Escaped (Intrigue Under Western Skies Book 4) by Elaine Manders

Author:Elaine Manders [Manders, Elaine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical Romance, Women's Fiction, Victorian Era, 19th Century, Forever Love, Bachelor, Single Woman, Love Possibility, Hearts Desire, Clean & Wholesome, Christian Stories, Faith Based, Inspirational Reads, Love Inspired, Life-Changes, Western & Frontier Intrigue, Second Chance Reunion, Honesty & Trust, Home & Family, Lifetime Love, Romantic Schemes, Love-Family & Forever, Action & Adventure, Small Town & Rural Area, Beautiful & Feisty, Intrigue under Western Skies Series, Mystery & Suspense
Publisher: Elaine Manders
Published: 2019-04-17T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16

The church yard filled with talk and laughter as the congregation spilled out. Not wanting to linger, Jake made his way around the clusters of people trying to catch up on the news of the week before returning home to Sunday dinner.

Myra waylaid him before he got to the buggy. “Good to see you getting around so well, Jake. Thank you for bringing Juliette to church. We thought y’all might go to the chapel since it’s closer to the ranch.”

He had an ulterior motive but didn’t want to divulge it to Myra. Except for Dorcas Wagner, she was the biggest gossip in town. To be fair, both ladies had good reason to gossip. Since Myra ran the mercantile and Dorcas the post office, they were the centers of all town news. They were almost obligated to pass on tidbits of information.

“We probably will next Sunday, but Juliette has met so many townspeople since she’s working in the library, I thought she’d prefer coming here.”

Myra flashed a knowing grin. “So, when are you and Juliette going to get married?”

The same question he’d gotten a dozen times today, and the same nosy folks had pestered Juliette all week. They’d both given the same answer. His leg needed healing time. Juliette was busy learning how to manage the library. They had to build a house.

That’s why he’d wanted to come to town for church today. He intended to show Juliette the land for their building site, and they’d pass right by it on the way home.

He wanted them married right away. Juliette was more hesitant than him to set a date. More patient.

Of course she wanted to wait. He had the reputation of a ne’er-do-well cowboy, wasting his time on mindless pleasures and letting money slip through his fingers as fast as he made it. He had nothing to offer her except his heart. Yet.

“You’re going to be the first to know when we set the date, Myra.” He winked.

She cackled. “You do that. I’m still praying that poor limb of yours heals fast.” She patted his arm as she turned, waved a hand overhead, and headed to waylay someone else before he had time to thank her.

He’d borrowed one of the Sollano buggies because it had a retractable step and plenty of leg room, and a canopy to shield Juliette from the bright sunlight. She’d already told him the one thing she missed most about Georgia was the shade trees.

After placing the crutches under the seat, he grabbed ahold of the rails and, with his good foot resting on the step, hefted himself into driver’s place.

The crowd had thinned, their departing conveyances kicking up a cloud of dust. It hadn’t rained in over a week, and he was glad no one would be ahead of them on the road they’d travel. Juliette hadn’t said so, but he suspected another she disliked about the area was the dust.

He sat, listening to snorting horses and crunching wagon wheels, ruminating the situation until he spied Juliette descending the church steps, flanked by Maggie and Katherine.

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