Rebecca (Angel Creek Christmas Brides #15) - Lily Graison Page 0,25

life drain out of her. Amanda was much too young to remember it. She wasn’t even two when Ruth passed.”

“Was your mother bound to her chair during that time?”

“Yes.” He took a deep breath and Rebecca noticed small lines near his eyes. She wasn’t sure of his age but wondered if having a hard life had contributed to those age lines. He worked every day, all day long, and living like that must be tiring. How did he care for his mother, a young daughter, a sick wife, and still manage to work? Even with his wife gone, his remaining responsibilities were too many for one man alone to see to. And he’d been doing it for years? She knew now why Agatha had encouraged him to send away for a wife.

And he got her. A woman who couldn’t cook or clean and could barely even read, thanks to the nuns running the orphanage thinking there wasn’t a need for them to do so.

Guilt made something in her chest pull tight. He’d sent away for a bride to help him take care of his daughter and mother and ended up with her, someone who’d only burdened his family more.

“Mother was in an accident before Ruth and I married.” He grabbed hold of her arm as they headed over another icy patch of packed snow near town. “The wagon she and my father were in overturned and pinned them underneath it. She wasn’t able to feel anything below her waist after that. My father..." He drew in a deep breath before saying, "He didn't survive it. I've been mother's caretaker ever since. Having to take care of her, Amanda and Ruth was hard but I managed.”

“You’ve done fine from what I’ve seen.”

He laughed. “Well, you’ve not seen me at my wit’s end, ranting like a lunatic about to lose my mind.” They stepped onto the sidewalk, their booted feet making a loud pop against the wood. “And I hope you never do.”

They passed the mercantile and Rebecca saw the restaurant on the other side of the road. Caleb steered her around piles of muddied snow and sludge as they crossed the street, their steps quickening when the stagecoach came barreling into town. She stepped up onto the sidewalk with him holding her hand again and she froze when someone yelled, “Rebecca!” She turned without thought, her heart nearly bursting from her chest when she saw Hazel hanging out the window of the stagecoach.

Oh no.

“Do you know her?”

Rebecca’s heart pounded so hard she thought she might faint. She turned her back to the street and shook her head. “No, I’ve never seen her before. She must have mistaken me for someone else.”

Caleb watched as the stagecoach continued down the road, Hazel still hanging out the window. What was she doing here? Please, don’t let her be living here in Angel Creek.

“Is this the restaurant?” Her question drew Caleb’s attention, thankfully, and he ushered her inside the building. She smiled when he held the door for her and tried to put Hazel out of her mind. Of all the rotten, stinking luck! Isn’t that the story of your life? She sighed. It was. Nothing had ever been easy for her. She’d thought now that she had a new name and a new life, things would turn around but as always, nothing ever went her way.

They were seated in the far corner at Diana’s insistence. She’d not wanted to sit by the window, the air was colder there she’d said, so he’d asked for a table near the back wall.

Orders placed, they waited in silence. He couldn’t think of a single thing to say. Diana took in the room, smiling at anyone who looked her way before fussing with the napkin in her lap. Apparently, she had nothing to say either. The silence grew uncomfortable and was near deafening now that they were here.

At his mother’s urging, Caleb had asked Diana to dinner in town and he hadn’t hesitated in doing so. He barely knew this woman he’d agreed to marry, and he worked so many hours, getting to know her seemed almost impossible as he was gone from sunup to sundown. By the time he made it home, cleaned up, and ate supper, it was bedtime so they never had a chance to talk. He knew nothing about her other than what she’d told him in her letter and it seemed half of that wasn’t even true. He was more confused by her