Page 78 of The Preacher's Bride

A moment later, she opened her eyes and her heart jumped, for Caleb was standing on the other side of the beam. He looked down, his eyes wide.

“Mia!” The moment he saw her, he bent down and tried to push the log off her, but it was heavy and catching fire.

Tears fell onto her cheeks. “Caleb, go! Save yourself!”

He shook his head as he pushed hard against the log, but it wouldn’t budge. “I’m not leaving you!”

She shook her head. “Caleb! Look at me! You have to think of the children! Now, go!”

“If you think for one minute that I’d leave you here, then you don’t know me very well,” he said as he pushed the log, straining with the effort. But, this time, it moved… a little. “Yah!” he yelled as he kept pushing. And this time, the log fell off. “Come on.” Hebent down and scooped her up with ease and carried her a safe distance from the barn and collapsed with her onto the ground.

Mia pushed up and turned over as orange, red, and yellow flames engulfed the rest of the barn, against the darkness of the night. “What about the animals?”

“We got them all out,” he said, trying to catch his breath.

She coughed, placing the back of her hand to her mouth. She looked around, disoriented as her head pounded. “Where are they?”

Caleb rolled over and opened his eyes, breathing hard. “In the back fields or in the neighbor’s lands, away from the flames.” He thought for a moment, and then asked, “Are you okay?”

She nodded. “My head hurts. Other than that, I’m fine.” She coughed, looking over at him as he sat up. “How about you?”

He nodded as he propped himself up on his arms. “I’m fine.”

They sat in silence as they watched the barn burn down, making sure the fire stayed contained.

As the sun rose over the snow-covered mountains, the last of the flames turned into embers. In the morning sunlight, she could see some of the animals in the distance, but she wouldn’t be there to help catch them. As they watched the barn burn down, Caleb had said nothing.

She let out a deep breath as she rose to her feet, exhausted. But she would have plenty of time to sleep on the train. Mia looked over her shoulder as she walked toward the house, but Caleb just sat on the snow, watching what was left of the barn burn down… as the snow melted into the ground.

Chapter 20

Caleb

As Caleb watched the embers burning over the ground where the barn once stood, his thoughts went to Mia trapped inside. He let out a deep breath. What would he have done if she had died? When he looked around and she didn’t come out of the barn, he remembered thinking that he couldn’t lose her, too… not the way he had lost Jessica.

When she didn’t come out of the barn, he thought that she might have died, he didn’t know what he would have ever done without her.

Maybe now she wouldn’t leave. Maybe now they could have a second chance.

As he looked out over what was left of the barn, he realized there wasn’t much more that he could do out here, and he was exhausted. So, he headed up the slight incline toward the house. When he opened the back door, Mia wasn’t making breakfast, and the house was quiet.

He walked through the kitchen and into the living room, headed toward the bedroom where the children were sleeping, but stopped. When he looked over toward the door, his heart fell. Mia was standing in the living room, packed and ready to go, looking beautiful in a purple dress and matching hat.

“What’s this?” After what had happened during the night, he was sure that she would change her mind, that she would stay.

“I’m taking the buckboard over to Colton and Ella’s house,” she said, fidgeting with the reticule in her hand. “Colton can bring it over when he comes back from Laramie.”

Caleb’s heart sank as he noticed the curve of her jaw and slender neck, her perfect body, the golden hue of her hair, committing it all to memory. He turned away to hide the tears forming in his eyes.

“I’ll help you round up the horses,” he said, and then walked into the bedroom where the children were still sleeping, unaware that their world was going to change yet again.

It hadn’t taken much to gather the horses. They were grazing nearby, eating the soft grass exposed from the melting snow. And it didn’t take long to harness the horses to the team. But it took everything he had to watch her drive away with her bags loaded in the back. Before she drove away, the only thing she had said was a simple goodbye.

Caleb watched until she vanished into the trees, and he couldn’t see her anymore. Then, the memory of thinking her dead rushed through his mind, coupled with her driving away for good, and love washed over him.

Caleb walked over to the family cemetery and found Jessica’s grave. He dropped to his knees in the fading patches of snow. “Jess, you know I’ll always love you, but I love Mia, too. The children need a mother, and I need a wife. She will never replace you, but she has become a part of our family. I loved you and you know I was faithful to you, but a love for Mia has crept in to my heart and has consumed me. As you probably know, I almost lost her last night. I could handle her leaving me a thousand times over, but I could never lose her through death, the way I lost you. And now, she’s gone. But I want you to know that if she’ll have me, I’d like to be her husband now. I don’t just need her for the children and the house. I need her for me, too. I love her, Jessica. Although I loved you with a fiercenessunlike any I’ve known before, the love I have for her is different, but unmatched as well. It has come to consume me, and I never even realized it. Jessica, if you can hear me, please give us your blessing and help me to get her back. I don’t know when I’ll speak to you again, but know that I love you, darling, and I always will.”

With his mind made up, he rushed into the bedroom where the children were still sleeping and quickly dressed. If he hurried, he might just be able to catch her, but he needed to make sure the children were cared for first.

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