Mary Connealy by Golden Days Page A

her. She heard nothing. As soon as she put enough paces between her and that thicket, she pivoted and raced for the cabin.
    By the time she got to the house, she had begun to doubt the strange flash of fear. Feeling foolish for racing through the woods, she slowed her steps and tried to steady her breathing. Running a hand through the wisps of black hair that had escaped her braid, she tidied herself. No sense frightening Meredith just because Amy jumped at her own shadow. With a shake of her head, Amy entered the cabin to see Meredith sitting on Ian’s lap.
    They were both grinning.
    Amy forgot all about that strange moment in the woods. “You told him.”
    Meredith nodded. Ian jumped from the chair with Meredith still in his arms and whooped, twirling her around in the air.
    Amy stepped back so she wouldn’t get plowed over in the tiny cabin, laughing at Ian’s antics.
    “Ian, stop. I’m going to throw up.” Meredith slapped at his shoulder, but then she went back to holding him tight. She didn’t look sick. She looked wonderful. Amy saw none of the greenish hue to her skin. Her eyes glowed with joy, her cheeks were flushed pink from laughter, and her lips were slightly swollen, no doubt from Ian’s kisses.
    “Well, good,” Amy said, “because Braden found out today. He insisted that we tell Ian. . . today .”
    Meredith, perched in her husband’s arms, arched a brow at Amy. “You talked with Braden this morning?”
    “Yes.” Amy refused to say more despite Meredith’s open curiosity. “Ian, take your wife outside so I can cook some dinner. This cabin is not big enough for me and a dancing couple.”
    “I’m feeling better.” Meredith squeezed Ian’s neck until he grunted. “I think I could help cook today.”
    “Not right now.” Amy shook her head. “I think you need to go and spend a few minutes with your husband. You can try cooking tonight.”
    Ian smiled, whirled Meredith one more time, then swept toward the door with his wife still in his arms.
    Amy jumped out of the way, laughing at Ian’s nonsense. She turned to watch them go and saw Braden standing at the edge of the clearing. Ian and Meredith didn’t see him; they were too caught up in their own joy. Could it have been Braden she’d heard in the woods? Would he have kept quiet if she’d come upon him, rather than speak to her, even after he’d seen her fear?
    With his heart in his eyes, Braden watched his brother and Meredith. The grief cut lines into the corners of his mouth and deepened the lines in his forehead.
    The happy couple vanished into the woods, and Braden turned to Amy.
    Anger replaced grief, and even from this distance, she could see the accusation, as if she’d betrayed him somehow. The betrayal boiled down to Amy being alive while his beloved Maggie was dead.
    I am in love with him.
    From out of nowhere, the knowledge swept over her as powerfully as an avalanche. His expression couldn’t have hurt as much as it did for any other reason. At that moment, she’d have done anything to take away his pain, even given up her life in exchange for his Maggie’s if God granted her the power to make such a trade.
    Her eyes held Braden’s. Then, as if he couldn’t bear the sight of her a moment longer, he turned away and disappeared into the trees in the opposite direction his brother and sister-in-law had gone.
    ❧
    Amy fed the family and, with some argument, settled Meredith in for an afternoon nap. After the excitement of telling Ian her news, she looked exhausted. Meredith protested, but she fell asleep almost before Amy left the room.
    Amy tended the fire in her smokehouse, then set off through the woods. She planned to haul home a much larger catch today. Knowing she had the smokehouse to build first, she hadn’t taken the time to carry more salmon home yesterday. Settling into the long, silent strides her father had taught her when he took her along to his trap lines, she covered a mile and had two more to go. She