Rocky Mountain Dreams & Family on the Range by Danica Favorite (summer beach reads txt) 📕

Walking back to town tomorrow would take considerable energy, and with a little girl to protect, things could get even more difficult.

“Annabelle!” Joseph called out to her again.

She stopped, but didn’t turn in his direction. “I need to catch supper before it’s too dark to see.”

“I don’t want you out there alone. That man could come back. We’re safer if we stick together. Let me get Nugget, then we’ll all go.”

His logic made sense. And she shouldn’t resent him taking charge. Her mother would tell her she shouldn’t resent anything, but there was so much to resent these days.

“All right,” Annabelle said, then sighed. At least with Nugget present, Joseph wouldn’t be as likely to ask the kind of questions that made her brain whirl and her heart hurt.

Chapter Eight

They found another patch of flowers near the stream. This part of the mountains seemed relatively untouched by the mining operations. A few trees remained, and the stream wasn’t clogged with the tailings from the mines. If you looked in just the right direction, you couldn’t see the town or any of the mining operations. Beautiful.

It was a shame that the cabin wasn’t bigger. Joseph could bring his family here to live. Unfortunately, the cabin was too small, too rough, and he couldn’t ask his siblings to witness the evidence of their pa’s foul deeds. Nugget would be hard enough to accept, but he was confident that once they got to know her, the rest of the family would love her just as much as he did.

Joseph smiled at his sister, who seemed to have completely recovered from nearly being kidnapped. If anything positive could come of such a disastrous day, it would have to be that surely this confirmed the existence of silver. Then, he could save his siblings from the clutches of his aunt Ina. Please, God, let me find the silver soon.

He wasn’t asking for much, not really. Just for a place to live and a way to support everyone. He’d thought five sisters and a brother hard enough, but now that he had Nugget to think of, well, he supposed one more mouth wasn’t too much more to consider.

Still, it’d sure be nice to buy Mary a pretty dress like the one he’d seen her admiring in the mercantile. He was closer to Mary than to anyone else, and when Ma had gotten sick, she’d taken over the mothering while he’d gone to work. Between the two of them, they’d kept things together, and he hoped to someday treat Mary to something nice for a change.

He glanced over at Annabelle, who’d taken off her shoes and stockings, then tied up her skirts funny so she could fish from the edge of the bank. It would probably offend her sensibilities for him to notice, but with the breeze blowing golden tendrils of her hair about her face, she looked almost peaceful. Back to the pretty girl he’d been admiring.

It was a shame he had nothing to offer her. Nugget was barely six years old, and though Mary was old enough to marry and start her own household, the others still needed his guidance. A woman wanted her own home, and her own family. Not a ragtag bunch of kids who’d lost their parents. Six. Hard enough to ask a woman to take on a child or two, but six, or even seven if you counted Mary, that was a lot. No, he didn’t harbor any illusions of marrying and starting a family of his own.

But when Annabelle grinned and sent a splash of water in Nugget’s direction, he was tempted.

The cool reception Nugget had been given by the women in town made Annabelle’s kindness toward his sister all the more remarkable. She didn’t see Nugget as being the child of a sinful woman, but as a child worthy of love.

“Got one!” Annabelle’s clear voice interrupted his thoughts. “Joseph, help! It’s a big one!”

He hurried over to the bank, where she struggled to reel in the fish. It was a big one, all right, and he wrapped his arms around her to help her pull it in.

Together, they reeled in the fish, water soaking them both as the fish fought for its life. Finally, they were able to get the fish on the bank, where it flipped and slipped, to the clapping of Nugget’s little hands.

“Nice catch!” Joseph whirled Annabelle around, grinning.

She smiled, but released his hands. “You think you can do better?”

He glanced at the fish, still wiggling on the bank. “Probably not. But if you give me a chance, I just might.”

She blushed when he winked at her, and he was reminded again of how charming she could be.

“I should tend to the fish,” she said as she scurried past him.

Joseph grabbed the rod and started preparing it for another fish. Although Annabelle had caught a large fish, it wouldn’t hurt to have more. They could take it with them on the walk home tomorrow.

“I’ll do it,” he said, holding the fishing pole in her direction. “Since you like fishing, I’ll handle the messy work and leave you to the fun.”

Her eyes flashed. “I can clean a fish.”

“I don’t doubt it.” He smiled, hoping to disarm her once again. “But since you love fishing, I’d hate to spoil your fun.”

Annabelle took the pole. “Oh. If you don’t mind...”

“Not at all. I hate fishing. Too much standing around and waiting for the fish to bite. I prefer things that are more direct.”

“If you’re sure. Father and I loved going fishing together, but Mother said...” She turned her head away and started back for the water.

“Why do you do that?” he said to her back.

“What?” She looked at him, her brow furrowed like she was trying to decipher a puzzle.

“Hide.” He bent down and grabbed the fish, but kept his eyes on her. “Just when you start to reveal a bit of the real Annabelle, you retreat into a place where no one can see you.”

He couldn’t read