Mining for Love by Dana Alden

Author:Dana Alden [Alden, Dana]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-03-12T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Delia mumbled something about finishing up her work and grabbed her buckets. She headed toward the spring. Though it wasn’t a far walk, it would give her a moment to compose herself and figure out what this news meant for her. She stared at the clear water dribbling out of ground, caught in a half-pipe to drip out the spout over the stones.

She’d strongly suspected that Calvin was not going to come back and marry her when he got his troubles fixed, but even, so she’d had mixed feelings. A part of her, a weak, cowardly part, had wanted him to come marry her and save her from her troubles. Another, braver, part, liked being free of the burden of a false engagement. She was free to live life on her own.

But it had felt safer, here in this territory of men, being an affianced woman rather than a single one. Or, at least, acting like she was one. It didn’t slow the advances of the men down much, but it helped a little. J.B. helped her because Cal asked him to. And where would she live if Calvin and his bride wanted to live in one of the cabins? J.B. would need the other.

And the final part, a small part buried deep but with a light burning so she couldn’t miss it even when she tried, felt a dream spark a little brighter. Could she find a true love? Had she found the beginnings of it already?

She heard movement behind her and knew it was J.B. even before he spoke. “Are you terribly disappointed?” he asked. He was close, but not touching her. He reached down and pulled the empty buckets from her hands. He knelt to put one under the spout to catch the water and looked back at her. “Are you?”

She thought about it, wanting to give him – and herself – a truthful answer. She reached down to run her fingers under the cold splash of water. “I’m disappointed that my plans have gone so far astray that I’m left feeling unsure about my future – and even my present. But not terribly so. It had seemed to me that Calvin was truly smitten with that gal, so I’m not very surprised. But it’s also freeing. I have no obligations or ties now.”

Except, perhaps, I’m still married, she thought. But she didn’t say it aloud.

The look J.B. gave her was questioning, and she suspected that he thought she was withholding something. She smiled brightly at J.B., not willing to elaborate. He squinted his eyes at her for a moment. Then, he looked away to move the full bucket to the side and the empty bucket under the spout.

“You could have ties if you want them.”

She deliberately misunderstood him, wanting more time to think this through. She made herself laugh, “Oh, you’ve been taking lessons from Michael Flaherty. As if I’m going to shack up with one of the mining bums around here.”

“Bums?” He stopped in his tracks.

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