Rolling to her side, she pulled the blanket to her chin. Maybe life was happening exactly the way it was supposed to, and with Veronica nowhere in sight, she had Clay all to herself. The thought put a smile on her face, but it vanished an instant later when she felt the horse blanket covering her move. Her eyes flew open, and so did her mouth when she saw someone standing over the cot.
A few blinks cleared her vision enough to realize the man looking down at her wasn’t Clay. When he raised a leg and put a knee on the cot beside her, she screamed.
The jolt of pain in his ankle traveled up the length of his leg when he hit the ground. Jumping from the loft wasn’t such a smart idea after all, especially since his body was already battered from those bandits kicking him. Clay gritted his teeth through the pain and limped to the tack room. He flung the door open to see someone standing over Daisy, her screams still echoing off the walls.
The man was large and solid, but grabbing two handfuls of his coat and pulling was enough to sling him back and out of the way. He hit the wall with a thud.
Clay put himself between the cot and the stranger and tried to focus his eyes. He’d just dozed off when Daisy started screaming. Blinking helped clear the sleep enough for him to know he’d never seen the man before. “Who are you?”
The old man swayed on his feet and blew out a breath. The stench of alcohol was strong. “I just want my bed,” he slurred.
Drunk. Clay straightened to his full height and looked back at Daisy. She was sitting up, the horse blanket pulled to her chin. Their eyes met, and he saw her shoulders sag in relief when they did. Turning to the old man, who was still swaying on his feet and was so drunk it was a wonder he was standing at all, Clay wondered if Liam let him sleep off his hangovers in the tack room. It would explain why he was here. The thought eased his mind. Perhaps that's why the cot was there to begin with.
Clay ran a hand through his hair. He’d left his hat in the loft. Taking a step toward the man, he motioned toward the door. “You can’t sleep in here, old timer. You’ll have to climb to the loft or bed down in one of the empty stalls.”
A bleary-eyed blink was the only response he got, but the old man turned and opened the tack room door and left.
Glancing at Daisy, he said, “I’ll be right back,” before following the old man out. He got him settled in one of the empty stalls, tossing in extra hay for a bed, and watched him until he was snoring. Grabbing another horse blanket, he headed back to the tack room and shut the door behind him. “I think I’ll sleep in here if it's all right with you.”
She only nodded her head at him and watched as he made a small pallet on the floor next to the cot. His ankle hurt like the devil when he took his boot off, but it wasn’t broken. Sprained, more than likely. At this rate, he’d be lucky to survive this trip, but looking up at Daisy’s sweet face, he knew the pain was worth it.
Daisy was staring at him, the blanket still pulled to her chin, and could only imagine what had happened before she screamed. He knew for a fact she never heard the old man come in, so being woken up by a stranger must have been terrifying. He crawled to his knees and braced his hands on the cot before giving her a reassuring smile. “I’m sorry he came in on you, but it won’t happen again.”
She nodded, then lowered the blanket.
His gaze fell to her mouth when she licked her lips. He realized in that second how close they were. It wouldn’t take more than him moving his head a fraction to kiss her, to taste her like he’d wanted to since the moment he laid eyes on her. He blew out a breath and leaned back. As much as he wanted her, he knew now wasn’t the time.
Clearing his throat, he said, “Lie down and get some sleep. I’ll be right here if you need me.” It took her long minutes to settle, and when she closed her eyes, he lay down. He watched her in the darkness, listening to her breathe and waiting for his own pulse to return to normal.
For as long as he’d been in Silver Falls, he knew Daisy rarely left her own home, and he never did understand why. Now he did. At any given moment, something could happen, and she’d never know. He took being able to hear for granted and couldn’t imagine what life would be like losing something he relied on every second of the day. Every small sound inside the barn was comforting. Even the creaking of boards as the wind blew against them. The snuffling of horses and shifting hay as they moved. And as odd as it was, even the old man snoring nearby. He took normal things for granted daily, while Daisy lived in total silence and probably a good amount of constant fear.
Maybe that was why her sisters had signed her up for that school. It wasn’t so much about her being able to communicate more efficiently as a deaf woman than it was about living the life she was meant to live…one free of fear. To experience what the world had to offer her instead of hiding from it.
Rolling onto his back, he stared at the ceiling. He wasn’t sure how long they’d be in Butte, but if there was one thing he knew how to do, it was live life to its fullest. Starting tomorrow, he’d show Daisy Campbell how to embrace it and enjoy every minute.
Clay wasn’t in the tack room when she woke. Daisy had half a moment of fear, but relaxed when she realized he couldn’t be too far away.
The memory of the old man coming into the room the night before returned in an instant. She didn't know what Clay told him, or what the man said back, but since he left without a fight, she didn’t think his intentions were nefarious. He’d stank of whiskey, so he’d just been in the wrong place.
She rose from the bed and folded the blanket, then tucked in a few falling curls of hair and repinned them. The barn was empty when she ventured out of the tack room, but it didn’t take long to see Clay. Bright light flooded the space as he swung the double doors facing the street open, a cool, fresh breeze stirring up the scent of dirt, hay, and horses.
The commotion outside was much the same as it had been the day before. So many horses, wagons, and buggies went past the barn doors, she wondered if all these people lived here or were just passing through.
She knew next to nothing about Butte other than you could sit Silver Falls in it several times over. It was a big town, with more people than she’d ever seen in one place.
Clay saw her a few moments later and smiled. Her heart did that funny little jump when he did, and she wondered how nothing more than a smile from him made her pulse race. The memory of him the night before flashed inside her mind's eye. When he’d been kneeling at the cot, they’d been so close, his attention drawn to her mouth. For a single foolish moment, she’d thought he was going to kiss her again.
Thoughts of the kiss he'd given her when they’d escaped those bandits lingered in her mind. It had been so brief it didn't even qualify as a kiss, but it's the only one a man had ever given her, and her girlish heart couldn’t stop thinking about it.
He headed her way, smile still in place, but his steps slowed as he reached her, his lips moving as small lines appeared between his eyes. He spoke again, and she blinked to stop daydreaming and said, “I’m sorry. I didn’t catch that.”
“I said Are you all right? You look deep in thought about something.”
“Oh!” She felt her face heat as she blushed and looked toward the horses in hopes he couldn't see how pink her cheeks were. “I was just thinking about what I was going to do all day.”
Clay braced his arms over the top of the horse stall rail and turned his head toward her before tapping her arm so she’d look at him. “What do you want to do?”
She shrugged. “I can’t do much. I spend most of my days cooking and cleaning. It’s all I’m really good at.”
