She gripped her blanket and sat up as memory flooded back. He’d insisted she sleep in the single room where he normally lived at the corner of the fort, opposite the trade room. The fire had gone out in the night, leaving only the glimmer of hot coals. She’d meant to add wood at some point, but she must have slept the entire night through, something she rarely did even at home, surrounded by her sisters. Perhaps this stack of furs Tanner used as a bed was far better than her mattress stuffed with prairie grass.
When she slipped from her blankets, her stocking feet landed on hard-packed earth. She did miss the wood floor, but this wasn’t so bad.
After pulling on her boots, she stoked the coals and added two seasoned logs, then headed to the door leading to the courtyard. Dim light peeked through the log walls, so White Horse was likely awake already. He’d slept in the storage room at the other corner on this end of the rectangle formed by the walls.
As she stepped outside, she paused a moment to let her eyes adjust. To the east, the sun had brightened the sky,but hadn’t risen high enough to paint the clouds with lovely colors.
Movement across the small open area caught her focus. Tanner stood in front of the trade room, his hand on Curly’s neck as the calf nuzzled his leg.
He caught her gaze, even over the distance of twenty strides, and the corners of his mouth tipped up. Goodness, he was a handsome man. She’d noticed that fact before but not paused to fully appreciate the view he made.
He started toward her, and something about his ambling step made her heart pick up speed. Curly hobbled after him, but Tanner’s gaze stayed fixed on her.
As he neared, the awareness of her state prickled through her. She’d slept in her dress as a matter of practicality, but she must look as crumpled as wadded paper. She hadn’t even stopped to clear the morning bitterness from her breath. She slid a hand up to swipe down the stray hairs that must be poking out all around her head. There was nothing she could do about the messiness of her braid at the moment. Tomorrow, she would make sure she tidied her appearance before stepping outside.
Tanner halted a few steps from her, and the flash of teeth revealed by his grin made the stubble on his face stand out even more. Not-quite-put-together was a good look for him. Even better than the polished façade he usually showed. Definitely more intimate.
Perhapsthatwasn’t good, but just now, she couldn’t bring herself to wish for a change.
“Did you sleep well?” His voice rumbled with a faint sleep-roughened edge.
She nodded and did her best to quell the heat rising upher neck. “Remarkably well. I’m afraid you might not be able to say the same, though.”
He shrugged one shoulder. “Not at all. I made a new stack of furs and couldn’t tell the difference.” His gaze slipped from hers, either because he was being more gallant than truthful, or perhaps because unmarried men and women didn’t discuss sleeping arrangements in polite society.
Time they speak of something else.
She nodded toward Curly, who’d settled at Tanner’s side again, this time licking his trousers instead of merely nuzzling. “He’s accustomed to eating only once a day in the afternoon, but he may make a pest of himself if he smells milk on you.”
The corners of Tanner’s mouth tipped up again as he flicked a glance at the calf. “Last night’s milking is ready for him if you want to split his feedings now that he’s here. I’ll stoke the fire and get coffee brewing, then milk Elsa again.”
She should prepare the morning meal for them. And the coffee. As long as she was here, the least she could do was take over the tasks a woman usually handled. “I can brew coffee. I brought smoked meat I can warm to break our fast, as well as biscuits.” They were two days old, but when warmed and with a dash of the butter she’d churned when she baked them, they tasted like a little slice of heaven.
She never would have served dry biscuits to guests back in Virginia, but after going through most of the winter without flour, evenseven-day-old biscuits would seem like a luxury. Of course, no form of bread would last seven days around their place. Too many eager hands.
Tanner’s eyes lit. “Sounds perfect. I might be able to comeup with a rind of cheese too, that you can use at your discretion.”
Her belly jumped at the wordcheese, her mouth nearly salivating at just the thought. “I haven’t had cheese since we left St. Louis last spring. I’ll use it sparingly.”
He chuckled as he turned away. “Use as much as you like. I’ll bring in more wood, then carry over more supplies for you.”
She slipped inside and did her best to set both her bedding and her appearance to rights before he knocked with the load of firewood.
His presence filled the small room, though she gave him plenty of clearance as he dropped the load beside the hearth and added two more logs to the small blaze she’d nurtured.
The supplies he returned with a few minutes later included far more than a rind of cheese. A sack of dried apples, ham salted and wrapped in paper, and even a sleeve of crackers.
She nearly giggled as the aroma wafted around her. “Ham? I haven’t had ham since before the cheese. And apples! Wait till I tell Faith. She’s been craving apple pie ever since her birthday.”
Tanner seemed amused as he watched her. “If we have everything you need, make her one. Would your sisters like to come over for the evening meal, do you think?”
Lightness bubbled inside her, spilling out in a grin impossible to contain. “That would be wonderful.”
Curly’s mournful cry drifted from outside, breaking through her haze of pleasure.
Tanner turned toward the door, but stepped to the left of it and dropped to his knees. “I keep cold stuffs downhere. Mostly just the milk.” After pushing a crate aside, he pulled a cloth-covered pail from a hole in the floor. “Let me scoop a cupful out, then you can feed him the rest if you want. Or save it for tonight, either way. I’m going out to milk Elsa now.”
He’d barely closed the door when the thud of hooves sounded on the ground outside the fort. Had White Horse gone for a ride?
