River Lady Read online

  “You’d better go,” Leah said, starting to pull away from him.

  Wesley wouldn’t relinquish her hands. “Not yet,” he said, his jaw set. “I’ll go when I’m ready.”

  She gave him a cold look. “You’ll leave when Miss Shaw pulls your chain,” she said hotly. “Now if you’ll excuse me I’d rather dance with someone else.”

  She was shaking as she walked away, and when she saw Justin she clung to his arm. “I need to get away from this crowd,” she murmured, and Justin led her into the dark forest.

  Once out of sight of the people, Leah nearly flung herself into Justin’s arms and planted her lips on his. She needed to feel she was a woman. She was sick of rejection, sick of feeling as if she’d been discarded. She’d thrown her body and her love at Wesley and he’d used what he wanted and told her he wanted no more. Kimberly sat on her throne and Wesley knelt before her, offering gifts.

  “Marry me,” Justin whispered, kissing her face and neck. “Marry me tonight.”

  She drew away from him. “You don’t have to marry me,” she said. “Just because I tend to…throw myself at men doesn’t mean one of them has to marry me. Or marry me forever,” she added.

  “Leah,” Justin said, grabbing her shoulders. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I love you. I’ve loved you from the beginning and I want to marry you. I want you to be my wife and live with me.”

  “For how long?” she snapped. “Don’t you have a girl back home?” She pulled away from him. “I can’t marry anyone.” Turning, she ran back to their own wagons, only to nearly run into Wesley and Kim.

  “I can’t go back there,” Kim was saying, tears in her voice. “I’m so tired and all those men kept touching me. I don’t like it.”

  “You don’t seem to like for any man to touch you,” Wesley said. “Even me.”

  “That’s not true. I don’t mind when you touch me except when you hurt me. Please, Wesley, let’s not argue. I really must sleep.”

  Leah didn’t want to overhear any more of the conversation. She stepped forward. “I’ll take care of Kim,” she said softly, putting her arms around the blonde woman who was beginning to cry.

  For some reason Leah’s action angered Wesley. “You can take care of her, can’t you?” he said under his breath, teeth clenched. “You can take care of anything and anyone. Is that it? Leah the mighty can rescue a man with one hand, raise half a dozen children with the other. Nothing is too much for Leah, is it? She can look beautiful even in dirty dresses.” He paused. “Go take care of someone else. I’ll see to Kim.”

  With that he half jerked Kim away from Leah and led her toward the wagons.

  Leah stared after them in stunned silence, sure that Wesley’s outburst was one of the oddest things she’d ever heard. Did he expect all women to be like Kim? No work would ever get done if they all sat around and tended their hair. Surely Wesley must realize that. No doubt he was angry again because he somehow thought she wasn’t being good to his darling Kimberly.

  Angrily, Leah turned away. Why was she spending more time thinking about what Wes wanted when she’d just received a proposal of marriage? And why would Justin want to marry her?

  Her head was aching when she went to bed and before long she was crying—and she didn’t know why she was crying.

  For the next three days it rained. The skies opened up and let loose a deluge that threatened to never end.

  Justin drove the wagon, Leah beside him, through deep, sucking mud puddles. Rain poured over them and no hats or rain clothes could keep them dry.

  Wesley had made a place for Kim inside the wagon and brought all her food to her. Twice Leah caught Justin smirking at Wesley, and Leah thought perhaps Wes was going to remove a few of Justin’s teeth.

  On the fourth day the sun shone weakly and flashed off the muddy land. In the evening it wasn’t easy to get ready for the night’s camp while walking around mud puddles as big as fish ponds.

  Leah made her way between two deep mud holes to reach the wagon. They’d had to set up camp some distance away and now she was carrying heavy bundles and trying to balance on the little ridge between the mud holes.

  Wesley stood by the wagon, watching her from under the brim of his hat. His buckskins were still wet in places.

  Leah pulled a large bundle of food from the wagon and started toward the camp.

  “Here,” Wes said, holding out a bag she knew contained a skillet. “You’ll need this.”

  Leah glanced down at her bundle, then returned to take the skillet.

  “And this,” Wesley said as he looped a horse’s bridle over her shoulder.

  “Maybe I should come back for some of these things,” Leah said, looking at her shoulder and then at the narrow bridge of land she must walk across.

  “You mean you can’t carry everything at once?” Wes asked, one eyebrow arched.

  “I guess so,” she began, as Wes draped another bridle on her other shoulder.

  “And this, of course,” he said, putting a bag’s drawstring over her neck so the heavy sack hung down her back.

  “Is that all?” she asked in exasperation, her legs beginning to bow under the weight.

  “That should do it. Oh, here’s one last thing. Justin’s hat.” He settled the too-big hat on her head, nearly covering her eyes.

  “I can’t see very well,” she mumbled, head back.

  “That shouldn’t bother you, should it? Nothing bothers Leah. Leah can do anything. Now, you’d better get going because people need those things.” He turned her about, pointed her toward the narrow strip of land, and gave her a little push.

  Leah was too busy concentrating on where she had to walk to think about what Wesley was trying to do to her. At the first step she took, the hat fell forward and more of her vision was blocked. To compensate she tilted her head back further and the sack dragging on her neck hurt.

  She did quite well for about ten steps, then halfway across, her left foot sank into a soggy bit of ground, and when she tugged at her foot she began to lose balance. One of the bridles slipped down her arm, further upsetting her. She tried to shrug it upward, but just then her foot came loose.

  For a moment she teetered on the brink, then suddenly she fell backward into the soft, oozing mud.

  Blinking, she sat there, still clutching all her bundles. A fat drop of mud slid down her forehead, her nose, and as it came near her lip, Leah blew at it.

  It was then that Wesley’s laughter made her look up. He was standing on the dry piece of land and bending over her, his face a study in amusement. “It looks like somebody found something the ever-competent Leah can’t do. You thought you could carry half the wagon and maneuver through the mud. It looks like you can’t,” he said with great glee.

  Leah raised one arm, mud all the way up to her armpit, and tried to push her dripping hair out of her eyes. Justin’s hat was half floating, half sinking down beside her. She had no idea what Wesley was talking about. Slowly she began to remove her bundles and put them on dry land.

  “You couldn’t even ask for help when you were falling,” Wes said as he took the food bag from her. “If I hadn’t been here you wouldn’t have anyone to help you out of this mess.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if you hadn’t given me so much to carry,” she said, removing the bag from around her neck.

  “Did it ever occur to you, Leah, to say no?” He wasn’t laughing now. “Why do you have to do everything yourself? Why don’t you ever ask anyone for help?”

  Leah looked at him and suddenly realized that she was sitting practically up to her nose in mud because he was trying to teach her some kind of lesson. Of course she needed help at times! But lately all she’d done was try to do her work and Kim’s. She was trying to care for and protect the woman he loved.

  Wes didn’t see the look in her eyes change. Nor did he see her hands sink into the mud at her side. As he reached for the last bundle, Leah’s arm flung out and threw a great gob of mud smack into Wesl