his coat with the other.
The chicken tasted better than any he’d ever had. Before he realized it, he’d downed another two pieces and poured himself a third glass of milk. Ten minutes later he’d cleaned the plate and eaten half a pie.
Finally Winter paused and leaned back in his chair. Married life was great. As he relaxed, he looked around the kitchen. Tiny changes were everywhere. She’d moved things, organized them differently. And there were new things, too. Towels on the bar beside the sink, jars with matching lids on a shelf, a blue bowl on the table filled with shining apples.
Winter picked up one of the apples, remembering how the captain had yelled at him for eating all the apples when he’d been a boy. But that had been all he could get to when he’d been hiding in the supply wagon. He thought the captain was going to kill him over a handful of fruit. But that next spring the captain had ordered trees all the way from Dallas and made Winter work until after dark, planting them down by the spring. In a few years they’d had more apples than they could eat.
Wandering to the study, Winter stretched out on the sofa and tossed the apple in the air. If Kora could make that good a pie with apples left in storage for months, he could hardly wait to taste the pies she’d make come summer. Closing his eyes, Winter let the piece of fruit drop to the floor from his open palm as he fell asleep.
Much later he felt someone gently tugging off his boots and spreading a blanket over him. Without opening his eyes, he heard soft steps walk to the fire and put on another log. Fighting down the desire to look up, he remained still as she crossed to him once more and lightly touched his cheek. Then, so softly he could almost swear he was dreaming, she kissed him and vanished before he could think of the way he should react.
His exhausted mind told him it was only a dream as he drifted deeper into sleep.
Dawn was just seeping into the study when Winter was jolted fully awake by the slamming of the front door.
He reached for his gun and ran toward the foyer, wondering if every morning of married life was destined to start the same.
Jamie collided with him as he rounded the study door.
He took one look at her and lowered the weapon, then saw the anger in her eyes and reconsidered.
She shoved him hard, almost knocking him off balance. ‘‘Get out of my way, cowboy!’’
Winter opened his mouth to answer her just as he saw Kora come from the kitchen. All the anger left him when he saw her.
‘‘What is it?’’ she asked, looking from Jamie to Winter. ‘‘What’s wrong?’’
‘‘Win’s given orders that we can’t leave!’’ Jamie stomped toward her sister with a look that dared Winter to say a word. ‘‘He’s planning to keep us prisoners here. I told you the man was one half wild and the other half crazy. What kind of man rides up after dark demanding you marry him before dawn, then takes us to his house and holds us prisoners?’’
‘‘I’ve done no such thing!’’ Winter shouted as he rubbed his scalp trying to awaken his brain. ‘‘I just said if you leave, someone has to go with you.’’
‘‘Well, I like riding alone!’’ Jamie snapped.
‘‘You’ll go with a rider, or not at all. At least until the trouble’s over.’’
Jamie took a step toward him. If she’d have been his height, he might have considered backing down. She had the same blue eyes and blond hair as her sister, only her eyes were filled with anger and her hair tied with rawhide at the nape of her neck. He felt as if a painter had used the same model to sculpt both an angel and a devil.
‘‘I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my father or brother or husband. You’re not even my sister’s husband, sleeping down here on the couch. What kind of man are you anyway?’’
Winter balled his hands into fists at his sides, making himself remain still. He’d never been talked to like this, and the image Cheyenne had suggested of tossing her into the river flashed through his mind.
Before he was fool enough to act or even speak, Kora stepped between them. She turned toward Jamie, almost touching Winter with her back.
‘‘Winter’s right, Jamie. If he thinks there is too much danger for you to go alone, then there is.’’ She stood firm.
To Winter’s surprise, Jamie backed down. She hadn’t seemed the least hesitant to face him, but Kora’s gentle voice drained her fury.
‘‘And another thing’’-Kora raised her chin as she faced Jamie and leaned slightly to touch Win’s chest with her back-‘‘our married life is none of your concern, just as yours will be none of mine once you’ve said ‘I do.’ ’’
‘‘Don’t hold your breath for me to ever say those two words.’’ Jamie stomped halfway up the stairs, then turned around, her smile fixed on her face. ‘‘When you ride out, dear brother-in-law, I’m going with you. I’m not spending another day cooped up, and Cheyenne and you are the only two men on this place that look like you could keep up with me. So when you ride, I ride.’’
Winter opened his mouth to argue but reconsidered. Jamie would be safer with them than with anyone on the ranch, and at the pace they kept, she’d be glad to stay home for a few days after.
He took a deep breath, letting his chest press against Kora’s back.
She didn’t move away.
Win lifted his hands slowly, to rest them at her waist. ‘‘Don’t worry,’’ he whispered against her ear. ‘‘I’ll look after her.’’
Kora leaned her head back. By not looking at him, she could ignore logic and enjoy his nearness. His hands were warm at her waist as he turned his face into her hair. He took a deep breath, pushing closer as his chest expanded.
‘‘And another thing!’’ Jamie yelled from the second floor, shattering the moment. ‘‘Tell that Indian to stop watching me!’’
Kora moved away as Win yelled back, ‘‘Tell him yourself! I’m not Western Union.’’
He turned and walked back into the study. The memory of Kora in front of him, touching him so slightly, was as thick as liquor in his mind. Win forced the thought aside, deciding he was being foolish. He wasn’t the kind of man to waste time thinking about the way Kora felt. It wasn’t as if he’d never been with women before; she couldn’t be all that different. He would be far more practical to worry about how Cheyenne was going to react when he found out they’d have company today.
Kora was folding his blanket when he approached. She didn’t look as if she’d been up long. Her hair was still down and she wore a white cotton gown and wrapper. Smiling, he realized they were new. He was glad she’d bought something for herself yesterday. He only wished he’d thought to tell her to.
‘‘That’s not necessary,’’ he said as he tucked his shirt in. ‘‘I usually don’t bother to fold it up.’’
‘‘I’m not just folding it up, I’m putting it up.’’ Kora didn’t look at him as she worked. ‘‘Jamie’s right. We’re married. We should at least sleep in the same room.’’
He watched her closely, trying to read her meaning.
‘‘I’ll move your clothes to the attic today, and tonight you’ll sleep in your own bed in our bedroom.’’
‘‘Where will you sleep?’’ He remembered how small she’d looked all curled up in a ball on the floor that first night. She hadn’t noticed that after she’d kissed him, he’d followed her upstairs. He’d watched her remove her dress, then lie down on the quilts like an orphan without a home.
‘‘I’ll sleep beside you.’’ She said the words solid, as if she’d thought about them a long time. ‘‘After talking to Logan all day yesterday, if there was one thing I’ve learned, you are a man of your word. I know I’ll be safe, and you’ll ask nothing of me until I’m through grieving, as we agreed.’’
Winter fought not to groan aloud. He wished she hadn’t said what she did. Now he was feeling guilty for even thinking what he’d thought when she’d mentioned him moving upstairs. ‘‘I’ll hold to my word,’’ he reminded himself more than her.
EIGHT
BY MIDAFTERNOON THE SKY WAS BOILING WITH DARK gray clouds heavy with rain. The wind whipped
