Page 89 of Short-Straw Bride

Travis stared at the paper, his signature glaring up at him from the bottom of the sheet. His chest clenched. Something wet pooled in his eye. He blinked it away and cleared the clog out of his throat.

“Burn that for me, will you?”

Jim grinned and strode toward the hearth. He reached to the mantel, took a match from the iron holder, and scraped the head against the striker. Fire flared at the tip, and Travis watched as Jim hunkered down before the hearth and lit the bottom corner of the paper. While his signature shriveled and turned to black ash, something deep in Travis’s soul shouted in triumph.

Then a longing, equally deep, rose within him—a longing to share this moment, this triumph, with the one person who meant more to him than any other.

Meri.

40

When Meredith spied Cassie and Myra coming around the side of the house, she bolted from her spot by the horses, desperate for word of what was happening.

“Did you see Travis?” she demanded of her cousin without preamble. “I heard gunshots. Is he all right?”

“I think so, but I can’t be sure. I was too busy climbing out your bedroom window when the second shot went off.” Cassie clasped Meredith’s arm, her eyes sympathetic. “I’m sure he’s fine, though.”

Meredith nodded, yet her heart wasn’t as sure as her mind. She turned back to the cabin door. Things were quieter. Was that good?

Her stomach roiled. The waiting was killing her.

Finally, someone exited the cabin. Jim crossed the threshold, scanning the yard. “Cassandra?”

Cassie dropped Meredith’s arm and hurried toward him. “I’m here!”

Jim pounded across the yard and embraced her with such ferocity her feet left the ground. It was joyous to watch, yet it left Meredith hungry for her own reunion and, at the same time, scared that even if Travis were well, he wouldn’t be as happy to see her.

Myra came up behind her and laid a hand on her shoulder. “Our men’ll be next. Don’t you worry.”

“I pray you’re right.”

When Moses did emerge, the sight of the oh-so-proper Roy Mitchell draped insensible over his shoulder brought a startled smile to Meredith’s face.

“Didn’t I tell you?” Myra patted Meredith’s shoulder and stepped toward her husband. “I better send Josiah to fetch the wagon. Looks like we’ll be needing it to haul all the sorry hides we collected.”

Meredith actually giggled at that, and the release felt wonderful. Surely Moses would have given top priority to any of their men who had fallen during the melee. If he was carting Roy around, that must mean none of the injuries were too severe on the Archers’ side.

She took a step toward the cabin, needing to see her husband, to gain that final reassurance that all was well.

A second step. Then a third. She walked as if in a dream.

Crockett marched through the door, dragging the logger behind him. Seth Winston followed with the man’s ax. Her uncle hobbled out next, Aunt Noreen tucked under his arm. Meredith’s pulse throbbed. Where is Travis?

So intent was she on looking for her husband that she didn’t notice that Uncle Everett had paused in front of her until he spoke.

“Forgive me, Meri.” His head hung low, his gaze meeting hers only for a moment before dipping back toward the ground. “I want you to know I’ll be heading to the bank first thing in the morning to deed the property over to you and Travis, like I should’ve done right after your marriage.”

Meredith nodded, unsure what to say. However, when he shuffled past, a burst of compassion rose up within her. She called his name softly and waited for him to glance back.

“If you allow Cassie to select her own husband,” she said, thinking of Jim, “I’ll give her the homestead as a wedding gift. Perhaps you and the man she chooses will be able to work together to revive your mill.”

Uncle Everett’s eyes misted, and for a moment he didn’t move. Then he gave his own silent nod before ducking his chin and urging Aunt Noreen forward.

Pivoting toward the cabin once again, Meredith picked up her pace. Another shadow loomed in the doorway. Her feet slowed. Three men moved into the light, none of them Travis. Meredith swallowed her disappointment. Josiah and Neill carried a bloodied Mr. Wheeler down the steps between them.

The last of the men filed out as she reached the edge of the porch. The ones she knew from the freedmen’s school smiled at her as they passed. Meredith thanked them for their aid, knowing she should say more, but her mind seemed unable to manage more than a simple thank-you with her heart so focused on locating her husband.

Taking a deep breath, she climbed the steps and entered the dim interior of the cabin. Travis stood near the hearth, his gaze focused somewhere inside the stone opening. He looked so solitary standing there, one hand braced against the mantel. Her heart longed for him with such acute need her chest ached. Yet she held herself back, not sure if he would welcome her intrusion. Not sure if he would welcome her.