“Listen.” Dutch held up his hand to signal quiet.
Louise strained for a sound at the door but didn’t hear a thing.
Not even the wind?
Nate dropped his arm from around her shoulders and rushed to the window. He scraped away enough frost to see outside. “The storm has stopped. The road is about blown bare. The snow is heaped up around the buildings.”
Louise hurried over to his side. “It’s so white and beautiful.”
The others crowded around, and she stepped back to give them space, as did Nate. She smiled at him. “Now we can resume our journey.” Hopefully, the delay had not been long enough to make him miss his meeting.
Dutch turned to face his passengers. “If this is the end of the storm, we’ll leave at dawn tomorrow and try and make up some time.”
The baby kicked in happy delight and Louise’s stomach muscles responded with a squeeze.
The next morning, she wakened to Dutch calling, “Let’s get ready, folks.”
The men were already up and dressed.
“We’ll give you some privacy.” Nate smiled down at Louise. “So you can make yourselves presentable.”
She pulled the covers to her chin until he strode from the door, then sat up and turned to Missy. “Am I a mess?”
Missy grinned. “Your hair is all tangled up. Didn’t you braid it before you went to bed?”
Louise reached over her shoulder and found no braid. “It must have come loose.” She fixed her clothes, then searched her bag for a brush.
“Let me.” Missy took the brush and Louise turned around to let her tackle her hair. The brush caught on one tangle and then another.
“I think I’m grateful old Dusty doesn’t have a mirror in his house.”
“I’ll soon have you looking your best for Nate.”
Louise opened her mouth to protest. But what could she say? Missy believed the marriage to be real. For both their sakes and the baby’s, it seemed best to keep up the pretense until they reached Eden Valley Ranch where Vic, if he should follow her, would not be allowed to bother either of them.
Besides, for some silly reason, she wanted Nate to see her looking her best. Considering she was as huge as a circus tent and awkward, to boot, about all she could do to improve her looks was fashion her hair attractively.
She sat as Missy brushed and braided, then wrapped the braid into a coronet.
“That’s beautiful.” Rowena admired the hairdo.
Louise touched the braid. “It’s a little fancy for stagecoach travel, don’t you think?”
“Not at all,” Missy assured her. “It looks nice and will keep your hair out of the way.”
A secret part of Louise wondered if Nate would notice at all.
Again, a cramp gripped her stomach. It seemed to come every time she got excited. Good reason to remain calm, she told herself. She did not want to have this baby before they reached their destination.
* * *
The men waited outside what they deemed a suitable length before Nate headed for the house. Time to get on the road. They’d encounter some drifts that would slow them down, so the sooner they started, the better. He had almost reached the door when he saw the ladies through the window and stopped. His mouth went dry. His heart beat erratically. It was dusky out yet and the lamp glowed within the cabin, giving him a view of the occupants. Louise sat the table, her back to Missy as the young girl brushed Louise’s long, light brown hair. The brush rippled Louise’s hair, filling it with static so it fanned about her head.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen her hair many times before, especially when they were younger. He’d seen it streaming out behind her as she rode a horse, seen it tumbled about her head as she hung upside down from a tree branch, saw it curled up fancy at a church social. He’d even felt it blowing against his face as they rode double...before his ma forbid him to be so careless of her reputation. Ma should be proud of how he had done everything he could to protect her reputation as they made this journey north.
But seeing her hair now had been different. Being her husband made it so.
“Are they decent?” Archie called.
Nate jerked as if he’d been stabbed. He scrambled to think what the man meant. Slowly his brain began to function and he realized Archie wanted to know if the men could return inside.