Page 62 of On the Mountain

He acknowledged his brother with a nod and a grin. “Perhaps.”

The couple exchanged smiles before Prescott looked up and across the room. “Where’s Peter going?”

It took a second for Wade to register who Peter was, then he shot a quick glance toward the front entrance and saw Anna slip out of the house. Curious, he decided to go and investigate. “Excuse me.”

However, Elizabeth interceded him by saying, “It must be hard on—Peter. I couldn’t imagine Christmas without my family. For a female in particular, it is a very sentimental holiday.”

Wade frowned and looked at his brother, but he appeared just as surprised. He didn’t wait to see if Elizabeth knew more about Anna’s identity than she ought to. He would leave that to Prescott. Leaving the duo he headed toward the front door, but was stopped by someone reaching out suddenly and grabbing his arm.

“Where are you going, Wade? We haven’t had a chance to dance all evening.” He hadn’t seen Josephine sitting in a chair on his way out, so intent was he on his destination.

He sighed heavily and looked down at the frustrating woman. “My apologies. I believe you are correct. Indeed, it is customary for the gentleman to ask the female for a dance.”

Her face lit up and she waited earnestly for him to ask. Wade raised his hand and politely removed her from his arm and left her standing there, her mouth gaping open with insult. With no other interruptions, he reached the front entrance and slipped outside. There was no one on the porch. The night was cold and he thought how foolish to have left without his coat. For that matter, he hadn’t seen Anna slip one on either.

He walked around the side of the house and saw her standing there, staring out over the ranch to where Mount Louis loomed beyond. The night was too dark to actually see the mountain, but nevertheless its powerful presence was still there. She heard him and turned around, startled.

He held up his hands. “It’s all right. I just came to see if everything was okay?”

She stared at him, but he felt like she was looking at a stranger. He frowned and watched as she slowly nodded. Her eyes looked sad and Wade wondered, if ever, the sorrow in their depths would be lifted. He suddenly wanted to be the one to remove her suffering.

“Anna, I didn’t think about how you must be feeling,” he quietly spoke and came closer. He noticed her shiver and wanted to reach out to draw her into his warmth. “You must miss your family. I’m sorry they’re not here to celebrate with you.”

Her shivers suddenly stopped and instead her eyes went cold. He had an uncomfortable feeling she was blocking out his words. Perhaps the memories were still too painful. “I’m sorry, perhaps I spoke out of turn.”

She did not reply in any form so he turned his attention to their surroundings. It was a full moon, but thick clouds drifted every so often across it and dampened the otherwise bright glow. The lights in the bunkhouse were dimmed as all the ranch hands had left for their respective destinations for the holiday. Only a faint silhouette of the ranch buildings were visible in the dark night. He looked up into the black sky and suddenly smiled.

“It’s beginning to snow.”

She looked and saw the first drops of snowflakes as they drifted softly to earth. Hell, Wade thought, it had been cold enough, it was about time. One small hand reached out as she tried to capture a handful of snowflakes. He watched silently as she leaned against the porch railing and stretched her upturned hands far out to capture the falling snow. The sadness from her eyes had lifted and was replaced instead with a glowing shimmer of wonderment. With the moon’s reflection on her pale face, he thought he had never seen a more beautiful woman.

From inside, he heard the band start up with a new song and recognized the melody of “Auld Lang Syne”. The guests in the party began singing along to the words meant to ring in the New Year and bid farewell to the old. He was sure Kathleen would be looking for him soon. Oddly, from all the company he had shared that evening he was enjoying Anna’s silent presence most and was in no rush to go back inside. He shuddered as a chilly breeze passed and noticed Anna wrap her arms around herself from the same breeze.

“Would you like to dance?” His breath created an icy fog when he spoke.

She looked as startled as he felt. Wade wasn’t sure where the unexpected question came from. But there was no denying it was there, and he suddenly needed to know how it would feel to have her in his arms. Anna looked so innocent, her eyes darting everywhere but his face. And if he wasn’t mistaken in the dim lighting, her cheeks had gone a crimson pink. He would have smiled, but his cheeks were beginning to grow slightly numb.

“Not in there.” He read her disbelief. “Right here.”

Her eyes narrowed and she looked unsure as what to do, so Wade reached out and gently drew her close to him. She was extraordinarily stiff as he slid his arms around her small body. He was well aware of the proper dance moves, but felt at that moment, they were irrelevant.

Very slowly, he moved them in circles along the wooden porch in soft swaying motions. She was much smaller than him and he thought he could probably wrap his arms around her twice, but she felt pleasing and comfortable to his touch. He closed his eyes and listened to the distant band as it played out a melancholy tune and knew Kathleen’s party was coming to an end, and so too, the evening.

As the last chord of music faded, he stepped back and looked down at her. She still looked very uncomfortable, and it struck him that he hoped she enjoyed their dance as much as he did. From the look on her face, he knew she hadn’t. He sighed and dropped his arms from around her body.

“You best go inside and see what needs to be done.”

She nodded and practically ran back inside the house. When she was completely out of sight, he turned to the porch railing and looked out over his countryside and wondered why the hell he frightened her so much.

Chapter 15

Anna felt uneasy as she stood next to Wade. The partygoers were leaving and both he and his sister were bidding their guests farewell. Anna was assigned the task of fetching the coats or shawls. Wordlessly, she handed each guest their garment. She was certainly glad she was not required to speak, for her mind was certainly far from her task. It kept drifting back outside to the porch and the dance she shared with Wade.

She had never been held by a man before in her life, except of course her father when she was a young child. It was both frightening and exhilarating at the same time. Admittedly, she had dreamed for a very long time of him holding her. Except the man who took her into his arms tonight, was a stranger. But he didn’t feel like a stranger once she was in his embrace. It felt as if she had come home.

A group of jolly guests were approaching and Anna recognized the woman who had been hassling her all night. It seemed no matter what the issue, Anna was to blame. She was very loud and it was obvious to Anna she was already doing her utmost to get Wade’s attention, when she suddenly broke out in a huge burst of laughter.

“Goodness, Wade, you’ve been trying all night to avoid being snared under the mistletoe and it looks like you’ve finally got caught.” She pointed above his head and holding her stomach, peeled with even louder laughter. “With the servant boy.”

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