Her Montana Man (8 page)

a feminine detail.

“Is there a position I could fill while I’m staying here?”

“A position?” he asked.

“A job.”

It was common knowledge that she’d worked at Sutherland Brick Company for a good many years until

she resigned to care for her sister. Her family owned the company, along with a fair amount of real estate

in this town. Why would she ask
him
for a job? “What about the factory?”

“What about it?”

“I just figured if you wanted to work, you could go back to your job there. Or make another place for

yourself.”

“I won’t be working at the factory,” she told him. His expression must have shown his confusion,

because she added, “It’s complicated. I’ll take any work you have for me. I can cook, clean, change

bedding.”

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“Just doesn’t seem like the work you’re used to.”

“On the contrary.” She rubbed her palms on her skirt and added quickly, “All I’ve done for months is

cook and clean and change bedding. I’m up to the task.”

“Most of the women here were down on their luck when they arrived. They’re not…what you’re used

to.”

She straightened her shoulders. “Do you imagine I hold myself in higher regard than your employees? I

assure you I will not cause a problem.”

“Didn’t think you would.”

“If you won’t hire me, then sell me a voucher. I’ll go work for someone else.”

“There’s nothin’ local to be had. Jobs are in other states most o’ the time.”

She appeared a trifle unsure if the wrinkle in her brow was any indication. “I must have an income. I’ll

have to find work somewhere else if you won’t help me.”

Her amber eyes were lit with conviction. But why would she take her nephew to an unfamiliar place

when she had a home and business right here? “Don’t get upset,” he told her. “I’ve already dealt with

one emotional woman today. If you’re willin’ to work for the same pay as the other housekeepers, I can

put you to work first thing in the mornin’.”

“I am,” she said quickly.

“You’d follow directions from Ada Harper, and she’d let you know where to start. Mostly laundry and

room cleanin’, if that suits you.”

“That’s suits me just fine. Thank you.”

“All right then. Breakfast and lunch are set out in the kitchen. Help yourself and have a seat at the north

end of the dining room. Put a tally on the chalkboard for prepared box lunches for the young’un. You

and the boy are welcome to take your meals in the dining room of an evenin’, as well. Employees mostly

gather on the north end then, too, but there’s no rule.”

“One more thing,” she added.

He waited without speaking.

She clasped her hands together and raised her chin to look him in the eye. “I don’t want my

brother-in-law to know I’m working here. He…he wouldn’t understand my need to keep busy.”

Now the situation seemed really fishy. She wanted a job, and she didn’t want Royce Dunlap to know

about it. The whole thing didn’t sit right with Jonas, but her earnest expression told him how important

this was to her. Something in the soft vulnerability of her mouth and the way she held herself in a show of

bravado spoke to a place of less resistance inside him. He behaved uncharacteristically around her, so

he’d darned well better watch what he was getting himself into.

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“Can it be just between us?” she pressed. “I’m not asking you to swear your other employees to

secrecy. I doubt they’d have any call to mention it to someone who’d leak it back to Royce, anyway. I

just need a few weeks.
Please
.”

It was the
please
that did it. Breathless and almost intimate in the way she spoke it. “I won’t have call to

talk to him about it,” he answered finally.

“Thank you.”

Her relief was obvious in the way the tension left her body and in the light that sparkled from her eyes.

They were the rich color of pure sweet honey. Helping this woman affected him more than it should have.

Considering how out of kilter she made him feel, his gut reactions were downright dangerous.

Hoping he wasn’t going to regret any of this, he headed for the door. The woman already had him

asking mental questions and keepin’ secrets. What in tarnation was comin’ next? “You’re welcome,” he

said. “I think.”

liza listened to the sound of Tyler’s breathing well into the darkest hours. The bed in which she was lying

was comfortable, the linens smelling of fresh air and castile soap. It was a fair night, and a soft, cool

breeze wafted through the partially open window, rustling the cotton print curtains and caressing the skin

of her face and arms. There was nothing about the conditions of the room or the weather to prevent her

from sleeping, but she was wide-awake just the same.

Perhaps this vague unfamiliar restlessness was a result of the tiny measure of freedom she’d been

granted. For the first time in months, she felt as though she could take a deep breath. Their time spent

here was only a brief reprieve, but a buoyant hope surfaced anyway.

She’d only slept away from the house on Walnut Street a few times in her entire life, and those nights

had been during trips with her parents, and in later years with Jenny Lee. Being completely alone with

Tyler, completely responsible for his future and wellbeing was frightening. But her love for him gave her

courage to do anything, even make difficult choices and defy the man who wanted to control their lives.

Royce didn’t care for Tyler any more than he’d ever cared for Jenny. Nor was there anything more than

greed and manipulation fueling the advances he made toward Eliza. If he wanted her, it was only because

of the financial control and power that possessing her would bring him. A chill shuddered along her bare

arms and skittered across her shoulders at the thought of her brother-in-law’s lurid expectations.

Eliza tossed off the covers and stood, pulling on her cotton wrapper, which had been lying across the

foot of the bed. Silently, she padded across the room to the window and pushed aside the curtain to peer

out at the night.

The muted sounds from the saloon had ceased an hour or more ago, and the warm night lay silent. The

western sky was bright with stars, and the scent of sage was on the breeze. Thinking it might get cooler

as the night deepened, she pulled the window closed. After she found her slippers in the bottom of the

armoire, she stole out of the room, locking the door for Tyler’s safety, and dropping the key into her

pocket.

She made her way along the hallway and down the stairs to cross the empty lobby, which was lit by a

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dimly burning oil lamp on the wall. Remembering the row of cushioned wicker chairs across the porch,

she slipped out the front door and stood at the porch railing, gazing out at the silent street and the

expanse of dark sky.

As young girls, she and Jenny had often made pallets on their front porch and spent carefree summer

nights speculating about the stars and their futures. Eliza had ruined her own future years ago, and Jenny

had made the mistake of falling for Royce’s slick charm. Her chest ached with regret and sadness for

their broken dreams.

Back then she’d never envisioned a future without Jenny. A wave of panic washed over her at the

responsibility she now held, and she placed her fingers over her lips.

“Somethin’ wrong, Miss Sutherland?”

At the deep voice behind her, Eliza spun to face Jonas. Her heart pounded against her ribs. “No,” she

answered, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. “I couldn’t sleep is all.”

“Is your room sufficient?”

“Yes, of course. It’s quite nice, actually. I’m just…having some trouble making adjustments.”

He moved to the railing and leaned back until he sat with one thigh crooked atop the rail, the other foot

on the porch floor. “Like losin’ your sister?”

She held the front of her wrapper together under her chin. “Mostly.”

“I never did know what caused her to be sickly.”

“She had scarlet fever when she was a child. Your father and the other doctors believed it weakened her

heart.”

“It’s a wonder, isn’t it, how some folks go their whole lives with everythin’ falling into place, while others

have to face double the hardship? Kind of makes a body wonder how it all evens out in the end…or if it

ever does.”

A deep thought from a man who appeared so rough around the edges. Was he referring to her or to

himself? She wasn’t comfortable asking.

He shrugged then, as if he didn’t know either way.

She sensed an underlying current in the air…something he wasn’t saying…something she wasn’t

admitting. “All we know about most people is what they let us see,” she said finally.

“Unless we dig deeper,” he answered. “Or get to know ’em better.”

He’d managed to surprise her again. “Are you a philosopher?”

He chuckled.

The sound put her at ease for the first time in days.

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“Everybody who’s spent enough nights around a campfire is a philosopher,” he answered.

“How many campfires have you seen?”

“I spent my youth drivin’ cattle, playin’ cards, listenin’ to the old-timers. Did my time in the army after

that.”

“You always seemed very mysterious,” she admitted.

“When you arrived in Silver Bend after all those years, stories were tossed about. There was

speculation. Some said you and your father never got along. Others said you had a wild wandering spirit

you had to satisfy.”

“Are you digging deeper?” he asked.

“If I am, are you going to let me see another side of you?”

The words were far bolder than she’d intended. Her cheeks grew warm, and she was glad for the cover

of night.

“I left when I was thirteen because I couldn’t stand to watch my father drink himself into a stupor every

night.”

Surprised at his straightforward admission, Eliza turned to face him. “I heard talk about his drinking,” she

told him. “But I didn’t know whether or not to believe it.”

“Believe it.”

“It never affected the care he gave my mother or my sister.”

“He was always good at doctorin’,” he said with a nod. “Not so good at fathering. He had so much

remorse festerin’ inside, he couldn’t get on with life.”

“I’m surprised,” she told him, forced now to wonder about the man she’d seen so often, yet apparently

hadn’t known all that well.

“That I said it or that it could be true?”

“I don’t doubt it’s true. I have no reason to question you. I’m surprised that it’s a fact. I had no idea.”

“We all have things in our pasts we don’t take out and kick around,” he said. “Wouldn’t do much good

if we did.”

He was right about that. What was done was done.

She stepped toward the railing where he sat, and glanced upward into the vast expanse of black sky and

spotted the hazy yellow moon.

“So, you wondered about me?” he asked. “When others were talkin’?”

“Some.”

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“I wondered about you,” he told her. “Wondered why you walk into town every day at the same time.”

“I went for tea.”

“I know. But why?”

“My sister insisted I have a little time to myself every day.”

“You took care of her for a long time.”

“Yes.”

“Never got married.”

“Are you pointing out the fact or asking why? Weren’t the reasons apparent?”

“Wasn’t an accusation,” he said quietly. “Just an observation.”

“Do people talk about my lack of a husband, or is that your own curiosity?”

“Reckon I’m curious. You’re from a good family. Smart. More’n pretty enough.”

At the combination of his words and the way he looked at her, her cheeks grew warm again.

“My guess is you’ve set your sights a mite too high.”

She had to laugh at that thought. “The fact is, I’ve been too busy to meet men, other than those my

brother-in-law brings home for dinner occasionally, and most of them are married.”

“Wasn’t always like that, was it?” He reached for her hand and held it. “I mean before Jenny Lee got so

sick, back when you worked at the brickyard? There were probably beaus callin’ on you then.”

His gentle touch broke down more barriers. “Maybe one or two.”

“Now we’re gettin’ somewhere.”

She succumbed to his teasing voice. The cover of night and his persuasive voice coaxed feelings and

words into the open. “There was one special someone once.”

His thumb stroked the back of her hand, and sent a delicious tingle up her arm. “What was his name?”

She hadn’t said the name aloud in years. The prospect of doing so now made her stomach feel as if she

was teetering on the edge of a cliff. “Forest,” she managed. “My father didn’t have any sons, and he was

quite fond of Forest. He took him under his wing and taught him the business.”

“I thought Royce was his protégé.”

“Royce was his second choice,” she said, the fact giving her petty satisfaction. “I had an aptitude with

numbers, so I was Father’s bookkeeper. It was while I was handling accounts and initiating investments