Chapter 28

28

The rain stopped by early evening, making it easier for Letty to fetch wood and check on the horses. Philip and Rusty had both napped for the past two hours after she’d dragged one of the thin ticks from a bunk and laid it close to the stove. Philip hadn’t wanted to lie down, mumbling some nonsense about being on duty, but when she caught him nodding off in his chair for the third time, she’d insisted.

Letty grinned as she pulled a log from the woodpile to join the growing stack in her arms. Rusty had snuggled up beside Philip as he slept, and Philip had welcomed her pet, even scooting over on the mattress to give the wolf a share of the padding. Her two brave protectors. Friends at last.

She probably should have taken some time to rest herself, but her mind was too full to sleep. The well-being of their little group rested on her shoulders now, and she intended to ensure they not only survived but thrived. The responsibility weighed heavily on her, but she didn’t regret taking it on for even a moment. In a way, it actually invigorated her. Gave her a sense of purpose she’d never really experienced before. She knew the weight of duty and expectations and the dread they brought, but this was different. This felt more like an honor. A calling.

Letty’s hand stilled a few inches short of the next log in the pile. Was this how her mother felt toward her employees? Like they depended on her to protect them from harm and enable them to flourish? The weight of one man and a wolf tugged heavily on Letty’s heart. How much greater must that weight be with the welfare of dozens or even hundreds of lives hanging in the balance?

Her outstretched fingers trembled. I didn’t understand, Mama. How could she when she’d never been responsible for anyone but herself?

For years, she’d felt betrayed by her mother’s choice, despite Grandmother’s explanations that her mother hadn’t just stayed for her employees, she’d stayed to protect Letty. To frustrate Uncle Drake’s schemes and stay apprised of any progress he might make in his hunt for her. Letty had only understood the hurt of being sent away.

A small part of her had believed her mother valued her employees and her desire for social reform above having a relationship with her daughter. Only now could Letty see the impossibility of the choice her mother had been forced to make. No matter what she decided, someone depending on her would suffer. She could leave her daughter in the care of a loving grandmother who would cherish and protect her, or she could leave dozens of employees in the hands of a man who would abuse their loyalty and steal bread from their tables. And what of her husband’s legacy? He and Mama had stood for something important, had built something that could impact labor policies across the state or even across the nation. Policies that could reach into the future and protect thousands of children. That wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

Her mother had made the best choice she could in an untenable situation. It was time to let go of a child’s hurt and make room for a woman’s understanding.

As her mind settled, so did her hand. She grabbed the last piece of wood and headed back to the bunkhouse, dodging as many puddles as she could manage. Her shoes were still damp, and she didn’t want to restart the drying process from the beginning.

Letty opened the door as quietly as she could so as not to disturb the nappers, but when her gaze skimmed over the mattress, she found Philip’s sleep-heavy eyes staring at her. Her breath caught, and for a heartbeat, she forgot what she was doing. Then his lids drooped shut again, and reality returned. Goodness. She really should be used to his gaze by now. Only, his gaze had changed. The guardedness had dissolved in the rain, it seemed. When he looked at her now, she saw things that had been hidden before. Vulnerabilities. Emotions. Desires.

She nibbled her lower lip as she clicked the door shut and crossed to the stove, recalling the way he’d looked at her after she’d bandaged his arm. He’d wanted to kiss her. She’d recognized the truth the moment his gaze caressed her mouth. She hadn’t known what to do, so she’d done nothing. Just waited, her nerves tingling. The air between them had crackled with possibilities, and a longing built in her belly. She’d wanted him to kiss her. To prove that he saw her not as a duty but as a woman. A woman he could love. For that’s how she saw him. As a man she could love. A man she did love.

Letty quirked a grin as she quietly placed the wood into the box next to the stove. She really should have admired Philip’s restraint when he’d pulled back without touching his lips to hers, but what she’d felt instead had been a mixture of disappointment and embarrassment. So she’d busied herself with tending Rusty’s scrapes while doing her best not to look Philip in the eye. She’d thought she’d regained her equilibrium while he’d been napping, but the moment his gaze met hers, all those feelings came rushing right back to the surface.

Ordering herself to put her mind back where it belonged, like listing the ingredients she needed to cook up some fry bread to go with their second helping of chicken soup, she pulled off her damp shoes and left them close to the stove next to Philip’s boots. Hopefully they would finish drying overnight. She lingered by the stove a few minutes, wiggling her toes and holding her hands out to absorb as much heat as possible before she hunted up a lantern. The bunkhouse had warmed considerably over the last few hours, but the building had sat vacant long enough to fall into disrepair. Wind and cold seeped through numerous cracks, making the floorboards rather chilly against her bare feet. What she wouldn’t give for a dry pair of stockings.

“Come over here.” Philip’s sleep-roughened voice brought her head around. He adjusted his blanket to keep his chest covered and pushed into a sitting position. “The bedding’s warm. It’ll take the chill off your toes.” He patted the mattress, and she couldn’t help but notice the impression of his sleeping form that had been left behind in the tick.

“I’m sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t be,” he grumbled as he waved her over. “If I’d slept any longer, I woulda been up all night. Now get those feet over here before all the heat Rusty and I worked so hard to generate escapes.” He aimed a scowl in her direction that got her feet moving.

Rusty lifted his head and shot her a remarkably similar look.

Letty held her hands up in surrender. “All right, all right.” She chuckled. “I’m coming.”

She stepped onto the middle of the tick, and a lovely warmth radiated through her soles. Then Philip covered the tops of her feet with the edge of his blanket and rubbed her toes until he’d thoroughly driven away the cold.

Her heart turned a flip at the sight of this man bending over her feet and warming them with such care. Such a humble gift, filled with tenderness. Never had she felt so ... cherished.

“Thank you.” The words came out more as a reverent whisper than the statement of gratitude she had intended.

He made no response, just pushed to his feet to stand before her.

“Hands.” It was an order, not a request.

She complied, holding her hands out in front of her. He took them in his, and the first thing she noticed was the heat radiating from his skin.

Her gaze flew to his face. “You’re warm.”

He rolled his eyes before settling his gaze on hers, his mouth twisting into a self-deprecating grin. “Only took half a day, but, yeah, I finally thawed out.”

“Oh, Philip. That’s wonderful!” She tugged her hands free of his hold, bounced up onto her tiptoes, and hugged his neck.

His arms came around her, forming a toasty cocoon as she found herself encapsulated inside his blanket, her front pressed to his chest as he held her close. Never had anything felt so wonderful. She wanted to linger, to savor the warmth and feel of him, but Rusty’s head bumping against her leg jostled her conscience. She really needed to quit foisting unrequested affection on her poor escort.

Loosening her hold on his neck, she slowly dropped her heels back to the mattress and eased away from his cozy embrace.

“I’m, uh, going to light a lantern and get supper started.”

He made no reply, but she felt his gaze follow her as she backed off the mattress and escaped to the table where the supplies waited.

****

It took a minute for Philip to recover from the boulder-sized impact Letty had made on his heart when she’d nestled up against him so sweetly. He pulled the blanket closed around his chest as he watched her cross the room to the supplies piled on the table. Philip bit the inside of his cheek as his pulse throbbed in his veins. How had she burrowed into his heart so deeply after such a short acquaintance? Like a bullet ricocheting off a metal sign and diverting to a new target, the trajectory of his life had taken a sharp, completely unanticipated turn. He’d become addicted to her uninhibited, spontaneous displays of affection. Her smile. Her laugh. Even the way she smelled. He admired her grit, her loyalty, and her kindness, but it was her affection that dismantled every argument that tried to convince him that the two of them would never work.

Philip forced his gaze away from her and bent down to rub Rusty’s head. “I’m in trouble, boy.”

He couldn’t court her while on duty, yet after his duty ended, their paths would diverge. What if her mother had a suitor already chosen for her? Even if she didn’t, shouldn’t Letty be given the chance to explore other options? Philip was the first man she’d ever spent any time with. If Wendell or Harper had been assigned to her case, she might have developed similar feelings for one of them. His jaw clenched at the thought.

Was proximity and gratitude all that fueled her interest? His gut told him no. That what he and Letty shared was special. Rare, even. Heaven knew he’d never felt anything like it before. But how could she know with any degree of certainty that he was the right man for her if she had no one to compare him to? She was young. Inexperienced with men. He needed to give her time and space to figure out what she wanted without removing himself completely from the equation.

Of course, they both had to be alive, or the question became moot.

Philip frowned as he approached the stove and fed a few more logs into the firebox. Time to get his head and body back into the game. Tomorrow they’d set out at first light and cover as much ground as possible. The faster they got to Houston, the faster they could deal with Drake Radcliffe and erase the threat hanging over Letty’s head.

Yet every mile that brought them closer to their destination also brought them closer to the men hired to ensure that Letty never arrived.

Philip straightened and let his gaze fall on the auburn-haired beauty who’d stolen his heart. Resolve tightened his chest.

She’d told him at the outset that she didn’t need someone to slay her dragons but a warrior to guard her back. He’d guard her frontward, backward, and sideways, whatever she needed. And he’d not be leaving her on her mother’s doorstep and running off to the next job, either. Dragons didn’t go down easily, and he intended to stay by her side until the one stalking her had been defanged, declawed, and detained in a dungeon so impenetrable, she need never fear him again.