Stealing Jake

CHAPTER Seventeen



Jake handed Livy up into the wagon and placed a quilt over her knees. Her gaze met his. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” He winked, and her breath caught in her throat.

His mother was standing right behind him. To cover her embarrassment, she smiled at Mrs. Russell. “Thank you for inviting us to Sunday dinner again. I enjoyed every minute of it. And thank you for the recipe for potato dumplings. A new way to cook potatoes is always a good thing with all the children at the orphanage.”

“Think nothing of it, dear.” Jake’s mother placed a basket in the wagon bed. “Now, girls, don’t turn this over. You don’t want potato dumplings and fried chicken all over the place.”

Jake hurried around to the other side while Tommy clambered into the back with the girls. “Are you sure you don’t want to go with us, Ma?”

“I’ve been over at Susie’s most of the week, Jake. A nice quiet afternoon—” she glanced pointedly at the girls, now squabbling with Tommy—“sounds heavenly.”

Jake laughed. “All right, then. We’ll be home in a little while.”

“Take care.”

Livy glanced into the back of the wagon and smiled. Jake’s two sisters sat with Mary sandwiched between them, the three of them giggling. Whatever they laughed about didn’t even have to be funny. They were just being girls. She and Katie had had precious little to laugh about, but sometimes they’d get tickled about the silliest things, like how the German butcher down the street got mad at the stray dogs that hung around his shop every day. He’d yell at them to not come back as if the dogs understood him.

At night, Katie mimicked his thick accent until Livy cried from laughing so hard. She sighed. They’d had nothing, but in some ways they’d had everything. They’d had each other.

Tears pricked her eyes. She missed Katie so.

They pulled out of the yard, the wagon creaking and the harness jingling. Tommy hung over the seat. “Can I take the reins, Jake? I’ve been practicing, just like you told me.”

Jake threw Livy a grin and scooted toward her. “All right, squirt. Hop up here.”

Tommy scrambled forward and plopped down. Jake handed him the reins. “Don’t drop them.”

Livy peeked around Jake. Could Tommy keep still long enough to guide the horses and keep the wagon on the road? The boy tucked his bottom lip between his teeth, a ferocious look of concentration on his freckled face. She covered her mouth with her hand.

Jake leaned over and whispered, his breath tickling the hair at her temple. “What?”

She glanced at him, his green eyes inches from hers. A warm feeling engulfed her. “Nothing. He’s just so cute like that.”

He shook his head. “Too bad it won’t last very long.”

She giggled. She probably sounded as silly as the girls in the back of the wagon. Jake sobered, his gaze turning serious as it dipped to her lips, then returned to her eyes. The half wink and lopsided smile told her that he would’ve kissed her again had they been alone. Just knowing he wanted to turned her insides to jelly.

But what would she do this time if he tried?

The quilt slid off her knees into a puddle at her feet. Jake grabbed it and spread it over her lap and across his knees. In the process, he snagged her gloved hand and twined his fingers through hers. Livy sat ramrod straight, aware of how close he sat. His thumb rubbed the back of her hand in slow, lazy circles that tied her insides in knots.

“You okay with going to see Susie’s baby?” Jake asked, his voice laced with concern.

“I’ll be fine.”

Babies were a fact of life, and the sooner she accepted that, the better off she’d be.

All too soon they arrived at Susie’s small farmhouse. The girls hurried to the door, chattering like magpies, anxious to see the baby. Tommy followed right behind them, although he’d said he didn’t want to see any ol’ baby. Jake came around the wagon to help Livy down.

His hand lingered on hers, and although she enjoyed the sensation, she didn’t want Susie and Charlie to get the wrong idea. She pulled away and turned to the back of the wagon. “Oh, don’t forget the food your mother sent over.”

“I’ve got it.” Jake snagged the hamper.

Charlie met them at the door, barely acknowledging them, his hungry eyes on the basket. “What you got there, old man?”

Jake laughed and handed over the prize. “Leftovers. Ma said you were probably hungry.”

“Starving.” Charlie led the way inside. “Susie and the baby are in the kitchen, where it’s warm.”

The girls were kneeling around Susie, who sat in a rocker, the infant nestled in her arms. Susie loosened the blanket so the girls could get a good look at the baby. The girls oohed and aahed, while Tommy helped Charlie empty the bounty onto the table. Jake sat on the bench and pulled Livy down beside him.

“What’s his name?” Mary asked.

“Charlie Andrew Benson III,” Susie said, sounding like any proud parent.

“But we’re going to call him Andy,” Tommy piped up, his mouth full. Livy shook her head. They’d just gotten up from the dinner table. Surely the boy couldn’t be hungry already.

Susie’s gaze met Livy’s. She smiled. “You must be Livy.”

“Oh, sorry, Sis. This is Livy O’Brien and that pretty little filly over there is Mary Gregory. Ladies, meet my sister Susie, her husband, Charlie, and little Andy.”

“It’s a pleasure, Mrs. Benson. Your baby is adorable.”

Susie laughed. “Oh, please call me Susie.”

“If you’ll call me Livy.”

Little Andy opened his eyes and yawned. Livy smiled. The adorable baby had a thatch of dark hair and a little rosebud of a mouth.

A pang at what might have been hit her. Memories of a tiny baby girl with dark hair and perfect fingers and toes but no life surged through her mind. Help me, Lord.

She took a deep breath and looked around, taking in the cozy kitchen and the warmth of the fire, thankful baby Andy lived in a warm home with a loving mother and father and aunts and uncles to take care of him.

What if Katie’s baby had lived? What kind of life would the child have had on the streets of Chicago? What if Katie had died and Livy’d been left to care for the baby? What would she have done then? Everything in her power to save Katie’s child, of course. But would it have been enough? As Mrs. Brooks always said, maybe it was for the best, because God didn’t make mistakes.

Susie unwrapped the baby. “Look at his fingers. They’re so tiny. Can you imagine him ever being big enough to hold a hammer or a hoe?”

“Or the reins of a horse.” Tommy pointed to the baby’s hands. “They look like a coon’s paw.”

Amid the laughter, Jake leaned over and let the baby grasp his index finger. The contrast of the baby’s tiny hand clasping Jake’s tugged on Livy’s heartstrings. He rubbed his thumb against the back of the baby’s hand, much as he had done to her on the ride over, and she remembered how he would have kissed her if they’d been alone.

Had his feelings for her changed? Developed into more? Maybe she’d been wrong to tell him she wasn’t interested.

Jake lifted his finger slightly. “For such a little fellow, he’s got a good grip.”

“And he eats like a horse too.” Susie’s eyes grew moist. “I’m so thankful he’s healthy.”

Jake chucked his sister under the chin. “You did good, Sis.”

Livy marveled at the resemblance between Jake and his sister. Jake’s babies would probably look like Andy. The Russell family all had dark hair and bronzed skin. She glanced at Charlie, busy making a dent in the provisions from Mrs. Russell’s kitchen. Charlie sported dishwater-blond hair and skin that freckled rather than tanned. Livy’s gaze swept over Tommy, Susie, and the two younger girls, wondering what they’d looked like as babies. Had Jake looked like Tommy as a child? And been as mischievous? She smothered a tender smile.

Probably.

Livy sat there, feeling strangely comfortable. In this peaceful scene with Susie and her little family, she could almost forget the past.

Almost.

Mrs. Brooks’s words came rushing back. Could her feelings for Jake and the longing for children—dark-haired babies like little Andy—overcome the worst of her fears?



* * *





The day flew by way too fast to suit Jake.

At the orphanage, Mary hurried inside to tell Mrs. Brooks all about the baby. Livy stepped up on the porch, but Jake snagged her hand before she could go farther. “Hey.”

She dipped her head and gave him a shy smile. What he wouldn’t do to keep that smile on her face. He tugged her closer.

“You’ve been quiet today.” He grinned. “’Course, it’s hard to get a word in edgewise with Tommy and those girls yakking nonstop.”

“I didn’t mind.”

He studied the bemused expression on her face, unable to ignore the soft allure of her lips, the curve of her cheek. He took a deep breath as if he’d been slugged in the stomach. He’d never wanted to cherish and protect anyone as much as he did Livy. She made him wish for things he’d never dreamed possible. But she’d told him to wait. And wait he would. He didn’t want to rush things and scare her off.

No matter how much he wanted to taste her kisses again.

He rubbed her arms through the thick cloak she wore. “Cold?”

She shook her head, her reddish-brown hair glistening in the winter sun. “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry the girls insisted on going to see the baby.”

Livy placed a hand on the front of his coat, close to his heart. “It’s all right. Seeing your sister’s baby today helped me let go of a lot of the fear I’ve had since losing my sister and her child.” She smiled, a tender look on her face, tears in her eyes. “Maybe . . . maybe I can move forward now.”

“Now?” he whispered as he drew her closer.

“Yes,” she whispered before his lips claimed hers.