Sampson. Good.
He ambled toward them, his tall frame slouched and his hands shoved in his pockets.
Jonah turned to Jericho, who’d halted beside him, hands on his hips.
Jonah kept his voice low enough only Jericho could here. “When did he get back?”
Jericho's jaw tightened. "Few days after you left. Said he's been working on a way to sell the sapphires locally so we don't have to take them all the way to New York City anymore."
"Locally? As in, here in the Montana Territory?"
Jericho’s expression was grim. "Maybe I made a bad decision not going to New York to deliver a load. Didn’t think he’d get worried and take matters into his own hands.”
Jonah understood his brother's concern all too well. The sapphire mine had been both a blessing and a burden for the Coulters, a closely guarded secret that could put them all at risk if the wrong people found out.
Sampson reached them, a tight smile on his face as he held out a hand to Jonah. "Welcome back, brother. I see you didn't return empty-handed."
Jonah clasped his hand briefly, trying to read the undercurrent in Sampson's tone. "Patsy and her niece will be staying with us for a while."
Sampson's gaze cut to Patsy, then back to Jonah, a flicker of something unreadable in his eyes. "That so? I look forward to getting to know our guests better."
Jonah had a lot of questions about what Sampson had done in Missoula Mills for so long, but this wasn’t the time. Jonah wasn’t as concerned about strangers comingonto the ranch as Jericho was. But if Jericho’s tension had anything to do with those men Sampson had been teaching to mine…
Surely not. But what were the odds of him meeting anyone in Missoula who possessed both the integrity and the funds to purchase sapphires?
Dinah approached, little Mary Ellen on her hip. "Why don't we head inside? Supper's nearly ready, and I'm sure you're famished from your travels."
As the family began to drift toward the house, Jonah fell into step beside Patsy. He reached for her hand, lacing his fingers with hers and giving a gentle squeeze.
She glanced up at him, her expression full of emotion.
"We'll figure it out," he murmured low enough for only her to hear. "Together. I promise."
Whatever the future held, he knew without a doubt he wanted this woman by his side.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
Patience smiled at Dinah’s words. “It sure is.” She’d been caught fingering the ornate metal work on Jonah’s new stove instead of wiping away food spatters as she was supposed to.
Jericho, Jude, Gil, and Miles had come to help Jonah unload the cookstove and attach the pipes. Then she, Dinah, and Lillian had cooked the first food atop its burners—beans and johnnycakes. Not a glamorous meal, but it had been Jonah’s choice. Both dishes were simple to prepare, so Patience could likely handle them on her own. Maybe someday, she’d cook them here in Jonah’s cabin, by herself.
The thought made her neck heat. During the long journey home, she and Jonah hadn’t been…affectionate. But they’d talked. He’d told her and Anna stories about things that had happened at nearly every curve of the road.
She’d told them about some of the people she’d met, both on the river boats and here in the Montana Territory.
Jonah had talked about his brothers and the stories of how Jericho and Jude had both met their wives.
Patience had told him and Anna about her childhood, about playing with Hannah and climbing the tree in the backyard and having picnics in the park.
After two weeks on the trail, weeks not filled with fear and nightmares, as they had been on the ride down the mountain, but hope and sharing, she felt like she knew Jonah and his family. She knew far more about them than they knew about her. Even so, there was a shift in how they treated her. Oh, the Coulters had always been friendly and welcoming, especially the women. Yet they no longer treated her as a guest.
Now, it felt like she was one of them.
Dinah had begun talking through each step of her cooking process, telling Patience not only how to prepare each meal but also where they obtained which ingredient.
Lillian promised to show her the best berry patches and which ones to avoid—because apparently, the bears liked them too.
Angela had even become something of a friend, sharing stories of her life back in New York City before she met Jude.
