“Goodnight’s a fine man.” Devon chomped on a biscuit. “I brushed elbows with him a time or two in the early days of the war when he was with the Frontier Regiment and I was a scout. But from what you say, even Goodnight’s not completed a drive on this trail before.”
“He’s up ahead of us, I reckon. So he must have made it through.” Ben swallowed another bite.
“If Goodnight can handle it, we can too. I’m just concerned about the cattle.” Devon glanced at the dark horizon toward limestone bluffs.
Ben finished off his beans. “I’m thankful to have yours and Mrs. Reynolds’s help. And your man Philip’s too.”
“Once Morning Fawn heard I was considering the adventure, she had no intention of being left behind.”
“She and Cora would get along mighty fine.”
Devon studied him a moment. “You and Miss Scott? More than a sister or friend? If you don’t mind me asking?”
Ben blew out a breath. His chest felt as if it’d explode if he didn’t say something to someone. “I have many hopes in that direction.”
Devon nodded. “I thought as much. Maybe that’s why God sent you to Texas.”
Had God sent him to Texas? Most likely. But how did his love for Cora fit with his promise to his father? Would the Lord make a way for him to fulfill both commitments, or would he be forced to choose? His throat constricted. And who knew if Cora would even have him. Maybe her affection the last few days between the Comanche attack and his leaving to buy the widow’s cattle was nothing more than romanticized gratitude.
Devon cleared his throat.
Ben shook himself. Time to shift the topic of conversation. “It’s mighty fine you and your extended family were able to return to Texas and start a ranch.”
“Texas is in our hearts and our dreams.” Devon threw back his shoulders. “Garret did more than his share in making the dream come true. That’s one of the reasons I’m helping with this drive. My brother-in-law is very generous, but I want to raise more capital of my own. I want to contribute to our joint funds, with cash, not just experience. When the Lord blesses me and Morning Fawn with children, I want to provide for them properly.” His voice dipped on the wordchildren. The crinkles around his eyes deepened.
“I can understand that.” Ben dropped his gaze to the fire. How long had they been married? Two years, and no little one on the way? But they had years ahead of them.
Tree frogs trilled in the distance in between the grunting of the cattle. What was Cora doing this evening? Had his letter reached her yet? Hopefully, Mr. Franklin was doing his job and watching over the place at night.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel. Morning Fawn strode up, a gallon-size coffeepot in hand. “Want a refill? This is all that’s left for the night.” Buckskin leggings showed beneath her skirt hem which she’d shortened a couple inches above her ankles. More of her Comanche past seemed to come out every day they were on the trail.
Ben extended his cup. “Thank you, kindly.”
The three of them sat and talked, finishing their meal.
Morning Fawn lifted her gaze to the sky and blew out a long, slow breath. “Tatsinuupi.”
“Excuse me?” Ben’s brow furrowed.
“Stars.” Her gaze drifted back to the earth, her voice wistful. “It’s the Comanche word forstar.”
Ben fingered the rim of his cup. “If you don’t mind me asking, Mrs. Reynolds, how did you come to leave the Comanche?”
“My uncle paid my now-husband to kidnap me.” She elbowed Devon in the ribs.
“Ooww.” He dramatized a wince. “How else was I supposed to get me a wife?”
“You’re lucky I didn’t scalp you.”
“I figured I was safe. You wanted a husband with a full head of hair.” He bumped his shoulder to hers. But his smile faded. “Seriously, though, Ben, we tease each other now, but after I turned her over to LeBeau?—”
“LeBeau?” Ben’s eyebrows quirked upward.
“My uncle, Mr. Robert LeBeau, is determined to rule every relative all the way out to his tenth cousins with an iron fist.” Morning Fawn scuffed her booted foot against the gravel. “Thankfully, Mister Tall, Dark, and Handsome here realized the error of his ways, and came on a secret mission to rescue me. Thought he’d try rescuing the whole of Texas too.”
Ben scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “Yeah, Garret told me about that. Mighty fine work.”
“Not as fine as it could have been.”
