The Stranger in the Storm, page 5
Tracy chuckled, looking up and around her. “No. I didn’t build this. My husband and some of his friends did. He knew Lionel McArthur.”
“Oh, really?” Richard was surprised to hear that. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised,” he said. “It’s not like being a ranch hand made me privy to all the people Old Man McArthur met and had dealings with. I’m just surprised he didn’t mention you to Aileen or Donald before he passed. There was nothing about it in his will, either, that I recall hearing about. I know if George had known, he would have told the rest of us. He certainly would have told me before he sent me up here. But you’re safe, you know. I don’t want you to worry about being forced to leave your home. That just isn’t the kind of people Donald and Aileen are. So don’t worry about that. Okay?”
“Okay,” she replied. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“But you do understand that I have to tell them.”
She nodded, much to his relief.
“I won’t be able to finish my patrol with this injury,” Richard went on. “So I’ll have to take the three-day trip back down the mountain, and I’ll tell them about you then. They will have to send someone else to patrol the rest of the mountain. I really think Donald should have sent someone sooner, but I’m glad that he sent me, or I wouldn’t have found you.”
Tracy turned her eyes to the fire, a thoughtful look on her face. When she looked back at him, she said, “I know you have to tell them. I’m fine with that. But you won’t be able to leave tomorrow. Even if the storm has passed, which I doubt it will have, your injury and the possible damage done to the path out there will make it impossible for you to go tomorrow. You need to let yourself heal. When are they expecting you back?”
“Donald gave me two weeks. This will be the fourth day. Then they will send a search party for me.”
“I think you’ll be well on your way to healing before then,” Tracy said reassuringly. “I will take care of you until you feel you’re ready to leave.”
He gave her a compassionate look, feeling warm inside from something other than the heat of the fire. For the first time, he was gazing at a woman who could easily capture his heart if she tried. He didn’t know how long it had been since her husband’s death, nor how long she’d been hiding from society. He still didn’t know why she was holed up in the cottage on the mountain either. It was a good possibility that’s what she wanted.
But it was obvious how much she cared about her little boy. Surely she wouldn’t isolate him and keep him from friends and loving relatives if she didn’t have a good reason.
Richard didn’t want to pry into her personal business. He thought it was wiser to let her tell him in her own time or never—depending on what she wanted. He wasn’t the kind of man who liked to interfere in other people’s lives.
“I can’t thank you enough for your generosity and care,” he said softly. “I appreciate it. I really do.”
She nodded and made a move to push herself to her feet. He grabbed her hand instinctively and held her in a leaning position. He looked directly into her eyes, noticing they were about as blue as they could get. It was unmistakable, even in the yellow light coming from the fireplace.
“Will you stay in here tonight? I hate to ask you to sleep on the floor, but… I was hoping to have the company, and your boy might be afraid if he wakes up and I’m the only one in here.”
“I can take him back to his room…” She tried to stand up, but he tightened his grip slightly.
“No. Please don’t. I just want a little company, that’s all. And he’s little so…” He grinned through the sudden pain that ripped through his side. She was right. There was no way he was leaving in the morning. Whatever had cut him open had gone in deep enough for her to give him stitches. He was glad he was unconscious for that process.
Tracy looked at her son, sleeping on the back of the couch right above Richard.
“Well…” she hesitated and then continued, “All right. I’ll stay in here, too. That chair over there is actually comfortable. I don’t mind sleeping there. I reckon I should anyway, just in case something happens while we’re asleep and you need my help.”
Richard was overwhelmed with gratitude. He squeezed her hand and let go.
“Thank you so much, Tracy. This means a lot to me.”
“By the way, my son is Lochlan. I call him Lochie. You can call him that, too, if you want. That way he knows you’re a friend.”
Richard chuckled but stopped abruptly when the pain struck him. “Ouch. Gotta take it easy on the laughter for a while. At least until these stitches come out.”
They talked for a little longer before Tracy got her blankets and a pillow and took to the chair she said she could sleep in. Richard tried not to stare and was quickly asleep to dream about the lovely and beautiful Tracy Robinson.
11
Richard moved slowly and quietly, so he didn’t wake up the child or his mother.As Tracy predicted, the rain had not stopped when Richard woke up the next morning. He was feeling a lot better than he thought he would. After a trip to the washroom to apply fresh bandages, he returned to the living room to find Tracy was still asleep, but the little boy had moved from the back of the couch to the cushions where Richard had been. He was moving around, indicating he was actually awake but wasn’t quite ready to get up yet.
Holding one hand over his wound as if that would make it feel better, Richard leaned over the couch and whispered, “Hey, little buddy. You want to come out on the porch with me and watch the rain? It’s not as heavy as it was last night. You don’t have to be afraid.”
Lochlan gazed at him in silence for a moment before nodding. “Okay,” he whispered. He slid off the couch and came around it, holding out his hand for Richard to take.
He had never held a child’s hand before. He’d always been worried that children would be afraid of him, so he avoided getting close to any of them. When he took the boy’s hand, Lochlan looked up at him, having to crane his neck all the way to do so.
“You are tall,” the little boy said. He said it as if he needed to let Richard in on something he didn’t know. Once he’d said the words, he turned his head to look at the door and started marching toward it, holding fast to Richard’s hand.
“That I am,” Richard replied with a smile, allowing himself to be led. He pulled open the door and let the boy go through first. “It’s a gentle rain now,” he said, gazing out over the land.
“When is it going to stop?” Lochlan asked, moving to the edge of the porch but releasing Richard’s hand. Richard was glad of that because all he wanted to do was sit down. His injury hurt terribly, and he knew sitting down would relieve some of that pain. He held out his hand and used the table as leverage to lower himself to the chair slowly and carefully. The relief was instant. His skin had felt like it was being pulled apart when he was walking around. He wished he’d stayed on the couch but was grateful he’d been given a little extra time with the boy.
“Do you like living here with your mama?” he asked, slowing his words so Lochlan would easier understand him. The child came back from the edge of the porch and climbed up into the chair on the other side of the table from where Richard was.
“I like it,” he replied enthusiastically. “I do.”
“That’s wonderful, son. I’m glad to hear that.”
“Mama makes good food,” the boy said. “I like to eat it.”
Richard nodded. “I bet you do. I would, too. My mama made some good food.”
“Do you live with your mama, too?” Lochlan asked, raising his eyebrows.
Richard chuckled. “Nah. I’m too old to live with her now.”
Lochlan nodded, a serious look on his face. “Yes, you are. That’s what I thought.”
Richard was amazed by the child’s vocal ability. He wondered if he was perhaps older than four and just small for his age.
“Can you tell me how old you are?” he asked gently.
He almost burst out laughing when the little boy looked at him like he was an idiot. “Of course I can tell you. I’m a big boy. I’m almost five. My birthday is in this many.”
He held up on hand with two fingers lifted.
“Two months until you are five? Or two weeks?”
“Two…” Lochlan stopped and looked up as if to find the answer. His eyes began to move rapidly as he realized he didn’t know the answer, and Richard instantly felt sorry for him.
“Weeks are the shorter ones, and months are the longer ones,” he said helpfully.
Lochlan beamed at him. “Months. Two months until my birthday.”
Richard laughed softly, thinking how delightful the boy was.
“Are you going to come help me and mama celebrate my birthday?”
Richard nodded. “I would love to come help you celebrate, Lochie. That sounds like a lot of fun to me.”
The child nodded back at him, moving his eyes out over the front lawn, gazing into the rain. He had one hand up on the arm rest of the iron chair, and his legs were swinging underneath him. “It was just me and mama last time,” he remarked casually. “My papa is in Heaven. Mama was real scared for a long time. People weren’t very nice to her, and I don’t know why. Mama is nice. She is nice to everyone, but they were mean to her.” He sounded perplexed.
Richard was a little irritated with the people who had purportedly been mean to Tracy. He didn’t know if Lochlan’s four-year-old judgment was trustworthy, but he felt like the child wouldn’t make up stories like that. It seemed too painful for him to even mention, much less make up.
“I don’t like that,” Richard said. “No one should be mean to your mama.”
“No,” Lochlan stated firmly. “They should not be mean. Nobody should be mean. It isn’t nice and makes people feel bad. I don’t want anyone to feel bad.”
“I don’t either. You are a very wise young man, did you know that?”
Lochlan returned to his former beaming smile. “That’s what Mama says, too.”
“I think she’s raising you very well, considering she’s on her own.”
Lochlan looked directly at him. “I love my mama,” he said simply.
“I know she loves you, too, son.” Richard had never had an opportunity to call any young man “son”. It hadn’t seemed like a big deal until just that moment. He felt like he’d taken a huge leap forward.
The smell of coffee drifted toward him, and he turned to see Tracy looking at both of them from the front door. She was smiling wide.
“And I love you, Lochie,” she said. He wondered how long she’d been standing there, listening to their conversation, which, as it happened, had been about her.
“Mama,” Lochlan cried out and jumped down from the chair. He ran to her and wrapped his arms around her legs. She laughed, leaned over, and picked him up, hugging him tightly.
“My sweet little boy,” she whispered to him, “how are you feeling this morning?”
“I’m fine, Mama.” Lochlan responded. “And you are looking beautiful like a princess.”
“Aww, thank you, sweetheart. Come on inside, and I’ll make you some breakfast.”
“Yay.” Lochlan jumped up and down, releasing her legs so he could clap his hands. He darted for the door, skirting around her and the two adults laughed as he pattered through the house to the kitchen.
Tracy turned around and called out, “Don’t you drink any of that coffee, young man. You know what that does to you.”
Richard raised his eyebrows in surprise. “He’ll drink it?”
Tracy laughed, coming out and sitting across from him where her son had been a few moments before. He laughed when she immediately stood back up and said, “Oh, let me get the coffee and feed my son. I’ll be right back.”
Richard only had to wait a few minutes before she came back out to hand him a cup.
“I’ll be back. Let me get some eggs and toast made for Lochie.”
“Take your time,” Richard replied, looking gratefully at the cup of dark liquid. “I’m enjoying this rain and not being in a tremendous amount of pain.”
“I have some pain powders you can have, too. And let me know if you want the bottle of whiskey. You really didn’t drink that much last night. Less than I thought with a wound like that.”
“I’ll take ‘em,’ Richard responded. “But first, you go and take care of that boy. I’m an adult and have a lot more patience than he does.”
He enjoyed the sound of her laughter as she went back into the house.
The situation for him had changed so drastically since he set out on his trek. Nothing that happened was expected. Especially his wound. It was a strange way to be injured and require the help of this isolated woman.
Richard looked up. “I think this is Your doing, God. Thank You.”
12
Tracy hurried to make breakfast for Lochlan. He was seated at the table, watching her expectantly.
“He’s a nice man, Mama,” the child said with a smile. “I like him.”
Tracy’s heartbeat sped up. She liked Richard, too, but couldn’t help being suspicious. She was suspicious of everyone. Fear had a grip on her and wouldn’t let go. She wanted to believe the man had no ill intentions, but how could she know? She’d met him less than 24 hours ago.
Thinking about it, Tracy was surprised she had so quickly let him into her home. Then again, he was injured and would have died if she hadn’t. There was no way he would make it all the way down the mountain with an injury like that.
While the food cooked, she grabbed two sponges and soap. She got the sponges wet before turning to her son.
“I’ll be right out here cleaning the doorway. You stay here and—”
“But I want to come with you,” Lochlan exclaimed.
Tracy lifted her eyebrows. “If you will kindly let me finish. I need you to stay here and watch the eggs and bacon, so they don’t burn. You can do that for me, can’t you?”
Lochlan looked satisfied that he had a job to do to help her. She knew he would feel that way.
“Okay,” he announced.
It wouldn’t take long for the eggs, longer for the bacon, so Tracy hurried to the doorway and knelt there to clean up the blood that had spilled from Richard when he first arrived. She peeked out and saw him still in the chair, his eyes closed, his head back against the outside wall. Was he asleep?
She tried to be quiet.
Ten minutes later, she was serving Lochlan his breakfast and making a plate for herself and one for Richard. She was sure his appetite would be fierce.
With the two plates in hand, she looked down at Lochlan. “Do you want to bring your plate out on the porch? You can sit on the floor near us.”
“Yes.” Lochlan picked up his plate and fork and followed her out.
She stepped out onto the porch. Richard lifted his head and opened his eyes to smile at her and her son.
“Well, that didn’t take long at all,” he said. “And this looks delicious, thank you, Tracy. Lochie was telling me earlier what a good cook you are.”
“Oh, was he now?” Tracy smiled at the child. “That was nice of you.”
“I like it,” Lochlan responded. He sat cross-legged on the floor with his plate balanced in his lap. “I would eat out there, but it’s raining.” He pointed to the front lawn with his fork.
Tracy was filled with warm affection for her son. She ruffled his hair, making him smile up at her.
She ate her food, feeling comfortable and at ease. She studied Richard as he ate, making sure not to stare at him. His light brown eyes were set perfectly with the rest of his facial features, and despite how large he was in height and muscle, she thought he looked like the kindest man she’d ever seen.
Since George, anyway.
“Do you think the rain will do a lot of damage to the trails and roads?” she asked for the sole purpose of getting him to look at her. When he did, she examined his face more closely. His light brown eyes gazed at her with such warmth, she felt like she’d known him all her life.
“I don’t have a clue,” Richard replied with regret in his voice. “I hope not. Either way, I’ll go exploring as soon as I’m able, and if there’s any repairs that need to be made, I’ll make them. I’ve cleared debris after storms before.”
“Probably not alone, though,” Tracy remarked. She took a sip of cold coffee and wrinkled her nose. “I’m going to heat this back up. Do you want some more?”
“Yes, please, if you don’t mind. Unless you have something less potent?”
Tracy laughed. “You mean like tea or lemonade?”
“Yes, exactly,” he replied with a chuckle.
“Of course.” She took his cup and went back into the house. There was hot coffee still in the percolator, and she happily dumped out the cold coffee and refilled her mug. Leaving his mug in the sink to be washed, she took a glass from the cupboard and filled it with tea from the counter.
Once she was on the porch again, she took in a deep breath and finished her food. Pushing the plate away slightly, she sat back to enjoy her coffee.
“I was thinking,” Richard said, finishing his breakfast at the same time she did, “you could probably use a man’s help around here, couldn’t you? I saw you chopping wood, and I know you’ve been surviving just fine on your own, but surely there are things you need done that you can’t do.”
Tracy nodded, thinking about the several places around the house that needed repairs, and she had no idea what materials she’d need or how to fix it. That went for the shed and stables, too, which both needed roof repair and had a few holes in the walls where boards needed to be replaced.
“I reckon there are a few things I need help with,” she said. “But I’ve been up here about four years, and George and his friends finished building it right before I moved in. The other buildings, too. So there isn’t too much that needs done. But yes. There are some places I could use a man’s help. Mostly the knowledge. I am strong and can do a lot of hard jobs myself.”
Richard nodded. “I saw how strong you are,” he remarked casually. Tracy was sure he didn’t know how much that compliment actually meant to her.
