Read Online Winter Hearts by Fyn Alexander - Free Book Online

that much growth on his face.
    Slowly he opened his eyes.
    Sam smiled. “Hungry?”
    Luke didn’t return the smile. “I’m always hungry.”
    “What for, pancakes or my ass?”
    That was the wrong thing to say. Luke rolled onto his side, turning away from him. Why did this man withdraw every time Sam tried to be sweet or amusing with him? True, they hadn’t known each other for more than a week, but they’d been as intimate as two men could be.
    “Breakfast is ready,” Sam told him quietly.
    Luke got out of bed, pulled on his flannels, fastened it up to his waist, allowing the top to hang down, and came to the table. Sam put the tin plate loaded with pancakes and salt pork in front of him. Luke poured molasses all over his pancakes and ate his meal in silence.
    Sam watched him for a while as his pancakes went cold. “You’re an old grump, Luke.” Less interested in his food than he was in looking at this rough yet handsome man, Sam put his elbow on the table and rested his cheek on his fist. “You’re handsome, though. Did you know that?”
    A slight flush rose up Luke’s cheeks. “You’ve got too much to say. And I told you to call me Chandler. If the men in town hear you call me Luke, they’ll think something’s going on.”
    “Something is going on.”
    Luke met Sam’s gaze with an angry glare. “Eat your goddamned breakfast!”
    Rearing back as if threatened by a panther, Sam got the coffeepot and filled their tin cups. He put the pot back on the stove to stay hot and sat down, then reached across the table to take Luke’s big, strong hand.
    Snatching it away, Luke glared at him. “What’s wrong with you, boy?”
    Wrestling the hand back into his, Sam grinned. “Nothing. There’s no one here but us. What does it matter?”
    With his mouth full, Luke said, “How did you know I wouldn’t beat your ass for touching me yesterday, not to mention what you did last night?” He snatched his hand back again and held on to his tin mug.
    “Because we’re the same. I knew right away. Another man wouldn’t pick it up, but I knew.”
    “Pick up on what?” Luke frowned, looking concerned. “How do you know I’m not just desperate from being here alone all winter? The men in the gold mines would rub up against anything that moved after a few months. Even the horses weren’t safe.”
    Sam laughed. “You like men. I like men. It’s that simple.”
    “If you think it’s simple, you’re crazy. Did you do the outdoor chores?”
    “Yes, the animals are fed. I got up early, but you looked like you needed more sleep. I wore you out last night.” He paused, looking at the angry man before him. “What did I do? Don’t you like me?”
    A long, low growl issued from the other man. “I’ll be glad when you’re on your land and I’m on mine.”
    “You didn’t think that last night.”
    “You’re old enough to know better than to be talking out loud about this stuff. You do it, but you don’t talk about it. How old are you, boy?” Luke asked.
    “Nineteen,” Sam said.
    “You can’t be. You need to be twenty-one to take up a claim,” Luke replied.
    Sam cut his pancake into quarters, dipped a piece in molasses, and ate it. “I lied. And I had the money for the filing fee. That’s all that mattered to the man at the land office.”
    “Where’d you get the money to come out here?” Luke asked.
    “I earned it. I saved because I wanted to get out of Boston.” That was as much as Sam was going to say about his life.
    “You’re from Boston too? Why didn’t you say so before? I told you I grew up in Jamaica Plain.”
    Sam shrugged.
    “Where about did you live?”
    The South Slope of Beacon Hill, but he wasn’t going to tell Luke he was a Boston Brahmin. He’d left Boston to get away from all that for a while. “Charlestown.” He hadn’t planned to lie, but he didn’t want Luke to know his background. “My father works in a tannery.” Why the Sam Hill had he said that? Because Luke