Page 33 of The Formation of Us

He chuckled. “We’re as different from each other as a willow is from a poplar or an aspen or a cottonwood. Same family, very different trees.”

She leaned on the heels of her palms and moved them up his back. “You and your brothers look remarkably alike.”

“Trees are trees. Men are men. The difference is in their grain. My oldest brother Radford is a deep thinker and peaceful man. But he’s the only man I’d ever steer clear of. When he came home from the war, you could look in his eyes and feel tortured by the pain he was carrying. He wouldn’t even pick up a gun to go hunting with us. Still won’t, and it’s been fifteen years. But he’s not so jumpy since he married Evelyn.”

Faith nodded. “She has a way of making a person feel like a friend the minute you meet her.”

“She does, but she was engaged to my brother Kyle when she fell in love with Radford.”

“Oh, dear, what a horrid situation for them and your family!”

“It was tough. Kyle was so enraged when Evelyn broke their engagement, he tore into Radford. By the time Boyd and I got to the livery, Radford was so out of his mind he nearly killed Kyle. He—” The sheriff lifted his head. “If this is boring you, I can stop.”

“No. I’m intrigued. Really,” she insisted. And she was.

“Then please don’t stop working on that muscle. It’s just beginning to un-cramp.”

She hadn’t realized she’d stopped massaging his back. Amazing, but his story had shifted her mind away from touching his bare skin. “I’ll massage as long as you talk.” She pressed her thumbs into the hard latissimus dorsi muscle and used deep, slow strokes to release the tension.

“Best offer I’ve had in years,” he said with a sigh.

She massaged for several seconds then paused. “Moaning doesn’t count as talking.”

His lip quirked up.

“Let me put a cool towel around your shoulders while you finish your story” She worked the pump and soaked one of the remaining linens, then wrung the excess water into the tub. “Brace yourself,” she said, then draped it over his shoulders.

He sucked in his breath. “Good God, woman! The shock just stopped my heart.”

She choked back a laugh. “Are you going to finish your story, or should I stop massaging your back and let you get dressed?”

“It’s not a pretty story.”

“I wasn’t expecting one.”

“All right. When Radford realized what he’d done to Kyle, he fell apart. He couldn’t eat or sleep. He had nightmares that woke the house. One night it scared Rebecca so badly that she ran out of the house in her nightdress and bare feet. It was winter, and she was only four.”

“Wait a minute. How can . . . Evelyn and Radford weren’t married yet.”

“Another woman gave birth to Rebecca shortly after Radford was mustered out of his regiment. Apparently she didn’t want a baby or a husband, so she left Rebecca with Radford and disappeared.”

“That poor little girl.”

“Rebecca found a loving mother in Evelyn. There’s always been a special bond between the two of them.”

“I noticed that in church this morning. They’re both so pretty and have such lovely hair, I thought they were mother and daughter.”

“They are.”

No two words could have touched Faith more deeply. Tears blurred her eyes, and she looked toward the ceiling and blinked to keep them from dropping onto his back.

“If it wasn’t for Evelyn and Rebecca, I don’t think Radford would have pulled himself back from the past.”

Faith swallowed her sadness. “War would scar any man.”

“And leave some men so tortured they have to fight another war to get their life back. Radford had to do that when he came home.”

“Did Kyle ever forgive him?” she asked.