Page 46 of A Rugged Beauty
She tried to shake off the uncomfortable feeling of being watched. It was only simple curiosity, she told herself. She simply wasn't used to being back in camp yet.
Hollis stood in conversation with Leo and another one of his captains. His head turned toward her. He must've seen her approach. But the moment their eyes met, he turned his face away.
Her breath felt caught in her chest at his slight—but it was the deeper punch of hurt from remembering his face in the lantern light last night, down by the river, that made the place behind her nose burn. The hurt felt as physical as a cut, but she pushed a trembling smile to her lips. She placed the tin plate atop a barrel behind Hollis with just a bit too much force before she whirled and strode away.
She hadn't known Hollis had been married. That he'd lost his wife and his unborn baby. What kind of woman had captured the taciturn man's attention? Hollis was a dynamic leader. Had his wife been just as commanding?
Abigail brushed her cheek, dodging a small child chasing a loose chicken. No tears had escaped, though her chest felt tight with pent up emotion.
Hollis hadn't shared any of his past with her willingly. She knew too much about him, had seen the depths of emotion healways kept hidden. That's why he'd turned his face away from her.
It still hurt.
Whatever hope she'd held onto that some thread of the friendship they'd forged out in the wild remained were now shredded.
As she packed away the cooking implements, she was aware of the movements of others in camp, the searching looks as folks gathered their belongings. The sun warmed things quickly. The dry wind brought to mind the smoke from the wildfire that had burned her throat and lungs.
The bugle blew. Only a few minutes left.
She hefted a heavy crate and had just placed it in the back of the wagon when someone called out to her. She turned, eyes assessing the campsite. Everything was tucked away, save Hollis's plate. He'd probably have someone else return it to her.
Rachel, Owen's wife, approached. Her tiny baby rested against her chest, wrapped in a thin blanket that criss-crossed Rachel’s shoulders and somehow held the infant in place.
"Morning," Abigail greeted.
Rachel nodded. "Is there anything you need before we embark on today's leg?"
Abigail shook her head. "I heard you rescued a child—put yourself in peril to save him."
Rachel looked faintly embarrassed. "I'm glad to be back on dry land, that's for sure."
"It felt a little like we were in Noah's day, didn't it?" Abigail expected a smile at the joshing statement, but Rachel shifted her feet as if anxious about something. One hand rubbed up and down the sleeping baby's back.
"Owen asked me to speak to you," Rachel said finally. She exhaled a blustery breath and shook her head, color high on her cheeks. "I'm not used to being a captain's wife—not yet."
This was official business?
Abigail clasped her hands behind her back.
"There's been—some of the women, and men, gossiping about Hollis's statement that the two of you were married."
Abigail worked to keep her expression neutral.Thatwas the reason for the covert glances she'd received all morning? For the whispers and abruptly ended conversations when she'd walked past? Frustration boiled inside her, but worry twisted her stomach.
"Owen is going to bring the matter to Hollis," Rachel said.
Abigail could only imagine what that conversation would entail. Hollis would be deeply unhappy to be the subject of gossip in his own wagon train.
"We'd like to ask—Owen and I—if you'd speak to Hollis as well. Let him know that he has our support, but that something needs to be done about this."
Abigail turned to lift and secure the tailgate, hoping the other woman wouldn’t see her hand shaking on the rope tie. "I don't know that he wants to hear from me."
Not today. Maybe not ever.
Rachel cleared her throat. "I don't know what happened between you for those days you were missing..."
Abigail didn't respond to the leading statement. A quick quelling glance over her shoulder tightened Rachel's lips.
Abigail moved to the other end of the tailgate to secure it as well.
