Enchanted Heart by Brianna Lee McKenzie Page A

to press her body into him, to drink in his manly warmth. But her pride and her conviction to remain a respectable widow made her find ways in which to avoid touching him. And the fear of falling in love with him, as her heart was desperate to accomplish, and then losing him like she had Elias along with her children, those blessed creations of love’s impassioned alliance, made her scoot just a few inches away from him and to keep her mind on the children who danced around her wagon in the cold morning air.
    Their breath puffed out in wisps of freezing clouds whenever they breathed out or talked and the children marveled at the concept as they danced around the front of Marty’s wagon and barked out words just to see the “smoke” that came out of them.
    “I’m a dragon!” Arnie yelled as he growled at his sister Ingrid and then at his mother Elsa. “I can breathe fire!”
    “I’m not a-scared of you,” Ingrid said but she turned away from him just the same, huddling into her quilt for protection.
    Elsa nudged Arnie away from Ingrid with her elbow while cuddling her newborn son before she scolded, “Leave your sister alone.”
    The boy skipped away from them and climbed up onto the wagon where Marty and Caid sat in silence. His bright red hair glistened in the sunlight as he suddenly appeared on the side of the wagon. One of his feet dangled dangerously close to the spokes of the wheel, but fear never entered the restless boy’s impetuous mind as he leaned into the wagon.
    “Are you scared of dragons?” Arnie asked Marty, who smiled and tousled his crimson curls.
    “No, I’m not,” she said with a hearty harrumph while crossing her arms in front of her in pretend defiance and dropping her quilt to the seat of the wagon.
    “Argh!” Arnie growled with his fingers curled in frightening fashion as he lunged for her.
    Marty pulled away, leaning into Caid as she feigned fear of the boy-dragon, much to the delight of Arnie, who smiled a snaggle-toothed grin at her and then he climbed into the wagon and repeated the gesture to Caid.
    Caid leaned away from the boy so far in imaginary fear that he very nearly fell off the wagon, taking Marty with him. In quick recovery, his arms closed around her and he held her next to his body with no padded barrier between them while he steadied himself in the seat. Then reluctantly, he removed his arms and cleared his throat, saying to the boy, “You’re a very scary dragon, son. You might-near scared us right off the wagon!”
    Arnie’s smile widened at his success at frightening the adults when his own sister was not afraid of him. He jumped from the wagon and turned to step in front of Ingrid to stick his tongue out at her and then he ran away before she swiped her hand at his head in retaliation.
    Marty giggled at her little cousin’s antics, hoping that her nervousness did not seep into her laughter. She had been close to Caid before, had felt his arms around her too many times to save a proper widow’s reputation, and had warmed her body every morning while she’d sat beside him on that seat until the afternoon sun gave her cause to scoot away from him. But, to have him pull her into his hard unyielding chest, almost into his lap with nothing but their woolen clothes separating them, was as unnerving as if he had kissed her in front of her family. And to be kissed by this man, whom she barely knew, she was certain would send her into a flurry of faint-hearted faltering.
    She was quite appalled at herself for even thinking about being kissed, by him or any other man. She had promised herself again last night after thinking long and hard about Caid’s embrace and how it had affected her that she would never fall in love again. She’d told herself last night and again this morning, adamantly demanded of her own heart, that she would never let a man touch her in that intimate way in which children are conceived, for fear that she would once again experience the