Amelia just packed her clothes as quickly as she could manage it. The sunlight streamed through the window of her hotel room. She'd returned last night after another one of the parties held by some new friends she'd made at the saloon down the street, walking back with a gentleman when she felt another wave of an emotion that had become familiar lately.
Homesickness…a damn foolish admission on her part even to herself to acknowledge it… But her heart tightened when she'd been talking to Charlie a young man who had fancied her, talked her up at the party and wanted to go with her back to her room. She walked with him knowing she wouldn't let him inside the door. She'd say goodnight to him on the doorstep, kissing him on the cheek perhaps before she'd head inside alone.
He didn't know it yet of course but if he were an astute guy, he'd perhaps guess that her mind…and heart were elsewhere. Damn it, she missed home so much and what galled her was that when she thought of home, it wasn't the land where she'd been born so many miles away…it was someplace a lot closer. She and her ex-husband Pierce had traveled from town to town never settling down for long because it seemed that after six months or so, her husband would come home from whatever he did all day a bit antsy to go out and see more of the world. So they'd pack up their things and slip on out on horseback in the dead of night.
She never questioned him on why they left without saying goodbye. A lot wiser now she knew that he was simply skipping out on a real estate deal gone sour or a scam of his that had blown up in his face…though occasionally it was about getting out while the going was good. They were like nomads for several years but she'd been so young…she married way too young to escape a life of drudgery of waiting on members of the family that had sponsored her trip and their crowd. Her parents had shipped her off to America in hopes of a much better future than she'd find in Australia.
A land still so wild, much too wild for a young girl…even her brothers had barely survived it. Well two had died, one in a bar fight over a girl and the other within seconds after being bit by a snake. The one brother left had moved away, far away to start his own cattle ranch.
Amelia had been sent off to live with a well to do family that would make sure she was tended to and educated, she'd been smart as a whip and far away from any institution that could formally instruct her. America would be so much better for her, the land of dreams and opportunities lay ahead of her.
But her sponsorship family hadn't given her any of what had been promised. The day after she arrived fresh off the boat in San Francisco, she'd been wakened by the housekeeper at the crack of dawn to peel potatoes for dinner later that night. She'd been put to work scrubbing the floors throughout the house, on her hands and knees, scrubbing her hands raw the first day. Her muscles ached and sleep did little to relieve them before it started all over again the next morning.
Pierce had been dashing and had filled her head with stories of what life could be like if she went with him. That meant getting married and she'd said yes without thinking. He'd been a life rope for her to grab onto to get out of a situation that stifled her. He'd given her a scrapbook and told her to fill it with her dreams, pictures she'd cut out of places she wanted to visit, things she wanted to do.
He promised the world at her feet…she hadn't known about the catches until much later. She'd wound up stranded in Paradise, managing a back feeling much older than her years most the time.
Meeting Ethan had changed that. Oh, he drove her crazy with his volatile lifestyle but he tempered that by taking on the challenge of raising his sister's four children head on. He stumbled at it, failed miserably in some instances but she never doubted how much he loved the children.
She fell in love with that part of him and learned to tolerate the other parts of him that scared her. Until…she walked even faster with the man next to her already planning her graceful exit when she reached the hotel…and she knew she'd start packing her clothes.
Taking off again in the early morning before dawn to catch the stagecoach….knowing it was time to go home. Time to head on back to the only place that could ever feel like home now, a little town nestled in the foothills filled with abandoned mineshafts named Paradise.
She didn't have a choice now since she had decided to stop running from the most important thing in her life.
Ethan had spent hours sitting on the porch swing at Amelia's house even after the sun slid down behind the mountains and darkness descended over the town. He felt the warmth slide away from him and knew he'd fill the chill soon in more ways than just from the retreat of the sun.
He knew he should head back. John Taylor had left him sitting there after chiding him that he needed to be back home with his family rather than sitting here alone. Amelia would come back, the Indian had assured him. Ethan had glanced at him, hope suddenly in his heart for he knew his old friend never had been wrong about the important things about people.
"How do you know that," he'd asked.
John Taylor had broken out in a huge grin and said because he was old and wise. Ethan had been comforted by his words but damn, he still missed her so much it ached. Missed her beautiful eyes even when they looked at him with reproach, missed her loveliness in her face with skin so soft, the memory of touching it weakened him. Her body that molded so perfectly in his arms…he'd never really been in love…moving too far too fast to frequently to tie himself down to anyone.
The arrival of the children had changed his life in ways he never anticipated and Amelia…well she'd changed his heart. He'd tried so hard to stop her from leaving him this time…but unlike in the past she'd gotten on the stagecoach without looking back.
She'd be back, she'd be back, and he kept telling himself as he gazed into the darkness. The town's main street fell mercifully silent. He'd been working so damn hard the past two days as the town marshal, wanting so much to just pack up his horse and ride off to find her. But he had no idea where she had gone…she didn't keep in touch and it'd be like searching for a needle in a pile of hay. No, he'd have to wait and do what John Taylor advised which was to have faith that the love of his life would return back to him.
If she did, he'd grab hold of her so tightly that he'd never let her go again. He'd make sure he got a ring on her finger and kept it there…not repeat the mistakes that he'd made by not putting his family first before his life as a gunfighter.
No, that part of him had to change and it would…not that it'd be easy but the last few months of his life had been absolute hell and only sliding his arms around one woman would change that for him. So this time he'd do whatever it took.
One step at a time…
He stood up then resolute in his plan and he knew to trust in what John Taylor had told him as he got aboard his horse and headed back to the ranch where the children waited without looking back.