Read Online California Romance by Colleen L. Reece - Free Book Online
Authors: Colleen L. Reece
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you’re gettin’ used to the idea. Good. You make a fuss, and it will be the worse for you, missy,” Gus warned.
Strength flowed into Sarah. She looked directly into Gus’s face and managed to smile. “I won’t make a fuss. I promise.” Truth underlined every word, even though she mentally added,
I won’t be here to make a fuss
. For the first time since Mama had fallen ill, happiness filled Sarah. No matter how long and hard the path ahead was, thanks to Virginia
Anderson
, her daughter would be free.
It was late afternoon before Sarah could retrieve the canister. Once emptied, it took its place on a kitchen shelf with nothing to indicate it had once contained treasure. Finished with her many chores for a few moments, Sarah opened her mother’s Bible again. She riffled the pages and stopped at Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” It was underlined. Sarah resolved to take her mother’s advice and secretly prepare to leave—all the while pretending to accept the inevitable future Gus and Tice had planned for her. Perhaps in that way she would throw them off guard.
Yet in spite of her determination, it was all Sarah could do to keep her fear and dislike of Tice Edwards from spilling out when he came courting. She had to admit that he never showed her anything but gentle, considerate attention. He took her for buggy rides and painted a glowing, wonderful picture of their future.
“You will love life on the
River Queen,”
he assured her over and over. “Can’t you just imagine gliding down the river and watching glorious sunrises and sunsets?”
Sarah nodded. She could imagine it all right—with horror, not anticipation.
Tice never let her forget him for more than a short time. He wrote flowery letters when he couldn’t come in person. He brought her nosegays, not wildflowers but expensive bouquets from the best flower sellers in St. Louis. He arranged for the best dressmaker in St. Louis to fashion Sarah’s wedding gown. Raging inside, she passively stood while the woman measured, cut, and draped. She must not arouse suspicion, even though she would rather wear faded calico all her life than spend one minute in the expensive gown Tice had selected.
He also bought her costly little trinkets. Sarah shrank from accepting anything from her would-be husband but privately gritted her teeth and stashed them away for her journey. Anything small enough to carry that she could sell would help. Between visits, Sarah continued her hard, monotonous tending of the house and trying to manage the children. In spare moments she started gathering the supplies she would need for her trip to California.
Sarah occasionally felt overwhelmed at the enormity of what she was attempting.
Nineteen hundred miles lay between St. Louis and the Diamond S Ranch near Madera, California. Nineteen hundred mind-staggering miles filled with unknown dangers. At those times Sarah took comfort in rereading Seth’s letters, which soon became ragged. Countless times she looked at the photograph he’d sent and imagined life in the West. Against her better judgment her imagining always included the dark-haired stranger with Seth. Her brother surely couldn’t be wrong about Matthew Sterling’s character. If only Tice were the man the young rancher appeared to be!
She laughed bitterly. Despite his suave sophistication, Tice Edwards was no better than Gus Stoddard. Marrying him would be like the old saying, “Leaping out of the frying pan into the fire.”
“Never,” Sarah vowed again and again, thanking God for her mother’s far-reaching wisdom and attention to her daughter’s need to escape when she was gone.
During one of the times of fanciful musing and the inevitable comparison between Matt Sterling and Tice Edwards, the children swarmed up the stairs, screaming for Sarah’s attention. A few of Seth’s letters and the photograph
Strength flowed into Sarah. She looked directly into Gus’s face and managed to smile. “I won’t make a fuss. I promise.” Truth underlined every word, even though she mentally added,
I won’t be here to make a fuss
. For the first time since Mama had fallen ill, happiness filled Sarah. No matter how long and hard the path ahead was, thanks to Virginia
Anderson
, her daughter would be free.
It was late afternoon before Sarah could retrieve the canister. Once emptied, it took its place on a kitchen shelf with nothing to indicate it had once contained treasure. Finished with her many chores for a few moments, Sarah opened her mother’s Bible again. She riffled the pages and stopped at Matthew 10:16: “Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” It was underlined. Sarah resolved to take her mother’s advice and secretly prepare to leave—all the while pretending to accept the inevitable future Gus and Tice had planned for her. Perhaps in that way she would throw them off guard.
Yet in spite of her determination, it was all Sarah could do to keep her fear and dislike of Tice Edwards from spilling out when he came courting. She had to admit that he never showed her anything but gentle, considerate attention. He took her for buggy rides and painted a glowing, wonderful picture of their future.
“You will love life on the
River Queen,”
he assured her over and over. “Can’t you just imagine gliding down the river and watching glorious sunrises and sunsets?”
Sarah nodded. She could imagine it all right—with horror, not anticipation.
Tice never let her forget him for more than a short time. He wrote flowery letters when he couldn’t come in person. He brought her nosegays, not wildflowers but expensive bouquets from the best flower sellers in St. Louis. He arranged for the best dressmaker in St. Louis to fashion Sarah’s wedding gown. Raging inside, she passively stood while the woman measured, cut, and draped. She must not arouse suspicion, even though she would rather wear faded calico all her life than spend one minute in the expensive gown Tice had selected.
He also bought her costly little trinkets. Sarah shrank from accepting anything from her would-be husband but privately gritted her teeth and stashed them away for her journey. Anything small enough to carry that she could sell would help. Between visits, Sarah continued her hard, monotonous tending of the house and trying to manage the children. In spare moments she started gathering the supplies she would need for her trip to California.
Sarah occasionally felt overwhelmed at the enormity of what she was attempting.
Nineteen hundred miles lay between St. Louis and the Diamond S Ranch near Madera, California. Nineteen hundred mind-staggering miles filled with unknown dangers. At those times Sarah took comfort in rereading Seth’s letters, which soon became ragged. Countless times she looked at the photograph he’d sent and imagined life in the West. Against her better judgment her imagining always included the dark-haired stranger with Seth. Her brother surely couldn’t be wrong about Matthew Sterling’s character. If only Tice were the man the young rancher appeared to be!
She laughed bitterly. Despite his suave sophistication, Tice Edwards was no better than Gus Stoddard. Marrying him would be like the old saying, “Leaping out of the frying pan into the fire.”
“Never,” Sarah vowed again and again, thanking God for her mother’s far-reaching wisdom and attention to her daughter’s need to escape when she was gone.
During one of the times of fanciful musing and the inevitable comparison between Matt Sterling and Tice Edwards, the children swarmed up the stairs, screaming for Sarah’s attention. A few of Seth’s letters and the photograph
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