by Emily Woods
“Evana,” Danny whispered. As if she had heard him, Evana walked into the church, her head held high. She looked radiant as she marched in. She was dressed in a long, white afternoon dress, and her auburn hair spilled upon her shoulders. She smiled at Danny as their eyes met, and just as she was about to take her seat next to her mother, she winked. Danny felt his heart drop.
“Easy, brother.” Danny turned to find his brother standing beside him. “I have something for you. Cassie gave it to me to give to you. It’s a note from Jeanne. She wrote it this morning, and she wants you to read it before the ceremony, just real quick.”
Danny nodded and took the slip of paper from his brother. He gently unfolded the note and squinted at Jeanne’s small, elegant handwriting.
The Wife of Noble Character
A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Danny’s hands shook as he read the note. Jeanne had written out several lines from Proverbs, a poem dictating the qualities of a good, loyal Christian wife. His heart pounded as he reread her words, and as the final guest was seated in the little church, Danny knew exactly what he needed to do.
Danny could feel Evana’s gaze on him, but he did not look back at her once the ceremony began. The doors to the little church opened, and before his eyes was Jeanne, his bride.
“She looks nervous,” Danny thought as Jeanne glided down the aisle. “Nervous, but real beautiful.”
Danny noticed Jeanne’s slim figure, the curve of her bosom, and her perfect posture as she floated to his side. He smiled at her as she approached, and once she reached the altar, he took her hand.
The ceremony began, and the minister shared the scripture, along with a prayer of praise. Once he was through, he began facilitating the exchange of vows. Everything was going smoothly, but once it was Danny’s turn to speak, he tore his gaze away from Jeanne and faced the congregation.
“I have something real important to say,” Danny announced. The congregation gasped. Danny dropped Jeanne’s hands, and he cleared his throat.
“It’s my turn to make my vows,” Danny said, looking into the small crowd, feeling Evana’s gaze. “I can’t just say vows here today.”
Jeanne’s jaw dropped and her eyes filled with tears. Danny reached for her hand again.
“I want to make more than vows,” Danny said, turning to look into Jeanne’s eyes. “I want to make promises. This is a real important day for me, and for my bride, and I have some real important things that I reckon all of y’all need to hear.”
Danny squeezed Jeanne’s hands. “Jeanne,” he said softly. “I want to promise you some things. You came here out of faith in me. You stayed here out of faith in me, and now, in front of everyone, I want to promise you that I will be faithful and have faith in you. You came to Pinecone when I was in a real bad, dark place, but still, you prayed for me. You believed in the Lord and His will, and you trusted that He would show you the way. Jeanne, He has shown me that His way has us together, and today, I promise to be true to you forever.”
Danny watched as Jeanne’s face grew red, and she blushed. Cassie let out a cheer from the audience, and Danny grinned.
“Sir,” he said to the minister. “Please, continue with our wedding ceremony.”
The ceremony proceeded, and finally, Danny and Jeanne were declared husband and wife. The crowd cheered, but out of the corner of his eye, Danny saw Jed, Anna, and Evana stride out of the church. He turned back to stare into the eyes of his new wife, and as the minister gave him permission, he took Jeanne into his arms.
Jeanne’s heart was pounding, and as Danny drew her closer, he could feel their hearts beating as one. Jeanne beamed up at him, looking like a vision in her wedding dress. Her dark eyes glittered as she smiled at him, and Danny reached for her small face, placing both hands on her chin and guiding her mouth to meet his. When their lips touched, Danny felt a shock of energy in his body. He could hardly control himself as he kissed his wife in front of the congregation, and he pulled Jeanne even closer to him. She leaned into his arms, moaning softly for only Danny to hear, and as they shared one long, passionate kiss, Danny could only imagine the sleepless night he hoped to spend with his wife later on…
“Introducing the bride and groom!”
Danny scooped Jeanne into his arms and turned to face the congregation. Everyone was smiling and cheering, and Danny had never felt more at peace. He looked at his parents and saw them weeping with joy. Julia was holding Joela on her lap, and Danny’s heart swelled at the sight of his new little girl, along with the feeling of holding his new wife in his arms.
It all began so innocently. Timmy had merely wanted to heal his brother’s broken heart, and Jeanne wanted a better life for herself and her child. Now, as Jeanne rested in Danny’s strong arms, staring into the congregation of cheering townsfolk, the newly married couple had never felt more at home. While their love story had been filled with unexpected twists and turns, from Timmy’s deception, to Evana’s return, to Jeanne’s fears, but now, as they stood as husband and wife, everything was right.
“This is my happiest day,” Danny whispered to Jeanne, leaning down to kiss her cheek.
Jeanne smiled up at her husband, and as he grinned back at her, she leaned up to whisper in his ear. “I love you,” Jeanne said, her body growing hot with desire as Danny squeezed her tighter.
“And I love you,” Danny whispered back, giving his wife another long, tender kiss in front of the congregation. “My woman who fears the Lord is to be praised, and I will praise Him and YOU for all of my days.”
Finding Love Again
Love on the Oregon Trail, Book 1
1
Independence, Missouri, 1853
Jeremiah Campbell looked around the group assembled before him with satisfaction. He'd handpicked the people to take with him on his final trip across the Oregon Trail. Having made the journey twelve times over the past twelve years, he was ready for retirement.
It was time to change careers—he was going to be a rancher. He'd been raised on a farm and was knowledgeable about what it took to manage horses and cattle, so it was a reasonable for him to make this change.
“You're gonna miss traveling all the time, Captain,” his assistant warned him with a cheeky grin. Tommy Rutger, at twenty-seven, was all set to inherit the business that he would hand over to him after this last trip. “Don't rightly know how you're gonna adjust to frontier life.”
Giving him a wry smile, Jeremiah shook his head a little. “I know what I'm doing. Traveling over four thousand miles a year wears a man out. You'll see for yourself.”
Tommy had only done the trip twice and had the good makings of a wagon master. He knew how to handle the rivers, the terrain, and the people, and he had a love of the land, all things that were necessary to make this a worthwhile vocation.
/> “I'm going to do it until I die,” the younger man vowed. “Or until they get that railroad up and working across the whole country.”
That would surely end the trail, or at least lessen its popularity by a long shot, Jeremiah acknowledged, but he would be long out of it before that happened, living the life of a rancher with a wife and family, God willing.
The last part popped into his mind inadvertently. Even though his mother had been a God-fearing woman, he'd seen too much tragedy to believe that God existed. How the world came to be was anyone's guess, but that it was brought forth by a powerful and loving God was the least likely in his mind.
Death, war, famine, disease, and general human suffering had formed this belief in his mind. Heaven and Hell were here on Earth, sometimes in equal measure. Now he just wanted to live a life in peace, preferably in the lush valleys of Oregon, somewhere east of the destination of Oregon City, the final point of the trail.
The fourteen groups that were going to make this last trip with him ranged from a husband and wife to a family of seven to a trio of brothers to a widow with two young boys. He'd seen all kinds in his years, and this was the most promising-looking bunch. He hoped that this final trip would be the most successful.
With nearly seventy people, fifteen wagons, including his own, and eighty-three heads of livestock, this was the smallest train he'd ever taken, but he figured it would be the easiest to manage because of that. Fewer people meant fewer losses and fewer quarrels. More than one death had been the result of a fight between members of the same train, but Jeremiah had generally managed to bring the irate parties to a peaceful resolution, often by leaving one wagon behind to join a following one, or by urging another to go on ahead and meet a train that was a day or two in front of them.
In any case, this was definitely his last trip, and he planned to enjoy it as much as possible, mostly by charming the lovely widow he'd allowed to join them for the expressed purpose of making her his wife. Normally he didn’t consider a woman without a husband, but for this woman, he was making an exception. Younger than himself by just six years, twenty-nine-year old Emma Pearson was not only pretty, but had proven herself strong and intelligent. Four to six months on the trail with her should give him enough time to court her and show her that he was worthy to be her husband. She was exactly the type of woman he had in mind for a wife. The fact that she’d already been married and had two sons didn’t bother him in the slightest. Both boys looked bright and capable.
The rest of the families he'd chosen for what they could bring to the wagon train. One family had a doctor and another had a preacher. Although he had no use for the latter, he knew it would be beneficial to have such a man with them. Frontier folks loved their religion and a man like Preacher John Riley would provide counsel and a listening ear as well as spiritual counsel for all who would need it.
“Alright, folks,” he called out in a booming voice, one that had helped him establish authority and get people's attention with ease. “I got you all to come in a day early to go over any questions and give you an idea of what to expect. First off, we get up at four in the morning and get going by seven or earlier. That'll start from tomorrow.”
He then proceeded to explain all the rules and responsibilities, which rolled off his tongue without thought. He'd given the speech so many times that it was as familiar to him as his own name.
“Any problems you have, bring to me directly. Too many people get hurt trying to solve things themselves.”
“What kind of problems?” one of the Morris brothers asked. “Like where to go to the bathroom?”
That sent a titter through the crowd. Jeremiah might have grinned in a different situation, but these people needed to know that the trail ahead of them was dangerous.
“Like if you see a wild animal, an Indian, or if one of you gets sick. Now, I haven't had any major sickness on my train before because I make everyone boil their water. You do what I say and the odds of making it to Oregon City go up.”
“Are there many Injuns on the trail?” one of Emma’s boys asked, his eyes wide as dinner plates. Jeremiah suspected that the boy hoped there would be.
“There are, but they're mostly peaceful. We're no threat to them. They understand that, so if any of them approach, you just leave them alone. The worst they are is nosy. Even if you feel scared, don't pull out a gun or anything.”
“How we gonna protect ourselves from them savages. I heard tell some are cannibals even!” a man in the back shouted. Jeremiah had to squint to see who it was.
“Who’s that?” he demanded.
A burly man stepped forward, and Jeremiah recalled that he'd chosen the man for his huge size, hoping that he would be able to count on him for muscle when required. Now he worried he'd made a mistake.
“They're no more savage than you or me. They just have different ways of living, and to my knowledge, ain't one of them a cannibal.” He scanned the crowd, brow lowered. “If any of you have a problem with following what I say one hundred percent, you'd best leave now. This is an exhausting journey, and I need your word that you'll do exactly what I say, when I say it. I have the best success rate for a reason, and I won't abide one word of disagreement. If you can't live with that, find another train.”
It took a moment, but finally one man grumbled something, stood, and motioned for his family to follow him. “Ain't gonna follow nobody a hundred percent,” he muttered. “I'm a free man. We'll go it alone and save our money.”
That was a good segue to the next part of the meeting.
“Good luck to you, sir,” he called out after the departing figure. “You'll need it. Now, if the head of each group would make his...or her way up to the front, I'll be collecting the fee now.”
He liked to put it in the bank for safekeeping before leaving, and always got people to pay up front. More than one family had run out of money along the way, and he wasn’t running a charity.
Once everyone paid, he told them they were free to do what they liked for the rest of the day, but he would wake them up at four in the morning the next day.
“I suggest you all get to bed good and early,” he advised. “Morning comes real quick.”
With that, most of them started to set up fires for the lunchtime meal. On the trail, they’d only be doing that morning and night. Lunch would be a cold meal, usually leftovers from breakfast.
Although he could cook for himself and do his own laundry, he'd made a deal with the Pearson widow to do those things for him, giving her a reduced rate in the bargain. He'd never done such a thing before, but he figured it would be a good way to increase the amount of contact they would have, thus enabling some kind of courtship.
“Captain Holt,” the very woman called to him now. “What would you like for dinner tonight?”
He turned to face her, noting the guarded yet respectful way she looked at him.
“Whatever you make for you and the boys is fine with me. The trail has taught me to be happy with whatever I get to eat that doesn't make me sick.”
Her mouth tightened into a line, and he suspected his reply didn't please her, so he revised it. “But I'm real fond of stew if you got the fixings.”
Now she nodded, and the tension left her face. When she gave him the merest of smiles, he nearly gawked at her. He'd known that she was a pretty woman, even though that hadn't mattered to him nearly as much as the strength of her character, but when she smiled, her whole face transformed. His tongue felt too big for his mouth all of the sudden, and no clever words came to his mind.
“I can do that,” she murmured. “It'll be ready by five o'clock. Will you be back by then?”
The fog around his brain cleared at the sound of her voice and he nodded more vigorously than necessary. “Yeah, I will. I surely will. Uh, thanks.”
He turned to go, but not before seeing the odd expression that passed over her face. He could only hope that she didn't think he was an idiot. Maybe by dinnertime, his senses would return t
o him.
Emma Pearson thought the wagon master's sudden change in disposition was a little odd, but what did she know about men? She'd married a rogue and endured more hardships during her marriage than as a widow. That wasn't to say she'd wished for her husband to pass, he'd had his moments, but day to day, she felt more at peace without him.
“Forgive me for any evil thoughts, Lord,” she muttered as she set about preparing a fire to make the stew Captain Holt suggested. It wasn't one of her best dishes, but then really nothing was. That man had made himself a poor deal when he offered to lower his fee in exchange for some cooking, but she wasn't about to pass it up. She and the boys would need every spare penny if they were going to survive out west.
Her mind swung back and forth between feeling guilty that her husband was no longer with them and wondering if she'd understood the Lord correctly in deciding to sell all their belongings and start a new life in Oregon. Her husband's family hadn't been kind to her since Norman's death, blaming her for not noticing his alcoholism. They believed she should have been able to prevent him from drinking himself to death. As a result, she was not welcome at family gatherings, but Norman's parents wanted her to leave the boys with them overnight sometimes. The one time she'd done that, Jacob and Robbie had come back with all kinds of disturbing thoughts and questions about her and about their father's death. That was the first and last time she’d allowed a visit without her presence.
Living in the same city as the Pearsons was no longer an option. She hadn't even told them she was going west, but had merely sold their belongings quickly and quietly. When they'd wanted to see the boys last week, she said they were down with the flu. May God forgive her lie, but she didn't want them to have the slightest inkling about what she was up to. The boys didn't know until yesterday either, but they might have told Catherine and Fredrick about how their home was being emptied of many items.
