Authors: Laura Abbot
A Family Found (22 page)
Until the day her brother had come into the house, waving Grayson's letter. Ben and Rachel had been so excited about the trip, about leaving behind the difficult memories. About starting a new life.
But Emma hadn't been sure.
And she'd hesitated too long to mention that she didn't want to go West. Once plans were made, she hadn't felt she could broach the subject, not without sounding selfish and petty.
Her own fault. Now where was she to find a purpose? Was it possible that she could find it with a family of her own?
Her eldest brother, Grayson, had written of the widowed local sheriff, Tristan McCullough, who had become his close friend in the Oregon Territory. Tristan had three young daughters who needed a mother. Both Grayson and Ben seemed in agreement that the man was a match for Emma.
She wasn't entirely convinced that this was her purpose, even if her brothers seemed to be certain. She would wait until she met the man before she decided what to do.
Unanswered questions swirled in Emma's head as she trailed the men carting Mr. Reed to their wagon, but the biggest remained: Where would Mr. Reed stay? Obviously, he couldn't walk to guide the Binghams' oxen.
And from what she knew of Abby's wagon, there wasn't room for a mouse, much less a man as tall as Mr. Reed.
Ben had made himself Mr. Reed's caretaker when he'd stood up for the ill man. Would Benâand Emma by associationâÂÂbe forced to keep Mr. Reed in the Hewitts' wagon? If he must stay in their wagon, the precious little privacy she fought for on this dusty wilderness trail would be gone.
When they arrived at the family campsite, Rachel and Abby were there, packing up the breakfast dishes.
“What happened?” Abby asked, moving toward Ben, almost as if by instinct.
“We need to clear a space in your family's wagon,” Ben told his fiancée. “Reed fell sickâmeasles.”
“Will there be roomâ¦?” Abby's question trailed off as she moved with the men toward the Binghams' wagon. Emma remained near the fire with Rachel.
“Did the committee reach a verdict?”
Emma shook her head slightly. “He collapsed. Ben demanded they hold the verdict until he is recovered.”
Rachel watched Emma carefully. “You don't think he is guilty?”
Her sister saw too much. They had always been close. But Emma did have one secretâthat she hadn't wanted to come West at all.
She shrugged, moving to pick up the breakfast skillet to take it to the family wagon. “Even if he is guilty, he deserves to be treated fairly. No man deserves to be left in the wilderness to die.”
A shiver raced through her, just thinking about it.
“That's his punishment? How utterly unfair!” Rachel was a passionate personâand much more outspoken than Emma.
She went on, spouting her thoughts as if she was defending Mr. Reed in front of the committeemen herself. “I'm just glad Ben was there to stand up for him.”
Emma was, too. Part of her wished that
she
had been able to stand up against the injustice. Perhaps that should become her new purpose.
Finding her voice. Or risk losing it forever.
Copyright © 2015 by Harlequin Books S.A.
ISBN-13: 9781460381540
A Family Found
Copyright © 2015 by Laura A. Shoffner
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