Page 42 of Wagon Train Dreams
“We’ll let the beasts rest a bit.” Already, they were enjoying the short grass.
The sun burned hot and bright when they made their way toward the distant town. The water tower came into view first. And then trees waving their leaves like welcoming flags. Then the buildings.
Bertie hung back. “Mama?”
“We’ll take care of you,” she said. Irene and Hazel fell in at their brother’s side.
Joe was no more eager to go directly into town than Bertie. “I’ll ride ahead and find a camping spot.” Without looking back to see if Hazel watched him leave, knowing she did, he rode toward town.
It was a town like so many of the railway towns. Wanting to be big and important but not growing into anything more than a few stores, a blacksmith, a barn and corrals, a church, and several rows of houses. A nearby dam provided water for residents as well as the train. Trees surrounded the dam. A perfect spot for them to camp and enjoy an abundance of water. Except it meant crossing the tracks and traveling through town. Bertie would not like that.
Joe rode east and found a crossing that allowed them to miss the settlement. Having seen all he needed to, he returned to the others. “Found a good place.”
Hazel wasn’t the only one who looked relieved and, at the same time, weary. But she was the only one whose look twisted in his heart.
An hour later, they pulled the wagons into their usual triangle, then led the oxen to water, and then left them to graze. The women knelt by the dam to wash off the dust of their travels.
He’d told the others he’d seen a blacksmith shop.
“Let’s go talk to someone about repairs,” Gabe said.
“I’ll stay and watch the oxen.” They’d have better success dealing with the blackie if Joe wasn’t with them.
Gabe gave him a hard look, then nodded. “Someone should stay with the camp.”
Joe eased back into the trees where he saw everything but, if someone came to investigate the visitors, he would be out of sight.
Hazel watched him, her eyes narrow, but when she started after him, he shook his head.
She ignored him. Apart from disappearing into the bushes, he couldn’t avoid her. And in a secret part of his heart, he didn’t want to. What was the harm in a few more hours enjoying her company?
“Hi.” The sweetness in her voice melted his last bits of resistance. She’d come without Petey. So, the two of them stood alone in the sunlight filtering through the branches.
“Hi.” Not another word came to his tongue. He pressed his shoulder to a tree.
She leaned against the nearest tree, close enough that he saw the fleck of dirt along her hairline that she’d missed in washing. “Nice spot.”
“Umm.” It wasn’t the trees and water he admired.
“Yesterday was a good day,” she said.
“It was.” He’d carry it with him forever, bringing it out to relive and enjoy on cold, lonely nights.
She straightened. The dance of the leaves overhead shimmered in her eyes. “One day isn’t enough. I want more.”
He blinked before her intensity, but he would not move. She had to learn he didn’t change his mind. Wouldn’t. Couldn’t. Because she had no idea what she asked.
Hazel had made up her mind. Joe was a noble, kind man. She welcomed him into her life and her heart. She’d known love before. But this was stronger, more insistent than what she had with Peter. This grabbed the sunshine, the sky, the air, and pumped it all into her heart.
But seeing the wagon almost tip on him had convinced her. She couldn’t let him go. Bad enough to lose Peter to an accident. But to watch Joe almost suffer the same fate—she shuddered.
“Something wrong?” Joe asked.
“No. Wait. Yes. It’s wrong for you to decide we can’t be together. Don’t you think I should have a say in it? I know what I want.”
He backed away. “I care too much about you and Little Warrior to do what you think you want.”
“Think?” She gasped, his words skewering her. “Joe, I never thought you’d be unkind but to assume I’m too silly to know my own mind.” She couldn’t go on.
