River Lady Read online

  And Wesley didn’t speak to anyone. He did his chores, but retreated into himself, seemingly unaware that anyone else was near him.

  “That young man is considerin’ somethin’ powerful hard,” Sadie said as she and Hank took their leave. “I’m hopin’ he’s decidin’ which woman he wants.”

  Leah just looked at her. “You’re too much of a romantic, Sadie. Wesley has been in love with Kim for years. He’s probably trying to force himself to wait until the wedding.” She couldn’t add that it’d be a long time before their wedding because of the inconvenience of Leah and Wes’s marriage.

  Leah hugged all the family good-bye and she was very glad that they’d never know the truth about her. They’d never learn of how she’d flaunted herself at Wes and he’d discarded her.

  It was a silent group that trudged ahead toward Sweetbriar, Kentucky.

  On the fourth day after Sadie, Hank, and their children had left, two men came galloping toward them. One was Oliver Stark, Justin’s nineteen-year-old brother who worked for Wesley. The other was John Hammond, a tall, handsome man in his thirties with prematurely gray hair.

  “The farm’s doin’ just fine,” Oliver said, grinning at Wesley and his brother. “It sure took you a long time gettin’ here.”

  “I didn’t expect to see you here, John,” Wesley said, extending his hand.

  “The man you sent ahead said you had two of the prettiest women he’d ever seen with you. It looks like he was right,” he said, looking Leah and Kim over.

  Kim looked down at the ground. As usual, her eyes were red from crying.

  “I’d like to introduce the ladies,” Wes said, but Kim put her hand on his arm, her eyes pleading.

  “Let me speak to Leah, please,” Kim half whispered.

  Wesley’s jaw flexed, but he nodded and looked back at the men and began to ask questions about his farm.

  Puzzled, Leah followed Kim to the back of the wagon. Something was upsetting her greatly. “Are you all right, Kim?” she asked, concerned.

  “Wesley is being beastly,” she spat out. “Once he makes up his mind to something, nothing will change it.”

  Leah couldn’t believe she was being asked to comfort the woman who was to marry her husband. “I would think you’d be glad of that. He decided to marry you and nothing will change his mind, not even his marriage to someone else.”

  Kim gave her a hard look. “Sometimes he changes his mind. It takes him awhile to decide to do it but when he does, nothing will make him change.”

  “What in the world are you talking about? Oh!” Leah gasped as she slipped and nearly fell. The wagons were stopped on a narrow road on the side of a steep hill. Below them ran a stream with no trees in between.

  “Watch out!” Kim said. “You nearly fell!”

  Leah smiled. “It’s not steep enough to be a danger. Unless the wagon fell on top of me, I guess.”

  Kim didn’t reply to this. “Leah,” she said slowly. “I need my pink hat. It’s in that little brown trunk on the far side of the wagon. I’d get it but you’re so much more agile than I am. Would you get it for me? Please?”

  When Leah hesitated, Kim persisted. “You’ll get rid of me soon and you won’t have to help me out anymore.”

  Sighing, Leah agreed. Kim had been so upset lately that Leah couldn’t refuse her request. Besides, anything thing that would postpone their arrival into Kentucky was good for her. She climbed into the back of the wagon and began looking for Kim’s trunk.

  When Kim returned to the men at the front of the wagon she was frowning. They were deep in conversation, not even aware of Kim as she stood by the horses on the side away from the steep drop. With one glance upward to be sure the men were busy, she slowly removed her bonnet, pulled out a four-inch-long hatpin, and with great deliberation stuck it into the horse’s rump.

  “Hey!” John Hammond shouted.

  Kim turned frightened eyes toward the man, knowing he’d seen what she’d done.

  But no one reacted to John’s shout because instantly the horse reared, frightened the other horses, and the wagon began tumbling down the side of the hill.

  “Oh damn!” Wes cursed, watching the wagon. Then he stiffened. “Leah! Where’s Leah?”

  Kim’s eyes were locked onto John Hammond’s and she couldn’t speak.

  Wesley didn’t bother to wait for an answer as he ran down the hill after the wagon, Justin on his heels. Oliver and John followed quickly. Kim stood where she was in the road, not moving.

  When the wagon stopped, leaving a trail of goods behind it, the horses screaming in pain, Leah was nowhere to be found. Wesley was throwing trunks and bags of food everywhere while Oliver cut the horses loose.

  “Where is she?” Wesley demanded while Justin scanned the hillside, looking for her body.

  “Kim is up there,” came a voice beside Wesley.

  Wesley turned to see Leah standing calmly behind him.

  “What happened? How badly are the horses hurt? How much can be saved?” Leah asked all at once as she started to help Oliver with the horses.

  “Damn you!” Wesley hissed, then the next second he caught her in his arms and kissed her so hard he hurt her.

  “Wesley!” She gasped, pushing at him. “People are watching.” She looked at Justin, who was scowling furiously, and John, who was watching them with great interest.

  Wesley set her down and, for the first time in weeks, his face showed happiness. “Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my wife, Leah Stanford.”

  Only John saw Kim faint, and he was quickly up the hill after her.

  Leah’s knees gave way and Wes swept her off the ground. “Don’t you have anything to say, honey?” Wes asked her.

  Chapter 13

  It took hours to clean up the mess of the wagon. One horse had to be destroyed and the other three were badly scraped and cut, but they’d heal in time. Some sacks of seed had burst open and most of the contents were lost, but few other goods were really hurt.

  At the top of the hill, Kimberly was crying loudly while John Hammond tried his best to comfort her. Justin was very angry and threw goods about with force, never once looking at Leah or Wes. Oliver kept looking from one person to another while Leah, with shaking hands, tried to help sort the misplaced wagon contents.

  But Wesley acted as if nothing at all was unusual. He was smiling, even humming at times, and telling everyone what to do.

  “Leah, honey,” Wes said, “hand me that little hatbox.”

  Obediently Leah picked it up, but as she looked at him smiling at her she threw it at his face, turned, and ran toward the stream, tears in her eyes.

  Wesley caught up with her, took her shoulders and turned her to face him. “What’s wrong, honey? I thought you’d be happy when I told everyone the truth about us. It’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”

  She moved away from him and tried to calm herself. “I knew it had to happen sometime, but when I heard you say it…You ought to tell your friends about the divorce and for heaven’s sake, stop calling me ‘honey.’”

  “Divorce?” He looked puzzled. “Oh no, you don’t understand. I’ve decided we should stay married. There won’t be any divorce.”

  “I think I’ll sit down,” Leah said quietly before she almost collapsed onto the damp ground. “Could you explain all this to me?”

  He grinned down at her confidently. “It’s just that I’ve come to like you, Leah. I was pretty mad at first. Well, all right, more than a little mad and maybe I didn’t give you much of a chance, but you’d ruined all my plans and all I could think of was losing Kim.”

  He hunkered down in front of her. “But on this trip I’ve come to know you. I thought I wanted a woman like Kim who needed me, but Kim needs a maid more than she needs a man. And besides, you need me, too. You’re always trying to take on too much, always trying to do everything for everyone else.”

  “So you decided I needed you, too,” Leah said softly.

  “Yes. And besides, you’re