Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
The orphans sat enraptured as Zachary regaled them with stories of the west and working on the railroads.
He nodded to Chen to take over. The Chinaman thrilled the children performing magic tricks, taking a coin from behind one boy’s ear, and then letting it vanish in his hand.
The children clapped. “My turn! My turn!”
“I thank you for your input. Your valuable experiences will enlighten them on the growth of this country,” Elizabeth said, coming up alongside him.
Her voice sounded like heaven flowing down to earth and taking him to a lovely place where all worries faded away.
She had been behind him, observing from the sidelines.
He had been aware of her every breath. He’d been aware of her softness and sweetness.
Aware of her moving a delicate hand to smooth an errant strand of gold-silk hair, sun-kissed in tones.
“I had a few minutes to spare, and I enjoy being with the children.”
“Chen is so good with them,” she said. She was a goddess—untouchable, and he, a mere pauper.
Her cheerfulness made him regard the stark contrasts of her. Some she disclosed, others she hid. Both contrasts he understood, inside and out.
Despite her affluence, she was accountable, compassionate and displayed a solid work ethic as seen with the care for her daughter and the orphans.
In social gatherings her ability to run circles around her peers with easy witty banter caused him to admire her.
Rising above societal dictates is what made Elizabeth unique and validated, the lively, loving, compassionate and humble woman, emerged a far cry from the selfish, condescending arrogance of her contemporaries.
“I’m so thankful that both of you found time out of your busy schedules,” she said, her voice like a caress of a rose petal against his ear.
His shoulder muscles tightened, and his coat was suddenly too tight.
Yet underneath, he’d glimpsed her vulnerabilities and how she viewed herself.
She was skeptical, cynical and exceptional at hiding her true feelings, especially to her mother, sister and peer group who would use it as ammunition to hurt, mock or scorn her.
For a lifetime, she had been trapped in an abusive environment forced to face the formidable task of adaptation and self-protective habits.
Regardless of her brazen, outward confidence, on the inside, she was a quivering mass of insecurities.
The fact that she confided in him about her feelings said a lot to him. Friendship was built on two things: trust and respect. She was the evening star, the fairest of all stars.
Caroline appeared. The daintiest little girl he’d ever seen, a lithe figure whose every attitude was instinct with inborn grace and…
mischief. For one moment, her violet eyes with long, curving lashes studied him, revealing an expression of a child’s trustfulness and the gentleness of a fawn.
Then her mercurial expression changed abruptly; a confusing myriad of emotions that made it impossible to understand.
Finally, making a conclusive determination, she granted him a wide smile like Queen Isabella giving three ships to Columbus for exploration.
She yanked on Elizabeth’s hand, guiding her to a pathetic seedling she had planted in a cup. Zachary followed Elizabeth with his gaze as she oohed and aahed over the wilted corpse of a plant. Mother and daughter. The way it was meant to be. An urge to protect them swept over him.
“You like her. You like her a lot.”
“Pardon me.” He glanced down to the red, curly, mop hair of Joseph who stood just beneath his chin. The boy’s feet were huge at his age. He’d grow to be a big man. “I don’t know what you mean.”
The boy’s stare roared thick-witted, as if Zachary were the type to jump off a barn roof with an open umbrella.
Zachary said nothing.
“Liar,” the boy accused. “Do you want me to believe that you are slow and stupid?”
The boy stood too cocksure of himself. Zachary loosened his neck collar. He hated being interrogated by a peach-fuzzed nine year old. “I’m just a friend.”
“Sure,” Joseph scoffed. His voice cracked from high-pitched to a deep baritone. “There’s no hurry. You should get there someday.”
“Do not misinterpret”
The boy folded his arms in front of him. “Caroline has picked you for Miss Spencer. She always gets what she wants. And I make sure of it.”
Zachary glanced heavenward. “And the grizzly whistles on the mountain.”
“Are you kidding? You have it bad.”
Zachary made a growling sound in his throat. “I think you have too much time on your hands to form fanciful delusions.”
If the boy’s jaw jutted out any farther, Zachary might be able to hang his coat on it. The boy was set to be a fierce enemy if crossed. What a formidable man he’d be.
Unable to help himself, Zachary surveyed the delicate sculpture of Elizabeth’s high cheekbones, well-shaped mouth, beguiling dark lashes and perfectly straight white teeth, like a string of pearls.
“Do I now?” said Joseph, catching him studying Elizabeth overlong and determined to have the last word.
“To my estimation, if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, it is a duck.” Joseph gamboled over to join Caroline and her postmortem seedling.
She was ready to cry because it didn’t look like any of the other orphans’ seedlings.
“Needs a little water is all,” said Joseph. Like a magician, the boy swapped out a live plant for Caroline’s dead one and pretended to add water. “Completely revived.”
Caroline clapped. “You can do everything, Joseph. You are the smartest, strongest and most wonderful person in the world.”
Did Joseph grow a few inches taller?
Smiling, Elizabeth rejoined Zachary. He took in a shallow breath at the heady intoxication of having her interest solely on him.
“If I may?” he asked and then tucked her hand into his arm without asking. Her hand felt comfortable on his arm, as if it were natural for it to rest there. He might as well succumb to Joseph’s accusations. Leaning his head toward hers, he said, “Your interference is timely.”
She raised a skeptical brow, and her lips curved in a teasing smile. “I’m happy I could help. I suspect Joseph was provocative?”
He leaned back to view the smirking nine-year-old. “And then some.”
Elizabeth laughed. It was both husky and light, a full-throated sound that made his blood thicken in an awakening of carnality. He really needed to not be alone with her in public.
She took his hand and guided him to a hall and then quickly continued walking, leading him to the farthest end of the corridor. The pleats of her light cornflower-colored taffeta day dress made a rustling sound when she moved.
The sky was bit clearer today, so bright sunlight filtered through the ten-foot windows surrounding Elizabeth in a halo of dazzling light. The moment she released him, he automatically curled his hand into a fist to hold on to her heat.
With avid interest, he saw a spark in her eyes and an amusing twitch of her mouth. She was a glittering vision and like a schoolboy with his first infatuation, she could cut him to little pieces if she had the whim. He was compelled to pity Joseph in Caroline’s wake.
“Joseph is full of questions and innuendoes. I still haven’t recovered.”
“Such as?”
“Why does the moon go away in the morning?”
“I suppose you gave him an illustrious scientific answer?”
She was teasing him. “Interesting you ask. I simply told him the moon was off to light up someone else’s night. I find children teach you many things. How much patience you have, for instance.”
“You know of my family,” Elizabeth demurred. “It is only fair you tell me about your family.”
He leaned his head back and scratched his throat. “There’s quite a history.”
“Do tell,” she begged, leaning closer to him in genuine curiosity.
“My oldest brother, General John Daniel Rourke was one of the Rebel’s great fighting generals.
He was critically wounded, captured and sent north to a Yankee prison camp.
Mistaken for dead, Union soldiers threw his body from the train in the isolated countryside of New York where he rolled to the feet of a prim and proper schoolteacher–or so he thought.
As you know, Catherine Fitzgerald is the heiress to Fitzgerald Rifle Works, a company that manufactured rifles to kill Rebel soldiers much like my brother who landed on her doorstep.
Long story short, they fell in love, yet became sworn enemies when my brother believed her a spy involved in a Union plot to destroy him—and believe me, John is not one to go up against especially when he thinks he has been betrayed.
Going against all orders and in a bold raid, my brother abducted her from Washington. ”
“Oh, my,” said Elizabeth her eyes widening.
Zachary shook his head and chuckled. “My sister-in-law was a rebellious captive. She defied his commands and soon turned his Rebel camp upside down. Knowing how stubborn my brother is, to be pitted against an equally obstinate female…well, how that courtship ever got off the ground is past anything I can imagine. They are hopelessly in love and live on my parents’ plantation in Virginia with their five children.
“What about your other brothers?”
“You aim to tease that out of me?” How she held the power to stir him. She was what every man dreamed, a vision of incomparable beauty.
“By all means.”
“Our family was fractured during the war with divided loyalties to North and South. My second oldest brother, Colonel Lucas Rourke was head of Civilian Spying for the North and responsible for a vast network of spies. The Confederacy managed to abduct him. A notorious Northern rogue spy, Rachel Pierce worked in the South and rescued him. At first, both were unbending in revealing their real identities until they figured out it was the wise thing to trust.”
“Sounds logical.”
The light caught the violet of her eyes, making them shimmer like sapphires.
“Caught in a treacherous web of intrigue, they uncovered secrets which would have prolonged the war and cast them both in grave danger. While unraveling the truth, unmasking assassins, and getting safely to Union lines, a powerful…” Zachary paused and tilted his head knowingly, “fierce passion ignited between the two. But both had strong personalities and they fought like wolverines. She had a problem giving up her spying and he refused to give up his power. How they managed to get married and have four children is beyond my grasp. Yet they are happily married and live in Washington.”
“I believe you have one more sibling,” she prompted.
When her scent entwined him, his nostrils flared. Her nearness and the sultry look in her eyes unleashed something primal in him, drugged his mind. “Aren’t you an inquisitive soul? Colonel Ryan Rourke was a famous Rebel cavalryman, the notorious Gray Ghost that you’ve probably heard tales about.”
Her fingers touched her parted lips. “He was the scourge of the North and incensed Grant’s army at every turn.”
Zachary grinned, enjoying himself immensely. He opened his mouth to reply, but his gaze was drawn to the hollow of her throat and the play of soft shallows.
His pulse leaped, and he shifted to hide his physical reaction.
“And then some. Needing medical help for his men, he had the daring audacity to kidnap a group of nuns, nurses really, who were on their way to give medical attention to the Union Army. In short order, my brother learned that the youngest was a doctor. With her outrageous defiance of him, he remained mystified for two reasons. She wasn’t afraid of him, and she didn’t act anything like a nun at all.
She did, however, take very good care of his men and is a great doctor. ”
“And then what happened?” she asked, leaning closer to him in genuine curiosity.
“In truth, she was disguised as a nun. Sister Grace was really Dr. Grace Barrett and on the run from relatives who would’ve seen her hang on trumped up charges of murder to gain her fortune.
Both my brother and she were prideful and passionate but had to wend their way through loyalty and lies to clear a path to their hearts. ”
“I assume they are married?”
Zachary gave out a low whistle and plunked his hand on the wall next to her head.
She shifted to the side. He trapped her with his other hand.
“They live on a huge horse farm in the Shenandoah with…eight children. That house is so full of joy and mischief. There is never a dull moment as in all my brothers’ families. ”
Her violet eyes sparkled. “Your family’s lives sound idyllic.”
He leaned forward, almost touching her but not. The heat from her body warmed his front. It was as if she’d unleashed a magnetism she kept bottled up inside her so that he had to fight to keep himself from moving into her.
What could one kiss hurt?
Fool. And he could bag the moon and throw the dazzling ball across the universe.
The thrill of something timeless brushed against them and he resisted to circle his arms about her. He’d fantasized about kissing her for weeks, to sample her full, moist lips, to set free her hair. It had been an eternity since he’d dared be this close to a female.
He forced himself to not yearn for what he couldn’t have, but what stuck in his craw was Joseph’s admonition.
Zachary needed to finish his business not complicate affairs with a hundred things that could go wrong.
She gazed at him with sudden focus. “I have a question for you. That day…in Missouri, how did you happen to be there?”
As the words sunk in, Zachary stood stock still. He wanted to charge like a mad bull, to punch his fist through the wall. Why was he there? Old wounds scraped raw.
He swallowed. Martha Johnson. Memories flooded him. His nostrils flared. He pushed away from Elizabeth, blood rocketing through his veins. Elizabeth’s shoulders sagged, her face a whitened mask of hurt and confusion. He’d been a complete schmuck.
He drew in a slow steady breath, said nothing.
A teacher appeared at the top of the hallway. “There you are, Miss Spencer. The children are ready for their lessons.”
“I bid you good day, Mr. Rourke,” she said curtly. “I hope you find what you are looking for.” In a swirl of skirts, she left him.