Adam's Bride Read Online Free PDF Page A

mill. They could freeze to death before morning.
    She motioned to her brother, who solemnly followed her. As they came closer to the house, she noticed the dozens of buckets set up in the surrounding sugar brush, ready to collect the year’s harvest of sap. For years, her father had spent the final weeks of winter working for various sugarhouses helping with the gathering of the sap. It was one of her favorite memories of her family. After the maple crop had been harvested, they gathered together for the sugaring off, where the children had been allowed to eat as much of the sweet syrup as they’d wanted.
    Her foot struck something solid in the middle of the path, and she nearly stumbled.
    Koby caught her, then knelt in the snow. “It’s a man, Lidia.”
    She stopped, gazing down at the crumpled figure. More than likely the cad was drunk, but this man had made the unfortunate mistake of choosing the wrong place to consume his spirits.
    Lidia bent to see if he was breathing then jerked back in surprise. Even in the darkening shadows of night, she recognized Adam. He was alive, and there was no smell of alcohol on his breath. After ripping off her gloves, she touched his forehead with the back of her hand. Fever raged through his body.
    “Quick, Koby. Help me carry him into the house.”
    Grunting his disdain, her brother leaned over to grab
    Adam’s shoulders. Lidia struggled under the weight of his limp body. Somehow they managed to move him past the slick steps and into the only bedroom of the cabin.
    They laid him on the wool blanket that covered the bed, then, after lighting a lantern, she instructed her brother to get a fire going. The first thing she had to do was determine the severity of the head wound, then warm him up. Searching the confines of the small cabin for fresh water and a cloth, she was surprised at how orderly the room was. While simply furnished, each piece was solid and well built. All it needed were a few extra touches that only a woman could provide. Curtains to grace the windows, colorful rugs to adorn the floor, and perhaps a handmade quilt to cover the bed …
    And you foolishly dare to imagine that you could ever be that woman?
    Frowning at the unwanted thought, she took the wet cloth and sat beside Adam, carefully wiping the wet blood from his forehead. He groaned and opened his eyelids.
    “Li … Lidia?” He smiled at her, but his voice was unsteady. “I was dreaming about you.” Clearly he was delirious.
    “Be still. You’re burning with fever, and I need to clean your wound.”
    “No, I’m not, it’s just …” He struggled to get up.
    She eased him back down on the bed and finished washing away the blood. While he was going to have quite a lump, it didn’t look too serious. More worrisome were his fever and the fact that he had likely spent several hours lying on the cold ground. If they hadn’t come along when they had …
    “You don’t understand.” This time Adam fought harder to sit up. “I have to check the buckets. It’s time for the sap to run.”
    From the pale light of the lantern, she could see splotches of red across his face from the cold. He was in no condition to get out of bed, let alone work. She laid him back against the pillow. Thankfully, he was too weak to resist her any longer.
    “Don’t worry about your sap collection.” She wrung the cloth into a bowl. “You’re not getting out of this bed.”
    It was a choice between her employment and the livelihood of this man, but as soon as she’d spoken, Lidia knew she’d already made her decision. With weather conditions the way they were, she didn’t dare try to go for help. And that left her with one option.
    She knew how grueling the process was. Harvesting the sap was only the beginning of the timely process. Once collected, the fresh sap had to be boiled immediately into syrup. Winter would not wait for Adam to recover. She and Koby would have to harvest the sap.

four
    Lidia ran her finger down