Free Mystic Montana Sky (The Montana Sky Series Book 6) by Debra Holland Page B

image made Caleb remember the sight of Maggie’s bare breasts. He shook his head, looked up at the clouds building in the sky. Best not to think those kinds of thoughts of the widowed new mother who is under my protection.
    But it’s just become too darn hard not to. Caleb crouched, took a breath, and dipped his hands into the stream. He cupped his palms and brought up cold water to splash his face, hopefully cooling his thoughts, as well.
     

     
    That night after a supper of stewed beef and corn from cans, Maggie sat on a bed in front of the fireplace, listening to the patter of rain on the roof and the snap, crackle, and pop of burning wood. She watched Caleb rise from the other cot to bar the door and pull in the latchstring. Now the walls of the wayfarer’s cabin sheltered them against the elements and any dangerous predators—human or animal. The flickering orange and yellow flames of the fire cast the only light in the darkness.
    Maggie had just finished nursing Charlotte, who lay heavy-eyed in her arms. Her body was still sore, but if she didn’t move, no aching muscles reminded her of the pain. Although she wasn’t sleepy, a lazy feeling of lassitude crept over her. She let out a contented sigh.
    At the sound, Caleb, who’d been staring into the fire, gave her a sharp glance.
    “I haven’t felt this safe in a long while.” She looked down at her sweet daughter. “I hadn’t realized the dread I lived with every day. I’d become so used to always feeling anxious or fearful.”
    “I hope you’ll never feel that way again, Maggie. . .that neither of you will.”
    You are such a good man. Knowing Caleb was still sensitive about the accident and Oswald’s death, she didn’t utter the words. “Tell me more about your family. You didn’t say anything about your nephew. How old is he now?”
    “He just turned sixteen and has shot up to be almost as tall as me.”
    “Does he look like you, too?”
    “There’s a strong family resemblance among the three of us. We favor my father’s family.”
    She looked at Caleb’s handsome features, thick brown hair and dark eyes. They must be an attractive family.
    “Ben is shaping up quite well. He got in a spot of trouble—no, I should be honest and say a great deal of trouble when he was younger. His mother spoiled him. I was busy and tended to pay him scant mind. And unbeknownst to either one of us, he was struggling with missing his father. Add a little bad company—” his mouth quirked in a self-depreciating smile “—along with the Livingston arrogance, and you have a recipe for disaster.”
    You’re not arrogant. A little high-handed at times, but only for what you consider my comfort and protection. But she wouldn’t admit that to him. “What happened?”
    “Ben and another boy started setting fires to the school privy. That would have been bad enough, but he blamed a pair of orphan twins in a deliberate attempt to get them kicked out of town and sent to an orphanage.”
    She gasped at the boy’s wickedness.
    His expression mirrored her thoughts. “A low time for all of us. His mother. . .well, Edith had been inclined to baby him, and unfortunately still has that tendency. But when the evidence came to light, even she could not excuse Ben’s behavior.”
    “What happened to the twins?”
    “They were quite the troublemakers at the time, which made them easy to blame. Samantha Rodriguez, a widow who’d inherited a local ranch, adopted them, as well as an Indian boy. She’d traveled here from Argentina, bringing her son and these midget horses, about yay high.” He measured the distance from the floor to his hand. “They are called Falabellas.”
    Maggie couldn’t believe such a thing. “Horses so small?”
    “Wait until you see them. The whole town is full of the little creatures, for she has bred the midgets, and the foals are snapped up before they’re born. I’m on a waiting list for one from the next batch for Ben. He already