Second-Chance Bride (Dakota Brides Book 3)(41)

She turned to Nels. “You too.”

“Wouldn’t miss it.” He’d seemed quiet all afternoon, almost sad. She’d asked for news about Inga. Nels said he’d had no letters. Poor man was missing the woman he loved.

Kit sat in the back of the wagon, cradling his kitten in his lap and smiling so widely Freyda chuckled. She nudged Ward. “Now you have two kittens to look after. Do you think you are up to it?”

“I hope it’s easier and less worry than looking after two boys.”

“If you were to remarry, the boys would be taken care of.”

His lips drew into a harsh frown. “I know firsthand what happens to children raised by someone other than their mother. I will never subject my sons to that sort of treatment.”

“Not all woman are alike. Many raise children they didn’t birth. Your boys are easy to love.” Too bad Lena and Anker couldn’t hear this conversation. It would put a stop to them thinking Freyda should think about marrying her neighbor.

Not that Freyda had considered such a thing. The last thing Ward and his boys needed was a woman who couldn’t stick to her plans. Yet questions plagued her.

Did coming to America really give her what she wanted?





10





Ward had little to say on the drive home. Anker had cornered him and asked what his intentions toward Freyda were. All he could say was they worked together as neighbors.

“I want more than that for my sister. I want her to know the same kind of happiness I have found with Lena.”

“I understand.” Ward knew he couldn’t offer that. In many ways, he was damaged. He didn’t know how to love or to trust. Every event in his life had compounded his inability to do so. He amended that. It was women he couldn’t trust, even when he wanted desperately to.

Yet he trusted Freyda. To a degree. Would he trust her in a crisis? He didn’t know.

They arrived at her place and he helped her down. He wanted to explain his feelings toward women. But words failed him. Besides, he’d already told her of his past, so she could likely understand without him saying anything more. So he settled for, “We need to get the kitten home and settled in. We’ll see you tomorrow.”

She waved good-bye as they drove away.

“I need her to help me with Skunk,” Kit said.

“We’ll manage on our own. Do you think Skunk will be happy to see his brother, Storm?”

Thankfully, Kit was diverted by Ward’s question.

Skunk made himself right at home. Soon the two kittens romped together, causing Milo and Kit to giggle.

Ward fed the boys their supper. What was Freyda doing for the evening meal? Was she managing the chores on her own?

He realized he staring out the window toward her place and grunted his disgust. She could do fine on her own and wouldn’t thank him for thinking otherwise.

Bedtime came and he put the boys to bed, each with a kitten beside them. He went to bed with nothing and no one to keep him company.

Exactly how he wanted it.

Too bad his heart did not believe what his mind said.



The next few days were filled with planting and sharing meals with Freyda. The boys were happy to be with her and eager each day to get to her place. They were less eager to leave at the end of the day. And their moods were made worse by the heat that sucked the moisture from the ground. By evening, they were cranky. He had taken to stripping them down every evening and letting them cool off in the horse trough that he filled with clean water.

Freyda followed him to the field to harness the horses as she did every day. Although it was early morning, sweat dripped from her chin as she worked. Successfully done, she wiped her face. “We surely could use a rain.”

He glanced to the west. “This heat could bring us a thunderstorm.”

She jolted upright and scanned the sky. “I do not like thunder and lightning. Why do we say it that way when it’s lightning and thunder?” She shivered. “Once I saw a tree hit by lightning. Split it from top to bottom and then it turned into a huge torch.” Her words rushed out as if driven by a stormy wind.

“I’ve never seen lightning hit anything.” He hoped he sounded soothing.

“When I was little my grandfather told a story about a family whose house was struck and the building burned to the ground so fast they couldn’t escape. Grandfather said they found the remains of the bodies a few steps from their beds. That was as far as they got.”

“Seems an odd story to repeat to a child.”

She shuddered. “Grandfather thought we should be informed.”

“So you could do what? Shake at the mere mention of a thunderstorm?” He touched her shoulder, hoping to calm her.

She jolted away with a yip. “You scared me.”

He tried to laugh it off. “Did you think a lightning bolt had come out of nowhere and hit you?”

“Don’t mock. It’s not funny.” She turned full circle. “I don’t see a storm coming.”

He decided not to mention how fast such storms came up. “We sure could use the rain.”

She looked at him. “I know it’s true.” But her eyes were clouded. Obviously, what she knew and what she felt were not the same.

He well knew the confusion of that problem and patted her shoulder. “Don’t look so worried.”