Cora's Pride (Wilderness Brides Book 1) by Peggy L Henderson Page B

Cora, before you catch cold.”
    Cora tore her eyes away from him. She slipped her hand out from his grip and Anna quickly raised the corner of the blanket that had dropped and covered Cora’s shoulder and arm.
    “Please excuse us for a moment, Mr. Wilder. Your breakfast is getting cold.” Anna shot him a meaningful look. She moved between him and Cora and pushed her toward the wagon.
    Nathaniel smiled with a definite mischievous twinkle to his eyes before he did the polite thing and wandered back to the fire.
    “What was that all about?” Anna whispered when they reached the back of the wagon.
    “What do you mean?” Cora glanced at her friend. Her lips widened in a smile.
    “You were . . . you were flirting with him.”
    Cora snorted. She held a hand to her mouth to keep from bursting into laughter. “I thought you wanted me to be polite and not tell him to leave again. I wasn’t flirting. I was simply putting him in his place, Anna. I wasn’t going to swoon in front of him or run away in mortification because of impropriety.”
    Truthfully, he was the one putting her in her place. He’d seemed less flustered about the encounter than she, and looked to have been enjoying their silent duel.
    “Well, it certainly was highly improper,” Anna insisted. “What were you thinking?”
    Cora’s smile faded. “Sending a message to Mr. Wilder that I’m not going to be intimidated by his presence.”
    And you failed miserably, Cora.
    Anna stared at her with narrowed eyes. “Cora, there’s something going on between you and that man. I’ve sensed it before. You’ve never let a man rile you and get under your skin the way Mr. Wilder seems to.” She shook her head and a smile passed over her lips. “And the way you looked at each other was like the force of an electrical storm. The air was purely charged around the two of you.”
    Cora waved her off with a careless flick of her hand. She scoffed to cover up her lingering reaction to Nathaniel. Something had happened a moment ago and it scared her almost as much as the thought of drowning in the river. Even Anna had noticed.
    “I’d best get dressed, like you said. It’s rather chilly out.”
    She climbed into the wagon, ignoring another wave of dizziness as she scrambled over several trunks and a mattress. When she looked up in the dim light under the canvas, she met Josie’s wide-eyed stare.
    “What are you doing in here, Josie? Shouldn’t you be out having breakfast?”
    Cora’s eyes drifted to her rifle, which Josie clutched on her lap. She expelled a sigh and pulled her little sister into an embrace.
    “He’s not going to hurt you,” she said quietly.
    She may have been mistrustful of Nathaniel from the beginning, but truth be told, it had nothing to do with his character and everything to do with her reaction to him. Nathaniel wasn’t a threat to Josie or any of them, of that she was certain.
    Anna was right. There was something going on. She’d sensed it from the beginning, and it had raised her hackles. Being attracted to a man brought complications she didn’t need. Why this man? Why not a farmer on his way to Oregon?
    She’d been slightly attracted to Ted when they’d first met in Independence, but he’d never gotten her riled the way Nathaniel had managed to do right from their first meeting. When Ted had proposed marriage, she’d told herself that she could grow to love him, or at least care for him. At the time, he’d seemed like a sensible, secure choice in a husband, unlike a woodsman, who was all wrong for her. She mentally shook her head. Her attraction to Nathaniel Wilder baffled her, but it could be overcome. Once they reached Fort Hall, they’d be parting ways, and she wouldn’t have to see him again.
    Cora looked at her sister. “I promise, he is not going to lay a hand on you. He’s not that kind of man.”
    Josie stared at her. She blinked rapidly. “We almost lost you yesterday.”
    Cora leaned forward and wrapped her