“Or perhaps next week.”
He smiled faintly. “I'll try not to mark it on the calendar.”
Josie laughed, surprised by the sound again. The tension in her shoulders eased, and she leaned against him once more.
For several minutes, they sat beside the bed, their hands loosely joined, while the storm moved over the mountains.
Then three brutal knocks shook the cabin door.
Josie jerked upright.
Caleb immediately turned toward the entrance, his expression sharpening. The sound came again, harder this time, followed by a man's voice cutting through the wind.
“Josephine Mercer! Open up—the man you ran from wants his property back.”
The name struck her with the force of a memory.
Josephine.
Not Josie.
The formal name Silas Rourke had used whenever he wanted to remind her that he controlled the household, the accounts, and the conditions of her employment.
Her fingers went cold.
Caleb rose, but he did not leave her side until he had looked directly at her.
“Do you know that voice?”
Josie nodded, unable to speak.
“Is it Rourke?”
“Yes.”
Caleb's jaw tightened. He looked toward the door, then back at her.
“Stay here. I'll find out who else is with him.”
“No.”
He paused.
Josie swallowed. Her heart was pounding so violently that she could feel it in her throat, but she forced herself to meet his eyes.
“Don't leave me alone with that voice.”
Caleb's expression softened. “I won't.”
He moved the chair away from the hearth and set it nearer the bed, then took the rifle from its wall brackets. He checked it, keeping the barrel pointed down and away from her, before returning to the door.
“Rourke,” he called, “state your business.”
A laugh answered him.
“You know my business. I'm here for Josephine.”
“She doesn't want to see you.”
“That's not your decision.”
“It's hers.”
The man outside made a dismissive sound. “You mountain men are all alike. You think a wedding ceremony gives you ownership of a woman.”
Caleb's eyes narrowed. “You just called her your property.”
“She was under my protection in Chicago. I paid for her room, her meals, her clothes. She walked away without settling her obligations.”
Josie stared at the door.
The old story.
The same accusation, dressed in different words.