Suddenly a Frontier Father by Lyn Cote

Author:Lyn Cote [Cote, Lyn]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2017-11-03T13:35:28+00:00

Chapter Ten

After school on Monday in the crisp early November sunshine, Emma, Mrs. Waggoner, and Mason’s and Judith’s children walked up the path toward Judith’s house. At Lily’s cheery shout, Judith came out, dressed against the chill, and joined them as they turned to head toward Eb’s just-claimed cabin.

Welcoming the distraction, Emma had brought along rags, old newspapers and a bottle of vinegar to clean with. Mrs. Waggoner sported a broom at a jaunty angle over her shoulder and Judith brandished a mop and pail with a bar of soap. They were going to clean the cabin for Eb, something else that would keep her mind off the Saturday night dance.

Asa, Mason and Eb had gone hunting today. A dusting of snow last night had presented a perfect day for tracking. Venison would be welcome on everyone’s table. And if they thinned the population, the local deer herd would survive the coming winter in better shape. Emma had seen deer starve in bad winters in Illinois. It wrenched her to think of the beautiful creatures reduced to that. Would the coming winter be a hard one?

“Children, how was school today?” Judith asked as they walked northward away from her homestead. Overhead, squirrels jumped from bough to bough, gathering acorns.

“Fun!” Birdie chirped.

Colton shook his head at the girl. “You think everything is fun.”

Judith patted Colton’s shoulder. “Did you learn something new today?”

“We’re learning how to multiply. I have to learn my times tables.” Colton tried to look glum and failed. He lifted the pail from Judith, lightening her load. The bar of soap slid and clanked within the pail.

“I remember learning them.” Judith glanced at Emma. “Do you remember us sitting with Ma and her testing us?”

With Charlotte holding her hand, Emma instantly recalled the scene. “Yes.” She blinked away the moisture that quickened in her eyes. She wasn’t sad and it wasn’t a sad memory, but her emotions had been like a pot boiling over since Saturday night’s dance. She had gone to the dance because she didn’t believe it was wrong and didn’t want to appear disapproving of those who’d come to dance. But choosing the middle road, she’d had no intention of dancing, least of all with Mason Chandler.

The dance with him had been a misstep in so many ways. The knowing glances she’d received that evening and then the next day after church had made that clear, very clear. She could ask herself why she’d done it but she knew why. She danced with Mason Chandler because she wanted to dance with Mason Chandler, to feel young and free again. And she’d enjoyed every breathless, exhilarating moment, but the experience had fostered gossip and left her unsettled, to say the least. Wading in the deep confusion, she could not make sense of what she was feeling.

A gust of wind and golden, crimson and bronze leaves cascaded down around them. Charlotte lifted her face and one hand toward the leaves and then Emma heard it. The little girl voiced a tiny sound of happiness.

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