Forever Yours by Tracie Peterson

Author:Tracie Peterson [Peterson, Tracie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Romance, Fiction, Christian, (¯`'•.¸//(*_*)\\¸.•'´¯)
ISBN: 9781620293034
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
Published: 1994-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Thanksgiving drew near and with it the haunting reminder of Julie’s death. Daughtry found herself thinking about her sister, even when she didn’t want to. Julie would have been eighteen. Thoughts of her naturally turned Daughtry’s mind to her father. She was both worried and relieved that he’d done nothing to interfere in her life. Was he so angry that he no longer cared?

“It’s a beautiful day out here, Daughtry!” Nicholas called from just outside the back door.

Daughtry made her way outside, wearing only her dark green wool skirt and long-sleeved calico blouse. “Yes,” she murmured, relishing the reminder of summer. “I think I’ll do the wash outside today.”

Nicholas mounted his horse and gave her an admonishing look. “Don’t overdo it and don’t stay outside if it turns cold. I don’t want you getting sick.”

Daughtry grinned at his fatherly words. “I’m surprised you’re willing to leave me here alone.”

“I’m not very happy about the idea,” Nicholas said, “but you’re insistent on having fresh turkey for Thanksgiving, and since the Shaunasseys offered to sell me one of their birds, I guess I’ll just have to overlook my discomfort.”

“Oh, go on with you, now,” Daughtry said and reached out to smack the horse on the rump. Instead, Nicholas caught her hand and lowered his lips to her fingers.

“Please stay out of trouble,” he whispered. “I’ve grown very fond of you, Mrs. Dawson.”

Daughtry’s heart warmed to his words. “And I, you, Mr. Dawson.”

With nothing more said, Nicholas took off for his five-mile ride to the Shaunasseys, while Daughtry went back inside to ready her laundry.

With most of the wash done by noon, Daughtry was just putting away her wash tub and scrub board when the unmistakable sound of a wagon caught her attention. Peering around the house, Daughtry was pleased to see the freighter, Tom O’Toole, making his way up the long Dawson drive.

She quickly hurried inside to put on coffee and arrange a plate of cookies, while Tom completed the trip to the barn. He was bringing in the last of their ordered supplies for winter, and Daughtry was hopeful that he might have thought to bring the mail as well.

“Afternoon, Mrs. Dawson,” the man said, jumping to the ground.

“Afternoon, Tom,” Daughtry replied. “When you finish there, I’ve got hot coffee and cinnamon cookies for you.”

“That ought to make my work pass quicklike,” he announced. Pulling down a heavy crate, Tom motioned. “This here is a bunch of them canned goods you asked for last time. It just came in from Denver.”

“Oh, good,” Daughtry replied. “You can bring that on up to the house, and I’ll get to work putting it away.”

Tom nodded and followed Daughtry into the house, where he deposited the crate, requested a hammer, and pulled the nailed lid off. Daughtry immediately went to work, while Tom made his way back outside.

Humming to herself, Daughtry felt good about their filled pantry. There was more than enough food to tide them over for a great many months, if necessary.

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