A Place to Call Home E-Book

Jae

• Herausgeber: Ylva Publishing
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 68

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2021

Beschreibung

Together, Luke and Nora survived the hardships and dangers along the Oregon Trail in 1851. What started out as a marriage of convenience between a woman living as a man and a former prostitute slowly grew into love. But now that they have arrived in Oregon City, the real adventure is just beginning. Winter is approaching, and they need to claim a piece of land and build a cabin, all while trying to establish their new roles as life partners and parents. Will they find a place to call home and, more importantly, a way to grow as a couple? "A Place to Call Home" is a lesbian historical romance short story that continues Jae's award-winning Oregon series. It picks up directly after the end of Backwards to Oregon.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Other Books by Jae

Acknowledgments

Oregon City, Oregon - October 14, 1851

Near Willow Island, Oregon - October 14, 1851

Hamilton Horse Ranch - Baker Prairie, Oregon - October 16, 1851

Hamilton Horse Ranch - Baker Prairie, Oregon - October 18, 1851

Hamilton Horse Ranch - Baker Prairie, Oregon - October 25, 1851

Hamilton Horse Ranch - Baker Prairie, Oregon - October 30, 1851

Other Books from Ylva Publishing

About Jae

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www.ylva-publishing.com

Other Books by Jae

Happily Ever After

Standalone Romances:

Chemistry Lessons

Wrong Number, Right Woman

The Roommate Arrangement

Paper Love

Just for Show

Falling Hard

Heart Trouble

Under a Falling Star

Something in the Wine

Shaken to the Core

Fair Oaks Series:

Perfect Rhythm

Not the Marrying Kind

The Hollywood Series:

Departure from the Script

Damage Control

Just Physical

The Hollywood Collection (box set)

Portland Police Bureau Series:

Conflict of Interest

Next of Kin

The Vampire Diet Series:

Good Enough to Eat

The Oregon Series:

Backwards to Oregon

Beyond the Trail

Hidden Truths

The Complete Oregon series (box set)

The Shape-Shifter Series:

Second Nature

Natural Family Disasters

Manhattan Moon

True Nature

Acknowledgments

I’m so grateful to my editor, Claire, and to my wonderful team of beta readers, especially Anne-France, Melanie, and Trish for the overnight delivery.

My biggest thank-you goes to my readers who gave the Oregon series a chance—some of them despite not being huge fans of historical romances—and then fell in love with the Hamiltons and eagerly kept reading. I hope you’ll enjoy this addition to the series.

Oregon City, Oregon October 14, 1851

The sun peeked over the bluff bordering Oregon City to the east. Its first rays danced over the masts of a schooner anchored on the Willamette to the west.

Nora shivered in the early-morning mist hanging over the river as she made sure their supplies and tools were all tied down while Luke yoked their four remaining oxen.

After five and a half months of traveling together, they barely had to talk to get their wagon ready to roll. They worked like a unit, each knowing exactly what to do. Even Amy completed her task—feeding their surviving hen, the two new chickens, and the rooster they had bought yesterday—without having to be told.

Their routine was as soothing as the clanking of the chains and the stomping of heavy hoofs—not just for Nora, but apparently, for the baby too. Little Nattie slept in the sling angled across Nora’s chest without waking even once.

Nora almost couldn’t believe that they wouldn’t have to do this all over again tomorrow. If all went well, they would wake up on their own land, wherever that might be. Excitement bubbled up inside her chest, but threads of anxiety crept up too.

It wasn’t the dangers that might lurk in this new land that scared her, nor the hard work needed to cultivate it. She had gotten used to both on the two-thousand-mile journey from Missouri. But while traveling the Oregon Trail, there had always been others to help if they ran into any trouble. Now they would be on their own.

“Ready?” Luke helped her down from the wagon, then kept hold of Nora’s hand for a few moments longer, as if sensing her worries. Finally, after a soft squeeze, Luke let go and bent to peer into the sling. She lightly trailed a single fingertip over the baby’s wispy dark hair in a gesture so tender that Nora melted inside.

Nora straightened her spine and raised her chin. They would be fine because they would still have each other. “Ready.”

Together, they headed toward the Garfields, who were waiting on the boardwalk, away from the muddy main street.

“Are you sure you don’t want to stay?” Bernice gave them a hopeful look.

Luke glanced at Nora, leaving it up to her to answer—and maybe to decide.

Nora didn’t have to think about it. She knew what kind of life Luke envisioned for herself, and it was a vision she shared. She firmly shook her head. “Like I said before, town life isn’t for us.”

“Not forever. Just until spring, like most of us,” Bernice said. “We could all head south with the Buchanans and Emmy and stake claims near each other.”

That sounded wonderful, especially since it meant Amy wouldn’t lose her best friend, Hannah Garfield.

The two girls stood off to the side, engrossed in something Amy was showing her friend—likely the wooden foal Luke had whittled for her at the hotel last night.

Mud squished as Luke shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “There are more emigrants arriving nearly every day. If we wait, the best land will be taken.”

Of course, Nora knew that was only part of the reason. While the Garfields were wintering with friends who had arrived in Oregon two years ago, Luke and Nora didn’t know anyone in the territory. If they stayed to wait out the winter, they would have to join one of the tent camps springing up at the edge of town.

There would be no privacy, and that was more than an inconvenience for Luke.

Besides, a cold, damp campsite wasn’t a good place for a week-old baby in winter, and after nearly half a year of living out of a cramped wagon, Nora was ready to have a place of her own too.

She stepped onto the boardwalk to hug her friend goodbye.

But Bernice apparently wasn’t ready to give up yet. “Have you thought about staying back with the girls while Luke heads out to stake a claim?”

Luke had made her the same offer, but Nora’s answer had been the same she gave Bernice now. “No.”

“No, you haven’t thought about it, or—?”

“Leave her alone, woman.” Jacob nudged his spouse’s arm. “A wife goes where her husband goes. Don’t you remember what the Good Book says? I think it goes something like this: ‘Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for wherever you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge.’”

Nora struggled to keep her face straight and not allow the corners of her mouth to curl up into a grin. Lord, if only he knew what that passage of the Bible really referred to. “Indeed,” she said with a grave nod. “My journey’s end is wherever Luke will go.”

Luke gave her a questioning look, apparently seeing through her impassionate mask.

“Later,” Nora whispered.

Bernice bit her lip but said nothing. Instead, she sighed and engulfed Nora in a warm embrace, careful not to jostle the baby sleeping between them. “Take good care of yourself and the little ones.”

“I will,” Nora said. In a whisper, she added, “Luke will take good care of us too; you know that, don’t you?”

Bernice sighed again. “I know.”

Luke shook Jacob’s hand and tipped her hat at Bernice. “I guess this is goodbye, then.”

“Nooo!” Amy started to cry. She clung to Hannah with one arm and to Bernice with the other.

Luke froze. She had looked less alarmed when facing a rattlesnake or a raging river. Tears from the girls were the one thing she didn’t know how to handle. “Uh, just for now, right?” She sent first Nora, then Jacob and Bernice an imploring gaze.

“Yes, just for now.” Bernice rubbed Amy’s small back. “We’ll look for you when we head out in spring.”

“We’ll let you know where we ended up when we come back to town to file the location of our claim with the land office,” Luke said. “That way, you don’t have to search for us all over the valley.”

Amy apparently still wasn’t convinced. She kept clutching Bernice and Hannah.

“See? We might even bring you some candy if you promise to be a good girl,” Bernice added.

Finally, Amy lifted her face from where she had buried it against Bernice’s apron. “L’mon drops?” she mumbled.

Bernice chuckled. “Yes, lemon drops.”