Dan smiled, nodding once as he slipped out of the room, leaving Amanda and Teddy alone.
“Please be all right,” Amanda pleaded, tears filling her eyes once more. “Don’t you know I love you already?”
Teddy’s eyes fluttered open as a gray light stabbed his vision. “Amanda,” he called, his heart thudding with fear.
“I’m here,” Amanda said, squeezing his hand. “We’re home.”
“Home? How?”
“Your wife brought you in,” Dan said, walking in with a tray of tea in his hands, Rosa on his heels, carrying Christina on a hip.
“She is a hero,” Rosa said.
“Help me up,” Teddy said, his head spinning as he tried to pull himself upright.
Dan placed the tea things on the table by the settee and moved to help Teddy sit upright. “Take it easy,” he said. “You had a nasty bump on the head.”
Amanda took the hand Dan offered and rose, taking the seat next to Teddy, who clutched the blanket to his chest.
“What happened to my clothes?”
“You were wet,” Rosa shrugged.
“Dan took them,” Amanda grinned, taking a cup and adding cream and sugar, then lifting it to Theo. “Drink this, it will help.”
Teddy tried to glare at her, but his pounding head prevented it, and he ended up taking a sip of the sweet, hot tea.
“Pepper, fell,” Amanda said softly as she urged Teddy to take another sip of the tea. “I got you on Pal and came to the ranch.”
“Pepper?”
“He’s alright,” Dan said. “He followed Amanda and Pal home. Dozer put both horses in the barn.”
A crash of thunder made Amanda jump, and she quickly placed the cup and saucer back on the tray.
“Bad storm?” Teddy asked, pulling an arm from under the blanket and wrapping it protectively around his wife. “I remember. We were trying to get home before we got caught in it. It whipped up out of nowhere.”
“You’re safe now,” Amanda smiled, feeling some of the tension ebbing from weary shoulders. “We made it home.”
“How?” Teddy reached up, touching the dried blood on his head.
“I pulled Pal, down so I could drag you onto the saddle,” Amanda admitted. “I think it was the fright that gave me the strength. It all happened so fast. All I knew was that I had to get us to the ranch.”
Dan walked back into the room, carrying a nightshirt. “This will have to do for now,” the ranch owner grinned. “Once the rain lets up, you two can head back to your place or Rosa can make up the spare room for you.”
Amanda turned, looking out the window at the pouring rain. “I hope it eases soon.” She looked at Theo, taking his hand in hers. “I think I’d like to be in our own home tonight.”
Teddy felt his heart swell. His sweet little Amanda, the young woman who didn’t seem to know how to do much of anything, had probably saved his life. He could see the affection shining in her eyes and his fingers tightened in hers.
“Thanks, Dan.” Teddy reached for the nightshirt, slipping his hand from Amanda’s and pulling it over his head. It was far too wide in the shoulders, but it would do for now.
“Any time,” Dan grinned, turning on his heel as he wrapped an arm around Rosa, leading her to the kitchen and leaving Teddy and Amanda alone once more.
“How’d you know to get Pal to lie down?” Teddy asked, sliding the nightshirt over his knees. “I don’t think I would have thought of that.”
“It just came to me,” Amanda admitted, looking at him closely. “I had to do something. I couldn’t lose you.” She sniffled, feeling all of the adrenaline ebbing away. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, Theodore.”
Teddy wrapped his arm around Amanda again, pulling her close. “I’m not going anywhere, love,” he said, pressing a kiss to her brow. “You’re stuck with me now.”
A nervous giggle escaped Amanda’s lips and she dabbed at her nose. “That suits me fine.”
The couple sat there snuggled close on the settee for a while longer, quietly waiting for the storm to pass. They had already been through a few trials, and it had brought them closer. Perhaps in time, they would truly be as one.
“I think the rain is passing.” Teddy’s voice was soft. “Do you want to try to go home?”
“Yes,” Amanda stirred, lifting her head from his shoulder and stifling a yawn. “I think I’m looking forward to a hot bath and my own bed.”
Teddy grinned. “You know you’ll have to heat the water yourself?”
“I know,” Amanda turned her blue eyes meeting his. “I’ll learn,” she assured. “Maybe it will take me a while, but I’ll get there in the end.”
Teddy kissed her forehead, sweetly. “You’re a much stronger woman than anyone might think.”
***
“Theo, I can do this myself,” Amanda growled, hefting a bucket from the fireplace. “I have decided that I want a cookstove, though, just something small. I can start by learning to make tea and coffee.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Teddy teased, his grin widening. His head still hurt slightly but watching his determined little wife heating water for their new tub lifted his spirits.
“You can bathe first,” Amanda continued, pouring the water into the tub and heading for the rain barrel by the door.
“Me? I just washed last night?”
“Yes, but you are injured, and we were both soaked to the skin. We don’t want to catch a chill.”
Teddy bit his lip, repressing a laugh. Amanda seemed to have found her confidence, and it filled him with pride. Despite her evident weariness after the hard ride and drama of earlier, she was stubbornly determined to have a hot bath before bed.
Taking a seat, Teddy stripped off his boots, pulling the nightshirt over his head and wrapping it around his middle.
“It’s ready,” Amanda smiled. She had poured another bucket of hot water into the tub, topping it up with some of the cold water from the rain barrel. “You go on.”
Teddy walked to the tub, testing the water with
