Wagon Train Sweetheart (Journey West 2) by Lacy Williams

Author:Lacy Williams [Williams, Lacy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Romance, Fiction, Forever Love, Christian, Religious, Faith, Inspirational, Spirituality, Love Inspired, 19th Century, Bachelor, Single Woman, Frontier & Pioneer, Western, Hearts Desire, American West, Journey West, Wagon Train, Sweethearts, Mail-Order Bride, Oregon, Ailing Father, Arranged Marriage, Brothers, Past Guilt, Family Loyalty, Courage, Emotional, Travel
Publisher: Love Inspired Historicals
Published: 2015-05-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

Over the next eighteen days, the caravan traveled another two hundred miles, and things returned to a semblance of normal for Nathan.

Early on, he asked Ben for the first watch, which meant no more evenings reading by the campfire. When in camp on their rare rest days, he spent time helping Clara—much to the disguised woman’s consternation.

And he barely saw Emma. When he did see her, she rarely spoke to him.

When she did, it was with a cool distance that hurt more than it should. He’d wanted to protect her from his reputation, but protecting her came with a price. He missed their friendly talks, missed hearing her tell about her day.

Part of him even missed the children.

The bruise on his back and shoulder had healed, first turning into an ugly purple-and-green mess, until it finally faded. But his growing feelings for Emma and for the children that gravitated toward her hadn’t.

Maybe that’s why he was here, in the early-morning stillness, carrying three wooden soldiers he’d carved.

Past the ring of wagons, a lone mountain rose out of the plain, far distant. Several miles, at least. Between the mountain and their camp spread only flat ground, brown grasses and sage. All was quiet in the early-dawn sunlight.

Nathan’s hands had been kept busy by the project when he’d sat alone in the shade of the Binghams’ wagon at lunchtime, but not his mind.

He never should have kissed Emma. He couldn’t get the memories of that night out of his head. Holding her. Tasting her.

Just the closeness he’d felt with her in his arms.

Something he didn’t deserve. She was meant for the sheriff her brothers wanted her to marry. He’d heard the conversation between Ben and Rachel before he’d counted Emma as a friend, before his brush with the measles had brought him into their circle. The detail hadn’t mattered to him back then.

But it mattered now.

He knew which wagon belonged to Georgie’s family and crept toward it. The bugler had woken the camp minutes ago, but he might be able to sneak the gift into the boy’s bedroll before anyone noticed him.

He saw Georgie’s blond head on the edge of five other bedrolls, the farthest away from the family wagon. Nathan’s heart lurched. The boy was an orphan—did his family keep him on the fringes, outside their existing family?

It wasn’t fair. Georgie had a lot of love to give. He’d even attempted to befriend Nathan.

But then, life wasn’t fair. Nathan knew it better than anyone, but he wished things could be different for Georgie.

He was suddenly fiercely glad that he’d carved the soldiers for the boy. Maybe they would be the only thing that belonged to Georgie in his own right.

Nathan crept closer and deposited the three wooden men next to Georgie’s hand atop the bedroll.

Before he could sneak away, Georgie twitched in his sleep and bumped the soldiers, rattling them together.

“Huh?” The boy’s eyes popped open and he gave a sleepy yawn. “Mr. Nathan?”

Where another child might’ve been afraid at seeing Nathan’s hulking form first thing upon waking up, Georgie simply looked confused.

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