Suki's Heart

by Indiana Wake

  Suki’s Heart

  Pioneer Brides of the Oregon Trail

  Indiana Wake

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  Contents

  Introduction

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Epilogue

  Amanda’s Hope Preview

  Also by Indiana Wake

  About the Author

  Introduction

  It is 1866, twenty-three years after the great migration that saw 1000 pioneers head west.

  Oregon is a vibrant town and the next generation are grown and making their own mark. What difficulties will they face? Does the great journey still loom over their lives, are new settlers still coming to town? Do old resentments still linger?

  Find out how 5 families that settled in Oregon deal with the new life they have and how the next generation grow up to find love and happiness in this wonderful new series.

  Each book is a standalone story and can be read in any order. The books are

  Suki’s Heart

  Amanda’s Hope

  Katie’s Courage

  Jenny’s Wish

  Honey’s Grace

  If you wish to read the stories of love on the great migration of 1843 grab these wonderful romances:

  Trinity’s Loss

  Carrie’s Trust

  Josie’s Dreams

  Polly’s Choice

  Charlotte’s Wedding

  All books are FREE with Kindle Unlimited or just 0.99

  Chapter One

  “I cannot work you out at all, Suki Shepherd,” Honey Goodman said in her usual teasing way. “You’ve done yourself up so nice for the dance tonight, but you turn your face away from every young man who has the nerve to approach you.”

  “I’m not as bad as all that, am I?” Suki winced, but she knew it was true.

  “Yep,” Honey said with a warm chuckle. “You always have been, and I reckon you always will be if you don’t soon start listening to me.”

  “Oh no, here it comes.” Suki gave a mock-pained expression, much to the delight of her best friend.

  “There must be a young man somewhere in Oregon you actually like.”

  “There are lots of young men I’m sure I would like, as you very well know. I guess I just don’t see myself marrying any of them.”

  “It’s just a dance, Suki! Trust me, none of them are going to drop down on one knee after one dance and propose to you. It doesn’t work like that.” Honey Goodman was clearly amused.

  “I know that.” Suki sighed. “Look, I just don’t want to have someone hanging around my skirts and have to reject him. You just never know how you’re going to get on with a man and there’s always a chance he’ll like me, and I won’t be so keen on him.” She paused and slowly shook her head, her blonde curls swaying prettily. “And then I’m stuck with him, whoever he is. Or worse, I’ll like him and he won’t be at all interested.”

  “Oh, my word! The way you think, Suki Shepherd!” Honey laughed loudly, drawing looks from those nearest to them, despite the fiddlers’ loud music and the excited whoops and shouts from the dancers.

  The two friends had been sitting on a hay bale ever since they made their way into the town barn for the weekly dance. It was held every Saturday night and attended by a good mixture of the young and not-so-young of the area.

  It was a place for romance, Suki knew that well. It was still the big event in town, even after so many generations of settlers had broadened everyone’s horizons. But a dance was a dance; a chance to get to know a man and dance with him without too much interference from others.

  It was the very thing which made Suki nervous and she was beginning to wish she hadn’t agreed to go. But Honey was her best friend and had been since the school room. Their parents were friends from the Oregon Trail, seemingly bound together by the dreadful experience and the wonder of new beginnings.

  Honey was a romantic soul and, deep down, so was Suki. But Honey was more prone to throw caution to the wind and take a chance, whereas Suki wanted to know for certain that she had a good chance of really liking a man before she even spoke to him. Despite knowing this was not how things worked, Suki felt attached to her way of looking at it.

  “How about him?” Honey asked, mercifully lowering her voice as she leaned in towards Suki.

  “Who?”

  “The cowboy.”

  “Honey, that’s like pointing at a blade of grass in a meadow!” It was Suki’s turn to shriek with laughter.

  “I see what you mean.” Honey had amused herself greatly and anyone studying the pair might have assumed them to be drinking the liquor-laced punch, rather than the nonalcoholic, fruit version that was more to their taste.

  They had always found humor in common and always found so much to laugh at. They were bright young women, second generation settlers in Oregon with a sense of place in the world.

  Honey Goodman knew every part of the workings of her father’s merchant store, one of the largest in town, and Suki had as much knowledge of farming as it was possible to have. They had skills and interests that broadened their horizons, and they had both applied themselves well in the schoolroom between the bouts of amusement which had often earned them a scowl from the school mistress.

  But, despite the ease Suki felt with Honey, she was generally the quieter of the two and prone to reticence when left to her own devices.

  “Which cowboy, Honey? And please don’t point or make it obvious.”

  “All right, look over my right shoulder to the hay bales nearer to the punch table. He’s got black hair, or at least it looks black in this light, and blue eyes.”

  “How can you know the color of his eyes from here? You’re making that up.”

  “I am making it up, but I’ll bet I’m right. He has the kind of skin which would look well with blue eyes.”

  “I’ll take your word for it.”

  “He’s wearing thick denims and a dark blue checked shirt with a tan waistcoat over it. Oh yes, and his hat is settled down comfortably on the hay bale beside him.”

  “Maybe he’s just keeping a seat free for someone. For his girl, if he’s as noteworthy as you seem to think.”

  “Just take a peek, Suki. He won’t know.”

  Suki did as Honey asked, if only to humor her. Sure enough, the man her friend had described right down to the imaginary eyes was sitting alone on a hay bale. He looked tall, although Suki couldn’t really be so certain of it while he was sitting down. And he sure did look like a cowboy; they had that kind of aura and a way of dressing which always declared them to be a little different from the farmers and the ranch-hands.

  “Well?” Honey whispered into her ear, “He sure is handsome, isn’t he?”

  Suki secretly peered at him again. His hair really did look black in the pale light of the barn and she imagined bright blue eyes would suit him if that was really what he had. He had a strong face with a straight nose and a sturdy jaw, and he looked to be broad and lean, every bit the fit and healthy cowboy.

  “Then, maybe you might like him, Honey. After all, you did see him first,” Suki said.

  “Well now, that really wouldn’t do me any good at all,” Honey replied with a stick.

  “Why not? He’s every bit as handsome as you say, and no girl has come over to claim the seat his hat is hanging onto.”

&nb
sp; “It wouldn’t do me any good, sweetie, because the poor man has been peering over at you ever since we came in here tonight. He’s probably wondering if you have a wooden leg or something of that nature to keep you in your seat all this time.”

  “Maybe he’s just looking this way because we’ve been looking over at him,” Suki said hopefully, hearing the nervousness in her own voice.

  “No, but have it your own way. I don’t want to push you down a path you’re not ready to tread.” Honey paused and grinned. “Except, I really do want to push you onto that path.”

  “I know.” Suki smiled indulgently.

  “But I reckon I ought to just let you go at your own pace, at least until I finish dancing the next one with Ted Oliver.” Honey was already smiling over at the approaching young man. “Look and learn,” she said hurriedly. “I like Ted Oliver and he likes me, but neither one of us has it in mind to marry the other. See? It’s just a dance, Suki.”

  “Once again, I’ll take your word for it,” Suki said, knowing that every word of it was true.

  They’d known Ted Oliver since the schoolroom, and he was a pleasant young man; a friend who had no romantic designs on Honey Goodman at all. But he never asked Suki to dance, not once. Maybe he could see what Honey could see; a young woman who would turn her back on every man, whatever his motives for approaching her.

  “How are you?” Ted Oliver greeted both young women at once, smiling from one to the other.

  “I’m well, thanks, Ted,” Suki said, smiling brightly for once, clearly putting Ted Oliver off his stride.

  “Well…” He faltered. “You sure do look well, both of you.” He hurriedly turned his attention on Honey.

  Suki knew that there wasn’t much to choose between herself and Honey; they had both been blessed with a fresh sort of beauty. But there the similarity ended. Honey was bright and friendly, a confident young woman with a spare word for anyone who crossed her path. Suki, on the other hand, was quiet, reserved and cautious in new company.

  Ted’s response to her attempt to be otherwise did not hurt her as much as it amused her. And she reckoned it brought her up short, too; a real live consequence of her own backward step in this world.

  “Do you mind if I take Honey away for a dance?” Ted asked with a noticeable measure of uncertainty.

  “Of course not,” Suki said a little too brightly again. “You go on and enjoy yourselves!” She finished with such gusto that Honey studied her for a moment.

  “Are you sure, sweetie?” Honey narrowed her gaze. “Because I can sit this one out if you’re feeling a bit off.”

  “I’m fine.” Suki managed something closer to her more normal tone; clearly any attempt at exuberance was going to upset the natural order of things and have everybody wondering what on earth was wrong with her.

  “Well, if you’re sure.” Honey got to her feet, squeezing Suki’s hand before disappearing into the crowd of dancers with Ted Oliver in tow.

  Chapter Two

  “Do you mind if I sit?” The voice came from behind her, causing Suki to start. She hadn’t heard anyone approach over the sound of the music and conversation.

  “I... well… no, of course,” she said, smiling up uncertainly at the man whom she and Honey had made such a study of.

  “I’m Sonny Reynolds,” he said and smiled as he sat at her side, his hat dangling from his hand.

  Already, Suki wished that the hat really had been keeping a seat free for his girl. Everything felt suddenly complicated and she didn’t know why.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Reynolds. I’m Suki Shepherd.” She tentatively held out her hand for him to take.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too.” He let go of her hand and twisted a little on the hay bale to see her better. “I was going to ask if you came here often, but I can see you’re the kind of girl who would just laugh at that.”

  “Can you? Really?” she said, perplexed; was she really that standoffish?

  “I’m just teasing you. I guess it’s a corny line, even if I am interested to know it.” His smile never wavered.

  “I only come here every once in a while. My friend likes to come here, so I keep her company.”

  He was looking at her with confidence and, she thought, a little amusement.

  Something about his easy smile and sparkling blue, yes blue, eyes, was starting to needle her. Of course, the poor man had done nothing wrong at all; it was Suki’s own sense of being judged that was irritating her.

  She knew, of course, that Sonny Reynolds had not walked over from his hay bale to hers with the idea of judging her at all. However, Suki also knew she was reserved and had a quiet manner which could easily make her seem a little cold; she had been judged for it before. Suki just wasn’t like the other girls and she was tired of the feeling she ought to apologize for it.

  “Well, this is my first visit here. In fact, I’m kind of new in town.” He raised his eyebrows. “I don’t know too many people, yet.”

  “I hope that’ll soon change for you,” she said primly.

  “So do I.” He smiled at her, his tanned face and blue eyes marking him out as a very handsome man, indeed.

  “Did you come over from the East? On the Trail, I mean?”

  “No, my folks took the Trail years ago when I was just an infant.”

  “Oh?” she said, a little confused.

  “We headed south at the Parting of the Ways. I was raised in California.”

  “What brings you here, then?” she asked, interested in spite of herself.

  “A new start, I reckon. California’s all mining and I wanted a life on horseback.” There it was again, that easy confidence.

  “So, you’re a cowboy?” she said as if the idea had never occurred to her.

  “I sure am,” he answered with pride and she wondered at that; was it really such a great life out on the plains herding up wild cattle all day?

  “Don’t you get lonely out there?”

  “I guess,” he said and shrugged. “Sometimes I have a buddy with me, if my boss is feeling kindly. Other times, not, but I don’t mind that so much. I like to be out there staring across at the hills in the distance, smelling the sweet grass of the plains. Sure beats being under the ground.”

  “Mining, you mean? You were a miner before?”

  “For a little while. I guess we follow in our father’s footsteps and I headed down into the mines as soon as I was old enough. Problem was, it wasn’t for me. I reckon you have to chase after the life you want instead of following a path that others set down for you.”

  “I suppose so.” Suki felt horribly out of her element.

  Not only was he handsome, really handsome now that she looked at him closely, but he was an open kind of a man and she had no idea how to respond to that openness.

  She could hardly return it with some heart-felt soul-searching of her own, for Suki Shepherd had never really gone in for that sort of thing.

  “So, what keeps you busy every day, Miss Shepherd?” She could hardly believe he still seemed interested.

  “Farming,” she said simply.

  “You’re a farmer?” he said, a little confused as his eyebrows rose.

  “My daddy has a farm and that’s what keeps me busy all day,” she said and felt the old barriers rising; but why?

  “So, you work out on the land?”

  “Yes, although Daddy has farmhands enough to help out.”

  “I see.” He chuckled. “I guess I had a picture in my mind there of you hooking up oxen to a plough and setting off across a field.”

  “I’m not so sure why that’s funny,” she said blankly. “It’s not what I do every day, but I’m no stranger to it. I know how every bit of the farm works and how to manage it in my daddy’s place if ever he couldn’t.” Suki wasn’t sure if he was mocking her talents, or doubting them.

  Either way, she had already decided that the black-haired, blue-eyed man wasn’t for her. Life was busy and she worked hard; she didn’t need s
ome cocky out-of-towner mocking her efforts.

  “Forgive me, ma’am,” he said, touching his forehead in lieu of the hat he still held in his free hand. “I sure didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “I’m not offended, Mr. Reynolds,” she said and knew she was far from convincing.

  With the old feeling of being trapped in a situation she couldn’t get herself out of, Suki looked over into the crowd of dancers, hoping she would see Honey Goodman coming towards her, breathless and giddy from being twirled this way and that by Ted Oliver.

  “I guess you don’t know what to make of me, huh?” he said, and she could hear him chuckling. “Well, I reckon I don’t know what to make of you either.”

  “Then, I won’t keep you, Mr. Reynolds.” Despite her annoyance, Suki rather regretted her frosty tone.

  “Even though I walked all this way in hopes of a dance?” He was staring straight at her, his amusement very clear.

  “It can’t have been a walk of more than six feet,” she said, turning to look at the hay bale he had previously been sitting on. “Maybe you spend too much time on horseback if you think that’s a long way to come.” Suki felt pleased with herself; if nothing else, she could be sharp.

  “Ouch! You sure are a prickly lady!” Sonny Reynolds laughed loudly, throwing his head back as his blue eyes danced with mirth. “A man could get cut to ribbons sitting at your side.”

  He had a deep laugh which was warm and genuine, even if she didn’t much care for the idea of him laughing at her. If he really was laughing at her, that was. The problem was, Suki could never really tell.

  Honey Goodman would have known in an instant. She was a good judge of character with an easy way of talking to strangers that Suki knew she, herself, lacked.