So Louise sat down beside Nate.
Pleased she had chosen to do so, he put an arm around her shoulders and cooed over the baby, who opened her eyes and waved her little pink fists.
There was no separate bedroom for Louise that night. But Nate again brought in the buffalo robes and made a bed for her and the baby. No one objected.
“Here, this blanket is softer than yours.” Gabe traded blankets with her.
Sam moved the benches to give her more room.
“She’ll need a lamp in the night for feeding the baby,” Archie said.
“She can keep it turned low if that doesn’t bother the rest of you,” Oxley said.
Louise looked about the room, her eyes awash. “You are all so good to me when you have every right to resent me for causing you delay, and now you’ll have to listen to Chloe cry in the night.”
“A baby’s crying won’t bother me,” Archie said. The others agreed.
“Sweetest music a man could ever hear,” Oxley added.
Nate grinned at him. “I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
Louise’s smile was half teasing, half regretful. “You might all change your minds before we get to our destination.”
“No, we won’t,” Sam said.
Nate didn’t say anything, but he knew he wouldn’t.
But during the night, he wondered if the others might change their minds, for Chloe cried a good deal.
Nate could see Louise feeding her, but it didn’t seem to satisfy the baby. He edged closer. “Can I help?”
“I don’t know what to do,” she whispered. “I’ve fed her and changed her. She seems warm enough. What else is there?”
“I don’t know.” He kept his voice low so as not to disturb the others.
But Archie murmured, “Maybe she’s missing the rocking motion of the stagecoach. After all, she’d probably grown used to it the last few days.”
“Give her to me.” Nate took the baby and did a swaying walk back and forth across the narrow space between the door and the table.
Chloe sobbed twice more, then stopped. Archie was right.
He walked and swung her a few more minutes, then eased her down into Louise’s arms. He crawled back into bed.
Chloe slept off and on through the night. The only thing that would settle her when she fussed was to be walked and rocked. Louise and Nate took turns till he saw how exhausted she was. “You rest while I walk her,” he said to Louise.
It seemed he had barely put his head down when Dutch pushed from his bedroll. “Time to move out, folks. We got a long ways to go today.”
Nate wondered how much sleep Louise had gotten. He sure hadn’t had much. But he wasn’t about to complain, not after all Louise had been through. He vowed to do all he could to help her for the next few days. Perhaps once they reached the ranch, Chloe would realize the world didn’t have to rock constantly.
After a hurried breakfast, they were on their way again.
At least Chloe slept while they traveled. Nate rested his head on the window frame. He wakened when the baby fussed and waited for Louise to nurse Chloe.
“I’ll hold her while you get some sleep,” he said, and took the baby. Louise considered him somberly for several minutes before she closed her eyes.
When Nate realized Louise was asleep, he took the opportunity to study her. She was a strong woman, but how was she going to do this on her own? How could she take care of a baby while providing for herself and Chloe? And Missy until she found a way to take care of herself? The more he considered it, the more convinced he grew that he could offer her what they needed—a home on his ranch. A place where he would be around to help her take care of Chloe.
All he had to do was get back in time to buy a bit of land from the mountain man, and according to his reckoning, he would do so.
Of course, he’d need to do a bit of work on the cabin.
Oh, and persuade Louise that it made sense for them to remain man and wife and raise Chloe together.
Would she agree?
Chapter Fifteen
Louise slept and woke according to Chloe’s demands. She could barely remember stopping at noon, though she was almost certain they had.
They arrived at another stopping house run by a dapper little man. She couldn’t even say what his name was, though she surely must have heard.