He let her lead him into the hallway, resting his arm around her shoulders. Mrs. Wang was a good two heads shorter than him, but she felt so much like a mother. And yet his own mother had been tall and fine-boned with no extra curves that often came as women aged. The exact opposite of Mrs. Wang’s shape.
He’d only been eight when Mother passed from a lingering fever, so he didn’t remember as much about her as he wished.But Mrs. Wang had been a quiet stand-in. A steady presence through all the years they’d grown up in these mountains.
When they reached the main room, she gave his waist a final squeeze, then pulled back. “You boys see that you’re respectable and prompt for dinner. I’m going to sit with Mrs. Beaumont.”
Mrs. Beaumont. The name sounded like she would be older, perhaps frumpy or at least wizened. Not this young, angelic creature.
Will had told them the woman had been widowed long enough to be out of mourning, though she was still young. Yet that fact hadn’t formed into any kind of picture in Enoch’s mind.
As his brothers left to obey their orders, Enoch headed out to put his horse away. A quarter hour didn’t leave him time to linger in the barn as he’d like to—far from the people who’d invaded their privacy.
But he was the man of the house now. He no longer had the liberty to hide away when he wasn’t ready to face the changes others forced on him.
When the time came for the evening meal, he stood behind his chair at the dining table and waited for Heidi to sit. She’d insisted they call her by her given name. She wasn’t at all what he’d expected in Two Stones’s wife, but a sort of connection hummed between the pair, strong enough even he could see it. The little glances they slid each other. The way Heidi’s cheeks pinkened when she met her husband’s gaze. Two Stones’s eyes were usually hard to read, but when he looked at his wife, his admiration shimmered without restraint.
Would he and Charlotte have had such an affection if…if her life hadn’t been cut so very short?
He pushed aside the pain that twisted in his chest and sat when the other men did.
Robert cleared his throat, his gaze darting to their visitors. “Shall we say a blessing?”
Heidi graced him with a smile as she and Two Stones bowed their heads. Enoch did the same, but keeping his mind on his brother’s prayer proved more than he could manage.
At last, they’d all filled their plates and began eating, which meant he could ask questions. He fixed his gaze on Two Stones. “Tell me about the woman you brought. How did she come to travel with you?”
Two Stones regarded him. “We met her in Fort Benton. Irish brought her to me for passage to Walnut Springs. She said she was to meet William Balfour there.”
Heidi leaned forward. “She was surprised William hadn’t sent word or arranged for her travel from Fort Benton. But she wouldn’t turn back—said she’d get here on her own if she had to.”
The knot in his gut twisted tighter. “She never got the telegram I sent about William’s death.” He’d not really thought about it from the woman’s perspective. She’d crossed the country alone, expecting a husband to greet her at her destination. A husband who could never be.
Enoch should have tried harder to reach her. Should have done more than send a single telegram.
And now, she was here, bruised and broken, lying in William’s bed with no idea of the truth.
He forced his voice to keep steady, though it rasped against the dryness in his throat. “What happened to her on the way?”
Two Stones chewed a bite of meat pie, his dark eyes studying Enoch. “We stopped to wait out a thunderstorm. After the rain, she slipped on a rock. Hit her head.”
Heidi’s soft voice chimed in. “She has several bruises and a gash near the base of her skull. It took a minute for her to wake up, but then her words seemed addled. Before the rain, she asked us to take her to Walnut Springs so she could have time to rest before your brother came for her, but given the situation,we decided it might be best to bring her straight to your ranch so she wouldn’t need to be moved again.”
Enoch’s chest tightened, a sharp pang he couldn’t name. Sympathy, maybe. He knew the kind of headache she must be suffering. Perhaps a bit of admiration stirred somewhere in him too. She didn’t belong here. And yet, she’d come anyway. Alone. That took a kind of courage. Foolishness too, which wouldn’t do her any favors out here.
Maybe this first injury was a harbinger of what would come.
He pushed a piece of crust around his plate. “She could’ve died from a fall like that.”
Two Stones nodded, his gaze flicking to Heidi with a flash of protectiveness. “We kept her safe. Brought her straight here once we patched her up.”
Enoch clenched his jaw.Safe.She might be safe now, but for how long?
This territory didn’t care about grit or good intentions—it chewed up the strong and the weak alike. He’d seen it too many times—homesteaders broken by blizzards, travelers lost to rivers or bears.
Charlotte’s face flashed again—her bright smile dimmed forever by the storm that took her and her parents. He should’ve protected her.
Should’ve protected William, too. Should have been there in case that horse gave him trouble.
And now Mrs. Beaumont, another life entrusted to his care. Another life he might very well fail to protect.
