wool Annika had worn for weeks at Blue Creek. The sight of it brought back so many memories that Annika smiled a faraway smile and then forced herself to listen to what her mother was saying.
“... to marry him was not necessary. Surely you know that no matter what has happened, Annemeke, we can face it together.”
Annika put her hands together in her lap and stared down at them for a moment before she looked up at her mother. She reached out and took Analisa’s hands in her own. “I know, Mama. I know now that you would understand, my abduction was never like what you suffered. Buck never ... I mean, he didn’t...”
“You don’t have to go on,” her father said, shifting forward, stopping her before she could say more. He braced his forearms on his knees and laced his fingers together.
“So. Kase told you about what happened to me so long ago?” Analisa’s words were little more than a whisper.
Annika squeezed her mother’s fingers. “He told me he was conceived when you were raped at sixteen. But he did so only because I was certain you would be disappointed in me. I thought you would never understand what I had done, and I was so ashamed, so scared to face you...”
“Exactly what
did
happen?” Caleb straightened, his features suddenly dark and threatening.
“What did you do?” Analisa echoed Annika’s own admission.
Annika felt her face flame with color. “I—”
“She didn’t do it alone.”
The Storms turned at the sound of a low, gravelly voice in the doorway. Annika smiled in relief when she saw Buck bending to let Buttons down. The little girl ran to Annika’s side, leaned against her, and stared at the newcomers.
“Hi,” the confident little girl said to Caleb and Analisa.
Analisa smiled down at the child. Caleb tried to hide a smile.“This is Buttons,” Annika said as she tugged on a vibrant blond ringlet and let it bounce. “She’s Buck’s niece. We’ve adopted her.” With a glance over her shoulder, she silently asked Buck to join her.
“And I’m Buck Scott,” he said as he approached the settee. Buck paused behind Annika and put his hands on her shoulders.
Caleb finally found his manners and stood up. He didn’t offer Buck his hand, merely stared at the huge man who was now his only daughter’s husband.
In a show of solidarity, Annika stood up and linked an arm through Buck’s.
Analisa cast a worried glance at Caleb and put a warning hand on his coat sleeve. “Caleb—”
Trusting her father to show the patience he was known for when he worked for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Annika said quickly, “Buck loves me, Papa. And I love him. I explained almost everything in my letters to you. He abducted me by mistake and once we were snowed in, there was nothing he could do to bring me back. As time went on, we fell in love.” She shrugged and smiled. “It’s as simple as that.”
When Buck added, “Well, not quite that simple,” Annika wanted to kick him.
“Not
quite
?” Caleb turned an icy stare on Annika.
Buck ran a finger between his throat and his shirt collar and blurted out, “She’s pregnant, Mr. Storm.”
Annika did kick him then, but Buck pretended not to notice.
“A baby?” Analisa whispered, her hand at her throat. She looked from Buck to Annika and back.
Buttons began jumping up and down around their knees. “Me gettin’ me a baby!”
“Buttons! Settle down,” Buck commanded sharply.
Annika scooped the little girl up and handed her to Buck without a word.
“Put me down! Put me down!” the child yowled.
With his nerves near a breaking point, sweat caused the accursed wool suit to itch even more. Buck shrugged inside his jacket and growled sharply, “Buttons, I swear—”
Dismayed, Annika glanced at her mother. “He’s usually very good with her.”
Dear Lord, can this get any worse?
Suddenly, faced with a situation she knew she could handle, Analisa Storm took complete command. She reached out for Buttons and as Buck gladly released the whining child, she cooed,
“Ach liefja.”
Buttons quieted immediately. Holding the child close, Analisa then turned to her husband. “Caleb, I think it is best if you take Mr. Scott—”
“It’s Buck, ma’am.”
“Buck—outside and talk to him there. Annika and I will meet you on the veranda in a few moments. Go,
echtgenoot.
Do this for me, and keep your temper,
ja
?”
Caleb looked as if he couldn’t wait to get Buck out on the veranda alone. Annika gave her father a warning as Buck led the way toward the parlor door. “Don’t hurt him, Papa.”
Caleb sized up the back of his new son-in-law who had already ripped the shoulder seam of his coat when he picked up Buttons and shook his head at his daughter. “I don’t think you have to worry about me hurting him, honey. Do you think I’m safe?”
For the first time since the encounter began, Annika was able to smile a genuine smile. “Of course, Papa.”
“Then we’ll see you two in a few minutes.”
Annika turned to Analisa who had let Buttons down. The child was pulling toys out of a basket and showing them to her one at a time. Pushing aside a doll, a Brownie book, and a toy carpet sweeper, Annika sat down beside her mother on the settee.
“Mama, I hope you can forgive me.”
Analisa looked surprised. “There is nothing to forgive.”
“No?” Annika shook her head. “I didn’t mean to hurt you and Papa, and I know how much you wanted me to have a big wedding, but we thought with the baby coming and all, that it would be best to be married as soon as possible.”
“I understand.” Analisa took a carved wooden horse from Buttons, admired it with a smile and a nod, and handed it back.
“Mama...” Annika paused, trying to frame her words precisely, “all these years, I thought of your life as a fairy tale, and you as the princess in the story, but until I spent those weeks in Buck’s cabin, living much the way you must have lived in the soddie in Iowa, I never knew, Mama, I never could have imagined how hard it was for you. I’m so sorry.” She shook her head and watched a tear splash on the back of her hand. “I’m so sorry about what happened to you.”
Buttons watched the two women in silence as Analisa enfolded her daughter in her arms and held her close. “Never feel sorry for me, Annemeke, because I
am
like the princess in your story. I have your father and Kase and you. I have Rose and Joseph, and now this beautiful child, and the one to come. I even have this Buck Scott that you love so much. I am blessed with all I will ever need or want” Analisa rested her chin on her daughter’s head and smiled to herself. “You may think you understand now that you have been in such a place, but I will tell you a secret. Sometimes I look back on those years in the sod house, and as hard as the life was, the memories are still beautiful to me, for I had Kase to love. When there is nothing else, love is all the more precious, is it not?”
Annika pulled away.
“Ja,
Mama,” she said, reverting to the Dutch she learned as a child, “love is very precious. I learned something else at Blue Creek, Mama, and again when Kase told me about what happened and how he was conceived. Sometimes good comes hand in hand with bad. When things look bleakest, we have to remember to wait and see what seeds have been sown for the future.”
“You will be a very wise mother.” Analisa smiled as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.
“Thank goodness I’ll still have you to go give me advice.” Annika shook her head and laughed as Buttons turned the toy basket over and plopped it on her head.
The deep sound of the men’s laughter drew their attention to the veranda.
“I think your father has let go of his temper,” Analisa said.
“It’s very hard to stay mad at Buck,” Annika admitted. “Why don’t we join them now that the smoke has cleared?”
“T
HEY
like you,” Annika told Buck as he slipped out of his shirt and tossed it over a chair in the corner of the darkened room.
“The feeling is mutual, although I wish your father would quit staring at me when he thinks I’m not looking.”
She wriggled further down beneath the sheet and smoothed Buck’s pillow. “I didn’t notice.”
“He did it all through dinner.”
“He’ll get used to you.”
“I think he’ll never get used to the fact that we’re sleeping together.” He pulled back the sheet and slipped into the bed.
“Maybe fathers don’t ever want to admit that their daughters actually sleep with anyone.” She shrugged. “He is thrilled that you’ll be studying medicine. Mama is, too.”
“They took the news that we won’t be moving to Boston better than I expected.” Buck put his arm around her and pulled her close. He bent over her and pressed a kiss on her lips. Annika kissed him back until he slipped his tongue between her lips, then she stiffened.
He pulled back. “What’s wrong?”
“My
parents
are in the next room.”
“So?”
“So I can’t do this,” she whispered.
He kissed her neck. “Do what?”
“This!” She squirmed as he lowered the shoulder of her gown and kissed her above her breast.
“You’re joking, right?”
“No, I’m not. I can’t do this. What if they’re listening?” As he nuzzled the peak of her breast she tried to push him away. Finally she grasped his hair and tugged until he raised his head.
He paused for a moment, his head cocked to one side listening for the slightest sound from the guest room next to theirs. “I don’t hear anything.”
“Exactly. Because they’re listening.”
“I don’t think so.” He dipped his head to kiss her deeply.
Against her will, Annika felt herself begin to relax as his heated kiss made her go liquid inside.
Buck lowered his mouth to her breast again. She slipped her arms around his neck.
“Feeling better?” he mumbled.
His mouth sent shivers through her from her neck to her toes. “You’ll be quiet, won’t you?”
“I’ll try,” he promised. “Just close your eyes and I’ll take your mindoff whether or not they might be listening.”
Annika closed her eyes and Buck made good on his promise.
COME SPRING
All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1992 by Jill Marie Landis.
Cover Design by: Stephanie Chang Design Ink, Honolulu
This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part without permission.
