Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Lara sighed, wrapped the heavy blanket more closely around herself and drifted back into a deep sleep, the best she’d had in over a week.

She’d never been so close to horses before, particularly not massive creatures like the draft horses whose stall she’d invaded, but something about the animals made her feel secure, so she’d bedded down in the back corner of their area telling herself she’d just take a short nap before waking at dawn to explore the homestead she’d discovered.

She’d drifted off to sleep with visions of meat and potatoes dancing in her head.

Unfamiliar noises roused her. Daylight flickered through the slats in the wall of the barn and she realized she’d slept later than she’d planned. Sitting up quickly, she pushed the blanket away and got to her feet. She carefully walked around the perimeter of the stall whispering “nice horsey” to her hosts. With her back to the door, she reached behind to open the latch. Instead of a wooden panel, her hands grasped what could only be the well-muscled midsection of a man.

She shrieked and spun around, coming face to face with a man whose broad shoulders blocked her vision. His dark eyes flashed with surprise to match her own. When he reached out to grab her, Lara dove to her left and scuttled past him, but instead of running toward the door and escape, she ran directly into a dim corner of the barn, with the large farmer close behind.

Aggravated by her horrible sense of direction, she pulled up short just before slamming into the back wall of the building.

“Hold still, I mean yee no harm,” the hulking man said when he caught up to her.

Lack of proper nutrition, as well as general panic induced by surviving a cataclysmic event, turned the usually sensible Lara into a frightened animal. Seeing a wooden ladder leading up to the second story of the barn, she began to climb, ignoring the farmer’s plea that she stop.

She’d only made it to the third rung when the frustrated man grabbed hold of the back pockets of her jeans, which had become perilously baggy after a week of living in the woods eating scavenged food. While Lara went up the ladder, her pants and her pursuer went down. Unrelenting, he yanked again, pulling her from the ladder and the two of them tussled in a pile of hay on the floor.

“Yee fight like a mountain lion, woman. Stop at once.” The man’s voice was warm in her ear and though she had little energy remaining, she struggled onward, grabbing hold of his shirt and yanking it open. His muscled chest arrested her attention momentarily but she continued to thrash against him.

He quickly overpowered her and rolled them both so that she was pinned beneath him. Panting, she stared up into his face, which hovered inches above her own. Mesmerized by his somber eyes with amber flecks, an overwhelming urge to kiss him came over her. She couldn’t overpower him with her muscles, but she was still a woman. Pulling his face to hers, she kissed him. Hard.

The weight of his body atop hers, combined with the struggle, had lit a fire of desire inside her.

At first, her attacker appeared surprised by her change of tactics, but soon adjusted, his lips warm against hers. She grasped the muscles of his bare shoulders, his shirt having fallen halfway down his arms, and relaxed into the soft hay beneath her.

“Caleb! What the devil are yee doing?” Lara blinked at the intrusion and suddenly remembered where she was. She pulled her mouth away and turned to see an older man with a beard, hands on his hips, staring down at them. Behind him, four young men stood gaping at the scene—her jeans around her ankles with only a thin pair of panties covering her private parts while she clung to a practically shirtless man who was kissing her quite soundly.

Caleb quickly stood, reassembling his shirt. “Father, I found her in the stall with Abraham and Sarah.”

The older man, presumably Caleb’s father, looked from Caleb to Lara, who felt a serious blush covering her entire body, then back behind his shoulder at the horse stall. “If yee found her over there,” he gestured with his head, “what’re the two of you doing over here?”

Lara, suddenly very aware of her nearly nude bottom half and the curious looks of the young men whom she suspected were Caleb’s brothers, reached down to pull up her jeans. Once covered, she stood, not sure what to do or say. Caleb’s father continued to stare at his son, waiting for an answer. The brothers focused on her, and she wondered how long it had been since they’d seen a woman.

Instinctively she stepped back and to the side, partially shielded from their view by the mass of man that was Caleb.

“I chased her, Father,” Caleb said.

“She didna look like she was running just now,” his father replied. His stern voice sent a shiver down Lara’s spine, but Caleb stood his ground.

“She is not very fast, sir.”

“‘Tis difficult to run with your pants pulled down around your ankles,” his father replied. The brothers snickered and Lara noted that their father seemed to struggle a bit to keep his lips in a straight line.

The father held his hand out to her. “Come here, child,” he said. His eyes were dark like Caleb’s but weary and kind as well. She stepped forward, hands clasped at her waist.

“What is your name and what are yee doing here?” the gentleman asked, his voice much softer than when addressing his son.

“My name is Lara. I-I came looking for food and shelter.” She glanced from the father to the sons standing in a semi-circle behind him.

“I am Solomon Miller and these are my children.” He gestured to the group of men, pointing to each and naming them. “Daniel, Gabriel, Josiah, and Samuel. Benjamin, the youngest, is at the house.” Each of the sons doffed their hat and nodded when introduced. “You have already met Caleb. I apologize for my son’s ungentlemanly behavior.”

“I-I kissed him first,” she confessed, lowering her gaze.

Mr. Miller chuckled. “Aye. ‘Tis that true, Caleb?”

“Yes, Father.” Caleb spoke with respect to his father while maintaining his own stature.

Based on their dress and manner of speaking, Lara assumed they were Amish. Recalling that Amish men allowed their beards to grow when they got married, she noted the clean-shaven faces of all the sons, particularly Caleb, as well as the absence of any women. The hungry looks of the younger men made sense. And gave her a bit of a chill.

“Where did yee come from?”

“I have been hiding in the woods since the earthquake. I am… was… a student at Collier College.”

“That’s twenty miles away,” Caleb said. “Did yee travel that far alone?”

“Y-yes,” Lara lied. Although the Amish family seemed friendly, the fact remained that the world as they all had known it just a few days before had changed into an unfamiliar and dangerous place. Caution ruled her thinking and she dared not reveal the whereabouts of her classmates and Mrs. Potter. Not yet, at least.

“Well, we always have room at our table for a stranger in need,” the father said to Lara before turning to Caleb. “Please take our guest to the house and see that Benjamin prepares a decent meal for her. Stay with her until I return.”

“I can take her, Father.” One of the brothers—their names had become a muddle in her brain, but she believed him to be Daniel—stepped forward. Two others chimed in with offers.

“Nay, there’s work to be done. Caleb shall see to the girl and we shall see to our chores.”

Caleb noted Daniel’s glare when he stepped forward and claimed his prize. As the eldest of the Miller brothers, Daniel was used to getting what he wanted.

Not this time, brother.

Caleb touched her elbow. “This way, Lara.” Her name on his lips sent warmth through his body.

She smiled up at him and softly said, “Thank you.”

As Caleb escorted the beautiful girl out of the barn and across the lawn to the homestead, he grinned, happier than he had been in weeks. Even before the earthquake he had felt a gnawing emptiness, like there was something else in life for him. What that something else could be had been a mystery. He had followed all the traditions of his community and once his house was finished, he intended to find a bride. At social events and church gatherings, he had surveyed the pool of potential spouses eagerly. While they were all pretty, pious young women who would make any man a good wife, none of them had lit a fire of excitement within him.

Until a little hellcat hid in the barn, wrestled with him, and then kissed him, that is.

He was ashamed to admit that since the earthquake he’d forced himself to banish thoughts of a wife and family. It was a futile effort.

He glanced down at Lara, taking in her doe-like brown eyes, silky hair, and kissable lips.

Maybe there was a point now.

“You have been alone for a week. That must have been very frightening.”

She peeked up at him from beneath her lashes. “The whole event was terrifying,” she said, her voice quivering. A lump formed in his throat, thinking about this poor little girl all alone in the forest after surviving such a horrible tragedy.

He had been frozen in place, huddled with his brothers during the trauma, and continued to have nightmares about the horrific day and its aftermath. He could not even fathom what it might have been like for a small wisp of a girl like Lara, all by herself.

“Well,” he said, trying to be comforting, “you are here now and we will keep you safe.”

Lara looked up at him with her big trusting eyes, unshed tears threatening at the corners. “Thank you,” she whispered. “I have been so frightened.” She rested her warm hand on his arm and gave a gentle squeeze. “I am just so relieved to be here, with you to protect me.” She covered her face with her hands and cried. Great racking sobs that to Caleb sounded like they came from deep within her soul. It broke his heart.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her against his chest. Although the Amish were unused to such emotional outbursts, Caleb was not uncomfortable. Everything about Lara was just perfect as far as he was concerned. They stood that way for several minutes. He stroked her hair and murmured soft comforting sounds while she poured out her agony against his fresh white shirt. When her sobbing slowed, he reached into his pocket and passed her his handkerchief.

His instinct was to gather the little thing up in his arms, find the nearest rocking chair and lull her to sleep like the sweet girl she was, but that would be highly improper. Besides, she was an adult, a college student, not a child.

She brought out the strangest combination of feelings in him. A deep desire to protect her like a young girl and also to know her as a woman.

What a bunch of foolishness. He’d just met her. He was letting his loneliness, and the apparent lack of any other women for miles, at best, overshadow his good sense.

“If you’re ready, we can go inside. Benjamin is a good cook.”

She returned his handkerchief to him. “I seem to have gotten it all wet,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

Stuffing the damp rag into his pocket, he reassured her. “Please, do not be sorry. I am happy to be able to help you.”

Caleb had not exaggerated when he said Benjamin was a good cook. The youngest of the Miller brothers, Lara guessed him to be about fifteen, stared with surprise when Caleb entered the kitchen with a girl, but he recovered quickly and hurried to prepare a plate of food for her.

Pancakes, sausage, and hot coffee. The most delicious meal she’d ever had. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed not to shovel the bounty into her mouth in great heaping forkfuls, though she chewed and swallowed at a shocking pace.

Her breakfast companions, Caleb and Benjamin, sat across from her, sipping coffee and no doubt marveling at her ability to put away food.

“I’m so sorry,” she said after cleaning her plate for the second time. “I’ve been living off of herb tea and a few nuts and candy bars that I was able to salvage from the wreckage of my dorm. Of course, the good stuff was gone first and that left me with just what I could find in the forest.”

“Why did you hide in the woods?” Caleb asked.

“Mrs.… um, it seemed like a good idea. I didn’t know what had caused the earthquake or who else had survived.”

“Have you seen any other people?” Benjamin asked.

Lara had a mental picture of Mrs. Potter and the rest of the girls sitting around the campfire drinking the horrid herb tea and guilt knotted in her stomach. When Grace had relieved her of guard duty, Lara had gone back to camp and left a note for Mrs. Potter asking them not to worry or risk their safety looking for her. Maybe she should have spoken to Mrs. Potter about her plan, but she didn’t want to defy the housemother if she’d forbidden Lara’s departure. At the very least, she needed to find a way to take some food back to them, but she still did not feel safe revealing everything to her hosts. “No,” she said between sips of coffee, “not a soul.”

“The same for us,” Caleb said, lowering his head and slowly shaking it back and forth, as though trying to rid himself of reality. “We checked on other members of our community, and none survived.”

The trio was silent for a few moments, each with their own thoughts. Finally Lara said what she suspected they were all thinking, “Why did we survive when others didn’t?”

“Aye,” Benjamin said shyly. He was gradually warming up to Lara. “I have been asking myself that same question. What do you think, brother?”

Caleb paused and looked out the window, gathering his thoughts. “I do not know,” he said. “All I can say is that I believe we have been spared for some unknown purpose.”

She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “Thank you, Caleb. I needed to hear that.”

Caleb placed his other hand atop hers, enveloping it between both of his and looked at her with wonder. “Lara,” he said, his eyes gazed at her earnestly. “You are an answer to prayer. I have been asking the Lord for a bride and now here you are. I claim you as my wife.”

Benjamin gasped and Lara gaped, then smiled and nodded in agreement.