Chapter Nineteen

 

 

 

Noah slapped the reins down, getting the horse to moving and tried to convince himself the sight of Keri didn't force all the blood in his body to head south, but every passing second in her presence told him otherwise. He couldn't get her out of his head. He couldn't look at her without remembering what she'd felt like in his arms. How her warm breath had felt against his neck.

How badly he wanted to kiss her when he'd caught her staring at him as if she'd wanted him back at the house.

His good sense prevailed when he reminded himself that just because he wanted her did not mean she felt the same way. So he'd given one last lingering look at her pink lips and put her in the wagon. Then spent the next ten minutes trying to decide if the look on her face was disappointment or relief.

The questions about her life with Robert and her husband had come from nowhere. He wasn't even sure why he asked them, especially since he'd been so rude to her when she'd asked him why he'd moved to Montana. He'd not wanted to tell her how miserable he'd been after Isabelle's rejection but today, he'd wanted to see her reaction. Wanted to see how she'd respond when faced with the same thing. To see if she found him as repulsive as Isabelle did. For some reason, he didn't think so.

A gust of wind blew snow and sleet at them, pelting their faces until Keri let out a small shriek, then laughed before trying to tuck her head inside the neck of her coat. Noah reached behind the seat, grabbed one of the blankets he kept back there for the kids to bundle up in and lifted it, trying to open it by giving it a hard shake. Keri took it, snapped it into the wind, then twirled it around her shoulders. Instead of laying it against her to ward off the cold, she held her arms up and turned her body toward him, blocking the wind-blown snow and cocooning them in a semi-warm, snow-free haven. She was so close, her knees rested against his thigh and he could smell the perfumed soap on her skin.

"Is this another blizzard blowing in?"

He glanced over at her. She was staring up at him, her blue eyes as captivating as she was. He cleared his throat and looked back at the road. "Hard to say." He looked up into the sky. The clouds were thick and gray but the snow fell in small flakes. "I guess we'll find out soon enough."

Reaching town took longer than it should have. The snow was falling harder by then and they ran into the school to collect the kids, smiling a greeting at Laurel when she saw them. Aaron and Sophie were huddled in a corner with a few other students, drawing something. Noah stood off to one side as he waited.

"I hope this snow isn't the start of another blizzard," Laurel said as she smiled up at them. "Everyone will be disappointed if we have to cancel the Christmas party. You'll be bringing the kids, won't you?"

Noah looked at Keri. He'd heard Aaron and Sophie Ann talking about the party, of the food and music, the dancing and games, and wondered if Keri would want to go. He imagined she did, and some small buried part of him wanted to take them. Wanted to see them smile and enjoy themselves. The part that preferred to stay hidden balked at the idea, but seeing Keri's eyes shine with excitement at the possibility made the decision for him. He'd bring them even if he had to sit in the wagon until time to go home. "They'll be here."

Laurel's face lit up as she smiled. "Wonderful! The children will be so excited. They weren't sure you'd be able to make it."

Aaron and Sophie finished whatever it was they were doing and raced across the room, talking on top of each other as they bundled up in their coats and gloves.

"Remember, a week from Friday at the stagecoach station," Laurel told them as they exited the school.

They hurried back to the wagon, covered the kids with one of the blankets and made it back to the house just as the snow stopped falling.

Aaron helped him unhitch the wagon and feed the animals while talking nonstop about the upcoming party. When they walked into the house, supper was waiting like it was every evening. Keri smiled at him when he entered the kitchen and heat spread through his limbs at the sight. The fact he enjoyed her smiles should have had him hunting a place for her and those kids to settle in to. Most days, the thought never entered his mind but when it did, a simple smile and her blue eyes seeking him out were all it took to convince himself that her and those kids were exactly where they needed to be.

Where he wanted them to be.

He'd lived alone for the last twelve years, cooking for himself and spending his evenings in quiet solitude. How was it a mere slip of a woman and her kids could turn his whole world around in a matter of weeks? He had no explanation for it. He avoided most everyone he came into contact with and the thought of speaking to a woman nearly choked the life out of him. He'd seen many a pretty faces. Many that, a lifetime ago, he would have pursued without thought. But not anymore.

Well, not until Keri.

Her, he spoke to, and the simple act of her doing things for him caused feelings to stir he thought long dead. Feelings he knew would have him acting like a fool in the very near future.

He sat in his chair, listening to the chatter of Aaron and Sophie Ann and watched Keri move around the room, filling plates and smiling at whatever the kids were talking about. She caught his eye, staring at him for long moments before her cheeks turned a pretty shade of pink. The fact she blushed from nothing more than a look from him left him dazed, especially when he recalled what he looked like. For the first time in years, he wished he was the man he used to be.

Setting his plate down in front of him, Keri glanced at him as she settled into her seat, those pink tinted cheeks turning darker by the second.

The joy he felt seeing her blush stirred that part of him he'd buried the day he left Charleston. He'd given up his dreams of a wife and children when Isabelle shunned him and he traveled halfway across the country to escape the pain of her rejection, resigning himself to always being alone. But Keri made him want those things again. He just wasn't sure how to go about getting them.