by Savanna Sage
Chapter 1
Bonny turned away from the street leading to Rebecca’s Millinery Store. Her mission was to pick up Gran’s new hat. With two hours before the store closed, she headed for the railroad station instead, with anticipation more suited to a lad in knee pants than a twenty-one year old Bostonian woman.
She arrived just as a mighty engine trailing a great plume of steam rolled in, the scent of coal smoke and hot steam settling over the station. Bonny eagerly watched workers scurry about, unloading mysterious crates from freight cars. Rumbling cart wheels mingled with shouts of workers as passengers, clutching their luggage, hurried away from the train. Others were greeted by people waiting for them on the platform, their excited chatter indistinct in the noise of the station. Bonny wondered how far the travelers had gone and what great sights they had seen. As she moved among the crowd, she wondered if she would ever get the chance to go somewhere else and return home to tell Gran about it.
People milled about the station, some readying new freight to load, others preparing to board. Bonny moved to the end of the platform closest to the livestock yard to get out of the way. Shading her eyes beneath the brim of her straw hat, Bonny scanned the stock yard and was surprised to see Alex walking toward the corrals. Even though he was moving away from her, his handsome profile was plain to see as he engaged in animated conversation with a man carrying a suitcase.
As she studied the pair, Bonny noticed that the main difference between them was that the stranger wore a western hat with a shorter crown and wider brim than Alex’s top hat. Otherwise, they were of similar body build and height. She wondered if this man could be Alex’s brother.
Suddenly struck with the realization that she didn’t know if Alex even had a brother, Bonny decided it would be a good idea to try and meet one of Alex’s relatives, since Gran was apparently in favor of Bonny becoming Alex’s wife.
When she first met Alex, Bonny couldn’t help wondering why Uncle Edwin had bothered convincing such a handsome man to take her off his hands. She could not recall ever receiving a single kind word from Uncle Edwin. Maybe he meant for her to feel plain next to Alex, so strikingly handsome with his smooth black hair and soft skin. All she had to offer in return were unexceptional brown eyes with matching brown hair. She wasn’t even tall, but merely stood at average height.
When Alex sensed her insecurities, he assured Bonny that she was a perfect complement to him. Whether that meant he thought they looked good strolling together, or whether he thought her plainness offered a contrast to his good looks, didn’t matter. She simply appreciated that he cared enough to offer her any kind words.
When Bonny saw the men stop at a wooden corral fence where Alex untied a dark brown horse, she raised her gloved hand to wave at him. He didn’t respond, so she decided to go closer. As she moved through the people and carts cutting between the station and the corrals, Bonny momentarily lost sight of Alex and his companion. When she saw them again, the stranger shook his head, then turned and walked away. She stopped, her gaze riveted on Alex as he stared after the man, his handsome face twisted into a look of such fury that Bonny scarcely recognized him.
Then Alex turned back to the horse and yanked its rope into a secure knot around the fence so it couldn’t get away. Picking up a rawhide lariat coiled over a post, he beat the animal with one end of it, his vicious strikes delivered from the full length of his long arm. The horse whinnied in pain and jerked backward, but he couldn’t escape the blows on its shoulders and neck.
Frozen with horror, Bonny’s gaze was riveted on the pitiful sight. Alex suddenly stopped and spun around, his eyes darting as if checking to see if he was being watched. When his gaze fell on Bonny, he stood as still as stone. Then he lowered his head, like a bull ready to charge.
Bonny turned and ran from Alex as if he had actually changed into a mad bull intent on trampling her into nothingness. She didn’t think about where she was going, didn’t even notice the people around her until she ran right into someone.
Eyes filling with tears, she wasn’t sure she could trust her voice to make an apology. Big hands cupped her elbows, and a deep voice asked, “Are you alright, ma’am? You’d best sit down for a bit.” The next thing she knew, she was collapsing onto a suitcase. “If you put your head in your lap, it usually helps the dizziness,” the voice said.
Grateful for the stranger’s kindness, Bonny blinked the tears from her eyes and wiped them from her cheeks with the back of her glove. Then she looked up into the handsome face of the man who knelt at her side trying to give her comfort. He had a square jaw, perfectly angled nose, and smoldering eyes so dark that she could nearly see her reflection in them. When he lifted off his wide brimmed hat, she recognized him as Alex’s companion at the corrals. “You!” she said.
“I’m Trace Masters, ma’am.” he replied.
Fresh tears blurred her vision. Trace Masters knew Alex. Did he beat horses too? Confused and embarrassed, wishing he hadn’t seen her crying, she jumped up from his suitcase and stumbled away, intent on losing herself in the crowd.
End of Chapter
Check out all the “Tracks of the Heart” series books:
Book One: Carved in Love
Book Two: Escape to Love
Book Three: Two Hearts for One
Book Four: Written From the Heart
Book Five: High Wire Hearts
About the Author:
Savanna Sage has ancestors who lived in the Old West and experienced their own heart-tugging true-life love stories. As a child, Savanna found herself staring out the window at any old pioneer house her parents happened to drive by. Even with a broken roof or sagging porch, Savanna found herself wondering who built it, who lived there, what their lives were like, and why they left.
For a while, Savanna used a wringer washer similar to her grandmother’s. When their well went dry for a week, she and her husband hauled water and bathed their small sons in a big kitchen bowl. While she appreciates the skills of surviving without modern conveniences, she readily admits to preferring the use of harnessed electricity, hot running water, and will choose a flush toilet over an outhouse any day.
Her incurable curiosity means that she spends many happy hours researching about days gone by while writing stories from the heart.
If you enjoyed “Carved in Love,” please leave a review and be sure to check out the next books in the “Tracks of the Heart” series. Visit savannasage.com for titles and release dates. While there, go ahead and sign up for Savanna’s newsletter to keep you updated on new, heartwarming romances.
You are invited to like Savanna’s Facebook page at: Savanna Sage - Author
Do you have a Western heart? Then the Pioneer Hearts Facebook group, where writers and fans of westerns meet to talk about books, cowboys, and romance, just might be for you! You won’t know until you saddle up and visit: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pioneerhearts/
Author’s Note: Thank you for reading! I have taken author’s license with some historical elements in order to facilitate telling the story in a more fast-paced, entertaining fashion. It is my hope that you consider suspending any reader’s disbelief in order to enjoy your ride through these entertaining historical fiction pages of warm, wonderful romance.
Savanna Sage.