Twice Loved by Lori Copeland

Author:Lori Copeland
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: HarperCollins

Chapter 19

Willow drew a damp cloth across her flushed face. Outside, thunder rolled in waves. How she wished for a good drenching. Just one, Lord, and I’ll not ask for another. Thunder Ridge was losing hope. According to Uncle Wallace, more than one hundred and fifty days had passed without a drop of moisture. Talk centered more and more on the mill and the schoolhouse; it was as though folks had forgotten to pray for relief.

Reaching for a board, she passed it to Tucker. “Too bad Eli and Caleb couldn’t work tonight. I miss their banter.”

Tucker took the piece and nailed it into place. Sweat dampened the back of his cotton shirt.

A jolting boom shook the building. Willow started, though by now she should have been used to the noise. She turned accusing eyes on Tucker when he chuckled. “What? You think it’s funny that I jump every time a clap of thunder sounds?”

Laughter lit his features. You’d think a man who worked from sunup to sundown wouldn’t be so downright cheerful. She bent, hoisting another two-by-four. “I miss Eli.”

“You do? You got a crush on him?”

Willow’s cheeks burned. She hated it when he teased her, especially about Eli and Caleb—not that they weren’t worthy candidates for a woman’s attention. How she wished Audrey and Copper could meet those two men who were nothing like their cousin.

Ignoring his jesting, she picked up a handful of nails and doled them out when needed. “Why haven’t two such fine men married before now?”

“Eli was married. His wife died in childbirth a few months after he was conscripted. He didn’t see Tate, his baby boy, until he got back from the war. By the time he heard about Genevieve’s passing, she was long buried. He came home to find out he was a stranger to Tate. The boy’s six now and having trouble adjusting to his father. It’s been a struggle for both of them.”

She’d seen the child playing near the mill, but she’d never connected Eli and the boy. “I didn’t know that. How very sad.” Willow handed him a couple of nails. “What about you and Caleb?” She couldn’t believe she was so bold as to ask him that question. He’d be itching to set her in her place.

He hammered a nail into place. “No time. We’ve been off fighting a war, remember? Caleb’s looking, if that’s what you’re asking, but Eli isn’t interested in women. Seems that he lost heart when his wife died.” He glanced over at her, sweat shiny on his forehead. “Where did you fight?”

“Timber Creek, my hometown. It wasn’t that I wanted to fight—far from it. We had no choice. The Yankee raiders came through and took our horses. And food. What few men were left alive after the fighting were taken prisoner. We never heard what happened to them. Most of the women moved after that, taking their children to kinfolk. A few women and Asa Jeeters, the town drunk, were all that were left, so every time a band of raiders rode through, we fought.

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