Born of Treasure (Treasure Chronicles Book 2) Read Online Free PDF

haven’t purchased anything since arriving. I’ve kept the few things your mother loaned me separate in the wardrobe.”
    “We can leave on the train tomorrow. There should be tickets available. Do you care if we don’t take much? We shouldn’t be more than a week.”
    “With the rain, we should stay here. Some roads can become quite hazardous.”
    Jeremiah wiped his hand over his mouth. The Treasure Ranch had never been as much fun as with Alyssa present. She brought a glow to the everyday activities. Normally, he rose, worked, enjoyed a quiet evening, and went to bed. With Alyssa, he couldn’t wait to join her for lunch or to take her for an afternoon ride while he checked the grounds. “Do you want to stay here?”
    She stepped to the doorway. Thunder vibrated across the plains, stretching across the flatness. “I’m only here because of you.”
    Jeremiah froze. The light from the gas lamps on his dresser danced across her freckled face. She didn’t smile, didn’t frown, her lips parted and eyes seemed to glisten. His father’s words exploded back.
    “Do you”—his voice cracked—“want to… be a… couple?”
    Amethyst would’ve said, “Couple of what?”
    Blast her; she needed to get out of his thoughts. If his sister didn’t want to be a part of the family, he wouldn’t consider her.
    “Do you mind if I court you?” His throat tightened. The time she’d spent with him had felt like that, when he’d dated a few girls in town. They hadn’t known enough about manners. Proper ladies always wore shoes and they didn’t climb trees, didn’t shoot. His mother had drilled propriety into them even if they lived in the untamed west.
    If Alyssa said no, he wouldn’t know how to act around her. Their time together would slip away.
    “You will have to ask my father.” Alyssa smiled. “I will be very happy if he gives his permission.”
    Lightness lifted off Jeremiah with a whoosh. He sank onto the edge of his bed with a smile so broad it made his lips sting. “I’ll do that on this trip. I’ll check a map, see where to stop first.”
    Alyssa glanced down the porch before stepping into his room. He almost laughed. She’d refused to enter before, claiming it wouldn’t be seemingly since his parents were kind enough to shelter her.
    “Captain Greenwood might be gruff,” she said, “but what will you learn by going to his post? That his other men are just as unseemly? They don’t take only noblemen to be officers. Most soldiers are those who can’t make a living doing anything else. They’re also the hard working who want to give back to the country that protects them, the poor who yearn to survive.”
    Her words painted pictures as if her life were a novel. “I have a feeling. Something isn’t right with him. It’s not just gruffness, I swear.” He crossed to hold her hands. “Trust me. It’s how we ranchers get by. We have to trust our feelings.”
    “Are you sure he’s in Bromi Grove? That sounds terrifying.”
    “They only call it that because it was the first town cleared of Bromis. It’ll be safe. From what he told Zachariah, he was one of them to kill off those nasty Bromis and he’s had his post there ever since.”
    “You think he tells your brother the truth?”
    “Why not? Zachariah worships him. It’ll help the captain think he’s safe here. There’s something else going on, though, and I won’t let it hurt my family.” He opened his wardrobe and rifled through the shirts to find his fanciest. It would help his parents think he was just taking Alyssa on a trip. Asking her father for permission made the perfect reason.
    “He really wants Clark,” Alyssa whispered.
    Ice crept over Jeremiah’s skin. It had to be from the wind and rain blowing through the door. “My family’s affairs aren’t for everyone’s pleasure.”
    She shook her head. “It’s more than that. He was too eager. Do you think he deserted?”
    It would explain Clark’s aversion to the army.