Mail Order Bride: Twist of Fate (Mail Order Brides of Gold Creek Book 4) by Emily Woods

Author:Emily Woods [Woods, Emily]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2015-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 7

The next day she met Carl at the stables, as they had arranged. When she had told Louis her plans over breakfast, hoping to impress him with her keenness to learn the ropes of the ranch, he had merely grunted into his bowl of cornmeal. Before she headed out of the room, she gathered up enough courage to approach him and put her hand on his shoulder.

“I look forward to seeing you when I come back,” she said, her voice filled with warm sweetness.

“I won’t be here,” he replied gruffly, then picked up his bowl and went into another room.

She could tell he did not want to be followed, but tried not to feel too crestfallen. She held her head up high and managed to find a smile as she strode out to the stables, feigning confidence for all she was worth.

Carl was waiting for her outside the stables, sitting atop the gray horse and talking in soothing tones to the chestnut. He broke out in a warm smile upon seeing her, the friendliness in his eyes so deep and honest that she had to look down at her shoes. His look penetrated her defenses and her pretense was impossible to keep up.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, his face clouded with kind concern as she came closer.

He dismounted the horse and put his arm around her.

It felt as if tears would fall, but she shook herself and straightened up, determined that she could be strong enough to bear Louis’ roughness. It was a sacrifice she had to make for love, she told herself.

“Nothing,” she said, forcing her lips into a large grin that felt forced and hurt her cheeks.

“Okay,” he said, though she could tell he didn’t believe her in the slightest.

During the course of their time together, though, all her hurt and shame fell away. Under his gentle tutelage, she gained enough confidence to ride his chestnut horse, first at a walking pace, then at a trot. His enthusiastic praise had her feeling wonderful, in spite of anything Louis had done. It was as if Carl rendered Louis powerless in her heart, his careful words and encouraging manner disarming Louis’ callous spite with its gentle, yet powerful force.

By the time she had watched Carl round up some cattle and they had trotted out into the plains to rest under the shade of a tree, she felt as if the whole world were perfect. She lay back on the grassy ground under the tree and looked up at the cornflower blue sky, feeling as light and free as the delicate white clouds that floated along on the breeze. He had set up a fire to cook them lunch, this time promising that he would deliver something rather more substantial.

She closed her eyes in the pure bliss of the moment, and opened them again to find Carl looking down at her.

“You look happy,” he said.

“I am,” she said. “More than I’ve ever been before.”

“Alice?” he said, his voice quieter than she’d ever heard it.

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