The words burrowed into Blue’s mind. Could he be restored? Able to face life again? More than that, embrace it? Could he feel secure enough to share his life with others?
He leaned a little to the left, and Clara responded by pressing into his arm. He hugged the girls closer, and they snuggled against his chest.
Maybe, just maybe, he could open his heart a little.
The service ended. Cookie brought out tea, coffee and hot chocolate and passed around her cinnamon rolls.
She waited as Clara bit into one.
Clara sighed. “These are the best I’ve ever tasted.”
Cookie grinned, and many of the others chuckled.
Blue looked about, wondering if there was some acceptable way to get Clara to himself so they could talk. And, yes, maybe kiss again, at least once or maybe twice. But before he could devise a way of extracting them from this crowd, Linette rose awkwardly, her large belly making movement difficult.
“You’re all invited up the hill for dinner. It will be ready in a couple of hours.”
Sybil, Cassie, Mercy and Jayne jumped to their feet. “We’ll help you.”
“I will, too,” Clara said and took the girls to follow the general departure.
Blue sat back, hoping his disappointment wasn’t obvious.
“I’ll be right along,” Eddie said. “We menfolk will watch the children.”
Blue remained seated as the husbands prepared to leave.
“You, too, Blue,” Eddie said.
Blue normally didn’t join those going for dinner, but this time he would endure the talk of so many people so he could be close to Clara and her daughters. With a great deal more eagerness than he’d known in a long, long time, he joined the trek up the hill.
Eddie led the men into the front room, where they settled in for a visit with the children playing nearby.
Seth leaned forward over his knees. “How long is this fair weather going to last? I don’t mind saying I expect a snowstorm any day.”
A snowstorm? Would that keep Clara here, or would she leave and be caught in one? Another reason she must stay. Or he must go with her.
The men considered the weather and talked of the cattle.
When a lull came, Blue spoke. “Has anyone seen a stranger around?”
Abel, who had married pretty little Mercy and lived a few miles away, nodded. “Big man. Dark hat. Would that be who you mean?”
“Might be.” Blue would have described him in a similar fashion.
“I saw him riding the trail toward the upper pastures.”
Eddie turned to Blue. “Are you worried about him for some reason?”
“He rides in and out of town as if looking for someone but never talks to anyone or asks after any person.”
“Huh.” Eddie shrugged. “Lots of mountain men around here who have little to do with others.”
“That’s so, but this man strikes me as a bit different.” Blue would not speak a word of Clara’s reason for being concerned. “Just thought I’d mention it.”
Eddie nodded. “Never hurts to keep our eyes open. We know that from other times.”
The men nodded agreement. Too often a stranger on the trail meant danger to someone they cared about. A villain had followed Eddie’s sister, Jayne, all the way from England and had kidnapped her. Good thing Seth had taught her how to use a gun. She was able to injure the man and escape.
Then there was Brand’s family—an outlaw gang that had caused all manner of trouble. There’d been others, too—rustlers, petty thieves, troublemakers.
The best thing for Clara and the girls would be to stay on the ranch, where they were surrounded by people willing to protect them. He’d convince her of the fact first chance he got.
It would mean returning to town alone. Finishing up the pews by himself.
He shrugged off a sense of melancholy. It had always been his plan to be alone. Why should he feel sad about it now?
The women announced the meal was ready, and they all gathered around the table. Blue sat with Libby between him and Clara. Eleanor sat on Clara’s other side.
He wondered what he’d say in the midst of more than two dozen people, but he needn’t have worried. There was a continual hum of talk around him.
Clara laughed and commented when spoken to directly, but she, too, had little to add to the conversations that included more about the weather and Christmas plans.