Before the Dawn Read Online Free

filling her heart, but it would heal. “I think placing Tom’s wife in charge of the Swan until I return was a good idea.”
    â€œI think so, too.”
    Leah was about to say something else when the train whistle bellowed. She turned her attention back to the tracks. They were pulling into a station.
    Cecil got up, came over to the window and peered out. “Looks like we’ve finally made Chicago. We can get out and stretch our legs a bit if you’d like. We’ll probably be laying over for an hour or so.”
    Leah thought that a grand idea. The early morning stop in Kalamazoo, Michigan, had been hours ago.
    So, after the train halted, Leah grabbed her new fur-lined cloak and followed Cecil to the door. The portable steps needed to reach the ground had not been put in place by the porters. The area around the track was bustling with activity as passengers boarded, relatives waved, and porters strained under the weight of baggage. The air was filled with thesound of train whistles and the smell of smoke and cinders pouring out of the idling stacks.
    â€œIt’s that conductor’s doing, I’ll bet,” Cecil grumbled.
    Leah hated to be judgmental, but the man’s earlier nasty attitude led her to believe that the missing steps were one of those subtle, irritating slights that bigoted individuals often perpetrated as a way of keeping folks like her and Cecil in their place.
    â€œWe could always jump,” Leah pointed out.
    â€œYou’re not nine anymore, Leah.”
    She smiled. In her younger days, she and some of the boys in town would often jump from the bluffs into the ocean below. Her mother hadn’t minded, but every time Cecil watched the feat, he’d sworn it subtracted years from his life.
    Leah had no plans to stay perched on the edge of the car forever. “Cecil for heaven’s sake, hop down, it’s no more than a foot or so.”
    â€œYou folks need some help?”
    Leah looked up into the coal black eyes of the handsomest, most exotic brown-skinned man she’d ever seen. He was dressed no differently from the other gentlemen passengers but the black waterfall of hair flowing freely over the shoulders of his tailored, Chesterfield coat made him commandingly unique. Tall and muscular, he appeared to be of mixed ancestry. The hair was undoubtedly Indian, but the strong, proud features bore the stamp of African ancestry.
    Realizing she’d been staring like a transfixed rube at a fair, she hastily settled her eyes elsewhere just as Cecil replied, “It appears as if we might. Our steps haven’t been brought around.”
    â€œWell, how about we hand you down first, and then the lady?” Although the man had spoken to Cecil, his dark eyes were on Leah.
    A bit flustered by his attention, Leah turned her gaze tohis companion, an older, gray-haired man dressed in a fine, dark suit and long gray coat. His ready smile seemed to steady her.
    Sounding grateful, Cecil replied, “That would be appreciated.”
    Each man took hold of one of Cecil’s elbows and eased him the short distance to the ground.
    When it became Leah’s turn, her pulses raced as the long-haired man stepped up, placed his large hands on her waist, and lifted her free of the platform. He brought her down slowly, so slowly their eyes mingled and the heat of their bodies touched. The aura in him was so overwhelming that a few moments passed before she realized she was standing on firm ground again. Gathering her senses, she stammered, “Th-thank you.”
    â€œYou’re welcome,” he replied, his interest in her quite obvious.
    More flustered than ever, she sought to calm herself by fussing with her big, feather-edged hat and straightening the hem of her matching blue traveling costume. It didn’t work. She could still feel the warm pressure of his strong yet gentle hold on her waist.
    â€œDo you have luggage you need to retrieve