Free Anna's Heart (Wilderness Brides Book 2) by Peggy L Henderson Page A

was no valid excuse to be angry with her.
    Ethan stared at the curtain. His mother’s words from his dream haunted him. Don’t turn your back this time. What did she mean by that? That he shouldn’t turn his back on Anna Porter, and offer to take her away from the valley to Oregon?
    Pushing aside the curtain, he stepped into the room just as Anna reached for the door handle to leave the cabin.
    “Miss Porter,” he called. Her back stiffened but she didn’t stop. Ethan rushed to her and reached for her arm before she could leave. She spun to face him, looking up at him with wide eyes.
    Ethan stared at her. Details about her face that he’d never noticed before came into focus. He’d never stood this close to her, not even yesterday after the muddy-water incident. Her skin looked smooth as silk, provoking an irrational need to touch her cheek. Good thing his hand was still wrapped around her arm and the other was bandaged or he might have given in to the impulse. Several freckles sprinkled her nose, probably from spending too much time out in the sun. Her amber eyes mirrored her soft and tender heart. Damned if they weren’t melting away the ice that enveloped his own.
    “Has it ever occurred to you, Mr. Wilder, that sometimes people might do things simply to be kind to someone else, without wanting something in return? The truth is, you are the last person I would impose upon to escort me to Oregon or anywhere else, for that matter.” She pulled her arm away and stepped outside.
    Ethan clenched his jaw. “Miss Porter, I owe you an apology.”

Chapter Seven
    “ H e apologized ?”
    Cora’s eyes widened at the same time a smile brightened her face. She set aside the wool shirt she held in her hand and shifted in her seat at the table in her cabin. A soft chuckle passed from her lips and she shook her head. “And you accepted?”
    “Of course I accepted.” Anna concentrated on her sewing, having already pricked her finger once with the sharp needle. Her stitches, which were usually neat and even, were barely passable this time. Good thing she was simply mending one of Travis’ socks.
    Her second encounter with Ethan Wilder in just as many days was still too unsettling. She’d chosen to eat supper with Josie in their cabin the night before, rather than with Cora and the Wilder men, so she hadn’t seen him since he’d told her he’d treated her unfairly.
    “What did he say?” Cora prodded, an eager look on her face.
    Anna pulled the needle through the sock, careful to stay away from her thumb. She shrugged. Her eyes lifted to Josie, who sat quietly at the other end of the table, cleaning her rifle.
    “He said he had no cause to blame me for the mix-up with the herbs, and he was sorry for calling me witless when I tossed the water at him. Then he thanked me for washing his clothes.”
    Cora’s smile widened. “I suppose for Ethan, that’s quite an apology. I knew that he wasn’t the ogre everyone makes him out to be.” She leaned forward in her chair. “Then what happened?”
    Anna paused in her work. She glanced at her friend. Her forehead scrunched. “What do you mean? Nothing happened. I accepted his apology and left.”
    “He didn’t say anything else?” Cora’s brows rose, as if she was expecting a more elaborate answer.
    Anna shook her head. “No. I was ready to walk out of the cabin, since he woke in a bad mood. I believe he may have thought I was someone else for a moment, the way he looked at me before he fully came to his senses. I only went to the cabin to bring him some broth and his clothes.”
    She’d heard a quiet moan from his bunk when she’d come to the cabin. The curtain separating his area from the main room had been left open and she’d seen him toss in his bed. He’d even reached his hand out to someone who wasn’t there.
    Unsure of what to do, Anna had gone to check on him since no one else was in the cabin. Sweat had covered his face and torso, and she’d almost left