Page 24 of More Than Meets the Eye

She laughed deep and loud at his quip until she was forced to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. The blue one. The vibrant, glistening blue one that seemed to project joy to the same extent her brown one projected warmth. Together they were an addicting combination. One he found himself craving more and more of late.

“Perhaps we ought to stick with Logan.” He made that dour pronouncement, then resumed their trek toward the creek, staring at the ground in front of them rather than the spritely wood nymph by his side.

“I suppose that would be best,” she agreed, residual laughter coloring her voice. “Though it’s rather unsporting of you to have a name that fails to lend itself to shortening when mine has so many options. Zacharias has Zach. Hezekiah has Hezzy. Although, Seth is just Seth, so I suppose we do have precedent.”

A gentle silence fell between them as the trees thickened and the trickle of creek water drew them closer to their destination. Logan had searched out the ideal conversation spot earlier this morning. Secluded, perhaps even a touch romantic. A place to put a woman at ease and lower her intellectual guard. This bend in the creek had everything he’d required. A picturesque view where the water bottlenecked between two stones, then tripped over a ledge to form a miniature falls. Oak and pecan trees for shade. A fallen limb that he’d dragged close to the water’s edge to provide a bench.

When they rounded the bend, Eva’s indrawn breath sent satisfaction spiraling through him as they slowed to a halt. “I hoped you’d like it.”

“It’s beautiful.” She turned her radiant face toward him, and his chest constricted with pleasure at her obvious appreciation of his gift. “We don’t have anything half as lovely on our land. There’s a little pond that’s quite nice,” she said as she twisted back toward the creek bed, “but nothing like this. I could sit here for hours.”

“Well, we might not have hours,” Logan said as he gestured toward the large limb to their left, “but I can offer you a hand-selected seat and slightly questionable company if you care to take a small respite before returning home.”

“Oh, dear. I’m not sure about that slightly questionable company.” Her eyes danced as she teased him. “I do have my reputation to consider.”

Logan played along. Just to flatter her, of course. All part of the seduction process. Not because it actually made his heart feel lighter when they bantered.

“I misspoke. I meant to say questioning company.” He leaned close and gave her his best rogue’s smile. Though he hadn’t had much opportunity to practice it when all his training had been devoted to erasing as much expression from his face as possible to succeed at the poker tables. Nevertheless, the blush tinting her cheeks proved he wasn’t quite as inept as he’d feared. “I plan to question you mercilessly, my lady.”

“Question me? For what purpose, sir?” The smile didn’t slip from her face, but a hint of caution clouded her gaze.

“So that I might get to know you better, of course.” He waggled his brows at her. “You are the most intriguing neighbor I’ve ever met.”

Eva’s glance darted toward the water before shyly returning to his face. “I doubt that.”

“It’s true.” And it was. She fascinated him. He drew close and lowered his voice to a raspy whisper. “At my last residence, a drugstore clerk with thinning hair and a nose resembling a hawk’s beak lived to my left and harped at my mother for allowing her flowers to wander into his yard. Apparently he suffered from sneezing attacks during the growing season.”

Eva raised a suspicious brow, but he nodded and held up his right hand to attest to his veracity. Mr. Pickwick had been a decidedly unpleasant, yet very real neighbor. As was Mrs. Abernathy. “On my right lived a sixty-year-old widow who shouted every word she spoke as if unaware that she was the deaf one and not the rest of us.”

Eva chuckled softly, and the caution in her eyes faded.

Logan maneuvered her toward the improvised bench. “So you see, you far outshine any of my previous neighbors.”

“Well, in that case, how can I refuse?” She adjusted her dark green skirt, the same one she’d worn the first day they’d met, and took a seat. His tree-limb bench sat quite a bit lower to the ground than one of the normal variety, so he cupped her elbow and counterbalanced her descent. She smiled her thanks and waited for him join her.

“So tell me more about your family,” he prodded. “Despite the fact that you’ve returned unharmed from each of our visits, I’m rather surprised neither of your brothers has come out to threaten me about staying away from their sister.”

“Zach thought about it.” She grinned. “But after our first meeting and the welcome goodies I delivered, I’ve been pretty closed-lipped about our interactions, so he probably doesn’t suspect there’s a need.” She turned her attention to the creek and circled her arms around her knees. “He’s used to men keeping their distance from me. And me from them.”

If Arnold Dunn from the Lucky Lady was an accurate sample of the reactions of most local men to Miss Evangeline Hamilton, their lack of interest proved Pecan Gap was a town filled with idiots.

“What about Seth?” Logan asked, wanting to steer the conversation back toward her brothers. If he thought too long about the hurt feelings the beautiful woman next to him was trying so hard to hide, he was liable to get riled, and that wouldn’t aid him in wooing information from her. “Is he not the protective type?”

“He’s more the scolding type.” One would expect a beleaguered sigh after a statement like that, but Eva’s voice rang with fondness. “After we were orphaned at such a young age, Zach and Seth took over my raising. Zach was the oldest, so he carried the burden of providing for us. He’d be gone for long hours, scrounging up any odd job he could find in order to bring home enough food to fill our bellies for the night. A heavy responsibility for one so young.”

Logan’s jaw clenched. It was hard to hear her glowing account of her brother’s deeds. Maybe they had gone through hard times, but that didn’t excuse what Hamilton had done to Logan’s family once he’d grown. If he’d had enough money to play in a high-stakes game, he’d had enough to provide for his siblings without stealing another man’s livelihood.

Eva fell silent for a moment, gazing at the creek. “He might have looked like a man with his height and beard scruff, but he was only thirteen when he made the choice to keep our little family together instead of letting the Children’s Aid Society split us up.”

The corners of her mouth tightened slightly, and a pair of tiny lines crept across her brow. When she continued, her voice held a fierceness that hadn’t been there before. “He didn’t have to do that. Keep us together.” She flashed a glance at Logan before turning away again. The connection only lasted for a heartbeat, but she seared him with her fervor. “He could have taken a position with a family and worked for a field hand’s wages. He could have had a home. Security. But he made a vow to keep us together, and he did.” Her voice softened. “Sometimes I worry about what he had to do to keep us fed, how he might have been mistreated or abused. But he never complained. He just did what had to be done. Kept us together and kept us alive.”

Logan knew exactly what Hamilton had done to keep them together. He’d become a con man and a thief.

An uncomfortable stirring tugged on Logan’s conscience. What had he become to restore what rightfully belonged to his family? Many considered gamblers no better than thieves. Hadn’t he modeled his retribution after the very man who’d done the damage in the first place?

He ground his molars. It wasn’t the same. He wasn’t the same. He never cheated. Never took from men who couldn’t afford to lose what they placed in the pot. Well, at least none that he’d known of. Another ache poked at his chest. He might be able to read faces, but he couldn’t read minds. It wasn’t his fault if players wagered more than they could afford to lose.

Something heavy sank into the base of Logan’s gut. Zacharias Hamilton had probably justified his gain of the Fowler land with the same argument.