The soft fabric of a well-tailored suit skimmed her cheek a split second before warm hands reached out to steady her. The touch—firm, yet gentle—made her feel like she now balanced on the back of a high-strung and wild mustang as it fled down a hill with uncontrolled freedom. She hadn’t needed the extra hand. Wasn’t in danger of falling over. What sort of dullard rescues a woman in no need of liberation? She pulled away and adjusted her skirts as he let go. Her mind focused once more.
“Pardon me.” She glanced up to a familiar face. One she’d seen many times in her dreams. Her breath failed as her brother’s friend, Garrett Jones, peered down at her with silver-clouded eyes. Oh, how he made the world spin whenever he drew near. His handsome, yet rugged, face made her fingers ache to touch the severe lines of his jaw. The rich scent of tobacco infused with lavender and some sort of citrus drifted on the breeze. Eau de Cologne. A fragrance only the wealthiest of men in Montana could afford. A scent belying the canvas pants, spiked boots, and sturdy cotton shirt he sported every time she’d seen him on the train platform.
“Elizabeth.” Did he say her name, or did she dream the word? Oh to be noticed by a man like Garrett Jones. The only man who could make butterflies flit around in her stomach and fear slide through her chest in the same confusing moment.
The hem of her dress hovered mere inches from his feet. Her face heated and heart began to pound. Try as she might, she couldn’t keep her eyes off the man who led the Devil May Care boys. The man who held her future in his hands if she succeeded in becoming part of his crew at the logging camp. If things went the way she planned, she’d be staring into his amber and steel speckled eyes for the rest of the season. Did he truly recognize her after all these years of no more than a passing glance?
“Terribly sorry, sir.” She shifted her bag to the other hand. “I didn’t see you.”
He shook his head, but remained silent. The gray in his eyes shone in a color she couldn’t quite name, but it softened his jagged expression enough to make her blush once more. A slight movement in his right hand caught her attention as he tapped his leg with his index finger and shuffled his feet, but his chest remained still. After a brief, uncomfortable silence with Garrett offering no more than a fleeting glance, she chewed on her lower lip.
“I suppose I should get going.” She took a half step around him, and stopped.
He nodded and gave a bow with an air so refined she paused in surprise. Throughout her years in Montana, she’d grown used to the hard and less-than-mannered ruffians who usually passed her on the street. Even those on the social circuit rarely bowed in such a stiff and crisp manner. He’d certainly never shown such niceties where she was concerned. With one last look at his emotionless face, she nodded and stepped around his broad frame. She locked eyes with him, and felt his gaze follow her while she walked by. Beth forced herself to keep a steady breath as she left.
She hugged her satchel and skirted the shadows until she rounded the corner of a residential street, and all but ran the remaining distance to her friend Carrie’s house. She rapped on the large pine door, and took a quick step back as it swung wide open. Finally, she was here. Now she had to force herself to follow the plan.
“It took you long enough, Beth.” Carrie grabbed her arm and yanked her into the foyer.
As the huge front door closed behind her, Carrie shoved her forward, causing her to trip quite improperly into the adjoining parlor. Swinging around, Beth flinched as Carrie peeked down the hallway and slammed the parlor door. Carrie pivoted, and shifted her weight onto one leg. “Well?”
“Well, what?” Beth dropped her satchel next to the cold fireplace, trying not to smile at her friend’s trepidation, letting the emotion bring her focus back to the issue at hand. She faced Carrie as if nothing out of the ordinary were about to happen.
“Well, what did he say?”
“He?” The image of Garrett on the street took over her thoughts. His strong shoulders, the stiff way he’d bowed, and the whisper of her name on his lips. There was no way Carrie could have seen the awkward exchange, was there? Beth peeked out of the large bay windows across the room, but as she already knew, the view to where she’d bumped into Garrett was blocked by several houses and streets.
Carrie rolled her eyes. “You darned well know who I’m talking about. Your brother.”
“Yes, of course.” Gracious be, where was her head? Stuck back on Higgins Street and Garrett’s disarming gaze. “Simon said yes.” Beth raised her chin, and silently dared her friend to argue. She couldn’t be swayed. “Tomorrow, I will become a logger.”
Carrie dropped her shoulders in defeat, but she folded her arms and glared in a blatant show of disapproval. “Please tell me you are going to help with the cooking, or at least cut the trees like your brother.”
“Nope.” Beth felt the lack of air plaguing her lungs. Carrie was like a sister, and perhaps a voice of reason, so it was hugely important to get her approval for this adventure—a blessing of sorts.
Carrie frowned and the disapproving look in her eyes deepened. “Don’t tell me—”
“Yep, a riverman.” Her heart shouldn’t run away at such a statement, but it did. To be a riverman and experience the sheer sensation of total control over Mother Nature would be the boon she needed. And in her plight, she’d save not only her brother’s job, but an entire town from certain destruction by a saboteur. If she could control those logs down the river, she could easily squash a snake in the grass…or rather trees. It didn’t hurt that Garrett would be there. With him at the helm—the man her brother had talked about so often over the last few years—she knew she could accomplish anything.
“Didn’t you see the journal last month? They did an exposé on the Missoula rivermen. They said they’re ruffians…vagabonds. The men who ride the river have a devil-may-care attitude toward life, and the social skills of a spring hog.”
“My brother hasn’t said such things, and I’m inclined to believe him over some two-bit reporter. I am going to be a Devil May Care boy.”
“I honestly don’t know why you want to do this. It is pure madness, not to mention dangerous. I can’t believe Simon agreed to your foolish scheme.”
“Simon’s word isn’t law. Please don’t tell me you still have that silly schoolgirl crush on my brother.”
Carrie’s cheeks dusted in a pink hue. “No, but he’s a voice of reason.”
Beth pursed her lips to stop all the dirty secrets on how she tricked her brother from spilling out like a waterfall. The secret buggy rides where he insisted he needed to go alone to clear his mind. The midnight voices in the garden beneath her bedroom window. All of which allowed Beth this small handful of leverage over her beloved brother. “I don’t want to risk making him a target for the saboteur, or losing his job if I end up being wrong. I know it’s dangerous, but I have to do this. You don’t know how important it is I go.”
“I figured you’d say that, and when you get an idea in your head, not even a blizzard in July can stop you. Just promise you’ll be careful. Perhaps you should take along someone else to help you, or let me write my godmother. She is a cook somewhere up there. You can see if there are any other positions at camp, one more suitable for a woman. You cannot traipse around like a wild woman in the mountains. It isn’t proper.” Carrie mimicked the look of a concerned mother.
Beth shook her head and waved off her friend’s trepidation. “I want to be a riverman, not a cook. I need to have complete access to the camp, including the dangerous areas. From what Simon has told me in the past, cooks aren’t always allowed up there. I can’t get close enough to the action while working as a cook. I’ll be fine, trust me. Simon wasn’t happy about letting me tag along, but after I convinced him—quite forcefully, might I add—he had no choice.” She plopped down on a chair. “He or one of his friends will watch me every second of the day. As per his direction, I’m to try to stay