“Mama! Mama!” Nicole screamed from below as one of the soldiers carried her away from the house. He tried to shield her from the sight, but she fought him, and he could barely keep his hold on her.
Elizabeth stepped toward the window. “Alma,” she called softly. “Come to safety with me. No one is going to hurt you. But hurry, the flames—”
“No. I must find James.”
“James is dead, Alma. He’s dead!”
“No!” Alma screamed. “I will never leave my home. Never.” The gun dropped from her hand with a clatter. “Useless James,” she muttered. “Weakling. Where are you?”
“Alma, don’t,” Elizabeth cried as she watched Alma turn back toward the blaze in the hall. “Alma?”
There was a roaring blast and the stairway collapsed. Elizabeth backed against the veranda rail, shielding her face from the intensity of the heat and scorched smell that seemed to smother her. She felt a tug on her hem and turned.
“Colter…oh, God, Colter, she went back.”
“Come to me, love. Just come to me.” He tried to heave his body up, but his hand slipped.
Elizabeth bit through her lip at the lancing pain in her hands as she braced her body and climbed over the rail.
She couldn’t jump and Colter couldn’t grab hold of her.
“Turn around,” he ordered, sweat blinding him, his heart missing a beat at the way she froze. “Turn, damn you! Trust me!”
In blind obedience, she turned, lowering her legs.
Colter took firm hold of her weight.
Blood welled from her palms. She couldn’t keep her grip on the rail. A silent scream tore from her raw throat as she plunged free.
Her sudden fall threw Colter off balance. He barely managed to lock his arm around her waist, twisting his own body to break their fall.
But the Union soldiers closed tight and their strong shoulders bore the impact of Colter’s and Elizabeth’s bodies. There was a scramble until they were able to stand, and all of them turned to run, Colter dragging Elizabeth by the hand.
She fell to her knees, tearing free of his hold, cradling her wounded hands against her chest. Colter came to kneel beside her, unable to speak but offering her the shelter of his arms.
“Nicole,” she whispered.
“Right here, ma’am,” a soldier answered, setting the child down beside them.
Elizabeth was beyond crying, just as Colter felt his throat close so tight he could not utter a sound. He opened his arms and snuggled his child tight to him.
“What do we do with the reb, Captain?”
Thorton didn’t answer immediately. He glanced behind him. The house was a blazing inferno. He had seen other fires, some he himself had been ordered to set, and knew of blazes that had consumed homes of those loyal to the Union. The losses were costly on both sides in property and human lives. He gazed again at the couple kneeling in the sodden earth with their child between them and wondered if they offered prayers of thanksgiving.
Colter lifted his head at that moment and met the direct gaze of the young Union captain. “If you will give me a few minutes with my family, sir, I will accompany you. I only beg that you allow me to first see them to shelter.”
“We could all use that, sir,” the captain returned. “Corporal Beck, find and secure a building as far from this hell as you can. We will offer our guests whatever there is to share.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Colter said with simple gratitude. “I will not forget your kindness or your help.”
“And I, sir, hope this war will never let me forget my own code of honor to the point that I need make prisoners of a woman and child. And that is who I have offered my protection to this night.”
Colter realized that the Union officer was going to ignore his presence and allow him to go free.
Colter slowly raised his hand and extended it to the Union officer. After a moment, Thorton shook it.
“Colter,” Elizabeth whispered, “Alma killed the man she sent after Nicole. He’s…his body is in the root cellar. She was mad. Not even a bit of grief for James. She called him a weakling, and useless.”
He thought to hush her and realized that he could not. She needed to talk, and he, he needed to listen. He learned of his once-best friend’s death, of the shame his mother cast on James for his inability to father a child, of the lies that had separated them and the horror that Elizabeth had lived with.
When she was done, Elizabeth rested her head against his shoulder, and he found that he could only press a kiss to her temple. Colter knew then that the reserves of strength a man could have were not only the physical but from the heart, as well. He urged her to stand and held Nicole’s small hand with his, sliding his other arm around Elizabeth’s shoulders.
“My love,” he murmured, his voice husky with emotion. “If you remember the story of Lot’s wife, you know she was warned not to look back. To look back is to give the past power. Come with me,” he coaxed. “Lot’s wife was offered a promise of paradise. Until the war is over, I have nothing to offer you but a small corner of heaven.” With a catch in his husky voice, he added softly, “Just as you and our child have given to sustain me.”
Elizabeth lifted her tear-bright eyes to meet his imploring gaze. She raised her hand and traced the line of his lips with her fingertips. There was no need for her to turn around, for the flames of the burning house were reflected for a moment in his eyes.
And then, those flames were dimmed by the blazing glory of love and all its promise that shone down on her in the look he bestowed.
“I love you, Colter,” she whispered.
“An’ me,” Nicole cried, tugging on his hand. “I love you the bestest, too.”
More from Raine Cantrell
Novellas
A Time For Giving
Jacob DeWitt, a widower on Christmas leave during the Civil War, returns to his New York home determined to get Ellie Winifred to marry him. She has taken in his two motherless children and his younger brother while he is off at war. It makes perfect sense to him that they marry, but Ellie resists. It will take every bit of help Jacob, a proud, stubborn man, can get if he is going to convince Ellie that he is worthy of her love.
Apache Fire
Widowed and childless, Angie is named The Woman of Sorrow by Niko, a noble warrior of the Apache. But as passion ignites between them, Angie must weather the storm of prejudice and injustice for another chance at true happiness—and true love.
Miss Delwin’s Delights
Kit Sidell, Texas’s most eligible bachelor, has an insatiable sweet tooth. But when the challenge of a wager brings him to the kitchen of Birdie Delwin, Kit finds himself tempted by much more than her dessert menu.
More Than a Miracle
Maureen O’Rourke made a home for herself and her children in an abandoned cabin in the Colorado mountains. While searching for his lost child, Gabriel Channing stumbles upon the cabin, and finds a whole new family instead. But it will take more than a Christmas wish to make these two broken families one—it will take more than a miracle.
The Bride’s Gift
Nicholas Dowling’s mail-order bride is not what he’d hoped for—she’s too young, too delicate, and far too superstitious for a pragmatic man like himself. But not even Brianna’s untamable spirit can’t cast a shadow over her luminous beauty, and before long the blaze of their attraction grows into something neither one of them was expecting.
The Secret Ingredient
Hallie Pruitt has a habit of taking in strays—both unwanted animals and captivating cowboys. When handsome Cade McAllister seeks shelter in her home while his broken leg heals, it’s her homemade candies that keep him sober, but it’s the piping hot fantasies she describes in her diary that provides the secret ingredient to Cade’s heart.
Novels
Gifts of Love
Alone and pregnant, Erin Dunmore is desperate to find a husband, or risk facing a future as a single mother. She places an ad in the newspaper see
king matrimony, and hopes that her dreams of a home, family, and love will come true.
Mace Dalton needs a wife, but between the hardships of living on his secluded ranch and his rambunctious children, prospects are few and far between. When he sees Erin’s ad in the newspaper, he reckons she may be his last chance at marriage.
Little does Erin know, while Mace has all the home and family she can ever want, love is a thing of his past. But soon after she settles in his house, Mace finds that she may be settling into his heart as well.
Calico
An Irish spitfire meets her match in a western romp.
Maggie O’Roark knows how to walk, talk, and fight like a man. When Maggie inherits her uncle’s profitable silver and gold mines, she’s determined to prove she can operate them on her own, even as her wedding date approaches. When Maggie’s groom is kidnapped just before the wedding, Maggie is convinced saloon owner C.V. McCready is responsible, in a desperate bid to keep her from re-opening the mines.
McCready is a silver-tongued con man, but when he sees Maggie in her wedding finery, he becomes obsessed with protecting her from less savory men who would do anything to get their hands on her mines. McCready kidnaps Maggie and claims her in a marriage by proxy, setting the stage for the fiercest and funniest battle of the sexes in the West.
Darling Annie
Acts of charity quickly lead to a flirtation with the deadliest of sins for DARLING ANNIE.
Kellian York has big plans for the brothel he’s inherited in Loving, Texas. Too bad that just days after his arrival the Legion for Decency has burned it to the ground, citing their mission to rid the town of drinking, gambling, and “loose women.” Set on vengeance, Kellian targets the spinster leader, Annie Muldoon, never expecting that the beautiful young woman would let Kellian and his girls move into her boarding house.
Believing she has a responsibility to protect and redeem the women formerly in Kellian’s employ, Annie soon realizes she’s made a terrible mistake inviting them, and especially Kellian, into her home. Unsure whether he’s trying to torture her or seduce her, Kellian’s striking presence is beginning to rouse the passionate nature she’s tried to hide. Annie decides to take her fate, and Kellian’s, into her own hands, and learns a few tricks of the trade from her boarders, before turning the tables on Kellian. Will the saint redeem the sinner? Or the sinner seduce the saint?
Desert Sunrise
A desperate woman meets her destiny on the Arizona frontier.
After her husband is murdered on their wedding night, Faith Beckett is on the run, with her father and siblings in tow. They have a land stake on the far side of the Arizona Territory, a perilous journey for even seasoned travelers, and are in need of a guide as determined as Faith.
Delaney Carmichael was raised by the Apache, and a man as hard and dangerous as the land he loves. On a mission to restore his family’s honor, he has no time to help Faith and knows he’ll be better off if he ignores her beauty. But when Faith walks head on into danger, he’s moved to save her despite his best judgment. Ensnared by Faith’s turquoise eyes and a mystical connection to ancient Apache legends, the hardness of Delaney’s heart is softened as mutual passion is revealed in the wild lands of Arizona.
Silver Mist
In a race to strike it rich, a naïve woman discovers how precious a man’s love can be.
Dara Owens has been sheltered by her brothers in quiet Rainly, Florida, unaware of the rough nature of the rest of the world. That is, until “white gold” fever takes over Rainly, and prospectors overrun the town in the search for phosphate rock. With the miners comes gambling and robbery, and suddenly quiet Rainly isn’t a safe haven for an innocent beauty anymore, especially once the rugged Silver McQuade arrives on the scene. But once Dara meets Silver, no warnings about this charming seducer can keep them apart. As the small community becomes divided over the presence of the miners, Dara is torn between loyalty to her home, and her newly awakened desire.
Tarnished Hearts
Not even a war between the states can keep apart a Southern aristocrat and the love of his life.
Tormented by his past and denied his dream of becoming a doctor, Southern aristocrat Trevor Shelby has little in his life to live for, until he meets the beautiful overseer’s daughter, Leah Reese. Unused to the warmth and kindness Leah shows him, Trevor learns to love from the young woman, while his intensity teaches her about passion. Despite the difference in their social classes, they dared to dream of a future together, a fantasy that is shattered by lies, betrayal, and the outbreak of war.
The Homecoming
In the aftermath of the Civil War, one man’s vow to stand alone is shaken by the return of the love of his life. A new novel from national bestselling romance author Raine Cantrell.
For most Texans, Reconstruction stood as a second declaration of war. Returning to his Texas farm at the end of the War Between the States, Matt Coltrane finds his land ravaged by scavengers as part of a greedy Reconstruction land grab. Turned bitter by the war, Matt attempts to avoid others, until Laine Ellis, the only woman he ever loved, is threatened. Despite the odds against him, Matt swears to protect her, as well as his land.
Born to be a Southern lady, Laine Ellis grew up in a lonely cabin on the edge of the bayou. Stubborn and courageous, she is raising her brother and sister after raiders killed her parents and destroyed her home. Laine doesn’t entertain any man’s attention, until Matt’s return. She loved him with a girl’s starry-eyed innocence and now wants him with a woman’s passion. She and Matt struggle in the face of old enemies and new challenges to bring their dreams to life as an entire country strives to put itself back together.
Western Winds
A headstrong woman more than meets her match in an unexpected inheritance.
When she inherits her father’s sprawling Texas ranch, the Reina, Lacey Garrett is determined to run it on her own. With a long line of men waiting to wrestle control of the land away from the willful young woman, many with dreams of winning her hand as well, Lacey has her work cut out for her. But of all the difficulties Lacey foresaw, never could she imagine a last minute change in her father’s will that leaves part of the Reina to another heir.
Rafe Parrish is a loner with a dark past, and no happier to be sharing control of the homestead with Lacey than she is. Angered by her arrogance, Rafe is determined to have it all: the Reina and Lacey herself. Lacey will have to fight for what is hers, or risk surrendering to Rafe’s dominance, losing control of her heart in order to stay on the land she loves.
Whisper My Name
A young woman is tempted from her path by a handsome cowboy as mysteries about her past are revealed.
Before taking her vows at a convent to become a young novice, Dominica Kirkland is summoned to an isolated Idaho ranch by Toma Colfax, a friend of her deceased father. Alone and naïve as to the ways of the world, Dominica soon finds herself overwhelmed, and reluctantly accepts the help of Luke, a ruggedly handsome cowboy. Drawn in by her beauty and her innocence, Luke makes it clear that he’s interested in Dominica, no matter what vows she’s considering.
But at Toma Colfax’s ranch await more questions than answers for Dominica. Toma claims no knowledge of the letter that called Dominica to the untamed wilderness. Slowly long-kept secrets are revealed, about Dominica’s family, about Toma Colfax, and about Luke. Dominica must make painful choices, to return to the safety of the convent and live a life of solitude, or risk everything, including her heart, to stay with Luke.
Wildflower
In the idyllic mountains of Colorado, a woman will risk her life to save the ones she loves.
For two years Jenny Latham has lived alone with her young son in the Colorado mountains, trying to manage her guilt over letting an abusive husband control her for too long. Her beauty makes her the object of many men’s desires, but with a broken heart and an independent streak as strong as the mountains themselves, Jenny refuses them all. But when she accidentally shoots a str
anger and takes it upon herself to nurse him back to health, she finds all of her defenses wavering.
The stranger is a handsome man named Charmas, but he claims to remember little else, having lost his memory after the accident that led him to be in Jenny’s care. Overcome by Charmas’ allure, Jenny begins to succumb to her feelings of passion, until her world is shattered by the reappearance of her violent husband. Jenny will gamble with her very life in order to protect her son and Charmas from harm.
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A Corner of Heaven Page 24
