The Lumberjack Page 5

  She opened her mouth to say something, but no words followed.

  Eli nodded his understanding. His words had been bold, but surprisingly not a self-revelation. He’d always regretted the way he’d left things with her, but she’d only been sixteen years old the last time they’d met—a child. Though he was only four years her senior, he’d been caught up in doing work for his father’s business and hadn’t been ready to settle down, let alone with someone so young in a place barely livable for the scroungy backwoodsmen who worked there.

  The stunned silence that followed his confession was deafening.

  “Now,” he said, releasing her hands and reaching up to tip his hat, “if you’ll all excuse me.” He strode toward the stable where he and Jonah had deposited their mounts on their way into town. It had been a long day and he needed some sleep.

  While he was grateful that they’d been able to take the train the majority of the way between Texas and Kansas, he missed the open road. He missed the nights lying out beneath the starry sky and the smell of fresh dew on the earth. It had been a far cry from life in the lumber camps. He did like the work, the fresh scent of pine as he opened up the trees, but ever since he’d ridden into his favorite gulch back home only to see it laid waste to the devastation his father’s business had wreaked over it, his enthusiasm for logging had started to wane.

  “Wait up there, Eli,” Jonah called out from behind him.

  “Sorry, Jonah, I know that was a little…”

  “Unexpected?” Jonah filled in for him.

  “Yeah, for me too.” Eli reached for his saddle blanket, but his friend put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Running away from it isn’t going to make it any better. Did you mean what you said out there?”

  Eli turned to Jonah. “Every word.”

  “Then, don’t make excuses for it. Own up to it.”

  “But you saw her. She’s here with a man.”

  “This is the first time that Hollings fella has escorted Hannah anywhere. He’s new in town and barely old enough to be called a man. If I were you, I would be more worried about a man by the name of Gordon Blythe.”

  His eyes narrowed at his friend. “Gordon who?”

  “Blythe. Apparently, he’s the only fella who hasn’t been scared off by her brothers and their tactics or who has kept her attentions. He’s escorted her out several times over the last few years, and she’d been real keen on him, but he’s been away at school for the last year or so. Word is, he’s coming home at the end of the month.”

  Eli reached again for the blanket.

  “Keen on him.” He snorted. “Well, she hates me still.”

  “What was it that Tag said? Hate’s a mighty strong word. What was it that happened anyway? The two of you seemed right as rain together. I thought for sure it would be no time at all before you’d be asking her daddy for his permission for her hand. Then, she was just gone and you stopped talking about her.”

  “She was sixteen.”

  “So?”

  “I worked in the lumber camps. Can you see a young and beautiful Hannah Redbourne giving up her life here to stay with me in a place like that? My father’s camps are not fit for a lady and I was not about to subject a sixteen-year-old innocent to that kind of life. No matter what it cost me. And I can tell you, it cost me. A lot.”

  “Well, she’s not sixteen anymore.”

  “I noticed.”

  “Hannah’s a smart girl, Eli, with a good head on her shoulders. She comes from a good family, and—”

  “Did you not hear a single word I said out there? I already know all that.”

  Jonah smiled—almost a smirking kind of smile. “Then, what are you waiting for?”

  “For the timing to be right.”

  “Waiting isn’t living, my friend. If you are always waiting for the time to be right, you’re gonna miss out on all the adventures that come because it’s not.”

  Eli scoffed. “I’m not really sure what that means, but I take it you’re telling me not to run away from a fight.”

  Jonah put his hand on Eli’s shoulder and guided him back out of the livery.

  “Don’t you think you should let Hannah decide?”

  “And what if she chooses him?” The bitter taste of vulnerability shook his confidence for a moment before he realized that he couldn’t ever be satisfied without knowing.

  “Then, at least you won’t have to live with ‘what ifs.’”

  Exactly!

  Chapter 5

  “Hannah Redbourne,” Lydia said, slipping her arm to link with hers, “have you been keeping secrets from me?”

  “Whatever do you mean?”

  “I mean the handsome winner of the woodcutting contest. I thought he was a stranger to these parts, but apparently, not as much of a stranger to you. The man practically proposed to you, and right in front of Eustice too.”

  “Mr. Whittaker certainly did not propose to me, Lydia Caulfield,” Hannah whispered through the side of her mouth, “and don’t you go saying otherwise.”

  “Ooooh, Mr. Whittaker.” Lydia squeezed her arm a little tighter, her smile was almost loud enough to hear. “How do you know him? Are you going to marry him? Why haven’t you told me about him before?”

  “I have.”

  Her friend let go of her arm and looked up at her, brows scrunched and head tilted.

  “My trip to Oregon. Too young to understand.” Hannah bobbed her head as if willing Lydia to remember.

  “Wait, that man walking toward us right now, that’s Eli? The ‘you’re just too young to be with me in a relationship’ man from Oregon?”

  Hannah froze.

  “He’s coming this way?” Panic filled every hollow corner of her body.

  “Uh-huh.” Lydia confirmed. “And, may I just say, he’s absolutely dream-worthy,” she sighed.

  After everything Eli had just proclaimed to the entire town of Stone Creek—not to mention her brothers—what was she supposed to say? ‘Hello, now that I am of an acceptable age to you, let’s forget the hurt, the agony, the disappointment that lingered with me for years?’ She’d thought she’d moved on from her silly youthful infatuation, but seeing him again had just stirred up memories she’d tried to bury. After everything he’d said to her that day, she hadn’t wanted to be reminded that she wasn’t good enough for the likes of him. How could six years of silence have changed that fact?

  It didn’t help that she compared every man who came a courting to him. Even Gordon Blythe, who had come the closest.

  “Miss Redbourne,” Eli called her name from behind. “May I have a word in private?”

  Hannah slowly turned to face him, willing herself to remain calm, to remember who she was and where they were.

  “There you are,” Eustice said, coming from the opposite direction, his eyes darting between Hannah and Eli. “They are about to begin the wheelbarrow race. Are you ready?”

  “Of course, Mr. Hollings. Can you just give me a moment?”

  “Eustice Hollings,” he said sticking out a hand to Eli. “I understand you won the woodchopping contest, Mr…?”

  “Whittaker. Eli.” He shook the man’s extended hand. “An old friend of the Redbournes. I hope you don’t mind if I borrow Hannah for just a moment,” he said, one brow raised as if daring her escort to object.

  She looked over at Eustice, who had an expression similar to the one he bore when he came to pick her up this afternoon. Fear? Intimidation? Or was it jealousy?

  “I’ll be right there, Mr. Hollings. Afterall, a Redbourne has won that contest for three years running. Can’t let that stop now.”

  Eustice nodded eagerly. “I’ll go get our wheelbarrow.”

  “And, I’ll join you,” Lydia said, excusing herself with a nod.

  It took every bit of courage Hannah could muster, but she looked up at Eli and held his gaze until he moved to the side of her and held out his arm. She looked around, specifically looking for Mrs. Putnum, who was certainly the t
own’s biggest gossip. She could only imagine what people would say, seeing as that she had come with one gentleman and was gallivanting off with another.

  No Mrs. Putnum. She breathed a little easier as she walked with Eli to a bench that had been constructed of hay bales at the edge of the festivities.

  They sat.

  Hannah rested her hands in her lap.

  “About what I said earlier,” Eli started, “I…didn’t mean…”

  “You don’t have to do this, Mr. Whittaker. I caught you and my brothers talking about me and you said some things in the moment that you surely didn’t mean in order to shock and impress them.”

  “No, Hannah, I—”

  “I understand. Really, you don’t have to explain.”

  “That’s just it,” he started again.

  “The wheelbarrow race is about to begin,” the mayor called over the bullhorn.

  Hannah stood up. “I really must be going. I—”

  “Blast it all, woman, will you let me speak?” he said, standing and pulling her up with him.

  “Why?” she said, wishing they were not standing so close together. “To mock me once again?”

  Eli’s jaw flexed.

  She thought he might grab her shoulders and she took a step back, but instead he pulled off his hat and ran a hand through his hair. He closed his eyes, then blew out a large breath of air before opening them again.

  She didn’t want him to speak. She didn’t want him to explain. The hope that she’d once retained that somehow he would follow her back to Stone Creek and admit he’d been wrong had been extinguished for years.

  She’d moved on.

  He was six years too late.

  “We’re going to miss the race,” she said quietly.

  “Hannah—”

  Through a rumbling bustle in the crowd, edging the jubilee patrons apart, emerged Cole, fighting against the flow, with a wheelbarrow in tow.

  “Come on, sis! We’re waiting on you.” He swooped down, lifted her into his arms, and deposited her into the wheelbarrow. “Sorry, Eli, it’ll have to wait,” he called back over his shoulder as he whisked her off.

  Hannah giggled, but didn’t know how Eustice would feel to have been uprooted as her race partner, but when she looked over at him, he had a sheepish expression on his face and Lydia was in his cart.

  He shrugged, then smiled.

  BANG! The man with the bullhorn shot a pistol into the air.

  Without a second’s delay, Cole darted forward, his eyes narrowed at the finish line.

  Hannah gripped the metal sides, allowing herself to enjoy the wind on her face as it threaded her hair.

  The front wheel hit a rock and the cart slid sideways, tossing Hannah a good foot into the air before Cole caught the back of her dress and yanked her back down into the tray. She was amazed that nothing had torn.

  “You all right?” he asked without breaking speed.

  Unable to speak, she simply nodded.

  “Good. Hold on. We’re almost there.” Cole’s body leaned closer as he dug down deep for another burst of speed.

  Hannah tightened her hands around the rim and closed one eye, focusing on Raine who stood a few feet beyond the finish line.

  One minute she was in the back of the wheelbarrow and the next she was flying through the air. Cole had narrowly missed one of the larger ruts, but hit a smaller one and the front wheel stuck, sending her sprawling to the ground.

  This has not been my lucky day, she thought, dragging her bruised body from the ground.

  “Hannah!” Cole yelled as he ran and crouched down next to her. “Hannah, are you okay?” he asked, his heaving breaths coming in short, quick gasps.

  “I’m fine,” she said, flipping the back of her hand across a fresh mud stain on her new dress.

  He swallowed and reached out a hand to help her up.

  “The dress? Not fine.” She dropped her hands hopelessly to her sides and let out a heavy sigh.

  BANG!

  “Sorry about that, sis. We were so close!”

  Hannah looked over to see Ethan and his wife, Grace, with baby Ollie in tow, celebrating the win, with little Luke at their feet.

  “At least the Redbournes still have it.”

  She glanced around, surprised that her parents hadn’t yet made it to the festivities. The time for the pie contest was quickly approaching and her mama’s Maple-Caramel Walnut pie was the best in the county, let alone the state. She wouldn’t miss it.

  Raine grabbed her by the shoulders and looked down into her face. “Are you all right?” he asked, concern lacing his brow.

  “I’m fine. A few bumps and bruises. This wasn’t my first fall today.”

  “I know, but that is not what I meant.”

  “I know.” She shrugged her shoulders. Her eldest brother had always been someone she could talk to, confide in, but she didn’t know what to tell him because she didn’t know if she was all right. “I don’t know why everyone is making such a fuss. Eli Whittaker is in town for a few days and then he’ll be heading back to his precious Oregon.” She shook her head and chuckled. “That didn’t come out the way I expected. I guess I just feel like I’m sixteen again and not good enough for the lumberman’s son.”

  “I never thought I’d see the day that my baby sister doubted herself or her abilities.” He put his arm around her and squeezed her tight into his side. “Just because you have seven older, very wise, but protective brothers, don’t think for a moment that we won’t relent for the…right gentleman.”

  “Are you saying that I will not end up an old spinster woman because of all of you?”

  Raine laughed, which brought a smile to Hannah’s face. She loved her brother and realized he was right. She wasn’t sixteen any longer and was quite capable of securing a husband of her choosing when it suited her. Eli was the only man in the world who had ever made her even a little unsure of herself.

  Well, no more.

  “Thank you.”

  “What are big brothers for?” Raine laughed, then popped a peanut into his mouth. He caught Hannah staring at the man who sent her a little off-kilter. “By the way, you will have to face him sooner or later. He and Jonah will be staying in the twins’ room for the next week or so.”

  Hannah’s smile faltered only slightly, swallowing hard, suddenly finding it difficult to breathe. “I’m sure they will be most pleased with their stay. Mother will spoil them rotten.”

  “That’s the spirit.”

  Hannah laughed.

  Together they walked toward the booth where all the pies sat waiting to be judged. After the summer they’d had, it was nice to see food on the table and not a grasshopper in sight. The rest of her family had also collected there, including her parents.

  “Are you enjoying the festivities?” Leah asked her daughter.

  Hannah looked up at Raine.

  “Quite.”

  “Aunt Leah,” Jonah said, capturing her mother’s immediate attention. “Uncle Jameson. It’s so good to see you both.”

  “Oh, Jonah,” Leah said, pulling her nephew into her embrace. “I am just elated that you have decided to join us for a few weeks.”

  “Just a week, Aunt Leah,” he chuckled with a wink. “I’ll need to be getting home to my wife and boys.”

  “Stand back and let me look at you.”

  Jonah did as instructed, waving his arms in front of him as if showing a display.

  “And, you remember Eli Whittaker?”

  Eli stepped forward with nary a glance in her direction.

  “Mrs. Redbourne, it is wonderful to see you again. It has been too long.”

  “Why, yes, of course. I was so sad to hear about Persephone,” she said, placing a hand on Eli’s arm. “She was such a sweet young woman. A real talent with the needle.”

  The Redbournes had learned of his sister’s passing just a few months after they’d left.

  “Thank you, ma’am.”

  “And, how is the rest of
your family, Eli?”

  “Dahlia’s pregnant with her second, Iris is now betrothed, Angus is following closely in Father’s footsteps at the mill, and my father…well, he never changes.”

  “And you?”

  “I’m still trying to figure that out, ma’am.”

  “Well, I’m glad you came along with Jonah. You are always welcome in our home.”

  “That’s mighty kind of you, Mrs. Redbourne. I look forward to seeing this ranch I’ve heard so much about.”

  “She’s really something,” Jameson piped in.

  Hannah could see the pride on her father’s face as he spoke of their home. He and the boys had worked hard to make it into one of the most successful ranches west of the Mississippi.

  “Okay, folks, the judges are ready,” the announcer called. “Looks like we have twelve entries this year. While we are waiting for the judges to make their decisions, we have several men who will be competing in our annual pie eating contest. It appears that the Redbourne boys are going to have some competition this year.” He nodded at Eli, then to John and Eustice who both stood at the edge of the newly built gazebo.

  Eustice.

  Hannah felt awful that she had nearly forgotten that he was supposed to be her escort and decided she should probably join Lydia as they cheered them on.

  “Good luck, Mama,” she said with a kiss on her mother’s cheek. “If you’ll all excuse me.” She dipped her head with a sort of half smile when she met Eli’s eyes before picking up the hem of her dress and weaving through the crowd to where John, Eustice, and Lydia stood.

  Once the pies had been set in spaced increments on the long table, several of the townsmen sat down in front of their respective pies while Mrs. Putnum and a few other ladies tied their hands behind their backs and tucked a bib into each of their shirt collars.