“At ease, Lieutenant,” Harris said. “You’ve done a fine job here. I just want to be certain Mrs. Tremaine can continue to maintain this establishment after the Army moves on.”
“Mrs. Tremaine managed this hotel for a year on her own before the Army arrived,” Will reminded him. “Anything we’ve done only gilds the lily.”
Harris nodded. “Very good. And I trust you heeded my advice about the lady?”
Will thought he heard Franklin cough.
“I have,” Will told the captain. “Mrs. Tremaine is fully cognizant about my past.”
“And still willing to befriend you,” the captain mused. “An amazing woman.”
Will smiled. “Yes, sir.”
The front door banged, and Danny skidded out onto the porch. “Hurry, Captain Harris. The pie’s waiting.”
Harris saluted him. “Coming right up, General Tremaine.”
They all gathered in the dining room with Elijah, where Alberta and Kate served warm pie with a generous dollop of whipped cream.
“Excellent,” Captain Harris declared after the first bite. “What’s your secret?”
Alberta beamed. “A few drops of lemon, Captain. It brings out the flavor of the berries.”
“That it does.” He continued eating. Kate met Will’s gaze and squeezed her shoulders up, gray eyes sparkling. Will could only hope Alberta’s pie had done the trick.
At length, the captain and his adjutant finished, and Franklin and Smith swallowed their last bites. Kate walked Harris and Tutherly out to the porch. Will and his men, Elijah, Alberta, and Danny followed.
“There is one more thing I meant to accomplish on this tour,” Captain Harris said. He nodded to Tutherly, who went for a saddlebag draped over the porch rail. Will realized the adjutant must have fetched it from the corral. Now, he brought back a cloth bag that clinked as he handed it to the captain.
“Lieutenant Prescott,” Captain Harris said in a tone that demanded Will stand at full attention. “It has come to my notice that your behavior and accomplishments while on this detachment have exemplified the high standards we have of a cavalry officer.” He opened the bag and drew out a pair of spurs, the silver gleaming in the sunlight. “I therefore present you with the spurs worn by men of honor, valor, and courage, the men of the US Cavalry.”
Will kept his arm stiff to salute lest the captain see that he was shaking. “Sir.”
Captain Harris nodded to Tutherly again. The first lieutenant took the spurs from the captain, then crouched and fastened them around Will’s boots. Rising, he offered Will a salute. So did Captain Harris, Smith, and Franklin. Alberta clapped her hands together, Elijah nodded, and Kate beamed.
“Can I have some like that?” Danny asked, gazing down at the shining spurs Will had never thought to wear again.
Captain Harris ruffled his hair. “When you earn them, young man.”
Danny saluted.
Kate came to take Will’s arm. “Congratulations, Lieutenant.”
He nodded, words failing him. Everything he’d ever wanted was in his grasp: honor, friendship, love, as shiny as the spurs on his heels. He would strive to live in a way that did them proud.
29
She could see what this honor meant to Will. Those spurs—it was as if Captain Harris had given him back his dignity, his worth. Only she knew how hard he had worked to regain them.
Captain Harris turned to her. “Mrs. Tremaine, allow me to extend my congratulations to you as well. The Geyser Gateway is everything our nation should expect from hospitality at Yellowstone—warm, welcoming, and wondrous. Good food, comfortable surroundings, and a respect for what nature has bestowed.”
Kate inclined her head. “Thank you, Captain. We do everything we can to achieve those goals.”
“That is abundantly clear,” he told her as she straightened, “which is why I will be recommending that the Department of the Interior renew your lease, for ten years.”
She stared at him. “Ten years?”
He arched a brow. “Unless there’s a reason to shorten that time.”
“No, no,” she hurried to assure him, feeling as if the veranda quaked below her. “Ten years is marvelous. Perfect.” She managed a breath. “Thank you for trusting us with Yellowstone. We won’t let you down.”
“I believe it.” He leaned closer. “You should know that the Virginia City Outfitters are struggling financially. I understand their holdings will shortly be purchased by the Yellowstone Park Association. You should not be troubled by them again.”
Truly, it was more than she’d dreamed possible. She looked to Will, who was smiling so widely his whole face broadened.
“We did it,” she said as they sat on the porch swing together after Captain Harris and Lieutenant Tutherly had ridden south for Old Faithful and Will’s men were getting the horses ready to return to camp. Alberta, Elijah, and Danny were inside, helping themselves to a second piece of pie in celebration.
Will took her hand, brought it to his lips for a kiss. “You did it. No one has worked harder for this than you, Kate.”
She had worked hard, for Danny, for this hotel, for stability. And she wanted only to share it with this man who had come into her life so unexpectedly. Loving Will was like discovering the wintering grounds of the bison, like watching a geyser touch the sky. It gave her hope for the future.
“The Geyser Gateway has always been more than a hotel,” she told him. “It’s a home. Our home, Will. Mine, Danny’s, yours.”
“A home where the buffalo roam,” he said with a smile. “And the deer and the antelope play. I don’t care what that song says. It’s not the animals or the scenic wonders. You make it a home, Kate.”
“Then let’s set a date,” she said. “I love you, Will, and I want you here, always. Let’s marry first thing in the spring, when the wildflowers start to bloom.”
He laughed, cuddling her closer. “Let’s marry October fifteenth, before the snow falls in earnest. I’ve heard too much about a Yellowstone winter to want to wait it out to marry you.”
Married before winter. Safe together. Nothing sounded better.
“Perfect,” Kate said. “I’ll send word to Mr.
