Free Brides of Ohio by Jennifer A. Davids

her son and, excusing himself, hurried outside. He rushed around the corner to where the young widow was just taking up the reins. “Adele!”
    Adele and her son looked back. The young boy smiled and waved at Daniel, but his mother quickly turned around and directed her horse onto the dirt road.
    Daniel watched them ride off. He couldn’t blame her really. It had to be hard for Adele to see him—the man who had failed to rescue her husband. Being an honest man, Daniel had carefully, yet tactfully, explained Nate’s death. He had known Adele; she would have wanted to know.
I should have gone back for him.
But even as the thought crossed his mind, the horrible image of Nate being mowed down by Confederate bullets reminded him he would only have died with his friend, leaving the surviving men to face possible recapture.
    Out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the shoulder decorations on his coat, which indicated his rank. They had made him a major for saving those men. He’d rather have Nate alive and still been a captain. He turned to find Katherine standing a little ways behind him.
    “Do you know Mrs. Stephens well?” she asked.
    He walked over to her, trying to read the expression on her face. “Yes, her husband was under my command in the war.”
    “Oh.”
    She looked as if she wanted to say more, but Ruth Decker came up at that moment. Smiling, she gave him a hug. “Daniel, I’m so glad you’re home!”
    “Thank you, Mrs. Decker,” he replied.
    “I saw poor Mary this morning. Said she sprained her ankle. Do you need me or May to come out and help tend to her?”
    He looked at her in surprise. “Thank you, but Miss Wallace has been doing a fine job.” He glanced over at Katherine, whose eyes were lowered.
    Ruth glanced at her with pursed lips. “Oh yes,” she replied. “I forgot about your guest.” She sidled over to Katherine. “I imagine with the war nearly over, you’ll be leaving us soon. Won’t that be a shame?”
    Daniel frowned at the clear note of sarcasm in the woman’s voice. He found it hard to believe Ruth Decker had been one of his mother’s oldest friends.
    He watched Katherine lift her eyes to the woman and calmly answer her. “I’m afraid I have no more family to return to, Mrs. Decker. Mrs. O’Neal assured me I could stay with her as long as I wanted.”
    “Well, Mary is the picture of hospitality, but I’m sure you must have misunderstood,” Ruth said pointedly. “Surely you can’t mean to say you have no one you could live with. I mean, you can’t keep burdening Mary and Daniel. They run a farm, not a hotel.”
    Katherine looked away with a clenched jaw and reddening cheeks.
    Enough was enough. “You’re quite right, Mrs. Decker, we are running a farm,” Daniel said. “And Miss Wallace has been a great help. She was taking care of things all by herself after Aunt Mary sprained her ankle. I’ve never seen the farm look better.”
    “Oh … well …” The woman faltered. She turned to see her daughter helping Mary down the church steps. “May, how considerate of you.” Giving Katherine a reproving glance, she walked over to them.
    Daniel gave Katherine’s elbow a squeeze, and she looked up at him gratefully. “That was very kind of you,” she said. “But I only looked after the farm for a day and a half before you came home.”
    “And you did a great job.” He smiled.
    Mary was waiting at the carriage, and as they started to walk over, several people came up and offered their condolences to Daniel. He was gratified by their kind words about his mother and brothers, but he could not help but notice they simply ignored Katherine. One woman even elbowed her out of the way. First Ruth Decker, and now this? At first Katherine stood quietly off to the side, but she eventually walked over to the carriage where Mary was still waiting. It was several more minutes before he was able to join them.
    He glanced over at Katherine several times on the way home.