Finally a Bride (35 page)

But those eyes made her mind go foggy, as if a cloud had taken up residence in her head. She placed her hands behind her back to avoid touching him. “Want what?”

“To go for a walk.”

She shook her head. It would be completely inappropriate for her to walk with him in the dark. People would talk, and it could damage her reputation—such as it was. Besides, she couldn’t leave the children unattended. “I can’t.”

“Oh.” He shoved his hands inside his pockets. “All right. Guess I’ll go then.”

The light in his eyes dimmed. She watched him shuffle to the door, shoulders drooping, and a spear of regret stabbed her. Why would he want to walk with her? As far as she knew, he didn’t even like her.

“Rachel and Luke aren’t home, and neither is Jacqueline, so I can’t go.”

He spun back around. “You mean you would if you could?”

She shrugged. In truth, she would like to go, but she couldn’t wrap her mind around why he’d want to. “I guess so. I just don’t understand why you’d want to take a turn around town with me.”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

She stared at him. Had he been eating loco weed? “You know.”

He shook his head. “Know what?”

Carly rolled her eyes and sighed. “You could hardly get off that wagon fast enough when you first learned who I was that day you brung me back here. Now you wanna walk with me in front of the whole town? I’m confused.”

He scratched his blond hair and looked a bit perplexed himself. “I guess I’ve changed my mind.”

“About what?”

“You.”

“Why?”

His gaze flitted across her face, then her hair, and back down, as if he actually was attracted to her. She held her breath, not quite able to believe it might be true.

“You’re different, and I—I kind of like it.”

“Kind of?”

He flung his arms out sideways, making her jump. “Yes! No! Why are you making this so hard?”

“Making what so hard?”

He stared at her then suddenly spun away and stomped toward the door. “Never mind.”

“Wait? Where are you going?”

“Leaving?” He yanked open the door.

“Why?” He had to be the most confounding man in the world.

He tossed a wounded glance over his shoulder. “I knew this was a bad idea.”

Carly stomped her foot. “What is?” she all but yelled.

“Trying to court you.”

“Court me?” Her voice rose to a high squeak. Could he actually be serious? Or maybe this was one of the pranks he was well known for pulling.

He must have noticed something change in her expression because he turned back toward her. “Didn’t I make it clear that I want to court you?”

Carly laughed and shook her head. “No, you just asked me to take a walk.”

“Isn’t that the same thing?” The daft man looked honestly bewildered.

“Uh … no, it isn’t.” Carly shook her head, then felt her cheeks warm. She peeked at him, looked away, then glanced back. She’d learned to be wary of Garrett Corbett ten years ago, back when he and his brothers had ordered the mail-order brides for Luke. He had a reputation for being a prankster, but since she’d returned to Lookout, he seemed different—as if he’d finally matured. Did she dare risk trusting him, even though she was attracted to him now?

She’d watched him play with Rachel and Luke’s children. He was always gentle with them, but fun, and he made them laugh. He made her laugh when she watched them play.

Maybe he’d changed as much as she.

Maybe God would actually make her dream of marriage come true. “Uh … yes, I would be interested in … um … courting.”

Garrett’s wide grin was worth all the frustration of the past few minutes. He reached out and nearly shook her arm off, as if they’d sealed the business deal of the century. “Good,” he said, then looped his thumbs in his pants pockets. “Good.”

Rachel pushed the door open, stepping inside alone. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes dancing. “Who’s courting?”

Chapter 25

J
ack closed her eyes and braced for the hard landing, praying only that she didn’t reinjure her knee or fall into a pile of broken liquor bottles.

“Oompf!”

The masculine grunt took her by surprise as rough hands flailed around her skirts. Her back smashed into a hard body. Strong arms fumbled around her waist then found purchase, crushing her back against a solid chest. Her feet dangled in midair. She didn’t know whether to scream or be relieved or just enjoy the fact that she was still alive and uninjured.

Then the arms tossed her up and whirled her around. She squealed but then squelched the sound almost as soon as it left her mouth. She caught Noah’s familiar scent as he once again stopped her fall. He lowered her gently to the ground.

“What—do—you—think—you’re—doing?” Noah’s warm breath bathed her face, and she allowed herself to relax in spite of his harsh tone.

“Let’s go,” she whispered and pointed up at the open window above them.

The drunk leaned over. “Hey, li’l darlin’, don’t leave. Uh-oh.” He uttered a rolling belch then bent farther over and made a vile retching sound.

Noah didn’t need a second warning. He scooped her into his arms, raced past the back of Dolly’s Dress Shop, and then stopped behind Corbett’s Freight office and deposited her rather roughly on the porch.

He crossed his arms, and she could barely make out his features in the moonlight. “Explain.”

She rearranged her skirts as she sat on the hard wood and hiked her chin. He may have rescued her and saved her from hurting herself again, but she didn’t owe the preacher an explanation for her behavior. “No.”

He leaned into her face. “Yes.”

She swung her legs off the porch, then jumped up, forcing him to step back. “I don’t have to explain my actions to you.”

He heaved a heavy sigh, and she was certain he muttered something about patience. She needed to get home. She had a story to write, and her family had surely realized she was missing by now. Her papa would come looking, if he wasn’t already. What would he think to find her alone in an alley in the dark with the minister?

The bigger question was what would he do to the minister?

She glanced back at the saloon. The screen door banged shut. The drunk must have finished his business and gone back inside. She and Noah were truly alone—and why did that thought excite her? She should be irate at his brutish bullying, but she was too thankful that he’d been there to catch her.

Wait a minute
.

She crossed her arms. “Just what were you doing behind the saloon?” She thought of the spectacle he must have seen when she nearly fell the first time. Her cheeks flamed. Had it been light enough that he’d seen her unmentionables?

“Me? What were you doing hanging from the saloon window?”

Her mind raced for a logical explanation. Finally she shrugged. “You know me.” Her voice rose at the end.

He barked a laugh. “Far better than you can imagine.”

She crinkled her brow. “Just what does that mean?”

His humor fled as fast as it had come, and he stepped closer. “Why do you take such reckless chances, Jackie? Don’t you know you’re not invincible? You could have broken your leg or your pretty neck falling like that.”

The sudden tenderness in his voice caused a lump in her throat, but her defenses weren’t yet ready to surrender. “Why do you care?”

His sigh was a gentle caress on her cheek. “Because I do, that’s all.”

She wished she could read the expression in his eyes. How did he care? As a friend? Or as a man who maybe … “You’re the minister. It’s your job to care for your flock.”

He grunted, stalked away, and leaned one hand against a nearby tree. Intrigued, Jack followed. He wasn’t acting very preacherly, but rather like a man—dare she hope—in love. She held her breath. He would have to make the first move. Otherwise she’d never know for sure that his feelings hadn’t come about because of her own for him.

She blinked in the dark. Maybe in the daytime she couldn’t admit it, but here, alone with him in the moonlight, she knew the truth—she’d fallen hard for Noah Jeffers.

It made no sense.

It didn’t fit into her plans.

But hadn’t Pastor Taylor said on numerous occasions that God had far greater plans than man could ever imagine for himself—or herself?

Could it be God’s plan that she be part of Noah’s life?

Her stomach swirled with the possibilities of it all. Her knees—which hadn’t shaken during her ordeal at the window—now trembled so hard she thought maybe she ought to sit back down.

Noah spun around so fast, she didn’t have time to move. She must have surprised him because he jumped, then grabbed her upper arms. “Yes, I care about you because I’m the minister.”

As if she’d licked her fingers and put out a candle flame, her hopes dimmed.

“But”—he gave her a gentle shake—”there’s far more to it than that.”

“Far more to what?” She hated how her voice warbled.

“I do care about you—and not just as a minister.”

She licked her lips and swallowed. “You do?”

He didn’t answer, but his head tilted downward. Her heartbeat skedaddled upward.

“I may be a preacher, but when it comes to you, I’ve never been able to express myself like I’ve wanted. I shouldn’t do this, but will you allow me to show you how I feel?”

Her headed nodded as if she were a marionette controlled by strings and had no will of her own. She was too intrigued—too hopeful—to refuse.

His large hands cupped her cheeks, and she marveled that this big, strong man was trembling. He stood there a moment as if indecisive or possibly cherishing the moment, and then he bent down, his lips brushing hers as lightly as a wisp of Emmie’s hair.

Jack’s heart thundered in her chest and ears. She slid her hands up Noah’s chest, and he deepened the kiss. Her senses popped to life, and she pressed her lips harder against his. He moaned and grabbed her up, clear off her feet, kissing her as if there were no tomorrow.

And then he all but dropped her and stepped away.

She swayed, still caught up in her roiling emotions and passion. She wanted to say, “Amazing!” but his stoic reaction held her silent. Did he regret kissing her? Had she not done it right?

What did she know about kissing? She’d never done it before—at least not with a man. Her one and only kiss had been when she kissed Ricky, her old friend, just to see what it felt like—and it was absolutely nothing like what she’d just experienced. She placed her hand over her heart.

“I’m sorry.” Noah’s deep voice sounded far huskier than normal. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

Jack narrowed her gaze, a different kind of fire simmering. How could he stir up all these feelings she never knew she had and then say he shouldn’t have done that? Was she unworthy of his affections? She hauled back and clobbered him on the arm.

The moonlight illuminated his shocked expression. Then he started chuckling. “I probably deserved that.”

“You did.” But she wasn’t sure if it was because he’d kissed her or because he hadn’t kissed her again. She stomped her foot. Oh! She was so confused—and she didn’t like being confused.

He reached out and took her hand. “C’mon, I should get you home. Your folks are probably worried.”

And she had a story to write and get to Jenny first thing in the morning. But she hated to go, leaving things as they were. Why had he kissed her? Should she tell him of her growing attraction to him?

Noah rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, sending delicious chills racing up her arm.

“I didn’t hurt you when I caught you, did I?”

“No, though you scared me half to death. Thank you for saving me from getting hurt, but you never said why you were behind the saloon.”

“Neither did you.” She could see his white teeth as he grinned.

“Read the next edition of the paper, and you’ll find out.”

He stepped close and lifted a hand to her shoulder, still holding the other one. There went her knees a-wobblin’ again.

“Jackie, please stop taking such chances. You’re not a kid who can shinny up trees anymore; you’re a grown woman—a very beautiful woman—in skirts and petticoats, not overalls.” His grip tightened on her hand and she glanced up. “You could have hurt yourself in that fall, and I dread thinking what might have happened if that drunk had actually gotten ‘hold of you.”

He dropped her hand and took hold of her upper arms. “Please stop taking chances with your life. It’s too precious to put in danger. Promise me you’ll be more careful.”

Tears blurred her eyes at the tenderness in his voice. No man had ever treated her with such care and sensitivity except for Luke. Not even her best friends growing up—Ricky and Jonesy. She nodded, but what came out of her mouth surprised even her. “I will if you’ll kiss me again.”

He stared down at her as if shocked. Then he glanced around and backed her up into the shadows of the building. “I shouldn’t.”

“That’s what you said last time.” She tugged on his shirt, pulling him closer. After having a father who spewed his anger like a snorting bull and battered his wife and daughter, she never thought to find a man she could fully trust. One so gentle that he’d never hurt her. A man like Luke. A man who went around town doing kind deeds for people—just because he had a good heart. Noah would never treat her cruelly or lie to her or hit her.