Second-Chance Bride (Dakota Brides Book 3)(33)

“I enjoyed the day. Every part of it.”

She heard the smile in his voice, knew he meant to remind her of certain aspects of the day, and she held that cherished moment in her heart all the way home. As soon as she arrived, she swung the lit lantern back and forth until she saw the answering light from Ward’s house.

Only then did she go to the barn and get Smokey and carry him as she shut the chicken house door. Inside the house, she realized she still smiled. She stood still. Why had his concern about her getting home safely felt so different from the concern her family showed when she wanted to do things on her own? She couldn’t say and didn’t want to think too deeply about the afternoon for fear she would drown out the joy bubbling in her heart.

Instead, she fed the kitten and played with him until bedtime. But once she lay between the covers in the dark, pictures of the day raced through her head.

She pressed her fingers to her lips. Had his kiss really been only an attempt to comfort her? Did she want it to mean more than that?





8





Ward hurriedly fed the boys breakfast the next morning. It had been fun to take a day off and enjoy it in Freyda’s company, but now it was back to reality. Get the crops in, do the new breaking, and guard his heart against the pain a woman could inflict.

As he’d thought before, Freyda seemed different. But she was stubborn and determined to have her own place. That left little room in her life for him and his family. He had to remember that.

“Here she comes,” Kit called, and he and Milo raced out the door to greet Freyda. Milo carried his kitten in his arms. Storm didn’t seem to mind the jostling.

Ward remained in the kitchen but the boys had left the door open and he could see them.

Freyda stopped to greet the boys, rubbing both of them on the head then stroking the kitten. Milo and Kit crowded to her side as they continued to the house. Not that she seemed to mind. She held a hand on the shoulder of each boy and laughed at something they said.

At the doorstep, she looked into the house. She didn’t see him as he lingered in the shadows and then she found him and her smile went straight into his heart.

“’Morning,” he said.

She said something in Norwegian that he assumed meant good morning.

He eased away from the wall upon which he leaned and found his hat. Right where he’d left it. “I’ll get the horses hitched up.”

“Can I try today?”

“Sure.” They fell into step on the way to the barn. He stood back and let her put on the harness and guide the horses to the seeder. She had them back up. He only had to reach out once to take her hand and show her how much pressure to use. She completed the task on her own.

“I did it. I did it.” She jumped up and down, grabbed his hands, and pulled him into her excited dance.

“Yes, you did.” He grinned. What else could he teach her to get this response? It had only been a neighborly gesture, he informed his befuddled brain, but he couldn’t stop smiling. “Now if you let go, I can finish this field.”

She dropped his hands like they were hot coals. “I’m sorry. I was just so excited.”

He squeezed her shoulder. “I’m happy too.” He didn’t lower his hand until she looked at him. She must have seen something in his eyes for her lashes fluttered and her cheeks grew pink. She grabbed Kit’s hand. “We’ll let you get to work.”

He chuckled as they headed for the house.

A little later he saw her drag out the big washtubs and fill them with water. He stopped and stared. He didn’t expect her to do the laundry. He’d get it done one of these days. Or take it to town and pay one of the ladies to do it.

He listened. Was she singing? Maybe he wouldn’t take the laundry to town if she enjoyed it that much. Smiling, he returned to his own work, though his attention went often to the yard. Soon sheets and towels and shirts blew on the line. At the end of the row as he paused, he listened. She was still singing.

The boys played nearby. He caught a glimpse of the kitten running in the grass and the boys chasing after it.

The world was a pretty place.

Freyda and the boys came out at noon to announce dinner and she stayed at his side as he took the horses in for rest and water. The smell of clean laundry filled his nostrils as they crossed to the house. Inside, savory scents brought a flood of saliva to his mouth.

He liked this arrangement between himself and Freyda and had to remind himself it could not be permanent.

After dinner, he rested a few minutes then returned to his work.

A little later, Freyda began to take things off the line. Soon the clotheslines were empty. Of course they were. That’s how laundry was done. But something about those bare lines drew his gaze over and over. Each time his heart dipped. The word empty echoed through his head.

He determined he would not look that direction again.

He was almost finished with the field. Tomorrow he could begin to do Freyda’s field. They would eat their meals there.

Would that make things different? Would it make it easier for him to remember who he was? The things he had promised himself he would never again do?

He realized his jaws hurt and forced himself to relax.

He could finish tonight if he worked until dark. Would Freyda mind staying that long?

She looked his way and he signaled for her to come to the field. She called the boys and they crossed to him.