Chapter Four
Gunder had to work to hide his amusement at the look on Risa Hoffman’s face when he approached her. Of course, Lars had told him to sit with his daughter and the older woman who ran the boardinghouse, but still, he found a bit of mirth in the way Risa gaped at him as though he had two heads.
Last he checked, he still only had one.
“Hello, Miss Hoffman,” he said, thinking he’d learned a good lesson about assumptions.
From the way Lars had spoken about his daughter, Gunder had expected her to be a little girl, maybe eleven or twelve at most. But the beautiful woman staring at him with eyes the color of ripe blueberries and hair that put him in mind of warm honey was certainly not a child. Far from it.
His eyes drifted from her hair, past a nose that was a little too wide for complete perfection but cute nonetheless, to a pair of rosy lips he had a nearly uncontrollable urge to bend down and kiss, imagining they would taste every bit as sweet as they looked.
“You’re the new freighter?” Risa asked as though she couldn’t quite force her brain to accept the knowledge.
“Sure am. Your father is a fine, fine man. I enjoyed spending the day with him yesterday and look forward to working with him and learning from him.”
“Have you been a freighter for long, Mr. Birke?” Mrs. Baldwin asked, patting the bench beside her, indicating he should take a seat next to her.
“No, ma’am. Tomorrow will be my first official day as a paid freighter.” He smiled and sank onto the grass next to Risa, mostly because he expected it would upend her apple cart. When she dropped her fork and nearly tipped over her jar of water, he had to swallow down a laugh.
Gunder had no idea what about him put her on edge, but something certainly did.
He could have done the polite thing and gone to sit with a group of miners, but since Lars had sent him over to sit with Risa, he certainly wasn’t going to argue.
Not when she’d fascinated him from the moment he’d set eyes on her earlier that morning.
When he’d walked into town for the church service, he’d seen her outside one of the shacks.
In fact, before he noticed her, he’d been admiring the place.
Although the shack had the same rough appearance as the others, it did seem to be sturdier than most. What impressed him, though, were the green plants growing around it.
If he weren’t mistaken, there were half a dozen fruit trees planted around the house, and he could see a large garden behind the house, along with a barn, chicken coop, and pig pen.
Horses grazed on grass that he assumed was green because of the proximity to the river.
At the time, he’d thought whoever owned the shack had chosen a good location. It was on a slight rise from the river, which meant it wasn’t going to be the first place to flood, but close enough that roots would likely have a good source of groundwater.
Then his gaze had landed on a tall shapely woman leaning against the front of the shack. Even though he couldn’t see her eyes or the expression on her face, something about her pulled at him, and made him want to stride over to her and get to know everything there was to learn about her.
Before he’d lost his mind and followed the inclination, he nodded to her and continued on his way to the church with his box of apricots.
The pastor had decided to move the service to the shade of the trees along the riverbank, so Gunder had jumped in to help carry pews out of the church. It wasn’t until he was seated beside Lars, who was behind the woman he’d seen earlier, that he wondered about Lars’ daughter.
There hadn’t been time to ask before the service. It wasn’t until Lars had asked him to help carry the food the Hoffman family were contributing to the meal over from their house that Gunder had realized Risa wasn’t a child, but a lovely young woman.
“Your first day as a paid freighter?” Risa asked, finally joining the conversation.
“That’s right, miss,” Gunder said, shoving a bite of tender beef into his mouth to keep from laughing when she knocked over her jar of water.
Risa righted it with a sound of exasperation. Gunder was about to offer to refill it, when Lars joined them. The freighter and Mrs. Baldwin carried the conversation.
Gunder refilled his plate twice, and went back three times to sample the various desserts.
His favorite was a spicy square he wasn’t sure was a cookie or some sort of a cake, but it was moist and bursting with flavor.
The spices reminded him of the pepparkakor cookies his mother made for Christmas every year.
When the meal was over, some of the men went fishing in the river. The younger boys threw off their shirts and waded into the chilly water.
Gunder knew firsthand how cool it was from taking a bath in it that morning and shaving. He’d completed the task without a mirror or hot water, but had only nicked his chin once. At least he’d gotten rid of the scruff on his face, and he hoped he appeared at least halfway presentable.
From the way Risa kept casting glimpses at him, he either had something on his face or she was as interested in him as he was in her.
Then again, Lars was his friend, and Gunder didn’t want to offend him. Gunder had nothing to offer a woman like Risa Hoffman. Not a home. Not a hearth. Not a thing.
And why are you thinking in terms of forever? The voice in his head asked.
That was a good question.
Gunder shifted his thoughts to the celebration and watching the community enjoy what appeared to be a rare day of rest.
The clink of metal hitting metal drew his gaze to a group of men playing a game of horseshoes. Gunder was a good player, but he had no interest in joining them. Not when he preferred to sit by Risa and listen to the conversations roll around him.
Sleepy children and women wanting to get the dirty dishes washed and out of their way drew an end to the festivities.
“You’ll still join us for supper?” Lars questioned when Gunder stood and looked around to see what he could do to be of assistance.
“If you’re sure you still want company this evening.”
Lars nodded. “Of course. We’ll eat at six, but you’re welcome to come earlier if you like.”
“Thank you, Lars.” Gunder shook his hand, then set about helping to carry the heavy pews back inside the church and joining those who remained behind in cleaning up.
A hand on his shoulder brought him up short, and Gunder turned to find Mr. Goodwin giving him an approving look. “It’s good to see you jumping right into the Lovely festivities, Gunder. From what Lars said, you’ll do just fine hauling freight. Be at the mine, ready to leave at five in the morning.”
“Yes, sir.” Gunder smiled and shook Mr. Goodwin’s hand, assuming Lars would fill in the details in the morning.
When everything was put away and it appeared as though the picnic had never taken place, Gunder strolled along the riverbank, not eager to return to his stuffy little tent.
When Lars had asked him to help carry the food out for the picnic, Gunder had dashed over to his tent and retrieved a basket he’d fashioned out of bark and string and filled with apricots. He’d left it on the table at the Hoffman house so no one looking in his tent would be tempted to take it.
It made Gunder nervous not to have a door where he could lock away his belongings. Last night, he’d dug a hole beneath his cot big enough to hold his pack and had hidden it there today. He just hoped it would be there when he returned to his tent later.
He was half tempted to go check on it, not that he had much of anything worth stealing, but what little he did own, he preferred not to lose. Perhaps he just needed to put his faith and trust to work and not worry about his earthly possessions quite so much.
Gunder sighed and kicked at a pine cone, then glanced up to see he’d walked quite a distance from Lovely. The trees were thicker here, and he was pleased to see pine trees as well as white oak trees growing near the river, where lush green grass covered the banks.
Something yellow caught his eye in the distance, and he walked over to it to find a plant with arrow-shaped leaves and small yellow flowers.
He started to pluck a few buds, then changed his mind.
Risa struck him as someone who would rather have a plant that would continue growing and blooming than a few posies that would wilt and die.
Gunder had nothing with which to dig the plant, and no way to carry it or keep it wet. Perhaps he could borrow a shovel and bucket from the mine on Sunday and dig it up. He sighed. It might be a good idea to find out if the plant was a poisonous weed or truly a flower first, though.
He plucked one stem, then headed back toward Lovely.
From the position of the sun in the sky, he thought it was a little past five. He wished he’d splurged and bought a timepiece yesterday, but soon enough, he hoped to have funds to cover what he’d need to purchase.
When Gunder reached the path that would take him to the Hoffman abode, he stopped and brushed a hand over his shirt and trousers to make sure they were as clean as possible.
He started to remove his hat, only to remember he’d left it off that morning.
Instead, he ran a hand over his short hair, then squared his shoulders and strode to the screen door of the Hoffmans’ shack.
No one was inside, although the table was set for three, with the basket of apricots in the center.
Gunder cocked an ear and heard voices behind the shack. He followed them around the side of the house, making note of plants Risa had planted around the sides of the building. They were similar to bushes he’d seen growing by the river.