Dark Heart Wolf - Haley Weir Page 0,6
he had grabbed her. Sam’s heart broke into a million pieces, and he swept her up into his arms. She clung to him, wetting his shirt with the constant stream of her tears. "You promised," she sobbed. "You said you would not do that to me again. I understand if you can't find it in your heart to love me back, but at least pretend that I mean somethin' at all."
"You mean everythin' to me, Mary. I ain’t like Wesley, all right? I can see the way you love me; I feel it even when I can’t feel anythin’ else. You own whatever is left of the man you fell in love with. I wish I could tell you things will be different or that I could change, but I can't bring myself to lie to you like that."
She wiggled free of his arms, and Sam bent over a little to kiss the fading outline of his fingers. Mary Ann wiped her tears and got back to work as he shuffled on home. Silver Fox Ranch was the biggest spread in the region. Boone ran the entire place with the help of their friends Jesse and Wesley. Sam wanted no part in any of his legacy. Boone could have the ranch.
The servants and workers wandered around the property to get started on the daily grind. He pushed open the front door and hurried upstairs so that no one could see the shameful state of his appearance. Sam stopped just outside of Abigail and Boone’s room when he heard a sniffle. He knocked softly and then cracked open the door. Abigail used her sleeve to dab away the tears, but Sam had seen them. “Everythin’ all right, Doc?”
She nodded with a kind smile. “I’m just worried about Charlotte, that’s all.”
“Charlotte will be back soon. Beth and Wesley will find her. Don’t you worry about that.”
“Thanks, Sam. You’re a better man than you know.”
He shook his head and closed the door once more.
Chapter Three
Mary Ann missed Sam. He hadn’t come around in over three days, and that wasn’t like him. No matter how mad they got at one another, they always came back as if nothing had ever happened. Mary Ann closed up the shop at six o’clock exactly and set off down the road. She heard the bang and clang of the train pulling into the station. Her heart warmed when she saw Ruth step onto the platform. Mary Ann hurried over to greet the nervous young woman.
“Hello,” she said softly. “My name is Mary Ann Pearl. I’m a friend of Jesse Porter. He asked me to greet you at the station.”
The young woman nodded but kept her eyes low to not meet Mary Ann’s gaze. “My name is Ruth, Miss. No surname just yet.”
Mary Ann frowned at that. She took the young girl’s arm, feeling Ruth startle at the contact, and picked up her bags. Ruth attempted to take them from her grasp, but Mary Ann wanted to make a point. “Now, I’m sure the Emancipation didn’t do much to change what you went through down in Georgia, but you have nothin’ to fear here. If you lift your head and look around, you’ll see that folks headin’ home ain’t payin’ you no mind. And if you look over there…” She pointed to Teddy Murphy’s boy Leo, who had stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of Ruth. “That young man there is absolutely smitten already.”
“I...I ain’t never looked into the eyes of a white man before unless he asks me to.”
“Well, I’m sure you did what you had to do to survive, but you’re here in Wolf Valley to live, not just survive,” Mary Ann chuckled. She walked Ruth to her home. “I’m afraid you arrived at the start of our new curfew, so you’ll have to stay here for the night. I’ve got a spare room you can sleep in and extra linens in the chest at the foot of the bed.”
They trudged up the stairs, and Mary Ann opened the bedchamber door.
“When will I see Mr. Porter?”
“I’ll take you out to the ranch tomorrow mornin’,” she replied. “I’ve got some business there anyway. I’m good friends with the men of Silver Fox Ranch.”
“Do you know about them?”
Mary Ann knew exactly what the girl meant. “I do.”
Ruth relaxed a bit and sat on the edge of the bed. “I saw it. A group of white men were trying to hurt me. Mr. Porter changed into a wolf