The Mail-Order Brides Collection by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781683224440
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
Published: 2018-02-15T08:00:00+00:00

A cool afternoon breeze swept through the open cabin door, bringing with it the sweet scent of pine and sunshine. Phoebe smiled from her place in the comfy chair Luke had purchased before she arrived. Although Kansas held a beauty of its own with its rolling plains and farmland, in the brief time since her arrival in Carson Springs, she found herself captivated by the Rocky Mountains.

Mug in hand, she took a sip of coffee, enjoying the quiet solitude of the cabin. Luke had gone into town to place his order at the mercantile for several medical instruments as well as other supplies he was running low on. He’d invited her along, but Phoebe had declined. The laundry needed washing, and she still hadn’t written to Aunt Augusta. Luke nodded in understanding, but she couldn’t mistake the disappointment in his eyes.

She sighed and gazed on the beauty beyond the door. It pleased her to know her husband enjoyed her company. When she accepted his proposal for marriage, all manner of terrible scenarios had played across her mind as she traveled west. That Dr. Luke Preston had turned out to be a kind, handsome man was more than she’d hoped for. Their future looked far brighter than she’d dared imagine two months ago.

But marriage to Luke hadn’t diminished the one obstacle that kept her from giving herself freely to her new husband. Her heart belonged to Danny. To make the situation more complicated, there was her deceit regarding her Confederate sympathies during the war. Thus far, she’d avoided any talk of which side she’d stood in allegiance with, but she knew that couldn’t last throughout the long years of their marriage. And from the few comments he’d made regarding his loathing of all things Confederate, she wasn’t certain how Luke would react when he learned his wife’s father and fiancé had both supported the South.

Phoebe glanced at the Bible in her lap. It had belonged to Papa, and she could still hear his voice as he read passages each morning before they started their day. Papa hadn’t approved of slavery, but his family came from Tennessee, and he felt very strongly that states should govern themselves, even when it came to the issue of slavery. He’d admired President Lincoln though, and Phoebe wondered if perhaps Papa might have been persuaded to change his views had he lived long enough.

Memories of the dark day her father was murdered surfaced in her mind. She closed her eyes against them, but nothing could ever remove the horror she’d felt when she saw his broken body lying in the street when she’d gone in search of him. The war had arrived at their back door, with a battle being raged over the Missouri border. Casualties ran in the thousands, and Papa went to help, tending men from both sides. A witness told her Unionists found him giving aid to a wounded Confederate soldier. They beat him senseless, dragged him through the streets, and left him to die.

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