Free Distraction by Tess Oliver Page B

turned her feet toward mine. I was a
good head taller than her. She lifted her chin and peered up into
my face and then I wondered what the hell I was doing getting so
close to those lips.
    I swallowed back the nearly urgent need I had to kiss
her and took hold of one of her hands. Her fingers felt tiny and
vulnerable laced between mine. I placed my other hand on the small
of her back and tried to convince myself this was all being done to
let her experience dancing with a boy, but in the back of my mind,
I knew I had badly wanted to touch her. I could feel the heat of
her skin through the thin calico fabric of her dress and I
questioned my sanity for going through with this.
    Our steps were awkward and slow, and the only music
was the wind whistling around the yard and the crickets chirping
under the porch, but I’d never enjoyed a dance so much in my
life.
    Poppy kept staring down at our feet as if she worried
about stepping on my toes. She lifted her face and her brown eyes
glittered. “I think I’m getting it.” A thick strand of hair fell
across her face. She sighed and pulled her fingers from mine to
push it away. “Now if I could just get these pins to dance with
us.” She struggled to put the strand back in place behind her
head.
    Reluctantly, I dropped my hand from her back. “I
think I can help with that.” I reached around her with both my
arms. Her warm breath caressed my throat as I pulled the pins from
her hair. The thick, golden strands fell down around her shoulders.
I leaned back and admired my work. “Much better.”
    My hand pressed against her back and I took hold of
her hand with the other. We returned to our silent dance.
    “Thank you for saving me from that bear.”
    “I still can’t figure out how you got there. All
alone in the middle of nowhere like that.” I could feel her tense
beneath my hand. Her gaze dropped back to our feet. “It’s like you
were running from something.” Her fingers squeezed mine. She didn’t
say a word. The only sound was our feet moving on the planks of the
porch and the persistent wind whistling across the fields. But her
small body had grown rigid beneath my touch. “You’re hiding from
someone . . .”
    She lifted her face and some of the pink in her
cheeks had vanished. Her dark eyes were shiny with tears.
I squeezed her fingers between mine. “Don’t worry. You’re safe
here.” We danced in silence for a short while longer, but I could
have stood there with my hand pressed against the small of her back
and my fingers laced through hers for the remainder of the
night.
     
     
     

Chapter 10
Poppy

    Libby walked inside and rolled an avalanche of
potatoes from her apron onto the kitchen table. Two of the
vegetables rolled across the table and bounced onto the floor. I
chased after them.
    “I’ll have to put a big pot of water on to boil,” she
said, as I returned the runaway potatoes to the pile.
    “I’d be happy to get the water for you,” I said.
“Just point me to the well.”
    Libby’s blues eyes were round. “The well? That’s been
filled in for a good fifteen years.” She walked over to the large
basin under the window and lifted a lever. There was a rumble
beneath the floor boards of the kitchen and the walls vibrated.
Moments later, a thin stream of water flowed into the basin. “We’ve
got all the modern conveniences of the wealthy folk’s houses over
in Billings. Our pipes just work a little slower.”
    She handed me a large, deep pot, and I maneuvered it
beneath the steady stream of cool water. I stared out the window as
I waited for the pot to fill enough to accommodate the mound of
potatoes. That is when I saw him riding across the field. He sat
astride a large horse. The animal had a coat so black it looked
almost blue in the crystal sunlight. A smaller brown horse attached
to a rope trotted behind.
    Cade’s long, dark hair was pushed behind his ears,
and his black hat was pushed low on his forehead. The blue scarf