We've Only Just Begun Read online

  And there she was, at the end of the bar, looking uncomfortable, addressing a shifty character sitting on a barstool. At least she didn’t look comfortable. Her face was red, and she clasped her hands in front of her.

  “I can pay!” she insisted.

  “Slim, isn’t going anywhere with you,” Mike said as he joined them. Gingerly, conscious of his painful ribs, he slid his arm around Susan’s waist. “She’s my wife.”

  Slim’s eyes grew wide. “Shame on you, trying to run out on your husband!”

  Wearing an expression of mortification, Susan pried Mike’s arm off her and hurried out of the saloon.

  Mike shook his head as he hurried after her. Dang it, chasing after her wasn’t doing his ribs any good, but he walked quickly to catch up to her. “Susan, we need to talk.”

  She stopped in front of an alley and jammed her hands on her hips. Before she could get a word out, Mike took her by one hand and pulled her into the alley. He walked them into the shadows and turned her so her back was against the side of a building. She was a sight when she was all spitfire mad.

  He swooped down and captured her lips with his. She was still talking as he deepened the kiss. All at once, the fight went out of her and she was kissing him back. Her lips were delectable and he was amazed at how silky her skin was as he cupped her face in his hands.

  They came up for air, but Mike kissed her again. He’d never get enough of her. Deep down he’d known it from the start. She was a part of him. Susan held claim to a big portion of his heart, and he wasn’t going to lose her.

  “I think we’re good together,” he said as he ended the kiss. He caressed her cheeks with his hands. “I don’t want you to go. If you go, you’ll be tearing me in two. I know it wasn’t what you planned for your life, but I’m asking you to stay with me.”

  Her eyes misted as she stared at him. “For how long? Until the winter is over? Then what I’m supposed to live without you for the rest of the year? I’d be worried the whole time you were on the trail. Maybe I’m being selfish. I just don’t know.”

  He leaned down and kissed her again. “I’m asking you to be my wife. I’ve had nothing but time to think these last days. Eli and Jed are ready to go on without me. I’ll worry of course but Smitty will be with them. Sometimes I can see Eli chaffing to take charge. Besides, I have all winter to make sure they know everything. I need you with me. I love you with everything inside of me. It’s time for me to make a go of the ranch and have it profitable enough for Eli and Jed to settle down too, one day.” He took her hands in his. “Please say yes.”

  Her eyes grew wide, and she stared at him. Then she stood up on tiptoe, wrapped her arms around his neck, and pulled him down for a kiss. It was the sweetest kiss he’d ever had. It was full of love, and commitment, and yes.

  She stepped back. “Oh no, I forgot about your ribs. I need to get you back to camp.”

  “Well?”

  “Well what?”

  “Will you marry me?” He swallowed hard and waited.

  “I love you more than words can say. So yes, of course.” Her smile cast away the shadows.

  Epilogue

  “I can’t believe all this land is yours,” Susan said. She sat on the wagon bench with Mike as he drove the oxen. “A person could get lost out here.”

  “That they could. You’ll see as we get closer. There’s the bunkhouse and the barn. It’s almost like civilization.”

  She smiled and put her hands around his powerful bicep. “I can’t wait. It seems like we were at that boarding house for a month instead of a week. I know the doctor wanted you to rest longer, but I’m glad to be on our way.”

  “I can’t wait. Look there.” He pointed. “See, nestled under the trees? It’s hard to see from here but that’s the house.”

  Excitement filled her. “I can’t wait to see it. Does it have curtains? Maybe we should have bought a few things before coming out.”

  “We’re not so far from town. You can go to the mercantile and put whatever you like on my account.”

  “I have my own money.”

  He slowed the wagon and looked at her, taking on a serious tone. “We don’t know who that money belongs to, and until we do I think it best not to spend it.”

  “You always have to be so logical about things,” she teased.

  “I’m not logical where you’re involved. My heart beats faster whenever you’re near and all thought leaves me it seems.”

  “You’re quite a charmer.” She stopped talking when they drew up near the house. It was much bigger than she’d expected. It was two stories and it seemed to sprawl on and on. “Oh my.”

  “We built it all ourselves,” Mike said, and the pride in his voice was unmistakable.

  He parked the wagon in front of the house, jumped down and was immediately at her side waiting to help her down. She put her small hand in his big one and squealed when he swung her up into his arms.

  “You’ll hurt your ribs,” she protested.

  “We’re going to do at least one thing traditionally. I’m carrying you over the threshold.”

  She glanced around and saw Eli, Jed, and Smitty watching from the barn. They all had knowing smiles on their faces, and she grew warm inside.

  Mike fumbled with the door for a moment before he got it opened. Then he carried her inside and set her on her feet. Immediately she headed toward the back of the house.

  “Where are you going?” he asked as he clasped her hand.

  “I want to look around.”

  He pulled her into his strong arms and kissed her so tenderly she wanted to cry. Her heart filled with joy, more than she would ever have thought possible. She was lucky to have such a fine man as Mike.

  “I’ll show you the house later. First, I want to show you our room.” He gave her a wicked smile, and her face heated.

  “It’s daytime, and we already did that.” She stared at the floor.

  “I thought you enjoyed it.”

  “Well, I did, but I’m a decent woman.”

  “Susan look at me. You are a decent woman. You’re a good, kind, smart woman, who I want to love. Right now. In our house.”

  The love in his eyes was unmistakable, and her protests melted away. “All right but just this once.”

  Mike threw back his head and laughed. “Oh my dear, we’ve only just begun.”

  The End

  I'm so pleased you chose to read We’ve Only Just Begun, and it's my sincere hope that you enjoyed the story. I would appreciate if you'd consider posting a review. This can help an author tremendously in obtaining a readership. My many thanks. ~ Kathleen

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  A Lifetime to Share

  Oregon Trail Dreamin’ Book Two

  A Lifetime to Share

  Eli spurred his horse and leaned down to the left as far as he could reach. His gut clenched as he raced toward the girl. Reaching out, he grabbed her upper arm and pulled her out of the way of two oxen. The top of her head slammed his jaw shut as he placed her in front of him. The racing of his heart took forever to slow. He let out a big sigh as he rode Roman toward the girl’s wagon.

  “Didn’t you hear the oxen bearing down on you?” he asked the quaking girl. “You could have been killed.” His voice was sharper than he would have liked, but she needed to understand the danger of the trail. The Oregon Trail was fraught with mortality, and stupid mistakes made him angry.

  She didn’t answer, and that made him angrier. He’d seen her around the last two weeks. She reminded him of a mouse, always scurrying about, and all she wore was brown clothing. It was a big contrast compared to her mother who wore what looked to be finely made clothing. The girl always appeared busy but he’d heard her parents both yell at
her for her laziness a time of two. Perhaps she was a bit addle-brained.

  “Hey, Eli, what’s Amelia doing on your horse?” Benjamin Cruthers asked while glaring at his daughter.

  Amelia shifted in front of Eli and her body shook all the more.

  “She was just about to be trampled by Rex’s oxen before I scooped her up. You really need to keep a better eye on her.”

  “Don’t you worry, I will. Just set her back on the ground. She’ll keep up with our wagon. I’ll make sure of it.”

  “Perhaps she could walk with your wife.”

  “No, the missus is taking a nap. This trip has been hard on her. I’ll keep good track of Amelia, and I’m as sorry as can be that she was a bother.”

  Amelia stopped shaking and hung her head. Eli felt bad for her, but she needed to be supervised. Carefully, he set her on her feet, and then he rode off.

  There was always a big period of adjustment on the travelers’ part during the first few weeks on the trail. Some folks were seasoned pioneers while others were city dwellers who decided to take their chances at a new life out west. He seemed to have more city dwellers than usual this trip. They’d be stopping for the nooning soon, and hopefully, with full bellies they’d all be fine until evening.

  Usually Mike, Eli’s older brother led the party, but he had married an amazing woman he’d met their last trip west and had stayed behind in Oregon to build their life and the family ranch. It’d been a lot of responsibility on Eli’s shoulders to lead this trip, but he had both his brother Jed and their longtime friend Smitty to help. Eli hadn’t had a clue just how much responsibility Mike had carried for them as leader.

  Somehow, Mike had always made leading a party of wagons across from Independence, Missouri to Oregon seem easy enough. It was anything but. When tempers heated, neighbor went against neighbor, and it had only been two weeks. What would the group be like in a few months? He shook his head. He didn’t want to know.

  Dread filled Amelia as the wagons came to a stop. She was sure to get it now. Why did that Eli Todd go and “rescue” her anyway? Surely, she hadn’t been in that much danger. Wouldn’t she have noticed if she was right in front of oxen? He just wanted to act the hero and he’d ended up making her look foolish.

  “Amelia! Get to work. Your father is hungry, and you’re just standing around,” her mother shouted. She crossed her arms over her ample breasts and glared. “You don’t want to make your father mad.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Amelia replied automatically. Any other response would have been the wrong one, and there were consequences for wrong answers. Her hip hurt something fierce from all the walking, but there was no help for it. She grabbed some firewood that she’d gathered that morning and laid a fire. After she got it started, she ground the coffee beans, added a pinch of salt, and put the grounds in the coffee pot to boil. Next, she sliced pieces of ham and set them to frying. She then cut up potatoes from last night’s supper and heated them in the pan. It wasn’t long before the meal was ready.

  Her mother took a bite of the dinner. “You should have put the potatoes on before the ham, Amelia. Now the ham is dried out,” her mother said as she shook her head.

  “Yes, Ma’am.” Amelia left to water and rub down the oxen her father had unharnessed. She’d eat when all the chores were done. The hard work she was used to, it was all the walking that stretched her to her limit. But she’d have to bear it.

  Her parents had been so excited to go to Oregon that she’d hoped they’d be happier people and in turn, kinder people. It wasn’t working out that way. If anything, they were harsher with her than usual. She was their embarrassment and out here, they couldn’t hide her away from other folks.

  She’d watched how other families interacted, and she was surprised at how kind and gentle parents could be toward their children. Somehow, she’d always assumed all children worked as hard as she did. A few people had tried to befriend the Cruthers but her parents weren’t the friendly type. They said it was because of her, but somehow she didn’t think it was the whole truth. Though she was an object of pity and she hated it.

  She led the oxen to water and waited for them to drink their fill. The wind ruffled the strands of her hair that had escaped her braid. The incessant wind had blown so hard, much of her hair had come loose. There were rules about her hair being neat and bound, and she didn’t want to get clocked in the head for untidy hair. No one was around and it would be a perfect time to take out the braid and fix it.

  Quickly she separated her hair into three long sections and then braided it nice and tight. She had just finished when she glanced up and caught Eli watching. Her face heated when he nodded to her. She turned and led the oxen away from the water. Eli seemed nice enough, and she didn’t want to see pity in his eyes too.

  “Amelia! Where are you?” her father called.

  “Coming, Papa,” she called out as she hurried the oxen along. Her limp was always more pronounced when she’d done a lot of walking and shame flooded through her.

  Eli stared after her. She was older than he’d thought. And her hair… He shook his head trying to get the picture of her beautiful, long, blond hair blowing in the wind out of his mind. He’d thought her more of a child, but she was definitely a woman and a pretty one at that. He never did like the fear he often saw in her eyes but he just assumed her parents were strict.

  He shrugged his shoulders and went in search of Smitty. He could use some coffee and some hot grub. The temperature was dropping fast, and he didn’t like the look of the clouds rolling in. If they were lucky, they’d get just a light snow, but somehow he didn’t think they’d be so lucky.

  “This will warm ya,” Smitty said as he handed Eli a cup of coffee. “We’re in for it tonight. You’d best tell Jed to find us some cover to camp under.”

  Eli smiled. “I was just thinking the same thing.” He took a sip of his coffee and then took the plate of food Smitty handed him. Smitty had been with them as long as Eli could remember. He was a good man to have on your side. He handled all the supplies and supervised the drivers of the two extra wagons they brought. There was always enough work to go around. “Jed will know. Somehow he always knows.”

  Smitty laughed. “He does have an uncanny knack for predicting the weather.”

  “That’s why I refuse to wager with him. He’s suckered me one time too many with his bets. Last time we bet on how long the rain would last. He was right, too right. I can’t afford to be a betting man.”

  “Just like an old woman with nothing better to gripe about,” Jed said before he chuckled. “Just stopping for some grub. You’re right about the snow. You’ll want to stop in about two hours’ time. There’s that big grove of trees to block some of the wind. It’ll give everyone time to get ready to ride out the storm.”

  Smitty took off his hat and ran his hand through his graying hair. “How long will it last?”

  Jed squinted at the sky. “The snow will stop by morning but it’ll be a good foot or so deep. Enough to give us trouble getting the wagons going.”

  Eli nodded. His younger brother seemed so grown up these days. One day Jed had been a bit of a pest and then it seemed as though overnight he’d become Eli’s best council.

  “We’d best get the wagons going.” Eli handed his cup and plate back to Smitty.

  “Surely you have time to eat?” Smitty protested.

  “Wrap me up some of the biscuits you have from this morning will you? I’ll pick them up from you on the trail.” Eli hurried off.

  They traveled for a few hours, and it was almost time to stop when Eli spotted Amelia trying to keep up with her wagon. She hobbled something awful, and it pained him to watch. He’d seen her limp but this was the worst he’d observed. Without much thought, he rode his horse, Roman toward her, leaned down, and scooped her up once again.

  The hard punch he received from her made him wince. “What’s that for?” If he had a free hand, he would have rubbed his shoulder.

  “For t
hinking you have the right to pluck me up whenever you want. You need to learn some manners, Mr. Todd. Now kindly put me back down.”

  “I’m just trying to help.” He furrowed his brow.

  Amelia sighed. “It’ll be more hurting if my Papa sees you. He’ll think it my fault and I have enough to deal with already. Please just do as I ask.”

  He wished he could see her face but she looked at the ground. “Of course. I didn’t mean to interfere.” He stopped his horse, dismounted and reached up for Amelia. Her face was a bright shade of red and her gaze still refused to meet his. Gently he set her down.

  She gave him a quick nod and hobbled off again.

  What kind of parents made a girl like Amelia walk? He shook his head as he swung up into the saddle. She wasn’t a child. This time when he’d held her on his horse, he noticed her female curves. It felt nice to be near her, go figure. Eli shrugged and rode on down the line of wagons letting each driver know they’d be stopping for the day.

  By the time he got to the end, the first few wagons had already started the circle. They were all learning fast, and he felt like a proud mama duck with her babies all in a row.

  Eli spent the next few hours helping people make sure their wagon covers were secure and tied down tight. He advised that as many people as possible sleep inside the wagons instead of under them. Unfortunately, there wasn’t room for everyone, but he hoped that some who slept on the ground just to be outside took his words to heart.

  Walking past the Cruthers’ wagon he saw an oilcloth and bedding laid out underneath. He knew Amelia usually slept outside, but surely not on a night like tonight.

  He stopped and walked to their fire. “Mr. Cruthers, Mrs. Cruthers,” he greeted. “Surely there is room in your wagon for your daughter to pass the night?”