Love, Come to Me(14)

“Daniel!” Lucy looked at him in amazement. Surely this couldn’t be her gentle, polite Daniel—a man who hated to argue—trying to pick a fight! All of the softness in his brown eyes had disappeared, and he looked so cold and angry that she instinctively took a step back from him. His shoulder had brushed against hers, and it had been as rigid as steel.

“I wouldn’t have thought a Southerner would pick up his own order,” Daniel said, staring hard at Heath. “Why don’t you have one of your niggers do it?”

“Because I’ve never believed in slavery,” Heath replied softly.

Two of the men lounging in chairs by the stove stood up quickly. “You can say that,” one of them said tightly, “but you fought for it, didn’t you? You believed in it enough to slaughter thousands of good men in order to keep it.”

“I had my own reasons for fightin’.” The Virginian accent became more pronounced, contrasting sharply with the flat Northeastern voices. “Mostly I didn’t like a bunch of Yankees tellin’ me what to do, when they didn’t know what the hell—”

“Lucy, why don’t you take Mr. Rayne to the downstairs shelves to get the glass pane he ordered?” Lucas Caldwell suggested, his face set in a way that promised a lecture for the men gathered around the scene. A businessman first and foremost, he would never tolerate this kind of upset in his store. His words would be listened to and respected by the men there. Lucas was a trusted and popular figure in Concord, and almost everyone owed him a favor or two. He wasn’t above reminding them of that, either. Lucy looked into her father’s eyes, read his intentions, and nodded slightly.

“I don’t want her going anywhere alone with a Reb,” Daniel said.

“I believe my daughter is safe enough with him. Isn’t she, Rayne?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then go on with him, Lucy.”

Lucy led Heath to the back of the store and down a narrow flight of stairs. As they left, she heard her father’s voice—“Now in my store, boys, a customer is treated with respect, whether he’s a Northerner, a Southerner, a Frenchman, or an Eskimo, and if you don’t like the way I run my business—”

They reached the cellar and stopped in front of the wooden shelves, piled with paper-wrapped packages. Lucy’s nostrils flared slightly as she fumed with agitation. “I’m sorry. I apologize for Daniel—for all of them. Daniel isn’t usually such a . . . such a . . .”

“Intolerant, high-minded jackass?” he suggested politely.

“I’ve known all of them since I was little. None of them would have said anything to you if it was just one-to-one, but when they’re in a group—”

“I know that. And I won’t try to tell you that the same thing wouldn’t have happened had one of them been in the same situation down South. Except down there, he would have been lynched before he got to answer back.”

She looked up at him and some of her anger faded. Apparently Heath was not upset. He didn’t even seem bothered by the scene upstairs, while she was the one carrying on! Taking a deep breath, she forced herself to calm down. It wasn’t seemly for her to take up for another man against Daniel, especially when the other man was a stranger.

“How are you?” he asked.

“I’m fine. I didn’t even have a cold after . . . after you-know-what.”

He smiled at her vague reference to the misadventure at the river. “Good. Wouldn’t want Daniel to catch anything from you.”

“No.”

“Did you and he settle whatever it was you argued about?”

“Well . . . not really.”

“What a shame.”

“Please,” Lucy said, starting to laugh. “So much sympathy just overwhelms me.”

“I’ll admit something—he’s about what I expected. But you didn’t mention anything about his mustache.”

“Very distinguished, isn’t it?”

“Maybe I’ll grow one.”

“No!” Lucy said quickly, her face all sincerity, and then her cheeks colored as he laughed.

“Whatever you say. So you’re not particularly fond of mustaches—”

“Except on Daniel.”

“He’s put quite a spell on you, hasn’t he? Or is it just that he’s had a while to work at it? Maybe . . . given a little time . . . someone else could make you care just as much.”

“Absolutely not. Daniel and I have been together forever. We’ve . . . well, we’ve grown into each other. Nothing could break that kind of bond.”

“Nothing could break it? If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few years, honey, it’s that you can’t be certain of anything.”

She gave him a long, expressive glance, effectively warning him that the conversation was becoming much too personal. “I would rather you didn’t call me that anymore.”

He grinned at her. “Would you hazard a guess as to which one of those is my package, Miss Caldwell?”

Silently she turned to the shelves and reached up for one of the parcels on the end, rising on her toes. Getting a hold on the edges, she started to pull it down. His hands nearly covered hers as he reached from behind her and lifted the wrapped pane away from her faltering grasp. For one shattering moment, she felt the hard, lean length of his body press against her back, and Lucy whirled around instantly. “Don’t,” she said fiercely. “You leave me alone, do you understand?”