Home to Caroline by Adera Orfanelli

Author:Adera Orfanelli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Samhain Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2015-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Four

Caroline’s stomach churned like cream into butter. Her husband drove the buckboard, his visage like a thundercloud ready to explode. Guilt nagged at her. Tell him now and get this over with. If he leaves, he leaves. Her heart twisted at the thought of her husband’s departure. She thought he loved her and couldn’t imagine his leaving, but she had to consider the possibility; she’d known women abandoned for less. Damn Mr. Nash. He had known of her plight. She’d purchased supplies for the coming baby, only to pack them away in a trunk. The doctor worked in the building next to the mercantile, and he’d come to her aid. No doubt gossip about poor Mrs. Dunworth had spread throughout the town, no matter how Samuel might have tried to quell it. Her father had been dead by then.

Two hens squawked in their crate. Her neighbors had promised a rooster to celebrate Travis’s return home. Surely the two fowl could be better mothers than she.

Caroline forced herself to reach across the wagon seat to take her husband’s hand. She clutched her jewel pouch in the other, half afraid to have it spill all over the ground. Should Travis decide to leave, she’d need every ounce of gold to try and see her through. At least until Dolly and she could get the crops in the ground and pray that they grew. She breathed deep, relishing Travis’s warm touch. His fingers curled around hers, the strength in them reminding her that he’d fought a war. If he’d faced down his fellow man, she had no reason not to tell him.

Starting the conversation troubled her. Admitting that the mercantile owner had tried to tell him some news made her look like a liar. The tangled webs she’d created with her aversion to his knowing wrapped around her. She opened her mouth only to close it again and stare across the green valley in the shadow of one of the larger peaks in the Ozarks. The road wound down the mountain, a twisting switchback that demanded Travis’s concentration.

“You know this war’s been tough on all of us,” Caroline said, each word carefully chosen. “I’m sure that’s what Mr. Nash wanted to tell you. Especially after the way things went.” She refused to mention the Confederate loss. Though she’d cheered the Union in spite of her husband’s family’s leanings, several of her neighbors hadn’t. The Bushwhackers had left her alone, but just barely.

“I’m sure that’s all,” Travis said, the assurance in his words not matching his stern expression. He glanced at their clasped hands. “You don’t need to explain for him.”

I need to explain for me. “We were safe. We made it through.”

The road straightened, giving Travis a bit more leeway to focus on her. He squeezed her hand. “I know you did, sweetheart. I’m proud of you for keeping the farm going. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, especially after Samuel’s death.”

It wasn’t Samuel’s death that hurt the most. She drew a deep breath.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.