"I haven't decided."
"Oh."
Lucy looked down. It was only one syllable, but Emily heard the disappointment.
Nathan did too.
He rose slowly.
"Lucy, Miss Parker doesn't owe us anything."
"I know."
"Whatever happens tomorrow, none of this is because of you."
Lucy nodded in the beautiful way children nodded when they didn't believe a word an adult had said.
Emily watched her. Then she stood.
Nathan followed her into the hall. Helen quietly closed the door behind them, leaving Lucy inside.
For several seconds, Emily said nothing. Nathan leaned against the opposite wall, though even then he seemed to take up half the narrow passage.
"You heard her."
"I did."
"I'm not asking you to save us."
"I know."
"If you say no, I'll go back to Briggs myself."
"And tell him what?"
Nathan looked toward Lucy's door.
"That I'll hire a governess, change my cattle schedule, whatever I have to."
"Would that satisfy him?"
Nathan's silence answered.
Emily looked through the landing window. Red Willow lay below them under fresh snow. Beyond the last roofs, darkness swallowed the road leading toward the mountains.
She had lived in this town four years. Four years repairing other people's clothes. Four years keeping other people's accounts straight.
Four years watching other women marry and move into homes where there was a place at the table already waiting for them. She had stopped expecting such a place for herself.
That didn't mean she had stopped recognizing when somebody else was terrified of losing one.
Emily turned.
"Your offer still stands exactly as you made it."
Nathan straightened.
"Yes."
"My own room."
"Yes."
"No claim on me beyond what we agree to."
"Yes."
"And when this guardianship matter ends, I decide whether I stay."
"You decide."
She studied him.
"Even if I embarrass you."
Something almost puzzled crossed his face.
"Why would you?"
Emily gave him a look.
Nathan understood, his mouth tightened.
"Anybody embarrassed by being seen beside you can carry the burden themselves."
She wasn't prepared for that answer. For once, Emily Parker had nothing ready to say.
From inside room 7 came the faint sound of Lucy moving the flower sack.
Emily looked at the door, then at Nathan.
"Find the preacher."
Nathan did not move. Perhaps for the first time that night, the giant cowboy seemed completely stunned.
Emily reached for her coat.
"You said we had until sunrise."
That brought him back. Nathan put on his hat.
"We do, huh?"
"Then why are you standing there?"
He opened the door for her.
Outside, somewhere beyond Red Willow's sleeping rooftops, a church bell marked midnight, and while Nathan Reed stepped into the snow to wake a preacher, Emily Parker stood beneath the Willow House awning with Lucy's torn blue ribbon closed inside her hand, wondering whether she had just made the bravest decision of her life, or the most foolish.
By 1:00, Reverend Thomas Hail had been pulled from bed. By 1, George Miller had locked the Copper Star and agreed to serve as a witness.
At 2, Helen Foster was buttoning Lucy into her warmest coat, while Emily sat beside the hotel lamp, repairing the torn blue ribbon with stitches so small the child had to lean close to see them.
"There."
Emily held it out. Lucy touched the repaired place.
"You can hardly tell."
"That's the idea."
Lucy tied the ribbon around the carved horse's neck. Emily watched her do it and wondered what exactly she had agreed to repair tonight.
Some things took more than needle and thread.
The church stood at the north end of Red Willow. A plain whitewashed building with a narrow steeple and a stove that Reverend Hail had only just managed to coax back to life.
Frost feathered the windows. The pews were empty except for Helen, Lucy, and George. There were no flowers, no music, no wedding breakfast waiting afterward.
Emily wore the dark blue dress she'd worked in all evening. Nathan had brushed the snow from his coat, though damp patches remained across the shoulders.
Under the low church rafters, he looked even larger.
Reverend Hail opened his Bible. Nathan stopped him.
"Need a minute?"
The preacher looked between them.
"Take it."
Nathan led Emily several steps away. Lucy watched from the front pew, clutching the wooden horse.
Nathan kept his voice low.
"You can still change your mind."
Emily studied him.
"Are you trying to talk me out of this?"
"No."
"It sounds like you are."
"I'm making sure nobody can say I rushed you past the last door."
His gaze stayed on hers.
"If you marry me tonight, the law gives me a husband's name. It doesn't give me ownership of you. You'll have your own room at Double Pine. I won't enter without permission. I won't expect you to share my bed because Reverend Hail says some words over us."
Emily's expression changed slightly.
Nathan continued.
"I'll put the financial terms in writing before we leave town. When Lucy's guardianship is settled, you decide what happens next."
Emily looked toward Lucy. The girl was pretending not to listen. Poorly.
Emily turned back.
"I want a promise, too."
Nathan nodded.
"You do not make decisions about my life without speaking to me first."
"All right."
"Not because you're the ranch owner. Not because you're my husband. Not because you think you're protecting me."
His brow tightened at that last part. Emily noticed, especially then.
Nathan was quiet for a moment. Then he offered his hand.
"Agreed."
Emily looked at it. His palm was rough, the knuckles scarred from years of rope and winter work.
She put her hand into his. He closed his fingers carefully.
Not loosely.
Carefully.
As though he knew exactly how strong he was.
Reverend Hail cleared his throat.
"Ready?"
Emily released Nathan's hand.
"Ready."
The ceremony lasted less than 10 minutes. Nathan's voice remained steady through the vows.
Emily's nearly did.
Only once did it catch. When Reverend Hail asked her to take Nathan Reed as her lawful husband, Nathan's eyes lifted to hers. He didn't urge her forward.
He simply waited.
"I do."
Lucy let out a breath from the pew.
When Nathan answered in turn, his voice was low enough that Emily felt the words more than heard them.
"I do."
Reverend Hail closed the Bible.
"Then, by the authority granted me, I pronounce you husband and wife."
Nobody moved.
George looked expectantly at Nathan. Nathan looked at Emily.
Emily raised one eyebrow.
He seemed to understand immediately.
No kiss.
Instead, he offered his arm. She took it.
George smiled into his mustache. Helen did not bother hiding hers.
Lucy ran forward and wrapped both arms around Nathan's waist. He bent over her, one huge hand settling gently against the back of her head.
Then Lucy turned toward Emily. She hesitated.
Emily opened one arm.
That was enough.
The child stepped into it.
For a few seconds, the three of them stood together beneath the dim church lamps.
Then Reverend Hail said, "You'll need the certificate."
Practicality returned.
Nathan signed first. Emily watched him write his name in large, careful letters.
Nathan read. Then the preacher turned the paper.
Emily Parker stared at the blank line, waiting for her married name.
Her hand paused.
Nathan noticed. He said nothing.
Emily dipped the pen again.
The ink took longer than she expected to dry.
At 3:15, they walked to Judge Briggs's temporary office above the land agent's rooms.
Briggs was already awake. A leather satchel packed beside his desk. His traveling coat hung from a peg, and two bundles of court papers had been tied with red cord for the morning stage.