“It isn’t that. It’s . . .” Her gaze drifted to those guns at his side. “Is it . . . safe here?”
He stiffened, and she hoped she hadn’t insulted him. But for the sake of her children, she needed to know.
“I wouldn’t have brought you here if I couldn’t protect you,” he said.
Rebecca’s eyes widened. Protect them fromwhat?
“I’m sorry.” Levi closed his eyes briefly and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I didn’t mean to imply that there’s anything to be afraid of here. You might see the occasional lone coyote.”
Rebecca pressed her hands into her skirts. A coyote. She’d seen more than one of those back home in Kentucky.
“There are bears and mountain lions, but they don’t usually come into the valley. As far as men, you should be aware of the mining encampment, which is several miles to the northeast. I’ll teach you to shoot, and that should be enough to scare off any man.”
“I know how to shoot,” she replied, swallowing the memory of John teaching her years ago.
Levi held her gaze a moment, as if he was deciding whether he believed her. Then he nodded. “Good.”
If he meant that to set her at ease, he hadn’t entirely succeeded.
“I’ll give you one of my brother’s pistols.” He nodded, more to himself than to her, and then moved forward.
Rebecca stepped back toward the wall to let him through. “Thank you,” she said, even though she wasn’t entirely certain she should be thanking him for bringing her to a place where she needed to have easy access to a firearm.
He paused in front of her. Up close, with the sun streaming through the window, his eyes appeared more of a golden green than brown. Rebecca’s breath caught in her throat as she realized precisely how much she didn’t know about this man.
“I give you my word that I won’t let anything happen to you or any of your children,” he said, his voice low and assured.
Rebecca didn’t know how he could promise such a thing, but she wanted so badly to believe him. So she exhaled and nodded. “Thank you,” she said again.
He held her gaze, as if she intrigued him somehow. She couldn’t look away. There was something magnetic about the way he looked at her. And suddenly, all she could think of was letting him enfold her into his arms, protecting her from everything terrible in the world.
“Mama?” Gwynnie’s voice called up the stairs, interrupting Rebecca’s embarrassing reverie.
Her face went hot as she looked away from Levi toward the stairs. “I’m up here,” she replied. “I’ll be down in a moment.”
When she turned back to Levi, he cut his gaze away from her and stepped to the side to allow her to walk toward the stairs.
He was a curious man, Rebecca decided, casting one last glance back toward him before descending the stairs. Half the time, he appeared entirely certain of himself and the rest of the time he looked as if he were ready to bolt.
She only hoped there was a crack in between those two facets of his personality that would allow her to get to know who he truly was.
Chapter Four
LEVI’S BREATH FOGGEDin the cold air. It was dark, well past sunset, and he’d accomplished the last of the evening chores an hour ago. If he delayed going inside any longer, he’d begin to lose feeling in his fingers.
