Cora gave another scornful laugh. “Ted is the reason we’re here.” She looked him straight in the eyes. “I didn’t expect to meet with resistance when we arrived in Independence to join with a wagon company. The farm was already sold, and we were prepared to leave, but no wagon master would take us because Anna and I, being of age, didn’t have husbands.”
Nathaniel frowned and shook his head. “What happened, Cora? How did you and your family end up alone?”
“I met Ted in Independence. He offered to marry me and managed to talk one of the wagon masters into letting us join them.” She shook her head. “I accepted, because it was the only way to get to Oregon. I thought he was different from the suitors back home. I thought Ted simply wanted a wife, and that a marriage would benefit us both.”
“He’s your husband?” The question left a bitter taste in Nathaniel’s mouth. “What happened to him?”
“I expect he’s halfway to California by now. He decided to go gold mining rather than fulfill his promise to me.” She laughed coldly. “While we were at Fort Laramie, he told me our marriage wasn’t valid, that the man he’d paid to marry us wasn’t really a preacher.” She glared up at him. “I hope you understand a little better now why I’ve been reluctant to put my trust in you. I’ve learned that I’m better off relying on myself.”
The muscles along his neck and shoulders tensed. Her reasons were sound. He understood all too well.
“I appreciate you telling me. I don’t plan to give you any cause not to trust me, Cora. I’d like the chance to help you.”
She cocked her head and met his gaze. “All right. I told you my story. What’s yours, Nathaniel Wilder? Why are you so hell bent on helping us?”
Nathaniel ran a hand over his face. She’d been honest with him. He owed her some honesty, too.
“I’d do the same for anyone,” he said slowly.
“But if someone repeatedly told you they didn’t want your help, would you continue to tail them the way you’ve been pursuing us?” she challenged. “There has to be another reason.”
He drew in a deep breath. “When I realized how much trouble you were in, I couldn’t simply do nothing, Cora. I watched my mother and father, and my baby sister, get slaughtered by a group of thugs when I was a boy. I could have done something. I should have done something, but all I did was hide like a coward.”
Cora’s eyes widened. She placed her hand on his arm. Her touch instantly soothed the tension in him. He wasn’t going to tell her his other reason, the one that had grown stronger with each day. What, exactly, would he even say? Besides, the timing wasn’t right.
“You’ll never make it on your own, and I’m saying that because it’s the reality of the situation and the cold, hard truth, not because I think you’re weak. You and your family will die out here alone. I couldn’t live with myself if I let that happen, like I let my folks die.”
He stared at her. Cora didn’t look away. She nodded quietly.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “For a lot of things. I would be grateful, Mr. Wilder, if you helped us get to Fort Hall.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
N athaniel rode ahead of the wagon, letting his horse pick his own way around the sage shrubs along the flat expanse of prairie. The wagon ruts were easy to follow in this area. In the distance, the winding Snake River flowed near the white adobe walls of Fort Hall as their destination came into view. The fort was nothing more than a square structure with several shops and living quarters inside. Remnants of a more prosperous time littered the area in the form of hundreds of decaying army wagons.
He brought his horse to a stop and glanced over his shoulder. Cora rode her gray gelding next to the wagon, talking to Anna, who drove the rig. It wasn't long before Cora turned her head toward him and urged her horse forward until she was by his side.
“There’s Fort Hall.” Nathaniel pointed toward the structure that looked unnatural against the surrounding prairie.
Cora stood up in her stirrups, craning her neck. “That’s it?” She sounded disappointed.
“Not much to look at, I suppose,” Nathaniel agreed. “Nothing like Fort Laramie. The army left this place several years ago, and so have most of the traders. This late in the season, you’ll probably be able to still get some dry goods, but be ready to pay a hefty price.”
“We don’t need any supplies.” Cora held her hand against her forehead to shield her face from the sun and squinted into the distance.
She wasn’t wearing a bonnet to protect her face. Nathaniel’s eyes lingered on her hair and the way the breeze caused some of the golden strands to caress her cheeks. The tips of his fingers tingled. He gripped his horse’s reins tighter to keep from reaching out to touch her.
The pull she had on him had grown steadily stronger since Cora had finally accepted his company. She wasn’t even aware how much she affected him. Frustrated by his feelings, he’d spent more time during the day scouting than staying near the wagon. Last night when they’d made camp, he’d crawled under his bedroll shortly after supper to be alone with his thoughts.
Anna had shot him a quizzical look when he’d announced that he was tired as soon as she’d collected the supper dishes. At least it hadn’t been a lie. Memories and thoughts of holding Cora in his arms were driving him mad. The way she’d felt in his embrace and the way she’d clung to him, accepting his strength and a shoulder to cry on, ignited his need to protect her even more.
The desire to keep her and her family safe waged war with the impulse to run back to Harley’s Hole and forget all about the woman who slowly tormented him without even knowing what she was doing. If he left, he’d be no better than the coward he swore he’d never be again, or one of the men who’d made Cora so bitter.
She had been cordial with him over the last couple of days, but she seemed to go out of her way to keep her distance. After their talk by the river, when she’d broken down and cried in his arms, she’d returned to her wagon and had thrown herself into the work of packing up and heading out. She’d barely spoken to him for the rest of the day and most certainly hadn’t brought up their discussion, or her moment of weakness.
Since joining the women’s camp, he’d spent more time talking to his horse than ever before. His gelding had lent a patient ear, but somehow didn’t seem to sympathize with Nathaniel’s troubles. Cora’s quiet demeanor around him certainly wasn’t like the woman he’d come to know. Perhaps she regretted having allowed him to see her vulnerable side and was afraid to say anything else that would make her appear weak. Truth be told, she wasn’t weak in his eyes, but he hadn’t found the right moment to tell her so.
After leaving the river yesterday, they’d made good time traveling across the plains. The afternoon sun hadn’t even reached the western horizon yet today. There would be plenty of daylight once they reached the Snake and could set up camp outside the fort. What was going to happen, now that they’d arrived?
He’d caught her looking at him several times when he’d ridden ahead or scouted the area, when he sat talking with her siblings, or at other times when she thought he wasn’t aware. The problem was, he was more aware of her than he’d ever been of anyone else.
Cora nudged her horse forward, following the wagon ruts toward the fort. Nathaniel guided his mount next to hers. He’d had plenty of time to think about what was going on in his head and in his heart where Cora was concerned.
He’d never met anyone like her. Her stubborn streak and fearless attitude might be a fault, but it also made her exciting. When they’d stopped to make camp the previous night, they’d minced words about her doing too much when she should have been mindful of her head injury. She hadn’t listened when Anna had suggested she take it easy that morning, either. Nathaniel had kept his mouth shut at the time, but he’d voiced his opinion later on.
“Maybe you shouldn’t be doing so much. You took a pretty good hit to the head, and that wound still needs to heal. You oughta take it easy tomorrow.”
&nb
sp; She’d glared at him when he’d made his suggestion. “I’m not going to sit idly by while everyone else around me does all the work. I certainly don’t need to be coddled. I’m perfectly fine.”
Anna’s eyes had volleyed between him and Cora, and everyone else had stared expectantly at him to see if he had something to say to counter Cora’s argument. Nathaniel had shot her a disapproving look but held his tongue. What he’d really wanted to say in reply wasn’t appropriate for everyone else to hear. If it had just been Cora, he would have told her that a little coddling might be exactly what she needed. Preferably in his arms.
Harley’s suggestion to him and his brothers about finding wives at some point had been on his mind more and more during the long stretches of silence as they’d moved westward toward Fort Hall. He’d shrugged off the old trapper’s words in the past, but fate had put him in a direct path with Cora Miller, and he couldn’t shake the notion that she was the right woman for him. She certainly stirred his heart and heated the blood flowing through his veins.
Ethan, being the oldest, had been Harley’s favorite target, but he’d eyed Nathaniel with greater frequency lately whenever he’d talked of women. He couldn’t stop a smile. Along with all of his brothers, Nathaniel had always had the freedom to come and go as he pleased. One of his arguments against getting hitched had been that he’d be tied down too much. What would Harley or his brothers say if he showed up with a woman? It was a ridiculous idea, but one he was warming up to more and more.
The problem was how to convince Cora that he was different from her father and Ted, the man she thought had been her husband. They barely knew each other, and he was running out of time. What if she found someone who’d let her and her family join up with them, and she continued on to Oregon? It was unlikely, but still a possibility.
“What are you hoping to find at Fort Hall?” Nathaniel finally asked to break the silence.
Cora tilted her head in his direction. “I’m hoping one of the wagon companies will relent and allow us to join them.”
“And what if no one is willing to take you? There was only one company camped at the fort when I came through here a couple of weeks ago. You might be the last wagon of the season.”
She sat straighter in the saddle, staring off into the distance. “I don’t know,” she whispered. “I’ll find a way.”
Nathaniel kept quiet. There was no sense getting her riled up by telling her that her chances were slim to none. He was willing to bet his entire year’s worth of supplies that no one would want to take on four young women and a boy. If she hadn’t found anyone at Fort Laramie, she certainly wasn’t going to find anyone at Fort Hall.
The emigrants were even more travel weary at this point, and taking on extra people would simply add to the strain, not to mention that no one thought a woman should be traveling without a man. He had to think of something to help her, short of taking her to Oregon himself. Hell. He didn’t want her to go to Oregon.
His life was in the mountains, not on a farm. Going back to the kind of life he barely remembered from when he was a boy would constantly remind him of his folks and how they had died. An idea had been brewing in his mind all day on how to help Cora, but it was rather farfetched, and she would never agree to it. She probably wouldn’t even take his offer seriously. It was an idea that would be to her benefit and would lead to misery for him, but he’d do it to keep her safe. He’d have to think on it some more overnight.
Nathaniel led the wagon a short distance from the actual fort and found a secluded spot along one of the creeks that flowed through the area. Grass was abundant for the horses and mules, and there were trees for shade.
“I’ll take you to the fort once you’re settled,” he said while unhitching the team. “We’ll see if there are any other wagons in the area.”
“I want to come to the fort.” Patrick’s eager eyes went from Cora to Nathaniel.
“You’d best stay here while I see what it’s like there.” Cora shot him a stern look that didn’t leave the boy any room to argue. Nathaniel’s lips twitched. She looked at him with a determined set to her lips. “Can we go before it gets too late in the day?”
What would happen at the outpost? Apprehension gripped him as they approached the adobe-walled fort. What if he was wrong, and someone agreed to let her come along? He’d only seen about a dozen wagons camped in the area, probably one company and most likely the last one to come through here until next spring. This late in the year, anyone following would be in a heap of trouble as they traveled further west into the mountains.
The trading post wasn’t as loud and lively as it had been in previous years. There was even less activity now than a few weeks ago when he’d come through here. Several trappers, as well as Indian men and women milled about, peddling their wares. Men played cards and drank.
Nathaniel glared at one bushy-faced man whose eyes followed Cora’s every move a little too closely. She had apparently noticed it, too, by the way her spine stiffened. She held her chin high and looked straight ahead. Nathaniel stepped closer to her and his hand moved to the small of her back. Time to send a message to everyone that she had a protector. His pulse pounded at his temples while his fingers curled around his rifle.
Cora’s steps faltered instantly the moment his hand touched her. She raised her eyes to his. There was no angry stare, or other indication to tell him he was out of line. In fact, she looked at him with an almost grateful expression and it made his heart beat faster. She had a definite warmth and admiration in her gaze. A faint smile even passed over her lips.
As if she’d realized what she was doing, she blinked and dropped eye contact. Her body lurched forward as she stumbled over a metal object. Nathaniel’s hand clamped around her waist to keep her on her feet and drew her up against him. He mentally thanked whoever had left that tin can lying on the ground, giving him the opportunity to hold Cora, then cursed himself in the next instant for having such a thought.
“Careful,” he whispered against her hair. She sucked in a loud breath in exasperation.
“Thank you. How clumsy of me.” There was a distinct hitch in her voice, unlike the usual confidence in her tone.
Nathaniel kept his eyes locked on hers and his hand at her waist. If he didn’t let go soon, he’d have trouble keeping an eye and ear out to his surroundings. He slowly slid his hand along her waist before he removed it completely. He’d much rather hold her and send a message to the other men around them to stay away, but she wouldn’t like that nor agree to it.
Anna’s advice to him about earning Cora’s trust rather than demanding it, rang loud and clear in his ears. He’d hold her up if she needed help, but she was free to make her own choice about how much help she wanted. Keeping a watchful eye on the trapper, he led her to one of the stores where dry goods were sold.
Stan Moray, the trader, couldn’t have looked more surprised when Nathaniel walked in than if a herd of bison had charged through his store.
“Didn’t expect to see you back again so soon.”
“Likewise.” Nathaniel stepped around several wooden crates and up to the counter. “Do you know of any emigrant wagons still at the fort, Moray?”
Stan rubbed at the beard that covered most of his face. He glanced at Cora, his gaze moving over her as if he were appraising a beaver plew. By the look on his face, he was trying to figure out what Nathaniel’s connection was to her.
“There’s one company camped over by Pannock Creek,” the trader told him. “Bunch of them preacher-type folks among them. Couldn’t interest any of ‘em in a keg of whiskey.” He chuckled. “Why are ye asking?”
“This lady and her family are trying to get to Oregon.” Nathaniel forced the words from his mouth. The muscles in his neck tightened. He’d promised Cora he’d help her, not hinder her from getting to Oregon, which left him no choice but to answer.
Stan openly appraised her some more. “I’m sure yore husband can ask the man in charge of the outfit if they�
�ll take ya on.”
“I don’t have a husband,” Cora said firmly, as if the trader had insulted her.
Nathaniel’s lips twitched. Stan’s bushy brows rose. The trader turned an inquisitive gaze on him, then back to Cora. He rubbed at his chin.
“Well, there’s lots of men in that bunch, if ya want to hitch up with one of ‘em. I’m sure someone would be more’n happy ta wed up with ya.” He grinned, exposing a gap between his upper teeth, and shot a hasty glance at Nathaniel. He held up his hands and leaned back, as if he thought he might have said something to offend Nathaniel. “Unless you already staked yore claim, Nate.” He laughed. “Are ya planning ta go to Oregon?”
Next to him, Cora stiffened and sucked in a loud breath of air. By the exasperation in her eyes and the firm set to her jaw, she was about to unleash her temper on the man. If she made a scene, it would draw too much unwanted attention.
“Thanks, Moray. We’ll pay them a visit.” Nathaniel grabbed Cora’s arm and ushered her out of the trading post. A surge of anger passed through him, fueled by the leering stares of several of the men they’d passed. He was acting like a coward again by going along with this charade that he was looking to find passage for Cora on a wagon train rather than telling her what was really on his mind.
“Let’s go, Cora. We’ll visit the other wagons in the morning,” he said gruffly and pushed her forward in front of him. Time to get her back to camp. Maybe tomorrow he’d get up the courage to tell her what had been on his mind.
Cora glanced up at him once they were outside. Her forehead scrunched in bewilderment. She balked and planted her feet in the dirt.
“What’s gotten into you?” she demanded. “I was going to tell that man that I’m not looking for a husband.”
“You were going to make a scene,” he grumbled.
Their gazes locked in a silent duel for several seconds, then her features softened slightly and her shoulders relaxed. Nathaniel’s fingers were still wrapped around her arm, but he breathed easier. Apparently she wasn’t going to argue with him. The fragile spark of trust and acceptance in her eyes even while her temper hovered on the surface, kept him from letting go.
Cora's Pride (Wilderness Brides Book 1) Page 10