Pamela Nissen – Rocky Mountain Match (страница 9)

He bit back a groan, trying to ignore his frustration. Having worked with Miss Ellickson for almost a week, why was he having such a hard time doing a simple task like pouring water from a pitcher? If he didn’t fully regain his vision, how would he ever be able to work in the shop again, handling sharp tools?

“Here, let me help you,” Miss Ellickson offered, the quiet calm in her voice beckoning him like a peaceful stream. “Sometimes trying too hard makes things more difficult. Now, lightly grasp the glass like this.” She gently positioned his fingers around the glass, her touch soft and soothing. As she slipped his forefinger at the last knuckle over the rim, she said, “Don’t hold too tight. Keep a light touch. Remember how that feels and now find the pitcher.”

Deeply concentrating, he was determined not to spill again as he slid a hand along the counter to find the pitcher. When his fingers connected with the stone pitcher, he noticed how it was beaded with perspiration from the hot August day.

“Got it,” he confirmed.

Once he’d painstakingly set the lip of the pitcher over the rim of the glass, he poured the water. And when the cool liquid reached his finger, he pulled the pitcher back and sighed.

“There you go, that was perfect! Not one drop spilled.” The reassurance in her voice brightened his gruff mood enough that he even relaxed a little. “See? You can do it.”

He angled his head down to Katie. “Thanks, Sunshine.” Joseph smiled at her, hoping that she noticed, because so far this week it seemed as if all he’d done was scowl. In turn, she’d never once gotten impatient or cross with him. “Always the encourager, aren’t you?”

“You deserve it. You’re working very hard.”

When she gave his hand a light squeeze, he couldn’t help but wonder what she looked like. “You know, I figure that if I was a cat, I’d be dead.”

“What?” she asked on a laugh.

“I’d be dead from curiosity.” Raising his brows, he took one step closer to her. “You see, Miss Ellickson, you’re the only new person I’ve met since my accident. And your appearance—I mean the way you look—is still a mystery to me.”

The air seemed to grow warm and thick between them. His entire being hummed in full awareness of her presence beside him.

“Good thing you’re not a cat, then,” she finally responded, her voice sounding tight, strained.

Joseph gave an almost imperceptible nod, wishing that his brothers would indulge him with a few words about her physical appearance. They’d sure been vocal about him treating her well, and being a man of his word, he’d been on his best behavior. Although at this point he didn’t really need encouragement to do that—Miss Ellickson was easy to like.

He decided that when he returned from Denver with his vision intact, she was the first person he wanted to lay eyes on. If her appearance mirrored at all what he’d grown to understand of her character, he was sure she’d be beautiful.

Wouldn’t that be the irony of it all…a beautiful woman watching him stumble through simple things.

Leaning back against the counter, he momentarily cringed. “So, what next, Sunshine?”

When she stifled a laugh, his lips curved into a smile again. For some reason, the sound of her light laughter warmed his heart and made him want to make her smile again.

“Is this your name for me? Sunshine?”

“If the shoe fits.” He recalled different moments throughout the week when her encouragement had been the balm he’d needed to keep going. To keep moving forward toward normalcy, however meager it was compared to independence.

“You’re very kind, but I hardly think I warrant anything quite so grand.” He could hear her gathering some papers on the table.

Four steps and Joseph had crossed to the table, noticing for the first time how much less halting his footsteps sounded compared to just a few days ago. “Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?”

Unbidden, a deep fondness for her rose within him, and that unnerved him. Because somewhere along the line he’d missed how attached he was becoming to her. Was it because she’d given him hope at a time when things were bleak? Was it because she was so selfless in her work with him? It was just a job for her, wasn’t it? Maybe she had this effect on other students, too.

Or was it something more?

If so, he’d have to guard himself. She didn’t deserve his strained indifference, but he couldn’t let himself grow any fonder of her. If he didn’t regain his sight, his future as a single man would be irrevocably sealed because he wasn’t about to burden anyone with his blindness.

Her voice finally broke through the raw, unsettling revelation. “Well, Mr. Drake, why don’t we—”

“If it’s all right with you, would you mind calling me Joseph?” Guarding himself or not, he couldn’t stand another day of being addressed as Mr. Drake. He jammed his hands into his pockets and stood tall. “Mr. Drake is, well, it’s just too formal for my liking.”

She paused for a brief moment. “All right, then. Joseph it is—if you’ll call me Katie.”

Or Sunshine, he thought, helpless to keep his emotions from running away.

If Joseph had been planted on the pulpit with flowers growing out of his Sunday clothes, he wouldn’t have felt more conspicuous than he did right now.

He shifted uncomfortably in the wooden pew, wishing he’d just ignored Ben’s challenge for him to attend church. Each step away from his cocooned world and nearer the church building had brought him closer to people’s stares, even if he couldn’t see them. Having arrived a few minutes before the service started, he couldn’t avoid being a sideshow for curious onlookers or a conversation piece walking in with a bandage wrapped around his head.

He sat stock straight in the second row of pews, the back of the bench hitting well below his shoulder blades. Even though Ben’s tall frame was close to him and he’d kept a steady flow of whispered small talk going since they’d sat down, Joseph might as well have been alone. Inky darkness seemed to enfold him, isolating him in a room crowded with friends and acquaintances.

He shrugged off his uncertainty as faint comments regarding his attendance wafted to his ears. Joseph gritted his teeth. There was certainly nothing wrong with his hearing.

As much as he wanted to remain inconspicuous, he’d always seemed to attract attention in a room, especially that of women. It sure wasn’t something he set out to do. Julia had been no different. She’d sidled up to him like moss on a log as soon as she’d met him. But since his accident, certain little things, like her high-pitched voice, grated on his nerves.

Thoughts of seeing her again settled on him like cold rain. She’d not stopped by since that first day he’d worked with Katie, and Joseph wasn’t surprised. He hadn’t needed to see Julia that day to know that she was madder than a hornet. He could hear it in her sharp tone, the swish of her skirts and the brisk clip of her heels.

A few times when he lay awake listening to all the sounds of the night, he’d think about his relationship with her. Would she want to see him again if he didn’t gain back total sight? And sight or no, did he even want to pursue anything other than friendship with her? He just couldn’t ignore how ill at ease he’d felt with Julia in the last three weeks.

When he’d first met her, he’d been intrigued by her vivacious, flamboyant ways. Maybe it was an eastern air about her, or maybe it was just Julia. Whatever the case, it was as though he could see what she was really like, now that he couldn’t see her. And he wasn’t sure that he liked what he saw.

Shrugging off his glum musings, he focused on the sun’s warmth pouring through the row of tall windows to his left. Thoughts of Katie filtered into his mind, spreading calm through him like warm honey. He couldn’t deny that he missed her presence by his side today. She’d given him a tangible confidence in moving about his home, eating without incident and even doing some cooking.

Was it her expertise she’d been so eager to give him that made him feel alive again? Or was it something more?

Katie’s heart clenched tight inside her chest when the pastor spoke in his sermon about trusting God. Like a broken-down wagon ransacked along a trail, she was almost empty of trust. Could she ever get beyond feeling like she alone must protect herself? It seemed as though God hadn’t protected her, but instead had allowed the vilest of things to happen to her—and by a man who claimed to serve God!

She’d trusted and been betrayed. Offered goodwill and been preyed upon. She’d been wounded to her core and endured it alone in shame for all of these months.

When Uncle Sven had wired her about coming out here, she’d jumped at the chance to leave Iowa—leave her past behind. And after meeting Joseph, she knew she’d made the right decision.

As the service concluded with a familiar hymn, Katie rose from the pew and stood beside Ellie and Aaron. She felt a pull at her heart, thankful for the quick friendship that had developed with Ellie. From the moment she’d met the young woman a week ago, they’d bonded like blood sisters.