Read Online Daniel's Desire by Callie Hutton - Free Book Online

you here.”
    A soldier she hadn’t seen before entered the kitchen and walked up to the Captain. He didn’t seem to be much older than Chandler. Peach fuzz on his face and adolescent pimples marked him as not much more than a boy. “Nothing, sir.”
    Captain Nelson addressed the young soldier, but kept his eyes on Rosemarie. “You check the barn and root cellar?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    The captain stood and shoved the chair under the table. “We’ll be on our way, ma’am.” He slung his rifle over his soldier and leaned toward her. “I sure hope we don’t have no reason to come back here.”
    He nodded and turned to leave when a shout came from outside the house. Rosemarie’s relief was short lived. Had they found Daniel?
    “Captain.” Another young soldier dashed into the kitchen, his eyes wild. “Someone just took off with my horse.”
    “What the hell … ” Captain Nelson pushed the soldier aside and strode to the door, the rest of the men following.
    Rosemarie cursed her sore leg and her inability to see the activity outside the house. “Chandler, go to the porch and see what’s happened.”
    Chandler dashed after the soldiers, the door banging behind him.
    Rosemarie attempted to rise, but fell back when the pain in her leg caused a wave of nausea to roll over her. Sweat broke out on her forehead and she slumped in the chair. Shouting and the sound of horses galloping brought her attention to the kitchen window, where several soldiers, Captain Nelson in the lead, raced past the house.
    Chandler hurried into the kitchen, his eyes wide. “I think Mr. McCoy got away.”
    Why did she feel like she’d been deserted — again? She mentally slapped herself. What did she expect, that Daniel would stay forever and solve all her problems? Certainly not when she had no desire to tie herself to another man.
    She had a farm to run, and three children to feed. She didn’t need his help or anyone else’s for that matter. Her leg would heal, and everything would return to the way it was before the blighter entered her life. Good riddance. He made her feel uncomfortable anyway, the way his eyes lit up when he looked at her. The way he made scrambled eggs for Amelia.
    Well, goddammit, she could scramble eggs, too. She used her knuckle to wipe the tear from the piece of dirt that must’ve gotten into her eye. “Chandler, check the trapdoor — see if Mr. McCoy is gone.”
    Rosemarie held her hand to her throat as Chandler ran to the mudroom and lifted the trap door. He climbed down, leaving the rapid beating of her heart the only sound in the room.
    After a few minutes, Chandler’s head poked up from the opening. “He’s gone.”
    • • •
    The weak Indiana sun beat down on Daniel’s head as he raced through thick foliage, trusting this horse he’d never ridden to keep from stumbling over the forest floor. All his years in training horses came into play as he guided the animal in the direction of the Kentucky border.
    He tugged on the reins when he spotted a small creek to the west of him. They both needed rest and a drink. Daniel slid from the panting animal and knelt to dunk his head into the creek. After scooping up water with his hands, his throat muscles worked as he gulped the sweet liquid running down his chin, onto his shirt. He shook his head like an animal and smoothed back his hair, tucking it behind his ears.
    From the position of the setting sun, he’d been on the road for about two hours. Nothing but the sound of animals rustling through the woods and birds calling to their mates greeted him the few times he’d stopped. If the soldiers had chased after him, they’d given up a while ago. He eased his body against a large oak tree, knees bent, hands dangling between his legs.
    The sound of Rosemarie’s voice denying knowledge of his whereabouts to the soldiers had raised his spirits like nothing else. But then as he listened from his spot under the trap door, it became apparent the captain