Page 188 of Conveniently Wed
His brows rose. “Really? Where at? Is he all right?”
Leah nodded, the corners of her mouth pulling at the eagerness in his voice. “He showed up next to my mare just before I left the herd. His reins were broken and a few scratches on the saddle, but other than that, he didn’t seem any worse for wear.”
Gideon’s features relaxed as she spoke. “Good. Did you have any trouble cracking the ice in the creek?”
Memories of the half hour she’d spent hacking at the stuff with that heavy ax flitted through Leah’s mind. But no need to worry him with that kind of detail. “I got it done.”
She forced her frozen cheeks into a reassuring smile. “I cracked the ice and doctored the cuts and put out hay. Which reminds me, there’s not much hay left in that shed, maybe enough for another day. Is there more somewhere else?”
Gideon’s brows knit and he pursed his lips. “They’ll need to move to the north pasture soon. I have more hay stored there, and the grass is tall under the snow.”
Leah put on her best I-don’t-think-so face. “Just so you know, unless that can wait at least two weeks, you’re not going to be the one moving them anywhere.”
His brows left their thoughtful furrow to raise high on his forehead, lending to his annoyed expression. “I’ll do what I need to do.” He ground out the words through a tight jaw.
Perhaps discretion would be the better part of valor in this case. After all, they had at least one more day to argue about this before she moved the cows herself.
Leah moved from in front of the fire to sit in the chair near Gideon’s feet. She tried to keep her posture as friendly as possible. “Tell me how you’re feeling.”
The muscles in his face relaxed, and his eyes softened to a friendly glow. “Some better. My ribs hurt to move or breathe, but the throbbing in my head’s down to a dull roar.”
“And you’ve been lying still all day? Not up at all?”
His easy expression changed to a dark look. “Yes, thanks to the prison guard you posted.”
Leah couldn’t hold back a chuckle. “Sounds like Miriam’s been obeying orders. Good girl.”
The sounds drifted to Gideon of Leah stacking used dishes on the kitchen table. The way his pallet was positioned, he couldn’t see her without craning his neck—and that would make it very obvious he was watching.
So he allowed his gaze to drift toward the fire and his mind to picture the image Leah made across the room. She was something to see, with her slender womanly frame and the elegant way she moved, even when she carried a stack of dirty dishes to the wash basin.
It was getting harder to remind himself he wasn’t going to let another person close again. With the spunk, wisdom, and sheer determination she possessed in that pretty little package, Leah could easily fit into his world like his buckskin gloves fit his hands. But hewould notlove and lose again.
“Gideon.”
The musical voice behind him jerked his attention away from the fire. Leah stood beside his pallet, apprehension tightening her face and a stack of folded bandages in her hands. She really did look like an angel.
“Yes.” His voice caught on the word, probably because his mouth had gone dry.
She wouldn’t look him in the eye. “I…need to change your bandages.”
It took a moment for the meaning of her words to sink in, then his mind ran ahead to what it would be like for this woman to tend his wounds. He wasn’t sure he could handle that. She would be very close. Close enough to weaken his willpower.
“Miriam can do it.” Harshness sharpened his tone, so he tried to moderate it. “When she gets back from the barn.”
Leah nibbled her lower lip. She looked nervous, but maybe that was uncertainty instead.
She took a deep breath, her pretty little nostrils flaring with the action. “I…don’t think that’s a good idea. Miri, well…” She released the breath and finally met his gaze. “Your wounds are pretty bad. It was hard for Miriam, with the bear and you hurt. She didn’t do so well. I…I just thought it would be a good idea if she didn’t have to see it again until you’d healed some.”
He was a selfish heel. All he’d been thinking about was himself, but Leah was trying to save his baby sister from more pain. He nodded, heat seeping up his neck.
While Leah settled herself on the floor next to him, he unbuttoned his shirt and steeled his nerves.
She looked at his bandages for a moment, then said, “Do you think you can raise up on your elbows so I can remove the dressing?”
This was going to be tricky. Any time he used his stomach muscles, his ribs felt like a hot branding iron searing his insides. Still, he’d have to do this and not let on he was in pain, or Leah would never let him out of this confounded cabin.
He leveraged first one elbow, then the next, clenching his jaw against the fire inside. Thankfully, she worked fast, and the pain almost kept him from noticing when she wrapped her hands around his chest to pass the roll of bandage from one side to the other under his back. Almost.
