Snow Angel by Jamie Carie Page A

wearing only his pants. She couldn’t seem to look away as he walked to the room’s huge fireplace and added some logs, stirring up the embers with the poker. Turning toward her, his eyes narrowed. “You didn’t?”
    â€œOf course not.”
    â€œWhere did you think I had gone?”
    Elizabeth shrugged. “I didn’t know. I thought maybe you were staying at Jacko’s … or the hotel. I was sent off to bed rather early, you know.”
    â€œI always stay here when I’m in town.” He stirred up the fire and then turned suddenly back to her. “If you were coming down to sleep, why did you bring your clothes?” He lifted a heavily muscled arm to the mantle and leaned into it. “You weren’t planning to leave, were you?”
    â€œWhy would I leave?” Elizabeth asked in confusion and anger. “I just thought it would be warmer to change into my clothes than stay in this thin nightgown.”
    Noah dropped his arm and looked down at her. “I’m sorry. Guess I’m not thinking clearly.”
    â€œI didn’t want to wake everyone by making a fuss.” She shivered and stood up.
    Noah came over to her, started to lift his hand to touch her cheek and then lowered it suddenly. Instead, he pulled a chair closer to the fire. “I’ll go into the back room while you change. I’ll make some coffee.”
    Elizabeth could only nod as she turned to face the warm blaze. She sank a little inside thinking how distant he seemed. Will had been suspicious of her. They’d probably talked about her when she and Cara had gone upstairs. Will must have told him what Elizabeth knew all along—that she wasn’t good enough for him. It was true. And better that he understood that now.
    With a bracing breath she nodded. It was better this way. They should distance themselves. She would forget him. He would come in the spring to begin their partnership, and she would be gone, gone to the gold fields in Dawson City. He would hate her, and then he would want to forget her.
    Hurriedly, she slipped out of the nightgown and pulled on her clothes. Once dressed, she moved closer to the fire and spread out her hands in front of the blaze. Feeling wretched about deceiving him, she gritted her teeth in determination. Closing her eyes again, she retraced her original plans in coming to Alaska. She had been scratching out a living when she’d first heard the rumors of an Alaskan gold find. She remembered that day in July when the Portland docked in Seattle. The newspapers claimed a ton of gold was aboard the ship, and Seattle had gone wild with excitement. It was the last golden opportunity, and she’d wanted desperately to be a part of it. The only problem was that she couldn’t possibly scrape togetherthe cost of the ship’s fare, which had skyrocketed overnight. No one would grubstake a woman. Her efforts to find a supporter had brought her only anger and embarrassment.
    Then, as autumn crept in and the weather turned cooler, a young man had started showing an interest in her. Elizabeth knew how to discourage a man’s unwanted attention; she’d been around men her whole life. But he seemed different. He was handsome and refined, with slick, black hair combed back from his forehead and a black, well-groomed mustache. Tall and lean, he dressed exquisitely. His manners were refined, and he treated her like a lady, something she had not experienced very much in her life. She was intrigued despite her misgivings. When he finally approached her, he was so polished and charming, like a cool, sweet breeze in the stagnate air of her world, and she found herself charmed despite her efforts to remain unaffected. Within a month he had gained her trust, and she confided in him her desire to go to Alaska.
    Even now, she could hardly believe what his response had been.
    A few days after telling him about Alaska, he made her an offer. They were