A Bride for Noah by Lori Copeland Page A

will be more than a ‘shack’ and will allow the men a choice. I gather there aren’t a lot of choices in this camp?”
    Noah was forced to concede that she had a point. The men would probably flock to the establishment, and if the other womenwere as pretty as Evangeline they’d stampede to get there. Still, he had a bad feeling about this idea. What would Arthur say?
    He shook his head. “I still don’t think you understand. There is no town.”
    â€œYou let us worry about that.” Uncle Miles picked up his glass and drained it. “We’ve clearly thought this through and arranged for everything.”
    â€œEverything except tomatoes, oranges, and peaches.” Evangeline aimed a scowl his way.
    Noah bit back a sigh. She may be an attractive woman, but he had a hunch she was going to continue her harangue about fruit all the way to Elliott Bay. The voyage was sure to be one big headache on a ship the size of the Commodore , where there would be no place to escape her. And three others like her?
    He’d rue the day he’d sent Miles and Leticia that Christmas card.
    He shook his head. Restaurant. At the logging site.

Five
    June 15, 1852
    Elliott Bay, Oregon Territory
    E vie held on to the rail, her gaze fixed on the land as the ship skimmed the shoreline. Never had she seen anything so beautiful as this part of the Oregon Territory. The dense forest grew almost up to the riverbank, trees taller than any building and as big around as a dozen of the largest oaks back home. When they’d left the southern part of Elliott Bay and entered the Duwamish River, she had been unable to tear her eyes from the mountain peaks towering above the tree line in the distance. In Tennessee the mountains rolled with the landscape, their peaks smooth and tree-covered. These were steep, sharp, and majestic, their snow-capped peaks thrusting boldly toward heaven. She drew a deep breath into her lungs and tasted the difference in the air. Here it was cleaner, and so fresh with the scent of cedar that it was almost sweet on her tongue.
    â€œLook!” Beside her, Sarah pointed to a place on the shore far ahead of them. “Is that a pier?”
    Evie squinted through the misty drizzle that had begun an hour past. That brighter spot might be a clearing in the tree line, and the dark structure in the river could be a pier.
    â€œI wouldn’t call it anything so grand as a pier.” Noah’s voice behind her made her start. She hadn’t realized he had joined them. Throughout the last leg of this journey he seemed to go out of hisway to avoid her, and that was just fine. “A small dock is more like it. Just big enough to moor the ship and unload her cargo.”
    Ethel, who had dragged herself from her bunk to join them on deck, turned her head to answer. “I don’t care if it’s nothing more than a gangplank, so long as it gets me off this boat and onto dry land.”
    Evie awarded her a sympathetic smile. Though the journey had been smoother in the days since they left the open ocean, Ethel still suffered terribly from seasickness. Even now, when the ship’s deck was nearly as steady as a wagon on an even road and the river almost flat, her skin held a slightly green tint and her red-rimmed eyes were dull and watery. Not blessed with beauty to begin with, she looked truly dreadful. No doubt it would be several days before she recovered.
    A shout from the shore drew their attention.
    â€œOh, look.” Lucy gestured toward a figure standing just outside the tree line, one arm waving above his head. “It’s a man!”
    She and her sister exchanged an excited glance, which made Evie smile. The man on the shore apparently caught sight of the passengers lining the ship’s deck. His hand rose to shield his eyes, and then he thrust both arms in the air to wave with more energy. Giggling, Sarah and Lucy waved back. The man turned and shouted something