Frontier Gift of Love (American Wilderness Series Romance Book 5) Read online

  “Coffee, Stephen?” Jane called from the kitchen.

  “Please, my hands could use some warming up,” he answered.

  Stephen yanked off his coat and scarf and hung them near the door. He walked up behind Jane in the kitchen and tugged her against his chest. Her body would warm him far sooner than the coffee. “Did you miss me?” He pushed her long curly red hair aside, to give him access to her neck, and gently nibbled there before planting a kiss or two. Her skin felt almost hot against his cold lips. And, as usual, the sweet taste of her stirred his blood.

  “I did miss you, as always,” she said.

  Whenever he came in from chores, even if he was working just yards away, Jane often said she missed him. Their souls were so connected, they were two halves of one whole. Whenever separated, it left each of them feeling an emptiness that nothing else could fill.

  “My lips are cold,” he told her and turned her around to face him. He pressed his mouth against hers, enjoying her warmth and luscious taste.

  “You’re making me more than miss you,” she purred when he finally released her lips. “Wait till I get you under the covers tonight.”

  “How does it feel to be kissed by a cattle baron?”

  “Did you sell some?” she asked excitedly. Her green eyes sparkled with excitement.

  “Indeed. Not only did he buy the ten bulls at a nice profit for us, Colonel Logan wants me to supply the fort’s beef for the entire next year!”

  “Truly! Oh Stephen, you’re doing what you always wanted to do.”

  “It’s what we were destined to do together—build a better life for our children—why we made such a perilous journey and sacrificed so much getting here.”

  Their eyes met, remembering, and Jane drew in a slow deep breath.

  Stephen cleared his throat, not wanting to spoil the happy moment. “And, the Colonel said he’d speak to the commander at Fort Harrod and suggest that I supply their beef as well. With all the militia stationed at both forts, they’re unable to keep up with their need for fresh beef. I’ll be able to sell all the beef I can raise.”

  A soft loving curve touched Jane’s lips. “That’s wonderful news!”

  “I want to buy the girls a nice Christmas present,” Stephen whispered. “We can make a quick trip to the shops at Fort Logan or Harrodsburg if you prefer.”

  “Fort Logan, it’s closer and this time of year the weather might turn bad.” She handed him the coffee sweetened with an enormous smile on her pretty face. “Presents would make them both so happy, Stephen. It’s been a long time since they received any new toys. I was worried Father Christmas wasn’t coming this year.”

  “Of course he is! But after we buy the gifts and necessities, I’m going to reinvest the rest of the funds into buying more cows. I’ll need to increase my herd size to be able to keep up with the needs of both forts.”

  “I agree.”

  “And I decided I am going to enter George in that Twelfth Day race in Harrodsburg in January. The purse is substantial and it could mean buying all the cows we’ll need.”

  “Stephen, are you sure George is ready? He’s so young and still a little green. There will be stiff competition coming from all over Kentucky. Probably some attending from Virginia horse farms as well.”

  “I’ve trained him every day since he was old enough to ride and he’s come along quite well. He’s a magnificent stallion. Maybe even better than his father was, and you know how much I loved him. He’s as graceful as a dancer and as powerful as an English war horse. And he has a big heart, Jane. He’ll do anything I ask of him.”

  “Unlike me?” Amusement flickered in her eyes.

  “Well, now that you mention it…”

  She swatted him with a towel and he ducked. She enjoyed their gentle sparring as much as he did.

  “Father, is it Christmas yet?” Polly asked, suddenly appearing in the kitchen with her big sister Martha right behind her.

  “No, Polly, Christmas isn’t for a while yet,” he answered patiently.

  “Why do you keep asking the same question?” Martha scolded.

  “Because I love Christmas.”

  Martha sighed heavily. “I love Christmas too. But loving it won’t make it come any faster,” she declared.

  Martha, their ten-year-old daughter, tended to think much like her mother. She looked like her too. Her wild curls refused taming and her green eyes could blaze with the same temper Jane displayed—often quick to anger and just as quick to cool.

  Polly, his seven-year-old, looked like him—her dark hair flowed from a center part and she had blue eyes. Also like him, she was slow to rile. Although when something finally made her mad, the whole world knew about it. And she wouldn’t forgive until she was good and ready.

  But he couldn’t complain. Both girls were generally well behaved. Most important of all, they were healthy. That meant everything to him.

  “Would you please read Bear’s letter to us again?” Polly asked her mother.

  Although the girls could both read well, they preferred for Jane to read Bear’s letters aloud. With a good deal of Scots blood in her too, Jane could imitate Bear’s Scottish brogue perfectly.

  “Are you through studying your lessons?” Jane asked the two.

  “Yes,” they both answered at once.

  “All of them? The Primer? Speller? Mathematics? Your history lesson?”

  “Yes!” Martha answered. “The history lesson was the best part.”

  “I liked the rhymes in the Primer,” Polly said.

  “What’s the rhyme for the letter T?” Stephen quizzed.

  “Time cuts down all, both great and small,” Polly answered right away.

  Sad, but true, Stephen thought.

  “Then I will read the letter. Let’s get you both a big cup of warm milk and then go sit at the table and I’ll read it,” Jane said. “Do you want a little sugar in your milk?”

  Now that was a silly question. Had she ever known her daughters to say no to sweetened milk? Come to think of it, it sounded pretty good to Stephen too. “I’ll have one too, please,” he told Jane, holding up his empty coffee cup.

  “I’ll make one especially for you,” Jane said. She winked, smiled sensuously, and lightly fingered the tendrils of hair on his cheek before taking the mug from his hand.

  Just that slight caress made the rest of his body ache, craving her touch.

  Jane was obviously in a mood to celebrate. Stephen was too. He’d leave the real celebration for tonight. For now, he’d rest a while and enjoy the company of his family. But then he needed to get back to his fence building. He wanted to get the new fence built before the ground became too frozen to dig.

  They all took their usual seats around the pine slab table. Jane brought the milk on a tray. After serving their daughters, she handed him his favorite mug and he took a sip and grinned at the taste of the milk flavored with sugar and rum.

  Jane held her glass up and toasted. “To many more sales of fat cattle.”

  “And to many more years of happiness with my family,” Stephen added.

  “Amen,” Jane said. “Now where did I put that letter?” She went to the secretary against the wall and pulled down the cover. “Ah, here it is.”

  After plucking the letter from its envelope, she began, “Dearest Family, ‘Tis is my great pleasure to inform ye that my new bride, Artis, and I will be coming to visit for Christmas. We plan to leave with William’s family on December 21 and should arrive during the late evening of the 22nd weather permitting. Of course, we will bring presents for all the children…”

  Polly let out a squeal and clapped her hands even though she’d already heard the letter four or five times.

  Jane smiled down at her and then continued, “…and celebratory beverages for the adults. I can’t wait for ye to meet Artis—she’s the most wonderful woman in the world. And the most beautiful.

  We will meet ye at Sam and Catherine’s place and celebrate the best Christmas ever.


  Until then, we send our love,

  Bear”

  The letter made Stephen miss his huge brother. He was more like a blood brother than an adopted one and he thought of him just as he did his other brothers. Like Jane, he was anxious to meet Artis.

  Stephen hoped their journey from Boonesborough to Sam’s would be a safe one. The wilderness was fraught with risks and danger. Ruthless men were most often the source of threats, but the frontier held other perils as well. He glanced over at the black wolf skin laying at the foot of his favorite chair. The wolf nearly took his life on their long journey to Kentucky. It was just one of the many hazards he, Jane, and the rest of their family faced as they sought the rich lands opening up in the new state of Kentucky.

  Samuel’s cries brought Stephen’s attention back. “I’ll get him,” he volunteered and stood. He headed for their bedroom to retrieve his son.

  “So, you’ve woken from your nap and you’re ready to take on the world are you?” He checked to be sure Samuel’s cloth was still clean. Thankfully, it was.

  He gave the two-year-old a hug, enjoying the sweet scent Samuel always seemed to give off after a nap. Stephen carried his son into the front room.

  Still waking up, Samuel yawned, clutching his favorite toy—a stuffed horse—in his chubby hands. Stephen sat down and kept his son in his lap, sitting him astride his leg.

  “Samuel, want some milk?” Polly asked. She held her pewter goblet up to her brother’s lips and he sucked in a few sips, still working on how to drink from a cup.

  Samuel pointed a finger at Stephen’s face. “Pa,” he told his sister.

  Martha and Polly both giggled. “We know his name Samuel,” Martha said. “We call him Father, not Pa. It’s more dignified.”

  Stephen and Jane both grinned. Their precocious daughter must have learned the word dignified in a recent lesson.

  “Pa,” Samuel said again, looking up at Stephen.

  Stephen couldn’t keep from laughing and lifted his son into his arms. Samuel wrapped his little arms around Stephen’s neck. “He’s getting heavier and taller,” he told Jane. “Don’t you think he’s big for his age?” Stephen’s chest swelled a little with pride once again.

  “I suspect he’s going to take after his Uncle Sam,” Jane said. “In more ways than one.”

  That suited Stephen just fine. He respected no man more than his brother, Sam.

  Chapter 5

  Highland Farm, near Boonesborough, Kentucky, Saturday, 17 December, 1799

  Bear dreaded telling Artis that he needed to leave. She would not be pleased. He urged his horse Camel from a walk to a trot as he started out on the road to his home—Highland Farm. He didn’t want to make his horse gallop because Camel would have a long day ahead of him. Bear planned to leave as soon as possible and ride the rest of the day and into the night.

  He knew the way to Sam’s place well, having made the journey several times in the last two years. So traveling at night would not be a problem for him. This time of year, he preferred it to sleeping on cold ground.

  The last time he made the trek, he’d set out for Boonesborough at the request of Colonel Logan to represent Fort Logan at a special meeting called by the Governor. Even before Logan asked him to attend the meeting, he had come to the realization that it was time for him to leave Sam and Catherine’s place and find a wife. Never in his wildest dreams would he have expected to find a woman as special and wonderful as Artis. Perfect for him, he loved her beyond measure.

  Like him, Artis grew up in the Highlands of Scotland, but when a man named Steller murdered her mother and set fire to her village, fate forced her into indentured servitude on a Virginia plantation. Seven years later, she received her freedom dues—land in Kentucky. The very land they lived on now.

  As Bear neared Highland, it struck him once again just how beautiful their home was, especially now with patches of snow sprinkled here and there among the hardwoods and evergreens. And he recently bought the mostly cleared acreage adjoining their land to use as a side pasture for grazing the horses they would raise.

  A born horsewoman, Artis adored her stallion, Glasgow, given to her by her former employer, a Virginia plantation owner. She’d named the horse after the city in Scotland from which both she and Bear, at different points in their lives, departed to sail for the colonies. During her seven-year indenture, she had helped to groom, train, and race the horse. Using the spectacular stallion as a stud would start their herd very well.

  As he rode up, Bear watched the prized stallion graze on winter grass in the new side pasture beside Artis’ other horse, a good-looking mare she’d named Beautiful. He should have asked William to keep an eye on the horses too. But knowing his conscientious brother, William would anyway.

  Glasgow glanced up and whinnied at Camel. The gelding lifted his head and nickered back at his pasture buddy. The mare continued to graze, paying no heed to Camel.

  “I wish I could let ye out to graze with yer friend, Glasgow,” he told Camel, “but we need to go check on Sam and his family.”

  He rode to their new stable and after dismounting gave the horse a generous portion of feed. Camel would need plenty of energy for their journey. Bear didn’t bother to unsaddle. He could pack in no time and be on his way shortly.

  Unless, Artis tempted him beyond his control and lured him into their bed as she often did. Nay, he could not afford to delay—even for that.

  As he entered through the back door, he called out to her. “Artis.”

  “Back so soon? I thought ye said ye were goin’ to be in town most of the day.”

  “Aye, I was. Then I learned that three suspicious strangers are headin’ for Sam’s place. The three left Boonesborough yesterday.”

  “What do ye intend?”

  “I’m leaving at once. I need to be sure Sam and his family are all right.”

  “Leaving?”

  “Aye. There might be trouble. And if there is, I intend to be there. Ye can stay here at Highland if ye like, but I’d prefer ye to stay with Kelly and William for the next three days. They plan to leave early on the 20th and ye can travel with them.”

  “Bloody hell. I will na stay here. ‘Tis a shoddy plan ye’ve come up with.”

  “I did na ask ye to stay here. I asked ye to stay with William and Kelly.”

  “I meant I’m going with ye!” she declared.

  “Artis, I need to travel fast,” he protested.

  “Do ye think my Glasgow is na fast enough?”

  “Aye, of course he is. I’ve na seen faster.”

  “Then ye must be thinkin’ ‘tis I who could na keep up with ye!” She crossed her arms in front of her and shot him a penetrating stare.

  “I know ye could for a while, my love. But I’ll be travelin’ the rest of the day and most of the night at a hard pace.”

  Her face flushed and her eyes flashed in anger. “Hmph. Do ye forget I worked as a plantation laborer for the last seven years? I’m na some pampered noblewoman!” Her voice rang with indignation.

  He gently clamped his fingers onto her shoulders and looked into her fiery green eyes. “Artis, love, I know well how strong ye are.” And beautiful too, he thought. Even when her temper flared. Perhaps especially when her temper flared because it made her green eyes sparkle like jewels. “However, I might be ridin’ into danger and ye’ve had more than yer share of perils of late.”

  “Aye, ‘tis true enough. But I vowed to remain by yer side in both good and bad times. And that I will do!”

  Bear could see he stood little chance of convincing her to remain here without him. Still he hesitated. He’d vowed to protect her for the rest of her life. “Artis. I ask ye to reconsider this.”

  “Nay, I will na. Whatever dangers we face, we face together. I feel safer with ye than with anyone.” She kissed the tip of her forefinger and then pressed it against his lips. “Besides, I do na think I could bear to be separated from ye, even for a few days, my big red-haired Bear.”r />
  He reached for her and hauled her against his chest. “Then ye must promise me ye’ll be careful and do exactly as I say. I’ve spent many years in the wild and ye must listen to me always if ye’re to stay safe.”

  “Aye, I’ll listen Bear. Ye can be sure of that.”

  Reluctantly, he released her. Since there was no talking the woman out of it, he decided they should leave at early dawn instead. He didn’t want to risk Glasgow stumbling in the dark and Artis taking a fall. “Ye know, I think we should leave at dawn. We can travel faster and safer in the daylight. We can pack our bags tonight.”

  “Aye, that does sound wiser.”

  “I’ll go get Glasgow from the pasture and get him fed and stalled and unsaddle Camel. Will ye pack up our bags and enough food and coffee for at least three days?” He believed in always taking at least an extra day of provisions in case of unforeseen delays. “I’ll only need my spare buckskins. Oh, and perhaps my nice clothes for the Christmas or New Year celebrations. And my clan badge, of course.”

  “Of course. Should I bring anythin’ else?”

  “Blankets for sleepin’ a wee bit. I do na want to stop at Fort Logan for the night. I’ll want to press on until dark. And take yer dirk and pistol.”

  “Will it na be cold sleepin’ on the ground this time of year?”

  “We’ll build a nice fire and take but a short rest. And, of course, ye’ll have me big body to keep ye warm.”

  “Aye, ye’re warmer than any fire,” she said, with a smile.

  “’Tis ye that makes me so, wife,” he said. He strode toward the door to retrieve Glasgow, but stopped and turned around. “Oh, I asked William to stop by to check on ye on the way home. He should be here soon. When he does, I’ll let him know ye decided to come with me. And after William’s family leaves, Lucky McGintey will stop by to check on our places and feed the stock for us.”