Divided Hearts

Chapter 1 Robert was nervous as he watched Nathaniel reading the letter. The young man was always on edge when a letter from Newburyport, Massachusetts made its way to the Ohio Country. Letters from Mr. Worthing, their former employer, were received with a sense of relief. Letters from Jonathan Carver…well, that was another story. As he watched Nathaniel read, squinting in the orange glow of the firelight, Robert could see this latest letter held some news that weighed heavily on the man he loved. He bit the inside of his lip, not wanting to ask what the letter might contain, yet needing to know its contents. He did not want Nathaniel to suspect that, even after all the time the men had been together, he still feared that one day, Nathaniel would heed the call still buried somewhere in his heart, and return to the one true love of his life: Jonathan Carver. As he sat, waiting, not so patiently, for Nathaniel to finish reading and share with him the contents of the missive, he let his mind drift back to the beginning: the beginning of his life in Ohio.