They entered the yard, and several buildings came into view, but a commotion at the corral drew his attention.
A young woman with a familiar willowy figure struggled to close a gate. The horse on the other side pushed, determined to charge out of the corral.
And no wonder.
Eric’s breath came harder. Another horse occupied the corral, kicking out furiously with its hind legs. Forcing the other horse against the gate that Naomi was trying to close.
Eric had to get to her. Now.
"Let them out!" Jericho pushed his horse forward at the same time Eric dug in his heels, pushing his tired gelding into a lope.
Faster. But after two weeks on the trail, his mount was incapable. If only he had Gypsy. Naomi needed help.
This time, Eric had to be there for her.
At last, he reached the corral.
Two of the Coulter brothers had already leapt from their horses.
The gate swung loose, and a horse ran free on the other side of the yard. Where was Naomi?
The form on the ground caught his gaze.
Jericho was already dropping to his knees.
Eric leaped from his horse and sprinted toward them. Had the horse trampled her? She lay so still.
God, help her.
The others reached her moments after Eric did, and Dinah pushed through to kneel at her sister's side. Dinah had been a doctor back in Wayneston, so maybe she'd know how to help better than he. He shifted closer to Naomi's feet so he wouldn’t be in the way.
Naomi pushed up to her elbows. "I'm all right." Her face was pale, her voice sounded far from steady, but she was alert.
Thank you, God.
Eric's heart hammered as he took her in. So familiar, yet different. She was thinner than he remembered, and she'd added a few fine lines at her eyes.
But those eyes. They were still just as wide and deep brown. Like the James River on the summer night he’d asked her to marry him. He could still remember how her smile had lit them from within and held him so transfixed that he’d had no desire to look away.
Dinah spouted medical questions that had Naomi rolling those eyes in a way that was so familiar it ached.
He itched to reach out. To touch her face. To hold her the way he once had.
Eric started to edge around to her other side, but Jonah beat him to the spot, crouching beside her. He placed his hand on her shoulder, and it took everything in Eric not to step forward and jerk the man away.
Naomi hadn't even seen him yet. She was too focused on her sister and Jonah.
Herintended.
Clenching his fists, Eric forced himself to look up, over the crowed, and breathe. He scanned the ranch yard. The log buildings sat on a hill, with the house at the upperpart of the clearing, the barn and corrals down the slope. The homestead was not nearly as large as he’d expected for a family this size.
The door of the house opened, and he waited to see who would emerge. From what he understood, aside from Naomi and the baby, three other Coulter brothers had remained at the ranch while Jericho, Jude, and Jonah traveled. Also an elderly Indian man and woman had come to help Naomi and act as chaperones. They were the parents of Two Stones, a fellow Eric had briefly met when he arrived in Fort Benton. Two Stones and his wife had planned to stay in town a few more days to finish business, but they’d return eventually. Neither the three Coulter brothers nor the elderly couple had appeared yet to check on this commotion. Were they all away from the house? What about his daughter?
He shifted his focus back at Naomi. But in the next moment, movement caught his eye again by the door. Maybe the native woman, if she’d stayed behind with Naomi.
But it wasn’t a white-haired grandmother. The tiny figure who appeared couldn’t be more than a year old, and even from this distance he could make out the fringe of reddish curls.
His breath stalled, and his bodyfroze in place as he took in every part of her.
