Brides of Alaska by Tracie Peterson Page A

Sam, but—”
    In three long strides, Sam was at Julie’s side. He hoisted her over his shoulder as if he were carrying a sack of grain.
    â€œPut me down,” Julie yelled and pounded against Sam’s back.
    â€œI’ll put you down when we’re in the house. We’re wasting what few daylight hours we have because you can’t cooperate,” Sam said as he carried Julie into his house.
    Once they were inside, Sam put Julie down. She expected him to try to kiss her again, so she moved quickly away. “All right, you’ve had your way,” she said with a trembling voice.
    â€œNot hardly,” Sam said with a grin. “I haven’t married you yet.” He turned with a laugh and walked out the front door.
    Once he was outside, Sam stopped laughing. He’d come very close to pulling Julie into his arms and was still trembling himself when he went to unharness the dogs.
    He thought about what he’d done as he fed and watered Julie’s team. Sam had never imagined that he’d see Julie in Nome. It had been his plan to question Dr. Welch about her schedule and surprise her for Christmas. But the surprise had been his when he found her standing on Front Street preparing to leave town.
    Sam rubbed his beard and sighed. She was a beautiful woman, but more than that, she was intelligent and self-confident, although a bit too stubborn. She was exactly everything that he’d prayed for, everything and more.
    â€œThank You, God, for sending Julie into my life. I feel sure she’s the one You would have me marry. I’ve prayed so long for a Christian wife, and if Julie is the right one, Lord, then I pray You will help her to see me as the man You have chosen for her. Above all else, Lord, protect her from harm. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
    Sam glanced back at the house. The woman he planned to marry was sitting inside the home he hoped to one day share with her. He would have loved nothing more than to go inside and share her company in the comfort of his home, but he knew it would only make Julie more uncomfortable, so he put the thought aside.
    Sam finished harnessing his eager dogs to Julie’s sled. He gave his lead dog, Kodiak, a brief pat on the head before going inside to retrieve Julie.
    â€œYou’re anxious to be on the road, aren’t you, boy?” Kodiak whined as though answering, and Sam laughed. “I’m going. I’m going. I just have to go get our girl, and we’ll be off.”
    Sam bounded up the front steps and peered cautiously through the doorway in case Julie planned to throw anything at him. The sight that caught his eye caused Sam to stop in his tracks. Julie lay innocently sleeping on the couch.
    Sam called her name, but Julie slept too deeply to hear him. He approached her sleeping form and gently stroked her cheek. It was rosy from the wind, but soft—just as he remembered from the time he’d last kissed her.
    Avoiding the memory, Sam went outside and made a place in the basket for Julie. Once he’d placed several blankets in the basket, Sam went back inside. He threw several of his own things into a pack and loaded it onto the sled. Finally, Sam trudged through the snow to the house of his neighbor, Joe Morely, a bachelor who often traded favors with Sam.
    Sam let Joe know he’d be gone for several days and asked if he’d mind tending the dogs. After receiving Joe’s promise to watch over the house and animals, Sam went back to his house.
    Julie slept soundly as Sam lifted her into his arms and carried her to the sled. The cold air caused her to stir and nestle her face against his chest, but she slept on, dreaming of warm arms and a man named Sam.

Chapter 9
    J ulie woke up just as Sam led the dog team down the embankment of the Nome River. She couldn’t believe that he had packed her into the sled to sleep away the miles between Nome and the Eriksson homestead. Wiping sleep from her