Free That McCloud Woman by Peggy Moreland

hand by
way of thanking him for the offer, then turned away, as if looking at the table
pained her somehow.
    Though
her touch was fleeting, Jack felt the warmth of it seep deep beneath his skin.
It came perilously close to touching his heart. He stared after her, fighting
the feelings of compassion she stirred within him, and the almost overwhelming
desire to pull her into his arms and just hold her.
    At
the door, she gestured to a small stack of items she'd piled there. "I'll
just take these things for now." She lifted a box and started down the
stairs, her shoulders drooped despondently.
    Jack
glanced back at the table, frowning, wondering what it was about the old table
that had made her look as if he'd broken her heart when he'd told her it wasn't
worth refinishing. He lifted a shoulder and turned away, heading for the
stairs. Don't let it matter, he told himself. You've got
troubles enough of your own.
    From
the pile of things she'd left stacked by the door, he selected a small rocker,
then followed her down the narrow stairway.
    Jack
cocked his head, listening. When he didn't hear the sound again, he went back
to his sanding. He wasn't sure if he could save the table Alayna had unearthed
in the attic, but he was going to give it his best shot. He'd had the truck
driver, who had delivered the tin he'd ordered to repair the roof, help him
haul the table to the barn. Alayna, who at the time had been in town buying
groceries, was unaware that he'd raided her attic. He planned to keep her in
the dark until he determined whether or not he could save the old table.
    As
he sanded and smoothed the buckled wood, he tried to convince himself that he
wasn't doing the work to please Alayna. He was a man who loved wood, no matter
what the form, and hated to see it go to waste.
    He
straightened, flexing his cramped fingers. "Yeah right, Cordell," he
muttered. "You're a sucker for a sad face. Especially when it's attached
to a pretty woman. You always were."
    Frowning,
he bent to his task again, putting muscle behind the steady movements of his
hand.
    And
heard the sound again.
    Lifting
his head, he listened. Sure enough, the sound came again. This time, though, he
set aside the round of coarse steel wool and stepped outside and into the
darkness.
    "Here,
kitty-kitty-kitty."
    Molly? He squinted
against the darkness, trying to make out her small form in the moonless night.
He saw a flash of white near the front porch of the Pond House and headed that
way. He found the girl kneeling in front of the broken lattice that screened
the crawl space beneath the porch, her face pressed again the dark opening.
    "Molly?"
    She
jumped at the sound of his voice and rolled to her back, bracing herself with
hands planted on the soft grass behind her.
    Jack
frowned at the fear he saw in her eyes. The kid hadn't said two words to him
the entire time he'd been living on the place. She just stared at him, her eyes
wide and watchful, her body poised for flight in case he made a wrong move.
    And
that made Jack mad. He didn't want to scare the kid … but then he didn't want
her to like him, either. A hell of a situation, in his estimation.
    He
glanced toward the house, thinking he'd just get Alayna and let her deal with
the kid. Then the cat meowed again, and Molly made a whimpering sound that had
Jack whipping his head back around. The look of fear was still in her eyes, but
so was her concern for the cat. With a sigh, Jack dropped to a knee in front of
the girl, hoping that by putting himself on her level he'd reduce her fear
somewhat.
    But
she remained frozen, her eyes wide and full of fear.
    "What
are you doing out here in the dark?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be in
bed?"
    She
didn't say a word. Didn't even blink. She just stared at him as if he was some
kind of monster who was going to gobble her up for his supper.
    He
bit back a sigh of frustration. "Does Alayna know you're out here?"
    She
wagged her head and dug her heels in the ground, inching away from