Forever Wild (Book 1 in the Forever His Series)

Chapter 4

1850.

November.

  A Saturday afternoon brings with it a warm breeze and cloudy skies. Emily Rosewater pays neither attention as she tends her meager vegetable and herb gardens. Her breathing is hard as she repeatedly bends, squats, pulls, hoes and digs. Sweat droplets roll down her face and she pauses to wipe them away with her apron. Due to the heavy rains a few days ago, large parts of the ground are still quite muddy, leaving Emily to step lightly and awkwardly on the land.

  One such muddy spot causes her foot to slip and her back slams onto the ground. Fresh carrots, lettuce, beets, and cauliflower roll from her basket into the mud as the breath is knocked out of her lungs.

  The sky above mirrors the storm churning within. Tears spring to her eyes as the memory of laying in the mud like this so many weeks ago by her husband's graveside comes alive again, releasing a torrent of pent-up frustration and fear. The tears come easily enough, but it is the cries that need that extra nudge of courage to crawl out of her throat.

  "Why did this have to happen? There's no justice anywhere and I can't move on. I can't even grow a proper carrot!" Emily sits up, grabs two of the ten measly carrots she's waited countless weeks to see matured and hurls them as far as she can into the wild grass on the left side of her house, her screams chasing after them.

  Help me. Please. Someone, anyone. I don't know what to do! Her thoughts thrash and rage inside her head, trapped, clawing to get out, to become words that can fly out of her mouth and into the mysterious and unknown and demand change. Give him back to me. It's not fair. It's not fair.

  "IT'S NOT FAIR!"

  A part of her knows it's ridiculous, hoping some higher being would miraculously make everything make sense again. Make her heart whole again. The very heart in question fills with such a strong yearning for its other half that it spills over the cracked edges and seeps into her veins.

  "Please!" Emily begs, curled on her side as sobs wrack her body, but a low rumble in the distant sky is the only response she receives.

  When her throat finally dries up, only cold silence is left. Emily heaves a sigh, wipes her blurry eyes, and gathers the remaining produce into her basket before standing.

  What's the point? Crying won't bring him back. She opens the door and steps inside to a house that looks as if a tornado had blown through, leaving only the walls and roof in place.

  Stepping over overturned chairs and nearly tripping over a small pillow, Emily catches herself in time and makes it safely to the kitchen, where she immediately sets about rinsing the food and finding where she had previously tossed the small pot two days ago.

  "Ah." Kicking aside some empty cans and a few dirty dresses in a corner of the living room, Emily unearths the dented pot, checks its state of cleanliness, and finishes preparing her vegetable stew. Becoming a vegetarian was far easier than Emily had anticipated as she couldn't imagine having to kill any of her animals for food. Myrtle the cow and Cluck the chicken are her only companions for miles on the quiet prairie land. The nearest town to her meager farmstead is Bodie, which is an hour ride away if the weather holds.

  Once the hearth fire is started and steady, the pot of stew simmering above it on an iron hook, Emily holds out her hands to warm them. She closes her eyes against the sudden memories of the countless nights she and Collin had spent practically glued together by the hearth, reminiscing over old memories, planning new ones. One such memory slams against her mental wall with a bang. She grits her teeth, shakes her head to try and clear it.