A Ransomed Heart (12 page)

She concentrated on the animal and within a few minutes things were going wonderfully.  Logan looked pleased and continued to watch her in silence.  Annabelle decided to ignore him and she rested her
forehead on the brown cow and closed her eyes.  The sound of the animal chewing and the squirting of the milk was soothing, but she could not get the feeling of his eyes off of her.  Finally she opened her eyes again, irritation flashing across her face.

Logan chuckled and then smiled widely at her.

“Looks like you got the hang of it.”

Her eyes hardened. “Looks like it. Can I do something for you
, Mr. Bailey?”

He liked the way her voice sounded. “We need to talk. Should I get Sassy
? She is kind of a handful.”

“She is done.”

He looked surprised. “What?”

“If you aren’t careful
you’re going to kick the bucket over.” She motioned with her head to the sack on the floor by the fence.

He hesitated to lift the cloth, but sure enough the bucket was full of warm milk.

“Impressive.”

She wrinkled her nose at him but said nothing in return.

“So you know your way around a cow, you are a decent rider, you can make bread, and you certainly did something to cheer Kit and Mama up; you pose quite a mystery to me, Miss Casey.”

She didn’t miss how he referred to her by her last name.
Her shoulders came up in a shrug and she looked down into the pail watching the milk swirl around in the bottom. The barn was silent other than the sounds of the animals bedding down for the night. Crickets could be heard outside the door and the evening light was fading quickly.  She was nearly done and her hands moved quickly to beat the sunset.

“What I am trying to say is I think I
may have pegged you wrong.”

Her eyes flitted to his face.

“So what don’t I know?”

“Humph. I am not the only one who has a few secrets.” Her eyes bored into his but he held her look.

He pushed away from the fence and looked a little panicked. “What did she tell you?”

Shrugging her
shoulders again she looked at him steadily. “Nothing, other than all of this is yours and that you are some kind of hero to these people.”

The cow was dry and Annabelle patted her on the side and moved the bucket out of the way from any stray tails or misplaced feet. 
Logan’s face smoothed a bit, but he seemed concerned about something. Untying the cow, she went to walk past him to return her to the inside stall with her calf. Logan’s hand shot out and caught her arm.

“Is that what you think? Do you believe I’m
a hero? Because something in your actions say otherwise.”

“Well
, kidnapping doesn’t seem very heroic to me.”

His hand tightened
on her arm.

“I tol
d you why I did it, I have no intention of hurting you; you should know that by now.”

“Hurting me…no, but there are factors you don’t know about.”

“Like what, your husband?”

“He isn’t my husband,” she hissed. “You take an eager
interest in our relationship. Do you disapprove?”

“Do you even know the man
, Annabelle?”

Her breath
caught in her throat, just exactly how much did he know?

“How can you not see
through him, see him for what he really is? How could you love such a man?”

She tried to jerk her arm away but he held fast. What did it matter if she loved him or not, if he knew the reason she was going there in the first place he would know it had nothing to do with love.
As if encouraging, the cow gave her a gentle push from behind.

“I never said I loved him!” I
t came out in a rush.

Logan let go of her arm then,
confused at what she had just said. “Why are you marrying him then?”

“It
’s none of your business.” This time she made her way past him and put Daisy in her stall. Logan stood in stunned silence. She hurried past him a second time for the pails of milk. The sooner she got in the house and up to bed the better. Just as she bent down to grab the first pail she heard his voice directly behind her:

“Make it my business.” It wasn’t a suggestion, it was a command.

She disregarded the pail and stood, spinning to face him.  They were very close to each other; she could feel his breath on her face. The smell of sagebrush and sand washed over her but she was frustrated at his persistence.

“You wouldn’t understand.” She tried to get past
him; he could bring the milk in himself. Instead he grabbed her by her upper arms and held her fast to him.

“Explain it to me, I just might understand.”

Embarrassment stung at her face and she could feel the tears spring to her eyes. She couldn’t tell him, it would be horrible for him to know, or anyone to know she had chosen to go into a loveless marriage to a man she had never met. She could only shake her head.

He shook her slightly trying to dislodge her secret. Why was he so
earnest in his pursuit? He should let go of her and let her be, but something desperate in her eyes kept him locked to her.

“Annabelle, you tell me you don’t love him, but you seem so
anxious to get back to him. I want to understand, just tell me.”

Tears fell from the corner of her eyes and trickled down her face. She clamped her mouth shut afraid she may spill the wh
ole story and humiliate herself. Shaking her head again she looked pleadingly into his eyes. “Please don’t ask me, I can’t tell you.” It was a desperate whisper.

Suddenly terrifying thoughts raced though his mind. What if she was in trouble? What if this whole time she was only
anxious to leave for her own safety, not from him, but from Mr. Sevier or his men?  The idea made his stomach churn within him and he clutched her to his body. All this time he had been thinking of himself but he should have been looking at her. Pushing her away to arms length he looked her squarely in the eye. “Annabelle, are you in trouble?”

She shook her head but lowered her eyes. He knew she would
volunteer no more information, but he had caught onto something he hadn’t before. Suddenly he felt as if he couldn’t contain himself he pulled her to him and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Shock crossed her face, but she didn’t pull away. Comfort was what she needed right now and she was finding it in the arms of this rugged man. She closed her eyes and waited for him to kiss her again. It didn’t take long and their
lips were together again. Fire shot though her body and she pressed herself helplessly against his body.  Was this what it felt like? This was her first kiss, and for all she cared it could be her last. Not only did he smell good he tasted good, too. Her hands clutched the front of his shirt as she felt her knees go weak. For a few minutes all she cared about in the whole world was Logan.

The
moment of bliss ended quickly, however, when her family came into her mind. What was she doing? In a few short days she would leave here and go to the man she would spend the rest of her mortal life with. Her heart seemed to break within her chest as she pushed him away and looked at his face with tears running down her face. He was something she could never have again; she must never have him again. With that she covered her mouth and ran from the barn a sob caught in her throat.

Logan watched her leave. He was in shock, what had he done?
He should never have kissed her; there was nothing that would make what he did right. She had trusted him for a brief moment and they had connected, but he had no indication she felt anything for him.  There was a reason she was marrying Sevier; it may not be love, but it was something which was important to her. Frustrated he bent and picked up one and then two tin buckets and headed for the house. It was time for her to go, and fast. If she didn’t he was in great danger of falling hopelessly in love with her.

Breakfast was silent. Mama made no mention of the night before; she had lay in bed and heard Annabelle crying into the night.  She would never believe Logan had hurt her, and she could sense a change was taking place, it was best to leave it alone. Logan and Annabelle looked everywhere but at each other, his face red with embarrassment, her eyes red from tears. Mama couldn’t help but wonder what had happened between the two the night before.

Logan slipped away as soon as he was done eating; the intensity of the atmosphere nearly choked him.  All he could think about was her sweet lips on his and how he had stepped way over the boundaries the night before and about how much he wished he could do it again.  To make matters worse Kit had abandoned him for the morning meal, opting for a few hours of sleep after his wild night of coffee bean gambling. Logan hardly stopped to saddle his buckskin before he lit out of the barn like the animal
’s tail was on fire. He needed to put some distance between him and the beautiful redhead.

Even hours
later, as he continued on his rounds, he couldn’t help but think about her and her rosy lips and sweet honey taste. He had been so certain about his plan just a couple of days ago, but that was when he was sure he would be kidnapping a grumpy old lady, not Miss Casey.  Deep inside he knew he was in trouble the moment she climbed out of the overturned stage; he should have tipped his hat and wished her a good day that very moment then gotten the heck out of there. Instead he brought her here, into his home, and very nearly into his heart.

The whole idea of it was ridiculous. He had never in his life believed in the idea of love. His own father had left him and his mother alone to fend for themselves,
surely that wasn’t love. As a matter of fact his father had left nothing but hurt and devastation in his wake, hardly anything that could be called love. He had seen it over and over again, people hurt because of other people and he questioned the very idea of love. But here he stood on the brink of being in love with a woman he hardly knew. The idea of her being in trouble caused his blood to boil and he wished there was some way, any way he could help her. Hearing the bawling of a calf he pushed the frustration and the thought of Annabelle to the back of his mind and headed off to see what was the matter.

Annabelle managed to make it
through the morning without Mama asking any questions. She was grateful the wonderful woman wasn’t pushy, instead she offered a quiet sort of support without even knowing why. Finally after the dishes were done and the house tidied, Annabelle slipped off to the barn to do the morning milking. She had heard the frantic hoofbeats of Logan’s horse as he left the barn earlier this morning. There was no danger of running into him, or repeating their encounter the night before. Still she nearly fainted when Kit came striding out of the shadows.

“
Morning, Miss Annabelle,” he chimed as he came and stood next to her and Sassy the milk cow.

“Morning
, Kit,” she replied, feeling her heart dance around in her breast.

“Guess I overslept
,” he mused as he leaned against the railing, swirling his coffee cup in a lazy circle.

The cup made a strange swishing sound
; it piqued Annabelle’s curiosity. “What do you have in your cup?”

He chuckled. “My poker winnings. We can’t play for money around these parts cuz no one has any so we play for coffee beans.
I won almost a whole cup last night.”

Annabelle smiled. “Bet your Mama loves that, unless you
lose.” She gave him a teasing, suspicious eye.

“Oh no
, ma’am, I never lose.” He gave her an adorable boyish smile and winked at her.

She giggled. He was so charming it was hard to not love everything about him. His handsome face suddenly became serious.

“I’m sorry about Logan.” The swishing in the cup stopped. “He really is a good guy, and believe it or not, he is trying to do what’s right.”

Annabelle’s heart started thumping again. She hoped Logan hadn’t mentioned
their kiss to Kit.  Her fear was for nothing because a quick smile replaced the pensive look.

“I sure like having you here
, Annabelle, you’re kind of like the sister I’ve never had.” He started the swishing again. “Shoot, between you and Logan I have the family I never figured I’d have.” He smiled to himself.

Annabelle
smiled along with him. “You and Logan are really close.” It wasn’t really a question, more an out-loud observation.

“Yeah, he really took me under his wing, even though he
’s older than me; I guess you could say we hit it off. I was just so glad he pulled through.”

Annabelle stopped her milking, wondering what he was talking about. Just then Mama’s sweet voice rang
through the air calling Kit into the house. He bellowed a reply then headed for the barn door. “See ya later, Annabelle.” He halted just for a moment. “Is it alright if I call you that?” A look of worry crossed his face.

Annabelle smiled and nodded. “My friends call me Annie.”