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  From what Emma could tell, the men discussed the next part of their journey. She didn’t want to think about that tonight. This was a party and she was going to enjoy herself.

  “You look beautiful tonight, Emma.” Nate had quietly walked up behind her, startling her enough she almost dropped the bowl she held.

  “Nate, you scared me to death.” She gasped, and set the bowl safely down.

  “I’m sorry.” He smiled, not looking sorry at all. “I was hoping we’d get a chance to talk. I’d like to know more about what’s going on back home. I can’t tell you how good it is to see you, but it’s been hard to get together. That husband of yours is always standing behind your shoulder.”

  Ignoring his comment about Davis, she plunged forward. “It’s good to see you too. When we left a couple of months ago things were pretty much the same back home as they’ve always been. You know Washington County, not much changes.” For some reason feeling a little nervous, Emma fussed with the bowls on the table, re-arranging them as she spoke.

  “I’d like to know more about why you’re here. And why you’re here with a stranger.” He gestured in the direction of the group of men, and bent close to her ear to avoid his voice carrying to the other women at the table arranging dishes. “Oh no, here we go.”

  Emma turned in the direction Nate faced to see a scowling Davis walking toward them. “Evening, Hale.” Davis stopped next to Emma, putting his hand possessively against her lower back.

  Nate tipped his hat at both of them and turned to walk away. Wheeling back, he said “I hope you’ll allow your wife one dance with me later, Cooper. After all we have known each other forever, you know.” The mocking glance told Emma he didn’t think much of her being married to someone she hadn’t known very long.

  * * *

  “If Emma wants to dance with you, that’s up to her.” Davis said through clenched teeth.

  “I would like that, Nate,” Emma said, “since I won’t be seeing you after tonight.”

  “Oh, but you will.” He looked smugly at Davis. “Corporal Stevens and I will be accompanying your wagon train all the way to Oregon City when you leave in the morning.” Tipping his hat again, he turned and strolled away.

  “Sonofabitch.” Davis muttered to the soldier’s back.

  11

  The piercing wail of the bugle in the early morning air penetrated Davis’s dreams and woke soldiers and emigrants alike. He yawned and stretched, then shook himself to release the last bit of slumber.

  On this part of the journey they would be leaving the soft hills of the prairie country and entering the mountains. He’d noted many of the wagons had relieved their burden by dumping unnecessary furniture at the fort supply store.

  With Davis and Emma taking their turn as lead wagon, the rest fell into line behind them for their daily trek within an hour of the bugle call. They swayed in comfortable silence on the wagon seat as the animals plodded forward. The sound of hoof beats caught their attention, and they both glanced to the side to see Nathan Hale ride up alongside them.

  “Mornin’, Emma, Cooper.” Nate nodded and pulled on his horse reins to keep pace with the wagon. “Looks like we’ll have good weather for a couple days.”

  Davis continued to look forward as Emma spoke to Nate. “I’m glad to hear that. Have you done this trip before?”

  “No, this is a first for me. But I gathered a lot of information from other soldiers who have. I think I’ll be able to help you all if you need it.”

  Davis snorted and moved his neck around to loosen the muscles that had suddenly gotten very tight. Noticing Emma looking down at his hands, he released the reins he’d gripped so tightly his knuckles had turned white.

  He was stunned by his reaction to this solider who sniffed around his wife. He’d never been the possessive, jealous type. Why the man’s mere appearance made his blood boil bothered him. In truth, he knew Emma still harbored the idea of returning to Indiana. And having a friend from home, who appeared ready to whisk her back at any moment, chafed at him.

  Although they’d spoken their vows before God and man, he didn’t feel confident enough that Emma was committed to them staying together. Well, he would fight for her. She was his wife, and exactly what he wanted in a mate. He had no intention of allowing some spit-shiny challenger move in and sweep her away from him.

  The uncomfortable silence continued, broken only by the sound of the wagon wheels turning and the animals plodding along. After a few minutes, Nate tipped his hat and reined his horse to ride back. “Oh, by the way, Emma, the fort clerk wanted me to let you know your letter to Indiana will be on its way this morning.”

  * * *

  Heat rushing to her face, Emma thanked him, and stared at her lap, busy attacking a lose thread on her apron. She could feel the anger radiating off Davis. Oh dear, why did Nate have to mention that dratted letter? It wasn’t as if she hadn’t intended to tell Davis about it, just not yet.

  “You sent a letter to Indiana?” Davis’s cool gaze assessed her.

  “Yes, I wrote to my parents.” Emma spoke with as much dignity as her pounding heart would let her.

  “Why?”

  There were a whole lot of unasked questions in that one word. Emma cleared her throat a few times. “I just wanted to let my parents know about Peter.”

  “And?” Davis turned to her. The look on his face startled her. Annoyance, but also mixed with confusion and fear.

  “And nothing. I just told them Peter had died in an accident along the trail.”

  “You told them nothing else?” His brows raised in surprise.

  “Well, yes, I mentioned that I had married again. I told them your name. And things.”

  “What things?”

  “Things,” she said, her anxiety turning to anger. “What could I tell them?” Her eyes flashed, and she drew herself up on the seat. “That the son-in-law they knew and loved had been trampled by a horse, and their daughter was forced to marry a stranger in the middle of nowhere, and was now traveling to God knows where?” She tried to calm herself as she realized her voice quivered.

  “As I wrote that letter I knew how upset my parents would be. I mean, they knew Peter so well, and we all lived so close together.”

  Davis pulled her over against his chest. “I’m sorry, darlin’.”

  Emma sniffed, fumbling in her pocket. Davis drew out a handkerchief and handed it to her. “We’ll talk about this later.” His voice had softened.

  Wiping away the few tears that fell, Emma sighed. Men always did that. They got you all fired up, and then when you wanted to have it out, they retreated and decided to take it up later. Darn Nate for blurting that out.

  There wasn’t really anything in the letter that Davis would object to. She told them about Peter, and about the wagon master strongly suggesting she marry Davis so she wouldn’t be alone for the rest of the trip.

  She never actually mentioned she wanted to return home to Indiana, but most likely her parents would assume so. Before they’d left, she hadn’t made any effort to hide her dislike of the entire idea. Now that she thought it over, it probably wasn’t the best thing to send that letter. Her parents would most likely worry more now that she didn’t have Peter with her. She should have waited until she reached Oregon and told them of her plans to return.

  Emma wiped her nose with the handkerchief. Sometimes she could really make a mess of things.

  * * *

  The days passed with the resumption of the routine they’d established in the weeks before the Fort stop. Each morning Emma cooked breakfast with extras for the noon meal. While she did that, Davis took care of the animals and checked the wagon over. After cleaning up and repacking, the wagons started to roll for the day. The noon break was only long enough to rest the animals and have a quick meal. Evenings were spent in gathering buffalo chips and small branches for a fire, cooking supper, then tending to the never ending small chores such as sewing and mending.

  Several days had
gone by since Nate had mentioned the letter in front of Davis. While Davis and Emma weren’t exactly mad at each other, the easy camaraderie they had established was missing. Davis still reached for her at night when they had settled in the wagon, but the closeness afterward was not there. This made Emma wish Davis would just explode and get it all out. She tried to bring it up a few times, but her husband was never ready to talk about it.

  * * *

  Lying next to her, listening to the soft sound of her steady breathing, Davis put his hands behind his head and thought about the letter. Because of his foolish response to the whole thing, it had taken on a life of its own. He wasn’t sure if it was the letter itself, or the smirk on Nate’s face when he mentioned it in front of him that had tempered his reaction.

  Once rational thought had surfaced, he admitted Emma would of course want to tell her parents about the major changes in her life. His stubbornness in not wanting to discuss it had created a hole larger than the grave they had placed Peter in. Sighing, he pulled Emma to him, putting her head on his chest. She immediately cuddled up, her warm skin soft and scented. Tomorrow he would find a way to let her know the foolishness with the letter was over.

  * * *

  “Emma, this has gone on long enough. I was upset to hear you’d sent a letter home. Not that you’d written to her parents, but that you didn’t tell me.”

  They sat side by side on a log in front of their campfire as darkness settled in. It had been another long and tiring day. Emma sighed with relief at Davis bringing up the subject that had stood between them for days. She sorely missed the closeness they’d shared before.

  “Come here.” He threw down the stick he was poking the fire with and pulled her over onto his lap. Lazily he rubbed his hand up and down her arm as she laid her head on his chest. She rubbed her cheek along his shirt front, comforted by the strength and scent of him.

  “Do you still want to go back to Indiana?”

  She’d been struggling with that very question herself the past few days. Surprised at how much she missed the closeness she and Davis had shared, if she returned home, would that emptiness continue? Had she grown so used to him?

  “Yes. No. Oh, I don’t know.” She sat up and swung her legs back and forth. “I still miss my parents and seeing Nate brought back memories of home. But right now the thought of repeating this same journey back again doesn’t appeal to me.”

  “Darlin’, I won’t take you back to Indiana. I think you know that. Ever since I went to work for Ezra, my plan was to eventually settle in Oregon and start a horse ranch.”

  She tilted her head, a smile teasing her mouth. “A horse ranch? I didn’t know that. Peter planned the same thing. He hated farming.”

  “I’m no farmer, either. I took over my parent’s place to help my mom out when dad died, but I always wanted to raise horses.” He leaned over and picked up his coffee cup, while Emma snuggled again to ward off the evening’s chill.

  She remembered the night they’d sat by a fire much like this one, and Davis had told her the story of his mother’s and sister’s deaths. Always having had the security of two parents, a wave of compassion for what he’d suffered had engulfed her. To lose those you loved in such a horrible way had to scar a person.

  Davis returned his cup to the ground, then pulled her closer. “I have a bank check from the proceeds of my parent’s farm which I’ll use to start my ranch. We won’t have much at the beginning, but from what I hear, a horse farm would do well in Oregon.”

  Emma continued to think about that as she gazed into the fire. She still had the money tucked away that Peter had received for the sale of his grandmother’s farm. Davis had already made it clear he didn’t want any part of it, but if they added it together, it would certainly give them a good start. Or did she want to use that to return to Indiana? Too tired to make sense of it all, she drifted off to sleep right there on her husband’s lap.

  * * *

  Nate sat in front of the campfire he shared with Corporal Matt Stevens. Even though he saw Emma every day since they’d left, he still hadn’t been able to talk to her without Cooper breathing down his neck. It still bothered him that she had married this stranger in such a hurry. He had asked around, and discovered she’d been practically forced into it. In fact, her wagon master more or less tortured her until she’d relented. That rankled. If she had held out until she reached the Fort, she would be Mrs. Nathan Hale right now.

  Staring dejectedly at the fire, he thought about how he always had expectations of marrying Emma. It was his own fault that he waited too long to make his intentions known, giving Peter Thorpe the opportunity to move right in. In fact, in his ignorance, Emma and Peter announced their engagement before Nate had even found out about their courtship.

  Angered at his own stupidity, he joined the army two days before their wedding. In the time since he’d last seen Emma, he thought his feelings for her had ended. But coming face to face with his lost love again resurrected those sentiments full force. And it stung to know she’d lost Peter and then turned right around and married someone she hardly knew. Muttering a curse, Nate banged his fist on his knee, jolting the other soldier sitting across from him.

  “What’s the matter with you tonight?” Matt asked. “You’ve been brooding and fretting since ya sat down.”

  “Nothing,” Nate responded. “Just crazy thoughts; I think I’ll turn in now. See you in the morning.”

  * * *

  Emma leaned over a small bush and retched for the fourth morning in a row. After a few minutes she wiped her lips and made her way to the wagon where she rinsed out her mouth, splashed water on her face, and fixed her hair in a braid that she wrapped around her head.

  As she worked, the smells of frying bacon and coffee drifted toward her, causing her stomach to take another dive. What in tarnation was wrong with her, anyway? She hoped it wasn’t a return of influenza. It had been a few weeks since she had it, but she’d been feeling tired and nauseous for the past week. After a quick clean up from breakfast she would find Dr. Bennett before the wagons rolled.

  She left Davis’s breakfast for when he returned from dealing with the animals. In truth, she couldn’t get away from the food fast enough.

  Emma passed Sarah’s wagon while searching for the doctor. Her friend ordered her boys around, trying to get chores done before the wagons started up.

  “Honestly, Emma,” she sighed, “trying to get these boys to finish their chores gets harder every day. I’m going to have to get Buck to take a strap to them if they don’t start doing what they’re supposed to.” She looked ferociously in their direction. Sarah and Buck would never take a strap to their boys, and it seemed they knew it too. They were good children, just a bit energetic.

  Emma smiled as they scattered in all directions when they found their mother’s attention no longer riveted on them.

  “Sarah, I think I may have gotten Influenza back. I’m sick to my stomach again, and I’m so tired.” She fidgeted with her apron. “I felt fine during the time at the fort, but for the past week or so I’ve been very tired and nauseous.”

  Sarah walked over to Emma and put her hand on her forehead. “You don’t seem to have a fever.” She lifted up her face and looked into her eyes. “Your eyes seem clear too.” Then she obviously thought of something else because she began to laugh. “Oh, Emma,” she gasped. “When was the last time you had your monthlies?”

  Emma stared at her as if she spoke a foreign language. “I don’t remember,” she sputtered. Her eyes wide, she gasped. “I think it was right after we buried Peter.”

  Sarah put her arm around her and gave a small squeeze. “I think you’ll have something, or should I say someone, new and noisy in your house shortly after we reach Oregon.”

  Emma continued to stare at Sarah. “But…but Peter and I were married for five months, and I never became−you know.”

  Her initial reaction slowly changed from astonishment to small jolts of joy. A baby? She wou
ld have to tell her mother, she would be so happy. And her father; she knew he longed for grandchildren.

  Then it all burst like bubbles in a bathtub. Her parents were miles and miles away. She would give birth in a strange place, with no family there. Either she would have to stay in Oregon until after the baby came, or give birth in a jolting wagon on the trip back. No thanks.

  Sarah broke into her thoughts. “Emma just because you and Peter never had a child doesn’t mean you can’t have one with another man. You probably weren’t married long enough, anyway. Besides, sometimes it’s not the woman’s fault, you know.” She patted her arm “Go on and see Dr. Bennett. I’m sure he’ll tell you the same thing. Now I have to round up my terrors and get these chores done before we pull out. I’ll see you later.”

  After a few questions, Dr. Bennett confirmed what Sarah said. Walking in a bit of a daze, Emma headed back to her wagon. What would Davis say? They had never discussed the possibility of a family. Did he want a family? What about her plan to return to Indiana?

  Now that she knew she was with child it seemed even more important to have her mother near. Childbirth scared her. She had heard enough horror stories, but had always assumed when the time came, she would be in her own home and have her mother nearby.

  Davis was getting ready to pull out when Emma returned. He smiled at her and helped her up onto the wagon seat. “You feeling okay, darlin’?” He smirked. “You look a little pale.” Even though he’d given her a wide open opportunity to tell him, she just smiled distractedly, re-tying the ribbons under her bonnet. “Yes, I’m fine.”