Tracie Peterson - Mornings Refrain

Mornings Refrain

SONG OF ALASKA Two

Mornings Refrain

TRACIE
PETERSON

Mornings Refrain
Copyright 2010
Tracie Peterson

Cover design by Jennifer Parker
Cover photography by Mike Habermann Photography, LLC

Scripture quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Printed in the United States of America

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Peterson, Tracie.

Mornings refrain / Tracie Peterson.

p. cm. (Song of Alaska ; 2)
ISBN 978-0-7642-0745-7 (hardcover : alk. paper) ISBN 978-0-7642-0152-3 (pbk.) ISBN 978-0-7642-0744-0 (large-print pbk.)

1. WidowsFiction. 2. Family secretsFiction. 3. AlaskaFiction. 4. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)Fiction. I. Title.

PS3566.E7717M67 20010

813'.54dc22

2009040891

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To
Steve, Debra, Noelle, and CarraThanks for all you do to help this ministry.You are each so special to me,
and Im blessed by your gifts and your love of God.

Books by Tracie Peterson

www.traciepeterson.com A Slender Thread What She Left For Me Where My Heart Belongs SONG OF ALASKA Dawns Prelude Mornings Refrain ALAS KAN QUEST Summer of the Midnight Sun
Under the Northern Lights Whispers of Winter Alaskan Quest (3 in 1) BRIDES OF GALLATIN COUNTY A Promise to Believe In A Love to Last Forever
A Dream to Call My Own THE BROADMOOR LEGACY * A Daughters Inheritance An Unexpected Love
A Surrendered Heart BELLS OF LOWELL * Daughter of the Loom A Fragile Design These Tangled Threads
Bells of Lowell (3 in 1) LIGHTS OF LOWELL * A Tapestry of Hope A Love Woven True The Pattern of Her Heart DESERT ROSES Shadows of the Canyon Across the Years Beneath a Harvest Sky HEIRS OF MONTANA Land of My Heart The Coming Storm
To Dream Anew The Hope Within LADIES OF LIBERTY A Lady of High Regard A Lady of Hidden Intent
A Lady of Secret Devotion RIBBONS OF STEEL ** Distant Dreams A Hope Beyond A Promise for Tomorrow WESTWARD CHRONICLES A Shelter of Hope Hidden in a Whisper A Veiled Reflection YUKON QUEST Treasures of the North Ashes and Ice Rivers of Gold

*with Judith Miller **with Judith Pella

TRACIE PETERSON is the author of over eighty novels, both historical and contemporary. Her avid research resonates in her stories, as seen in her bestselling Heirs of Montana and Alas kan Quest series. Tracie and her family make their home in Montana.

Visit Tracies Web site at www.traciepeterson.com . Visit Tracies blog at www.writespasssage.blogspot.com .

Contents

June 1889

I f a person needed to know what was happening in Sitka, the general store was the center of all newswhether true or gossip. Even so, this time Dalton Lindquist didnt anticipate his family being a part of the tale spewing from Mrs. Putshukoffs mouth.

And yet, to be honest, all of his life there had been a measure of secrecy about his past, mainly because no one was willing to talk about it. Some sort of trouble surrounded his birth or shortly thereafterthat much Dalton knew. His questions made his mother uncomfortable, and his father would admonish him to wait until he was older. Father had once admitted that someone had attempted to take Dalton and his mother had been wounded in the process, but he wouldnt say anything more. It was Mothers story to tell.

Then its time she told me, he muttered, stalking down the street. I deserve to know the truth.

It was a good two-mile walk back home, but Dalton didnt mind. He used the time to clear his head and reconsider what hed heard Mrs. Putshukoff say to Arnie, the storekeeper. She had come into the store all excited. Apparently there had been some untimely deaths in the Tlingit village; a fight of some sort had seen two men killed and a woman gravely injured. Mrs. Putshukoff declared there hadnt been so much trouble since the mess that year Lydia Gray had come to live on the island.

Dalton had been standing near the back of the store, looking over a supply of paint, when the conversation had begun. Hed tried to edge closer without looking obvious, but Arnie knew he was there and hurried to hush Mrs. Putshukoff. In a town where gossip ruled, Dalton found people particularly closemouthed about his past. Perhaps it was out of respect to his mother. She was quite beloved and a pillar of the community. Maybe folks felt they owed her their silence. Then again, so many of the folks whod lived in Sitka the year Dalton had been born were long gone.

The sun remained positioned high in the sky even though it was half past five. Summer days were long in Sitka, and there would still be a good four or five more hours of light. Today was even better, because they were blessed with no rain. The clear skies would give everyone a reason to celebrate with outdoor activities well into the evening.

Daltons father always said this was his favorite time of the year, and Dalton felt much the same. It really was a pity that such a perfect day had to be ruined by the weight of the secrets concealed from him. The long walk home had done nothing to calm his spirit; if anything, Dalton felt his need for answers only heightened. He longed to know about his birthabout his real father. All he knew for certain was this: His mother had been a widow when shed come to Sitka, and she had come because her aunt lived on the island. Zerelda Rockford had established herself in this isolated place years before Daltons mother arrived, and she welcomed her pregnant niece with open arms. Kjell Lindquist fell in love with Lydia, and they married shortly before Daltons birth.

The next year, his older half sister Evie had joined them from Kansas City. When as a child he asked about Evies husband and why she lived in Alaska instead of wherever her husband resided, Dalton was quickly dismissed with the assurance that it was not necessary for him to know and painful for Evie to discuss. It wasnt until just a few years ago that hed learned Evie had left her husband because he held her no love and truly hadnt wanted a wife. Still, there were secrets about her life in Kansas City that she refused to speak about, and Dalton was again left on the outside looking in.

Dalton! His ten-year-old sister, Kjerstin, came bounding down the hill toward the road. Look what I made. She held up a piece of cloth. Its a napkin, and Ive put a Z on it. I made it for Aunt Zerelda. Mama says I should put an R on it, too, so that comes next.

Pushing aside his thoughts, Dalton inspected the material. Its quite good. Youve really mastered embroidery.

Mama says Im a natural. She took back the napkin and fairly danced around Dalton. Her brown pigtails swung in the air. Britta isnt a natural. She always gets knots in her thread.

Brittas only seven. Give her some time, Dalton countered. And dont be so prideful. When someone says youre good at something, youre supposed to say thank you.

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