I ran across this short story the other day and thought I'd share it here. I wrote this two years ago when we were doing a promotional thing on the Writer's Vineyard Blog.
Set up for Scene: I’d
like for you to meet two characters from Kaitlin’s Silver Lining who have now
grown into young adults. Pete Hart was fourteen when Charley Kanatzer was
eleven, but Charley is on her way home from a fancy school in Boston and makes
a stop at Bryce Stanton’s family home in Brownwood. With nowhere else to go,
Pete found his way to the Stanton ranch and is now foreman, and though he still
has inner demons to wrestle, he’s content if not happy. But Charley wants more
and starts a stampede on his emotions.
Pete was pitching hay into the back of wagon, and Charley
took a moment to appreciate the fluid way his lanky but powerful body moved. He
shot a wary glance at her approach but continued to work.
“Feel like taking a break?”
“Can’t.” He speared another pitchfork full and tossed it
into the bed. “Gotta finish this chore.”
“You work too hard. Do you have family? Someone special to
share Christmas with?”
He paused for a moment before returning to his work. The
worn felt hat shadowed his face, so Charley had no idea what emotions her
comment had elicited, but by the way his hands gripped the handle tighter, she
figured she must have hit a nerve.
“The boss won’t mind if you stop for a bit. In fact, Uncle
William will consider it a favor if you’ll help me out of a bind.”
He stopped and wiped his forehead with the back of his
gloved hand. His silence was not inviting, but she plowed on anyway.
“I need you to help me cut a tree for Christmas.”
“I’ll have Blake do it.” He pushed his hat back, and his
striking features arrested her attention. Dark brown hair fell across his
forehead in a tangle of waves. High cheekbones and a broad nose hinted at
Indian blood somewhere in his lineage.
“No. I don’t trust anyone to do it right but you, Mr. Hart.”
He narrowed his blue eyes and looked as if he meant to
protest, but William chose that moment to ride into the yard and into their
conversation.
“Goodness, Uncle Will, you look cold to the bone.” Her own cheeks felt blustery from the winter
chill. The cold front had brought rain and biting temperatures but little else.
With Christmas only five days away, she hoped it would snow.
“I hate the cold. You about done, Pete?” Will asked after
dismounting.
“I’ve got another hour of work before I’m finished with this
chore, I reckon.”
“But I want to steal him for the afternoon. Please, Uncle
Will. Your kids are counting on me to find the perfect tree to decorate.”
Will frowned but nodded. “Pete could use a bit of fun. Yeah,
you two go on. I’ll find someone else to finish up here.”
Pete did not look happy with the order but couldn’t refuse
the boss’s wishes. Steam left his lips as he heaved a great sigh. Without much
talk, he gathered supplies, hitched another wagon, and clamored into the seat.
“Climb in,” he ordered.
She stood next to the buckboard and glared. “A gentleman
always lends assistance.”
He jumped from his perch and roughly helped her onto the
hard, wood seat. She adjusted her coat and folded her gloved hands into her
lap. After rearranging the scarf about her throat, she was ready to go.
They found a patch of forest that looked promising, and Pete
set the brake. He even remembered to help her down. She lamented the need for
gloves, for she would have enjoyed feeling his touch.
He followed her into the dense woods. “Find one fast. I really need to get back to work.”
The elm and oak had all lost their leaves and looked like
skeletons against the harsh blue sky, but after hearing the stories of the
Christmases she’d enjoyed in the northeast, Will’s children had wanted a tree.
With enough decoration, bare limbs could come alive with color and symbolic
meaning.
“No you don’t. You work all the time. I’ve been watching
you.”
“Why?”
“Handsome young man without a wife? Single woman heading for
spinsterhood? No mystery there.”
“You don’t know anything about me, or you’d play in someone
else’s backyard.”
“I know more than you think, Pete.” She stopped in front of
the perfect tree and examined it from top to bottom. “I know you want to kiss
me in the worst way.”
He caught her arm and yanked her close. “Don’t toy with me.
I’m not the settling down kind of man you want.”
His gruff voice spoke of a deep hurt, one that only time
could heal. She understood, had singled him out for that very reason. She’d
overheard Bryce talk about Pete with her Aunt Kaitlin and knew she had to find
him, to heal the wounds in his soul. In so doing, she could come to grips with
her own tainted childhood. They had a lot in common. He’d been abused as a youngster,
and she’d grown up in a brothel. And both owed the Stantons the world for
changing their destinies.
“I – I know most men don’t want the daughter of a calico
queen for a wife.” There, she’d finally put into words the pain she endured the
moment a prospective beau found out her past. Oh, they might be willing to
overlook her upbringing in light of Bryce’s wealth, but once she’d seen that
look in their eyes, she knew they could never love her for herself.
“Why me?” His voice broke. She’d touched his heart with her
confession.
“Because the reasons you don’t want me have nothing to do
with my past and everything to do with yours.” She stepped closer.
He dropped her arm as if her nearness would roast him alive,
but she didn’t back down. She grabbed the lapel of his jacket and tugged him
forward. “Kiss me, Pete. Make this a Christmas to remember. For both of us.”
If you want to know more about either of these characters, read Kaitlin's Silver Lining, available soon on Amazon.
The second book in my Historical Western series is now available on Amazon. Whoop! This one was first released in 2007. I cleaned it up some more, took out a few redundancies and painted a new cover. I still have two more to get ready so be patient. It might be spring break before Eliza's Copper Penny (my personal fave of the four) and Kaitlin's Silver Lining make their reappearance. 
