All Chapters of Love at Wolf Creek: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

April 1865 Cannons roared and gunshots echoed off the distant hills.  They blended with the cries of men as they were taken down in droves. He looked into the eyes of his neighbor. There was fear mixed with something else?  Regret?  It was probably regret. He knew he wasn’t the only one who wished he’d reconsidered joining up with his confederate brethren to fight for something he didn’t even believe in.Aiden Kennedy owned no slaves. Having immigrated from Ireland with his mother and two brothers, he was all too familiar with the concept of one person owning another.  They called it indentured servitude in his homeland, but it was nothing more than slavery with a time stamp on it.  He’d only been in Virginia for a week before war was declared.  He’d started out in New York, but the reception for Irish immigrants was poor and they were forced to live in conditions they wouldn’t

Aiden was deep in thought as he rested his head on the pillow and stared at the hotel room ceiling.  His plan was going well so far.  Even though Dennis O’Malley claimed to have investigated him, he’d managed to keep his true identity from them.It was fortunate that he’d operated his business with Angus McCann as his front man. Sometime during their years of doing business together, Dennis got it into his head that Angus was the owner of the Bar J&K ranch. Neither Angus nor Aiden felt the need to set him straight.  When the offer for a union of families -and businesses- through marriage to his daughter, Pauline, was extended to Angus, the cantankerous old cowboy took pleasure in joking about what kind of a husband he’d make for a pampered New Orleans society princess as he handed the proposal to the true owner of the ranch. Since Aiden was an unknown, he could travel to New Orleans and get to know the daughter of his bu

Pauline struggled to clear the fog from her head when Mary Anne shook her awake at the pre-dawn hour.  Sleep eluded her for most of the night.  Images of Aiden Kennedy haunted her. Her body was hot with desire before she succeeded in pushing him far enough out of her head for sleep to take over. She had no idea how much sleep she got, but she knew it wasn’t much. The temptation to roll over and stay in bed was great, but she knew that, once she was up and maneuvering through the day, she’d regret not taking time to be alone at her favorite thinking spot.She kept a special outfit set aside for whenever she would sneak out during the wee hours of the morning. Since it consisted of men’s attire, she had to wear it during a time that she knew she wouldn’t be seen by her parents - or anyone else, for that matter.  Pants and lack of a corset made for a much more comfortable fishing experience.As she donned her coat and ac

Pauline stood on the bank in stunned silence while she stared at Aiden’s broad shoulders as he sat with erect casualness in the saddle while riding away.  It was clear he was just as much at home in the saddle as he was out of it; if not more so.What just happened?  She didn’t know whether she should chase after him and demand he go with her to the house to face her parents or turn her back on him like he had done to her. She wasn’t used to men not giving in to her desires and wishes. She certainly never imagined a man would love her and leave her.  Yet, that’s exactly what it looked like Aiden Kennedy was doing. She bit her lip nervously.  Had she been a fool?  Had she given up her virginity to a gun slinging cad who had no intention of making an honest woman of her?  Would she be sent off to marry the Texas toad as a soiled woman?What made matters worse was that, despite the fact that h

Pauline was nervous.  She was so devastated by Aiden’s rejection that she didn’t take the time to really plan her escape. Upon Mary Anne’s suggestion, they were headed for St. Martin Parish.  What neither woman considered was the fact that the train didn’t go to St. Martin Parish.  They were forced to de-board at Lafayette and take a stage coach the rest of the way. The fact that, although they were relatives of Mary Anne, she’d never set eyes on them -nor did she have their exact address- was also a factor she hadn’t considered until she’d suffered the uncomfortable seats in the crowded smoke-filled railcar for a few hours.She found being ogled by the two unkempt and smelly men that were ogling her from the opposite seat in the stage coach unsettling. She did her best to look relaxed and unaware of their stares, but it was difficult.  When one of them pulled out a whiskey flask and offered her a drin