“It has been a long, exciting day,” he replied, standing nearby and clasping his hands behind him. Half of him wanted to ask her thoughts on this awkward situation, but the other half squelched that urge. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her or make her feel as if he had pushed her into something that made her uncomfortable.
She glanced to her left, toward the stairs, and when she looked back to him, her uncertainty was evident in the pinch of her lips. “I . . . I don’t know how to say this, but perhaps you wouldn’t mind . . .”
A wave of disappointment that Hawk hadn’t expected rushed through him. But he stood straight, dropped his hands to his sides, and nodded. “Of course. I will sleep here for now, if you prefer.”
Her face flushed pink, but she gave him a grateful smile. “Thank you.” She took a step back, as if he might change his mind. “Thank you for everything.”
“Good evening, Lina,” he said, not entirely trusting himself to move from his rigid stance.
She glanced back at him from halfway up the steps, and Hawk was certain he would dream of that smile all night. He didn’t know what he thought marriage would be like, but he never imagined feeling anything like this. He wanted to do anything to make her smile. If she asked, Hawk would run through fire for the pale beauty who was sleeping in his bed upstairs.
He ran a hand over his face, trying to push the thoughts from his mind. He needed to get his head on straight before returning to work tomorrow.
Chapter Seven
IN BETWEEN BITS OFcleaning and cooking and a trip to the mercantile, Lina found her thoughts wandering. And not to worries about Matthew or how she might find Papa’s missing money—but to Hawk.
She burned her finger on a hot pan as she replayed his considerate offer to continue to sleep downstairs through her mind. She swept the same patch of the parlor three times as she remembered his hand covering hers, warm and with just the right amount of strength to make her feel as if nothing in the world could ever harm her. And then she was three buildings past Hawk’s office with her purchases from the mercantile as she thought of his unexpected offer to have Matthew live with them here.
When writing to Hawk and planning to come to Perseverance, Lina hadn’t given much thought at all to the man himself. She knew she’d have to marry him, and she was prepared for that, but she hadn’t expected . . . well,Hawk.
As she unpacked food and a few kitchen items Hawk didn’t already have, Lina thought on this man she’d married. She’d imagined him as a shadowy sort of figure, she supposed, not necessarily having much of a personality beyond that of a stoic lawman, sworn to his duty. Perhaps she’d expected him to be as cold and tough as he likely had to be with the men he needed to keep in line.
She certainly hadn’t imagined she might feel anything toward him at all. Particularly when it was one of his men who’d ended her father’s life.
And yet she did.
Lina paused, new pie plate in hand, as that realization slammed into her like a bullet meeting its target. She slowly set the pie plate on a shelf and then turned, letting herself lean against the small table that served as a countertop. Her heart seemed to beat out of her chest, and she pressed a hand against it, willing it to slow and willing her mind to untangle the confusing thoughts that ran through it.
Why did Hawk have to be so kind?Of course he is, she berated herself. He was the one who wanted a wife. He certainly wouldn’t do that and then act cruelly toward her. It was Lina who needed to pull herself together and remember why she was here.
Later on, she could figure out what to do about the twinge in her stomach she felt whenever Hawk looked at her or how she couldn’t get the feel of his hand covering hers out of her mind.
And so that night, while Hawk visited the privy behind the house, Lina snuck downstairs, retrieved Hawk’s keys from where they thankfully sat on the end table in the parlor, and slipped out the front door. She’d return by the back door, she decided, silently and long after Hawk had fallen asleep.
The night was clear and cool, with stars winking above. Lina smiled as she admired them filling the sky from the western horizon all the way to the tips of the mountains to the east. Matthew had always loved the stars too. They’d spent many an evening together picking out the constellations that Papa had shown them years ago and hoping that he was well, wherever he was.
