“Miss Callahan?” Noah called, alarmed when she didn’t respond.
“Kate?” he tried again, all too aware he’d used her given name.
A soft moan escaped her lips and he closed his eyes in gratitude that she hadn’t gotten herself killed.
“I’m all right,” she finally said with a groggy tone as she attempted to sit up on her own.
Noah placed a hand in the small of her back to keep her from falling backward, her proximity wreaking havoc on his senses.
After a moment, she made a move to stand, but quickly sat back down again, amongst the piles of splintered wood.
“Maybe I’ll just sit here a moment and lick my wounded pride.”
Noah laughed.
She’ll be just fine.
“Let’s get you inside,” he said, holding out his hand to her. “The air is a might chilly tonight.”
When her fingers touched his, a light, tingling jolt spread up his arm, but he couldn’t pull away. He attempted to help her to her feet, but her ankle buckled beneath her.
“Upsi-daisy,” he said, her hand still firm in his grasp.
Kate started to giggle, but winced in pain.
“I think I may have hurt a little more than my pride,” she said, rubbing her ankle.
Without waiting any longer, Noah released her hand and reached down, scooping her up easily into his arms. He climbed the porch stairs, opened the door, and carried her inside.
“Where are your quarters?” he asked, unable to keep the obvious rasp from his voice.
She turned toward him, her hand resting at the button of his shirt, her face so close to his he could feel her breath on his lips. He looked down into her wide, trusting eyes.
Big mistake.
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While some of the events described and some of the characters depicted in this eBook may be loosely based on actual historical events and real historical figures, this book is a work of fiction. Other names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
DEARDON COLLECTION: JONAH, LUCAS, NOAH,
and AN ANGEL IN THISTLEBERRY
An Inspire Book published by arrangement with the author
First Inspire Books eBook edition JONAH August 2013
First Inspire Books eBook edition LUCAS April 2015
First Inspire Books eBook edition NOAH October 2015
First Inspire Books eBook edition ANGEL IN THISTLEBERRY August 2017
Copyright © 2017 by Kelli Ann Morgan
www.kelliannmorgan.com
Cover Design by Kelli Ann Morgan at Inspire Creative Services
www.inspirecreativeservices.com
Kindle Edition
ISBN-13: 978-1-939049-34-6
ISBN-10: 1-939049-34-2
Also by Kelli Ann Morgan
The Rancher
Redbourne Series Book One
Cole’s Story
The Bounty Hunter
Redbourne Series Book Two
Rafe’s Story
The Blacksmith
Redbourne Series Book Three
Ethan’s Story
The Iron Horseman
Redbourne Series Book Four
Levi’s Story
The Outrider
Redbourne Series Book Five
Will’s Story
Holden’s Heart
Silver Springs Series Book One
Available from Inspire Books
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To my pop, Rocky, for your continued love, support, and talents.
Thanks for teaching me to have a love of reading.
THE DEARDONS
COLLECTION
BOOK ONE:
JONAH
BOOK TWO:
LUCAS
BOOK THREE:
NOAH
BONUS:
AN ANGEL IN THISTLEBERRY
by
Kelli Ann Morgan
Table of Contents
Also by Kelli Ann Morgan
THE DEARDONS
Jonah
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Lucas
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Noah
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
AN ANGEL IN THISTLEBERRY
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
More by Kelli Ann Morgan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jonah
Chapter One
Boston, September 1860
Marrying someone she’d never met was not on Emma Foster’s list of things she had wanted to accomplish in her life, but
under the circumstances, she hardly had a choice. Still, the long trek across the country would be arduous.
The train whistle startled her and she nearly dropped her coin purse. It would be so much easier if the train travelled all the way to the Oregon territory, but as it was, at least she would be able to hire someone to take her the rest of the way. She glanced behind her again, unable to shake the feeling that someone was watching her, following her.
“All aboard,” the ticket taker called as he leaned from the train car.
Emma put away her satchel, pinched her cheeks, and squared her shoulders. She reached down for the lone travelling case she’d brought for the trip west. With her chin held high, she took the first step up onto the train car.
She looked back at the platform. Couldn’t help herself. This may be the last time she would ever see her precious Boston.
With a deep breath and renewed determination, Emma climbed the last two remaining steps and glanced over the passengers who would accompany her through the first stage of her journey.
People of all shapes and sizes looked back at her—men, women, and children alike. She looked down at the ticket in her hand to locate her seat assignment. As she scanned the aisle, a woman with three unruly children yanking on her skirt and talking to her all at once, met her gaze and smiled. She looked much too young to be their mother, especially to the older looking boy.
Emma mustered a smile of her own and nodded. Of course her seat would be next to them. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath. Gripping the handle of her travelling case tighter, she made her way toward her seat.
“How far are you going?” The young woman asked.
Emma placed her bag on the floor beneath her feet and sat back against the seat. She cleared her throat.
“Oregon.”
“You’re going to travel that far west all alone?”
Emma turned to look at her new travelling companion and shook her head.
“I’m meeting someone in St. Joseph, Missouri, who’ll accompany me the rest of the way.”
The last thing she wanted to do was spill her troubles on the first stranger who befriended her. Besides, it was unladylike. Better to keep the tragedy to herself, though she hoped she would make friends in the small Oregon town where she would make her new home with one Mr. Henry Deardon.
Is this really the only way?
Yes, she affirmed.
Emma wanted to believe that she would love the man she married. Her grandfather had not catered to such notions. He’d been a practical man, but Emma hadn’t been able to let go of her dream of being swept away by a handsome and wealthy suitor.
“Tickets,” the conductor yelled when he stepped into their car.
It took a moment for Emma to realize that her ticket was no longer in her hand. Forcing herself not to panic, she reached down to her travelling case. When she didn’t feel the ticket immediately, she retrieved her leather satchel and opened it to look inside.
It wasn’t there.
Her breath caught in her chest and she turned quickly from side to side, searching the floor and the surrounding area of her seat.
After a few moments, she stopped, sat upright, and recounted each movement she’d made since she’d boarded the train. The ticket should be in her hand. It wasn’t long before the mischievous giggle of the women’s children reached her ears. They had been playing on the heavy wooden crates behind the seat. She narrowed her eyes, then whipped around to look at them.
When the boy, obviously the eldest of the children, caught her stare, he elbowed the girl next to him, sat up straight, and tried to wipe the smirk from his face. The girl quickly shoved her hands beneath her bottom, but not before Emma saw the object of their amusement. Her ticket.
She glanced over at the young woman next to her whose arms were folded, a soft peaceful expression on her face. Emma did not understand how she could look so calm. These children were rambunctious to say the least, yet she seemed unperturbed by them.
Emma wasn’t particularly fond of children and this just confirmed her reasoning. They were messy and loud, and well, the truth was, she’d never really been around them. Her time had been spent mostly on lessons in arithmetic, music, and grammar. Livvy, her governess, had always told her she had an old soul.
Emma had half a mind to turn around and lift the little girl by her ankles to shake the ticket loose, but thought better of it. The children would probably just find the gesture amusing. No, this was going to be a long ride and she didn’t desire to spend it in a constant dance with these miniature hooligans.
The ticket taker was getting closer.
Emma turned around and locked stares with the young girl in braids, who opened her eyes wide with feigned innocence. The temptation to turn the child upside down grew, but instead she leaned into the woman next to her.
“Excuse me,” Emma said.
“Yes?”
How could she say this without upsetting her? Maybe she would just pretend ignorance. “I seem to have lost my ticket, just in the time since I’ve sat down. Have you seen it?”
The woman raised an eyebrow and patted Emma on the leg. “Just one moment,” she said before standing up.
A man sitting on the next row saw her stand up. He lifted himself from his seat, but the young woman shook her head and patted the air in front of her. He sat back down with a slight nod and returned to the book he’d been reading a moment before.
Turning to look at the children, the woman simply held out her hand and waited.
Emma glanced back and forth between them. When the young girl pulled the ticket from beneath her and passed it forward, Emma’s jaw nearly dropped.
It worked.
A string of giggles erupted behind her.
“There you are.” The young woman placed the ticket in Emma’s hand. “I’m sorry about that. Sometimes they get it in their minds to play tricks on people.”
Emma forced a smile at the children.
Relief washed over her. When the uniformed man held out his hand expectantly for the ticket, she held it up. He punched it and moved to the next row.
“No harm done,” she said and exhaled loudly.
Emma opened her satchel, carefully placed the ticket inside, and set the bag on top of her luggage—aside her feet.
“Your children are rather…spirited,” Emma said with a grin. Although she hated to admit it, their playful manner had endeared them to her. A little.
“They are spirited, but just how old do you think I am?”
Emma’s eyes widened. “I…” She didn’t know what to say.
“Johnny is near thirteen. He and his little sister, Callie,” she pointed her chin at the youngest of the children, “lost their parents near six months ago and the orphanage here just doesn’t have room. Fran there,” she pointed at the child with long blond braids who’d taken Emma’s ticket, “is what we call a runner. She just won’t stay where she’s put.”
Emma faced forward and flattened her back against her seat to absorb the information she’d just obtained.
Orphans? She looked back at the young woman and scrunched her eyebrows together.
“We’re headed to Kansas to join the Orphan Train. We hope to find all of them good homes. However, at least for now, they are my responsibility. I’m Hattie by the way.”
Emma had never met another orphan before. She risked a quick glance behind her at the faces of the children. She’d lost her parents when she’d been just three years old, but she’d had her grandfather to take care of her. She wondered what could have happened to her if he hadn’t been there.
When he died…
Well, she didn’t want to think about that right now.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hattie. I’m Emma,” she said with a nod.
“Emma,” Hattie confirmed. “What is taking you out west?”
Emma shifted in her seat enough that her neck wasn’t straining to look at Hattie. Suddenly, the hairs on the back of h
er neck stood on edge and she quickly glanced over the car for any familiar faces.
No one.
Emma exhaled slowly, returning her focus to Hattie, and started a condensed version of her little story.
“My inheritance.”
Chapter Two
Oregon, Three Weeks Earlier
“Henry agreed to marry the girl, not me.” Jonah Deardon paced the room.
It had only been three days since they’d buried his older brother. As if the grief wasn’t enough, now his father was intent on pawning Henry’s poor decisions off on him. He’d loved his brother, but they had rarely seen eye to eye on anything of importance.
A bride.
Jonah shook his head.
“We have an agreement with Mr. Foster. And Deardon’s do not go back on their word.” His father stood up from his desk and pounded his fists against the flat wood.
Jonah threw his hands through his hair.
“And making rash promises on a whim is exactly why we are in this predicament in the first place.” He knew it wasn’t fair to bring it up, and he regretted the words as soon as they’d left his mouth.
His father looked down, his arms locked, still bracing him on the desk with closed fists.
It had been nearly fifteen years since Jonah had seen his grandparents. Gabe Deardon was a stubborn man and when he’d vowed to keep his sons away from his father over a stupid argument, he’d turned his back on everything the Deardon fortune offered him—family, wealth, freedom, opportunity. And for what? To keep his pride?
Well, Jonah wasn’t his father. Freedom and opportunity were very high on his list, and getting married now would take that all away. It seemed women only made a mess of things and he was in no hurry to saddle himself to one.
After a few seconds, his father lifted his head and looked at him, his brows crumpled with concern.
Marriage was not in Jonah’s immediate plans, especially to a young, spoiled society girl from some place back East. No, there had to be another way to keep the land they’d worked so hard to cultivate—and his freedom.
The Deardons Complete Mini-Series Page 1