He looked at the marriage certificate, then at Nathan, then at Emily.
"You work quickly, Mr. Reed."
"Didn't have much choice."
Briggs frowned.
"There's always a choice."
Emily spoke before Nathan could.
"Then consider it mine, Judge."
Briggs turned toward her.
"You understand why this marriage occurred?"
"I do."
"You understand Mr. Reed's guardianship case?"
"What I've been told of it."
"And you're prepared to establish a household with him at Double Pine?"
Emily felt Nathan's attention beside her.
"Yes."
Briggs leaned back. His chair creaked.
For the first time that night, Emily thought perhaps it had worked.
Then the judge opened a folder.
"I'm afraid this does not settle the matter."
Nathan's face hardened.
"You said household circumstances mattered."
"They do."
"I changed them."
"You married a woman you barely know at 2 in the morning."
Nathan planted both hands on the desk.
"The ink bottle trembled."
Emily touched two fingers to his sleeve.
Nothing more.
Nathan looked down at her hand, then removed his own from the desk.
Briggs noticed.
"So, what happens?" Emily asked.
The judge pulled out another document.
"Charles Reed filed a formal objection yesterday afternoon."
Nathan stared at it.
"What objection?"
"He argues that Lucy's placement at Double Pine remains unstable regardless of your marriage. He also questions whether a marriage entered into hours before my departure represents a genuine household or merely an attempt to influence the court."
Nathan's voice went flat.
"Charles hasn't visited Double Pine in years."
"Then you'll have time to demonstrate that his argument is wrong."
"How much time?"
"I returned through Red Willow in April."
Emily glanced toward the frost-covered window.
"Four months."
Briggs continued.
"Until then, Lucy remains temporarily in your guardianship."
Nathan went still.
"She stays with me."
"For now."
The words landed heavily.
Not victory, not defeat.
Time.
Briggs looked toward Emily.
"Mrs. Reed, the court may speak with you again in spring."
Emily was still getting used to the name.
"I'll be here."
"I suggest both of you understand something. If this household proves to be nothing more than a performance arranged for my benefit, it may damage Mr. Reed's case rather than strengthen it."
Nathan reached for the marriage certificate.
"Our household won't be your performance."
Briggs met his eyes.
"I hope not."
They left shortly before 4.
Lucy had fallen asleep against Helen's shoulder downstairs.
Nathan lifted the child without waking her.
Emily watched the ease with which he carried her, one arm beneath her knees, Lucy's cheek resting against the broad front of his coat.
Outside, the snow had stopped. The eastern sky remained dark, but a pale gray line had begun forming beyond the roofs.
They returned to the Willow House long enough for Emily to collect her belongings.
Everything she owned fit into one brown trunk, one sewing case, and a carpet bag.
Nathan looked at the trunk.
"That's all."
"Should there be more?"
"No."
He lifted it.
Emily reached for the other handle.
"I can help."
"I know."
There it was again.
Not I don't need you.
Not stand aside.
I know.
He carried one end anyway, letting her take the other.
At 5:20, Nathan's ranch wagon waited beside the hotel. Helen kissed Lucy's forehead before helping wrap another blanket around her.
"You mind, Emily?" she told the girl.
Lucy looked at Nathan.
"And him?"
Helen considered the giant cowboy.
"When he's sensible."
George Miller appeared from the direction of the saloon carrying three tin mugs and a covered coffee pot.
"Figured married people still need coffee."
Nathan took the pot.
"Much obliged."
George handed Emily a mug.
"Mrs. Reed."
She stared at him.
George grinned.
"Going to take some getting used to."
Apparently, by the time the wagon reached the edge of town, dawn had begun spreading cold and silver across Wyoming.
Lucy sat beneath blankets between them. Emily's trunk was tied behind the seat. Ahead lay the Black Ridge Road, miles of frozen country and a ranch she had never seen.
At the final crossroads, Nathan stopped the horses.
Emily looked at him.
"What is it?"
He reached inside his coat and handed her a folded paper.
She opened it.
Their agreement, her room, her financial allowance, payment upon the guardianship case ending, her right to leave. Every promise he'd made in the Copper Star had been written down and signed.
At the bottom was Nathan's name.
Emily looked at him.
"When did you do this?"
"While Reverend Hail was heating the church."
"You thought of paperwork while waiting to get married?"
Nathan looked almost embarrassed.
"Seemed important."
Emily folded the document carefully.
"It was."
Nathan nodded toward the road.
"Double Pine's about 4 hours if the snow stays light."
Emily looked toward the mountains. Their dark shapes rose beyond the white plains, farther and larger than anything she could remember seeing from town.
Nathan gathered the reins, then stopped again.
He looked at Emily and held out his hand.
Not because the road was slippery, not because she needed help climbing into anything, just his hand.
Emily stared at it for a moment.
Then she placed hers inside.
Nathan's fingers closed gently around it.
Neither said a word.
The horses started forward, and as Red Willow disappeared behind them, Emily Reed rode toward a snowbound ranch with a sleeping child beside her and a giant stranger holding the reins.
The marriage had not saved Lucy. It had only bought them until spring, and now Emily had four months to discover whether the man she had married before sunrise could become someone she trusted after daylight.
The road to Double Pine narrowed as they climbed. Red Willow disappeared first. Then the scattered homesteads disappeared too until there was nothing around them but white pasture, dark pine, and the wagon road cutting north toward Black Ridge.
Lucy woke shortly after 7.
"Are we home yet?"
"Not yet," Nathan said.
She pushed the blanket away from her face and noticed Emily beside her.
For one uncertain second, Lucy seemed to remember everything at once: the hotel, the flower sack, the church.
Then she smiled.
"Morning, Mrs. Reed."
Emily nearly spilled her coffee.
Nathan looked straight ahead, but she saw the corner of his mouth move.
"You find that amusing?"
"No."
"You look amused."