Read Though My Heart Is Torn: The Cadence of Grace, Book 2 for Free Online Page A

before he took his seat. “Now that we’re all assembled,” he said solemnly.
    “Sorry, Pa.” Supper had been stalled, and it was her fault.
    “Must you really try his patience time and time again?” her ma whispered in passing. Her blue eyes seemed weary. “Not to mention my own.”
    Cassie slid into her seat on the long bench. Seeing there wasn’t much cider, she quickly filled her cup and set the drained pot aside. The tin warmed her hand.
    Beside her, Jack turned his empty cup in his hand. “Thanks a lot,” he said for her ears alone.
    She threw him a sharp look that kept him from saying more. She clasped her sister’s hand and bowed her head lower than normal as if to draw some goodness from the deed.
    Her pa blessed the meal, finishing with an amen and a twist of the kerosene lamp. The room brightened. Cassie’s mind wandered to where she had left it at the creek. Gideon.
    The same warmth puddled in her chest. Might he truly return to Rocky Knob? She’d heard it from Mr. O’Riley that Mr. Sawyer had sent his daughter word, bidding both Lonnie and Gideon home. A shiver coursed through her at the thought of Gideon’s broad frame darkening their steps. Her heart suddenly demanded her attention. She pressed her hand there, pulse quickening.
    Her father spoke in hushed tones, but she heard not a word.
    Cassie chewed the inside of her cheek. She lifted her cup and her eyes as one, glancing at the doorway as if Gideon would fill it at any moment. Her heart misbehaved again. She took a few sips of cider, nearly scalding her tongue. She was certain he wouldn’t come. Certain.
    “Cassie,” her ma said. “Would you please pass the biscuits to the rest of us?” Mary dropped a scoop of creamed spinach on her plate and slid the pot toward Eli.
    Cassie mindlessly lifted the bowl to her pa. Dropping her hands in her lap, she fiddled with her napkin. Gideon had once said he loved her. Not once. Many times. She smeared honey butter over a biscuit half and licked her finger clean before setting her knife across her plate. If he were to return, there would be many questions about their past. Questions that would need answers. Cassie felt her father’s heavy gaze. She wondered if his thoughts mirrored her own.
    Her heart somersaulted. When Libby arched an eyebrow, Cassie pressed fingertips to her warming cheeks, glad her innocent sister did not know the worst of it.

“Guess we’ve run out of luck,” Gideon yelled as he scrambled for his coat. They’d traveled for three days without a drop of rain. But now the clouds had broken loose.
    Lonnie tugged her shawl over her head and tried to cover both herself and the baby. The rain fell in sheets. Sugar stumbled sideways. Gideon held the mule’s harness with one hand while thrusting his other arm through the sleeve of his coat.
    “Easy, girl,” he said, trying to keep his voice low enough to avoid startling the beast, yet loud enough to carry over the downpour.
    “What do we do?” Lonnie pulled her shawl tighter, but water dripped down her arm. A wide-eyed Jacob clung to her. His tiny face was scrunched with concern.
    “I don’t know,” Gideon admitted. He’d never traveled with a baby before.
    When a gust of wind swept through the pass, he clutched his hat to his head. “What do you want to do?” he hollered as the rain whipped past them. Droplets stung his face, and he shielded Jacob’s eyes.
    Tugging the sling to make sure it was tight, Lonnie held Jacob close. Her expression was torn.
    Gideon released his hat and used his free hand to help her wrap thedrenched wool over the baby. His eyes met Lonnie’s, and his voice rose over the rain. “Do you want to stop?”
    When she shook her head, a ribbon of damp hair swung from side to side, only to cling to her cheek when she stilled. Her gaze narrowed. “I want to get home to my mother.”
    Nodding, Gideon surveyed their surroundings. The woods were thin, and with the oaks having lost most of their leaves,