The Marriage Clause by Karen Rose Smith

Author:Karen Rose Smith
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2013-09-15T00:00:00+00:00

Cora agreed to marry me today. It’s the happiest day of my life. When I told her I’d like to move to Deep River and open a trading post there, she was all for it. She said even villages the size of Deep River need a teacher. She could always find somebody to teach. That’s one of the reasons I love her, one of the things I saw in her the first moment I met her. My Cora has spirit and heart and isn’t afraid to jump into anything new. That’ll do her good here. That’ll do us both good.

It was obvious to Clay that his grandfather and his new bride were a match made in heaven. They’d jumped in with both feet and fortunately found the right person for each of them. But how often did that kind of thing happen now? It certainly didn’t happen when there was money or a will involved.

Clay restlessly closed the diary. Then he brought more firewood in. He made sure the oil lamps were nearby and filled. The electricity could go out and he wanted to be prepared for that.

Taking a deep breath, he thought about Gina again and was truly worried. Why hadn’t she used her cell phone and called him? Why hadn’t she come home? Her suitcase was still upstairs in the closet, so he knew she hadn’t left for good…unless she’d spontaneously decided she’d had enough of him and their marriage and taken off for San Francisco.

He was about to pick up the receiver to call the troopers when he thought he heard something outside. Was it wishful thinking?

No, there was noise on the porch.

Hurrying to the door, he opened it quickly. He wasn’t sure it was Gina at first. The snow-covered figure wore a parka, the hood covering her head. She was clutching the neck of her coat as if the parka hood wouldn’t stay up. She looked as if she’d been rolled in snow and tossed onto his porch. Her lashes had been down as if she’d been saying a prayer, but now as they flew up, he saw her clear blue eyes.

He rushed toward her. “Gina. What happened?”

When he took her by the elbow, she seemed to have trouble walking across the porch. Swearing, he swept her up into his arms and carried her inside, pushing the door shut with his foot. It banged but he hardly noticed as he carried her into the living room in front of the fireplace. The snow was already melting, dripping onto the braided rug, but he didn’t care. He had to know how long she’d been out there.

“What happened?” he asked again.

When she tried to talk, her teeth chattered. “I…g-g-got stuck in the snow.”

“You didn’t have your cell phone?”

“It’s…it’s at the lodge,” she mumbled.

“Great place for it, Gina. How far did you walk?”

“About a mile…I…think.” Her words were bumpy.

He brushed back her parka hood and looked at her face, rubbing his thumbs over her cheeks. They were ice cold, but they were pink, not white, so he didn’t think she’d gotten any frostbite.

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