Gift of Hope Page 6

But since Christmas was almost a month away, she knew it wasn’t someone bearing tidings of great joy. She tossed aside her blanket, yanked on her clothes, and lifted the gun from the spot above the bed. Quietly, she opened the door and prayed a tree branch had fallen on the roof. Or maybe a bird hit the stove pipe. Or perhaps a racoon dropped down from one of the towering trees overhead. Four-legged wild animals were much preferred to the two-legged variety.

  Gia cautiously made her way down the porch steps then turned and inched backward until she could see onto the roof of the cabin. The form perched on top in the spot where it had been leaking was definitely not a bird or a beast, but a man. One she recognized.

  Relief warred with annoyance as she lowered the gun and stared at Grady’s broad back. He bent over and set a bundle down on the roof. The first streaks of dawn were just stretching across the horizon and her breath wafted around her face in frosty tendrils.

  “Mr. Gaffney, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” she questioned in a loud voice.

  Unaware of her presence, he startled and dropped the hammer in his hand while his feet slid on the snow-covered surface. His arms spun in big circles as he tried to regain his balance.

  Gia’s eyes widened and she took a step closer to the cabin, wishing she’d remained silent instead of catching him off guard. With the snow on the ground, he most likely wouldn’t break anything if he did fall, but she hated to be the cause of him sustaining an injury.

  Just when she thought he’d tumble off the roof, he stopped slipping and found his footing. The moment he was steady on his feet, he looked over his shoulder at her.

  “Morning, Mrs. DeVille. I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said. Slowly, he turned to face her and politely tipped his hat then reached down and retrieved his hammer from the snow on the roof.

  She ignored his reference to her sleeping through his arrival or the sound of him climbing onto her roof. Slightly perturbed, she fisted a hand on her hip. “What are you doing up there, and at this early hour of the day?”

  “I noticed your roof was leaking and thought I’d fix it for you. I wouldn’t want the children to get damp or cold.” With his hat tipped back on his head and a hint of a shirt that matched his blue eyes peeping out from the neck of his coat, he appeared entirely too handsome for her liking. Not only that, but he knew exactly which weak point to press to garner her cooperation. She would do anything for her children and he knew it.

  Blast that man!

  Besides, no woman with blood pumping through her veins could resist the way he looked with the early morning light rising behind him. She had to swallow twice to get past the yearning forming a solid lump in her throat to mutter a simple “thank you.”

  “What was that?” Grady asked, cocking an ear her direction with a roguish grin.

  “Thank you for your help, Mr. Gaffney. If you don’t break your neck up there, come in when you’re finished and join us for breakfast.”

  Thanks to him, she still had a whole loaf of golden delicious bread, along with a dozen cookies. She hadn’t found those treats until after he’d left yesterday. He’d hidden them behind a large cooking pot on the counter by the sink. She’d discovered the precious baked goods when she moved the pot to wash the dishes. It had been so long since they’d had sugar, she had to blink back her tears as she stared at the oatmeal cookies dotted with raisins and nuts. Unable to stop herself, she’d broken off a little piece, savoring every delicious, cinnamon-laden taste before she tucked the cookies into an empty tin to save for another day. Grady had also left behind sandwiches, flaky meat pies, and three apples he’d teased about feeding to his horse.

  Now, Grady was at her home at the crack of dawn, planning to fix her roof. He obviously didn’t know when to leave well enough alone. Pride made her shoulders stiffen and she was about to order him off the roof and back to the mine when he tossed her another rascally grin.

  “I don’t want to eat you out of house and home, Mrs. DeVille. You’ve been kind enough to feed me three meals, now. Even though I’m sure you mind, I brought a few things along. There’s a box there, by the door.”

  It was then she saw a wooden crate that held an assortment of packages and tins.

  “Mr. Gaffney, I refuse to take your charity. It’s not…”

  Dismissively, he waved a hand at her. “It’s not charity. I’m hoping to barter food in trade for a service.”

  Fearful of what, exactly, he wanted to barter, she had visions of him taking advantage of a woman alone, except for her two small children. A frown caused twin vertical lines to crease her forehead as she glowered at him. “And what service would that be?”

  He ignored her dark look and took a nail from the box he’d set on the roof. “Can you sew?”

  “Can I sew?” The question took her aback. She’d assumed… well, it didn’t matter what she assumed. Obviously, Graydon Gaffney was not the type of man she’d expected. Although from his past visits, she should have known he would behave in a gentlemanly fashion. “Of course, I can sew. What’s that got to do with anything?”

  “I have a few shirts that need to be mended awful bad. Do you think you could help me with that while I work on the roof?”

  “That I can do,” she said, hoping he wasn’t just making up the story about his shirts to salvage her pride.

  “They’re in the box, too,” he said, motioning to the porch before he started hammering on the roof.

  Before her stinging pride forced her to change her mind, Gia marched up the steps, picked up the apple crate, and went inside the cabin, softly closing the door behind her.

  Chapter Five

  Grady pictured the way Gia’s skirts would most likely swish around her as she stomped up the steps and inside the house.

  Howdy and a hoot, but she was magnificent! The rich abundance of her hair looked sleep-tousled, like she’d rolled out of bed, tugged on a dress, and rushed outside to see what was making a racket up on her roof.

  He hadn’t meant to awaken her. Honestly, he was surprised she hadn’t heard him drive up in the wagon. He’d needed to bring one to haul the tools he brought along to patch the roof and the other things at her place in dire need of repair, as well as carry the box of food supplies. He’d made both Sizzler and Jason watch as he set food supplies in a box and then paid the bookkeeper for what he’d taken.

  The small bags of flour, sugar, and coffee weren’t much, but enough it would probably needle Gia’s pride. That woman had enough for a dozen people with more to spare. He certainly didn’t want to upset her, but sometimes pride had to tumble so help could be offered.

  Both Sizzler and Jason pestered him until he admitted he’d happened upon a woman and two children in need of assistance. He explained he wanted the supplies for them and told them about planning to head out early to take care of repairs at her place.

  Sizzler had insisted on giving him more cookies and bread, “for the youngsters,” he said.

  Jason volunteered to come along and help. Although he trusted him, Grady didn’t want Jason around Gia. He was far too affable and charming. A vision of the young man turning her head made Grady refuse his offer. Grady wasn’t sure how old Mrs. DeVille might be, but he guessed she was closer to Jason’s age than his.

  Not that he was interested in vying for the woman’s attentions or affections. After all, until proven otherwise, she was most likely still married. Which was exactly why he needed to get control of his wayward thoughts where the entrancing female was concerned.

  He returned to clearing away the snow from the roof so he could work. As he did, his thoughts lingered on the rosy color in Gia’s cheeks as she glared up at him. The woman was as stealthy as the tiger of which she put him in mind. He hadn’t heard her come outside and when she hollered at him, it pert near scared the pudding right out of him. For a moment, he thought he might actually fall right off the roof. Finally, he caught his balance and kept from embarrassing himself in front of her by tumbling into the snow at her feet.
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  The way she looked at him with a mixture of wonder, irritation, and worry in her intriguing amber eyes made him wish he could swing off the roof, sweep her into his arms and…

  Grady released a long breath and shook his head to clear his amorous thoughts. He didn’t know what it was about Gia that inspired such romantic notions to trip around in his head, but something about her certainly did. He’d never once felt that way about Ethel.

  Unable to sleep when dreams of Gia pestered him throughout the night, he finally rose in the wee hours of the morning, loaded the supplies he needed in a wagon, hitched a team to it, and headed out. Lest he wake Gia far too early in the day, he milked the cow, gathered the eggs, and cleaned the barn. He had several other chores he intended to see to before he went back to the mine. The moment dawn began to approach, he decided to climb up on the roof and get started with the repair work, uncertain how long it might take. From what he could see, the leak was around the stove pipe where it poked through the roof. He had everything he needed to fix the problem and set to work.

  By the time he finished and slid down to where he could jump off the roof, Matty opened the door and raced outside to the outhouse. The boy glanced at him and waved before he slammed the door on the privy.

  Grady carried the tools back to the wagon, brushed off his hands, then gathered the eggs and milk from where he’d left them in the springhouse.

  Matty took the basket of eggs from him when they reached the porch steps at the same time.

  “Hi, Mr. Gaffney!” the boy offered him a cheerful grin. “Mamma said you brought all the food we’re having for breakfast.”

  “What are we having?” Grady asked as he pushed open the door and followed Matty inside.

  “Good things,” Matty said, smiling broadly then he turned and sniffed the air.

  “Good things?” Grady questioned with a grin at Gia as he handed the bucket of milk to her then removed his coat and hat, leaving them draped over the rocking chair to warm. If he thought of it before he left, he’d drive a few pegs in the wall near the door so Gia would have somewhere to hang up her coat.

  “You shouldn’t have brought so much, Mr. Gaffney. I’ll not only patch the shirts you brought today, but any others you care to bring to pay for the supplies,” she said. The hard glint in her eye and the unyielding glare on her face dared him to argue with her.

  Meekly, he nodded his head. The scent of bacon and coffee teased his nose as he crossed the room to wash his hands at the sink. He hadn’t placed bacon in the box of foodstuff. A glance around showed a jar of berry jam, a basket of muffins, a slab of ham, and a big wedge of cheese.

  For all his bluster and bluff, Sizzler had a soft spot for widows and children. He must have snuck the extra food into the box before Grady collected it from the cookshack this morning.

  “That’s a fair trade, Mrs. DeVille,” he said, wondering how he’d come up with more clothes to patch. He’d had to raid the changing room off the hoist house where the men traded their dirty, sweat-caked clothes for clean clothes before they moved from the heat of the mine to the freezing air outside. Thane claimed it helped keep the men from getting sick and Grady had to agree.

  The clothes the men wore into the mine were often torn and ragged. Everything left hanging in the changing room was washed Saturday after the last man came out of the mine and left to dry, ready for the crew that would head into the mine early Monday morning. Grady had grabbed three shirts with rips and tears off the pegs where they dried last night and taken them to his cabin so he wouldn’t forget to bring them along this morning.

  He did add one of his shirts he hadn’t yet had time to fix. It was missing three buttons. He’d caught them on a piece of equipment and yanked them off before he realized what had happened. The buttons had disappeared in the mud and he refused to waste time trying to find them. He had a small jar with buttons and a spool of black thread with a needle, although he hadn’t found time to sew on the buttons. Grateful his mother insisted he learned how to sew buttons and mend tears, he could fix his clothes, unlike most of the men at the mine who didn’t know the first thing about threading a needle let alone using it.

  “I’ll have those shirts ready before you leave,” Gia said, setting a platter of eggs and bacon on the table along with biscuits and the jar of jam. “Coffee?” she asked.

  Grady would have refused, but she set a mug on the table and gave him a knowing look. “Thank you.”

  He pulled out her chair and waited until she took a seat with Gwennie on her lap before he moved to the opposite side of the table and plunked onto the chair with Matty between them.

  “Would you offer thanks for us this morning, Mr. Gaffney?” she asked, already helping Gwennie fold her hands together.

  “Of course,” he said, then bowed his head and asked a blessing on the meal and those gathered around the table.

  Their combined amens had barely lifted from their lips when Gia gave him a long look.

  “Really, Mr. Gaffney, the food… it’s so much, too much,” Gia said, even as she slathered a hot biscuit with butter and jam and set it on Matty’s plate along with two pieces of bacon.

  “It’s not too much. I don’t think you fully understand how much men hate mending clothes.” He cast a flirty grin her way.

  Much to his surprise, she returned it with a saucy smile. “I think I do understand. And thank you.”

  Matty chattered about everything from the food to a squirrel he saw in a tree yesterday. Gwennie remained silent, hungrily eating everything Gia gave her. The little girl had berry jam smeared from one ear to the other and Grady couldn’t help but think how adorable she looked with her sticky hands and cheeks.

  “I see Gwennie likes jam,” he observed wryly.

  Gia, who’d been so intent on eating her own breakfast, glanced down at her daughter and rolled her eyes. “Bambina, you are wearing more of your food than you ate,” she said, reaching for a dishtowel on the edge of the sink behind her.

  “I think she shoveled in a good share,” Grady said, taking another bite of the crispy bacon then chasing it down with a swig of coffee, strong and dark just like he preferred.

  “She’s a mess,” Matty said with a laugh then took a bite of his jam-covered biscuit.

  Gia pointed to the corner of her mouth then motioned to her son where jam clung to his cheek. “And you are, too, young man. Just enjoy it and you can wash up after you finish eating.”

  Gwennie squirmed when Gia tried to wipe off her face, smearing jam into her hair. With a resigned sigh, Gia tossed the towel back on the counter. “I’ll have to give her a bath to get her cleaned up.”

  “But it tastes good, doesn’t it, Gwennie?” Grady leaned forward and winked at the little girl.

  She nodded and smiled, showing off pearly baby teeth before she grabbed what was left of Gia’s biscuit and took a big bite.

  “Little glutton,” Gia muttered, but the words were softened with an indulgent look and the tender way she brushed the hair away from the toddler’s face.

  Giavanna DeVille might be one of the most stubborn, mule-headed, pride-filled women Grady had ever met, but she was a wonderful, loving mother. She reminded him of his own beloved mother who’d been gone for many years now, yet he still missed her and thought of her often.

  As he munched bacon and enjoyed the light, fluffy biscuits covered in Sizzler’s wild berry jam, Grady knew he’d have to do something to thank the wily cook for sending the extra food supplies. He hadn’t thought about what a treat bacon or jam would be to a family who’d been existing on eggs, milk, and vegetables. The other things Sizzler had included would also be appreciated by the little family.

  Perhaps Grady should have let Sizzler and Jason come along today. He could have used their help with the repairs and Sizzler would no doubt have enjoyed meeting the children. Regardless, part of him wanted to keep the DeVille family all to himself. At least for a while.

  He fully intended to find out what happened to Rocco D
eVille. The man had never come to the Lucky Larkspur looking for work, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t asked around at other mines in the area. Grady wouldn’t rest until he discovered where the man had gone. When he found him, if he couldn’t convince Rocco to return to his family, he’d enlist the help of the sheriff or his deputies to get the man to do what was right.

  Then again, perhaps Gia and the children were better off without him.

  Torn by his conflicting thoughts on the matter, Grady tamped them down and finished his breakfast. He carried his dishes to the sink then glanced at Gia as she stood with Gwennie on her arm, dodging the child’s jam-covered fingers as the little one giggled and waggled her hands near Gia’s face.

  “You are, as your brother stated, a mess, Gwennie,” Grady said, bending his knees and looking at the child.

  “A mess!” she exclaimed and lunged for him. He had to scramble to catch her as she launched herself from Gia’s arms into his. He felt her place a slobbery kiss to his cheek. Sticky little fingers wound around his neck, giving him a tight hug that made his heart so full, it felt as though it might burst.

  Mercy! The child weighed no more than a feather pillow, but she’d nearly made him weak-kneed with her unbridled affection. Although he’d been hugged in a similar manner by Lily Jordan a few times, this was different. His heart and head were in accord, shouting “mine,” possessively wanting to claim Gwennie, her brother, and their beautiful mother as his.

  Stunned by that realization, he gently handed Gwennie back to her mother. Gia gave him an amused glance, settled her daughter on one hip, then picked up a wet rag from the sink and brushed it across his face.

  “She got you,” she said, smiling as she wiped away a streak of jam that went over his jaw and around to the back of his neck.

  Grady held perfectly still as Gia dabbed at his neck and the back of his head. Goose bumps broke out on his arms and he closed his eyes, desperately holding onto the unraveling threads of his restraint when she stepped back from him.