Free A Taste of Heaven by Alexis Harrington Page B

appearance
displeased him. “Didn't Nort give you—oh, damn it, wait here a
minute,” he muttered, and jumped down.
    Libby gazed at his shoulders as he strode
back into the general store and closed the door. Behind her, she
heard the horses shift restively in their harness. If she had to
put up with his sour attitude much longer, her temper, a deeply
buried and long restrained emotion, would slip away from her and
she'd tell Tyler Hollins exactly what she thought. And when that
day came, she knew she'd better be packed and ready to go. He would
almost certainly make good on his threat to bring her to Heavenly
and leave her.
    Moments later, the door opened again and
Tyler walked out with a paper-wrapped package under his arm.
    “Let's get going, Mrs. Ross. It's a long ride
back to the Lodestar.”
    Libby hoisted herself up to the seat and
tucked her skirts around her again. “Surely not longer than this
morning.”
    “We can't drive the horses as fast with the
wagon loaded down like this.”
    “Oh.” Her heart sank at the news, and she
shivered as a stiff gust bit through her wrap. The tree behind
Osmer's rattled its bare branches in the wind. Overhead, the sky
was growing dark again with heavy clouds.
    Tyler climbed onto the seat next to her and
put on his coat. Then he thrust the brown paper package into her
hands. “Put that on.”
    “What is it?” She tried to look into his
face, but he kept it pointed toward the horses ahead while he
wrapped the reins around his fists.
    “We've got some cold weather to go through
before spring starts to warm up. I figured it—you might as well
have this.” His voice lost some of its commanding tone.
    Libby pulled on the slip knot tied in the
string and opened the paper. Inside, she found the plaid shawl
she'd admired. Her jaw dropped and she gaped first at the wrap,
then at him.
    “I can't take this, Mr. Hollins!” It
pained her to say it. The shawl was beautiful. It was warm . But to accept such a gift was
highly improper. Just why, she wasn't sure. Tyler Hollins was her
employer. If Mrs. Brandauer had known a moment of uncharacteristic
generosity and presented her with such a gift, she'd have accepted
it without hesitation. And propriety had never been an issue when
Wesley gave her the few small keepsakes she still kept in her
trunk: a silver hairbrush, a pair of gold cuff buttons, a sterling
buttonhook.
    He turned his blue-eyed stare on her. “Yes,
you will accept the shawl, Mrs. Ross. Don't forget, you're part of
my job.”
    “What?”
    “I take my responsibilities seriously.” That
said, he flapped the lines on the horses' backs, and the wagon
pulled out.
    Libby glared at him and pressed her lips into
a thin line, tempted to retort. It wasn't very flattering to be
viewed in the same light as the calves and dogs and horses he
considered part of his domain. She looked down at the package in
her lap. She was annoyed by his attitude, but not completely
so.
    Libby unfurled the length of plaid and
wrapped it around her shoulders. “Thank you,” she said stiffly.
    *~*~*
    Early that evening, Tyler sat in his office
scratching figures on a piece of paper while he reassessed the
winter losses. He paused to adjust the flame in the lamp on the
corner of the desk. It was warm in here, but outside, heavy gusts
drove sheets of rain against the windows. At least it wasn't
snowing. Now and then, the wind pulled the blaze in the fireplace a
bit higher, but his dog, Sam, stretched out on the hearth rug,
slept on unconcerned.
    “Life's pretty good for you, isn't it, Sam?”
he asked. He leaned back in his chair, making it swivel a bit from
side to side while he considered the big black mongrel.
    The dog waved his tail once in
acknowledgment, but didn't wake.
    “Sure, it's not so hard in have someone feed
you and let you sleep in front of the fire. You don't have to worry
about cattle, or this damned trail drive we have to make.”
    Sam put one paw over his head.
    Tyler sat up and