Callum eased, but only a little. "Find Turner. He was...a preacher. Ask him...to speak...words over...you both. A real...ceremony."
Two Stones swallowed down the roiling in his belly. Callum was making too much of this. Two Stones would see his daughter to safety. See that she had a good life. Why did he wish the marriage ceremony to be such a significant part? "I will marry and give her a good life as my wife. Rest easy."
Callum's eyes opened a little wider, pinning Two Stones with their earnestness. "A real...ceremony?"
He had no choice except to dip his chin again. "I will find Turner and ask him to speak the words of promise. I will make sure your daughter is safe and happy."
Callum's eyes finally closed, the fire fading from his features along with the color. But he managed a few final words in that hoarse whisper. "I trust her to you."
CHAPTER 3
Heidi couldn't help the anger coursing through her from the request she’d just heard her father make of Two Stones, yet panic wove with the emotion, propelling her forward. He was lying so still. Almost…lifeless.
She dropped to her knees by her father's head. "Papa?"
He couldn't have died. Surely. Yet he was so pale. Unmoving.
She pressed her fingertips to his neck, the action bringing back a memory too fresh. She’d done the same thing to Winston. That time, part of her had wished for the worst to be true. She could be free from him.
And shewasfree now. Finally loosed to live the way she chose.
This wasn’t the way it was supposed to happen. Father wasn’t like Winston at all. She could be freeandlive here with him. She finally had a chance to start fresh with her father and she didn’t want him to leave her. Again.
She forced herself to focus on the sensation under her fingers. Was there any movement? Anything at all?
Nothing. No thrum in his neck. No lift of his chest.
She gripped his uninjured shoulder and shook it. "Papa?" Her voice rose with the panic flaring inside her.
His head wobbled with the movement. Like he could no longer control his limbs.
She pulled her hand back and clapped it over her mouth to stifle a sob. This was happening too fast. She'd just found him. Just finally started to repair what had been broken eight years ago.
He couldn't be gone now. Not like this.
The next sob wouldn't be quelled, bursting from her like vomit. Her body wretched as tears flowed freely down her face.
She lowered her head to rest on her father's arm, covering her mouth to hold back her moans. The scent of sickness and death clung to everything. Too much like Winston. She couldn't bear it.
A presence approached behind her, and a hand landed on her shoulder. She ignored it, pinching her eyes shut. But when the grip continued, she looked up at Two Stones.
He knelt beside her, his expression grave. "I am sorry."
Her breath expelled in a sob, and she couldn't speak.
"I will prepare him for the burial."
She nodded, but only because she had to. In truth, she didn't want to prepare for anything. She wanted her father back.
The weight of Callum's request pressed on Two Stones's chest, making every breath a challenge as he stood beside Callum's daughter at the graveside the next day. They'd prayed over the grave. Or rather,he'dprayed, at her request.
He'd like to use these final moments to remember the man, or maybe share his own pain with the Lord. But he couldn't wrench his thoughts from what lay ahead.
Callum's daughter turned from the mound of dirt and the cross marking one end.
Two Stones followed, moving beside her toward the shanty.
She walked slowly, as though she knew this was the time for words to be said. The cold wind whipped across the open land between this yard of graves and the shanties lining the edge of town.
