Read Online Colorado Dawn by Kaki Warner - Free Book Online Page B

smoke sent it plummeting into the flames. He felt like his own life had been in a similar downward spiral since leaving the Hussars. He’d been on the move and under orders for over seventeen years. But now that his military life was over, he no longer knew where he belonged, orwhat his duty was. His title was only a courtesy rank given him as the heir to an earldom; no lands or responsibilities came with it. So other than securing the line by producing heirs—which he couldn’t accomplish without a wife—what was he to do with himself? Gamble his nights away? Learn to tie a neckcloth properly? Wait for Donnan to die? Such a useless life was repugnant to him. He almost envied his runaway bride for finding a purpose she could believe in.
    “Heartbreak Creek,” he said after a while. “An odd place for a gently bred Englishwoman to call home.”
    “I have dear friends there. A family almost.”
    “Aye. I met some of them.” He stared into the flames and thought of the loyal blond hotel owner and the tall, overprotective sheriff. “But you have family in Scotland, too.”
    “No.
You
have family there. Mine are all gone.”
    “Gone?” He turned his head and looked at her.
    “If you’ll recall, my parents died in a carriage mishap.”
    “Did they?” Why hadna he been told? Then he remembered what an uproar the house had been in when he’d returned—the fevers still running their courses, the funerals coming one upon the other, his own disoriented state. Still, he should have known. “When?”
    “Three years after we married. In September of sixty-eight.”
    A month after the explosion. “I’m sorry, lass. I dinna know.”
    “Yes, Ash, you did. Or would have, if you’d actually read any of the letters I sent you.” With a look of disgust aimed in his direction, she rose from the chair. “I have an assignment in Denver coming up and must return to Heartbreak Creek to gather supplies. Mr. Satterwhite and I will be leaving at first light. We’ll try not to wake you. If I don’t get a chance to speak to you again, I’ll bid you good-bye now and wish you safe journey back to Scotland.”
    Ash watched her walk toward the wagon. Not walk—more like parade march, with that stiff-backed stride. The woman had spirit. And a lot of anger. He wondered if it would be possible to rid her of one without breaking the other.
    Satterwhite came down the steps to meet her, the rat right behindhim. They spoke for a moment while the rat did her business, then his wife and the dog went inside and Satterwhite walked to the front of the wagon. After pulling a bundle from beneath the driver’s bench, he crossed toward Ash. “It’ll get cold tonight,” he said, dumping his bundle of bedding on the ground beside the fire. “Hope you got something warm to wrap up in.”
    Ash looked at the wagon and thought of his wife in there all snug and cozy. With a sigh, he picked up his bedroll. At least he had Tricks to warm his back. “I’m a Highlander,” he said as he spread his blanket on the dirt. “We invented cold.”
    “Doesn’t say much for your intellect,” the old man muttered.
    Ash laughed. “Oh, it’s not so bad. On cold, clear nights like this you can see every star in the heavens. I’ve spent worse nights in worse places, so I have.” He stretched out, hands clasped behind his head, his dog snug on one side, the smoldering fire on the other, and an endless array of stars winking down at him from overhead.
    Silence settled around him, so sharp and clear he could hear Tricks breathing beside him, the hiss and pop of the fire, aspens rustling in a breeze that felt as soft as a woman’s breath on his cheek.
    It was odd sleeping in the open without the sound of soldiers moving around him, voices calling out on the picket lines, or the distant boom of cannon and crack of rifle fire. Usually he liked the solitude of it. But tonight he felt a little lost in all the dark stillness. Like one of those lonely stars