The Journey of the Heart Collection by Colleen Coble EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Authors: Colleen Coble
- Language: English
- Genre: Christian Westerns
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
WABASH, INDIANA, OCTOBER 1865
Autumn’ chill matched Sarah Montgomery’s heart. The war had taken so
much from her, and it seemed impossible for life to ever get to a hopeful
place. The scent of turning leaves lingered in the air as she sat on a porch
rocking chair beside her father, who was huddled in a blanket. Her bustle
bunched under her uncomfortably, but she wanted to be close to her ill
father for as long as possible before Ben arrived.
The sun lingered on the horizon, casting rays of gold and red across the
Indiana sky. In the distance, she could see the silhouettes of the workers in
the field as they tossed the last of the ears of corn into the wagon behind the
horses.
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“Bed sounds better than a party.” She stifled a yawn. “I’m getting tired
of dances every night, though I can’t begrudge everyone’s revelry.” The
Union was preserved, but the price had been so high. Scarcely a family in
the county had been spared the loss of a loved one.
Her father coughed and tugged the blanket higher on his chest. “I’m
glad you’re beginning to enjoy life again. Rand wouldn’t want you to
grieve.”
“No. No, he wouldn’t.” But what no one seemed to understand was that
her fiancé’s death in the war had left a hole that couldn’t be filled. Not ever.
His cold hand clamped down on her wrist. “I need to see you settled
before I die, Sarah.”
She flinched. “Don’t talk like that, Papa.” She couldn’t bear to lose him
—not when she’d already lost so much.
He rubbed his forehead. “You heard the doctor as plainly as I did last
week. This old ticker isn’t going to hold out much longer. I want you to
marry Ben Croftner. He’ll be a good husband to you.”
Sarah wanted to bolt from the porch, to hide herself in the dusty golden
stalks and forget her father’s request. “Ben isn’t Rand. I don’t think I can do
it.”
“Rand is never coming back, honey. Do you want to live here in this
house with Wade the rest of your life?”
She looked down at the bowl of corn in her hands. “No.”
Her older brother thought he always knew best, and the two of them had
never gotten along. “What about Joel?” She’d raised her eight-year-old
brother from infancy when their mother died in childbirth. Any future she
might plan had to include Joel.
“He should go with you. Wade is too hard on him, and he wouldn’t do
well without you.” Her father coughed away a wheeze.
She couldn’t believe she was actually thinking about it, but what other
choice did she have? She liked Ben well enough. He had a nice home along
the Wabash River, and he was always kind to Joel.
“I’ll think about it,” she said as Ben’s carriage came into view.
Ben swung Sarah around the dance floor past hay bales, bridles, and plows.
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