CHAPTER 2
Of all the times to find oneself face down in the dirt. Naomi's body protested as she worked to push herself up to sitting, the effects of being nearly run over by that new mare still reverberating through her bones.
“Before you get up, there’s something I need to tell you.” Dinah’s voice took on her big-sister tone. Probably she wanted to make her allow help back to the house. Sometimes Dinah could be a bit over-bearing when she donned her doctor’s smock—even figuratively.
Naomi ignored her and stood, pausing to let her swimming vision settle as she glanced at those around her. She’d not expected the group to return from Fort Benton so soon. A few more days at least.
And…hadn’t there been a face among them she’d not expected? Her heart picked up speed again. It couldn’t be who she’d imagined in that quick glance. But where was he?
She scanned the area in front of the barn and corral, then up the slope to the house.
There.
A man stood near the cabin, his frame silhouetted against the afternoon light. Mary Ellen stood next to him.
Eric. Her heart knew it, even before she shifted her focus back to the man. Those shoulders, wide but not brawny. The way he stood as if ready for action. Prepared to step in and make the world a better place.
He’d come. After all this time. She had dreamed of this moment for so long, but now that it was reality, the situation felt like a cruel twist of fate.
She'd already agreed to marry Jonah.
As she watched him now, his focus was entirely on their daughter, Mary Ellen.
Their daughter.He'd finally come, and she hadn’t even been able to introduce him to their daughter. Their flesh and blood. Every time she looked at Mary Ellen's red curls, she saw Eric's auburn waves.
And now to watch them side by side... So many could-have-beens played through her mind. The home she’d once imagined they’d have together. The life they’d create. She’d once imagined him cradling their babies. Looking up at her with those tender, loving eyes.
Yet that had never happened. Instead, he’d turned his back on her.
She limped slowly up the hill, each step a painful reminder of how frail she'd let herself become. Jonah, good man that he was, steadied her with his hand on her arm. Her bruised body protested, but it was the ache in her heart that truly weighed her down.
As she approached, Mary Ellen turned to her. "Ma-ma." The child started toward her with those unsteady steps.
Before she could lift a hand and tell her daughter to wait, Eric grabbed Mary Ellen's arm, pulling her back.
"It's too dangerous." His voice was stern, though not loud. The way his eyes sparked as he glared at Naomi, though, itseemed he intended the rebuke for her.
Resentment flared. She’d planned to stop Mary Ellen herself, not let her take a tumble.
She marched the last few steps up the hill, her defenses fortified. She’d wanted Eric to come, but he still had a lot to explain. And even more to make up for.
She stopped in front of him, downhill unfortunately, so he towered over her.
Jonah stood at her side, his hand moving from her arm to her back, his touch reassuring.
Jonah was always considerate like that.
Unlike Eric, who'd deserted her without a word, only a day after they'd done something she never thought she'd allow.
And now, he stood before her.
Looking different, yet exactly the same. Older, more...seasoned. But that rich auburn hair, the perfect angle of his cheekbones. Those eyes. They'd always looked at her with such warmth, like she would be safe with him.
The warmth was shielded behind sparks now. And barely concealed suspicion.
She raised her chin, meeting his gaze. She was the one who'd suffered to bring their daughter into the world. From casting up every meal for two months, to unbelievable pain and worry as she gave birth—in the woods of all places, on the side of a mountain road.
Then long exhausting nights. Realizing Mary Ellen really was Eric's, not...
