The Beloved Woman Read Online Free PDF Page B

after that kiss he knew he’d do whatever it took to keep her.
    Noah ducked his head in a vague sort of bow. “You be an orphan like me, huh?”
    Justis hurried him to the stallion pawing impatiently at the back of the coach and shoved the reins in his hands, along with a nickel. “You take Watchman over to the stables, you hear? And don’t get trampled.”
    “Okay!”
    After the boy left, leading the huge gray horse behind him, Justis sighed in relief. Katherine turned her attention from Bingham’s work with her baggage. “What did he mean by ‘orphan’?”
    “Some fool game of his. I don’t know.”
    “You own him?” The disapproval was obvious in her voice.
    “Yeah. But I didn’t buy him. Him and his sister were bartered for goods at the store. They were both sickly and bruised up. Wasn’t any other way I could get ’em away from their master.”
    “I’m an abolitionist, Mr. Gallatin. I just want you to know that. A free-thinking abolitionist.”
    Lord, why didn’t she just strip naked and do a dance in the road? he thought. That couldn’t make her any more controversial than she was already. He pulled a long Spanish cigar out of the band of his hat and jabbed it between his teeth.
    “I’m not really opinionated on the subject, Katie, but I don’t own slaves. When Noah and his sister are older, Iplan to sign their manumission papers and send ’em up north to school. Good enough?”
    She looked remorseful. “Yes. I apologize.” He nodded, satisfied. When she was wrong, she admitted it. Not many women did that. But after a moment she added, “Please don’t call me by a pet name. It’s crude. A gentleman would call me ‘Miss Blue Song.’ ”
    Justis felt embarrassment creeping up his cheeks. One minute a smiling angel, the next a high-falutin’ queen. “I’m not a gentleman,
Katie.
”
    She clamped her lips tightly together and turned away. “Just put those trunks on the veranda, please, Mr. Bingham. I won’t be here long.”
    The sound of footsteps on a wooden floor heralded the appearance of Sam’s wife, her cheeks rosy from housework. She wiped her hands on a white apron as she pulled it from her calico dress. Rebecca Kirkland radiated the same wholesome sweetness as a pot of honey. She was made up of wheat-blond hair and buxom womanhood, with kind hazel eyes. When people wanted good chicken soup and tenderhearted treatment, they went to Rebecca. Justis had never looked at a female with brotherly affection before he met her.
    “Welcome home, Miss Blue Song,” she said kindly, and held out both hands. “I’m Rebecca Kirkland. My husband and I are partners with Mr. Gallatin.” She shot an anxious look toward Justis, and he shook his head.
    After a startled moment Katherine went up the steps and clasped Rebecca’s hands. “I’m sorry to intrude on you. I really don’t understand why Mr. Gallatin brought me here.”
    “Jesse’s supposed to meet her,” Justis called. This had to stop. It gnawed at his insides more with each second. As soon as Bingham pulled away, he’d tell her.
    White trash murdered your family. Your pa was full of bullets and the rest—well, they died in other ways
.
    “Why don’t you fix Miss Blue Song some tea?” Justissuggested loudly. He bit his cigar in two and had to grab the front end before it fell to the ground.
    N OAH AND HIS SISTER , Lilac, were hiding beyond the arched doorway to the parlor, and they kept peeking at her. Katherine smiled at them, but they looked sorrowful in return. Rebecca Kirkland’s hands shook each time she raised her teacup. Justis Gallatin had quickly downed two glasses of whiskey from a cupboard in the corner. Now he lounged by the marble fireplace, scowling.
    Something was wrong, very wrong, and fear grew inside Katherine until she could barely sit still.
    “You know my family well?” she asked Rebecca.
    “Oh, yes.” Her smile was too wide, her voice too gay. “They trade at the store.”
    “And the people from