The Complete Oregon Series, page 102
Amy shook her head. “Strange. If I was in his shoes, I’d be devastated.”
Rika had to smile at her puzzled expression. “He doesn’t love me.”
After stopping the wagon, Amy turned toward her on the wagon bench. Her gaze darted up and made eye contact, then veered away. “But I do,” she whispered.
Rika threw her arms around Amy, causing her to drop the reins. “Oh, Amy. I love you too.” She tightened her embrace. She had never thought she would find—or even seek—love, but now that she had, she never wanted to let her go.
They stayed that way, safe in each other’s arms, until the stomping of Old Jack’s hooves reminded them that it was time to head back.
Baker Prairie, Oregon
September 5, 1868
Amy woke before sunrise. She lay in bed, not yet fully awake, until she remembered that it was Saturday. A big grin spread over her face. She would get to see Rika today. They would ride out to their meadow as they did every Saturday, pick flowers, share some bread and cheese—and maybe a few kisses—while lying on a blanket. The thought of feeling Rika’s lips against hers set her blood on fire.
She scrambled out of bed. The sooner she got her chores done, the sooner she’d get to see Rika. On her way to the washstand, she looked out the window and froze.
Yesterday, the sun had been shining, ideal weather for a ride out to the meadow, but today, rain was coming down in buckets. Large puddles had formed in the ranch yard. Even the horses in the corral had sought out the shelter of the nearby oaks.
Amy’s shoulders slumped. They wouldn’t ride to their meadow after all. Finally, she straightened. She could still visit Rika at the hotel and spend an hour or two with her in Tess and Frankie’s parlor. While it wouldn’t be as nice as being alone with her on the meadow, it was better than not seeing her at all.
She struggled out of her nightgown and hurried through her ablutions.
Rain was still lashing down when Amy climbed out of the saddle and tied Ruby to the hitching rail in front of the hotel.
When she opened the door, Rika looked up from a ledger. Her eyes widened, and a smile blossomed on her face. She hurried around the front desk. “Amy! I didn’t think you’d come today, with the rain and all. Oh, Lord, you’re soaked. Come in.”
At the entrance to the lobby, Amy knocked her boots together and stomped to get rid of the mud, but it was no use, so she finally took them off.
Instead of leading her to the parlor, Rika walked toward the stairs. When she pulled up her dress to climb the steps, Amy caught a glimpse of her legs. “I’ll give you one of my dresses,” Rika said, “then we can visit in the parlor while your clothes dry.”
Amy hadn’t seen Rika’s room yet. Without speaking about it, they had behaved like a courting couple and stayed down in the parlor, where Tess or Frankie could chaperone. She hesitated in the doorway, taking in the narrow bed, the washstand, and the small table against one wall, until Rika ushered her in.
Water dripped from her hat as she took it off. She set down the boots she carried and struggled out of her jacket. Even beneath the canvas, her shirt was soaked and clung to her chest.
“Get out of those wet things,” Rika said from her position bent over a trunk. When she straightened, she held a pale yellow dress in her hands.
Amy started to unbutton her shirt, very aware of Rika’s presence. As she slid out of the shirt’s sleeves, Rika’s heated gaze sent goose bumps down her arms.
“You’re cold.” Rika let go of the dress and rushed over with a towel. She rubbed it over Amy’s drenched locks, gently dried her face, and then trailed the towel over her arms and shoulders.
Waves of hot and cold raced across Amy’s skin as she enjoyed the tender ministrations.
When Rika slid the towel across her collarbones, she paused and looked up.
Their gazes met.
Rika’s eyes were so dark that they looked nearly midnight black. She was so close that her breath caressed Amy’s face. She stared at the pink fullness of Rika’s bottom lip and the elegant arc of her upper lip. Then her eyes fluttered shut as Rika’s mouth met hers, connecting their bodies in a flash of heat. Her legs weakened, and she gripped Rika’s hips. Through the thin fabric of her chemise, she felt Rika’s bosom against hers.
After stumbling and nearly crashing into the table, they sank onto the bed.
Blood roared through Amy’s ears as their kiss deepened. When she felt Rika’s warm tongue sliding along hers, she thought she might faint.
Then Rika pulled back with a gasp. Her cheeks flushed, she stared at Amy, who stared back and lifted a hand to her thoroughly kissed lips.
Her whole body tingled, and despite her damp pants, she was no longer cold.
Groaning, Rika pulled away and sat on the edge of the bed. “I think...” She stopped and cleared her throat. “I think I’d better go and ask Tess if we can use the parlor to visit.” After combing a handful of Amy’s damp locks away from her face, she got up.
Amy sank back onto the bed, still touching her lips, and watched her go. If this was what she had to look forward to, she didn’t mind the coming winter with all its rain.
Hamilton Horse Ranch
Baker Prairie, Oregon
September 13, 1868
“Are you sure it’s all right?” Rika asked when Amy pulled the wagon to a stop in front of the ranch’s veranda.
“Why wouldn’t it be? You’ve had supper with us many times before.”
“Yes, but back then, I was Phin’s betrothed, not your...” Rika trailed off, not sure what to call herself. Was there a word for what she and Amy were to each other?
“My sweetheart,” Amy whispered, her cheeks stained a bright pink.
Smiling, Rika repeated the word to herself.
Amy reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry about my parents. It’ll be all right.” Her voice trembled, though.
Steps thumped across the veranda, and Amy quickly let go of Rika’s hand.
Phin stood on the veranda, putting on his hat. Had he seen them touch each other? But his smile was friendly when he greeted them.
“Hello, Phin. Are you gonna have supper with us?” Amy asked.
“No, I was just here to ask for some advice about my breedin’ program.”
“What did Papa say?”
He shook his head. “I didn’t talk about it with your father. I asked Miss Nattie for advice.”
“Nattie?”
“She kept notes on every foal born on the ranch for the last five years,” he said, sounding defensive. “She knows which parents produce the best colors.”
Amy tilted her head and then nodded. “I guess she does.” She helped Rika down from the wagon. “You go on ahead. I’m gonna take care of Old Jack and then be right in.”
Rika swallowed, for some reason uncomfortable with being left alone with Amy’s family.
“You all right?” Phin asked when he passed her on the veranda steps. “You’re white as a sheet.”
“I’m fine,” Rika said and navigated the steps on shaky legs. Now that Nora and Luke knew that she wasn’t just Amy’s friend, it felt as if she were about to have supper with her future in-laws. The thought startled her. Oh, Lord.
When she entered the house, Nattie was just setting the table. Luke and Nora were nowhere to be seen. “Papa is still in the stable, and Mama has an apple pie in the oven,” Nattie said after greeting her.
“I’ll go see if your mother needs any help,” Rika said.
But when she wanted to slip past, Nattie held on to her elbow. “Did Amy tell you that I’ll be leaving for New York next month?”
“She did. She’s proud of you for aiming to become the first woman veterinary surgeon.”
Nattie beamed. “She is?”
“Of course.”
Nattie seemed to think about it for a moment before she nodded. She rearranged the cutlery on the table, even though it was already perfectly aligned. “Did you see Phin before he left?”
“Yes.” Rika grinned. “Seems like he’s spending more time at the ranch than when he lived here.”
A blush shot up Nattie’s neck. “Well, the same could be said about you. You spend a lot of time riding with Amy.”
Now it was Rika’s turn to blush. She clutched the edge of the table. Was Nattie suspecting anything?
Hard to tell. Nattie wasn’t even looking at her. She stared at the forks and knives on the table. “I know you and Phin called off the wedding, but are you sure that…?”
Rika tilted her head. “What?”
Nattie slid one of the forks an inch to the left. “Would you mind terribly if Phin and I wrote each other while I’m away?” She peered over at Rika.
“He asked you to write him?” Rika had long suspected that Phin was smitten with Nattie, but he was too proud to court her before he had established a ranch of his own.
“No.” Nattie blushed again. “I asked him.”
Rika held back a grin. So Nattie was a typical Hamilton woman after all and had decided to ignore convention and do the asking. “What did he say?”
“He said he would write me.” Nattie clutched her hands to her chest. “So do you mind?”
Rika crossed the room and squeezed Nattie’s hand. “Why would I mind? I was the one who called off the wedding.”
“Still,” Nattie said. “I wanted to make sure.”
“I don’t mind at all.”
When the rest of the Hamiltons and the ranch hands entered, Rika and Nattie shared a conspiratorial grin. Rika would protect Nattie’s secret, hoping that, when push came to shove, Nattie would do the same for her.
Luke placed the tin cups back on their shelf and lingered against the wall, watching Hendrika dry another plate. She rubbed the back of her neck, a bit self-conscious about doing female chores in front of Hendrika.
But Hendrika smiled whenever she handed Luke a dried plate, apparently not thinking anything of it.
At the copper sink, Amy washed the dishes and glanced sidelong at Hendrika. “Is your shoulder all right to dry?”
“Stop worrying.” Hendrika bumped her with one elbow. “It’s been weeks since the shoulder gave me any trouble.”
Luke bit back a smile. Seems Amy is a mother hen too.
A little later, Amy washed the last plate. When she handed it to Hendrika, their fingers touched and lingered. Then, as if becoming aware that Luke was watching, Amy pulled away and turned back toward the sink.
Luke threw a glance over her shoulder, making sure Nattie had left to check on the horses. “It’s all right to show affection in this house, you know?”
As if demonstrating, Nora entered and wrapped her arm around Luke’s hip.
“You have to be careful around other people,” Luke said, “but you don’t need to keep your feelings a secret from your own family.”
“And you should tell your sister,” Nora said.
Blushing, Amy busied herself drying her hands. “I will. But not yet. Speaking of secrets...” She looked up and gnawed on her lip. “Rika knows.”
Luke tilted her head. “Knows what?”
“About you.”
Dread rushed through Luke, but she forced back her instinctive reaction. Gratefully, she felt Nora lean against her. “You told her?”
“I told her a bit, and she guessed the rest.”
Guessed? Luke’s muscles tightened. Had she become so careless that people were able to guess now?
“Please don’t be angry with Amy,” Hendrika said. “She didn’t intend to give away your secret, but when you first told them, she was upset and needed someone to talk to.”
“I’m not angry,” Luke said, more for Amy’s benefit than Hendrika’s. “I’m just...” She felt exposed, as if her skin had been stripped away, leaving her defenseless, but she wasn’t ready to admit it and make herself even more vulnerable.
“I want you to know that I would never, ever give away your secret.” Hendrika pressed one hand to her chest and earnestly stared at Luke. “I respect you so much for telling Amy.” Her glance slid over to Nora. “Both of you.”
Nora slipped her hand beneath Luke’s vest and drew soothing circles across her back. “We told Amy so that she would have someone to talk to, someone who understands how she feels,” Nora said. “Now I want to extend the same offer to you, Hendrika. If you ever need someone to talk to or have any questions, please don’t hesitate to come to us.”
Luke’s chest expanded with love. Here I am, acting like a scared rabbit, while Nora willingly opens up to Hendrika. Between the two of us, she’s always been the brave one. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Nora’s cheek.
“Thank you.” Hendrika smiled—a close-mouthed smile that only reluctantly spread across her face. “Actually, I do have a question, if you don’t mind.” She glanced at Amy, then back to Nora. “How did you decide to spend your life,” she lowered her voice, “with a woman?”
“When I married Amy’s father—” Nora stopped and pressed a hand to her mouth. “Lord, I keep saying that, don’t I? Some days, I forget that you girls know now.” She sent Amy an apologetic glance, then smiled and rubbed Luke’s back. “Some days, I even forget that Luke and I...that Amy is not physically a product of our love.”
“Maybe I am,” Amy said. “Having you and Papa in my life made me what I am today.”
Luke sucked in a breath. Was she to blame for Amy looking for love with women, not men?
But Amy smiled, not looking accusing at all. “I learned early on to recognize love when I see it.”
Do you see it when you look at Hendrika? The glances and little touches they kept trading made Luke think so.
“I only learned what love means when I met Luke,” Nora said. “But my situation is different than yours. As far as people are concerned, I’m not sharing my life with a woman. I’m sharing it with Lucas Hamilton, my husband.”
Amy and Hendrika exchanged glances. If they wanted to share their lives, they had to find another way. Amy sighed. “Summer is over. We won’t be able to meet on our meadow for much longer.”
Hendrika reached over and squeezed her hand. “We can always visit in the hotel’s parlor.”
“Yeah,” Amy said, sounding frustrated.
Luke could sympathize. If she had gotten to see Nora only for an hour or two every week, it wouldn’t have been enough either. She thought hard. Was there a way to help her daughter?
“Hendrika can visit you here too,” Nora said. She looked into Hendrika’s eyes. “You’ll always be welcome in our home.”
An idea crossed Luke’s mind. “Nattie will leave soon to study back East.”
“Yes,” Hendrika said, “people in town are already talking about that.”
“I can just imagine what they say about that strange Mr. Hamilton who lets his daughter go east unchaperoned.” Luke snorted. “And even worse, he lets the girl study veterinary surgery, as if it wasn’t enough to have one daughter riding around in pants.”
When Hendrika looked stunned and then hid a smile behind her hand, Luke knew that was exactly what the townsfolk were saying. Not that she cared. “So, with Nattie gone, Nora back to teaching in the fall, and Amy and me out on the range all the time, the ranch needs a woman to look after it.”
A squeeze from Nora let her know that she understood where Luke was going. “Yes. We might have to hire someone.”
A broad smile spread over Amy’s face. “You mean...?”
“It makes sense,” Luke said. “We already know Hendrika and know she’s a hard worker. Of course, to take proper care of her duties as a housekeeper, Hendrika would have to live on the ranch. Would you want to do that, Hendrika?”
“I—” Hendrika took Amy’s hand and squeezed. “Yes, yes, of course! I’d love to live here.”
Luke nodded. “Then it’s settled.”
Amy rushed forward and engulfed both Luke and Nora in an enthusiastic embrace. “Thank you, Mama and Papa.”
Luke pressed a kiss to the reddish locks. Over Amy’s head, she smiled at Hendrika. “You’re welcome.”
Baker Prairie, Oregon
September 19, 1868
Amy wandered across the meadow, gaze on the ground. She trailed her hand through the grass, parting it, and plucked a yellow buttercup. After discarding two that weren’t pretty enough, she added a pink wildflower.
A few feet away, Ruby and Cinnamon lifted their heads and eyed Amy’s bunch of flowers.
“Oh, no. You two go on eating your grass. These are for Rika.” She lifted the flowers to her nose and inhaled their sweet scent. Her eyes fluttered shut as she imagined Rika’s delighted, gap-toothed grin when she gave her the flowers. The rain had stopped her from riding out to the meadow the past three weeks, so it had been a while since she had last brought Rika flowers.
A horse snorted behind her.
Amy whirled around.
Papa slid out of the saddle and wiped her forehead with her bandanna.
Weeks ago, Amy had tried to think of her as “Luke,” but it wasn’t working. Nothing had really changed. Papa still worked hard at the ranch, still loved Mama, and still helped out the neighbors. She behaved the same and looked the same as ever. Man or woman, this was the only father Amy had ever known, and her brain—or maybe her heart—refused to call Luke anything but “Papa.”
“Hello, Amy. I thought that was you. What are you doing here?”
“Um...nothing.” Amy hid the flowers behind her back. “I’m on my way into town to take Rika riding.”
“Amy.” The lines around Papa’s eyes deepened when she smiled. “You don’t have to hide this from me. Don’t be embarrassed. I think it’s sweet.”
Slowly, Amy brought her hand out from behind her back. She fiddled with the stems and tugged on a tiny leaf. Not hiding her feelings for Rika was still new.
