Chapter Nine
THAT NIGHT, HALE FOUND Isabella perched on the back steps of the boardinghouse. He’d gone into the kitchen looking for her, thinking she’d come for a cup of tea before bed. Instead, he found the back door open and Isabella staring up at the stars.
“What are you doing out here?” he asked as he shut the door behind him.
She twisted her neck to see him. “The sky was so clear, I thought it would be a shame not to come out here and look at it. Besides, I’m enjoying the quiet.”
“I can go,” Hale said, reaching for the door. The last thing he wanted to do was intrude on the one time of the day Isabella had to collect her thoughts.
“No, please stay.” She scooted over, making space for him on the step.
Hale sat beside her, silently pleased that she wished for his company. The steps were narrow, and his leg and arm pressed against her. She didn’t move away. He almost hoped she would. It was difficult to compose his own thoughts when all he could focus on was how warm her body felt against his.
He rested his arms on his lap and followed Isabella’s gaze toward the sky. The stars were indeed bright, winking at them as if they held their own secrets.
“I used to look at the stars every night,” Isabella said, breaking the silence. “It was a nice way to end the day. Especially if my brothers were irritating me.”
Hale laughed quietly. “You make me glad not to have brothers of my own.”
“That’s because you likely were the irritating brother.” Isabella gently knocked her leg into his.
Hale feigned innocence. “I was no such thing.”
“Shall I ask Tansy for the truth?”
He cringed. “You might not care for me anymore after she tells you a few stories.”
“I doubt that.”
Hale’s breath caught in his throat. Was it possible she meant the way he heard those words? He was almost afraid to look at her. But when he did, he found her watching him with a troubled expression.
“What is it?” he asked, half ready to jump up and fight whatever worry was on her mind.
She ducked her head. “I despise how easy I am to read. My mama always told me I couldn’t hide a single feeling.”
He hesitated half a second, not entirely certain if she wanted comfort, but when she looked up at him again, he reached over and rested a hand over hers. “I find it endearing. And I much prefer a person who is honest to one who hides parts of themselves.”
A stricken look shot across her face as she looked down at their hands.
“Isabella?” He was growing more concerned. “Please tell me what’s bothering you. I can help.”
She closed her eyes at those words. “I . . .” She opened her eyes again, but instead of looking at him, she returned her gaze to the stars. “It’s nothing. I’m being silly, that’s all.”
“It isn’t silly if it’s something that worries you.” His mind churned, trying to discern what it could be. “Is it your safety here in town? I’d hoped getting to know the sheriff and his wife might help. I promise you that nothing will happen to you here.”
She smiled a little. “You can’t promise that. No one can.”
She sounded so wistful, so sad, that Hale knew it was more than a logical mind that spoke those words.
She was correct, after all. He couldn’t control the choices others made, although he’d do his best to ensure a comfortable and safe home for her.
But there was something else in the way she said it . . .
“May I ask what happened to you?” He spoke the words hesitantly, knowing it might be a wound she’d prefer not to open.
Her gaze was on him again. “What do you mean?”
“Well . . .” He turned his hand over, resting the back of his against her leg.
“Perhaps I’m reading too much into it, but you don’t seem a fearful person in general.
It makes me think something bad—or the threat of something bad—happened to you in Wyoming.
” He paused, searching her face, hoping she would give him a clue.
“You can tell me what it is. Maybe I can help.”
“Oh.” She sounded surprised. “Nothing terrible happened to me, at least not in the way you’re thinking.”
That was a curious answer. Hale studied her, but nothing about Isabella indicated she was lying.
“I promise you. No one ever hurt me or stole from me or anything like that.” She smiled at him, clearly trying to assuage his worries.
He nodded. It didn’t explain why she was so nervous at times. But then again, the only women he’d known well were Tansy and his own mother. Perhaps her reaction to hearing about outlaws and other ne’er-do-wells was an entirely normal reaction for many women.
Satisfied with her answer, he leaned back against the step behind them. “Seeing the same stars I saw in Philadelphia was comforting for me when I first came here.”
“I was thinking the same,” she replied. “It’s nice to know the people we left behind can look up at the sky and see exactly what we’re seeing.”
They were quiet a moment. Hale’s attention drifted from the stars to the sliver of a moon hanging over the mountains in the distance.
When he was a boy, he never could have imagined seeing such a view.
Behind their boardinghouse in Philadelphia was a cobblestone alleyway, hemmed in by more buildings.
“Hale?” Isabella’s voice was quiet.
“Yes?”
“Thank you for choosing me. You must have received several letters, and yet you chose me.”
Her words, spoken with a little tremor, went straight to his heart. He caught her eyes. And then, without hesitation, Hale wrapped his arm around her. After a few seconds, she leaned her head on his shoulder.
He closed his eyes, relishing the moment. No one had ever trusted him so completely. Tansy needed him, but not in the way Isabella did.
“I should be thanking you,” he said. He’d taken on an enormous responsibility in marrying her. And he was determined Isabella wouldn’t regret her decision.
Whatever it was that sat so heavily on her mind, he hoped she would eventually trust him to help her with it.