Tracie Peterson Read Online Free PDF Page A

of determination on his face, and he never glanced at the train. No doubt another medical emergency, Daughtry thought.
    Soon the train began its journey, and Daughtry breathed a sigh of relief. When they reached the town of Springer, the conductor announced an hour wait while they took on several carloads of cattle. Daughtry realized this would be the perfect opportunity to find a minister and have the proxy marriage ceremony performed.
    Hurrying through the town, she wondered to herself what minister in his right mind would marry two strangers together. What if I can’t find someone willing to do the job? Worry flooded her soul. What if she had to turn back, or worse, meet Mr. Dawson without the marriage in place as he’d requested?
    Daughtry’s worries were for naught, however. The first minister she approached was more than happy to take her offering of five dollars to perform the proxy service. Armed with marriage papers in hand, Daughtry made her way back to the train, ten minutes before it pulled out and headed east to her new home.
    Staring out the window, Daughtry felt something akin to excitement and foolish regret, both at the same time. She was a married woman! She was no longer Daughtry Ann Lucas. Now, she was Daughtry Dawson, wife of Nicholas.
    Taking out the photograph of her husband, Daughtry tried to imagine what type of man he was. He looked tall, and she could see that he was broad-shouldered. He looked strong and healthy, maybe even older than she. She realized with a start that she had no idea how old her husband was. Nor did she know whether he’d ever been married before or if he had children.
    “What have I done?” she questioned softly, then glanced around quickly to make certain no one else had heard her.
    When the train finally arrived at Daughtry’s destination, she panicked. Nicholas wouldn’t know she was coming. She hadn’t sent a telegram or tried to telephone or anything else that would let him know of her arrival. She’d brought a small amount of money with her, enough to rent a room for the night, but fear gnawed at her like a hungry animal. Daughtry had never been on her own before.
    She stepped from the train and immediately signaled a man to assist her. “Do you know where the Nicholas Dawson ranch is located?” she asked the man.
    “No, Ma’am. I can’t rightly say I’ve ever heard of the man.”
    Daughtry’s face fell. Just as she was about to ask the man who might know, another voice sounded from behind her.
    “Did I hear you say you were lookin’ for the Dawson place?”
    Daughtry turned and met the eyes of a dust-laden stranger. The man was older than her father, but his shoulders and chest were massive.
    “Yes,” she managed to say. “I need to get to Nicholas Dawson’s ranch.”
    “Well, you’re in luck,” the man said in a noncommittal way. “I’m on my way out there with this load of freight. I just have to finish picking up the rest of it and we can be on our way.”
    Daughtry sighed aloud. “You, Sir, are an answer to prayer.”
    The man snorted at her declaration and pointed to his wagon. “You just wait over there and I’ll be with you directly. These your bags?” he questioned, glancing at the luggage beside Daughtry.
    “Yes.”
    “That all you brought?”
    “Yes,” Daughtry replied and ignored his look of curiosity.
    Without another word, the man took the bags, threw them up into the freight wagon, and went off in the direction of the train. Daughtry hurriedly planted herself by the wagon and was relieved when the man returned fifteen minutes later to finish stacking the cargo.
    The afternoon was late when Daughtry and the freighter finally arrived at the Dawson ranch. The man had offered her no name, and, in return, Daughtry hadn’t explained who she was. Now, as the man unloaded his wagon and stacked lumber and supplies inside a rather rundown barn, Daughtry glanced around nervously for her husband. When the freighter finished and