Josie opened the bedroom door and found Travis sound asleep. His chest rhythmically moved up and down as he breathed. His color had returned, and he didn’t look like a corpse anymore. It was nice to see Travis as the man in her memory. She thought back to the day he greeted her at thestagecoach, clean-shaven and in a brown suit and loose necktie. Except now his face was stubbly and his hair long and tangled.
Josie peered at the crib, seeing the sleeping Nathan warmly swaddled in a bear-fur blanket. Josie settled into the rocker in the corner after retrieving a quilt from the wardrobe. She placed it over her legs, rocking gently as she closed her eyes. She considered making a pallet by the fireplace like Travis had since the cooler weather set in, but after nearly losing him, she couldn’t bring herself to leave his side—just as she couldn’t with Nathan.
Thankfully, her milk supply hadn’t completely dried, so she was confident that within another week she’d be productive enough for him to have more than a meal a day. Nathan had slept beside her since birth, but after their separation, he had gotten used to life without her. The thought broke Josie’s heart, but she knew the day had come.
Rocking in the chair made Josie think about her own mother. Mammy would care for Josie all day, and at night, Mama wanted all the time in the world with Josie. She’d dismiss Mammy early, just to rock Josie to sleep. Josie enjoyed being in her mother’s arms, hearing her lullabies. Now, she was a mother herself, and she hoped to be the same type of mother to Nathan.
“Why are you sleeping over there?”
Josie opened her eyes. Travis sat upright against the headboard, wide awake. The moonlight reflected over him through the window like a halo.
“I thought you were asleep,” Josie whispered.
“I was waiting on you . . . and resting my eyes,” Travis confessed. “I thought you’d be here next to me.”
The vessels in Josie’s face burned hot like coal. She couldn’t tell if Travis was teasing her or if he spoke with genuine seriousness.
“W-Why would you think that?”
“Because this is your bed.”
Josie held the blanket close to her bosom, concealing her cotton nightdress, but it didn’t matter because Travis had seen a much more revealing gown on their so-called wedding night.
“It was yours first. I thought I’d stay here with you in case you needed me . . . and because Nathan is in the crib. I’ll need to be close by when he cries.”
Travis patted the empty side of the bed. “Come on up. You can be close enough here.”
Her breath hitched. Her heart pounded like a runaway horse. Was Travis being serious? Or . . . was this a test to see what her true feelings were? Had Aunt Polly told him what she said in confidence?Surely she didn’t.
Josie swallowed a lump and crept slowly and carefully to Travis’s side. Her legs wobbled with each step, and her hands shivered. She placed one hand over the other, trying to hide her fear. Was this fear? She trusted Travis. Surely he wasn’t asking anything intimate, especially while still recovering. She settled on the end, waiting for him to speak his next wish.
“I think you’d be a better nurse if you were closer to me.” Travis peeled back the covers.
Josie steadily stuck her bare legs under, drawn to the warmth radiating from Travis’s body. She had never been so close to him. Not like this, under the same covers. Travis pressed his head against his pillow and faced her. Josie pulled the covers to her chin, but the rest of her body laid stiff as a board.
Josie held her breath. Why did she suddenly feel frightened lying next to her husband? She shut her eyes.He’s nothing like Marcus. Forget about him. This is Travis, and you trust him.
“I wanted to confess something that I have yet to,” Travis whispered. “I’ve told you I am grateful for you, but . . . I never told you how blessed I am that you found me. I don’t know how life would be if Aunt Polly never suggested I’d find a wife.”
Josie smiled and giggled softly. “I guess you can thank Aunt Tia for that.”
“I wish I could’ve met her. She sounded like a remarkable woman, just like you.”
Josie bit her lip. Aunt Tia was up in age, but her intelligence never faltered. Josie wished she could have gone back in time and thanked her personally for this new life. She had been so bitter when Aunt Tia suggested it, but the woman had been right all along.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without her.”
Be at the gallows, that’s what.A shiver crawled up Josie’s spine. She tried to forget long enough, but it weighed her down, pulling her into the darkness every time she had a happy thought. Travis already forgave her for her deception, but could he forgive murder?
“Have you decided what you’d do with your inheritance?” Travis asked.
Josie hadn’t thought about the inheritance for so long. What vexed her most was how her lawyer had managed to find her, yet no warrants had been issued for her arrest. None of it sat right. She had cut all ties with North Carolina, leaving that life behind as best she could.
“I don’t know,” she murmured. “So much has happened, and it slipped my mind.”
“I’ve been pondering about it since I’ve been trapped in this bed. I think you should put it in Nathan’s name since she was his aunt, too. Then when the timing is right, he can make a choice to either stay here or make something of himself.”
The thought was almost too perfect to be true. Josie tried to forget North Carolina, but she didn’t have a reason to shield Nathan from it. One day he’d ask questions about his father, and he had a right to make a choice. He could make more of himself in North Carolina than Montana.
