Page 17 of The Gold Rush Bride

Sadie shrugged. “Well, I love to bake, too, so I guess I’ll be doing our baking.”

He nodded. “Yes, unless you want either raw or burned biscuits. Given my skills or lack thereof.”

“That’s fine. I’m not so good with regular cooking except for breakfast. As long as you have lunch and dinner, I’ll bake and do breakfast.”

They walked back to the tent, and since she intended to rest inside, she grabbed the guns.

Barnaby went inside, sat on his cot, and then stretched out.

She leaned the rifle against the tent near the opening and set the holster at the foot of her cot. Then she lay on her side to face him. Finally, she got up the nerve to ask what was on her mind. “Barnaby, how old are you?”

“I’m thirty-four and you?”

“Twenty-seven. Why haven’t you married before now?”

He shrugged. “Who’s to say I haven’t?”

She popped up an eyebrow. “Well, were you?”

He didn’t look at her. “Yes.”

She waited for him to continue.Dragging an answer out of him is like getting a tooth pulled.“What happened?”

“She died,” he whispered.

“I’m sorry. How did she die?”

Barnaby studied her. “You’re a nosy one, aren’t you?”

She lifted her chin a bit. “I am and I’m sorry for being insensitive, but I should know about the man I married, just as you should know about me.”

“Fine, you go first.”

“Very well. When I was twenty, I was engaged to a wonderful man. His name was Richard, and I loved him very much. But his family didn’t approve of me. I wasn’t rich enough. When he broke it off, it devastated me. Father said he wanted me to have what he and Mother did. They were in love right until the day she died. But...” she looked down. Her hands were shaking, and she clasped them, hoping he didn’t see. “I’m cursed. Everyone I love leaves me. First my mother, then my grandmother, followed by Richard, and now my father. How many more people do I have to lose?” She turned around, her eyes full of tears.

Barnaby stood and sat beside her, placing an arm around her shoulders.

She kept her head down. “Sadie, look at me.”

Lifting her chin, her eyes filled with tears, she gazed at him.

“People die. We often don’t know why. Influenza took my wife and son while I chased my dream of finding gold in California. I never should have taken them with me, but Bessie refused to be parted. My son was only two months old when we began the trip.”

How horrible. Such a sad situation.“How long ago did they die?”

“Three years. But you never forget your first love or your child. He was just a baby, seven months old. I’m just glad he was too young to know what was happening. Unlike Bessie, who knew everything. She knew she was dying and so was Bobby. That fact bothered her more than anything, that her sweet baby was dying, too.”

Sadie couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes at his story. He, too, had lost so much and now she’d taken away from him having an actual marriage and children. She realized she had cursed herself, again, to also never having children. But they would have to have a genuine marriage and relations before she could even think about having children. Could she do that?

Someday, she would gather the courage to face him and understand it was the right time. But what if she never did? What if the right time never presented itself? Was she wrong for waiting for something to happen? Waiting for some sign to tell her Barnaby was the one? And if he isn’t the one, did it actually matter? He was her husband until death did them part.

He stood and secured the tent flap. Then he stopped tying it and cocked his head. “What are you thinking so hard about?”

She was honest. “I was thinking about children and how you get them.”

He straightened his neck and raised a challenging eyebrow. “You know what must happen before you can have children, don’t you?”

Sadie rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips. “I’m twenty-seven years old. I’m not stupid.”