Winter Hearts Read Online Free Page A

carefully, mouth closed when he chewed, elbows off the table.
    He must think I’m a pig.
    With the last mouthful eaten, Sam rose. “I’ll clean up.”
    At the sink he washed the plates and cutlery under the cold-water pump and carefully wiped the crumbs off the table. Luke kept his gaze on his boots until Sam joined him, bringing the other chair from the table to the stove. Feeling contentedly full and with the presence of another person cutting the emptiness of the little house, Luke sat in silence, knowing there was nothing he wanted more than the companionship of another man. Love was a thing he had given up on long ago. He’d settle for companionship.
    “Should I put more coal in the stove, Luke?”
    He’d told Sam to call him Chandler. “No. It’s time for bed. I’m not wasting coal at night, not now that there’s no train coming to bring more. You got any in that wagon of yours?”
    Sam shook his head.
    “Best get to bed, then, and put out that lantern. That’s the last of my oil.”
    Both men stood up, and Sam swung the chairs back to the table. He blew out the lamp while Luke closed the hatch on the stove. What was left in the stove would burn for a couple more hours, but the house would be freezing by morning.
    Feeling miserly complaining about oil after the splendid meal Sam had provided, Luke stripped down to his red flannels, hanging his clothes on the nail by the bed before sliding under the heavy quilt and blankets and pulling them over his shoulders. In the pitch darkness he turned his back to the room, acutely aware of Sam’s presence, listening for every sound, wondering where he was. He must have taken his boots off, because Luke could no longer hear his footsteps.
    “What the hell!” Luke cried out when he felt Sam slide into bed beside him. He turned to face him, though he couldn’t see him. “Where’s your bedroll, boy?”
    “I left it in the wagon. Do you want me to retire out in the stable?” In the darkness Sam’s voice sounded scared and very young.
    “No,” Luke said as gruffly as he could. “You can get it tomorrow.” He didn’t want to sound like he wanted him there, but he didn’t want to worry about him freezing to death in the stable either. “You can sleep here. Just don’t toss and turn all night, or I’ll kick you out.”
    “No worries, Luke.”
    “I said call me Chandler like you would any man you might be friends with.”
    The boy pulled the quilt up to his neck. “Chandler,” he said quietly.
    “And move over! You’re stuck right up against me.” Sam shifted his slender body.
    Luke turned his back again. The bed wasn’t that big. There was no more than an inch of space between his back and Sam’s hip. He’d never get any sleep now, not with Sam lying beside him. Even with the icy snow scouring the roof and walls of the little house while the wind wailed across the prairie, he could still hear Sam’s soft breathing. Then Sam rolled onto his side and scooted in closer, pressing his belly into Luke’s back.
    “What the hell do you think you’re doing now?” Luke shouted at him. He sat bolt upright as if outraged, though he wanted nothing more than a piece of this healthy, handsome young man.
    “I’m cold, even in my under flannels. It must be forty below outside.”
    “If you managed to get here all the way from…where the hell did you come from?”
    “I left Volga this afternoon right after the storm stopped.”
    “You managed to travel all that way in forty-below temperatures, so you can sleep just fine without crowding me. Now move over.”
    “Yes, sir.” Sam rolled onto his side with his back to Luke. It took several more minutes for Luke to calm down. Only when he heard the young man’s deep, even breaths did he finally fall asleep.

Chapter Four
    The first sound Luke heard when he woke up was the wind howling around the house. The storm was like a vicious animal waiting to pounce. The fire in the stove had burned out, and the freezing