Teton Romance Trilogy Bundle: Includes Yellowstone Proposal (Short Story)

by Peggy L Henderson

  Yellowstone Proposal

  (Yellowstone Romance Series short story)

  Yellowstone Plateau, 1854

  Evan Donnelly stared at the dancing flames of the campfire a few feet away, the flickering orange and yellows casting eerie shadows in the darkness that surrounded him. If he stuck his arm into the blaze, perhaps the pain searing his bicep would lessen.

  “Ready?” the man crouched beside him asked, his eyebrows raised. He nudged his chin toward the arrow protruding from Evan’s upper arm.

  “Get it over with, Walker.”

  Evan gritted his teeth, and sweat beaded his forehead. Without warning, his companion grabbed hold of the wooden shaft and pulled back quickly. Razor sharp pain engulfed him as the tip of the arrow sliced through his muscle. A second later, Walker’s triumphant grin met his eyes as he held the bloody arrow in front of his face.

  “Now you’re on your way to becoming a real woodsman,” Lucas Walker said, and tossed the arrow into the fire. He nodded in satisfaction, then reached for Evan’s arm, and poured some liquid onto the open flesh wound.

  Evan hissed when the alcohol made contact with the bloody hole in his arm. Hell would freeze over before he cried out in front of Lucas Walker. The scout had doubted his ability to travel to the remote mountains they were in from the moment he met him in St. Louis.

  A few hours ago, Walker’s doubts had been justified. A group of Indians had charged them without warning. If not for Lucas’ sharp mind and quick reaction, they might both be dead right now. Evan considered himself lucky that he had gotten away with nothing more than an arrow in the arm. While he had shot at least a couple of their assailants, it had been Lucas Walker who disposed of most of them before the rest decided to retreat.

  A fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into. How on earth are you ever going to convince Miss Kara that you’re worthy of her?

  Who was he kidding? Kara Russell was better off with a man like Lucas, not someone like him. A Boston greenhorn, as Lucas liked to call him.

  “Nice shootin’ by the way,” Lucas said, and sat back on his haunches. He poked at the fire with a stick. “If you hadn’t killed those two Blackfeet, both our scalps might be dangling from their belts right now. I don’t think I could have fended them all off by myself.”

  Evan stared at his companion. Was it possible that he wasn’t completely inept?

  “I learned to shoot at Harvard. I never thought I would have to shoot anyone who threatened my life.”

  “Well, better get used to it,” Lucas said. “Out here in the mountains, it’s either kill or be killed. A man don’t survive here by chance, and we still got a ways to go before we reach the Yellowstone.”

  Evan didn’t respond. He had no plans to remain in these wild mountains. He’d come here for one thing only, and the further into the wilderness he traveled, the more he questioned his sanity. Why hadn’t he made his intentions known in St. Louis?

  Fresh out of law school, he’d eagerly come to St. Louis to work in Zach Osborne’s law practice. The position promised a chance at a more adventurous life than what he’d led in all of his twenty-four years in Boston. What he hadn’t counted on was meeting the woman who would claim his heart.

  Kara Russell, his new employer’s niece, had worked as an assistant for her uncle. Evan was smitten with her the moment he first laid eyes on her. She would only be in St. Louis for one year, and then return home to some remote part of the wilderness way out west of the Missouri, to a place he’d only heard snippets about while at Harvard. The fantastical stories that were told about the wonders to be found in the Yellowstone area had piqued the interest of several scientists. No one seemed to take the stories too seriously, however. Who had ever heard of water shooting out of the ground as high as a waterfall, or that mud could boil a man to death?

  For months, he’d seen and interacted with Kara on a daily basis at the office, yet he’d never mustered up the courage to call on her at her uncle’s home, or ask her to supper or Sunday tea. Her radiant smiles ignited something in his heart, and the stories she told him of her life in the wilderness fascinated him. She was unlike any young woman he had ever met, and by the time she announced that her father had come to take her home, Evan was hopelessly in love with her.

  Damn! Why hadn’t he told her that he loved her? She was surely not interested in a man from Boston, someone who knew nothing about the kind of life she led. Each day that passed after her departure became more unbearable. He had to let her know how he felt about her.

  “Mr. Osborne? I would like to request a leave of absence.”

  Zach Osborne had glanced up from the papers he’d been studying at his desk.

  “Do you need to return to Boston?”

  “No, sir. I . . . ah . . . I made a mistake when Miss Russell left.”

  “Mistake?” The corners of Zach’s mouth twitched. “What sort of mistake?”

  “I let her get away, sir.” Evan glanced at the ground. “I should have told her that I love her.”

  “You want to go after her?” Zach’s eyebrows rose.

  “I’ve lived in Boston all my life, Mr. Osborne. All I’ve known is how to keep my nose in a book. My family was in disbelief when I told them I was moving to St. Louis. Here, I met a girl I would like to make my wife, and I should have made my feelings known. If she rejects me, then so be it, but at least I won’t have any regrets that I didn’t try to win her over.”

  “I wish I could go with you, Evan, visit with my folks, but you know I can’t leave the practice on such short notice.”

  “I’m not asking you to go with me.”

  “All right, but you’ll need a guide to take you up the Yellowstone.”

  Three days later, Zach Osborne had introduced him to Lucas Walker, an army scout who was heading back home to the Tetons for the winter.

  “You’re in love with little Kara?” Lucas had given him the skeptical once-over. “I warn you right now. That girl is a handful. I’ve known her since we were little kids. Her claws are sharper than those of a mountain lion.”

  “The Kara Russell I’ve met was nothing less than a lady,” Evan said, standing taller.

  “Suit yourself.” Lucas shrugged, grinning broadly. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you. Just understand that heading to the Yellowstone will be harsher than anything you’ll ever experience.”

  “It’ll be worth it, if I can win Miss Russell’s hand.”

  Lucas laughed. “You sound like my brother. He suffered from a sickness of the heart, too. I sure as hell hope I’m never afflicted. I don’t need my brain addled that way.”

  “When do we leave?”

  “Before first light in the morning.”

  ******

  Kara Russell gazed across the wide expanse of the meandering river. The water eddied in spots where large boulders protruded above the surface. The steam rising from the warm water mixed with the cool morning air, hovering just above the river, and extended across the grassy meadow. Several deer stepped from the line of trees that marked the beginning of a dense forest, their bodies enshrouded in the white mist. Kara stood still as the animals ambled toward the river’s edge. Two lowered their heads to the water, while the buck kept a watchful eye on their surroundings.

  Kara’s chest heaved in a deep sigh. She hugged her arms more firmly around her middle. This valley had always held a special place in her heart, yet the past year spent in St. Louis, she had grown fond of the city, and it had changed her life.

  One person in particular remained constantly in her thoughts. Evan Donnelly. She’d been instantly infatuated with her uncle’s associate. Too bad he didn’t seem interested in her. So unlike the trappers and Indians she was accustomed to, Evan had been the perfect gentleman, and looked dashing in his tailored suits that accentuated his broad shoulders. What could he possibly see in a simple girl like her?

  On a few occasions, she’d caught him looking at her with, what she’d hoped was, interest in his eyes, but apparently sh
e had been mistaken. The day she’d left St. Louis to return to the Yellowstone Plateau, Evan was nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t even come to tell her good bye.

  The does across the river suddenly raised their heads, and all three of the deer sprang back into the forest. Gripping her rifle more firmly in her hand, Kara whirled around. She’d wandered too far downriver from her parents’ and grandparents’ cabins for anyone to see her.

  Two horses with riders emerged from between the trees, and Kara’s heart beat faster. She was completely out in the open.

  The man riding in the lead raised his hand in greeting, and Kara squinted to see better. The other rider behind him led a pack animal.

  “Lucas Walker?” Kara lowered her rifle. The dark-haired man clad in buckskins was all too familiar to her, even if she hadn’t seen him in a couple of years.

  “Kara,” he called. “I brought you something.” Lucas grinned down at her from atop his horse.

  Her eyes darted to the other man, whose head was lowered over his horse’s neck. There was something vaguely familiar about him.

  “This fella seems to think you’ll marry him.” Lucas nudged with his chin at his companion.

  Kara’s forehead wrinkled. Lucas Walker had always been rather infuriating and eager to play jokes.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Hello, Kara.” The man on the horse raised his head. Kara’s hand shot to her mouth.

  “Evan?” She blinked, then stared. Instead of a suit, he wore tan britches and a cotton shirt. He projected the same confidence in the wilderness as he did in a courtroom. Kara’s mouth went dry.

  Lucas grabbed the lead rope to the packhorse from Evan’s hand. “I’m gonna go say hello to your folks. If this greenhorn gets fresh with you, shoot off your rifle.”

  He nudged his horse into a lope, and headed upriver toward the cabins.

  Kara stared up at Evan. Their eyes met and held. She swallowed the lump in her throat, and her heart rate increased. The look in Evan’s eyes, so full of warmth and longing, compelled her to take a step closer.

  “What are you doing here?” Her voice was no more than a whisper.

  Evan pulled his leg over the back of his saddle and dismounted his horse. He twisted the reins in his hands, then looked her in the eye.

  “I’m here for you,” he said. His lips curved in a slow smile.

  Kara’s insides melted. She expelled the breath she’d been holding. “For me?”

  Evan ran a hand over his face, and chuckled.

  “I suppose Walker let the cat out of the bag.” He took a step toward her, and reached for her hand. Kara’s brows furrowed.

  “I haven’t stopped thinking about you, Kara. I . . . should have told you in St. Louis. I love you.”

  Kara was sure her heart would leap from her chest. “You love me?” she echoed.

  His fingers caressed her palm. “I couldn’t live with myself, without letting you know how I felt. Even if you send me packing, I had to see you one more time, and tell you how much I care for you.”

  Kara threw herself against his chest. Her arms wound firmly around his neck.

  “I thought you didn’t like me.” She laughed. “I love you, too, Evan. I missed you. I’ve missed St. Louis.”

  Evan’s arms wrapped around her waist. Kara closed her eyes when his lips lightly touched hers. Her legs weakened, and she clung to his neck for support. Evan pulled her more fully up against him, deepening the kiss. By the time he drew his head back, Kara’s head swirled dizzily and her lips tingled in the delicious aftermath of Evan’s mouth on hers.

  “Miss Russell, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” he asked, his voice low and husky.

  Kara sniffled. “Yes,” she whispered, just as Evan again lowered his head to meet her kiss.

  Teton Sunset

  Book 3

  Teton Romance Trilogy

  By Peggy L Henderson

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the author.

  Copyright © 2014 by Peggy Henderson

  All rights reserved

  Dedication

  This book is dedicated to a very special person. Hazel Lewis was a reader who contacted me after reading my Yellowstone Romance Series, telling me how much she enjoyed the books, and how they transported her back to her home state of Wyoming where she grew up. Due to health issues, she could no longer live in her beloved state. Our email interactions turned into an online friendship, and Hazel became one of my beta readers for the first two Teton books, and also for two of my other books. She struggled with a terminal illness during the time I knew her, but she was always upbeat and cheerful, always with a positive outlook, always encouraging me.

  Sadly, Hazel only got to read the first half of this book before her illness claimed her. She loved the Tetons, and I am certain that she’s somewhere right now, smiling down on her beloved mountains.

  Life for Lucas Walker is a constant adventure, a daily game to be won in the vast Teton wilderness. Facing every challenge head-on, he values the freedom to go where he wants, when he wants, and without attachments to any one person.

  She is known to the native people of the land as Ghost Woman. Hiding from a terrifying past, she has lived alone and under conditions too harsh for even the hardiest men. Trusting another person is something she can’t do. Forced to put her life in the hands of a man who dares her to confront everything from which she’s tried to escape, she struggles to protect the walls she has built around her identity . . . and her heart.

  Brought together through life or death situations, Lucas and his unwilling charge find themselves fighting dangers only found in the untamed mountains. Their battle for survival teaches them the ultimate lesson in how to trust and love someone. When the past catches up to them, they discover that the heart can't always be protected; sometimes the only way to be safe is to open it.

  Prologue

  Missouri, 1851

  The hinges on the old wooden door creaked ominously. Moonlight drifted in through the small window along the wall to his left. The small figure huddled on a bed of straw in the corner of the makeshift jail moved, shivering slightly. Jasper Williams glanced over his shoulder, his knife gripped firmly in his hand. Silently, he rushed to his target, who was partly obscured in shadow.

  “What are you doing here, Papa?” a weak voice rasped. Jasper barely recognized the sound. He sank to his knees in front of the prisoner.

  “I come to get ya outta here,” he whispered.

  “What? You'll get caught. They'll hang you, too.” The slight figure stiffened, and scrambled to sit up straighter.

  “Ain’t nobody gonna get hunged, not if I got somat to say ‘bout it,” Jasper scoffed. He shot another look over his shoulder, then hauled the prisoner up off the ground.

  “Where are we gonna go? They’ll find us.”

  “I’m takin’ ya far away from here.” Jasper sliced his knife through the ropes binding the prisoner's hands and legs.

  “But, Papa-”

  “Hush now, and be quick. Got horses waitin’ in the woods.” Jasper sheathed his knife, and turned.

  “What about Mama?”

  The question stopped him in his tracks. He squeezed his eyes shut momentarily, and tightened his lips. Expelling a deep breath, he shook his head.

  “She don’t need ta know. It’s best she don’t know nothin’.”

  “I can’t let you do that, Papa.” The soft voice nearly brought a tear to his eyes. A small hand reached up to touch his arm. “Everything you've worked for, your farm, Mama....”

  “And you,” Jasper added gruffly.

  Jasper wasn’t going to sit idly by and watch his only
child hang. He refused to believe that Vic was guilty of any crime. The lynch mob would be here in the morning, but Vic would be far gone from here if he had anything to say about it.

  He waited for Molly to drift off to sleep. It had taken a long time to get his wife to calm down. She hadn’t slept in days after the constable took Vic away. Molly wouldn’t find out. It was best that she didn’t know what he planned to do. He had made a promise to her a long time ago that he would never return to the mountains, that he was home to stay. She’d been faithful to him during all the years he went trapping in the wilderness, when he came home to see her once a year.

  The life of a farmer was dull and uneventful, not like that of a mountain man. In the wilderness, he never knew whether he would survive to see another day. It was a place where a man could truly be alive. But Molly didn’t want to leave her home and kinfolk. And he loved her too much to give her up. So he gave up trapping and became a farmer instead. After the birth of their only child, his future was set.

  Jasper smiled. Even from an early age, Vic had the same adventurous spirit as he did. There was only one thing he could do now. In order to save their child, Jasper had to leave Molly and head back into the wilderness. He knew his way around the mountains. No one would find them there.

  Molly would understand one day. He gazed at her sleeping form and gently brushed his lips over hers. He left without another backward glance.

  “Ain’t no kin o’ mine gonna hang for somat ya ain’t done. No more talk, now c’mon,” Jasper whispered loudly, sealing his resolve.

  He led the way out the door, pulling his pistol from his belt. Darting quick glances in all directions, he motioned with his head. The guard lay on the ground where he had hit him with the butt end of his gun moments ago. An owl hooted in a nearby tree, but there was no other movement anywhere. The small village lay quiet in sleep.