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

accepted her excuses readily enough, and when she finished eating and suggested that they return home as quickly as possible because Maddie must be worried sick, he would agree.

But Joseph wouldn’t.

Tears pricked the backs of her eyes and she tried forcing them away, but they wouldn’t listen. She gave them a quick swipe with the back of her hand.

“Is everything all right?”

Of course Gertie would notice.

“The smoke is rather thick, that’s all.” To prove her point, Annabelle got up and moved to the other side of the fire. But as she passed Joseph, his eyes mocked her.

Stop hiding.

He could add it to the list of her sins.

At least Nugget felt better. She was attacking her breakfast with gusto, enjoying every bite, and completely unaware of everything else around her.

Annabelle didn’t want to feel this way. She would’ve liked to have laughed with Polly at whatever joke Gertie was telling. But the rushing in her ears kept her from being able to even hear it.

Even her father was laughing.

She stabbed some of her eggs, knowing that if Gertie noticed her not eating, there would be questions to answer. If only it didn’t taste like slag and there wasn’t such a huge lump in her throat to make it difficult to swallow.

“What’s your doll’s name?” Caitlin had sat on the other side of Nugget and was staring at the tattered rag doll sticking out of the small bag Nugget carried.

“Surprise,” Nugget said shyly, but a small smile crinkled her lips. It was good for Nugget to be able to relate to kids her own age. Annabelle knew that. Based on the reception the little girl had gotten in town, she was sure that Nugget probably had few playmates.

“I’ve got a doll, too. Want to see?”

As Nugget nodded, Caitlin pulled out the one thing sure to shatter the last shards of peace Annabelle had been clinging to.

Bethany. Susannah’s favorite china doll.

The plate slipped from Annabelle’s hands and crashed into the dirt. Among the remains of her breakfast, she saw spots unlike any she’d ever seen. She’d purposely put that doll in a special place, a place where her father wouldn’t find it to give to one of his projects.

Caitlin sat opposite of Nugget, prattling on and on about how it used to be her very bestest friend’s doll, but now it was hers, so she named it Susannah.

A nice gesture that wouldn’t bring her sister back.

“Are you all right?” Joseph slipped into the spot next to her and began cleaning up her mess. She could only sit there and stare at it all.

No, she wasn’t all right. But she wasn’t allowed to say so. She couldn’t begrudge a poor child the joy of a precious doll. And yet, she also couldn’t find it in her heart to share the child’s joy.

What kind of monster was she?

No wonder God didn’t listen to her prayers. There was absolutely no good in Annabelle Lassiter.

“Don’t worry about it. Your pa and Gertie are over there talking.”

His words were meant to reassure, but as she looked over, she noticed her father slipping money into Gertie’s hands.

“He’s really generous, isn’t he?”

Annabelle could only nod. She supposed this generosity of spirit was something to be praised, something clear in the idol worship shining in Joseph’s eyes. But what about her? Didn’t she have the right to grieve and miss her family? Selfish, yes. But she’d spent so long putting her own needs aside, and just once, she wanted her needs, her prayers, her dreams, to matter.

“What’s wrong?” He looked at her with such a caring expression she wasn’t sure she could stand it.

“I just want to go home,” she whispered.

Joseph nodded. He didn’t try to make her stay and face whatever he thought was bothering her.

“I’ll talk to your pa.” Joseph got up and walked toward her father.

Nugget tugged on her sleeve. “I don’t want to go. I want to stay here with Caitlin. She’s going to show me how to fix Susannah’s hair.”

Annabelle wanted to close her eyes and be transported to anywhere but here. But she was afraid that if she did, she’d see Susannah’s smiling face telling her the exact same thing. So she swallowed the lump in her throat.

“I’m sure you’ll see her again.” Because she would face this irrational emotion. Not for her sake, but for the sake of a little girl who desperately needed a friend.

“When?” Two little girls stared at her, like they were used to promises adults made, but seldom kept. Something she had often been guilty of with Susannah. “Later,” she’d tell her sister. Only later never came, and now Susannah was gone, and she’d never be able to do those things with her.

“We’ll discuss it with my father.”

Who was walking toward them with Joseph and Gertie in tow.

“Joseph says you want to leave. We just got here. Surely you don’t want to refuse the MacDonalds’ hospitality. You haven’t even chatted with Polly yet.”

Annabelle closed her eyes. They were supposed to be her family’s dearest friends. And once upon a time, before Henry had left with Annabelle’s heart, Annabelle and Polly would sit and giggle and admire some of the miners. What had Polly done with the shawl she’d been knitting for Annabelle’s wedding trip?

It hardly mattered. There was no wedding, no wedding trip. Henry had gone without Annabelle, all because Annabelle had chosen to nurse her ailing family when the sickness hit. The worst part was, Henry hadn’t even said goodbye. Polly had been the one to break the news of Henry’s departure.

How could she face her friend now?

She opened her eyes and looked up at Joseph.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep well last night, so I’m tired. Of course we can stay.”

“What happened to your breakfast?” Gertie pointed at the plate Joseph had cleaned up but hadn’t found a way to dispose of yet.

Annabelle stared at the ground. “I’m sorry. I got distracted, and I was clumsy.”

She was trying so hard not to offend anyone. To not wrap them up