She closed her eyes and sucked her lips back. Then she grabbed the edge of the cupboard.
Another pain. He’d hoped they had ended.
Missy noticed it, too, and reached for her elbow to guide her to the bench. Louise sank down beside Nate and rocked back and forth.
He rubbed her back until the pain passed.
Phil watched Louise, her face sober. “The baby?”
Louise shook her head. “I hope not. Maybe I just ate too heartily.” She gave a sound that was half chuckle, half groan. “It’s been days since we ate so well.”
“It’s something more than the food.” Phil sounded concerned.
“We’ll see.” Louise sat upright and waved away Phil’s comments. “You were telling us about starting a ranch.”
Phil shrugged. “You’ll know if it’s real soon enough.” She sat down. Somehow she managed to be at Sam’s side. As the pair talked about cows and horses, Phil’s gaze came often to Louise.
After a bit, Louise began to rock back and forth again. Another pain.
Nate rubbed her back and she grabbed his free hand and squeezed so hard his fingers were mashed together.
When the pain passed, Phil pushed to her feet. “You are going to sleep in my bedroom tonight.” She pushed open the door to reveal a bed covered in a quilt, a rag rug on the floor and another table with a stool beside it.
“Oh, I couldn’t,” Louise protested.
“Yes, you can,” Nate said.
“Now who’s bossy?”
He chuckled. “I learned it from the best.”
But already another pain grabbed her middle.
Phil waited for it to pass, then shooed the men outside. “We’ll call you when the women are ready.”
Nate held back. “Louise, are you okay? If you need me...”
“I’m okay.” Her mouth said one thing, her eyes another. Only Phil making shooing signs persuaded him to leave.
Louise needed him. Maybe just for the evening. Maybe for the night. Might even be a bit longer. He knew it wasn’t permanent, but as long as she needed him, he meant to be available. She could count on him.
He left with the other men, but when they went to the barn, Nate hung around outside the way-station door just in case Louise needed him. In a few minutes, Phil called out for them to come back. Sam must have been waiting for the call even more anxiously than Nate, for he was the first through the door, practically running over Nate in his rush to get back inside. Nate grinned. Seemed Sam and Phil were interested in more than cows and ranching. They just might be interested in starting a home together.
Nate thought of the cabin on the ranch he hoped to buy. If he put a little work into it, could it be a home? Only a woman and a baby would turn it from a house to a home. He shook off the notion as he stepped inside.
Missy and Miss Rolfe were gone, presumably behind the curtain drawn across the far end of the room.
“Your wife is in my bedroom,” Phil said.
“I’d like to say good-night to her.”
“Go right on in.”
He tapped on the door. “Louise, it’s me.” He waited a moment, then went inside, closing the door behind him.
Her eyes were big.
He knelt beside the bed and cradled his arms about her. “Are you scared?”
A flash of denial crossed her eyes and then they grew teary. She reached for his free hand. “I’ve never done this before.”
He stroked her hair. “I know. I’m right on the other side of the door. If you need me, just call.”
“Thank you,” she whispered.
They clung together. “I can stay here if you want. There’s plenty of room on the floor for me to sleep.”
Her eyes devoured him. He would stay at her side as long as she needed him. Then she drew in a breath and found a source of inner strength. “There’s no need for that. I’ll be fine.”
Yet, the way she held his hand said otherwise.
He pulled her closer, resting his forehead against hers. She smelled sweet.
“Did Phil wash you in rosewater?” he asked.
Louise chuckled, a sound that eased through his heart like honey. “She insisted I would feel better after a good wash and she did it for me. She’s a wonderful person.”
“I think Sam would agree.”