Page 15 of A Steadfast Heart
Through the window, he saw two horses coming off the foothill. Isaac and Ed. They’d need help when they tackled the butchering.
This was the real life he lived here. Amanda had refused to help with terrible jobs like this. Surely this young woman would too.
He pivoted and caught her gaze. “You want to prove you belong here? Come help with the butchering.”
Kaitlyn’s eyes narrowed. “Fine.”
She followed him out to the barn. Brief introductions to his brothers followed, and Nick mentioned she’d ruin her clothes. David was sent to the house to fetch one of Drew’s shirts. Kaitlyn put it on over her suit.
Drew thought it made her look like a child playing dress-up. In fact, it reminded him of the time Tillie had put on one of David’s shirts. It had dragged the floor, and she’d pretended it was a gown, twirling and spinning as if she were at a ball.
The last thing he needed was a supposed princess reminding Tillie of unrealistic fantasies.
Kaitlyn stared at the carcass his brothers had hung from the ceiling. Her throat worked as she swallowed. Her face had gone pale, but she asked, “What do I do first?”
She didn’t back down, not even when she turned green in the lantern light. She stayed with the men through the entire process, from removing the hide to splitting the carcass, even helping split it into smaller sections. When Tillie came to tell them that the stew Nick had assembled and left Jo to watch was ready, Drew insisted Kaitlyn accompany Nick and the kids back to the house to eat. He didn’t miss the brief flash of relief that crossed her expression. Or how quickly she vacated the shed.
She was more stubborn than he’d expected.
But she still couldn’t stay.
Darkness had fallen before he and Ed finished the butchering. By the time he’d eaten the plate of food warming on the back of the stove and been upstairs to help settle the girls in bed, the rest of the house had emptied. David had been sent to join his uncles in the bunkhouse. His son hadn’t spoken to him since he’d broken the news about Curly.
Where had their unannounced guest gone?
She wasn’t in the parlor. He moved through the kitchen, idly noticing his bloodied clothes were gone from where he’d left them by the back door.
There was a rustling noise coming from the lean-to. He headed that way but stopped short in the doorway.
Kaitlyn knelt over a washboard, rubbing his shirt across it.
“I didn’t ask you to do that.” His words emerged sharp, an uncomfortable feeling twisting in his belly.
She didn’t look up. “You didn’t. But the stain will set if it’s not taken care of. I’m sure you’ve had a long day.”
Taken care of.
Slow warmth spread through him. It’d been a long time since someone had thought about whether he was tired and needed his bed. Amanda had often left the kitchen a mess and been fast asleep when he’d come in after a long day of work. She’d claimed the work too much for her.
He blinked those memories away. “I’m not looking for a wife. I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”
She scrubbed his shirt up and down the washboard once, twice, before she let it drop into the water and looked over her shoulder to meet his eyes. “Do you need someone to take care of the kids? Your ad said you did.”
No. He didn’t. Not anymore. But the words stuck in his throat.
When he didn’t answer, she tipped her face down to the washtub. “My brother is an unkind man. He tried to force me to marry someone…unsuitable.”
There was something more behind the words. Earlier, she’d tried to out-stubborn him, staring with her chin tilted just so. But now, in the quiet and shadowed room, she didn’t look at him. Trying to hide the vulnerability? Was this the real Kaitlyn?
“So you ran away?” he asked.
“I didn’t have a choice.” She found another item of clothing and squeezed water from it.
There was a resignation in her voice that he understood all too well. He leaned against the doorframe. “Clearly, I need help with the house and kids.”
He’d taken a look around earlier, seen the house with fresh eyes, as Kaitlyn must have seen it. When had things gotten so bad? It needed a deep cleaning and someone to stay on top of the clutter and accumulating dirt, but when would he or his brothers find time for that?
And the kids.
