Page 21 of Montana Groom of Convenience
Carly nodded and grabbed her end of the trunk. They carried it into the room and parked it at the end of her bed. She dusted her hands off. “Now, let’s get the other room ready.”
They tromped back across the room, Father watching them with a great deal of interest.
Sawyer stopped inside the storeroom. “Where do you plan to put all this stuff?”
Carly raised her voice. “I figure a bonfire out back will take care of most of it.”
“Dinnae burn me treasures,” Father roared, making Carly chuckle.
“I knew he’d do that,” she whispered, then spoke louder so she would be heard in the other room. “Father, it’s just junk.”
He thumped his crutch on the floor.
She rushed to the door. “Sit down. I’ll not burn it.” She released a heavy sigh. “Can we put some of it in your room?”
“Aye, that’s a fine idea.” He sank back, his mouth set in a hard line at the pain of moving.
With Sawyer’s help and Jill’s watchful supervision, several crates were stacked in the corner of Father’s bedroom.
Carly didn’t give Father’s crowded quarters much thought. He insisted on keeping all this stuff, so she reasoned he must enjoy having it crowding every corner.
They returned to the storeroom. It still held far too much.
She and Sawyer stood side by side in the little cleared area. “There’s a cot under that pile of—” she lowered her voice to a whisper “—rags. I’ll have to move them, though I itch to get rid of them.”
Sawyer glanced over his shoulder. “Your father likes to keep stuff?” It was as much statement as question.
“Aye,” Carly said, imitating her father. “Lassie, you never know when ye might have a need for this very item.”
Jill covered her mouth in an attempt to stifle her giggle.
Liking the child’s sense of humor, Carly grinned at Sawyer.
His blue-green eyes shifted to more blue than green as he met her gaze. He seemed a bit startled at her grin and blinked. His mouth twitched, and for a moment, she thought he would smile. But he looked awaywithout doing so. Like he said, he didn’t allow himself to have feelings.
What a sad way to live. She could understand why he wouldn’t want Jill to end up the same.
“I suppose we need to find that cot,” he said.
She returned to studying the room. “It’ll be more comfortable than sleeping on the floor.” They stood in silent contemplation for two seconds. She couldn’t think of him as her husband, but at least if he slept here, she could accept him as a hired man. “Besides, I’ve been wanting to clear out this space. Father planned this to be a hallway to more rooms. But he never needed them, to his great disappointment.”
“No brothers or sisters?”
“None that lived.” She was so used to thinking that way that she didn’t consider how her words would affect Jill.
Jill had been poking through the piles of old newspapers. Her hands grew still. Carly thought she heard the child suck in air. “You got dead brothers and sisters?” Jill asked.
“Four brothers. Maybe I’ll show you their graves someday.”
“Sawyer gots a dead brother, too.” She tipped her head. “Does that mean I have a dead brother?”
Carly waited for Sawyer to answer. But his face had turned to granite, and he stared at the wall.
“I suppose it does,” she answered in his stead.
“Huh. His name was Johnny.” Jill spoke with a degree of authority as if she thought Sawyer might have forgotten.
Carly wasn’t sure how to respond, so she said words that might mean anything. “I see.”
