Read Online Ripples Along the Shore by Mona Hodgson - Free Book Online Page B

toward their row. She had her money from Aunt Inez and could make do with very little. She’d be traveling with a big group, many of them friends from the quilting circle. She was no longer a wife expecting to start a family. She needed a fresh start. Opportunities to teach. A renewed purpose.
    And she now had no doubt Garrett Cowlishaw was a leader who could get her there.

Ten
    G arrett watched his men deliver lists of provisions to each table, forcing himself to avoid looking in the direction of the second table in the far left row. Why was Caroline Milburn in attendance at his Boone’s Lick Wagon Train Company meeting? He’d heard for himself from her sister that the family had no intention of leaving Saint Charles. Probably only came to accompany her friends, or out of curiosity. Certainly wouldn’t blame her for wanting to leave that house for an evening’s respite.
    When folks started flooding to the front, he had them form a line at the sign-up roster. From the looks of it, they could have fifteen or more wagons going. Wouldn’t want many more than that. Garrett seated himself on a bench behind the table and pulled the quill from the inkwell.
    Rutherford tentatively signed up for his family—Maren, Gabi, and Mrs. Brantenberg. A Mr. and Mrs. Kamden, with five children and his mother, enlisted for the trip. A big group—good thing the man intended to take two wagons. The Rengler brothers and their family. And ten or more other families. Others stepped up to say they were still thinking on it.
    He could no longer avoid Caroline Milburn, for she now stood on the other side of the table looking as handsome as she did at the wedding.
    “Mr. Cowlishaw.” Even formal, his name sounded like a song on her lips. Out at the farm, they’d agreed to call one another by their given names, but now they were in public.
    He stood. “Mrs. Milburn.” She held a paper, presumably a provisions list, at her side.
    “That was quite an impressive speech you gave.”
    “Thank you.” The compliment warmed his ears, and he felt his resolve to leave Saint Charles and the complex widow begin to weaken. Again.
    When she reached for the pen in the inkwell, he laid his hand on her arm.
    She stilled, her green eyes widening. But she didn’t object or pull away.
    “Given your brother-in-law’s condition, do you really think he could make the trip?”
    “I don’t. My sister has not changed her mind about going.” She drew in a deep breath. “I’m not here on their behalf.”
    She’d waited at the end of the line. There was no one with her, or behind her. “Someone else asked you to sign the roster in their absence?”
    Clearing her throat ever so modestly, Caroline stared at his hand, still resting on her arm.
    He withdrew his hold on her and shoved his hand into his trouser pocket.
    “I’m signing for myself. I’m going west.”
    His heart pounding, he fought to keep his voice calm. “You’re not.”
    “Pardon me?”
    He gripped the edge of the table. “My apologies. What I mean is … with whom would you travel?”
    “Myself, and judging by that long wait to get up here, I’d say dozens of other folks.”
    His throat went dry. He swallowed hard. “You’re single.”
    “Widowed.” Her eyes narrowed, a brighter green than he’d seen them. “What does that have to do with this?”
    “Everything.” A vein in his neck pulsed. “Single women have no place on the trail.”
    “I have several friends intending to go. Maren, Mrs. Brantenberg, Anna Goben—”
    “The sea offers more comfortable travel and doesn’t take much longer.”
    “I don’t wish to travel by ship.” She pressed her fingertips to the table. “I want to provision a wagon and make the trip with people I know.”
    “You can’t go!”
    Her shoulders squared.
    He pulled the roster from the table. “I’m the captain, and—”
    “What you say goes.” She crinkled the provisions list. “Even if it’s wrong. Unfair. And vindictive.” She