13

Logan put one foot in front of the other until they reached the homestead. It was all he could manage. He felt as if he were the one trapped in a blanket. Suffocating. Drowning. Seeing his old house from a distance was one thing. Being close enough to touch the walls that had once been his home . . . he’d thought he was prepared. Obviously he was wrong.

He led Shamgar past the barn, telling himself to focus on the house in front of him, but his gaze darted sideways against his will. The barn door stood open, and in a flash, Logan was sixteen again, coming upon his father’s lifeless body, his mother’s good tablecloth draped over all but one side of his sire’s face. Bile rose in Logan’s throat. His steps faltered. But he righted himself, tightening his hold on Shamgar’s lead line as if it were his tether to sanity. Forcing his feet to keep moving, he jerked his attention back to the house.

“Zach!” Eva’s shout effectively snapped Logan’s mind back to the present. “Seth! We need your help.”

Before her sentence was even fully uttered, Hamilton threw open the door and bounded outside, fists clenched, jaw set. He zeroed in on Logan. “What did you do?” he growled, advancing.

Logan lifted his chin but held his ground.

“He saved this poor girl’s life, Zacharias,” Eva said. “That’s what he did.” Logan swore he could hear her roll her eyes. Her exasperation made him grin, which only darkened Hamilton’s features further. A nice bonus. “Quit your posturing and come help me with our guest.”

“Guest?” Hamilton’s head zipped around as he faced his sister with a look halfway between incredulity and horror. “What do you mean, guest?”

Logan couldn’t help but be a little gratified that he wasn’t the only one having his life turned upside down by the fierce little sprite glaring down at them all from atop her commandeered steed.

“Oh, for pity’s sake. Does no one around here have an ounce of hospitality in their tiny male brains?” Eva glared at Hamilton, then grumbled something under her breath as she slid off Shamgar’s back. “Seth. Thank heavens.” The blond Hamilton brother approached Shamgar cautiously, his gaze darting between his sister and the woman still atop the horse who appeared to be trying to fold in on herself. “My new friend needs help, and Zach doesn’t seem to be up to the task.”

Hamilton made a sound of protest, but Eva turned her back on him and addressed Seth instead.

“Be careful,” Eva warned in a quiet tone. “She’s been through a horrible ordeal and needs a hot bath, dry clothes, and a good meal.”

“Here, miss,” Seth said, his voice low and gentle as he extended his arms to her. “Let me help you down.”

His brother’s acceptance of the woman seemed to snap Hamilton out of his shock-induced stupor. “I’ll put extra water on the stove,” he grumbled as he shot one last glare at Logan before stomping back toward the house, “but don’t think we won’t be discussing this.”

Eva didn’t bat an eye. She lifted her chin and glared at his retreating back. “After supper,” she said. She turned to Logan. “And we’d love to have you join us for the meal.”

“What?” Hamilton halted, spun to glare at Logan, then turned his attention to his sister and shook his head adamantly.

Eva, however, just kept smiling, undeterred. “It’s an insufficient thank-you for your heroics today, but I hope you’ll join us. Seth’s Sunday pot roast is delicious, and there’s always plenty to go around.”

Knowing Hamilton wanted nothing more than to send him packing made accepting Eva’s offer that much sweeter. With a bow of his head and the sizzle of Hamilton’s searing glare boring through his chest, Logan fingered the brim of his hat. “Much obliged, Miss Evangeline. I’d be honored to share your table.”

“Excellent.” Her eyes danced with mischief, and Logan loved the feeling of comradery springing up between them.

Eva stepped aside as Seth collected the injured woman from atop the horse. When he settled her into his arms to carry her to the house, she made a grab for Eva’s hand, and all teasing vanished from Eva’s face. She cast a quick glance at Logan, begging him to understand.

He nodded. “I can find my way around,” he assured her. “I’ll tend to Shamgar, you tend to her.”

Her eyes warmed with gratitude, and his chest warmed with something else altogether. Something dangerous. Something that could derail his plans.

Logan clicked to Shamgar and set off for the barn. Time to remember why he was here.

Seth set the young woman on her feet once they reached Evangeline’s room. “I’ll bring in the tub,” he said, “and some extra blankets. The poor gal is shivering something fierce.”

Evangeline met her brother’s concerned gaze. “Thank you.”

Once he left, she extricated her hand from the woman’s grip and bustled over to the wardrobe to retrieve two clean skirts and shirtwaists. After laying them on the bed, she turned to face the woman, who hadn’t moved. Pointing to first one skirt and then the other, she asked, “Would you like the brown or the red?”

The girl pointed to herself, her eyebrows arching upward.

“Yes.” Evangeline touched her arm lightly, careful not to make any sudden moves. Then she looked the girl up and down and pretended to give the inane fashion decision serious contemplation. “The red, I think. No more blacks and grays for you.” She shivered, recalling the charcoal blanket dragging her down. Then a thought occurred. “Oh, unless you’re in mourning.” She eyed the soggy black dress plastered to the woman’s body. “I probably have something darker if—”

The woman shook her head and pointed to the red skirt.

Evangeline grinned. “Red it is.” She set the gored skirt off to one side and laid the matching calico shirtwaist on top of it. Sprigs of dark red flowers dotted the pleated tan bodice and puffed sleeves. “This will look lovely on you. All that dark hair of yours. I think I have a red ribbon somewhere, too.” She crossed to her dresser and fetched dry underclothes for both of them from the drawer, then pulled a ribbon from the basket that sat on top.

“I’ve got the tub,” Seth called from the doorway, the large copper bathing tub stretching his arms wide.

“Wonderful.” Evangeline tossed the underthings onto the bed and stepped past her guest to help her brother situate the tub along the interior wall in its usual place. She pulled two blankets out of the basin along with the toweling Seth had added and set them on the chair she kept by her writing desk.

Ten minutes later, Zach had filled the bath with water from the kitchen pump along with a pail from the stove’s reservoir and two steaming kettles. Evangeline plunged her arm in to test the temperature. Her skin was chilled enough that the sudden warmth was a tad uncomfortable, but not unbearable. Just what a shivering female needed to regain her equilibrium.

With the men gone and the door closed, Evangeline reached for her guest and clasped her hands. “The water’s warm. I’ll help you out of this sodden dress and let you soak for a while. Then I can wash your hair and help you comb out the tangles. Would you like that?”

The girl’s eyes misted, but she nodded, and Evangeline smiled. Heaven knew this poor dear had been through enough hardship for one day. A little pampering was definitely in order.

As Evangeline helped peel away the black dress and aided her guest out of her frayed petticoat and threadbare chemise, she fought to hide her rising anger. Bruises. All over the girl’s body. Purple marks in the shape of fingers along her upper arm. Shadowy contusions on her belly. Thin red marks on her back as if she’d been struck by a switch or a cane.

No wonder she hadn’t struggled when that beast had carted her to the water’s edge. She’d been beaten into submission. Probably into unconsciousness. Evangeline would have to take care with washing her hair. The girl had probably been knocked on the head before being rolled into that awful blanket.

Evangeline sniffed quietly and blinked away the tears that threatened to spill down her cheeks. The girl didn’t need pity right now. She needed hope. So Evangeline took her by the elbow, gave her a nod that promised a lending of strength until the girl could recover her own, and helped her into the bath.

Logan kicked the toe of his boot against the fence post and leaned his forearms along the top rail. What was he doing? For the first time in years, he was back on his father’s property, the barn and the house both at his disposal. The girl they’d pulled from the river made a perfect distraction. He should be searching for something he could use against Hamilton, some type of leverage to force him to the gaming table.

Instead, Logan was leaning over the rail of a pigpen, watching a boar named Hezekiah wallow in a slimy mud puddle and worrying about the welfare of a woman he didn’t even know. Not to mention obsessing over the woman he did know.

He hadn’t been able to stomach the barn for more than a few minutes. He’d loosened Shamgar’s girth, rubbed him down a bit, and walked him over to the trough by the well so he could drink his fill. Then Logan had turned his back on the mausoleum that masqueraded as a harmless shelter for animals and trudged in the opposite direction.

He’d needed to escape the darkness of his memories, to find relief from the vise tightening around his chest, the growing pressure making it hard to breathe. When he’d spotted the pig, he’d immediately crossed the yard to the pen and leaned over the fence rail. Not because porcine rapport was particularly comforting in and of itself, but the bristle-haired creature snorting in the corner brought a much fairer companion to mind, one who could siphon sunlight through the darkest cloud. And if ever he’d needed a dose of sunlight, it was now.

“I understand you and Hezzy have a history.”

Logan straightened and twisted his neck to cock a wry grin at Seth. He supposed he should be thankful the younger Hamilton brother had been the one assigned to quiz-the-suitor duty. After his brief stint in the barn, Logan didn’t think he was up for a confrontation with Zacharias.

“Well, I did try to shoot him when we first met,” Logan said, tipping his chin toward Eva’s pet, “but your sister insisted I spare him.” He leaned his weight on the fence after Seth rested his back against the wooden slats. “I thought maybe if I hung out with him, he’d grow on me.”

“Hasn’t worked for me yet.” Seth crossed his arms over his chest, his pale blue eyes scanning Logan’s face. “But the strategy is sound enough.”

Logan raised a brow. “Trying it on me?”

“Yep.”

Logan chuckled at the honesty. “Am I growing on you yet?”

Seth shrugged. “Too soon to tell. But be warned . . .” He straightened away from the fence, his arms still crossed and his eyes anything but teasing. “We’ve been dealing with Evie’s penchant for bringing charity cases home for years. We know how to protect her.” He nodded toward the boar who was giving his back a good scratch against a post. “Pulled Hezzy’s cutters out before they grew long enough to inflict any damage.” Seth dipped his chin, his gaze lowering to Logan’s waistband before lifting back to his eyes.

Logan tapped the brim of his hat in acknowledgment of the brotherly threat. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Good.”

They fell silent. Seth turned and braced a boot on the bottom rail of the fence as they both stared at the pig neither of them liked. ’Course, they didn’t much care for each other at the moment, either.

“So how’s the girl?” Logan said, finally breaking the silence.

“Under Evie’s wing.” Seth lifted his face toward the sun, as if he, too, thought of Eva as a bright spot in a dark world. “Best place for her right now.”

“Agreed. Your sister can raise a person’s spirits better than anyone I’ve ever met.”

“Spoken like someone who’s spent significant time in her company.” Seth shifted to face Logan, his bland expression doing nothing to disguise his pointed interest.

Logan inwardly scolded himself for the misplay. The compliment to Eva had risen unbidden and slid off his tongue without thought. He’d played a card that should have been kept hidden in his hand. She had him off his game.

Seth eyed him with raised brows. “Exactly how much time have the two of you spent together, neighbor?”