“Me either. I know you’ll be gone every summer, but we’ll make up for it during the time we spend together each winter.”
“Make up for it? You misunderstand. I’m not going to offer to marry you and then leave you behind. You wouldn’t be happy sitting at home for months at a time either. You love the wilderness too much. You’re coming with me next summer, and I expect you to bring a whole stack of journals.”
“You want me to come with you?” She blinked at him. “With journals? Does that mean you want me to sketch what we find and draw maps?”
He grinned. “Yes, that’s exactly what I want—but only if you want it too.”
She jumped into his arms. “Yes. I want it so much I can barely breathe.”
“Good, because the work you’re doing is valuable to explorers and cartographers and scientists. More valuable than you or your father or brother ever realized.”
“Will I still be able to publish my field guides?”
“Yes, under your own name if you want to, or at the very least, under your own initials. B. R. Amos. Or even B. R. Wetherby if you want to use your maiden name for your work.”
“No. I don’t want to give any credit to my father. I want to use my new name—or rather, the name I’ll have once we’re married.” She squeezed him even harder. “Oh! This is so amazing. I never dreamed you’d want me with you on your expeditions.”
He shook his head. “How could you think otherwise? God has given you so many talents, but they shine brightest in the wilderness. It’s where you belong.”
“I can’t wait until our next expedition!”
He chuckled. “Normally, I’d agree with you. That’s the way I feel every fall and winter too. But this winter I have other plans.” He positioned one arm against her back, and the other against her legs, then swept her into his arms and nuzzled his mouth next to her ear. “They involve getting to know my new wife better. Because I want you with me every moment of every day, from now to eternity. I don’t care where we go together or what we do. I just want you by my side.”
She flung her arms around his neck and pulled him closer. “I feel the same way.”
He lowered his head to kiss her again, soaking in the way she felt in his arms, slight but somehow strong, the way her hair tickled the top of his head. Soaking in everything about the wonderful woman God had given him.
A year ago, he never would have guessed that he’d find himself about to be married, never would have guessed that he’d be openly admitting to his word blindness, never would have guessed that the thought of a woman beside him could bring him so much incredible happiness, regardless of whether he was in Sitka or in the wilderness.
But God had given him each and every one of those things, and he was convinced it made him one of the most blessed men to ever live.
39
Sitka; Five Weeks Later; December 27
Yuri stood against the wall, watching as couples twirled around the dance floor. There were more men than women—of course there were. It was Alaska. And that meant men had paired up with men, dancing to their hearts’ content, not caring which one of them played the woman as they waltzed around the warehouse.
Mikhail and Bryony were in the middle of it all, with Bryony dressed in her wedding finery. Mikhail was looking down at his new bride with so much love that Yuri could swear his own heart felt ten degrees warmer.
And here he’d expected Mikhail would be the last of his full-blooded siblings to up and marry. Evidently all it took was the right woman tagging along on one of his expeditions to convince him that he was better off with a wife than without one.
Mikhail spun Bryony beneath his arm, then dipped her back and planted a brief kiss on her lips before hauling her upright. His lithe body made the most complicated of moves look simple, and Bryony had no trouble staying loose in his arms, letting him guide her wherever he wished, as quickly or slowly as he wanted.
“And here I thought I’d find you surrounded by a gaggle of women. Either that or dancing with one of them.”
Yuri looked over to find that Kate had come up beside him, her hands clamped over her stomach and her face a bit pale.
“I danced with Millicent, Jane, and Freya earlier. Two times each, to be exact. Then I told them they needed to dance with some of the other men. You should have seen the glares others were sending my way.” He gave a mock shudder.
Kate chuckled. “That’s only fair. There are ten men for every woman in Alaska, maybe more, and here you are with a constant swarm of three or four single women on your arms every time I look.”
He shrugged. “What can I say? Some women just find my charm irresistible.”
Kate rolled her eyes.
“What about you? Why aren’t you dancing with Nathan?”
Kate’s hand crept back over her stomach. “I’m afraid all the twirling and spinning doesn’t agree with me these days.”
