Come Spring by Landis Jill Marie

Author:Landis, Jill Marie [Landis, Jill Marie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction
ISBN: 0515108618
Published: 2010-12-22T00:00:00+00:00

15

THE evening having ended in failure, Annika decided to change into her nightclothes and make up the pallet she had not slept on for days. It was time to put things back to normal, or at least as normal as they had been before, given the situation. Buck had looked exhausted for far too long and deserved a night in his own bed.

Seated cross-legged on her bed of pelts, Annika pulled her hairbrush out of the satchel and worked her hair to a high-gloss shine. Then she began to weave it into a single, thick braid. She didn’t expect him to come back inside until she had turned down the lamps and crawled into bed. Somehow he always knew when that time had come.

When the door swung inward and Buck walked in long before she had finished with her braid, she looked up in surprise. He was carrying a bundle wrapped in burlap. “Was it too cold for you to work outside tonight?” She blessed the frigid mountain night.

He cleared his throat before he said, “I was done.”

“Oh.”

He walked to the end of the pallet and dropped the burlap in her lap. Whatever lay inside was bulky and heavy. He stood over her, waiting expectantly.

“What is it?”

“Open it.”

She frowned, imagining all manner of furry dead animals or their body parts that might be hidden inside the burlap. “Is it dead?”

It was slight—only a slight tilt of his lips—but it was still a smile. “Very,” he said.

She grimaced.

“It’s a gift,” he prodded.

Unwilling to appear rude, Annika stood up and carried the makeshift bag to the table. Still wearing his jacket, he followed close behind her.

“What for?” she asked.

Buck shrugged, thinking it was just like a woman to want to ask questions instead of finding out for herself. He’d worked long and hard on the present and was anxious for her to open it. “Look, it’s just a gift. A thank-you for what you did for Baby Buttons.”

Her hands were shaking. She balled them into fists, then flexed her fingers open. Reaching out, she lifted the burlap and found a softly tanned piece of buckskin inside. It was ivory—nearly white—and folded. As she carefully opened the piece, she realized it had been cut in the shape of a long coat and lined with a fine gray fur—a pelt richer than any she had seen about the place so far.

Annika lifted the coat by the shoulders, then held it in front of her, measuring its length. It was perfectly fitted to her height and hung all the way to her ankles. She gathered the coat in her arms and spun around to face the man waiting silently beside her.

“Oh, Buck! It’s the most beautiful coat I’ve ever owned!”

He reached out and fingered a sleeve, knowing he would not dare to touch it once she had it on. “I doubt that, but it’ll keep you warm.”

“I want to try it on.” She handed the coat to him so that he could hold it while she slipped her arms into the sleeves.

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