Love Still Stands by Kelly Irvin Page A

new topic of conversation.
     “I’m looking forward to learning my way around a new town. It’s like a great—”
    “Adventure.” She laughed again. “I know. I’ve never been this far from home before.
     Things aren’t really that different, but yet they are. Everything’s greener and brighter
     for one thing. And it’s not as flat. The houses have more colors too.”
    “It’s strange to think we’ll go into town and we won’t know anyone.” Elijah contemplated
     that thought. “There won’t be any Plain folks. Just the ones from our new settlement.”
    “Strange.”
    They were both silent again. The first houses of New Hope came into view in the distance.
     Elijah’s stomach did a strange flip-flop. He hadn’t expected to be nervous, like a
     guest visiting a home for the first time.
    The roar of an engine filled the air behind them. A horn blared, and then blared again.
     Elijah looked back. A green pickup truck was bearing down on them. The driver didn’t
     slow. Why didn’t he slow?
    His heart hammering in his chest, Elijah jerked the reins and forced the wagon onto
     the shoulder. Time slowed. The wagon didn’t move. Not fast enough. Not nearly fast
     enough. The truck would hit them. It would hit them and Bethel would be hurt. The
     thought made him snap the reins harder. “Go, go, go!”
    The truck passed them.
    The man behind the wheel yelled something at them through his open window. The words
     whipped in the wind made by the speeding truck and dissipated in the dust and belching
     exhaust fumes.
    Daisy jerked forward, her powerful legs pumping. She whinnied and veered toward the
     ditch filled with overgrown grass and weeds. “Whoa. Easy, girl, easy.” Elijah braced
     his feet against the floorboard and pulled back. “Settle down, Daisy. You’re fine,
     girl!”
    The wagon slammed from side to side. Bethel slid against him hard, then back the other
     direction. Elijah couldn’t spare a hand to steady her. “Hang on!”
    Finally, he stood and pulled back on the reins as hard as he dared. “Whoa! Whoa!”
    “What did he say?” Bethel drew in a ragged breath as the wagon slowed and steadied,
     her arms wrapped around the railing. “He yelled something at us.”
    “Either hurry up or get out of my way, something to that effect.” Elijah’s own voice
     sounded hoarse and breathless in his ears. He contemplated stopping on the side of
     the road, but even that might be dangerous. They’d better get into town. “Something
     like that.”
    “Only you cleaned it up a whole lot.” She wasn’t laughing now. “He could’ve driven
     us into the ditch. He almost did.”
    “But he didn’t. We’re fine.”
    “Until the next truck comes along.”

    Bethel used her handkerchief to pat her damp face with a shaking hand. She drew a
     long breath. The last thing she wanted was to go into the clinic all shook up. She
     needed her wits about her to deal with the medical people who would want to see paperwork
     and ask her questions, lots of questions. She peeked sideways at Elijah. He looked
     cool as a chunk of ice. She had to admit he’d handled the horse well in the heat of
     the moment. A lesser man might have lost his grip and let them topple over into the
     ditch.
    “You did well,” she managed as they stopped at the first four-way-light intersection
     in their new town. “You kept us from flipping over.”
    “Just barely.” He glanced both ways when the light turned green and started forward.
     “Everyone is sure taking a gander at us.”
    She’d been so shaken by the encounter with the truck that she hadn’t been paying attention
     to the town. Or the people taking in the sight of their wagon and its occupants. New
     Hope had a fresh, clean look. The windows on the storefronts sparkled. The sidewalks
     were swept and the signs looked freshly painted. The bakery Elijah had mentioned came
     into view. And the farm implement store next to Wanda’s Western Wear. A