Tallchief: The Hunter Read Online Free PDF Page B

honor, despite a few minor teenage scrapes.
    “Elspeth said you’d be staying,” Duncan said as he began helping Calum unload boards from the back of thetruck. “Some of the flooring needs replacing before the furniture arrives. It’s an odd assortment—just old things we’re not using—but it should serve. We’ll have plenty of food soon enough, but the orders were to get a proper floor laid and to sturdy up the old porch.”
    “I’m not staying long. It might not be worth your time and effort.”
    “It is. We’ve got orders from our wives to make you comfortable, to see that you’ve got a dry roof over your head and a warm house in which to sleep. Liam said you were planning to use the sleeping bag and camping gear you borrowed from him, but you’ll have a lot better than that before tonight.”
    “I’ll pay for what I need,” Adam stated more firmly. Borrowing from his brother was one thing, but taking the time and money of others wasn’t for him. He was uncomfortable with charity, and Jillian’s opinion of him as a drifter living off others had rankled.
    Duncan had been only eighteen when he’d taken on the responsibility of his younger siblings, of holding the family together. He understood perfectly. “Aye, you’ve got the Tallchief pride.”
    Birk slapped a hand on Duncan’s shoulder and called up to Adam. “You’ve got to think of the women, man. They love nothing more than to coddle a long-lost relative. You’ll make heroes of us just by letting us slap a few boards on that place and hammer some nails.”
    Adam had intended to keep his distance, to not get involved with his relatives, but from the look of it, he was already being swept into their midst. “I’m not married, so I wouldn’t know. I appreciate your offer, but surely you’ve got better ways to spend your time.”
    Calum watched Adam descend the old wooden ladder, then shook his hand. “You can stay with any of us, you know. Sybil and Duncan have plenty of room in the old house where we were raised. Lacey and Birk have remodeled that old bordello, and Talia and I would be glad tohave you. Elspeth hasn’t put her offer into the ring, and she usually has a reason for what she does. I’d say she already has you pegged as a man who calls his own life without much help from others.”
    “At one time, I could have used it. I was too young for what was handed me. I couldn’t protect someone I loved. I made it, but she didn’t.”
    Duncan turned slowly to him. “Had we known, you would have had our support. Liam said you had a hard time of it. We were lucky to have the love of the community here in Amen Flats. Elspeth took mother’s place at fourteen, and I did my best…so did the others. It was hardest on Fiona as the youngest, because she wasn’t meant to follow rules. And she knew she had to, or we’d be separated.”
    He glanced at Joel and at Alek, who were already hauling a power saw setup into the old cabin. Birk was starting a generator on the back of his truck, preparing to hook up the power to the saw. “Looks like we’re in business,” Birk said.
    Unused to family milling around him, Adam tried to catch his breath. “I can manage. I’m used to camping—”
    Nick Palladin removed his Western hat and ran his hand through his dark brown wavy hair. “You wouldn’t send us back to our women, defeated, would you? We were sent here on a mission to build and bond. You have no idea what they can do once they set their minds to it. We’ll be home with the babies, and they’ll be roofing and sawing and probably talking about a quilt design as they work.”
    “It’s not an easy thing to take when I haven’t paid—”
    “Oh, you’ll pay. We share fencing work and herding and whatever else needs done, so it’s no free ride for you, chum. We’d be glad to have the help.”
    Adam nodded, understanding the give and take of bartering, and pushed his pride aside. They thought he was a homeless drifter, riding hard