Hope Barbara Goss (novels to read txt) 📖

sensitive, much like Hope herself. Hope knew that parting with Anna would be difficult. She wished everyone could just stay together.

Mary kept her too busy to think much about her wagon train memories most days. They canned and put up food for the winter. One thing Hope would never do was to take fresh meat, fruit, and vegetables for granted. She'd eaten plenty of good food since arriving with Mary and Arnold Bradshaw, and she'd gained back the weight she’d lost traveling through the Rockies.

In bed at night she often wondered how Daniel was faring. Had his father been alive? Had he reached him in time? What was he doing at that moment?

Everyone was preparing for the annual harvest festival, and Mary insisted Hope go along with them. The community got together after the harvest and celebrated with food, dance, and all-around merriment. It felt almost like the campfire parties on the trail. It felt good to socialize again. Hope met some local farmers, and one farmer’s son asked her to dance. She danced with several local men, but that one farmer’s son kept returning with punch or wanting another dance.

“My name’s Calvin,” he said. Immediately, the hair on Hope’s arms stood up straight—the name was too close to Callum. He even had red hair, though not as red as Callum’s. She tried to avoid him for the rest of the evening.

Chapter Eleven

A rotund, middle-aged, woman opened the door when Daniel knocked. When she smiled at him her eyes twinkled, and Daniel knew, whomever she was, he liked her.

“How may I help you, young man?”

“I’m here to see Joseph Townsend.”

The woman looked surprised. “May I tell him who’s calling?”

“I’m his son, Daniel Townsend.”

The woman’s hands flew to her face. “Oh, thank the good Lord, you’re here. Come right in.”

Daniel stepped into a dark but well-furnished sitting room.

“I’m Esther Gordon, your father’s housekeeper.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Gordon.”

“It’s missus, but you can call me Esther. Let me take you right in to see Joe.”

Esther took him down a long hallway to a bedroom at the rear of the house. She turned to him as they approached a half-opened door and whispered, “He’s weak but mentally stable.”

She opened the door wider, and Daniel saw his father lying in the bed with his mouth open, snoring.

Esther shook his arm. “Wake up, Joe. You have an important visitor.”

“You needn’t wake him,” Daniel said. “I can wait.”

“He sleeps all day. He’ll want to see you. He’s been praying you’d arrive soon.”

A pair of old, bright blue eyes opened and widened when they saw him. He tried to sit, and Esther helped him by propping pillows behind him.

“Daniel!” Joseph held out his arms. His son moved into them, and he hugged him back.

“I’m sorry for what I wrote in that letter, Father.”

His father winked. “And you think I don’t know that?”

Daniel smiled. “Hearing Mother died on the trail was such a shock, and I blamed you for suggesting the trip. You two weren’t young, and the trip is rough—I know: I just traveled it. I also lost a wife on the way here, and it made me realize how wrong I was to—”

“You married?”

He nodded. “Nancy Hopkins.”

“I’m sorry to hear she passed away.”

His father coughed, and Esther handed him a glass of water.

“How are you handling her death, son?”

“Not well at first, but God sent me an angel to get me here in time.”

“How’s that?”

“I needed a wife to stay on the train, you know, someone to cook, gather wood, wash dishes, and help push the wagon through mud, rivers, and mountainous trails. She was a young widow and in the same position as me, so we worked together, but the wagon train master made us marry, so I have a wife in Oregon City.”

“Why is she there?”

“It’s complicated.”

“Is she plain, then?”

“Hardly. She’s beautiful, with long, honey-colored hair and big, expressive, brown eyes. And she was a real trooper on the train.”

His father smiled and looked from Esther back to Daniel. “So, she means nothing, eh?”

“Well, of course, I like her. She’s a wonderful person.”

Joseph laughed, but it turned into a cough so severe, Esther gently slapped his back and gave him more water. Next, Esther took a brown bottle from the end table. “Time for some medicine, Joe.”

Joseph said to his son. “Take your things upstairs to the large room at the front of the house, the one with the blue wallpaper. It was my room. Settle in and then come back and we’ll have dinner together.”

Esther spooned medicine into Joseph’s mouth.

“Ah, thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Esther.”

“You won’t have to,” she said, putting the medicine away.

“When I’m gone, will you and Sam care for Daniel, too?”

“We will, if he’ll have us.”

“He doesn’t realize, does he?”

“I beg your pardon?”

Joseph smiled up at her, “Did you see Daniel’s eyes when he talked about his new wife?”

Esther shrugged. “He looked very excited and sounded quite fond of her.”

“He’s in love with her and doesn’t even know it.”

“All right. I’ll take your word for it, for I’m confused.” She moved to the door. “I’ll put the finishing touches on dinner, and  bring a small table in here so you can eat with your son.”

“Will you join us?”

“No, you two have a lot to talk about. I’ll be fine in the kitchen with Sam.”

“Spending time with your husband is always a good idea.”

“Esther sure is a splendid cook,” Daniel said, gorging on the stew. “It may be because I haven’t had a home-cooked meal in months.”

“She’s a wonderful cook,