Aaron's look was so gentle, it seeped around her with even more warmth than the blankets. "There's ham and corn mush for you. But if you'd rather sleep longer, it will wait."
"You probably need to rest more than I do. Have you lain down at all?" The low gray clouds made it hard to tell what time it was.
"I'll sleep tonight. For now, I'm here to do whatever you need."
She should protest against the words. Insist she care for herself. After all, this was her time to be her own person. To finally make decisions for her and her daughter instead of living under the rule of those placed over her.
But no one had ever treated her with so much care and consideration as Aaron did now. Maybe it would be all right to rest in his help a while longer. Until she gained strength again.
Then she would start her new life. A good life for Sarah.
* * *
As a gust of wind swept through, Aaron curled the babe closer to himself, tucking the blanket as tight around her face as he dared. Only the little nose and mouth peeked out, her tiny lips parting with each breath.
Such delicate features. Such a fragile life that would extinguish if he did the wrong thing. He'd never had someone so vulnerable depend on him. He’d never hadanyonedepend on him except Nate.
God, I'm not enough for this. How do I protect her out here with no shelter?
He eyed the clouds that had been growing thicker and lower all morning. Snow would come soon. He couldn't let Katie and Sarah remain out in the weather. If he used the oilskin covers from the wagon, he could make a tent for them. That would at least keep them dry.
But nothing more than a tent to protect a newborn from a possible blizzard? That wasn't enough.
He looked to Katie, snuggled under her blankets, her face finally relaxed—more so than any other time since he'd first met her.
Would it hurt her to travel in the wagon? He had no notion of whether anything had been damaged inside from the childbirth. But he knew well that a pain as deep as she'd endured could leave lingering effects. A wagon ride would be uncomfortable, he had no doubt. Would it be too much to ask her to endure it?
An abandoned cabin stood a ways down the road. It had likely once been a trapper’s winter quarters, since it sat so near a lake. Freighters often stayed overnight there.
The place was about a day and a half’s ride away if they took all the usual rest stops and camped overnight. But if they left now and he didn’t stop to sleep, he could get them there about this time tomorrow. Cain and Abel’d had a good rest, so they should be able to pull that far without stopping for the night.
He'd have to wake Katie, disturb the peaceful expression in her much-needed sleep. His chest tightened, but he scooted closer to her side, doing his best to keep Sarah from jostling too much.
Katie’s face had regained much of the color she'd lost by the end of the delivery, and now her skin looked too perfect, like that of a glass doll. And so beautiful. She was meant for the elegance she must have come from. He'd never been in a ballroom, but he could imagine her dressed up in a sparkling gown, her hair piled in a fancy style and sparkling jewels around her neck. She would be breathtaking.
No more breathtaking than she was now.
He allowed himself a single touch, traced the side of her face with the back of his finger.
Her eyelids lifted, and her gaze met his.
He’d been caught. He could pull his hand away and pretend he never touched her. Ignore the way she made his heart beat faster.
But he didn't. Perhaps it was the intensity in her eyes. No fear there, only…a knowing.
He finished following the line of her face down to the bottom of her jaw, then eased his hand back, wrapping it around Sarah's blankets. "How are you feeling?"
His words seemed to wake her from whatever had connected them for a moment. Her focus dropped to her daughter. "Is she hungry?"
He looked down at the tiny circle of sleeping face. "She's been sleeping a while. I'm trying to keep her warm." He glanced at the sky again. "I think snow will fall in the next day or two. There's a shack down the road a ways that would be better cover than I could make for us here." He studied her face. "Do you think you and Sarah can travel if I make your bed in the back of the wagon again?"
"Of course." She sat upright and started to pull the blankets off her. The blast of cold must have been more than she’d expected, for she tugged them back up to her shoulders.
“If you hold Sarah, I'll get the team ready. You two don't need to get up until I have your bed made in the wagon."
She reached for her daughter, and he eased the bundle into her arms. Their hands brushed in the passing, and it felt far too much like they were truly in this together. Father and mother, working as one to protect and care for this sweet life.
Or maybe that was only in his mind. He’d never wanted a family. But if he'd known it would be like this, that there would be this…this place he could belong… These people who looked at him like the man they needed…
