A Valentine's Choice: A Montana Sky Series Holiday Novella (The Montana Sky Series) by Debra Holland

Author:Debra Holland [Holland, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-02-11T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

The next day, when Bridget first awoke to silence, she lay disoriented in the dim light. The dark slant of the roof over her head gradually brought her the realization she was in the loft of her cousin’s Montana cabin.

She listened for sounds of Sally stirring but didn’t hear anything. Well, Sally has no cow to feed and milk at first light. She thought of Bo, the soft-eyed Guernsey she’d left behind, and felt a pang of homesickness.

Thinking of Bo reminded her of playing with the Falabellas and the goats…and of her very first kiss, the lightest brush of their lips before the goat’s head butting interrupted them. She wondered what a real kiss would feel like. I hope I find out soon.

Bridget pulled the coverings closer around her shoulders, grateful for their warmth in the frigid air. She didn’t look forward to crawling out from her warm cocoon to dress. Until her hostess arose, she’d not venture from her bed.

Last night she’d been so exhausted, she’d dropped right into a deep sleep, barely noting the lack of her sister’s presence on the pallet beside her.

But now, Alana’s absence hit her, tightening her throat. For the first time in her life, Bridget had slept alone. Even in the third-class cabin on the ship, they’d squeezed together on the same bunk. She slid her hand over to where Alana should be and ached for the presence of her twin.

Bridget tried not to think of the empty place on her other side that had always belonged to Catriona. She’d had months to get used to the fact their older sister had abandoned them, and she supposed eventually she’d get used to Alana’s absence, as well. Then she chided herself for being so fatalistic. Alana will be back. Soon we’ll be reunited.

But an awareness of future changes hit her in a way that she’d never thought of before. Someday, maybe soon, we’ll be married and no longer living together. Someone else will sleep next to me and to Alana.

Bridget had always had a vague awareness of that fact. After all, marriage is what happened when one grew up and became an adult. But no man in their small village was suitable—for the sisters’ ages and station in life anyway.

Unfortunately beautiful Catriona had set her sights on the squire’s son and had for a long time had eyes for no other. Bridget suspected her yearning for the man combined with grief over their mother’s passing made her susceptible to the peddler’s blandishments.

And even if available bachelors or widowers lived nearby, she had always assumed Alana would be the first to wed. That is, if her twin ever got over her secret love for Timkin—another reason to leave their village, for Bridget had always doubted that young man, who seemed more fey than human, returned her sister’s love.

And even if Bridget caught the eye of a man she wanted to wed, she couldn’t leave her sister—for timid Alana couldn’t live on her own. Any man who chose Bridget would end up with the pair of twins on his hands.

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