he peered down at his feline companions, Smudge gave him one of those I’m-as-cute-as-a-button squinty-eyed looks while Molly stared wide-eyed up at him, as though he owned a pond full of tasty fish for the eating. He hunkered down and stroked their fur, tracing the ragged scar on Molly’s neck that had been a festering wound when she’d come to him. He looked at the irregular kink crooking Smudge’s front leg, saddened to think of what these two had suffered.
He couldn’t help but open his heart to them when they’d shown up. And they seemed to know it, too, because like most all the animals that came his way, these kittens had somehow known they could trust him.
He peered through the kitchen window toward his office, and his chest tightened. Was Callie one of those strays? Had she scraped her way through life and, by providential design, landed on his doorstep?
Callie’s pride prickled from head to toe. “I could never take these garments from you, Katie.”
Katie sat on the bed behind her, gliding a brush through Callie’s freshly washed hair. “Sure you can. Besides, I really want you to have them.”
She ran a hand over the sturdy, attractive fabrics. “They’re far too nice to give away.”
“Ben said something about you being stubborn,” Katie remarked, threading her fingers through Callie’s hair. “He just didn’t say how stubborn.”
Having figured out long ago that her existence hinged on a firm resolve to keep moving forward, no matter what, she’d gladly embraced stubbornness like some lifeline.
When she slid her gaze from the lavender day dress to the emerald-green dress and then to the soft, white eyelet undergarments, she knew each item would be perfect. She hadn’t seen clothing like this for seven years. And she sure hadn’t felt cared for like this in almost as long.
But she already owed Ben—even though he’d said it was part of the job. She didn’t want to take charity. Didn’t want to be in debt to someone else. Not for a single cent. Not even for a single stitch of much needed clothing.
“Barring some unforeseen fortune splashing at my feet, it’d be a month’s worth of paydays before I could afford a new dress, let alone nice undergarments,” she admitted reluctantly. Even when she’d paid off Max’s gambling debt, she wasn’t about to spend her earnings frivolously on new garments. She had her future to think of.
Katie smiled. “Then you can look at this as a timely provision. But with the way you swim in this nightdress,” she responded, plucking at the cream-colored flannel material, “I’m worried if the other items will even fit, you’re so slight.”
The simple nightdress whispered against Callie’s skin like luxurious silk. “This is very comfortable, Katie, and I’m sure the other items will be absolutely fine. But I—”
“I’ve already shortened things a few inches since Ben said you weren’t much over five feet. If they’re still too big, then I’ll help you alter them.”
Her chest grew tight and her eyes stung with ready shame. In all the years of living on the edge of destitution with Max, she’d avoided charity, while Max would seek it out.
“I want to tell you something.” Katie drew the covers back, gesturing for Callie to lie down. “I don’t know how long you’ll be here working for Ben—”
“I’m not sure either,” Callie noted with a sniff as she scooted down into the fresh linens.
“Well, however long it is, the Drake family is first in line when it comes to helping others. Believe me…I’m blessed to have married into such a wonderful family. And you are fortunate to be employed by such a fine man as Ben Drake.”
Everything she’d ever heard from Max would lead her to suppose the exact opposite. She’d already made one severe, life-altering error in judgment regarding Max’s character. She wasn’t about to be fooled like that ever again.
But three days with Ben, and already she had inarguable reservations as to Max’s sordid opinion.
Not just because of the tender way Ben had cared for her or the gesture of kindness he’d shown by not taking the locket, but it was the unsettling look of gentleness she’d seen deep in his eyes that stood in direct contrast to what she’d believed.
She sighed. She couldn’t deny Ben’s sincerity. And certainly couldn’t seem to escape his earnest gestures of compassion and care, though she’d tried.
Maybe she could enjoy just a few days of refreshing. Time to collect herself, heal and firm up her determination to make the best of what lay ahead. To find out who Callie Drake really was after years of being first under her father’s strict hand, then Max’s harsh one.
Though until she left Boulder, she’d just have to stay alert, keep a watchful eye. If she let her guard down completely, she could well walk out of this town with nothing, not even the scrap of dignity she clung to like some shredded lifeline.
“I guess what I’m trying to say is…” Katie’s voice slipped through Callie’s thoughts. “That if for some reason you oppose the idea of others looking out for you and treating you well, you might as well let that go right now, because it’s bound to happen more often than not with the Drake family.”
Callie nibbled at her lower lip, unsettled by how emotionally raw she’d felt the last couple of days.
“Believe me when I say that Ben has needed help around here for quite a while. He’s talked about hiring someone for months, but has never gotten around to it.” Katie moved to the knotty pine chest at the foot of the bed then began laying the garments she’d brought inside it. When she closed the chest with a quiet click, Callie felt utterly helpless to summon an argument. “That man keeps so busy that it would take an enormous weight off him to know that things here and at his home are being tended to as they should.”
At those words, an instant swell of compassion-driven duty rose within Callie. After all, she owed Ben. Not just because he’d cared for her while she was sick, but also because he’d taken her in. A total stranger. And he’d tended her with a gentleness that had her broaching tears more than once. If the truth be told, he’d probably even saved her life.
Pulling her damp hair to the side to dry across her pillow, she decided that just as soon as she was the slightest bit stronger, she’d get to work cleaning and cooking. She’d steer clear of him. Fade into the background, as she had the past six months at the brothel. Hopefully he’d forget that she was even here. No one would give her a second thought.
“You know, Callie,” Katie began, perching her hands on her hips. A wistful smile stole across her face as she eyed Callie in a way that had her squirming. “I think that you may have arrived just in time for Ben.”
Chapter Five
“I was about to send the cavalry after you.” Ben left Joseph in his wake, meeting Katie as she entered the front door of his house. “What happened? Did you lose Callie in the tub?”
She gave an innocent smile and edged around him. “She’s a slight thing, but no, I didn’t lose her. You know how girls can be.” Waving a slender hand in the air, she moved toward Joseph. “Talk, talk, talk.”
Ben pivoted, peering out a side window to his doctor’s office
