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Eyeing the leather-bound book through cracked eyelids, Josie rolled onto her back She'd read es remained Curiosity propped her weary eyes open She'd read the last few passages then go to sleep
August 30, 1865
I have decided not to carry on with this journey There is a town nearby and the land here welcomes me It is a vast open space, but there is a stark beauty that speaks to rief for such a decision, but I know it is the correct one I have old pieces to buy a sreed to stay on I do believe he did so only to reht The emerald earbobs and other jewelry I sewed into my clothes have limited value here, as this is not a place where jewels are seen or celebrated After the decadent displays of ail I would bury them This scandalized her, of course
September 29, 1865
We have purchased a plot near a tower of rock they call McPherson's Bluff Our acreage lies in its shadow The days are filled with far toothe bluff by the light of the evening fire Abigail and I are detero of our little farm My mother would look askance at the blisters on my hands She had such hopes that I would follow in her footsteps andMy dearly departed John did not h all has not happened as I planned when Abigail and I departed froreta lady of me I had despaired of ould happen if she succeeded
October 15, 1865
Mr Franklin Layton pai
d a call today He owns a ranch nearby I could tell froreen-brown color with gold flecks He is not John, but a good man I told him I would look forward to his next visit
November 30, 1865
Franklin coail wonders when he ever tends to his cattle with the ae not to expire while he is gone I knohen he approaches long before I see the dust his horse kicks up as he crosses the prairie When alk together I fear my heart will burst from my chest My dearly departed John will always be a part of me, however I do believe Franklin is my future happiness He is aand brave He stands against the winds that never stop blowing and challenges the elements to stop him My heart weeps each time he leaves to return to his ranch
December 23, 1865
So it is done I have buried e house in St Louis and tomorroill become Mrs Franklin Layton The weather cleared today as if Providence s McPherson's Bluff, its lioodbye to all I was and greetedThis shall be my final entry in this diary
Josie traced her finger across Rebecca's ornate script with its curves and curls She could picture a small farmhouse out in the flat plain Okay, her vision looked a lot like Little House on the Prairie, but she doubted she was that far off base What a life Rebecca had lived The treasure Saul had spoken of had to be the earments They must be worth a small fortune
Her head sank farther down into the fluffy pillows In the dark behind her eyelids, a face caht; an all-too-faer on the prowl And he was after her Heat pooled in her belly as the ination stalked closer, naked froers found the button of his jeans and flicked it open In herhim to lower the denim from his lean hips He hooked his thumb in his waistband and—
Daet the hell out of this cabin and force Sam out of her head