8

Stifling a scream, Mahlah yanked her arm free from the assailant. Not wanting any stranger to enter her tent, she leapt outside. Hand on her blade, she whipped around ready to confront her attacker and shout for her kinsmen. A warning hung on her lips.

Reuben jumped backward. His mouth gaped.

His dark-eyed, dark-lashed gaze made her heart boom all the way to her belly. He’d always had that effect on her until his wedding day when she hid behind her father and vomited into an empty vessel.

Hand to pulsing chest, she stumbled forward. “Reuben, I almost called a curse upon you, not to mention I could have summoned the whole camp.” She paced a few steps to calm her frantic heart and restore some of the energy that had dashed from her body. The slightest trade wind threatened to tip her over.

“Forgive me.” He stood immobile watching her blow out breaths as if she had run a race. “I would have sought you sooner, but Moses called the leaders together for a council.”

“It must be important.” But no one from her tribe or clan had deemed it necessary to include her in the meeting with Moses.

“It is.” He straightened to his full height. “I have been chosen to fight for Manasseh against the Amorite soldiers.”

“I see.” His announcement made her bones weary. The thought of losing another relative troubled her soul. Reuben was not like her other kin; he hadn’t spoken one foul word about her father. Not one disrespectful remark in all their growing up years or after her father’s shameful death. “What about Jonah?”

“That’s why I’m here.” He ambled closer. Close enough for her to smell the scent of his freshly washed linen. “If I should die—”

“Folly! Don’t speak as such.”

He jerked at her response.

“I mean, you will return.” She rubbed a chill from her arms. A dam of tears built behind her face, which caused her right eye to flutter. “God will grant us possession of the land. You will return and be greeted with honor.”

“It’s my time away that causes me worry. My mother is feeble, and Basemath hasn’t taken an interest in raising my son.” He glanced at his tent as if expecting Jonah to come running down the path.

“If truth be told, your sister’s only interest is in herself.” Mahlah had the scars to prove it.

Reuben’s clenched-jaw grin made her love him a tiny bit more. Being the eldest children, she and Reuben had overseen their siblings for years.

“Jonah feels at home in your tent.” He cocked his head toward the open flap. “Is it too much to ask for you to watch him as your own son?” He dipped his chin, and his eyes beheld her with a hint of sorrow.

A few years ago, she would have given anything to bear Reuben a son. He chose another. Her desire was best left buried deep in her soul.

She cleared the regret from her throat. “In our tent there are ten arms to hold your son. Only a fool would stay away from all that affection.” Her cheeks heated. If only he knew how her arms longed to embrace him.

“Toda raba, Mahlah.”

Under the moonlight, his eyes sparkled, and for the briefest of seconds, she didn’t feel like an awkward neighbor, but like a woman adorned with rubies and gold.

“I will pray for your safety.” Her pledge caught in her throat.

His gaze bore down on her like a judge. “And I yours.”

Mahlah’s brow furrowed. “I am staying in camp.”

“You are.” He flashed a rugged grin. “With my son, my sister, and four sisters of your own. War doesn’t seem so troublesome.”

She managed a slight laugh. Did he notice her trembling lips?

Footsteps slapped the ground. Two men strode past. Reuben stepped backward and hesitated.

“Shalom, my mighty Mahlah.”

“Shalom.” She watched him withdraw to his dwelling.

Before disappearing behind a drape of ramskin, he turned and fixed his gaze upon her. The intensity of his expression made her breath hitch. Was that interest in his eyes, or were the shadows playing tricks on her? More likely, it was gratitude, or worse, pity.

Head down, he entered his tent.

An ache spread across every rib and settled in her side. Would tonight be the last time she laid eyes on Reuben? If it were, she would remember this night as the third worst night of her life.