River Lady Read online

  Nicole helped Leah to bed, and in the morning Clay asked that she come to his office.

  “I thought you might like to have this,” he said, handing her a large book bound in blue leather.

  “But I can’t—,” she began.

  “Open it.”

  She saw that the pages were blank and she looked at him, puzzled.

  Clay stood beside her. “On the cover it says, Arundel Hall, and every year I have several of the books bound to use for permanent records. Nicole told me of your loom patterns so I thought you might like to record them in this. You could take it to Kentucky with you.”

  To Clay’s complete bewilderment, Leah collapsed in a chair, the book held close to her, and she began to cry. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked. “Don’t you like the book?”

  “Everyone is so kind,” Leah cried. “I know it’s because of Wesley but still—.”

  Clay knelt before her, put his fingers under her chin, and lifted her face. “I want you to listen to me and believe what I’m saying. At first we did take you in because you’d married Wes, but we forgot about him months ago. Nicole and I and our children have come to love you. Remember how the boys came down with the measles at Christmas and you stayed up with them? Your kindness, the love you’ve given us, have more than repaid us for what little we’ve done for you.”

  “But all of you are so easy to love,” she answered through tears, “and you’ve given me the world. I’ve done so little for you.”

  Standing, Clay laughed. “All right, we’re equal then. I just don’t want to hear any more about what we’ve done for you. Now I need to go back to work.”

  Leah stood and on impulse threw her arms around Clay. “Thank you so much for everything.”

  He hugged her back. “If I’d known I’d get this kind of reward I would have deeded you the plantation. Now go on back to your looms.”

  Smiling, she left the office.

  In February, Regan and Travis came to fetch her.

  “You’ve had her long enough,” Travis said to Clay while grinning at Leah. Regan had said, with some disgust, that Travis had quickly forgiven Leah for trapping his little brother after Travis saw how pretty Leah’d turned out to be.

  With tears in her eyes, Leah hugged all the Armstrong family good-bye.

  “Oh yes,” Clay said, eyes dancing, “I thought you might like to have this.” He nodded toward a wooden crate standing with several others on the wharf.

  Puzzled, Leah walked toward the box. Behind it was a loom, a beautiful piece of work in cherry with brass fittings.

  As Leah gaped soundlessly, Clay put his arm around her. “It breaks down for packing and you can take it to Kentucky with you. If you start crying again I’ll keep it,” he warned.

  Again Leah hugged him as Travis said he’d send someone to get the loom. Leah, hating to part with the loom for even a few days, grabbed the long comblike reed and clutched it. As Travis lifted her into the little sloop, she held the reed and waved as long as she could see the Armstrongs on the dock.

  On the sail back to Stanford Plantation, Regan asked Leah hundreds of questions and at the same time noticed the many changes in Leah. She held herself erectly, looked people in the eye, and her movements were unconsciously graceful.

  As they walked from the dock to the house, Regan was thinking that Leah was ready for anything—until she looked up at the house. Standing on the porch, one hand delicately poised on the iron railing, was Kimberly Shaw, her blonde hair drawn back from her lovely face, rings of curls down her neck. Her fragile prettiness was set off by a silk gown and matching cloak of deep pink.

  “Is she Wesley’s Kimberly?” Leah asked in a whisper.

  “You are Wesley’s wife, remember that, Leah,” Regan said under her breath as Kimberly walked down the stairs and toward them.

  “Kimberly!” Travis said, pleased. “It’s been so long since we’ve seen you.” He caught her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Have you met Leah, my sister-in-law?”

  “Only briefly,” Kimberly said in a pretty, soft voice as she held out her hand. “I am Kimberly Shaw.”

  To Regan’s disgust, she could see Leah weakening before Kim. Kim had a way about her of apparent sweetness that made people want to do her bidding.

  “I am very happy to meet you,” Leah said softly.

  “If you ladies will excuse me,” Travis said, “I have to get back to work.”

  When he was gone, Regan invited Kim in for tea.

  “If it’s not too much trouble,” Kim said. “I do have some news I want to tell.”

  “About Wesley?” Leah asked eagerly, following Kim up the stairs.

  “You haven’t heard from him?” Kim asked, eyebrows raised in speculation.

  “Have you?” Regan interrupted, leading the way into the small parlor as she ordered tea from a servant.

  “Not often,” Kim said modestly. When they were seated, she spoke again. “I want to be honest about everything and I was, to say the least, very upset at what happened last year. I couldn’t bring myself to even hear Wesley’s name for months afterward.”

  Leah toyed with her fingers in her lap. She had given so little thought to how this woman must have felt at losing the man she loved.

  “As you know,” Kim continued, “it was planned that Wesley and I, with my brother Steven, would travel to Kentucky together and I’d looked forward to going to a new state with…with…” She stopped as the tea was brought in.

  When the servant was gone, Regan spoke. “You didn’t come here to tell us about last year’s plans, so why are you here?”

  Big fat tears clouded Kim’s pretty eyes. “Since that day in church my life has been awful, just dreadful. Regan, you really can’t imagine what it’s been like. I’m laughed at constantly. Every time I go to church someone makes a remark about how I was…jilted.” She glanced at Leah, who was still looking at her hands. “Even the children are making up rhymes about what happened.”

  She buried her face in her hands. “It’s too awful. I can’t bear it any longer.”

  In spite of herself, Regan felt her heart go out to the woman. “Kim, what can we do? Maybe Travis could talk to the people or—.”

  “No,” Kim said. “The only way is to leave. Leah,” she said, pleadingly, and Leah met her eyes. “You don’t know me, but I want to ask you to do something for me, something that will save my life.”

  “What can I do?” Leah asked seriously.

  “In Wes’s last letter to me, he said he was returning at the end of March, then the two of you and my brother would start the journey to Kentucky.”

  A month! Leah thought. In just a month Wesley would be home and she would really be his wife.

  “Let me go with you,” Kimberly was saying. “I could travel with Steven and the four of us could go somewhere where no one knows what’s been done to me. Please, Leah, I have no right to ask anything of you, I know, but it was because of you that—.”

  Regan stood and cut off Kim’s words. “I think you’re asking too much of Leah and I don’t think she should—.”

  “Please, Leah,” Kim asked. “Maybe I can find a husband in Kentucky. Here everyone laughs at me. It’s miserable, really miserable and you already have Wesley, the one man I’ve ever loved and—.”

  “Yes,” Leah said firmly. “Of course you may go with us.”

  “Leah,” Regan said, “I think we should discuss this.”

  “No,” Leah said, looking at Kim. “It’s my fault that this has happened to you and I’ll do what I can to give you back some of what you’ve lost.”

  “That’s not your responsibility,” Regan began, but Leah gave her a look she’d never seen before.

  “Would you pour?” Leah said to Regan, and Regan sat down and obeyed her.

  Chapter 5

  Leah put the last stitches in the border of the coverlet, a blue and white Irish chain pattern, and smoothed it in her lap. She looked up at Janie’s laugh.

  “Is it