The Touch of Sage (12 page)

“
I s
’
pose,
”
Forest
mumbled. Sage was delighted in his obvious vexation.
He had wanted to bully her around because he was just plain mean.
But, like everyone else in town, Reb
’
s charm won him over.

“
Anyway,
”
Reb said, lowering his voice and leaning closer to
Forest
.
“
Can ya just imagine Mary Farthen, Livie
,
and
the
rest of them ladies a
-
chasin
’
around after a litter of pups?
”

Sage
’
s eyebrows rose in astonishment as she heard Forest Simmons chuckle, something akin to a smile spreading across his face.

“It would be a sight
,
”
Forest
chuckled.
With a heavy sigh
,
the old man finally agreed.
“
All righty, then.
You can take my lady and her litter out to Buck
’
s old ranch…just
’
til the litter is weaned.
As long as I don
’
t have to bother with no rambunctious mess of dogs ya can have the pups
,
I guess.
”

“
Thank ya,
Forest
,
”
Reb said, shaking the man
’
s hand again.
“
I can
’
t thank ya enough for doin
’
me such a favor.
”

Forest
smiled proudly
,
and Sage smiled too, amazed at Reb
’
s having won the old goat over.

“
I
’
ll bring her out in a week or two when she
’
s closer to bustin
’
,
”
Forest
said.

“
Oh, don
’
t worry about that,
”
Reb said.
“
I
’
ll come in and get her when yer ready.
”

“Okeydokey
,
”
Forest
said.
“
Good day to ya, Miss Sage,
”
the man said before turning and leaving by way of entering the general store.

Reb released a heavy sigh once the man was out of earshot and said,
“
Did I earn myself another pan of sage stuffin
’
, Miss Willows?
”

Sage smiled at him.
How chivalrous he had been, coming to her rescue as he had!

“
Oh, I think so,
”
she answered.
“
I thought he was gonna eat me alive!
”

Reb chuckled.
“
Ol
’
Forest
might be old and ugly, but I don
’
t think he has enough teeth left in his head to take to bein
’
a cannibal.
”

Sage covered her mouth with one hand, but not before a rather loud, unladylike laugh escaped.

Reb smiled as he watched Sage giggle.
Her eyes seemed to light up with delight in a way he had never seen them light up before
,
and the fact caused some sort of long-absent warmth to seep into his veins.

He had been at the smithy and just happened to glance across the way to the general store in time to see Sage come out with a basket full of goods in hand.
He had also se
en Forest Simmons approach her—
seen the way the color drained from Sage
’
s pretty face as the cranky old goat spoke to her.
Further, he suspected what
Forest
was chewing her out about and knew he couldn
’
t let Sage endure it any longer.

The last thing Rebel needed was a litter of rowdy pups tearing up his ranch house and outbuildings. But for some reason, Sage Willows brought out his protective nature
,
and now he found himself anticipating raising half a dozen pups.
Still, he didn
’
t put it past
Forest
to be serious about wanting to drown the litter
,
and that was just plain ridiculous.

“
Thank you, Reb,
”
Sage said once she had managed to stifle her delightful giggles.
“
Just let me know when you want to come by for supper
,
and I
’
ll make sure stuffin
’
is on the table for you.
”

“
Good deal,
”
he said.
Unexpectedly then, Sage reached up, brushing at something on Reb
’
s cheek.
Reb was instantly unsettled by her touch.
The soft, familiar scent of sage tickled his breath
,
and he suspected she had been pinching sage leaves again.
Further, an instant pleasure welled up in his chest at the feel of her fingers on his skin
,
and he turned his face from her.
The sensations her caressive touch had evoke
d in him had long been guarded—
safely dormant somewhere d
eep within. She was dangerous—a threat to his resolve—
and he hadn
’
t been prepared to defend himself from such feelings.
Most of the time he could flirt, tease, even do a little sparking with a girl here and there without risking the slightest crack in his heart of stone.
But Sage Willows was different.
Reb had discovered the need to be well prepared defensively when in her presence
,
and at that moment he hadn
’
t been.

Sage let her hand fall from Reb
’s cheek—
her fingers going to her collar buttons and fiddling with them nervously.

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
she said.
“
You had…you had dirt on your face.
”
She felt tears welling in her eyes.
It had been a natural instinct that moved her hand to his cheek, but he was obviously not in need or want of her touch.
Trying to distract herself from the desire to cry because of his obvious rejection, she reached down and patted Bullet
’
s happy head.

“Y-
you just let your aunt know what day you
’
ll be by for supper,
”
Sage choked, brushing past Reb quickly.
In that same moment
,
she noticed the clouds moving in from the west
, and she thanked the h
eavens for them.
She knew she would sorely need them this day.

Reb squeezed his eyes tightly shut for a moment, knowing he had offended her. But
he was self-protective, empty—
with nothing to offer a woman.
He knew her gesture had been merely that of one friend looking out for another, but he also recognized the warmth in his body when she had tou
ched him—knew it sprang from desire—
from the want of her continued touch. It would
’
ve been dangerous to allow her to continue touching him when his resistance was down.
Yet now he had slighted her
,
and that knowledge also caused him to feel.

“
Come on, Bullet,
”
he grumbled.
“
Let
’
s get on home.
”

Sage set the basket of things she had purchased from th
e general store on the boarding house
front porch.
The rain hadn
’
t arrived yet
,
and she needed it so des
perately. Careless of her well-being—
as her i
mpending tears often found her—
Sage went to the barn and saddled Drifter.

She could feel the moisture heavy in her eyes, but the rain still had not come when she reached the
creek bed
.
Quickly she tied Drifter
’
s reins to a piñon tree and hurried over the hill to Ruthie
’
s grave.
As she knelt before the tiny gravestone, Sage felt the first blessed drops of rain on her cheeks
,
and with them Sage
’
s tears began to flow freely.
The pain in her heart caused by Reb
’
s obvious disgust at her touch stung unbearably sharp and harsh.
She felt as if someone had actually plunged something into her bosom.
She sobbed bitterly, cried out with the agony of loneliness and despair.

She loved him!
She c
ould no longer deceive herself—
deny her heart
,
and the inward admission was excruciat
ing. She kept seeing his face—
the frown, which had instantly puckered hi
s brow when she had touched him—
kept envisioning the way his eyes narrowed with revulsion.

“
Am I so revolting, Ruthie?
”
she sobbed quietly.
“I
t was just a
smudge…a little bit of dirt. I-
I only wanted to…
”
But her words were lost as tears and sobbing overwhelmed her again.
The few soft drops of rain gave way to a heavier, colder downpour.

Reb had approached Ruth
’
s grave from
behind—
for he had assumed he would find Sage there.
W
hen he had gone to the boarding house
to offer some sort of awkward apology to her and found her basket sitting on the front porch, he had suspected she would go to Ruth.
He did not expect, however, to see her kneeling on the ground before the tiny gravestone drenched in tears as well as rain.
Self-loathing overtook him at the sight
. H
e turned Ned around
and headed back to the boarding house
.
He would give Sage her privacy.
He had stayed his distance
,
and the noise of the rain would drown out any sound his retreat might make.
As he rode back to the
boarding house, his resolve was firm—
he owed his aunt
’
s friend an apology.
No.
He owed
his
friend an apology.
Uncertain at that moment how to offer one to her, still he knew he must.
He wou
ld wait for her to return—
visit with
his aunt and the other ladies—
let Ned and Bullet keep company out in the barn whil
e he waited out the rain. Sage—a sweet, beautiful young woman—
did not deserve to be ill-treated by the likes of Rebel Mitchell.
He would simply have to be on his guard better when she was around.
After all, it wasn
’
t her fault Ivy Dalton had been born.



“
It was a hard row to hoe,
”
Reb
’
s aunt told him.
“
Four little girls left orphaned…and I say four little girls because Sage was only sixteen…a child herself, really.
”
Reb nodded, agreeing with his aunt
’
s opinion that Sage was very young to have had the responsib
ility
of raising her sisters heaped on her shoulders.
He thought of the girl now
—
kneeling before the tiny gravestone in the
lonely pasture—
crying in the rain.
He clinched his jaw, angry with himself for adding to her misery.

“Rosie
was livin
’
at
Willows
’s
when Matthew and Susan died
,
and I know she was a real help and strength to Sage,
”
Eugenia continued.
“
Still, runnin
’
a
boarding house
and bein
’
a parent to those girls…well, Sage
’
s life just got skipped over.
Even when Clark Miller wanted to court Sage…well, Sage was too busy with Karoline and April
’
s antics
,
and
Clark
turned his attention to Betty…the girl just two years under Sage.
They got married…oh…about four years back and moved out to
Texas
.
Then April married a year or so later and then Karoline just this past year.
”