Read My Hope Is Found: The Cadence of Grace, Book 3 for Free Online Page B

The feel of her hair, the sound of her voice against his neck.
    His footsteps slowed. Would she push him away? Would she believe him? believe that he had loved no other but her?
    Why should she? She had no reason to.
    His breath quickened. Not after what he’d done. He’d left her to be with another. “But not by choice,” he blurted aloud to himself, his voice so earnest he hung his head. Who was he fooling? He’d left all the same. For months, he and Cassie had lived beneath the same roof.
    Husband and wife.
    Chills crept across Gideon’s shoulders at what Lonnie would think of him. Of what she must have imagined he’d done. His reputation would be hard to stand down. He’d spent all of his adult life with a woman at his side. On his arm. And then some. Lonnie knew that.
    Oh, God
.
    What she must think of him? He hadn’t loved Cassie—not in the way the law gave him freedom to these last few months. In the way it had toappear. But Lonnie had no way of knowing that. Even then, was she to simply take his word that he was no longer married? After all he’d done to break her trust, he didn’t like the idea of having nothing but his promise to give her. He wanted to earn her trust, but he needed her to allow him into her life to do that.
    He thought of the papers the circuit rider had slipped into his satchel. His and Cassie’s wish to dissolve their marriage had surely reached the courthouse by now. Gideon had used the Bennetts’ return address for his confirmation that all was settled. Had the letter arrived at the post office in Mount Airy?
    It seemed too soon. Much too soon. Gideon’s boots halted, and he glanced in the direction of the small town. He could go there and find out. It’d be a few days’ journey, but even then, it could take
weeks
before he received confirmation from the courthouse. No. That would never do.
    Or …
    Gideon glanced southeast.
    He could go directly to the Patrick County courthouse himself. A day or two would lead him to Stuart, where the courthouse was. A stop there for the proof he needed to show Lonnie that he was an unmarried man, and he would be on his way in no time. It took only a moment to decide, and Gideon picked up his pace.
    It killed him to turn away from the path that would lead him home. He longed for his family, but he wanted to reach them as a free man.
    And there was only one way to find out. Two more days and he would be in Stuart. One, if he walked fast. Lifting his eyes, he studied the darkening sky, then ducked his head and quickened his steps. One day. He would make it there in one.

Five
    “Out you go.” Lonnie shooed a speckled hen from her resting spot, and the chicken flapped out of the coop, into the open yard. She ushered out two more, taking care not to startle them. Rake in hand, Jebediah worked beside her, piling up old hay and feathers. Lonnie laid two green eggs in her bucket, a surprise considering the cold weather, and set the bucket aside. After blowing a lock of hair that fell across her forehead, she fiddled with the handkerchief knotted around her mess of a bun.
    Jebediah lowered a shovelful of muck into the wheelbarrow that stood between them. Lonnie gripped the handles, and the wheels squeaked into motion.
    “Lonnie, don’t move that. I’ll get it.”
    “I don’t mind. Besides, it’s only half full.”
    Jebediah’s mustache lifted, and the skin around his eyes crinkled. “That’s ’cause I knew you’d try and move it.”
    She pushed the wheelbarrow out of the coop, grateful the fresh snow scarcely rose past her toes. Tipping the load beside the garden just as Jebediah had done the time before, she watched the contents tumble out. A good shake, and the last of it freed from the rusted metal. Lonnie heaved the wheelbarrow to a stand and started back.
    Scraping his shovel against the coop floor, Jebediah glanced up. “Let me move the next one.”
    “I don’t mind. Honestly, it gets me out into the sunshine.”
    Jebediah looked