Page 30 of A Dangerous Heart
“I need your shirt and pants?—”
Splash.
She laughed. Had she distracted the boys on purpose? Seen Isaac’s emotion?
“—completely wet”—she sent another wave of water Ben’s way—“before I add the soap and start scrubbing.”
Ben ran toward her. Eli, relishing the delighted shrieks, dropped the fish inside the bucket on the bank and sloshed into the river. He used both his hands to douse Clare. The water hit her full in the face. She let out a squeal of fake outrage.
“Oh, no fair. You guys can’t gang up on me.”
But they did, the water flying everywhere. She took a few steps toward Isaac, water dripping from her skirt.
“Better move back or you’ll end up soaked,” Clare warned him with a sassy grin. At that moment, the sunlight filtered through the trees and made her eyes sparkle. With her back to both boys, she couldn’t see their next move, but Isaac did. A wave of water hit her from behind.
She shrieked, arms flailing, almost losing her balance again. Isaac laughed. The sound was rusty and surprised her as much as it did him, if her raised brows were any indication. Something hot lodged in his chest, and he couldn’t pull his eyes from Clare—until a stream of icy water hit his cheek. With a playful growl,he took off after her, the boys’ laughter ringing like a challenge behind him.
Perhaps it was time to be honest. To share the truth about Victor and her true self. In this fleeting moment, standing alone in the crisp autumn air with the water rippling nearby, Clare could admit it. She was drawn to Isaac McGraw. Yesterday, at the river, he’d laughed. A sound so unexpected that just thinking about it still made her heart flutter and her breath hitch.
She shook her head at the notion and reached to remove the clothespin from the line outside that stretched from the lean-to to a tall pine a few yards away. The stiff, dry garments bucked in the breeze. As she reached for a clothespin, she heard squabbling between Ben and Eli.
“I’m tellin’ Aunt Clare.” That was Ben.
“Shut your mouth, or I’ll shut it for you,” Eli snapped, the harshness in his voice sounding too much like their pa.
She dropped the folded trousers in the woven basket and moved around the side of the lean-to to check on them.
“You said you would feed him. You promised.”
“I forgot. It’ll be okay. We’ll just give Bullet extra feed today.”
Clare heard the scuffing sound of a metal cup hitting the inside of the feed bag and the soft sifting of feed pouring into a metal pail. Ben’s sniffle was cut off by Eli’s angry command.
“Stop bawling like a baby!” Eli’s irritated anger set Ben to crying louder. Alarmed, Clare raced to the lean-to. Eli had already poured a mountain of feed into Bullet’s feed bucket.
“Stop!” She grabbed the cup from him and began furiously scooping feed back into the sack, hands shaking. “You cannot make up for not feeding Bullet by giving him double. That couldmake him very sick. If you didn’t feed him last night, why did you tell Isaac that you did?”
“We didn’t want him to get mad at us.” Ben’s face was streaked with tears and his voice wobbled. “Eli said he would sneak out after bedtime and do it.”
She rolled her eyes. Like Eli could slip past a former U.S. marshal.
Eyeing the small but neat space, she noticed that only a few bales of hay separated Isaac’s sleeping area from his horse. His bedroll with the extra folded blankets lay nearest the inner wall, and a chest occupied the other end,
She caught movement from the corner of her eye. The former marshal was suddenly in the doorway of the lean-to. Oh dear, had he heard their conversation? She looked at the cup in her hand and quickly shoved it back into the sack. Then she remembered this was Isaac. She didn’t need to shield the boys. He would treat them fairly. Even when they’d been…what was that old saying? Caught red-handed.
But Isaac’s attention went right to Ben.
“Hey, buddy. What’s wrong?” His eyes shifted to Eli.
Her nephew folded his arms over his chest and tightened his jaw, biting down on his lips. He wasn’t going to fess up.
Isaac’s attention swung back to Ben, who dropped his eyes. “I was really tired last night.” Ben paused, his voice breaking. “When you asked me if I fed Bullet…I lied.” He sniffed, wiping his eyes. “I didn’t want to get up and go out in the cold. So I said that I fed him, but I didn’t.”
“And this morning you guys were going to give him double the feed to make up for it, right?” Isaac locked eyes with Clare, silent understanding flowing between them.
Ben nodded, his chin wobbling. Clare braced. Isaac had a right to be angry. Victor would have slapped the boy silly. Isaaccrouched before Ben, eye level. He placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, but Ben still flinched.
“Your aunt’s right, that extra feed could be really bad for Bullet. He’s kind of a pig. He’ll eat all the food he’s given, even if it bloats his stomach.”
