Threads of Change Read Online Free PDF

he’d stumbled upon Lecompte for “no particular reason,” and a few weeks later he met Lucas and went to work at the mill. Chet had been respected and paid well, but Grandpa Lucas had said the man had desperately wanted to go back to Texas—he said it was in his blood.

    The sweet and enticing fragrance inside the tearoom made Liz remember how hungry she was. She imagined Emma and Abby were half starved by now.
    Emma rubbed her leg and commented that it felt sore from the trip. “For two days,” she explained, “it hit the side of the stage until now it’s tender and bruised.”
    Liz noticed the little half-moons that hung under her cousins’ eyes, and she smiled as she thought that they paraded their fatigue around like a little girl in a fancy dress. They likely felt horrible, mostly from the poor sleeping conditions, and the half hour of excitement since their arrival had disguised their tiredness. But now, as normalcy set in, their exhaustion looked unmistakable.
    The four of them sat down at a white linen-covered table. They ordered dessert and tea and the cousins took turns relating everything that had happened to them since they had last exchanged letters. They were brought up on all of the latest news, including most of the plans for their journey west. They talked about the future and recent quilting projects, wagons, flowers, men, lacy hats, and hairstyles.
    At a break in the conversation, Abby pulled off her thin gloves and looked over at Liz. Abby seemed overwhelmed by the heat. “Abby, I think it’s time to start home.”
    Chet cautiously entered the tearoom just then as the ladies finished the last of the crumbly pastries. He walked with the confidence that comes from a shot of whiskey, and he touched his hat with a greeting as he reached the table.
    “Hello, Chet,” Liz said cheerfully. “What perfect timing. We were about to leave.”
    Chet smiled as his chocolate brown eyes went to each female. He looked handsome in his brown cowboy hat and green cotton shirt. His dark blond hair hung loosely under his hat, and his boots were dark and slightly dusty from constant wear.
    “I’d like for you to meet my cousins, Chet. This is Abby,” she said. “And this is Emma, her younger sister.”
    “Ma’am, ma’am,” he said, tipping the brim of his hat twice, greeting each of them.
    “Nice to meet you,” they both said, almost in unison.
    “Nice to meet you, also.” Chet shifted his weight to his other hip, causing his belt buckle to shine in the afternoon sun. “Well, I’ll be out front with the wagon when you ladies are ready to leave.”
    “Thank you, Chet,” Liz said. “We’ll be right along.”
    He smiled toward Emma, and gave her an extra tip of his hat as he headed out the door. Emma smiled back, her cheeks blushing red.
    “Oh!” Megan teased. “I think Chet is sweet on you, Emma.”
    “No … really? You think so?”
    “Yes, really.”
    “Maybe so, Emma,” Liz teased. “I saw the way he looked at you.”
    Emma looked dazed and slightly embarrassed. “Who is Chet again?”
    Megan giggled. “He works at the mill. You’ll see him again later, I’m sure.”
    Liz quickly paid with the money that Lucas had given her, and they walked out to meet the men at the wagon.

    Like each one before it, Lucas rose first that morning and started the coffee and the first skillet of bacon.
    “The smell of bacon is better than any alarm,” he’d often told Thomas just about the time the girls trotted down the stairs to the table, sleepy-eyed and ready to eat. The same trick had come to work on Luke as well.
    After Claire had passed away, Megan started making the biscuits, and Liz oversaw the eggs and the general needs of getting everyone fed. Caleb and Thomas had started joining the family for breakfast each day even before Caleb married into the Mailly family. Lucas ran the family timber mill straight from his morning breakfast table.
    Thomas supposed that Liz and Megan had both learned